Augustus in popular culture
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Augustus (63 BC–AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first and among the most important of the Roman Emperors. Michael H. Hart ranked him #18 in his list of the most influential figures in history.
Augustus' most visible impact on everyday culture is the eighth month of the year, August. It was renamed in Augustus' honor in 8 BC because several of the most significant events in his rise to power, culminating in the fall of Alexandria, occurred during this month.[1]
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[edit] Literature
- Allan Massie's 1986 novel Augustus purported to be an autobiography of the Roman emperor.
- Augustus was a central character in the DC Comics graphic novel The Sandman installment #30, entitled "August".
- A bust of Augustus has an important role in The Mystery of the Fiery Eye of the The Three Investigators series.
- Augustus is an example in an important speech in Kurt Vonnegut's book God Bless You, Mr. Rosewater.
- John Edward Williams wrote a novel titled Augustus.
[edit] Film
- Octavian was portrayed in the 1963 film Cleopatra by Roddy McDowall.
- An animate miniature figurine of Octavian was played in the 2006 film Night at the Museum played by Steve Coogan.
[edit] Television
- Augustus was played by Roland Culver in the BBC miniseries of 1968 The Caesars.
- Augustus was portrayed in the famous BBC dramatization of Robert Graves' novel I, Claudius by Brian Blessed. (1975)
- Augustus was portrayed in the movie Imperium: Augustus (part of the Imperium movie series) by Peter O'Toole as an old man and Benjamin Sadler as a young man. (2003)
- In the HBO/BBC/RAI television series Rome (2005), Octavian is portrayed as a young man by Max Pirkis and as an adult by Simon Woods.
- Augustus was portrayed by Santiago Cabrera in an ABC miniseries called Empire (2005), which took place after the assassination of Caesar.
[edit] Video games
- In Civilization IV, each game concludes with various statistics and a timeline, as well as a scale comparing the player to various historical figures. Augustus Caesar is at the top of the scale. He was also added in the expansion Civilization IV: Warlords as a Roman leader, accompanying Julius Caesar from the original game.
