It was written in the decade during which totalitarian regimes ruled several nations in Europe and the outbreak of war with the remaining democracies was anticipated by many. Modern biographers of Augustus, especially those writing in English, cast their studies of the man under the long shadow of Sir Ronald Syme's ground-breaking book, The Roman Revolution (1939), which has changed forever how historians view the heir of Julius Caesar. 9), presenting the emperor's life as a continuation of the republic.

“Augustus did not know that he was creating a new system that would last for centuries” he writes (p.

In the remaining four hundred pages of the story, Goldsworthy recognises that Augustus' success was never assured. The first hundred or so pages of the book detail the context and legacy of Julius Caesar, and similarly of Marcus Antonius over the next hundred, drawing on the author's deep knowledge of the men and their times. Part One, 'Caius Octavius (Thurinus)', covers the years 63-44 BC Part Two, 'Caius Julius Caesar (Octavianus)', covers 44-38 BC Part Three, ' Imperator Caesar, Divi Filius', describes his life through the years 38-27 BC Part Four, ' Imperator Caesar Augustus, Divi Filius', covers the years 27-2 BC and the final Part Five, ' Imperator Caesar, Divi Filius, Pater Patriae', discusses the emperor's last years, 2 BC-AD 14, and wraps up with a conclusion. He arranges his material in five parts, dividing the story into blocks of time during which Augustus reshaped his identity and reinvented himself. He makes clear that “this is not a history of the times, but a biography and thus, although wider events are considered, our attention is fixed on Augustus himself” (p. 11), and his mission is “to write as if this were a biography of a modern statesman, asking the same questions even if our sources make it difficult to answer them, and trying as far as possible to understand the real man” (p. In his Introduction, Goldsworthy states his goal is to “tell Augustus' story afresh” (p. The new biography joins his other well-received profiles of the great personalities of the Late Republic, Caesar: The Life of a Colossus (2006) and Antony and Cleopatra (2010). With a canny sense for timing, acclaimed military historian Adrian Goldsworthy has published a new biography of this important, and still controversial, historical figure.

The 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus has renewed interest in the man regarded as the founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor.

Caesar by Adrian Goldsworthy