One who seeks to know what the Augustan age was like has 
many things by which he can judge it: in the first place, a 
comparison with other periods of Roman history; for if it is shown 


22--194 


640 Appendices 


that the Augustan age was similar to previous periods which are 
termed happy, but unlike those in which, according to contempo- 
rary and recent judgment, morals had changed and become worse, 
the state was split into factions, and even defeats were suffered in 
war, from them a conclusion can be drawn about the Augustan 
age; then it must be inquired what the ancients said about it, what 
view was held by foreign peoples about the empire, whether they 
feared or despised it, and, finally, what was the state of the arts 
and sciences. 

In order not to be more prolix than necessary, I shall compare 
with the Augustan age the finest epoch before Augustus, which 
was made happy by the simplicity of its morals, the striving for 
excellence, and the unselfishness of officials and common people, 
and in which Lower Italy was subjugated, and also the epoch of:- 
Nero, which was worse than any other. 

At no time were the Romans more disinclined to pursue the fine 
arts than in the period before the Punic wars; learning was 
least valued since the most important men of those times chiefly 
devoted their efforts and labours to agriculture; eloquence was 
superfluous since they used few words in speaking of what had to 
be done and did not seek elegance of speech but attached more 
importance to the content; history, indeed, had no need of elo- 
quence since it was concerned only with things done and was con- 
fined to the compilation of annals. 

But the whole epoch was filled with the conflict between patri- 
cians and plebs; because from the expulsion of the kings until 
the first Punic war there was strife over the right of each side and 
a large part of history is concerned only with the laws which were 
made by tribunes or consuls contending keenly with one another. 

What in this period deserves to be praised we have already said. 

If we wish to describe the period of Nero, we do not need many 
words; for who would have to ask what this age was like, since the 
best citizens were killed, shameful arbitrary rule prevailed, laws 
were violated, the city burnt down, and the generals preferred to 
seek renown through peace rather than war, because they were 
afraid lest they should excite suspicion by deeds well done and 
because there was nothing to inspire them to perform great deeds. 

That the Augustan age was unlike this no one can deny, for his 
reign was marked by its mildness. Although all freedom, even all 
appearance of freedom, had disappeared, institutions and laws 
were altered by order of the sovereign, and all powers previously 
possessed by the people’s tribunes, censors and consuls were now 
in the hands of one man, the Romans believed they themselves 


Appendices 641 


ruled and that emperor was only another name for the powers 
which the tribunes and consuls previously possessed, and they did 
not see that they had been deprived of their freedom. It is, 
however, a telling proof of mildness if the citizens can doubt who 
is the sovereign and whether they themselves rule or are ruled 
over. 

In war, however, the Romans were never more fortunate, for 
the Parthians were subjugated, the Cantabri conquered, the 
Raetians and Vindelicians laid prostrate; but the Germans, the 
worst enemies of the Romans, whom Caesar had fought against in 
vain, overcame the Romans in some isolated encounters through 
treachery, cunning and bravery, and owing to their forests; but on 
the whole the power of many of the Germanic tribes was broken 
by Augustus granting Roman citizenship to individuals, by the 
weapons of experienced generals, and by the hostility which broke 
out among the Germanic peoples themselves. 

In peace and war, therefore, the Augustan age is not to be 
compared with the time of Nero and even worse rulers. 

The parties and conflicts, however, which occurred in the 
period before the Punic wars, had ceased to exist, for we see that 
Augustus had combined all parties, all honorary titles and all 
power in his own person. Hence the sovereign power could not be 
disunited within itself, which brings the greatest danger to every 
state, because thereby its authority among foreign peoples is 
diminished and public affairs are administered more for the 
ambition of individuals than for the well-being of the people. 

The Augustan age should not, however, be regarded in such a 
way as not to see that it was inferior to that earlier period in many 
respects, for if morals, freedom and worth are either diminished 
of definitely set aside, while avarice, prodigality and intemperance 
prevail, that age itself cannot be called happy. But the greatness of 
Augustus, the institutions and laws of the men he selected in order 
to put the troubled state in a better condition, did a great deal to 
end the disorder which had been evoked by the civil wars. 

For example, we see that Augustus purged the senate, into 
which extremely corrupt men had penetrated, of remnants of 
crime, by expelling from it many men whose morals were hateful 
to him and by admitting many others who were distinguished for 
their ability and intelligence. 

Under the rule of Augustus, men of outstanding worth and 
wisdom always served the state, for who can name greater men of 
that period than Maecenas and Agrippa? Although the sovereign 
occasionally resorted to dissimulation, he apparently did not abuse 


22* 


642 Appendices 


his power and exercised odious force in a milder form. And if the 
state, as it existed before the Punic wars, was the most suitable for 
that time because it stimulated people to great deeds, struck terror 
into its enemies, and aroused a noble emulation between patricians 
and plebs, from which however envy was not always absent, the 
state, as Augustus instituted it, seems to us the most suitable for 
his time, for when people have grown soft and the simplicity of 
morals has disappeared, but the state has grown greater, a ruler is 
more capable than a free republic of giving freedom to the 
people. 

We come now to the judgment of the ancients on the Augustan 
age. 

He himself was called divine, and regarded not as a man, but 
rather as a god. This could not be said if one relied only on the 
testimony of Horace, but the distinguished historian Tacitus also 
speaks of Augustus and his age with the utmost respect, the great- 
est admiration and even love. 

At no time did arts and letters flourish more, for in that age 
there lived a very large number of writers from whom as from a 
fountain-head all peoples drew learning. 

Since, therefore, the state appears to have been well ordered, 
the ruler desirous of happiness for the people and by his authority 
official positions occupied by the best men, since, moreover, the 
Augustan age appears to be not inferior to the best periods of 
Roman history, but different from the worst, and since parties and 
dissensions are seen to have ceased, whereas arts and letters 
flourished, the Augustan age deserves to be counted among the 
better epochs and the man held in high esteem who, although 
everything was permitted to him, nevertheless after his accession 
to power had only one aim, to ensure the safety of the state. 


Marx