Use of Augustan Propaganda

    Cards (20)

    • Augustus went to great lengths to control his image because his father was assassinated for portraying an overly monarchical attitude.
    • Augustus would use coinage, inscriptions, architecture and also the arts as a means to convey a very controlled image of himself.
    • Patronage of the arts was common among wealthy citizens and Augustus advisor Maecenus was one of such patron.
    • Virgil tells us that Augustus would give 'all possible encouragement' to those in the arts and attended reading of their work.
    • He also did not need to pressure them into support of himself as most already held this view.
    • Statues and portraits of Augustus also gave an idealised image with characteristics he wanted representing.
    • Art included the differing roles that he occupied such as military leader, restore of Rome or Pontifex Maxius.
    • The most famous art piece is the Prima Porta Augustus where he is styled as Imperator, and the recovery of the Legionary Eagles from Parthia are represented on his chest. He is also barefoot which suggests divinity.
    • Through his building programme Augustus was once more able to show himself as a restorer of Rome's prosperity.
    • Within his architecture there was often monuments and inscriptions to himself and his achievements, such as the Ara Pacis, or the Temple of Mars Ultor, which celebrated his victory over Brutus at Philippi.
    • Another excellent way to spread propaganda was through coinage.
    • Coins were seen by everyone in day to day life.
    • The two sides of a coin were able to show the ruler on the observe, usually with their various titles.
    • On the reverse of a coin, there was a particular message they wished to convey eg. succession, marriage, military conquests etc.
    • Augustus was lucky enough that three men of genius were his literary friends.
    • Maecenas had introduced him to the poets Virgil and Horace, and the historian Livy the Elder had worked in the imperial household.
    • All the literary geniuses shared the common theme in their work which supported Augustus.
    • They had lived through the civil war and seemed grateful to Augustus for restoring peace.
    • Their poetry expresses love of the Italian countryside, praises old Roman virtues and ancestral customs and reflects ideas and hopes of a new age, Livy would also reflect on this in his prose.
    • Ovid was the other notable poet; however he did not have Augustus as a patron due to his personal wealth.
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