What was the Res Gestae Divi Augusti and where was its best-preserved copy found?

The Res Gestae Divi Augusti (Achievements of the Divine Augustus) is an official autobiographical account written by the Roman emperor Augustus to document his career, magistracies, public benefactions, and diplomatic and military achievements. Composed by Augustus himself, the text was intended to shape his legacy by presenting him as a traditional aristocrat who restored the republic and enriched the state through consensus and constitutional means.1

Although Augustus directed in his will that the text be engraved on bronze pillars in front of his mausoleum in Rome, those original columns are lost. The best-preserved copy of this document is found engraved on the walls of the Temple of Rome and Augustus in Ankara, Turkey, a site historically known as Ancyra. This inscription, often referred to as the Monumentum Ancyranum, provides both the Latin text and an official Greek paraphrase of the account.12