Annals I.10

It was said, on the other hand, "that filial duty and State necessity were merely assumed as a mask. It was really from a lust of sovereignty that he had excited the veterans by bribery, had, when a young man and a subject, raised an army, tampered with the Consul's legions, and feigned an attachment to the faction of Pompeius. Then, when by a decree of the Senate he had usurped the high functions and authority of Praetor when Hirtius and Pansa were slain - whether they were destroyed by the enemy, or Pansa by poison infused into a wound, Hirtius by his own soldiers and Caesar's treacherous machinations - he at once possessed himself of both their armies, wrested the consulate from a reluctant Senate, and turned against the State the arms with which he had been intrusted against Antonius. Citizens were proscribed, lands divided, without so much as the approval of those who executed these deeds. Even granting that the deaths of Cassius and of the Bruti were sacrifices to a hereditary enmity (though duty requires us to waive private feuds for the sake of the public welfare), still Pompeius had been deluded by the phantom of peace, and Lepidus by the mask of friendship. Subsequently, Antonius had been lured on by the treaties of Tarentum and Brundisium, and by his marriage with the sister, and paid by his death the penalty of a treacherous alliance. No doubt, there was peace after all this, but it was a peace stained with blood; there were the disasters of Lollius and Varus, the murders at Rome of the Varros, Egnatii, and Juli." The domestic life too of Augustus was not spared. "Nero's wife had been taken from him, and there had been the farce of consulting the pontiffs, whether, with a child conceived and not yet born, she could properly marry. There were the excesses of Quintus Tedius and Vedius Pollio; last of all, there was Livia, terrible to the State as a mother, terrible to the house of the Caesars as a stepmother. No honour was left for the gods, when Augustus chose to be himself worshipped with temples and statues, like those of the deities, and with flamens and priests. He had not even adopted Tiberius as his successor out of affection or any regard to the State, but, having thoroughly seen his arrogant and savage temper, he had sought glory for himself by a contrast of extreme wickedness." For, in fact, Augustus, a few years before, when he was a second time asking from the Senate the tribunitian power for Tiberius, though his speech was complimentary, had thrown out certain hints as to his manners, style, and habits of life, which he meant as reproaches, while he seemed to excuse. However, when his obsequies had been duly performed, a temple with a religious ritual was decreed him.


Tacitus uses the passive voice to spew out another long opinion on Augustus. This one is much more negative, thus there is even more need for him to say that someone else saying it. It is almost comical how long the speech is, yet the passive voice is used like it was general hearsay. Who is saying this is, of course, not revealed.

Tacitus quickly sums up Augustus’ rise to power, which is incredibly complex. Originally, we have a divide between the military-backed Julius and the Republic-backed Pompey, in which Julius is the victor. Julius was assassinated by Brutus and Cassius with the help of leftover factions of Pompey. After the assassination, Brutus and Cassius flee and take up arms in Greece. Mark Antony was first consul, but steps down and takes up arms against the Republic in Gaul and northern Italy. Hirtius and Pansa, who are Julians, control the armies of the Republic. Augustus as consul is able to ally himself with both Hirtius and Pansa and the leftover factions of Pompey. Hirtius and Pansa die leaving Augustus in control of the Republic’s army against Mark Antony. Augustus is able to make peace with Mark Antony and defeats Brutus and Cassius’ forces in Greece. Augustus then focuses on Pompey’s son’s forces in southern Italy. He makes peace with Lepidus and Mark Antony, forming the second Triumverate, and then defeats Mark Antony to become Emperor.

It is interesting that in this version, Tacitus attempts to show that Augustus achieved his throne through trickery, treachery and selfishness. Augustus tricked the Pompey Republican faction into supporting him (clearly Augustus was no Republican). He then murders the heads of the Julian faction. Defeating Brutus and Cassius is nothing more than a personal vendetta. He tricks Lepidus into peace and catches both Pompey’s son and Mark Antony off guard with promises of peace as well. There is no self-preservation, no protection of the state and no luck in this version of Augustus’ rise.

There is peace, according to Tacitus, except for defeats against German barbarians in 16 BC (Lollius) and AD 9 (Varus). He also mentions a series of murders against three families (Varros, Egnatii, and Juli) and the execesses of Quintus Tedius and Vedius Pollio. Historians have no idea what Tacitus is talking about with these family murders and excesses. Again, there is no mention of the many conspiracies again Augustus. Tacitus wraps things up by, once again, bashing Livia and claiming Augustus wanted to be worshiped (a little Caligula in Augustus?)

The final insult is a claim that Tiberius was chosen to rule not for the good of the State (as publically claimed) or because of manipulation from Livia (as Tacitus had previously claimed). Of course, in truth, Augustus probably chose Tiberius to rule to placate the Claudian factions and stay in power longer. But, Tacitus’ now claims that Augustus did it because he knew Tiberius would be a bad ruler and it would make him look better. Right.