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Student 2: High Merit
Latin AS 3.4B
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(1) One of the core beliefs of the Roman people, one that defined their national identity and
coloured the way they viewed the world, was their belief in their ancestry. Romans believed that
they were descended from Trojans through the lineage of Rome’s founder, Romulus, whose
ancestor Iulus was the son of Aeneas, the famous Trojan Hero. So the Romans believed that they
came from the noble and ancient Trojan stock, renowned for their bravery when defending Troy
during the 10-year siege by the Greeks and revered throughout the world for the same. This feeling
was noted often by Virgil. In The Aeneid he refers to the Roman emperor Augustus as “a Trojan
Caesar … Augustus, a Julius, his name descended from the great Iulus” (Book I, lines 286,288.) Virgil
also refers to this in the Georgics, when he writes that “our blood’s atoned, long enough, for
Laomedon’s perjuries at Troy” ( lines 501-502). Identifying with the Trojans gave the Romans a sense
of importance and of being favoured by the gods which strongly shaped their national identity.
The Romans believed that the gods favoured them and it was for this reason that they were slowly
but steadily conquering the world. The initial reason for supposing divine favour was the ancestry of
the Romans. Rome was founded by Romulus, who was fathered by the god Mars. On Romulus’
mother’s side his ancestry could be traced back to Iulus, son of the famous Trojan, Aeneas. Aeneas’
mother was said to be the goddess Venus. Because of the divine ancestry of the city’s founding
father Romans felt that these two divinities, Mars and Venus, would be supporting Rome and
helping to further her cause. However, the supposed divine favour of Rome wasn’t limited to these
two figures – the Romans felt that the whole kingdom of Olympus was supporting them. This is
shown in The Aeneid, when Jupiter prophesies about Rome to Venus, telling her of the end of the
civil wars (Book I, line 291,(4) “Aspera tum positis mitescent saecula bellis”) and of Augustus (Book I,
line 286,288, “Nascetur pulchra Troianus origine Caesar … Iulius”). The fact that the King of the Gods
himself made favourable prophesies about the fate of the Roman Empire assures the Romans that
all of the gods are on their side. Horace reflects this when, in his Odes, he addresses the god
Mercury, [Odes I, lines 45-46, “serus in caelum redeas diuque laetus intersis populo Quirini”]. By
referring to the Romans as the “people of Quirinus” Horace shows his belief in the descent of
Romans from Romulus (also known as Quirinus) and thus their divine heritage and favour.
(1)The Roman’s belief in their destiny to conquer the world was becoming a reality by the first
century AD. During his reign Augustus expanded the empire dramatically, his notable conquests
being Hispania and expansions into Germania and Africa. Again this is referenced in Book VI of The
Aeneid, when Anchises tells Aeneas that Augustus will “extend the empire beyond the Libyans and
the Indians” [lines 794-795]. The fruition of this prophecy made the Romans believe more fervently
in the other prophecies about the empire and their favoured status in the world. They believed that
it was through the god’s favour that they had been so successful in conquests and in the recent civil
wars, notably against Mark Antony and Cleopatra when Augustus delivered a crushing defeat at the
Battle of Actium; Virgil draws on this belief in The Aeneid, when he writes that “Apollo of Actium sees
from above and bends his bow: at this all Egypt, and India, all the Arabs and Sabaeans turn and flee”
[Book VIII, line 704-706 ]
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The emperor Augustus played upon the very religious culture of the Romans when crafting his
image. Firstly, as the adoptive son of the deified Julius Caesar, from the start he was considered a
semi-divine figure as the son of a god – Virgil refers to him as [“Augustus Caesar, divi genus”.
The Aeneid, Book VI, line 792,]. Augustus used this as the basis of his image, which was strongly
religious. He made himself Pontifex Maximus (Chief Priest) in 13BC and worked hard to portray
himself to the masses as a godly and righteous person. This was a difficult task as the bloodshed of
the civil wars had tarnished his reputation. However he continued throughout his reign to restore
damaged temples and build new temples and other religious structures, most famously the Temple
of Caesar, the Temple of Mars Ultor (part of the Augustan forum) and the Ara Pacis (Altar of Peace).
The Ara Pacis goes even further as it is lavishly decorated with Roman scenes, including showing the
Emperor and his family in sacrificing to the gods. Horace too writes in his Odes of how Augustus
had ascended to divinity in the eyes of the common man. The idea that a god was directly ruling
them was hugely popular with the intensely religious Romans. After 100 years of brutal civil war it
was very comforting for them to think that the gods cared about them enough to send one of their
own to govern them, protect them and bring them peace and prosperity.
Many Romans believed that Augustus was predestined to bring peace to the world. This belief was
reinforced after his triumph against Mark Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC,
which brought an end to a century of civil wars. Virgil uses the idea of the Battle of Actium (and
Augustus’ role in it) being predestined in Book VIII of The Aeneid, when the battle is described in a
scene on Aeneas’ shield. Virgil writes that “Augustus Caesar stands on the high stern, leading the
Italians to the conflict” [Lines 678-679] and late writes of the Roman triumph as “all Egypt, and India,
all the Arabs and Sabaeans turn and flee” [Lines 705-706]. The fact that this great event was
depicted on the shield forged by the god Vulcan for the great Trojan hero Aeneas, the ancestor of
the Romans, reinforced the Roman’s belief that Augustus’ victories in the civil wars and his end to
the wars were destiny. Of course, Augustus’ destiny to bring lasting peace to the Roman Empire was
also foretold in Book VI of The Aeneid, in the famous lines (3)“This is the man, this is him, whom you
so often hear promised you, Augustus Caesar, son of the Deified, who will make a Golden Age again
in the fields where Saturn once reigned” [Lines 791-794 ]. Augustus used the idea of his
predestination to bring peace as propaganda, and built his monument, the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar
of Augustan Peace), a great monument to the peace and prosperity that the Romans were enjoying
under his rule, reinforcing, in the scenes portrayed on the altar and even in the name itself, that the
peace of the Romans was due to his leadership – the Pax Romana was remodelled into the Pax
Augusta.
(2)The Roman national identity was founded on the idea of their descent from the famous Trojans
and their divine heritage. They believed that Rome was favoured by the gods for peace and
prosperity, and that it was the destiny of the Roman people to conquer the world and bring order
and peace to the “barbarians” who lived outside their empire. When Augustus became emperor he
drew upon these beliefs and integrated himself into them in order to put the stain of the civil war
behind him. He created an image for himself as a pious, religious ruler, which pleased the intensely
religious Roman masses. Drawing upon his link to the deified Julius Caesar, his adoptive father, he
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made himself into a divine figure, which was again popular with the Romans: they were comforted
to think that they were so favoured by the gods that one would deign to descend to earth and rule
over them. With the aid of works such as Virgil’s Aeneid Augustus even persuaded the masses that
he was destined to rule them and to return them the mythical, utopian Saturnian age, when the
world would be at peace and Rome would prosper, an age known as the Pax Augusta, or Age of
Augustan Peace. (2) Augustus’ image as protector of Roman religion, divine being and the saviour
destined to put an end to the misery and bloodshed of 100 years of civil wars in order to usher in a
golden age was a massive part of the Roman’s collective psyche and shaped their national identity
during his reign and even after his death, making Augustus one of the most successful propagandists
of all time and arguably the most influential person the Roman world ever saw.
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