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Abstract:
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Propertius , affected at an early age by Augustus' quest for power and the
submission of the conquered , had attitudes critical of Augustus , but he felt
pressure to veil his true opinions by flattering the Emperor in his poetry for the
sake of self -preservation . Many of his poems praise the military
accomplishments of Augustus , but they also contain signals that Propertius is not
expressing his true attitudes on the surface . Propertius gives descriptions of
military conquest a distasteful flavor , and he rejects outright the Augustan
program of pax through the total subjugation of Rome’s enemies , with whom he
identifies as a victim of imperial conquest . |