Hail Caesar! 2000th Anniversary of Augustus Caesar’s Death
Today marks the 2oooth anniversary of the death of Augustus Caesar. Born Gaius Octavius he was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar and became his heir after his assassination. After consolidating his power and defeating his rival Mark Antony, Rome entered a time of peace and prosperity later known as Pax Romana lasting 200 years. When we think of Roman emperors today we tend to think of madmen like Caligula or Nero, but Augustus was nothing of the sort. He lived a quiet personal life and shied away from extravagance, choosing to live in a modest home in the city’s Palatine. Historian Suetonius wrote, “He lived at first near the Forum Romanum, afterwards on the Palatine in a modest dwelling remarkable neither for size or elegance, having but a short colonnade with columns of local stone and rooms without any marble decorations or handsome pavements. For more than 40 years he used the same bedroom in winter and summer.”
Leftist university professors won’t admit it but our civilization, the one that has dominated the world for 500 years freeing hundreds of millions from slavery and bringing untold wealth and prosperity to every corner of the globe has its roots in Greco-Roman culture, a culture shaped by the brilliant mind of Augustus Caesar.
Rosario Iaconis writing in Investor’s Business Daily notes, “Few leaders in the history of the world can match the statesmanship or success of Caesar Augustus. Rome’s first emperor rescued a nation in the throes of disorder, plus established an enduring polity that would shape the destiny of Western civilization for the next 1,500 years.”
Update: Here’s more on the renovations of Augustus’s tomb, and his living quarters with his wife Livia.
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