But there was further humiliation to come. The indomitable Candace sent ambassadors to negotiate the terms of a peace settlement. The case ended up before Augustus himself, who granted the ambassadors pretty much everything they asked for. He had secured the Pax Romana, but at a considerable price. It was the action of a shrewd, calculating political operator, who then used the official Roman propaganda machine to airbrush this setback out of the picture.
但這場羞辱仍未結束。強硬的坎迪斯派使者去協商和平條款。最后奧古斯都親自處理此事,幾乎答應了使者的所有要求。他以極高的代價維護了羅馬的和平。作為精明的政治領導者,他隨后讓強大的帝國宣傳機器把這段故事抹掉了。
Augustus's career became the imperial blueprint of how to achieve and retain power. And a key part of retaining power was the management of his image. Here's Susan Walker again:
奧古斯都的一生成了統治者如何獲取并保有權力的范本。經營自身形象是鞏固權力的關鍵。蘇珊沃爾克這樣描述:
"He always looked exactly as he did on the day that he became 'Augustus', and he presented himself very modestly. He often showed himself wearing the Roman toga, and drew it over his head to show his piety. And sometimes he was shown as a general leading his troops into battle, even though he never actually personally did so. And this was a very enduring image; we have surviving even today over 250 images of Augustus, which come from all over the Roman Empire, and they are pretty much the same-the variations are really not very significant. So the portrait was very, very recognisable, and very enduring."
除了展示自己成為“奧古斯都”那日的形象之外,他其余的形象都頗為謙遜。他經常以穿著羅馬寬松外袍的形象示人,用袍子罩住頭部以示虔誠。有時他的形象是一個即將帶領隊伍投入戰斗的將領,但事實上他從未親征過。我們擁有來自羅馬帝國的超過250種奧古斯都雕像。面部形象大致相同,辨識度極高,且歷久彌新。
來源:可可英語 http://www.ccdyzl.cn/Article/201412/347064.shtml