Augustus
Tells the story of the heir to the murdered Julius Caesar who, as Rome's first emperor, brought peace and stability to the empire and presided over a new system of government.
Stats for nerds
2recommend
4mentions
4people
2016–2025years
50% recommend50% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- I recommend "Augustus: First Emperor of Rome" by Adrian Goldsworthy.
Given that "democratic" didn't mean the same thing then it does now (with suffrage limited to a small group of the uber-rich), and that some of the problems he was fixing was "the threat of this army I happen to have" and "this war I actively participated in", I don't think it is wrong. He wasn't in Rome when the Senate awarded him power and the Vestal Virgins drank in his name, which isn't something that would be commanded.
After decades of war and strife and food shortages, peace under one warlord looked more appealing than having three who would likely eventually be at each other's throats.
- If you enjoy podcasts, then Mike Duncan's History of Rome is an excellent piece of work. Similarly, his book "Storm Before the Storm" is very good, focusing on the events that began the collapse of the Roman Republic: Sulla, and his civil wars. If you enjoy biographies then Adrian Goldsworthy's books "Caesar" and "Augustus" are very good as well.
- Minor quibble - there is no single Lex Julia. Any law passed by Gaius Julius Caesar or his heir Gaius Julius Caesar would be called XYZ Lex Julia to distinguish it from previous and later legislation that happened to share the same name.
Sources - Caesar, Life of a Colossus and Augustus, First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy.
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3. The Dark Forest by Cixin Liu
4. The Time Machine by H.G. Wells
5. Believer: My Forty Years in Politics by David Axelrod
6. The Invisible Man by H.G. Wells
7. Augustus: First Emperor of Rome by Adrian Goldsworthy
8. The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson (re-read)
9. I, Claudius by Robert Graves
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11. The Fear Index by Robert Harris
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13. The Silence of the Lambs by Thomas Harris (re-read)
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15. Game Change by John Heilemann and Mark Halperin (re-read)
16. Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (re-read)
17. Claudius the God by Robert Graves
Re-reads take hardly any time at all, so I'm not sure whether to count them. If you're not, then 11 books read so far.
