Augustus

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.[1] 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. After falling out of print the novel was re-issued in 2014 by NYRB Classics as part of their revival of Williams’s work. Plot Told through various letters and fragments, Augustus begins when Gaius Octavius Thurinus is 17 and is called away from his mother by his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, who reveals he intends to groom the boy to be his successor. Gaius Octavius spends a few years with three young men around his own age, Gaius Cilnius Maecenas, Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, and Quintus Salvidienus Rufus. When he is 19 Gaius Octavius receives a letter from his mother informing him that Caesar has been murdered and urging him to renounce the will which will name him as Caesar's adopted son. Ignoring her council the four young men make a pact to protect Gaius Octavius and avenge Caesar. They go to Rome unarmed and are thus assumed not to be a threat by Caesar's assassins. The friends are particularly suspicious of Marc Antony, a friend of Caesar's whom they view as disloyal. In order to gain the backing of the Senate to legitimize him as a Caesar, Octavius (now using the name Caesar) corals an army to protect Decimus Carfulenus and attack Marc Antony's army. After Octavius Caesar is successful the senate reneges on their promise. Octavius Caesar then arranges a secret meeting with Marc Antony in order to consolidate their power, joining with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus to anoint themselves "Triumvirs". During the negotiations Octavius Caesar learns that Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, who he left in charge of his armies, betrayed him to Antony. Octavius Caesar strips him of his powers and Quintus commits suicide out of shame.