The Semiotics of Caesar Augustus by Pyy Elina;

Author:Pyy, Elina;
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
Published: 2019-11-24T00:00:00+00:00

5

Augustus in Historical Fiction

[T]he business of writing requires the author to abstract himself from the self that lived these experiences, and to construct a figure ... the self you write is never quite the self that lived.

—“Augustus: A Novel” (Massie’s and Williams’ books have the same title)1

All these works seem to me now to have one thing in common: they are lies. There are no untruths in any of them, and there are few errors of fact; but they are lies ... I read and wrote of a man whom I hardly know. Strain as I might, I can hardly see him now; and when I glimpse him, he recedes in a mist, eluding my most searching gaze. I wonder, if he saw me now, would he recognize what he has become? Would he recognize the caricature that all men become of themselves?

—J. Williams, Augustus: A Novel2

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