César Auguste

The statue of Caesar Augustus, in Mérida

The statue of Caesar Augustus honours the first Roman emperor, founder of the town of Augusta Emerita that gave Mérida. The Mérida audio-guided tour stops here to evoke the figure of Augustus, who established the town in 25 before our era to install his veterans there, and made it the capital of the province of Lusitania.

The first emperor and founder of the town

Since we only speak of him, given that he founded the Roman town that gave Mérida, and that his statue stands in front of you, let us make further acquaintance with Augustus. What is easy to remember is that he was quite simply the first Roman emperor. And Julius Caesar, you will say? Well no: Julius indeed built an empire and received the title of imperator, but he was a general then a dictator, never an emperor. Before these stories of emperors, you must know that Rome was a Republic, whose power rested on an elite gathered in the Senate. After the assassination of Julius Caesar, his great-nephew and adoptive son Octavian gradually imposed himself, removed his rivals and received from the Senate, in 27 before our era, the title of Augustus, the venerable, thus becoming the first Roman emperor and inaugurating a long period of peace, the Pax Romana. It is under his reign, in 25 before our era, that the colony of Augusta Emerita was founded, on the order of his legate Publius Carisius, to install there the veteran soldiers, the emeriti, of the legions having fought in the peninsula. The town, endowed with all the facilities of a great Roman town, theatre, amphitheatre, circus, temples and aqueducts, became the capital of the province of Lusitania and one of the most brilliant of Hispania. His statue recalls this imperial founder in the heart of the town that he created. An imperial statue and a homage to the founder, Caesar Augustus is a fine stop of the discovery of Mérida.

What to see

Here you discover the statue of Caesar Augustus, first Roman emperor, founder of the colony of Augusta Emerita in 25 before our era to install there the veteran soldiers, the emeriti; under his reign, the town was endowed with a theatre, amphitheatre, circus, temples and aqueducts, and became the capital of the province of Lusitania, one of the most brilliant of Hispania. The statue of Caesar Augustus pays homage to the founder of Mérida. It is a fine stop, to be explored on foot.

Practical information

The statue of Caesar Augustus lies in the centre of Mérida, reachable on foot. It is an open-air statue, freely visible, that pays homage to the founder of the town. You discover it during a walk in the monumental centre.

Who was Caesar Augustus, founder of Mérida?

The first Roman emperor, great-nephew and adoptive son of Julius Caesar, who received the title of Augustus in 27 before our era; under his reign was founded, in 25 before our era, the colony of Augusta Emerita to install there the veteran soldiers, the emeriti, a town that became the capital of the province of Lusitania, endowed with a theatre, amphitheatre, circus and aqueducts.

Where is the statue of Caesar Augustus in Mérida?

In the centre of Mérida, in Spain.