1.1.33 to 1.1.35

His physical condition was subject to a host of ills and weaknesses, many of them recurrent. Indeed, in his early life, particularly, it was only his indomitable will that enabled him to survive—a strange preliminary to an unprecedented and unequaled life's work. His appearance is described by the biographer Suetonius: He was unusually handsome and exceedingly graceful at all periods of his life, though he cared nothing for personal adornment. His expression, whether in conversation or when he was silent, was calm and mild. He had clear, bright eyes, in which he liked to have it thought that there was a kind of divine power, and it greatly pleased him, whenever he looked keenly at anyone, if he let his face fall as if before the radiance of the sun. His teeth were wide apart, small and ill-kept; his hair was slightly curly and inclining to golden; his eyebrows met. His complexion was between dark and fair. He was short of stature, but this was concealed by the fine proportion and symmetry of his figure, and was noticeable only by comparison with some taller person standing beside him. Augustus's countenance proved a godsend to the Greeks and Hellenized easterners, who were the best sculptors of the time, for they elevated his features into a moving, never-to-be-forgotten imperial type, which Napoleon's artists, among others, keenly emulated. The contemporary portrait busts of Augustus, echoed on his coins, formed part of a significant renaissance of the arts in which Italic and Hellenic styles were discreetly and brilliantly blended. Still extant at Rome are the severe yet delicate reliefs of the Ara Pacis ("Altar of Peace"), depicting a religious procession in which the national leaders are taking part; there are also scenes from the Roman mythology. The altar was dedicated by the Senate and people of Rome in 13 BC to commemorate the pacification of Gaul and Spain.