Tuesday, August 19, 2014

Augustus Caesar Died 2,000 Years Ago Today

Today marks the 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus.

All hail.  Not.  Although he was an interesting character.  

The emblematic first Emperor was, in the end, sic transit.

It has been said that the sins of the ancients are the universal sins of humanity, but the virtues of the Greeks and Romans are unique, the direct ancestors of everything that is self-critical and marks the best in our own culture today.

Tonight at the Ara Pacis Museum (a very ugly and unbecoming modern construction), the original colors of the first century BC altar which is located there will be projected onto it.  His ashes are still located there to this day. 

Once yours truly was able to jump the construction fence and sneak in there on a Sunday morning after they tore down the former building constructed by Mussolini.  Was interesting to walk around there on the altar and to explore the excavation.  It was in 2005.  I felt like Indiana Jones.     

The role of Augustus in shaping Imperial Rome and the modern Rome of today cannot be underestimated.  His reign had a lasting impact almost unparalleled in ancient history, with his name becoming synonymous with the Empire. 

May he rest in peace, Gaius Julius Caesar Divi Filius.  

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