Betello, MassimoOgle, GeneValencia Marín, Erick2024-10-242024-10-242024Valencia Marín, Erick. "Augustus and the Creation of a Deified Legacy". BA Thesis, John Cabot University, Rome, Italy. 2024.https://hdl.handle.net/20.500.14490/586Thesis (B.A. in Art History, Minor in Classical Studies and Psychology)--John Cabot University, Spring 2024.My research question and purpose of this paper relates to the intended deification through propaganda of Augustus, the first emperor and founder of the Roman Empire. Deification of emperors was a common practice in Imperial Rome made by the senate after the death of the emperor. Although Augustus’ use of propaganda and the deification of emperors is subject often under scrutiny, there are still questions regarding Augustus’ intentions of deification while he was still alive. As is known, Rome had a negative view on kings and monarchies, so elevating his image to that of a god is peculiar, especially considering Augustus was intended to be the restorer of the republic. Augustus’ use of propaganda with material culture such as coins and monuments, as well as his influence with literary works like Vergil’s Aeneid hint at more ambiguous intentions regarding his desire to become a god before he died. To assess the effectiveness of Augustus’ deification and use of propaganda, the Roman authors Suetonius and Tacitus provide ample commentaries not only on the character of Augustus but also on his impact on Roman history and politics. In the end, conclusions point at Augustus having intertwining goals of glorifying Rome and implementing a deified legacy. This was the case even though it was never explicitly stated by the emperor. The expression in monuments, coinage, and literature to slowly guide the Roman people to accept his deified legacy would cement Augustus as one of the crucial figures in Roman history.viii, 76 pagesenAttribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 Internationalhttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/Augustus, Emperor of Rome, 63 B.C.-14 A.DRome (Empire)Thesis