re: Octavius (Augustus) Caesar: Cruel sniveling coward or great Roman (or both)?

He's not treated too kindly in I, Claudius, but for his faults he was definitely better than those that came after him. Agirppa was the "man behind the throne" for sure though. Without Agrippa winning the Battle of Actium Augustus isn't victorious, without Agrippa the capitol isn't re-made in marble and splendor, various other engineering defeats aren't accomplished, and no one is afraid of Octavian. Augustus gets the credit, but the real man of history was Agrippa, and people talked trash about Octavian for that reason at the time.