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This webpage reproduces a section of
The Res Gestae
of
Augustus
as published in the Loeb Classical Library,
1924

The text is in the public domain.

This text has been carefully proofread
and I believe it to be free of errors.
If you find a mistake though, please let me know!

Monumentum Ancyranum
(Res Gestae Divi Augusti)

Part III

14 46 Filios meos, quós iuvenes mihi eripuit fortuna, p366 Gaium et Lucium Caesares 1 honoris mei caussá senatus populusque Romanus annum quíntum et deci2 mum agentís consulés designávit, ut eum magistrátum inírent post quin3 quennium. Et ex eó die, quó deducti sunt in forum, ut interessent consiliís 4 publicís decrevit senatus. Equites autem Románi universi principem 5 iuventútis utrumque eórum parmis et hastís argenteís donátum ap6 ºpelláverunt. §	14 11 Υἱους μου Γάιον καὶ Λεύκιον Καίσὰρας, οὓς νεανίας ἀ12νήρπασεν ἡ τύχη, εἰς τὴν ἐμὴν τειμὴν ἥ τε σύνκλη13τος καὶ ὁ δῆμος τῶν Ῥωμαίων πεντεκαιδεκαέτεις 14 ὄντας ὑπάτους ἀπέδειξεν, ἵνα μετὰ πέντε ἔτη 15 εἰς τὴν ὑπάτων ἀρχὴν εἰσέλθωσιν· καὶ ἀφ’ ἧς ἂν 16 ἡμέρας εἰς τὴν ἀγορὰν καταχθῶσιν, ἵνα μετέχω17σιν τῆς συνκλήτου ἐψηφίσατο. § Ἱππεῖς δὲ Ῥω18μαίων σύνπαντες ἡγεμόνα νεότητος ἑκάτε19ρον αὐτῶν προσηγόρευσαν, ἀσπίσιν ἀργυρέαις 20 καὶ δόρασιν ἐτείμησαν.	14 My sons Gaius and Lucius Caesar,49 whom p367 fortune snatched away from me in their youth, the senate and the Roman people to do me honour made consuls designate, each in his fifteenth year,50 providing that each should enter upon that office after a period of five years.51 The senate decreed that from the day on which they were introduced to the forum52 they should take part in the counsels of state. Moreover, the entire body of Roman knights gave each of them the title of princeps iuventutis50 and presented them with silver shields and spears.
15 Plebei Románae viritim HS trecenos numeravi ex testámento patris 8 ºmeí, § et nomine meo HS quadringenos ex bellórum manibiís consul 9 quintum dedí, iterum autem in consulátú decimo ex patrimonio 10 meo HS quadringenos congiári viritim pernumeraví, p368 § et consul 11 undecimum duodecim frúmentátiónes frúmento privatim coémpto 12 emensus sum, § et tribuniciá potestáte duodecimum quadringenós13 nummós tertium viritim dedí. Quae mea congiaria pervenerunt 14 ad hominum millia nunquam minus quinquáginta et ducenta. § 15 Tribuniciae potestátis duodevicensimum consul XII trecentís et 16 viginti millibus plebís urbánae sexagenós denariós viritim dedí. § 17 In colonis militum meórum consul quintum ex manibiís viritim 18 millia nummum singula dedi; acceperunt id triumphale congiárium 19 in colonís hominum circiter centum et viginti millia. § Consul ter20 tium decimum sexagenós denáriós plebeí, quae tum frúmentum p370 publicum 21 accipiebat, dedi; ea millia hominum paullo plúra quam ducenta fuerunt.	15 21 Δήμωι Ῥωμαίων κατ’ ἄνδρα ἑβδομήκοντα πέντε 22 δηνάρια ἑκάστωι ἠρίθμησα κατὰ δια23θήκην τοῦ πατρός μου, καὶ τῶι ἐμῶι ὀνόματι 24 ἐκ λαφύρων πολέμου ἀνὰ ἑκατὸν δηνάρια 1 πέμπτον ὑπατος ἔδωκα, § πάλιν τε δέκατον 2 ὑπατεύων ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπάρξεως ἀνὰ δηνά3ρια ἑκατὸν ἠρίθμησα, § καὶ ἑνδέκατον ὑπατος 4 δώδεκα σειτομετρήσεις ἐκ τοῦ ἐμοῦ βίου ἀπε5μέτρησα, § καὶ δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ δωδέ6κατον ἑκατὸν δηνάρια κατ’ ἄνδρα ἔδωκα· αἵτι7 νες ἐμαὶ ἐπιδόσεις οὐδέποτε ἧσσον ἣλθον εἰς 8 ἄνδρας μυριάδων εἴκοσι πέντε. Δημαρχικῆς ἐ9χουσίας ὀκτωκαιδέκατον, ὑπατος δωδέκατον 10 τριάκοντα τρισὶ μυριάσιν ὄχλου πολειτικοῦ ἑξή11κοντα δηνάρια κατ’ ἄνδρα ἔδωκα, καὶ ἀποίκοις στρα12τιωτῶν ἐμῶν πέμπτον ὑπατος ἐκ λαφύρων κατὰ 13 ἄνδρα ἀνὰ διακόσια πεντήκοντα δηνάρια ἔδωκα· 14 ἔλαβον ταύτην τὴν δωρεὰν ἐν ταῖς ἀποικίαις ἀν15θρώπων μυριάδες πλεῖον δώδεκα. Ὕπατος τρισ16καιδέκατον ἀνὰ ἑξηκοντα δηνάρια τῶι σειτομετρου17 μένωι δήμωι ἔδωκα· οὗτος ἀριθμὸς πλείων εἴκο18σι μυριάδων ὑπῆρχεν.	15 To the Roman plebs I paid out three hundred sesterces per man in accordance with the will of my father,53 and in my own name in my fifth consulship I gave four hundred sesterces apiece from the spoils of war;54 a second time, moreover, in my tenth consulship I paid out of my own patrimony four p369 hundred sesterces per man by way of bounty,55 and in my eleventh consulship I made twelve distributions of food from grain bought at my own expense,56 and in the twelfth year of my tribunician power I gave for the third time four hundred sesterces to each man.57 These largesses of mine reached a number of persons never less than two hundred and fifty thousand.58 In the eighteenth year of my tribunician power, as consul for the twelfth time, I gave to three hundred and twenty thousand of the city plebs sixty denarii apiece.59 In the colonies of my soldiers, as consul for the fifth time, I gave one thousand sesterces to each man from the spoils of war; about one hundred and twenty thousand men in the colonies received this triumphal largesse.60 When consul for the thirteenth time I gave sixty denarii apiece to the plebs who were then receiving p371 public grain; these were a little more than two hundred thousand persons.61
16 22 Pecuniam pro agrís, quós in consulátú meó quárto et posteá consulibus 23 M. Crasso et Cn. Lentulo augure adsignávi militibus, solví múnicipís. Ea 24 summa sestertium circiter sexsiens milliens fuit, quam pró Italicís 25 praedis numeravi, § et circiter bis milliens et sescentiens, quod pro agrís 26 próvincialibus solví. § Id primus et solus omnium, qui dedúxerunt 27 colonias militum in Italiá aut in provincís, ad memoriam aetátis 28 meae feci. Et postea Ti. Nerone et Cn. Pisone consulibus, § itemque C. Antistio 29 et D. Laelio cos., et C. Calvisio et L. Pasieno consulibus, et L. Lentulo et M. Messalla 30 consulibus, § et L. Cánínio § et Q. Fabricio p372 cos. militibus, quós eme31 riteis stipendís in sua municipia deduxi,27 praemia numerato 32 persolví, § quam in rem sestertium quater milliens libenter 33 impendi.	16 19 Χρῆματα ἐν ὑπατείαι τετάρτηι ἐμῆι καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα ὑ20πάτοις Μάρκωι Κράσσωι καὶ Ναίωι Λέντλωι αὔγου21ρι ταῖς πόλεσιν ἠριθμησα ὑπὲρ ἀγρῶν, οὓς ἐμέρισα 22 τοῖς στρατιώταις. Κεφαλαίου ἐγένοντο ἐν Ἰταλίαι 23 μὲν μύριαι πεντακισχείλιαι μυριάδες, τῶν δὲ ἐπαρ24χειτικῶν ἀγρῶν μυριάδες ἑξακισχίλιαι πεντηκόσιαι. 1 ºΤοῦτο πρῶτος καὶ μόνος ἁπάντων ἐπόησα τῶν καταγαγόντων ἀποικίας στρατιωτῶν ἐν Ἰτα3 ºλίαι ἢ ἐν ἐπαρχείαις μέχρι τῆς ἐμῆς ἡλικίας. § Καὶ 4 μετέπειτα Τιβερίωι Νέρωνι καὶ Ναίωι Πείσωνι ὑπά5τοις καὶ πάλιν Γαϊωι Ἀνθεστίωι καὶ Δέκμωι Λαι6λίωι ὑπάτοις καὶ Γαϊωι Καλουισίωι καὶ Λευκίωι 7 Πασσιήνωι ὑπάτοις καὶ Λευκίωι Λέντλωι καὶ Μάρ8κωι Μεσσάλαι ὑπάτοις κὰὶ Λευκίωι Κανινίωι καὶ 9 Κοίντωι Φαβρικίωι ὑπάτοις, στρατιώταις ἀπολυ10ομένοις, οὓς κατήγαγον εἰς τὰς ἰδίας πόλεις, φιλαν11θρώπου ὀνόματι ἔδωκα μυριάδας ἐγγὺς μυρίας.	16 To the municipal towns I paid money for the lands which I assigned to soldiers in my own fourth consulship62 and afterwards in the consulship of Marcus Crassus and Gnaeus Lentulus the augur.63 The sum which I paid for estates in Italy was about six hundred million sesterces, and the amount which I paid for lands in the provinces was about two hundred and sixty million.64 I was the first and only one to do this of all those who up to my time settled colonies of soldiers in Italy or in the provinces. And later, in the consulship of Tiberius Nero and Gnaeus Piso, likewise in the consulship of Gaius Antistius and Decimus Laelius, and of Gaius Calvisius and Lucius Pasienus, and of Lucius Lentulus and Marcus Messalla, and of Lucius Caninius and Quintus Fabricius, I paid cash gratuities to the p373 soldiers whom I settled in their own towns at the expiration of their service, and for this purpose I expended four hundred million sesterces as an act of grace.65
17 34 Quater pecuniá meá iuví aerárium, ita ut sestertium mílliens et 35 quingentiens ad eos quí praerant aerário detulerim. Et M. Lepido 36 et L. Arruntio cos. in aerarium militare, quod ex consilio meo 37 constitutum est, ex quo praemia darentur militibus, qui vicena 38 aut plura stipendia emeruissent, § HS milliens et septingenti39 ens ex patrimonio meo detuli. §	17 12 Τετράκις χρήμὰσιν ἐμοῖς ἀνέλαβον τὸ αἰράριον, εἰς ὃ 13 κατήνενκα χειλίας ἑπτακοσίας πεντήκοντα 14 μυριάδας. Καὶ Μάρκωι Λεπίδωι καὶ Λευκίωι Ἀρρουν15τίωι ὑπάτοις εἰς τὸ στρατιωτικὸν αἰράριον, ὃ τῆι 16 ἐμῆι γνώμηι κατέστη, ἵνα ἐξ αὐτοῦ αἱ δωρεαὶ εἰς17 έπειτα τοῖς ἐμοῖς στρατιώταις δίδωνται, οἳ εἴκο18σιν ἐνιαυτοὺς ἢ πλείονας ἐστρατεύσαντο, μυρι19άδας τετράκις χειλίας διακοσίας πεντήκοντα 20 ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπάρχεως κατήνενκα.	17 Four times I aided the public treasury with my own money, paying out in this manner to those in charge of the treasury one hundred and fifty million sesterces.66 And in the consulship of Marcus Lepidus and Lucius Arruntius I contributed one hundred and seventy million sesterces out of my own patrimony to the military treasury, which was established on my advice that from it gratuities might be paid to soldiers who had seen twenty or more years of service.67
18 40 Inde ab eo anno, quo Cn. et P. Lentuli consules fuerunt, cum deficerent 41 vectigalia, tum centum millibus hominum tum pluribus multo p374 fru42 mentarias et nummariás tesseras ex aere28 et patrimonio meo 43 dedi.	18 21 Ἀπ’ ἐκείνου τοῦ ἐνιαυτοῦ, ἐφ’ οὗ Ναῖος καὶ Πόπλιος 22 Λέντλοι ὑπατοι ἐγένοντο, ὅτε ὑπέλειπον αἱ δη23 μόσιαι πρόσοδοι, ἄλλοτε μὲν δέκα μυριάσιν, ἄλ24 λοτε δὲ πλείοσιν σειτικὰς καὶ ἀργυρικὰς συντάξεις 1 ἐκ τῆς ἐμῆς ὑπάρχεως ἔδωκα.	18 Beginning with the year in which Gnaeus and Publius Lentulus were consuls,68 whenever taxes were in arrears, I furnished from my own purse and my own patrimony tickets for grain and money, p375 sometimes to a hundred thousand persons, sometimes to many more.

The Editor's Notes:

Critical Notes:

27 remisi Mommsen.

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28 multo . . . aere Schmidt. Mommsen conjectured: inlato frumento vel ad nummarios tributus ex agro.

Explanatory Notes:

49 Gaius (born in 20 B.C.) and Lucius (born in 17 B.C.) the sons of Agrippa and Julia, the daughter of Augustus. They were adopted by their grandfather in 17 B.C. at the time when Agrippa was associated with Augustus in the tribunicia potestas, thus securing the succession. But Agrippa died 12 B.C., Lucius in A.D. 2, and Gaius in A.D. 4.

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50 In the year in which they assumed the toga virilis, Gaius in 5 B.C. and Lucius in 2 B.C. Augustus assumed the consulship in each of these years in order to introduce them to public life.

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51 Lucius died before reaching the consulship. Gaius was consul A.D. 1.

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52 As their adopted father was princeps senatus, so each of his adopted sons was called princeps iuventutis, or first among the young men in the class of knights. It seems to have been an honour rather than an official title.

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53 This first donation was in 44 B.C. The amount was $12.00, or £2, 8s. per man, distributed to at least 250,000 people.

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54 In 29 B.C., on the occasion of his triple triumph. The amount was about $16.00, or £3, 6s. per man.

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55 24 B.C., on his return from the war in Spain. The amount per man was the same as in 29 B.C.

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56 23 B.C.

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57 12 B.C., on the occasion of his assumption of the office of Pontifex Maximus.

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58 It will be noted that the number of the city plebs is here a quarter of a million. In the donation of 5 B.C. the number had reached 320,000. The donation of 2 B.C. is to those receiving public grain. That this number had been reduced to 200,000 is attested by Dio, LV.10.1.

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59 5 B.C., on the occasion of introducing Gaius to the forum. The amount per man is about $9.60, or about £2 apiece.

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60 29 B.C. The amount is about $40.000 or £8, 5s.

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61 2 B.C., on the occasion of introducing Lucius to the forum. $9.60 or £2 per man. The donation to the soldiers breaks the chronological narration of donations to the plebs. This donation therefore looks like a later addition. For a discussion of the problem see Introduction. The total of these donations amounts to something over $27,000,000 or about £5,550,000.

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62 30 B.C. After Actium he had sent back to Italy a detachment of veterans of his own army and that of Antony. These soldiers mutinied at Brundisium and he was obliged to return from Samos to settle this mutiny, by assigning to the oldest veterans towns in Italy which had favored Antony and by giving money to the rest. Those who were thus dispossessed were in part reimbursed by lands at Dyrrachium and at Philippi and in part by the moneys here referred to. See Dio, LI.3.4; Suet. Aug. 17.

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63 14 B.C.

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64 $24,000,000 (about £4,980,000), and $10,400,000 (£2,140,000) respectively.

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65 The years were 7, 6, 4, 3, 2 B.C. The amount is about $16,000,000 (£3,329,000).

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66 Two of these four occasions are known from other evidence. Dio Cassius, LIII.2, mentions that of 28 B.C. and a coin of 16 B.C. (cf. Eckhel, VII.105) has the inscription, "The Senate and the Roman people to Imperator Caesar because the roads have been paved with money which he contributed to the treasury." The amount is about $6,000,000 (£1,234,000). Up to 28 B.C. the treasury was in charge of the quaestors. From then to 23 B.C. it was in charge of two ex-praetors. From that time until the reign of Claudius two praetors had charge of it.

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67 Augustus founded the aerarium militare in A.D. 6. In addition to his own subvention, amounting to $6,809,000 (about £1,400,000), it was also supported by a five per cent tax on inheritance and a one per cent tax on sales. From 13 B.C. the length of service had been 12 years for praetorians and 16 for legionaries. It was now increased to 16 and 20 years respectively.

Thayer's Note: Today, a 5% estate tax and a 1% sales tax would be considered very light in most countries. In the United States the figures are in general about 3 to 6 times that much; in Europe, they are considerably higher, to the point that the authorities have been constrained to conceal the sales tax in a value-added tax (VAT) imposed on the merchant — so that it does not appear on sales slips, thus receding from the consumer's mind.

For further confirmation of this in ancient authors, see Cassius Dio, LV.25 (and my note); Plutarch, Ant. 58.1 (and my note); Appian, B. C. IV.34 (and my note); and in Late Antiquity too, Hodgkin, Italy and Her Invaders2, III.424.

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68 18 B.C.

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