Augustus and the Sibylline Books: Prophecy and Power

Augustus and the Roman Year: Calendar Reform as Power

In 46 BCE, Julius Caesar introduced the Julian calendar — a solar system of 365 days with a leap year. But it fell to his adopted son Augustus to fix its drift and embed it as a tool of imperial authority. This episode explores how Augustus reformed the calendar after his priestly college misapplied the leap-year rule, why he renamed the month Sextilis to August, and how he used the fasti (official calendar) to insert new festivals honoring the domus Augusta and the Pax Romana. We discuss the pre-Julian lunar calendar of the pontifex maximus, the role of the Vestal Virgins in marking time, and the political messages encoded in the fasti discovered at Praeneste and Antium. Lucas and Luna also examine how the Egyptian solar calendar influenced the reform, and how Augustus presented his own birthday and key military victories as sacred turning points in the Roman year. A revealing look at how controlling time meant controlling memory. #Augustus #RomanCalendar #JulianCalendar #CalendarReform #FastiPraenestini #FastiAntiates #Sosigenes #PaxRomana #PontifexMaximus #VestalVirgins #DomusAugusta #RomanReligion #Timekeeping #RomanHistory #AncientRome #History #FexingoHistory #Mediterranean Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Augustus and the Sibylline Books: Prophecy and Power

In this episode of Augustus Caesar: The First Emperor of Rome, Lucas and Luna explore how Augustus used the ancient Sibylline Books to legitimize his rule and shape Roman religion. They discuss the legendary story of the Cumaean Sibyl selling the books to Tarquinius Priscus, the role of the quindecimviri sacris faciundis in consulting them, and how Augustus moved the books from the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus to the Temple of Apollo Palatinus. The episode also covers Augustus's own Sibylline oracle at Tibur, the destruction of the books in 83 BCE, and the controversial collection of new prophecies that followed. Along the way, they touch on Virgil's Fourth Eclogue and its messianic overtones. A light donation segment ties the value of history to listener support. #AugustusCaesar #SibyllineBooks #CumaeanSibyl #RomanReligion #quindecimviri #TempleOfApolloPalatinus #TarquiniusPriscus #Virgil #FourthEclogue #Tibur #PaxRomana #RomanHistory #Prophecy #Power #FexingoHistory #History #AncientRome #Emperor Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Augustus and the Roman Legions' Pay and Pensions

In this episode, Lucas and Luna dive into the financial backbone of Augustus's professional army. How did the first emperor pay his 300,000 legionaries, and what happened when they retired? Learn about the aerarium militare, the military treasury Augustus founded in 6 CE, funded by a 5% inheritance tax and a 1% sales tax. Discover the centurion's salary ladder — from 3,600 sesterces for a centurion to 60,000 for a primus pilus — and how a common legionary's 900 sesterces a year compared to civilian laborers. We explore the donativum, the cash bonus paid from the emperor's personal fortune, and the land grants that caused friction with Italian towns. The episode also covers the financial crisis of 33 CE under Tiberius, when legionary pensions nearly collapsed, and the later reforms of Domitian that raised pay permanently. Finally, we touch on the retirement package: a discharge bonus of 12,000 sesterces or a plot of land, plus exemption from taxes and forced labor. A revealing look at the cold, hard cash that kept the Roman empire running. #Augustus #RomanLegions #AerariumMilitare #LegionaryPay #PaxRomana #Donativum #PrimusPilus #Centurion #InheritanceTax #VeteranPensions #RomanArmy #MilitaryFinance #Tiberius #Domitian #RomanEmpire #AncientHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Augustus and the Secular Games Reborn in 17 BCE

In 17 BCE, Augustus revived the ancient Ludi Saeculares, a centurial festival that had nearly slipped from memory. Lucas and Luna explore the religious vision behind the Secular Games: how Augustus and the quindecimviri sacris faciundis orchestrated three nights of sacrifices to the Moirae, Ilithyiae, and Tellus on the Campus Martius and at the Tarentum. They unpack the Carmen Saeculare composed by Horace, the role of the Sibylline Books, and the political symbolism of the festival as a marker of a new Golden Age. Why did Augustus make the secular games his own, and how did the event's timing and rituals assert the dawn of the Pax Romana? This episode also looks at the Acta of the Secular Games, the stone record that preserves the official schedule, and what the fires, hymns, and theatrical shows reveal about Augustan religion and propaganda. #Augustus #LudiSaeculares #SecularGames #Horace #CampusMartius #Tarentum #Moirae #Ilithyiae #Tellus #CarmenSaeculare #Quindecimviri #SibyllineBooks #PaxRomana #AncientRome #RomanReligion #RomanHistory #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]

Augustus and the Res Gestae: The Emperor's Own Triumphal Inscription

In episode 163 of our Augustus series, Lucas and Luna explore the Res Gestae Divi Augusti — the long inscription that the first emperor wrote himself, recording his achievements for posterity. Carved on bronze pillars outside his mausoleum, the Res Gestae is a unique autobiographical document: part political testament, part propaganda, part census of glory. Lucas walks Luna through the six main sections: Augustus's military victories and annexations, his building projects and civic gifts, his religious restorations and moral legislation, his gladiatorial shows and public spectacles, his foreign policy with Parthia and client kingdoms, and his final account of state expenditures. They discuss what the text leaves out — the defeats, the purges, the dynastic scheming — and what it means as a historical source. Luna wonders about its audience and survival, and they trace how copies of the Res Gestae were set up across the empire, with the best-preserved version found at Ankara in modern Turkey. Along the way, they touch on Augustus's recurring motifs — pietas, clementia, libertas — and the delicate balance between personal achievement and republican tradition. This episode turns the Augustan lens back on itself: a ruler who wanted the final word on his own life. #ResGestae #Augustus #RomanHistory #AugustanPropaganda #PaxRomana #MonumentumAncyranum #FirstEmperor #ImperialRome #AncientAutobiography #Princeps #Clementia #Pietas #RomanInscriptions #HistoricalSources #AugustanAchievement #RomanEmpire #History #FexingoHistory Keep every episode free: buymeacoffee.com/fexingo [https://buymeacoffee.com/fexingo]