The Sources

About the lecture

In this lecture we provide an introduction to the figure of Augustus and think about the different kinds of sources that are available, focusing in particular on: (i) the literary sources: Suetonius, Tacitus and Cassius Dio; (ii) the poetry of Ovid, Propertius, Horace and Virgil; (iii) the material culture, including coins, buildings, statues and inscriptions; and (iv) the importance of being critical readers of the source material.

About the lecturer

Matthew Nicholls is a visiting professor of classics at the University of Reading and Senior Tutor at St John's College, Oxford, specialising in the political and social history of the Romans, and the way the built environments of Rome and cities around the empire expressed their values and priorities. In 2014, Matthew was presented with a Guardian Teaching Award for his 'Virtual Rome' project, a digital model of the city of Rome, showing the city as it appeared in c. AD 315.