Download File - EDSS World History to the 16th Century

Caesar Augustus' Reign
Following the battle of Actium, the political situation of Rome was still essentially unstable. It was clear
that Octavian was in power, but the only way he had of proving it was the support of the military. Needing
a legal way to make his takeover official (especially one that would not leave him open to the same sort of
opposition that Julius had faced) Octavian enacted three Constitutional Settlements in 27, 23 and 19 BC.
He changed his name to Augustus Caesar and declared himself princeps, or Emperor. The Constitutional
Settlements, in addition to taking the obvious step of making the office of Emperor official, made other
distinctions. The Second Settlement, in particular, separated the office of Consul and the Senate from the
Emperor. Although Augustus did have absolute power, he wanted to keep at least the vestiges of the
Republic and ensured that the Senate had some say in legal considerations. In return for maintaining the
Senate, that body granted Augustus pro-consular power— meaning that he had the ability to supersede
the Consuls at any time and override their decisions.
It was necessary for Augustus to suppress several uprisings — both from groups who wanted to return to
the Republic and from groups who didn't get the picture and still wanted Augustus to declare himself a
dictator along the lines of Julius Caesar. That was something that Augustus particularly wanted to avoid:
by slowly gaining power through taking only what the Senate offered him and insinuating himself into the
people's confidence, he became far more popular than if he had simply seized power outright. Augustus
took this power and began to govern.
Augustus and the Army
Even in his previous life as Octavian, Augustus had been working on making the Roman army more
efficient, and he continued this task when he became Emperor. The soldiers were all volunteers and
consisted of 28 standing regiments plus reserve forces. They enlisted for a prescribed term of 20 years,
during which they were paid a regular wage. They also received a gift of land upon retirement. There were
also special regiments of non-citizens from the provinces, which were subject to special regulations.
Soldiers were required to take an oath of loyalty to Augustus in order to guard against mutiny. The great
commanders who led major campaigns (such as Agrippa and Tiberius) were all hand-picked by Augustus.
Due to these improvements, the army had been established as a reasonable career choice for many young
men. Augustus began to utilise his new force. He carried out active campaigns in present-day Spain and
Germany and established active garrisons in Rome and other major population centres. The army
guarded the borders of the Empire and helped keep newly conquered provinces like Gaul6 under control.
Augustus' new office set an important military precedent: 'there was to be no military glory but
Augustus's'. Two generals, Marcus Licinius Crassus and Gaius Cornelius Gallus, distinguished themselves
individually in battle and demanded that the Senate award them appropriate honours. Augustus, in turn,
showed his public disapproval of these attempts, such that both men simply disappeared from society. On
the other hand, Agrippa, who repeatedly proved his worth as a commander yet never asked for honours,
was consistently praised by Augustus.
Augustus and the Empire
Though Augustus made sure that the Senate ceased to have any actual administrative power, he treated
them with great tact and so essentially made them think that they had far more power than they in fact
did. He also appointed certain senators to 'curateships' — putting particular people in charge of tasks such
as the construction of aqueducts or the financial management of the City of Rome. Augustus also created
aconsilium, or Cabinet, which included both Consuls and a variety of other government administrators.
Each of these administrators had a variety of people under his command, therefore establishing the wellrun bureaucracy that remained the mainstay of Augustus' Empire.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ptop/plain/A7146597
Several new provinces were incorporated into the Empire as well. Areas that had been conquered but had
no official status within the Roman world were annexed and given Roman governors. A common way for
Augustus to reward someone was to make him the governor of a new province. Additionally, in 27 BC he
separated the Empire into the imperial provinces, which were directly under his control, and the 'public'
provinces: these, about one-fourth of the Empire, were officially under the control of the Senate (although
since Augustus had pro-consular power and could overrule the Senate, everything was still essentially
under his command). One could go so far as to say that the provinces flourished under Augustus. His
bureaucracy ensured that they were well-managed and he managed to quell uprisings and territorial
disputes while not appearing dictatorial in the way that Julius Caesar had.
Augustus and Tradition
In his new role as the guardian of Rome, Augustus became particularly interested in reviving the
traditional aspects of Roman society that had been somewhat overshadowed by many years' civil war. He
made clear his disapproval of 'public displays of extravagance' and imposed restrictions on married
couples in an effort to cut down on the instances of divorce, adultery and childlessness. He also reinforced
the Roman caste system (such as it was), establishing new requirements for being admitted into the é lite
circles. However, in private life Augustus appeared somewhat hypocritical: the Imperial family did not
precisely live in peace and harmony and it is possible that Augustus himself was not always faithful to his
wife, Livia.
There was a tradition in certain provinces of the Empire of worshipping rulers. Therefore, it should not
come as a surprise that some areas in the East began to treat Augustus as a god, not long after the battle of
Actium. Despite Augustus' opposition to being granted divine honours (he insisted that any worship of
him be coupled with that of the Roman state) a sizeable cult developed which revered him as a god.
Though it would be out of the question to worship Augustus in the City of Rome itself, as this would have
gone against provisions in the Constitutional Settlements, Augustus did not oppose those who worshipped
him in the provinces. No matter the technicalities, it did produce a base of people who were incredibly
loyal to him.
Augustus and the Arts
Augustus sought to be 'the' patron for Roman artists and writers, initiating a sort of Roman Renaissance
known as the 'Augustan Age'. He undertook several public works projects to restore areas of the city and
build new buildings. In particular, he funded the complete renovation of the Roman Forum, which is even
today not a bad-looking ruin. Virgil, Ovid, Horace and Livy were all writing at this time.
Virgil's Aeneid proved particularly popular among Roman citizens and even then was read and
memorised by Roman schoolboys.
The End of Augustus' Reign
Augustus did grow more tyrannical in later life, refusing to listen to the Senate and obstructing justice.
For example, he exiled Ovid in 8 AD on the basis of one of the writer's satires, which he found to be
insulting. But Augustus did not really have a downfall in the traditional sense. As he grew older, he slowly
withdrew from public life, leaving the workings of the Empire to his highly efficient bureaucracy when he
died peacefully in his villa in 14 AD. There are some rumours that Augustus' wife Livia had her
husband poisoned, as was suggested in the television series I, Claudius, but they are largely thought to be
untrue.
After Augustus' death, he was obviously unable to stop the Senate from voting him divine honours. His
family and the entire Empire would thereafter revere him as a god. Perhaps, at least in view of the
Romans, he deserved it. Augustus left behind a well-functioning mechanism that was to survive less
competent successors and all sorts of calamities for three centuries, and which is still looked upon as a
pantheon of civilisation.
Source: http://www.bbc.co.uk/dna/ptop/plain/A7146597