Augustus Propaganda

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Augustus had an exceptional public image; the citizens of Rome had great respect and admiration for him and held him in the highest of esteems. The aims and methods which he employed to gain this public image reveal that he was tactful, however occasionally underhand. His public image was developed through a long, slow process which consisted of some sidestepping and backtracking but above all, constant vigilance . As the restorer of the republic Augustus had a huge task ahead of him, but he took on the responsibility and set out to make others believe that he was the right man for the job. Through restoring the republic and bringing peace to the empire, reorganisation of the army, his building reforms and successful use of propaganda, his…show more content…
By initiating this extensive program of establishing buildings and repairing temples it provided a great deal of positive propaganda for Augustus, as the general public received attractive environments to worship, live and work in. In addition to this Shotter states that the buildings were an expression of auctoritas is Augustus’ city and a way of showing his patronage to Rome . This technique resulted in the support of the people by their own accord, as stated by Dio, which dismissed any sense that they had been persuaded against their will , thus he accomplished another part of his plan and moved even closer to creating his near immaculate public image. A building that was not part of Augustus’ building program was Agrippa’s Pantheon, a temple that was built by Agrippa in 27Bc to honor the God’s . Agrippa constructed the building as a part of his public repairs and improvements, Augustus is known for boasting that “he had found the city of brick but left it of marble”, what he fails to mention is this would not have been possible without the great assistance provided by Agrippa. Another building that was erected to send a message to the people of Rome was the Forum Augustum; Zanker states that this building shows “Augustus to be the new embodiment of Roman virtue.” The building reforms as well as other restorations “represented the continuity of Rome’s past greatness, enhanced by the auctoritas of the princeps and a new beginning for the
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