I Shall Not Depart From The

Recorded by Cassius Dio in his Roman History (Book 56), this statement reflects Augustus's careful cultivation of Julius Caesar's legacy as a source of legitimacy. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Augustus publicly invoked his adoptive father's authority to justify his political and military campaigns. Yet scholars note a tension in his record: the Res Gestae — Augustus's own account of his deeds — deliberately avoids much mention of Caesar, suggesting he both used and distanced himself from that inheritance as political circumstances required.