There is clearly shown about Greek depiction of Augustus in life and death.

1. Greek Depictions of Augustus in Life
and Death

2. • I was fortunate to come across two strikingly different
depictions of Roman Emperor Augustus (r. 27 BC – 19
AD) while in Greece last year. These depictions, one
made during his rule and the other after his rule, give us
a clue as to how Augustus wanted to be portrayed and
how people portrayed him after his death.
• Here he is in Archaeological Museum of Thessaloniki in
all his marble glory. We do not have an exact date or
author, but the consensus is that it was constructed in a
Thessaloniki workshop during the reign of Emperor
Tiberius (14-37 AD).

4. • It is remarkable how perfect and beautiful the
sculptor made the face and body. The emperor
could easily pass as an athlete or model in our
day.
• At the National Archaeological Museum of
Athens, I encountered a much different
Augustus. Instead of marble, we have bronze.
Sadly, it is incomplete, missing the horse he was
piously riding. This Augustus is older and takes
on the pose of a wise ruler. Found in the Aegean
Sea, this dates roughly to 12-10 BC, during
Augustus’s reign and roughly 25 years before his
death.

6. The emperor Augustus
• The Roman statue known as the “Augustus of Prima
Porta” is a remarkably powerful piece of Early
Imperial “propaganda”. Augustus was born Gaius
Octavius (“Octavian”) in 63 BC.
• His maternal great-uncle was known other than the
famous general Julius Caesar. Caesar himself, of
course, was a central figure in the troubles that the
Roman Republic experienced in the second half of
the first century BC. He emerged victorious after a
bloody civil war, and was appointed dictator.

7. The Augustus of Prima Porta
The statue was found in
the villa of Augustus’
wife Livia at Prima
Porta, a few kilometres
north of Rome. It
depicts Augustus in an
unusual way: equipped
as a general, with bare
feet, and one hand
outstretched in a pose
familiar from portraits
of orators.

8. • First of all, Augustus carefully presented an image
of himself as restraint and sober, as well as pious.
Indeed, his name – Augustus – has a distinctly
religious ring to it, and many portraits intended
for public consumption tended to present him as
a civilian or dressed like a priest (since he also
officiated).
• Secondly, Augustus had “saved” the Republic
from decades of internal strife and had ushered
in a new era of peace, the Pax Romana, and it’s
likely that he would not have wished to
emphasize his military achievements.

10. A descendant from Venus
• One of the key things that Augustus did to ensure his reign
would be successful was to use art and architecture as
propaganda. To celebrate his defeat of Caesar’s assassins,
he contructed a temple to Mars Ultor (i.e. “Mars the
Avenger”), which featured statues of Mars (the god of
war), his paramour Venus (goddess of love), as well as a
statue of the recently deified Julius Caesar himself.
• And this, too, would have been another important reason
that the statue was not intended for general consumption:
in public, Augustus was adamant that he not be treated as
a god. But in private, of course, plans were already in
motion for him to be elevated to godhood after death, just
as Julius Caesar had been proclaimed a divinity.