 But the position he put himself in, as Augustus, rebuilding Rome from deep division and near-catastrophe to peace and stability, necessitated the subtle and complex portrayal of a wide range of facets of personality, real and simulated.In the words of Julius Caesar's biographer, Christian Meier, Octavian "had to be an actor, and he knew this".Suetonius reports that on his deathbed, Augustus summoned his friends and asked them, "Did you like the performance?