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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)

p344 Part I

1 Rérum gestárum díví Augusti, quibus orbem terrarum ímperio populi Rom. subiécit, § et inpensarum, quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit, incísarum in duabus aheneís pílís, quae sunt Romae positae, exemplar subiectum.	1 Μεθηρμηνευμέναι ὑπεγράφησαν πράξεις τε καὶ δωρεαὶ Σεβαστοῦ θεοῦ, ἃς ἀπέλιπεν ἐπὶ Ῥώμης ἐνκεχαραγμένας χαλκαῖς στήλαις δυσί.	1 1 Below is a copy of the acts of the Deified Augustus by which he placed the whole world under the sovereignty of the Roman people, and of the amounts which he expended upon the state and the Roman people, as engraved upon two bronze columns which have been set up in Rome.1
1 Annós undéviginti natus exercitum priváto consilio et privatá impensá 2 comparávi, § per quem rem publicam dominatione factionis oppressam 3 in p346 libertátem vindicávi. Quas ob res1 senatus decretís honorificís in 4 ordinem suum me adlegit C. Pansa A. Hirtio consulibus, consula5 rem locum sententiae dicendae simul dans,2 et imperium mihi dedit. § 6 Rés publica ne quid detrimenti caperet, me pro praetore simul cum 7 consulibus providere iussit. § Populus autem eódem anno mé 8 ºconsulem, cum cos. uterque bello cecidisset, et trium virum reí publicae constituendae creavit.	1 Ἐτῶν δεκαεννέα ὢν τὸ στράτευμα ἐμῆι γνώμηι καὶ 2 ἐμοῖς ἀναλώμασιν ἡτοίμασα, δι’ οὗ τὰ κοινὰ πρά3γματα ἐκ τῆς τῶν συνομοσαμένων δουλήας 4 ἠλευθέρωσα. Ἐφ’ οἷς ἡ σύνκλητος ἐπαινέσασά 5 με ψηφίσμασι προκατέλεξε τῆι βουλῆι Γαϊωι Πάνσᾳ 6 Αὔλωι Ἱρτίωι ὑπάτοις, ἐν τῆι τάξει τῶν ὑπατικῶν 7 ἅμα τὸ συμβουλεύειν δοῦσα, ῥάβδους τ’ ἐμοὶ ἔδωκεν. 8 Περὶ τὰ δημόσια πράγματα μή τι βλαβῆι, ἐμοὶ με9 τὰ τῶν ὑπάτων προνοεῖν ἐπέτρεψεν ἀντὶ στρατηγοῦ 10 ὄντι. § Ὀδὲ δῆμος τῶι αὐτῶι ἐνιαυτῶι, ἀμφοτέρων 11 τῶν ὑπάτων πολέωι πεπτωκότων, ἐμὲ ὕπα12 τον ἀπέδειξεν καὶ τὴν τῶν τριῶν ἀνδρῶν ἔχον13 τα ἀρχὴν ἐπὶ τῆι καταστάσει τῶν δημοσίων πρα14 γμάτων εἵλατο.	At the age of nineteen,2 on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army3 by means of which I restored liberty4 to the republic, which p347 had been oppressed by the tyranny of a faction.5 For which service the senate, with complimentary resolutions, enrolled me in its order, in the consulship of Gaius Pansa and Aulus Hirtius, giving me at the same time consular precedence in voting; it also gave me the imperium.6 As propraetor it ordered me, along with the consuls, "to see that the republic suffered no harm." In the same year, moreover, as both consuls had fallen in war,7 the people elected me consul and a triumvir for settling the constitution.8
2 10 ºQuí parentem meum interfecerunt, eós in exilium expulí iudiciís legi11 timís ultus eórum facinus, § et posteá bellum inferentís reí publicae 12 víci bis acie.	2 15 Τοὺς τὸν πατέρα τὸν ἐμὸν φονεύσαντας ἐξώρισα κρί16 σεσιν ἐνδίκοις τειμωρησάμενος αὐτῶν τὸ 17 ἀσέβημα καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα αὐτοὺς πόλεμον ἐ18 πιφέροντας τῆι πατρίδι δὶς ἐνείκησα παρατάξει.	2 Those who slew my father9 I drove into exile, punishing their deed by due process of law,10 and afterwards when they waged war upon the republic I twice11 defeated them in battle.
p348 3 13 Bella terra et mari civilia externaque tóto in orbe terrarum suscepi3 14 victorque omnibus veniam petentibus4 cívibus pepercí. § Externas 15 gentés, quibus túto ignosci potuit, conserváre quam excídere malui. § 16 Míllia civium Rómanorum adacta sacrámento meo fuerunt circiter quingen17 ta. § Ex quibus dedúxi in coloniás aut remísi in municipia sua stipendis emeri18 tis millia aliquanto plura quam trecenta et iís omnibus agrós adsignavi5 19 aut pecuniam pro praemis militiae6 dedí. § Naves cépi sescentas praeter 20 eás, si quae minóres quam triremes fuerunt. §	3 19 Πολέμους καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλασσαν ἐμφυ20 λίους καὶ ἐξωτικοὺς ἐν ὅληι τῆι οἰκουμένηι πολ21 λοὺς ἀνεδεξάμην, νεικήσας τε πάντων ἐφεισάμην 22 τῶν περιόντων πολειτῶν. Τὰ ἔθνη, οἷς ἀσφαλὲς ἦν συν23 γνώμην ἔχειν, ἔσωσα μᾶλλον ἢ ἐξέκοψα. § Μυριάδες 1 Ῥωμαίων στρατεύσασαι ὑπὸ τὸν ὅρκον τὸν ἐμον 2 ἐγένοντο ἐνγὺς πεντήκοντα· ἐξ ὧν κατήγαγον εἰς 3 τὰς ἀποικίας ἢ ἀπέπεμψα εἰς τὰς ἰδίας πόλεις ἐκ4λυομένας μυριάδας πολλῶι πλείους ἢ τριάκοντα, 5 καὶ πάσαις αὐταῖς ἢ ἀγροὺς ἐμέρισα ἢ χρήματα τῆς 6 στρατείας δωρεὰν ἔδωκα. Ναῦς δὲ . . . εἷλον ἑξα7κοσίας πλὴν τούτων, εἴ τινες ἥσσονες ἐγένοντο ἢ 8 τριήρεις.	p349 3 Wars, both civil and foreign, I undertook throughout the world, on sea and land, and when victorious I spared all citizens who sued for pardon.12 The foreign nations which could with safety be pardoned I preferred to save rather than to destroy. The number of Roman citizens who bound themselves to me by military oath was about 500,000. Of these I settled in colonies or sent back into their own towns, after their term of service, something more than 300,000, and to all I assigned lands, or gave money as a reward for military service.13 I captured six hundred ships,14 over and above those which were smaller than triremes.
4 21 Bis ováns triumphavi, tris egi curulís triumphós p350 et appellátus sum viciens 22 semel imperátor. Cum autem7 plúris triumphos mihi senatus decrevisset, 23 iis supersedi. § Laurum de fascibus8 deposuí § in Capitolio votis, quae 24 quóque bello nuncupaveram, solutís. § Ob res á me aut per legatos 25 meós auspicís meis terra marique prospere gestás quinquagiens et quin26 quiens decrevit senátus supplicandum esse dís immortalibus. Dies autem, 27 per quós ex senátús consulto supplicátum est, fuere DCCCLXXXX. In triumphis 28 meis ducti sunt ante currum meum regés aut regum liberi novem. Consul 29 fueram terdeciens, cum scribebam p352 haec, et agebam9 septimum et trigensimum annum 30 tribuniciae potestatis.31	4 9 Δὶς ἐπὶ κέλητος ἐθριάμβευσα, τρὶς ἐφ’ ἅρματος. Εἰκο10σάκις καὶ ἅπαξ προσηγορεύθην αὐτοκράτωρ. Τῆς 11 δὲ συνκλήτου ἐμοὶ πλείους θριάμβους ψηφισσαμέ12νης, αὐτῶν ἀπηλλάγην (?) καὶ ἀπὸ τῶν ῥάβδων τὴν δάφνην 13 κατεθέμην ἐν τῶι Καπιτωλίωι, τὰς εὐχάς, ἅς ἐν ἑκάσ14 τωι τῶι πολέμωι ἐποιησάμην, ἀποδούς. Διὰ τὰ πράγμα15τα, ἃ ἢ αὺτὸς ἢ διὰ τῶν πρεσβευτῶν τῶν ἐμῶν αἰσίοις 16 οἰωνοῖς καὶ κατὰ γῆν καὶ κατὰ θάλατταν κατώρθω17σα, πεντηκοντάκις καὶ πεντάκις ἐψηφίσατο ἡ 18 σύνκλητος θεοῖς δεῖν θύεσθαι. Ἡμέραι οὖν α19ὗται ἐκ συνκλήτου δόγματος ἐγένοντο ὀκτακόσιαι ἐνενή20 κοντα. Ἐν τοῖς ἐμοῖς θριάμβοις πρὸ τοῦ ἐμοῦ ἅρ21ματος βασιλεῖς ἢ βασιλέων παῖδες παρήχθησαν 22 ἐννέα. Ὑπάτευον τρὶς καὶ δέκατον, ὅτε ταῦτα ἔγραφον, 23 καὶ ἤμην τριακοστὸν καὶ ἕβδομον δημαρχικῆς 24 ἐξουσίας.	4 Twice I triumphed with an ovation,15 thrice I p351 celebrated curule triumphs,16 and was saluted as imperator twenty-one times.17 Although the Senate decreed me additional triumphs I set them aside. When I had performed the vows which I had undertaken in each war I deposited upon the Capitol the laurels which adorned my fasces.18 For successful operations on land and sea, conducted either by myself or by my lieutenants under my auspices, the senate on fifty-five occasions decreed that thanks should be rendered to the immortal gods. The days on which such thanks were rendered by decree of the senate numbered 890. In my triumphs there were led before my chariot nine kings or children of kings.19 At the time of writing these words I had been thirteen p353 times consul, and was in the thirty-seventh year of my tribunician power.20
5 Dictaturam et apsenti et praesenti a populo et senatu Romano mihi oblatam10 32 M. Marcello et L. Arruntio consulibus non accepi. Non recusavi in summa 33 frumenti penuria curationem annonae, quam ita administravi, ut intra 34 paucos dies11 metu et periclo praesenti populum universum meis im35 pensis liberarem. § Consulatum tum datum annuum et perpetuum non 36 accepi.	5 1 Αὐτεξούσιόν μοι ἀρχὴν καὶ ἀπόντι καὶ παρόντι 2 διδομένην ὑπό τε τοῦ δήμου καὶ τῆς συνκλήτου 3 ºMάρκωι Μαρκέλλωι καὶ Λευκίωι Ἀρρουντίωι ὑπάτοις 5 ºοὐκ ἐδεξάμην. § Οὐ παρῃτησάμην ἐν τῆι μεγίστηι6 τοῦ σείτου σπάνει τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τῆς ἀγορᾶς, ἣν οὑ7 τως ἐπετήδευσα, ὥστ’ ἐν ὀλίγαις ἡμέραις τοῦ παρόντος 8 φόβου καὶ κινδύνου ταῖς ἐμαῖς δαπάναις τὸν δῆμον 9 ἐλευθερῶσαι. Ὑπατείαν τέ μοι τότε διδομένην κὶ ἐ10 νιαύσιον καὶ διὰ βίου οὐκ ἐδεξάμην.	5 The dictatorship21 offered me by the people and the Roman Senate, in my absence and later when present, in the consulship of Marcus Marcellus and Lucius Arruntius22 I did not accept. I did not decline at a time of the greatest scarcity of grain the charge of the grain-supply, which I so administered that, within a few days, I freed the entire people, at my own expense, from the fear and danger in which they were.23 The consulship, either yearly or for life, then offered me I did not accept.
6 37 Consulibus M. Vinucio et Q. Lucretio et postea P. et Cn. Lentulis et tertium 38 Paullo Fabio Maximo p354 et Q. Tuberone senatu populoque Romano consen39 tientibus. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .	6 11 Ὑπάτοις Μάρκωι Οὐινουκίωι καὶ Κοίντωι Λουκρητίωι 12 καὶ μετὰ ταῦτα Ποπλίωι καὶ Ναίωι Λέντλοις καὶ 13 τρίτον Παύλλωι Φαβίωι Μαξίμωι καὶ Κοίντωι Του14βέρωνι τῆς τε συνκλήτου καὶ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ 15 ºῬωμαίων ὁμολογούντων, ἵνα ἐπιμελητὴς τῶν τε νόμων καὶ τῶν τρόπων ἐπὶ τῆι μεγίστηι 17 ºἐξουσίαι μόνος χειροτονηθῶι, ἀρχὴν οὐδε18μίαν παρὰ τὰ πάτρια ἔθη διδομένην ἀνεδε19ξάμην· ἃ δὲ τότε δι’ ἐμοῦ ἡ σύνκλητος οἰ20κονομεῖσθαι ἐβούλετο, τῆς δημαρχικῆς ἐξου21 σίας ὢν ἐτέλεσα. Καὶ ταύτης αὐτῆς τῆς ἀρχῆς 22 συνάρχοντα αὐτὸς ἀπὸ τῆς συνκλήτου πεντάκις αἰτήσας ἔλαβον.	6 In the consulship of Marcus Vinucius and Quintus Lucretius,24 and afterwards in that of Publius and Gnaeus Lentulus,25 and a third time in that of Paullus Fabius Maximus and Quintus Tubero,26 p355 when the Senate and the Roman people unanimously agreed that I should be elected overseer of laws and morals, without a colleague and with the fullest power, I refused to accept any power offered me which was contrary to the traditions of our ancestors.27 Those things which at that time the senate wished me to administer I carried out by virtue of my tribunician power. And even in this office I five times received from the senate a colleague at my own request.28
7 43 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .12 44 Princeps senatus fui usque ad eum diem, quo scripseram haec, 45 per annos quadraginta. Pontifex maximus, p356 augur, quindecimvirum sacris faciundis, 46 septemvirum epulonum, frater arvalis, sodalis Titius, fetialis fuí.	7 1 Τριῶν ἀνδρῶν ἐγενόμην δημοσίων πραγμάτων 2 κατορθωτὴς συνεχέσιν ἔτεσιν δέκα. Πρῶτον 3 ἀξιώματος τόπον ἔσχον τῆς συνκλήτου ἄχρι 4 ταύτης τῆς ἡμέρας, ἧς ταῦτα ἔγραφον, ἐπὶ ἔτη τεσ5σαράκοντα. § Ἀρχιερεύς, § αὔγουρ, § τῶν δεκαπέντε ἀν6δρῶν τῶν ἱεροποιῶν, τῶν ἑπτὰ ἀνδρῶν ἱεροποιῶν, § ἀδελφὸς ἀρουᾶλις, § ἑταῖρος Τίτιος, § φητιᾶλις.	7 For ten years in succession I was one of the triumvirs for the re-establishment of the constitution.29 To the day of writing this I have been princeps senatus30 for forty years. I have been pontifex maximus, augur, a member of the fifteen p357 commissioners for performing sacred rites, one of the seven for sacred feasts, an arval brother, a sodalis Titius, a fetial priest.31

The Editor's Notes:

Critical Notes:

1 Quas ob res Wölfflin, Ob quae Mommsen, Propter quae Bormann.

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2 simul dans sententiae ferendae et imperium Mommsen.

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3 suscepi Mommsen, saepe gessi Bormann.

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4 superstitibus Mommsen.

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5 adsignavi Bormann, a me emptos Mommsen.

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6 praemis militiae Bergk and Bormann, praediis a me Mommsen.

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7 deinde Mommsen.

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8 laurum de fascibus Wehofer, Item saepe laurus Mommsen.

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9 et agebam Mommsen, eramque Bergk.

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10 a populo . . . oblatam Wölfflin, mihi datam a populo et senatu Mommsen.

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11 intra paucos dies Wölfflin and Seeck, paucis diebus Mommsen.

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12 The substance of the lacuna in the Latin text is supplied by the Greek, supplemented by the Greek text of the Fragment of Apollonia.

Explanatory Notes:

1 The title Res Gestae Divi Augusti is that assigned by Mommsen.

The superscription, which was engraved in large letters across the top of the first three columns of the Mon. Anc., was of course not by Augustus. It was adapted, as is indicated by the words incisarum . . . exemplar subiectum, from the superscription provided by Tiberius, or some one acting under his orders, for the bronze pillars before (p345)the Mausoleum of Augustus at Rome. Its original form on that monument was probably: Res gestae divi Augusti, quibus orbem terrarum imperio populi Romani subiecit, et impensae quas in rem publicam populumque Romanum fecit.

The Greek superscription reads: "Below is a translation of the acts and donations of the Deified Augustus as left by him inscribed on two bronze columns at Rome."

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2 Octavian was nineteen on September 23, 44 B.C.

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3 During October, by offering a bounty of 500 denarii, he induced Caesar's veterans at Casilinum and Calatia to enlist, and in November the legions named Martia and Quarta repudiated Antony and went over to him. This activity of Octavian, on his own initiative, was ratified by the Senate on December 20, on the motion of Cicero.

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4 In the battle of Mutina, April 43. Augustus may also have had Philippi in mind.

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5 By "faction" he means Antony, whom he never mentions by name.

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6 On January 2, 43 B.C., the Senate decreed that Octavian should be classed as a quaestorius (Dio, XLVI.29, 41), should be a member of the Senate (Livy, Epit. cxviii), should have the consularia ornamenta, and for that reason should give his opinion along with the consuls (App. B. C. III.51); he was also given the rank of propraetor with imperium, i.e. the constitutional right to command soldiers.

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7 Pansa died of his wounds, and Hirtius was killed in action in the operations about Mutina.

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8 Octavian became consul August 19, 43 B.C., after marching his army from Cisalpine Gaul to intimidate the Senate. On November the appointment of Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus as triumvirs was brought about by their arrival in the city with armed forces.

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9 Julius Caesar.

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10 By the lex Pedia.

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11 The two battles at Philippi.

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12 He is referring in particular to the clemency which he showed after the battle of Actium, for which he received a crown of oak leaves in 27 B.C. ob cives servatos.

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13 Of the 300,000 soldiers who received honourable dismissal from the service, 120,000 had been settled in colonies by the year 29 B.C. (see chap. 15); the remaining 180,000 must consequently have been mustered out in the succeeding 42 years of his reign. They were in service at the death of Augustus 25 legions (Tac. Ann. IV.5), or about 150,000 men, exclusive of the praetorian and urban cohorts. Those who were killed in battle or died in service therefore numbered about 50,000.

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14 From Sextus Pompeius at Mylae 30 ships (Appian v.108), and at Naulochus 283 (ib. 108); from Antony at Actium 300 (Plutarch, Ant. 68).

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15 "Bis ovans ingressus est urbem, post Philippense (40 B.C.) et rursus post Siculum bellum" (Nov. 13, 36 B.C.), Suet. Aug. 22. An ovation was a minor triumph. In this the conqueror entered the city on foot or on horseback instead of in the four-horse chariot, as in the case of the curule triumph.

Thayer's Note: For a comprehensive treatment of the ovation, see the article Ovatio in Smith's Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities.

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16 "Curulis triumphos tris egit Delmaticum, Actiacum, Alexandrinum continuo triduo omnes" (Aug. 13, 14, 15 of the year 29), Suet. Aug. 22. "Tres triumphos egit, unum ex Illyrico, alterum ex Achaica victoria, tertium de Cleopatra" (Liv. Epit. 133).

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17 These acclamations as imperator, for military successes, must not be confused with the title of imperator prefixed to the name of Augustus and succeeding emperors. Mommsen gives the list, Res gestae Divi Augusti, p11.

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18 Under the Republic the consul or praetor when starting on an expedition took his vows on the Capital; if acclaimed imperator by his troops he decked his fasces with laurel, and on his return deposited the wreath upon the Capitol.

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19 In the three triumphs of the year 29 B.C. the following names are known: Alexander of Emesa, Adiatorix the Galatian prince with his wife and sons, and Alexander and Cleopatra, children of Cleopatra, whose statue was borne in the procession of the Egyptian triumph (Gardthausen, Aug. i.473).

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20 Augustus held his thirteenth consulship in 2 B.C. He held his thirty-seventh tribunicia potestas in A.D. 14.

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21 Dio (LIV.1.4)º says in this connexion: "As for the dictatorship, however, he did not accept the office, but went so far as to rend his garments when he found himself unable to restrain the people in any other way either by argument or enemy; for, since he was superior to dictators in the power and honours he already possessed, he properly guarded against the jealousy and hatred which the title would arouse" (Cary's trans.). See also Vell. II.89.5.

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22 22 B.C.

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23 According to Dio (liv.1) the offer of the dictatorship and the request that Augustus become commissioner of the grain-supply were made at the same time. The crisis was caused by the conjunction of an overflow of the Tiber, a pestilence which interfered with agriculture in Italy, and consequent famine.

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24 19 B.C.

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25 18 B.C.

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26 11 B.C.

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27 There seems to be a conflict here between the statement of Augustus and that of Suetonius (Aug. 27), who states that he received the morum legumque regimen in perpetuum, and of Dio (LIV.10.5) that "he accepted an election . . . to the position of supervisor of morals for five years." It is probable that the two writers had in mind the decrees of the (p355)Senate offering him the title of praefectus moribus and his subsequent legislation, while Augustus has in mind his refusal of a new and extraordinary title, although he carried out the intent by virtue of his tribunician power.

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28 Agrippa for five years in 18 B.C., and again for five years in 13 B.C., Tiberius for five years in 12 B.C., after the death of Agrippa, and again for five years in 6 B.C. His tribunate was apparently twice extended after that, each time for a period of ten years.

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29 Neither the words "ten years" or "in succession" are quite exact. The triumvirate began November 27, 43 B.C. The first quinquennium should have ended at the latest December 31, 38 B.C. The triumvirs functioned de facto, but not de iure, during the year 37. The formal five-year renewal began January 1, 36 B.C., and should have ended December 31, 32. Their de facto tenure was therefore eleven years; their de iure tenure was ten, but was not consecutive. See Gardthausen, ii.175.

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30 Augustus became princeps senatus in 28 B.C. In the summer of A.D. 14 he had held the title for forty years not counting fractions. By it he became the ranking Senator with the right of speaking first in debate.

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31 Augustus became pontifex maximus in 12 B.C., quindecimvir between 37 and 34, augur in 41 or 40, septemvir epulonum before 15, fetialis in 32. It is not known when he became a frater arvalis, or a sodalis Titius. The last three colleges had fallen into abeyance in the last days of the republic and were apparently revived by Augustus.

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