Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

Anthony Everitt

Random House Publishing Group, Oct 9, 2007 - Biography & Autobiography - 432 pages

He found Rome made of clay and left it made of marble. As Rome’s first emperor, Augustus transformed the unruly Republic into the greatest empire the world had ever seen. His consolidation and expansion of Roman power two thousand years ago laid the foundations, for all of Western history to follow. Yet, despite Augustus’s accomplishments, very few biographers have concentrated on the man himself, instead choosing to chronicle the age in which he lived. Here, Anthony Everitt, the bestselling author of Cicero, gives a spellbinding and intimate account of his illustrious subject.

Augustus began his career as an inexperienced teenager plucked from his studies to take center stage in the drama of Roman politics, assisted by two school friends, Agrippa and Maecenas. Augustus’s rise to power began with the assassination of his great-uncle and adoptive father, Julius Caesar, and culminated in the titanic duel with Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
The world that made Augustus–and that he himself later remade–was driven by intrigue, sex, ceremony, violence, scandal, and naked ambition. Everitt has taken some of the household names of history–Caesar, Brutus, Cassius, Antony, Cleopatra–whom few know the full truth about, and turned them into flesh-and-blood human beings.

At a time when many consider America an empire, this stunning portrait of the greatest emperor who ever lived makes for enlightening and engrossing reading. Everitt brings to life the world of a giant, rendered faithfully and sympathetically in human scale. A study of power and political genius, Augustus is a vivid, compelling biography of one of the most important rulers in history.


From the Hardcover edition.

What people are saying

Review: Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

User Review  - Craig - Goodreads

A very well researched and written biography of Octavian (later Augustus Caesar) one of Rome's most capable and revered leaders. Though not a skilled military commander, he had the vision, patience ...

Review: Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor

User Review  - Brian Traglio - Goodreads

This book gave a good amount of information but I'd say it was written to be accessible for a wide audience as opposed to someone who intends to get into deep nooks and crannies of the ancient world ...

About the author

Anthony Everitt, visiting professor in the visual and performing arts at Nottingham Trent University, has written extensively on European culture, has contributed to The Guardian and Financial Times, and is the author of Cicero. He once served as secretary general of the Arts Council of Great Britain. Everitt lives near Colchester, England's first recorded town, founded by the Romans.


From the Hardcover edition.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Augustus: The Life of Rome's First Emperor
• Author: Anthony Everitt
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group, 2007
• ISBN: 0812970586, 9780812970586
• Length: 432 pages
• Subjects: Biography & Autobiography / Historical; Biography & Autobiography / Political; History / Ancient / Rome; Political Science / General