By the end of this lesson, you will understand the historical context of Augustus's rise to power, recognise key features of the Augustan settlement, and appreciate the cultural programme that shaped Virgil's world.
The Aeneid is inseparable from its historical moment. Written during the transition from Roman Republic to Principate, it reflectsâand shapesâhow Romans understood their new world. Understanding Augustus helps us read Virgil accurately.
Gaius Octavius was 18 when his great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated (44 BC). Caesar's will adopted him as son and heir. The young Octavianâas he now wasâclaimed Caesar's legacy against powerful rivals: Mark Antony and the assassins Brutus and Cassius.
Two decades of civil war followed. Octavian allied with Antony to defeat the assassins at Philippi (42 BC). The alliance fractured. Octavian controlled the West, Antony the East (and Cleopatra). Their conflict ended at Actium (31 BC) with Octavian's victory.
Victory required brutality: proscriptions (lists of enemies to be killed), confiscations, broken promises, millions dead. Virgil's generation experienced civil war directly. Virgil himself nearly lost his family's land to confiscation. Peace was precious because war was remembered.
In 27 BC, Octavian staged his "restoration of the Republic"ânominally returning power to Senate and People. In gratitude, he received the title Augustus (revered one). In reality, he held supreme power under republican forms. The Principate was born.
Augustus ruled but claimed not to. He held traditional Republican offices (consul, tribune) and exercised power through traditional forms. He was princepsâfirst citizenânot king. This fiction was important: Romans hated kings.
Augustus's great achievement was peace after a century of civil war. The Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace) symbolised this. Virgil's generation experienced the relief of stability. The cost was political freedomâbut many thought it worth paying.
Augustus passed laws promoting marriage, punishing adultery, rewarding large families. He claimed to restore traditional Roman mores (customs). This moral programme appears in the Aeneid: Aeneas as model of pietas, Dido as warning against passion.
Augustus rebuilt temples, revived priesthoods, and linked himself to Apollo and Mars. He became pontifex maximus (chief priest). The Aeneid's religious seriousnessâgods actively involved in human affairsâreflects and supports this revival.
Maecenas, Augustus's friend, sponsored poets including Virgil, Horace, and Propertius. This patronage was not neutral: it encouraged poetry that served the regime. But great poets are not simply mouthpiecesâthey find ways to complicate simple messages.
Augustus famously "found Rome brick and left it marble." New temples, forums, and public buildings transformed the city. The Aeneid's descriptions of Pallanteum/Rome (Book 8) celebrate this transformation while pointing to humble origins.
Augustus claimed descent from Aeneas through Iulus (Ascanius)âmaking the Julian family (Caesar's, Augustus's) descendants of Venus. The Aeneid supports this genealogy: Aeneas's story is Augustus's prehistory.
Literature was expected to celebrate Roman achievement and Augustan restoration. Virgil's Eclogues thanked a young man (probably Octavian) for saving his land. The Georgics praised agricultural revival. The Aeneid was meant to be the great national epicâand was.