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A review by elisekatherine
Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
4.0
This book didn't contain a lot of information that was new to me (as someone who has read...a lot about the Augustan period in particular, and the Late Republic/Early Empire in general), but it still earned a high rating by being a rare example of a classical history that managed to walk the thin line between rigorous scholarship and readability.
Goldsworthy manages to maintain a healthy skepticism about his sources, and notes that skepticism where appropriate, without sacrificing compelling narrative biography. And this is a compelling biography - magisterial in scope and exploring not just the life of Augustus Caesar himself but also his world and surrounding context.
I have a few nitpicks with Goldsworthy's analysis - his discussion of Augustan poets being one, and his dismissal of Cleopatra being another - but overall this is one of those few histories of this period that I feel capable of fully endorsing as both a good source and an enjoyable read.
(About those Cleopatra nitpicks - I recommend reading this book alongside Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, not only because the latter is really good but also because it serves as an excellent counterpoint to Goldsworthy's assertion of her as entirely insignificant.
The stuff about the Augustan poets is more complicated, and has mostly to do with the dislike I have for the dichotomy between "Virgil and associates were Augustan propaganda" and "Virgil and associates were secret subversive rebels". Goldsworthy errs a little too far toward the former for my taste - while he dismisses the idea that the poets were coerced into writing anything, he also tends to argue that the poets were writing in whole-hearted support of Rome and the Augustan state of affairs, and dismisses any potential more complicated readings as modern anachronisms. I tend to believe that it is entirely possible to explore criticisms of power, authority, and empire within poetry without being a radical revolutionary.)
Goldsworthy manages to maintain a healthy skepticism about his sources, and notes that skepticism where appropriate, without sacrificing compelling narrative biography. And this is a compelling biography - magisterial in scope and exploring not just the life of Augustus Caesar himself but also his world and surrounding context.
I have a few nitpicks with Goldsworthy's analysis - his discussion of Augustan poets being one, and his dismissal of Cleopatra being another - but overall this is one of those few histories of this period that I feel capable of fully endorsing as both a good source and an enjoyable read.
(About those Cleopatra nitpicks - I recommend reading this book alongside Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff, not only because the latter is really good but also because it serves as an excellent counterpoint to Goldsworthy's assertion of her as entirely insignificant.
The stuff about the Augustan poets is more complicated, and has mostly to do with the dislike I have for the dichotomy between "Virgil and associates were Augustan propaganda" and "Virgil and associates were secret subversive rebels". Goldsworthy errs a little too far toward the former for my taste - while he dismisses the idea that the poets were coerced into writing anything, he also tends to argue that the poets were writing in whole-hearted support of Rome and the Augustan state of affairs, and dismisses any potential more complicated readings as modern anachronisms. I tend to believe that it is entirely possible to explore criticisms of power, authority, and empire within poetry without being a radical revolutionary.)