Whose Augustus? A bimillennium in late-1930s Poland and Hungary

This article examines events held in the late 1930s to mark the bimillennium of Augustus’ birth in Poland and Hungary as a contrasting pair of case studies. It demonstrates that Poles, Hungarians and Italians all saw Augustus as part of a shared cultural heritage, but used him to serve different agendas. Italians used Augustus to pursue soft power, but most Polish and Hungarian commemorators were Classicists seeking to promote their subject. While Poles tended to avoid references to modern Italy in their commemorations, Hungarians regularly used Augustus to praise Italy and Fascism. In this politicised context, even supposedly apolitical commemorations of Augustus could involuntarily serve political agendas, confirming his importance and boosting the narratives used by others for political ends.