Roman Revolution: The Augustan Principate

The rise of Augustus is often represented as a political and cultural revolution at Rome. Julius Caesar's heir claimed to be restoring the Republic after years of civil war, but in fact he inaugurated a dynastic system of one-man rule, which we call the Empire. This lecture explores these changes, as a backdrop to the literary and artistic developments of the years 27 BCE to 14 CE (the period now known as the 'Augustan era'), which we shall be looking at in depth over the next seven lectures. Copyright 2013 La Trobe University, all rights reserved. Contact for permissions.