Res Gestae

The difficulties of the situation, ye brave and faithful defenders of my person and of the state, who with me have often risked your lives for the welfare of the provinces, require and entreat, since by your firm resolve you have advanced your Caesar to the pinnacle of all human power, that I should touch briefly on a few matters, in order to devise just and wise remedies for those changed conditions.

Hardly had I come to my growth, when (as you know) I assumed the purple, so far as appearance goes, and was committed by Heaven’s will to your protection. Since then I have never been thwarted in my purpose of right living, and I have been closely observed with you in all your toils, when through the widespread arrogance of foreign nations, after the destruction of cities and the loss of countless thousands of our men, incalculable disaster