Roman Emperor AUGUSTUS

Emperor Augustus

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Emperor Augustus

Emperor is an English word that probably comes from the title Imperator, a Latin word. The title of Imperator was conferred upon a skilled, victorious general by his legion. It was one of the prerequisites for having a triumph in the streets of Rome. Augustus Caesar became Emperor the Roman Republic was in turmoil with internecine strife and political chaos. He brought peace and prosperity, greatly improved The Empire and introduced the Pax Romana. Augustus had the great merit to transform himself from a civil-war warlord to a rather enlightened chief of state. He was very conscious of the obligations of his post and behaved consistently in a way that deserved his title of Augustus 1. He restored stability and governed well. No one could have done a better job given times and circumstances. This paper seeks to highlight his achievements as an Emperor, and it will showcase what makes him a great emperor in history.

As for Julius Caesar, some consider him the first emperor, by virtue of the fact that he was a dictator for life, and in fact assumed this position, albeit not systematically like Augustus. Augustus might have been well-born (not aristocratic, but rich anyway), but he, unlike most other emperors, did not inherit his position. Instead, he got the name Caesar and became the richest man in the Republic, although he didn't really have time to spend it. Right as he was pronounced Caesar's heir he, a young and inexperienced, but reasonable and wise boy suddenly rode north and gathered an army with which he beat Marc Anthony senseless. After that, he made clever alliances with the defeated Anthony and the powerful Lepidus to eliminate the Opiate faction (composed now mainly of Caesar's killers) entirely 2. He then used political tactics first to make Lepidus look incompetent and rebellious, giving himself an excuse to take over Carthage and banish poor Aemilius. Antony got the same fate when he was branded an Egyptian and eventually defeated militarily 3. This move left Augustus with an undisputed influence on the Senate and complete authority over all of the Roman legions, rendering him the sole ruler of the Roman Republic.

Furthermore, he then continued to rule peacefully and admirably, spending his time expanding the borders of Rome, since he probably realized that Rome's economy was, at the time, based mainly on military expansion and the riches it brought to Rome. He constructed many a public building, the people of Rome were satisfied with their bread and games, although some more Republican senators would probably criticize him for overruling them and making himself emperor, quite a dishonourable thing to do. Nonetheless, he started as a simple plebeian and ended up as the sole authority in Rome and provided justice, relative freedom, and luxury, the three main values of the ancient world. It took tremendous cleverness to win his position, and probably, even more, to organize the Empire so that he could rule for decades with minimal disturbance, and even his incompetent successors mostly couldn't screw things up too badly.

After Julius Caesar's assassination in 44 B.C, Gaius Octavius was named his heir, thus becoming Gaius Julius Caesar (although most historians just call him Octavian. We'll call him Octavian as well). Being the heir of the most powerful person in the Western World was very fortunate for Octavian and used the family name and new fortune to attract many of Caesar's former allies. In 43 Octavian and two of Caesar's former allies, Lepidus and Marcus Antonius, formed a military dictatorship known as the Second Triumvirate which the Senate ratified.

In 42, the Second Triumvirate defeated Brutus and Cassius' forces, and Octavian became ruler of Italia, Gaul, and Hispania while Lepidus Northern Africa and Antonius Greece, the Middle East and Egypt 4. Ten years later, Antonius and Octavian went to war. In 31, at the Battle of Actium, Antonius was defeated, and a year later Alexandria fell to Octavian. He was thus the sole leader of the Roman world. In 27, the Senate and Octavian reached the First Settlement, wherein Octavian no longer had direct control over the Provinces and armies, but retained their loyalty and had to approve bills passed by the Senate. Princeps meant he was the "first citizen" of Rome and was a Senate position. Augustus was a religious title that symbolized the re-founding of Rome. For all intents and purposes, from 27 onward, Augustus was the first Emperor of Rome.

Julius Caesar was largely responsible for ending the Roman Republic mainly, for his own ends. In doing so, he killed off one of the earliest attempts at democracy. Augustus, the first emperor, did many awful things (including killing off Cicero who had given him very sound early advice) but he did introduce a long period of Pax Romana; Peace in Rome. Much worse things that Augustus were yet to come. Comparing Julius Caesar and Augustus, they both are pretty much equal. However, Augustus was, without a doubt, the better politician and the better administrator 2. Though he was without a doubt, charismatic, he had nothing on Caesar’s charisma and nothing on Caesar’s military successes. In short, Augustus was the better dictator, better politician, better consul, and better statesman, but Caesar was the better general, better conqueror, better orator, a better writer, and, overall, a better leader. Although the primary source of his influence was the fact that he was the great-nephew, adopted son, and heir of Julius Caesar, he was able to consolidate his power to the point, through his leadership, that he was at or near the pinnacle of power from 44 BC to 14 AD. (Over 50 years as a Leader.) He was able to make a successful transition of turning the Republic into the Empire, in fact as well as in name. Tiberius inherited the Empire from Augustus without a Civil War and was able to pass the leadership on to another Emperor.

To sum up, over time, smart people in Rome would realize that Augustus held the true authority, but throughout his life, he put forth a modest public image. He had seen what had happened to his adoptive father when he took on too many trappings of dictatorship and autocracy 2. Sure, he was still a wealthy Roman nobleman, but he wanted to be seen as merely the "first citizen", the first among equals. And he arranged it so that all of the honours that were showered upon him were suggested by other people--all he had to do was humbly accept their admiration. Privately, it's possible that he believed some of his own propaganda. It was only natural that one who cared so deeply about Rome, and who had the money and armies to make a difference, would act to make improvements. He appears to have been a great believer in piety and duty, and in the traditional morality of simplicity, honour, and purity. He was instrumental in passing laws that were socially conservative, such as a harsh penalty for adultery. Moreover, he was so devoted to these ideals that he even allowed his own descendants to be exiled as punishment when they broke those laws. One can imagine him to be both exceptionally perceptive, able to see every angle in a political situation, and also possessed of an iron will and strong convictions.

Footnotes

1 Davies, P. J. (2010). Death and the emperor: Roman imperial funerary monuments from Augustus to Marcus Aurelius. University of Texas Press.

2 Galinsky, K. (2012). Augustus: Introduction to the Life of an Emperor. Cambridge University Press.

3 Hadrian's Rome. (2019). OpenLearn. Retrieved 21 October 2019, from https://www.open.edu/openlearn/history-the-arts/hadrians-rome/content-section-5.3

4 Shotter, D. (2014). Nero Caesar Augustus: Emperor of Rome. Routledge.