Answer:
The gift that Augustus refers to is the reflection that the book proposed to him.
Step-by-step explanation:
"An Imperial Affliction" is a reflective, long and detailed story, which portrays death in a realistic but subjective way and without a specific ending, but open to reflections and debates. This type of story that encourages the reader to think and reflect on his temples was very much appreciated by Augustus and he believes that this was a gift, because the reasoning leads to the understanding of things that were embedded even in our life and Augustus may have passed so when reading the book.