This class will focus on one figure who changed the course of Roman history and the history of the West: Gaius Iulius Caesar Augustus. His victory over Antony and Cleopatra in 31 BCE ended 100 years of civil war at the price of political freedom. He established a stable autocracy while claiming to restore the Roman Republic. He presided over a period of a brilliant poetic and artistic activity. He has fascinated generations of historians, poets and artists.