In 1.548. lie married Anna, daughter of Cliristian ]II. of Denmark, who was universally po]nilar on account of her devoted adherence to l.utheran- ism and her fine character. After the death of his hrothcr Maurice, in I.^.tS, Augustus suc- ceeded to the electorate. His rule is chiefly noticeable as bearing upon the history of the newly established Protestant Chirch. In l.'i.55 he was instrumental in bringing about the Peace of Augsburg. Augustus first used his ut- most influence in favor of the Calvinistic doc- trine: but later he adopted the Lutheran tenets, and persecuted the Calvinists. By his skillful in- ternal ailministration. he I'aised his country far above the level of any other in Germany, intro- ducing valualde reforms both in jurispnulence and finance, and giving a decided impetus to edu- cation, agriculture, manufactures, and commerce. He wrote a book on the management of orchards and gardens, and commanded that every newly- married pair should, within the first year of their marriage, plant two fruit trees. The Dresden Library owes its origin to him. as do also some of its collections. In .Tanuary. 1586 — the Electress having died the year previous — Augtistus mar- ried a young princess of Anhalt. but died a month after. Consult Falke, (lexchichfp des Knrfiirfiten. Aiif/iist von Sachsen (Leipzig, 1808).
AUGUSTUS I., Frederick (1070-17.^3).
Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (as such
styled Augustus II.), commonly called the
Strong. He was the second son of the Elector
John George III., and of the Danish prin-
cess, Anna Sophia, and was bom at Dresden.
In youth he traveled over a great part of Eu-
rope, and tasted the pleasures of the different
courts. When, in 1094, lie succeeded his brother
George as Elector, instead of turning his
arms against France, according to previous ar-
rangement, he undertook the command of the
Austro-Saxon army against the Turks in Hun-
gary. After the battle of Olasch, in 1696, he
returned to Vienna, and set himself up as a can-
didate for the throne of Poland, vacated by the
death of .Tohn Sobieski. Bidding higher than
Prince Conti for the crown (10.000,000 Polish
florins), and adopting the Catholic faith, he
was elected King by the nobles, and was crowned
at Cracow, on September 1.5, 1697. as Augustus
II. of Poland. On ascending the throne he ]irom-
ised to regain for his new kingdom the provinces
that had been ceded to Sweden. He joined Peter
the Great in his war against Charles XII., but
his forces were repeatedly overtlirown by the
Swedes. The crown of Poland was wrested from
him, and Stanislas Leszez'nski was made King in
his place. Augustus was forced to sign the igno-
minious Peace of Altranstiidt in 1706, in which
he abandoned his claims to the Polish throne.
However, on receiving intelligence of the defeat
of Charles XII. at Pultowa, in 1709, he declared
the treaty of Altranstiidt annulled, marched with
a powerful army into Polaiul, of which he again
became master, and renewed the war with Swe-
den, which continued till the death of Charles
XII. at Frederikshald, in 1718, led first to a truce,
and eventually to .a peace with that kingdom.
Meanwhile a confederation of Polish nobles had
been formed against the Saxons, and fought
against them with much success, till, in 1716,
through the armed inter'ention of the Czar, a
compact was made between the Poles and Augustus, by which the Saxon troops left the kingdom. The King now found himself obliged to emplo}' conciliation, and the splendor of hi.s dissolute court soon won the favor of the Polish nobles, who followed his example but too closely. Saxony had bitter cause to regret the union of the crowns. Its resources were shamefully squan-
dered on the adornment of the capital, Dresden,
on the King's mistres.ses, his illegitimate chil-
dren, and the alchemists who deluded him with
hopes of the elixir of life. Augustus supported
the fine arts as ministering to luxury, but did
little for the cause of science. Despotic in prin-
ciple, though easy in temper: ambitious as well
as luxurious; reckless alike in the pursuit of war
and ])leasure. death overtook him in the midst
of projected festivities. On his way to the War-
saw Diet, gangrene of an old wound set in, and
he died February 1, 1733, and was buried at
Cracow. By his wife he left an only son, who
succeeded him. The most celebrated of his nu-
merous illegitimate offspring was Maurice of
Saxony (:Marshal Sa.xe). Consult Desroches de
Partlu'nav, Histoire de Pologne sous le roi Au-
(juste (Hague, 1733-34).
AUGUSTUS II., Frederick (1696-1763).
Elector of Saxony and King of Poland (as such
styled Augustus III.). He was the son and suc-
cessor of Augustus the Strong. Though carefully
educated by his mother in the Protestant faith,
he adopted Catholicism in 1712 while on a jour-
ney through Italy. In this step he was probably
influenced by his ambition for the crowni of Po-
land. After succeeding his father in the elec-
torate in 1733, he was chosen King of Poland
by a part of the nobility. Aided by Russia and
Austria, he triumphed over the rival claims of
Stanislas Leszczynski, supported by Louis XV.,
and was unanimously proclaimed three years
later as Augustus III. He left all the cares of
government to his favorite, Briihl, who ruined
Saxony to minister to the pleasures of his King.
In 1742 Augustus joined iStaria Theresa against
I'rederick of Pmssia, but their armies were de-
feated in 1745, and Augustus had to flee from
his capital. He made peace with Frederick and
recovered Saxony. In the Seven Years' War,
Augustus, as the ally of Austria, suffered the
loss of his army at" Pima (1756); his coun-
try was overrun, his State papers fell into Fred-
erick's hands, and he himself had to flee to
Poland, where his popularity, never very great,
was much diminished by his recent reverses in
Saxony. After the Peace of Hubertsburg (Felv
ruary 10, 1763), Augustus returned to Dresden.
He died October 5, 1763. His son, Frederick
Christian, succeeded him in the electorate, and
Stanislas Poniatowski became King of Poland.
Augustus was a spendthrift, like his father, and
spent immense fortunes in beautifying his capi-
tal, Dresden. Consult Ruthi&re, Histoire de Pan-
archie de I'lilogne (Paris, 1819).
AUGUSTUS'S BAND— better termed the
AuGU-STAN Band (Gk. 2weTpa Se^oo-Ti), Speira
Sebaste, Lat. Cohors Auf/usta). One of the
cohorts of provincial troops stationed in Syria
during the Roman rule, designated Augusta as
a title of honor. It did not belong to the legion-
ary forces, which formed the heart of the impe-
rial army, and consisted only of Rom.an citizens,
but to the auxiliaries, which were recruited from
the natives of the provinces in which they were
