(1) Ita bellīs tōtō orbe cōnfectīs Octāviānus Augustus Rōmam rediit, duodecimō annō quam cōnsul fuerat.
(2) Ex eō rem pūblicam per quadrāgintā et quattuor annōs sōlus obtinuit; ante enim duodecim annīs cum Antōniō et Lepidō tenuerat.
(3) Ita ab initiō prīncipātūs eius ūsque ad fīnem quīnquāgintā et sex annī fuērunt.
(4) Obiit autem septuāgēsimō sextō annō morte commūnī in oppidō Campāniae Ātellā. Rōmae in campō Mārtiō sepultus, vir quī nōn inmeritō ex māximā parte deō similis est putātus. Neque enim facile ūllus eō aut in bellīs fēlīcior fuit aut in pāce moderātior. Quadrāgintā et quattuor annīs, quibus sōlus gessit imperium, cīvīlissimē vīxit, in cūnctōs līberālissimus, in amīcōs fīdissimus, quōs tantīs ēvexit honōribus, ut paene aequāret fastīgiō suō.
notes
The reign of Augustus, 31 BCE–14 CE.
Dio Cassius, Histories 52.41.3–56.34.1. Suetonius, Life of Augustus. Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Augustus.
(1) bellīs tōtō orbe cōnfectīs: tōtō orbe is ablative of place (AG 426.3) nestled in an ablative absolute using a perfect passive participle (AG 419)
quam: "after" (LS quam II.A.17)
(2) Ex eō: "from that time," supply tempore
annīs: = per ... annōs, above. The ablative makes the limits of the time more prominent than the duration, which is emphasized by the prepositional construction (AG 423).
(3) prīncipātūs: "leadership," afterwards the "sovereignty" of the emperors; cf. prīnceps, English "prince" (Hazzard)
(4) septuāgēsimō sextō annō: Augustus died in 14 CE.
morte commūnī: "a natural death.” However, there was a report that he was poisoned by Livia, his wife (Hazzard). Livia was concerned with ensuring that her son Tiberius, the biological son of her first husband Tiberius Claudius Nero and subsequently Augustus' stepson, was the next to the imperial throne. She regarded Augustus' biological children with hostility, going so far as to engineer the banishment of Agrippa Postumus, the son of Augustus' daughter Julia and Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, to the island of Planasia. Rumors that Tiberius might be unseated from his position as heir forced Livia to take more drastic action. Cassius Dio relates the story that Livia deliberately poisoned her husband to assure her son's succession:
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So Augustus fell sick and died. Livia incurred some suspicion in connexion with his death, in view of the fact that he had secretly sailed over to the island to see Agrippa and seemed about to be completely reconciled with him. For she was afraid, some say, that Augustus would bring him back to make him sovereign, and so smeared with poison some figs that were still on trees from which Augustus was wont to gather the fruit with his own hands; then she ate those that had not been smeared, offering the poisoned ones to him (Dio, Roman History 56.30.1–2, Trans. E. Cary).
Ātellā: it is generally agreed that he died at Nola, near Naples (Hazzard)
sepultus: supply est. His mausoleum still exists in the Campus Martius (Hazzard).
nōn inmeritō: "not without reason," litotes construction (AG 326.c)
ex māximā parte: "in very many respects" (Hazzard)
deō similis: "like a god." The expression fēlīciōr Augustō, melior Trāiānō ("more fortunate than Augustus, better than Trajan") arises in the 2nd century CE (Eutropius, Brev. 8.5.3).
eō: "than him," ablative of comparison referring to fēlīcior and moderātior (AG 406)
Quadrāgintā et quattuor annīs, quibus: ablative of time within which (AG 423)
cīvīlissimē: "most citizen-like," "unassuming," "unpretentious"
ut paene aequāret fastīgiō suō: "that he placed them almost on a level with his own dignity" (Hazzard) (LS fastigium II.A), result clause after tantīs (AG 537.1)
aequāret: supply eōs. Aequāre may also take cum with the ablative (Hazzard).
vocabulary
Core Vocabulary | Numbers | Dates
|
Octāviānus, ī, m. |
C. Iūlius Caesar Octāviānus, Roman emperor, 27 B.C.—14 A.D. |
|
Augustus, ī, m. |
a title of honor given to Octavianus in 27 BC and after him to all the Roman emperors |
|
obtineō, ēre, uī, tentus |
to hold, possess; rule, govern 2 |
|
Antōnius, ī, m. |
the name of a Roman gens, C. Antōnius, consul 63 B.C., L. Antōnius, consul 41 B.C., M. Antōnius, the friend of Caesar and member of the Second Triumvirate, consul 44 B.C. |
|
Lepidus, ī, m. |
M. Aemilius Lepidus, a member of the Second Triumvirate, consul 46 B.C. |
|
prīncipātus, ūs [prīnceps], m. |
a chief authority (in the state); headship, leadership; reign, sovereignty 3 |
|
obeō, īre, īvī (iī), itus |
to go to meet; attend to, perform; die, perish 4 |
|
Campānia, ae, f. |
a district of Italy on the western side, south of Latium |
|
Ātella, ae, f. |
a small town in Campania |
|
(1) Mārtius, a, um, adj.; (2) Mārtius, ī, m. |
(1) pertaining to Mars; (2) the month of March; usually used as an adj., Mārtius, a, um, agreeing with mēnsis, Kalendae, Nōnae, Īdūs |
|
sepeliō, īre, īvī (iī), sepultus |
to bury, inter |
|
immeritō [immeritus, undeserved], adv. |
unjustly, undeservedly |
|
facile [facilis, easy], adv., comp. facilius |
easily; readily |
|
moderātus, a, um [moderor], adj. |
self-controlled, temperate, modest |
|
cīvīliter [cīvīlis], adv., sup. cīvīlissimē |
citizen-like, as becomes a private citizen, unpretentious |
|
līberālis, e [līber], adj. |
free-born, noble; liberal, generous |
|
fīdus, a, um, adj. |
trusty, faithful |
|
ēvehō, ere, vexī, vectus |
to lift, raise, elevate |
|
aequō, āre, āvī, ātus [aequus] |
to make even or equal, place on an equality |
|
fastīgium, ī, n. |
top, height; slope, descent; rank, dignity |