Podcast Summary: The Augustan Revolution: On Ancient Rome with Reece Edmends

New Books Network · Madison’s Notes Podcast | Air Date: March 11, 2026

Overview

This episode features host Ryan Schinkel in conversation with Dr. Rhys Edmonds, a Roman historian and Princeton faculty member, discussing his recent research into the propaganda of Rome’s first emperor, Augustus (formerly Octavian). The episode explores the tumultuous transition from the Roman Republic to Empire, the figure of Augustus, the concept of liberty in the ancient world, the role of propaganda and religion, and the enduring legacies (and strangeness) of Roman civilization.

Main Themes and Purpose

• Understanding the transformation from Roman Republic to Empire.
• Exploring Augustus’ unique rise to power and his use of propaganda.
• Deep dive into the ancient Roman conception of liberty and citizenship.
• The role of religion and ritual in Roman political life.
• Considering the modern fascination with and lessons from ancient Rome.

Key Discussion Points

1. Dr. Edmonds’ Background and Interest in Rome

• Childhood visits to Roman sites in England sparked curiosity.
• Avid reader of historical fiction (Robert Harris’s Cicero trilogy, Colleen McCullough’s ‘Masters of Rome’).
• Academic journey: Classics at Cambridge, dissertation on Augustus’s propaganda.

  “…how [the Republic] fell and how it became a monarchy. I was really interested in these great world historical figures…” — Edmends (01:20)

2. Republic to Empire: What Changed?

• The late Republic (c. 60–27 BC) was a period of:
  • Instability, incessant civil wars, political strongmen accruing too much power (Caesar, Pompey, Crassus, Sulla, Marius).
  • Continuous expansion—ingesting wealth, corruption, and extremes of inequality.
  • Power concentrated into the hands of Augustus after outmaneuvering Mark Antony and others.
• Augustus did not take kingly titles, instead presenting himself as “first citizen” (princeps), claiming to restore the Republic while quietly dominating it.

  “…no moment at which he was crowned emperor. There was no moment…he took the throne…Supposedly the people would ask him…‘Please Caesar or Augustus, become dictator of the Roman state,’ and he would say, ‘No, I don’t want to be dictator, but I will reluctantly take on this power.’” — Edmonds (18:41, 19:52)

3. The Propaganda of Augustus

• Augustus’s “Res Gestae” (summary of his achievements) highlights his modesty and his benefactions, always emphasizing reluctance and constitutionalism.
• Franchise of Liberty: Claiming to have “liberated” the Roman people from tyranny, not as a radical reformer, but as a restorer of ancient freedoms.
  • Language of “Liberator” (adsertor/vindex libertatis) draws on Roman legal tradition of freeing the illegally enslaved.
  • Cultivates widespread indebtedness and obligations to himself, justifying dominance by claiming to have “restored” Roman liberty (13:03–17:55).

“He presented himself as something that was very normal, very republican and very constitutional. And that’s part of the reason why he was successful. The theme I’ve been researching…is the theme of liberty. He presented himself as the liberator…” — Edmonds (10:27–11:30)

4. Ancient Liberty vs. Modern Liberty

• Edmonds and Schinkel discuss Benjamin Constant’s idea of “Liberty of the Ancients” (participation in public life) vs. “Liberty of the Moderns” (individual autonomy).
• In Rome, liberty was “not being a slave,” both legally and in one’s political participation.
• The everyday presence of actual slavery intensely shaped Roman metaphors and self-understandings.

“In the Roman world, liberty just wasn’t that theorized… because it was fundamentally a metaphor colored by the social reality of being a slave or not being a slave.” — Edmonds (33:50)

5. The Strange and Brutal World of Rome

• Practices like child exposure, legal infanticide, normalized rape, mass enslavement, and brutal punishments.
• Roman society did not conceptualize universal rights or equal dignity for all people.

“…this wasn’t a world in which there was a widespread understanding that every human being, every human life had value and dignity…There were millions of people who were enslaved and everybody was completely fine with that.” — Edmonds (36:10)

6. The Role of Religion and Divine Will

• No separation of church and state; political leaders were religious figures.
• Omens, auspices, and divine signs routinely justified (or blocked) legislation and power plays.
• Edmonds proposes a paradigm shift: take Roman religious statements seriously—consider they believed what they said about the gods (43:57–48:18).

“Maybe we should assume that if they said the birds in the sky weren’t on side, they actually believed this stuff. Maybe they actually believed that the gods had a role to play in Roman politics.” — Edmonds (43:57–45:15)

7. The Pax Romana and Spread of Christianity

• Edmonds agrees that the politically unified empire created by Augustus provided the infrastructure for the rapid spread of Christianity, though he notes it’s outside his direct research (49:55).
• Christianity inherited much of the language, structure, and even some titles of the Roman imperial system (e.g., Pontifex Maximus for the Pope) (51:19–51:59).

8. Republic Afterlife: Institutions and Legacies

• The Senate and “Republican” forms persisted long after substantive change.
• The paradox: Augustus may have believed he was preserving Rome—“for things to stay the same, things must change.” Still, he led a “violent coup” and hereditary monarchy replaced election and collegial magistracies (42:33–43:16).

9. Historiography and Modern Readings

• Recommendations for further reading:
  • Theodor Mommsen, Ronald Syme (The Roman Revolution), Edward Gibbon.
• Noting the influence of the times: Syme writing under the shadow of fascism, interpreting Augustus as a precursor to modern autocrats (58:51).

10. Lightning Round – Memorable Moments & Quotes

(Bolded names indicate speaker; [timestamp])

• Edmonds on Augustus as a propagandist:

  “He wasn’t a particularly good general…he wasn’t also a particularly good speaker…but clearly he was very good at appealing to people.” (10:27)

• Schinkel, quoting Syme:

  “The empire of the Roman people was perishing of its own greatness. Therein lay the tragedy…” (39:22)

• Edmonds on modern liberty:

  “Our discussion [of liberty] today is very dominated by this guy called Benjamin Constant…” (31:45)

• Edmonds, paradigm shift in research:

  “Maybe we should assume that if they said the birds in the sky weren’t on side, they actually believed this stuff…” (43:57)

Key Timestamps

• 00:55 — 02:46: Edmonds’s background and introduction to Roman history
• 03:11 — 08:56: Overview of the Roman Republic’s downfall and Augustus’s rise
• 10:26 — 13:03: Augustus’s style, skills, and propaganda strategy
• 13:03 — 17:55: "Liberty" in Roman political rhetoric and its implications
• 18:41 — 20:25: Formal/informal powers and constitutional illusions under Augustus
• 21:00 — 22:33: Managing and placating multiple elite constituencies
• 24:02 — 26:40: Poetry and propaganda – Horace, Virgil, Eclogues
• 27:35 — 29:24: Imperial ethos, conquest, and Augustus’s self-image
• 31:45 — 34:27: Ancient vs. modern ideas of liberty; Constant, Berlin, Tocqueville
• 36:10 — 39:05: Strangeness and brutality of Roman social customs and law
• 43:57 — 48:18: The paradigm shift: taking Roman religious belief at face value
• 49:55 — 51:59: Christianity, providence, and imperial inheritance
• 58:51 — 59:40: Best modern Roman historians
• 59:57 — 61:42: Lightning round: favorite moments in Roman history, ethical dilemmas, lessons for today

Notable Quotes

“He managed to use the financial inheritance Julius Caesar gave him to recruit troops…take over the political system and consolidate power in himself to…the extent that he could rule unchallenged for five decades…”
— Edmonds (05:46)

“Augustus formally kept a lot of the institutions of the old Republic. However, he changed a lot of the meaning and purposes…they’re constantly in a state of being indebted and depending on him.”
— Schinkel (17:55)

“In our world, we throw words like freedom and liberty around quite a lot…But the difference…is that their world had a lot of actual slaves, millions…So when they talked about political freedom…the minds of the audience instantly went to…the social reality of not being a slave…”
— Edmonds (15:28)

“It’s a really barbaric, brutal world. And much as we glorify it…it’s worth emphasizing…there was not a widespread understanding that every human being…had value and dignity.”
— Edmonds (36:10)

“Maybe we should start reading this [religious language] differently…Maybe they actually believed that the gods had a role to play in Roman politics.”
— Edmonds (43:57)

“The Christian Church inherited trappings of the Roman Empire. The Pope…the Bishop of Rome…Pontifex Maximus…the chief priest of the Roman world…”
— Edmonds (51:19)

Lessons & Reflections

• The parallels and differences between ancient and modern liberty, and how deeply the Roman concept was shaped by the reality of slavery and subjugation.
• The success of Augustus’s regime built on the form—but not the substance—of republicanism, creating a paradox that preoccupied later historians and political philosophers.
• Rome’s admired grandeur was deeply intertwined with strangeness, cruelty, and brutality, challenging nostalgic or idealizing views.
• Political, religious, and personal motivations were inseparable in the Roman concept of governance, with public and private life, ritual and law, constantly overlapping.
• Modern institutions, especially the Catholic Church, draw directly from Roman imperial structures, showing the profound longevity of Rome’s legacies—both obvious and hidden.

Final Thoughts

Dr. Edmonds emphasized the need for appreciating both what is admirable and what is alien, even abhorrent, in Roman civilization. He concluded by praising not only the seriousness with which Romans took politics—but also the beauty and significance of everyday objects, like Roman coins, as living testament to a world both disturbingly familiar and deeply strange.

For further reading:

• Tom Holland, Rubicon; Ronald Syme, The Roman Revolution; Theodor Mommsen, History of Rome; Benjamin Constant’s writings; Gibbon’s Decline and Fall.

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