Despite his talent for self-promotion, the character of the emperor Augustus is rarely revealed. Portraits of him abound, most of them contemporary, but in all of these portraits he is perpetually young and vigorous, never allowed to age even when he reached his seventies. The real person was deliberately veiled, screened from public scrutiny by an orchestrated facade that was not necessarily false, but which was tailored to circumstances and adapted accordingly when circumstances changed. This biography of Augustus is unique in its presentation of Augustus the man. Pat Southern traces the life, works and times of the emperor chronologically, presenting ideology and events as they occurred from Augustus' point of view to provide a compelling depiction of an extraordinary man, who was the guiding light in the transformation of the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire.