"The tribunician power was given to you for a period of five years by decree of the senate in the consulship of the two Lentuli , and it was given to you again, for another quinquennium , in the consulship of Tiberius Nero and Quinctilius Varus , your relations by marriage. Moreover, it was sanctioned by a law that no one, in any of the provinces into which the common affairs of the Roman people should call you, would have greater imperium than you . You were raised to the highest position with our support and through your own virtues by the agreement of all men. "

* * *

This reads like only a portion of Agrippa's funeral oration.

I have noticed that in translations of Augustus' writings or speeches that he had a very strange manner of communicating. Very flat and matter-of-fact as compared to other great speakers and writers of the time such as Cicero (just think, if Cicero had not been murdered, we might to this day know more about the man Agrippa).

Augustus seemed to always list a person's virtues in just that, a list. Perhaps his personal writings were more colorful, but I imagine most of those were destroyed by his own hand.

Back to the oration speech. Reading it I get more the sense that Augustus is trying to tell Agrippa in death, that he was who he was due to the will of Augustus. Maybe it was the speaking style of the time, but something just doesn't ring true about this oration speech. I will continue to research and see if anything else remains of the speech. It would be very interesting to see it in its entirety.