This is a cautious and fair biography that contains reasonable interpretations of controversial episodes, such as Crassus and the spolia opima (226-9) the settlement of 23 BC (266-72) Tiberius’ withdrawal to Rhodes (388-91) and the disaster of Varus (446-55). If ambition was a traditional motivation among the Roman elite, Augustus’ means to supremacy were as unprecedented as the times in which he pursued it, but supremacy saw him act for the common good and his restoration of the res publica, in Goldsworthy’s view, was a success as worthy of praise as the violence of his rise invites censure. A gambler rather than a planner, he seized control of the state with a military dictatorship (in fact, if not in image) that was accepted by the majority of Romans who saw no better alternative, or feared worse. Adrian Goldsworthy’s Augustus was ambitious for personal power from the start of his long life.
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