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\\nIt is not often that we are fortunate enough to get to chat to one of our amazing guests a second time, but sometimes the gods are just that kind. We sat down to speak to the one and only Dr Victoria Austen about Augustus\\u2019 mausoleum.
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\\nSpecial Episode - Augustus\' Mausoleum
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\\nDr Victoria Austen holds a MA and PhD from King\\u2019s College London. She has lectured in the Classics at the University of Winnipeg and is currently the Robert A. Oden, Jr. Postdoctoral Fellow for Innovation in the Humanities and Classics at Carleton College, Minnesota. Her monograph Analysing the Boundaries of the Roman Garden: (Re)Framing the Hortus\\u2019 was released in 2023 as part of the Bloomsbury Ancient Environments Series. Vicky has recently been speaking for the American Institute of Archaeology on gardens and commemoration.
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\\n\\u2018The Mausoleum of Augustus\\u2019 from Pietro Santi Bartoli, Gli antichi sepolcri ii, 1727. courtesy of Carleton College Special Collections.
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\\nWhat is Augustus\' mausoleum?
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\\nAugustus did not rest on his laurels after winning the Battle of Actium against Cleopatra and Mark Antony. He set about consolidating his political position and figuring out exactly what that would entail.
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\\nAugustus set about transforming the city itself as part of his political machinations. Some of his key monuments include the Ara Pacis, the Horologium Augusti (think giant sun dial), and the mausoleum.
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\\nHe started construction on this tomb in 28 BCE and positioned it on the Campus Martius (Field of Mars). This is much earlier than you might expect. Augustus\\u2019 position was not unchallenged and there was still much to be decided regarding his status in Rome. Nonetheless, Augustus set about building this large circular mausoleum, intending to use it not just for himself, but his family.   
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\\nEventually the tomb would house the remains of numerous members of Augustus\' family, as well as the princeps himself. Names you might recognise include Agrippa (his BFF and the husband of his daughter Julia), Marcellus (his nephew), Octavia (his sister), and Gaius and Lucius (his adopted sons).
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\\nAfter Augustus\\u2019 death, his family continued to use the mausoleum. Livia (his wife), the emperors Tiberius and Claudius, Germanicus, Antonia Minor and Britannicus would all find their way to this monument.
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\\nHowever, there was not an open-door policy for anyone with Julio-Claudian blood. The mausoleum became a sort of litmus test of who had fallen from grace and would be punished with exclusion\\u2026 forever! You might already have spotted that Julia, Augustus\\u2019 only biological child, and her daughter Julia, did not make the cut. Ouch! Nor did the emperors Caligula and Nero. You had to earn your spot. \\xa0\\xa0\\xa0\\xa0
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\\nDonati, A. (1584-1640) Roma vetus ac recens, courtesy of Carleton College Special Collections.
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\\nWhat happened to the mausoleum?
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\\nAs with so many ancient monuments, the mausoleum has been repurposed many times. Tune in to hear about the Soderini family and their resurrection of the space, as well as good old Mussolini, who just loved to forge connections between himself and figures like Augustus.
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\\nThings to Look Out For:
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\\n* Augustus getting BURNT by Dr Rad on numerous occasions.
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\\n* Good-natured tolerance from Drs A and G about afore-mentioned Augustan burns.
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\\n* Deep-seated longing to see inside the mausoleum.
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