Imperium: Augustus is a 2003 joint British-Italian production, and part of the Imperium series. It tells of the life story of Octavian and how he became Augustus. Half the film takes place in the past (as Augustus explains to his daughter Julia how he became who he is) and the other half takes place in the later life of Augustus.
As Augustus lies on his death bed, he recalls the events that led to the exile of his daughter, Julia.
Following an assassination attempt on his life, Marcus Agrippa, Augustus's oldest friend as well as Julia's husband and father to her children, is called back to Rome for his protection. However, he dies of a fever on his way back to Rome. Upon hearing the news Augustus consoles Julia by recalling his rise to power along with Agrippa.
Following their success serving Julius Caesar, Octavius's great-uncle, during the final battle of Caesar's Civil War, they are sent to Macedonia together along with Maecenas to continue their education as soldiers and diplomats. However, shortly after, they hear news of the Caesar's assassination and that Octavius has been named his heir, forcing them to return to Rome.
In the ensuing power struggle that follows Caesar's death, Octavius is forced to ally himself with Mark Antony, Caesar's right-hand man. In their pursuit of Marcus Junius Brutus, Gaius Cassius Longinus and their co-conspirators, a wave of executions spread across Rome, practically eliminates the old Roman ruling class, including Cicero and Livia's father. After the Battle of Phillipi, Octavius and Mark Antony divide government of the Empire between the two of them, with Antony taking Egypt and Octavius taking Rome. Octavius marries Scribona, while Antony marries Octavius's elder sister, Octavia. However, following Julia's birth, Octavius leaves her to marry Livia, which to present day Julia resents.
Governing Rome with Maecenas and Agrippa, they work to improve Rome's infrastructure by implementing Agrippa's skills as an architect and Maecenas's knowledge of law and politics. However, Antony becomes the lover of the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra, and being taken in by the Egyptian culture of divinity, he abandons Octavia and declares war on Rome. Eventually, Egypt is conquered by Octavius, Agrippa, and Maecenas following the Battle of Actium. However, while Agrippa wishes to reinstate the Republic, Maecenas wishes for Octavius to become the emperor of Rome. Octavius is given the title Augustus and is acknowledged as the sole-ruler of the Empire but refuses the title of king.
In the present day, several months after Agrippa's death, Augustus and Livia force Julia to marry Livia's son, Tiberius. Neither are happy with the arrangement as Tiberius is happily married and Julia is in love with Iullus, Mark Antony's son whom Augustus spared following the conquest of Rome and was raised by Octavia. In order to spare Julia's feelings, Augustus sends Tiberius to Gaul while telling Julia that she can continue her relationship with Iullus provided they are discreet. Unbeknownst to either of them, Iullus is conspiring to assassinate Augustus along with Julia's half-brother, Scipio, as revenge for Augustus's crimes against their parents.
Upon learning of Julia's relationship with Iullus, Tiberius returns to Rome in a rage to confront her for dishonoring him. When she refuses to submit to him, he attacks and rapes her. Julia suffers a mental breakdown afterward, confiding in Iullus that she wishes her father would die so her suffering would end. Iullus and Scripo conspire to kill Augustus for Julia's sake as well as their own. Tiberius, who is planning to kill Iullus for infidelity with his wife, overhears the plot and informs his mother. Livia decides that they will catch Iullus in the act and in doing so would rid themselves of Julia, focusing Augustus to accept Tiberius as his successor.
The assassination plan is foiled when the noise alerts Livia, Julia and Tiberius to the scene. Tiberius fatally wounds Iullus and saves Augustus just as Julia enters. Before he dies, Iullus tells Julia, "I did it for you."
Although Julia was unaware of the plot, Augustus demands the Senate exile her for adultery. Informing her of his decision to banish her, he insists on keeping her children. Before she leaves Julia tells Augustus it would have been kinder to kill her at birth rather and that she, at least, loves her children enough not to use them as he has with her. Shortly after Julia is exiled, both her sons die of fever.
Back on his deathbed, Augustus calls out for Julia. She reveals that she has returned to Rome in disguise and goes to his bedside though she refuses to take his hand. However, when he asks her "Did I play my part well in the comedy of life?" she takes the death mask from Livia, kisses his forehead and places it herself over Augustus's smiling dead face.
Imperium: Augustus has received criticism for its historical accuracy on the characters and the events that happened, but has been made popular due to the exciting soap opera feeling the drama has. Among its many criticisms is the way Augustus' daughter, Julia, was portrayed. While the character herself is similar in terms of personality, her behaviour with other men is not drawn entirely as history recalls her. Modern historians however have come to see Julia as a much more tragic character than history tells her as, and therefore a number of the changes made to her character is justified. Near the end the Julia scandal breaks and Iullus tries to assassinate Augustus. In reality he never came close and was the only of Julia's lovers that did not get exiled: his fate was far worse, being tried for treason and sentenced to death. He committed suicide before they could execute him. Iullus was also not in Egypt to be spared as the film portrayed.
Octavian has Caesar's son with Cleopatra and only one of Antony's children executed. Although it accurately shows Octavian sparing the children and sending them to live with his sister, Iullus was one of Antony's children who stayed in Athens with Octavia when Antony ran back to Cleopatra and divorced Octavia. Another change made for drama was when Julia came to see her father from exile while he was on his bed. In reality she died the same year as Augustus but never returned to Rome.
Critical reception
"Imperium: Augustus is equal parts historylesson and soap opera. Peter O'Toole plays Octavius/Augustus, heir to his doomed uncle Julius Caesar's command of the far-flung Roman empire. Surviving an assassination attempt and struck by news of the death of his old friend and ally, Agrippa (Ken Duken), in the same day, Octavius waxes nostalgic about his youthful exploits in Caesar's army (Benjamin Sadler plays the young Augustus in flashbacks) and his unprepared immersion in the deadly politics of the Mark Antony (Massimo Ghini) era. More immediate are Octavius' problems trying to stave off conspiracies by his wife Livia (Charlotte Rampling) to set up the emperor's stepson, Tiberius (Michele Bevilacqua), as heir, and talk his dutiful daughter Julia (Vittoria Belvedere) into a marriage she does not want. Roger Young directs this highly watchable costume drama, and O'Toole's golden presence makes the ancient intrigues tragically human." --Tom Keogh
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The Battle of Actium was a naval battle fought between Octavian's maritime fleet, led by Marcus Agrippa, and the combined fleets of both Mark Antony and Cleopatra. The battle took place on 2 September 31 BC in the Ionian Sea, near the former Roman colony of Actium, Greece, and was the climax of over a decade of rivalry between Octavian and Antony.
The Julio-Claudian dynasty comprised the first five Roman emperors: Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was a Roman general, statesman and architect who was a close friend, son-in-law and lieutenant to the Roman emperor Augustus. Agrippa is well known for his important military victories, notably the Battle of Actium in 31 BC against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra. He was also responsible for the construction of some of the most notable buildings of his era, including the original Pantheon.
Marcus Antonius, commonly known in English as Mark Antony, was a Roman politician and general who played a critical role in the transformation of the Roman Republic from a constitutional republic into the autocratic Roman Empire.
Around the start of the Common Era, the family trees of the gens Julia and the gens Claudia became intertwined into the Julio-Claudian family tree as a result of marriages and adoptions.
The 1st century BC, also known as the last century BC and the last century BCE, started on the first day of 100 BC and ended on the last day of 1 BC. The AD/BC notation does not use a year zero; however, astronomical year numbering does use a zero, as well as a minus sign, so "2 BC" is equal to "year –1". 1st century AD follows.
This article concerns the period 39 BC – 30 BC.
Livia Drusilla was Roman empress from 27 BC to AD 14 as the wife of Emperor Augustus. She was known as Julia Augusta after her formal adoption into the Julian family in AD 14.
Iullus Antonius was a Roman magnate and poet. A son of Mark Antony and Fulvia, he was spared by the emperor Augustus after the civil wars of the Republic, and was married to the emperor's niece. He was later condemned as one of the lovers of Augustus's daughter, Julia, and killed himself.
Julia the Elder, known to her contemporaries as Julia Caesaris filia or Julia Augusti filia, was the daughter and only biological child of Augustus, the first Roman emperor, and his second wife, Scribonia. Julia was also stepsister and second wife of the Emperor Tiberius; maternal grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and the Empress Agrippina the Younger; grandmother-in-law of the Emperor Claudius; and maternal great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero. Her epithet "the Elder" distinguishes her from her daughter, Julia the Younger.
Marcus Claudius Marcellus was the eldest son of Gaius Claudius Marcellus and Octavia Minor, sister of Augustus. He was Augustus' nephew and closest male relative, and began to enjoy an accelerated political career as a result. He was educated with his cousin Tiberius and traveled with him to Hispania where they served under Augustus in the Cantabrian Wars. In 25 BC he returned to Rome where he married his cousin Julia, who was the emperor's daughter. Marcellus and Augustus' general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa were the two popular choices as heir to the empire. According to Suetonius, this put Agrippa at odds with Marcellus, and is the reason why Agrippa traveled away from Rome to Mytilene in 23 BC.
The War of Actium was the last civil war of the Roman Republic, fought between Mark Antony and Octavian. In 32 BC, Octavian convinced the Roman Senate to declare war on the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Her lover and ally Mark Antony, who was Octavian's rival, gave his support for her cause. Forty percent of the Roman Senate, together with both consuls, left Rome to join the war on Antony's side. After a decisive victory for Octavian at the Battle of Actium, Cleopatra and Antony withdrew to Alexandria, where Octavian besieged the city until both Antony and Cleopatra were forced to commit suicide.
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Octavia the Younger was the elder sister of the first Roman emperor, Augustus, the half-sister of Octavia the Elder, and the fourth wife of Mark Antony. She was also the great-grandmother of the Emperor Caligula and Empress Agrippina the Younger, maternal grandmother of the Emperor Claudius, and paternal great-grandmother and maternal great-great-grandmother of the Emperor Nero.
Jeg elsket Tiberius is a 1959 romance novel by Elisabeth Dored. It was first translated into English by Naomi Walford in Great Britain by Methuen and United States by Pantheon Books in 1963 under the name I Loved Tiberius. The novel was written as a careful reappraisal of the contemporary sources, placing Julia and Tiberius in a more positive light. The novel is set in 1st century BC Rome, centred on Julia the Elder, the daughter of Augustus and her life right up until her death. The novel begins with Julia's birth and her mother being forbidden to see her. The plot is mainly focused on Julia's love life, notably her relationship with her stepbrother, Tiberius.
Claudia Marcella Major (PIR2 C 1102; born some time before 40 BC) was the senior niece of Roman emperor Augustus, being the eldest daughter of his sister Octavia the Younger and her first husband Gaius Claudius Marcellus. She became the second wife of Augustus' foremost general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and after that the wife of Iullus Antonius, the son of Mark Antony.
Caesar Augustus, known as Octavian before he became emperor, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. As such, he has frequently been depicted in literature and art since ancient times.
Augustus is an epistolary, historical fiction by John Williams published by Viking Press in 1972. It tells the story of Augustus, emperor of Rome, from his youth through old age. The book is divided into two parts, the beginning chronicling his rise to power, the latter describing his rule thereafter, and the familial problems faced choosing a successor. Williams and Augustus shared the 1973 U.S. National Book Award for Fiction with John Barth and Chimera, the first time the award was split, and the only one of Williams's four novels to receive significant acclaim within his lifetime.
Domina is a British-Italian historical drama television series created and principally written by Simon Burke for Sky Atlantic (Italy) and Sky Atlantic (UK). Starring Kasia Smutniak as Livia Drusilla, it examines the power struggles of Ancient Rome from a female perspective. The series premiered on 14 May 2021 in Italy and the UK. MGM+ renewed Domina for a second series, which premiered on 9 July 2023 in the United States. In April 2024, the series was canceled after two seasons.
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