Res Gestae Divi Augusti: Text, Translation, and Commentary

This is the best modern translation and commentary on Augustus' Res Gestae. Some emendations are well argued and reasonable advances on the previous critical editions, though there is no critical apparatus in the book. The presence of both the original Latin and Greek texts, along with the English translation, also will be of great use to the non-expert's rusty or poor Latin and ancient Greek.Those wishing to know more about the self-presentation of the Augustan regime also will be delighted by the useful notes, commentary, and other pieces of context which Cooley has put together. A well-apportioned introduction also gives welcome context for the texts, their survival, their original locations, and other philological concerns. Most especially there is the comparison between the Latin and Greek texts: viz the Latin text was intended much more for the Roman audience with the Greek text translated specifically for the purpose of reproducing Aug RG for a provincial audience.The book is very useful for the interested layman, student, and researcher.

I cannot compete with Eustathios's fine review. I merely wish to register my enthusiasm for this presentation of the Res Gestae and my gratitude to Dr. Cooley for preparing such a fine volume. Her commentary turns the text of the inscription (and as a text that comes essentially from the hand of the greatest figure of the early empire, what text is more important to the study of the Augustan Age itself?) into a richly textured tour of the achievements and activities for which Octavian/Augustus most desired to be remembered. The discussion of the physical location of the extant inscriptions and their significance is an excellent prelude to the work; the choice use of numismatic illustrations an excellent ancient complement to the commentary. This is a "text, translation, and commentary" worth reading in its entirety.

This is a review of Alison E. Cooley's commentary on the Res Gestae of Augustus, published by the Cambridge University Press. The Res Gestae is a monumental inscription originally erected in Rome by the Emperor Augustus to recount his major achievements as a leader and statesman. The original inscription is lost, but more or less complete copies of it in Latin and in a Greek translation survive from several temples in Asia Minor. These copies are the basis of the texts presented in this edition, which includes both the Latin and Greek texts on facing pages. A very literal English translation is provided underneath both the Latin and the Greek text because (as the commentator persuasively shows) the Greek translator frequently takes liberties with the Latin in order to make the Res Gestae more comprehensible and palatable to its provincial, culturally non-Roman audience. In both languages, the Res Gestae consists of an introductory heading, 35 sections, and an appendix, each ranging in length from a sentence up to a large paragraph. The text and translation occupy just over 40 pages in this edition, and these are accompanied by a 55 page introduction, just under 180 pages of notes, a number of maps and illustrations, a thorough 20 page bibliography, and several indexes.The Res Gestae presents Augustus's own spin on his involvement in Roman politics from the time of his entry into public life after the death of Julius Caesar to the final years of his reign. The primary focus of both the introduction and the notes is to provide the background information necessary for the reader to understand the claims Augustus makes about himself and, where possible, to test the validity of these claims. Virtually every statement Augustus makes is accorded its own detailed note. Augustus's claims are weighed against the evidence provided by other ancient sources (literary, epigraphical, and numismatic), and the resulting conclusions about the extent of Augustus's distortion of his own record are presented forcefully and lucidly. In addition to illuminating these individual claims, the introduction and the notes also devote a substantial amount of space to discussing broader issues such as Augustus's purpose in erecting the inscription, the potential literary/epigraphical models for the Res Gestae, the discovery and archaeological investigation of the copies in Asia Minor, and the reception of the Res Gestae in fascist Italy. The commentator presents a fair amount of her own original analytical work on the Res Gestae and also includes extensive citations from the full range of contemporary scholarship on this inscription, making this edition essential reading for anyone with a serious research interest in the Res Gestae.As comprehensive a treatment as this commentary provides, there are aspects of the presentation and interpretation of the Res Gestae that the commentator has chosen not to engage with in this edition. There is no apparatus criticus, and the text has been formatted on the page with modern punctuation and orthography, with brackets to indicate textual emendations and restorations. Readers looking for a more epigraphical treatment of the inscription are directed to consult John Scheid's recent critical edition. This commentary also does not provide notes that help with grammar, syntax, or vocabulary, so student-readers looking for an aid to construing the Latin text would be better served by Brunt and Moore's Latin-English edition or Cynthia Damon's Bryn Mawr commentary.All in all, this is an excellent commentary. The amount of detail provided is immense, and although this book is clearly pitched to a more scholarly audience, it is written in such accessible prose and with such careful concern to not take the reader's knowledge of any name or key term for granted, that readers at almost any stage of studying Roman history and culture should be able to take a great deal of profit from reading this book.

An indispensable cornerstone of history.Varus, you owe Augustus three legions.Thurinus...you played the part well *Applaus*