The Roman Empire was well known for its political system and its art. The Roman emperor typically commissioned works of art–known as propaganda– to promote their political campaigns or to mark their achievements as emperor. According to Dr. Faulkner’s article about propaganda in the Roman empire, “…the principal audience for Roman imperial propaganda had been only a minority of the empire’s population – mainly soldiers, the inhabitants of Rome and Italy, and Roman citizens living in colonies and provincial towns”. Propaganda in Imperial Rome was also meant to convince people to re-elect the emperor or initiate a life-long dictatorship. In other words, propaganda was used in controversial matters and to promote ideas that were generally acceptable. The word “propaganda” technically did not exist during this time period, as it was loosely developed by the Europeans (mainly for the spread of Catholicism) centuries later. It soon became popular in the United States when they decided to enter World War I in 1917. One of the most famous of the Roman emperors was Augustus Caesar, the adopted heir of Julius Caesar. Augustus Caesar, otherwise known as Octavian, successfully uses propaganda to mold positive perceptions as a divine being, epic hero, and man of the people.
Who was Augustus Caesar? He was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus in 63 BCE. He adopted the name Augustus Caesar during his reign as emperor died in 14 CE. Before he became emperor, he fought alongside Emperor Julius Caesar in Hispania; after the battle, Octavian was named Caesar’s heir and successor. After Julius Caesar’s assassination and the following downfall of the Roman Republic, Octavian founded the Roman Empire and became its first emperor. In the “Augustus” article, the History.com staff adds that “[during] his 40-years reign, Augustus nearly doubled the size of the empire, adding territories in Europe and Asia Minor and securing alliances that gave him effective rule from Britain to India”. In that time, he founded the Second Triumvirate– an illegal military alliance among Augustus Caesar, Mark Antony, and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. In addition, “[he] passed many sweeping reforms as well as laws to maintain stability in marriage and to raise the birth rate in Rome, making adultery illegal, offering tax incentives to families with over three children and penalties for childless marriages. [He] expanded the Roman network of roads, founded the Praetorian Guard and the Roman postal service and remade Rome with both grand (a new forum) and practical gestures (police and fire departments)”. Interestingly enough, his last words were ‘I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble,’ but to the friends who had stayed with him in his rise to power he added, ‘Have I played the part well? Then applaud me as I exit’”.
Octavian used propaganda to praise his military achievements, as well as his status. “Augustus of Prima Porta” was one of the works he commissioned to glorify his military achievements. Fischer’s article on “Augustus of Prima Porta” explained that “Augustus has the gods on his side, he [was] an international military victor, and he [was] the bringer of the Pax Romana, a peace that [encompassed] all the lands of the Roman Empire”. The breastplate of the statue depicted an aftermath scene between one Roman and one Parthian. The Parthian returned military standards, which was a direct representation of Augustus’ international diplomatic victory. Caelus (the sky god) and Sol (the sun god) were pictured at the top of the breastplate to symbolize how the Pax Romana would “shine a light on the Roman Empire”. Surrounding the two figures were female personifications and Roman gods–Apollo, Diana, and Tellus, which symbolized Augustus’ devotion to the Roman religion. In addition, baby Cupid rode a dolphin next Augustus’s right leg; the dolphin symbolized his victory over Cleopatra and Mark Antony, and Cupid symbolized his lineage from Venus–the Roman goddess of love. “Augustus of Prima Porta” not only praised Octavian’s military achievements but also justified his lineage from divinity. He used propaganda well by bringing an undeniable truth to light: if the gods were on his side, then the mortals should be too. Another work that Octavian commissioned to memorialize his victories was the Arch of Augustus. The arch celebrates victory at Actium in 29 BCE and is the first Roman arch with three passageways. Originally, there were two arches– both of which turned to ruin– commissioned by Augustus. The foundations of one of these arches existed between the temple of Julius and that of Castor, being laid on the short axis of the former temple and close to it. They consist of travertine blocks on concrete beds, and those of three of the four piers are in situ. The arches were more extravagant pieces of propaganda to display for Augustus’ victories in battle. The third work that Octavian commissioned to glorify himself was Vergil’s Aeneid. Vergil’s Aeneid was an epic about a Trojan hero named Aeneas who left Troy during the war and sought for a new home for him, his son, and his father to settle in. According to Grebe’s journal Augustus’ Divine Authority and Vergil’s Aeneid, “Vergil… [associated] the princeps with the earliest possible days of Roman history, describing Augustus as a second Aeneas as well as as a second Romulus… this [was] why Vergil wrote an Aeneid rather than an Augusteid, recalling the mythic and divine origins which would provide the ultimate source for Augustus’ authority”. The epic was believed to be a literary form of propaganda because it traced Octavian’s lineage to Aeneas, the protagonist of the epic and founder of the Roman people. The connection to Aeneas provided proof that Octavian was meant to become the first Roman emperor.
In contrast to his militaristic achievements, Augustus Caesar used propaganda to portray himself as a religious figure. Octavian commissioned “Augustus as Pontifex Maximus”, a work similar to the Grecian Classical Period. As the National Roman Museum’s article describes the piece: “[his] head [was] veiled, as was the practice of Roman priests during the sacred rites; probably in his right hand he once held the patera (the sacrificial cup) and in his left the volumen (papyrus scroll or parchment)”. Unlike the “Augustus of Prima Porta”, “Augustus as Pontifex Maximus” depicted him wearing a toga. The significance of the toga was that only magistrates and common citizens alike could wear togas every time they entered public places. If Octavian was portrayed as a common man, the Roman citizens would feel a connection to him and consider him as “a man of the people”. The statue would also commemorate his dedication to the Roman church, a major influence over Roman Politics. Another work that Augustus commissioned to represent himself as a religious figure was “Ara Pacis Augustae” (“Altar of Peace of Augustus”).. The altar was a place dedicated to animal blood sacrifices for the Roman State religious belief that sacrifices were crucial to maintaining social status and authority. According to Becker’s article on “Ara Pacis”, the altar easily identified its patron: Augustus Caesar and his administration are shown in the bas relief. The altar was also well-detailed in its processional friezes for Roman religion and mythological panels. In the four mythological panels, five significant figures were included: a bearded male making sacrifice, a seated female goddess amid the fertility of Italy, Romulus and Remus in the Lupercal grotto (where these two mythic founders of Rome were suckled by a she-wolf), and Roma (the personification of Rome) as a seated goddess. In addition to the detail of the altar, there were the four main groups of people carved onto the altar: lictors (the official bodyguards of magistrates), priests from the major collegia of Rome, members of the Imperial household, including women and children, and the attendants. The complexity of the altar was a “dedication to a rather abstract notion of peace (pax)… Augustus [advertised] the fact that he has restored peace to the Roman state after a long period of internal and external turmoil”. Augustus gifted Rome with this religious space in order to maintain his status as emperor, encourage the traditional practices of the official Roman religion, and remind others of the empire-wide peace he had installed.
In addition to his militaristic achievements and religious dedications, Augustus Caesar used propaganda to depict himself as both a politician and man of the people. To prove that Augustus cared about his status as a law-enforcing politician, he commissioned the Forum of Augustus. This forum was never meant to replace the Forum Romanum, but built to prevent congestion. The forum provided additional space for the law courts, where criminal prosecutions and the selection of jurors were to be held. It was also accompanied by the Temple of Mars Ultor which served the purpose of reconciliation for those incriminated. As Zanker’s article on Forum of Augustus states, “…in the two colonnades of his forum dedicated statues of all of them in triumphal garb, declaring besides in a proclamation: ‘I have contrived this to lead the citizens to require me, while I live, and the rulers of later times as well, to attain the standard set by those worthies of old'”. Octavian also commissioned the “Baths of Agrippa” in order to improve quality of life in the city of Rome. The “Baths of Agrippa” was named after Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a Roman consul and close friend of Augustus. The baths were free to the public (after Agrippa’s death); Roman citizens were able to enjoy and use them before it turned to ruins. All that was left of the baths was a brick wall.
Was Augustus Caesar successful with his use of propaganda? He was very successful with his use of propaganda because he reigned as emperor for 40 years. His propaganda convinced the citizens of the Roman Empire to keep him in power until his death in 14 CE. He appealed to the people by commissioning the Baths of Agrippa, Pontifex Maximus, Ara Pacis, and Forum of Augustus. Prima Porta and Vergil’s Aeneid provided proof of his lineage to the divine and founder of Rome, which supported his reasons to stay in power. He also encouraged and brought back Roman traditions, introduced new ideas that allowed the empire to flourish, created empire-wide peace, and established a foundation for the new era of Rome.
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