Augustus, First Roman Emperor: Power, Propaganda and the Politics of Survival

After decades of civil war, Octavian faced a problem no Roman victor had solved for long: how to hold supreme power without appearing simply to replace the Republic with monarchy. As Augustus, he built a new political order while presenting that transformation in the language of restoration, stability and Roman tradition.

Matthew D. H. Clark examines the methods behind that achievement, from the management of political authority to the images and messages through which Augustus explained his position to the Roman world. The Republic’s institutions remained visible, but political authority had been reorganised around Augustus himself.