Zeno

Are there any (near-) contemporary non-Roman sources on him, even from outside the empire perhaps?

How was the transition from republic to empire perceived outside the Roman Empire?

sylla1

I'm not aware of any single one ... unless you may consider the puppet states as "non-Roman" (personally, I wouldn't). Nicolaus of Damascus (under Herod the Great) wrote a contemporary and incredibly lavish biography of Augustus (presumably largely based on the latter's own lost autobiography), but only the early sections (Octavius' youth and CJ Caesar's assassination) have survived.

Guaporense

The non-Roman part of the Roman world was the part of this world that was too poor to be able to pay taxes to justify their territorial annexation. These territories were too poor to be able to support a class of writers. So we don't have the written opinions of those living outside Roman power as those living outside Roman power weren't civilized enought to be able to write.

Of course, India and China were civilized but they were not part of the Roman world.

Clodius

Following up from Sylla's post, I've put up this on another thread, but if you're interested you can read an English translation of the few surviving fragments of Nicolaus of Damascus' Life of Augustus here:

Nicolaus of Damascus, Life of Augustus

Laurentius

I know he wasn't contemporary, but doesn't Josephus write a good deal about Augustus?

sylla1

Nope; essentially just a couple of tangential references on his interaction with the Herodian dynasty, particuarly the deposition & exile of the ethnarch Archelaus (6 AD); admittedly, Nicolaus was probably his main primary source on this issue.

In any case, by the time he wrote his Antiquitates Judaicae (circa 93 AD), Yosef ben Matityahu was already fully Hellenized & Romanized; that's why (as a regular Roman citizen) he was now called by the tria nomina Titus Flavius Josephus.

Laurentius

Ah, my mistake. Apologies.

Perix

i think he was regarded as a kind of prophetic rullers. It were the times of prophets fashion, and probably the apparition of Jessus about the same period was not a coincidence. Roman Empire was alreahy well known, and feared by barbarians- also diverse roman rullers. The crown substituted wisedoom to win, and the win was greater if the winner belonged to a great power of the time. And Augustus was the winner of the winners, his luck, pacience, cunning, ..;and wise, beeing regarded only as wise. For few decades, he was regarded as a living legend, both by barbarians and orinar romans