FREE ESSAY ON OCTAVIAN AUGUSTUS

OCTAVIAN AUGUSTUS

Octavian Augustus 
By Derek Jeter
Octavian Augustus (63 B.C.E-14 AD) is known as the first, and one of the greatest, Roman
Emperors ever. Octavian enabled the long, peaceful time of the Pax Romana by changing
Rome from a fragile, crumbling republican government to a mighty empire. Octavian's
government was strong enough to withstand weak emperors who mismanaged the Empire. His
changes proved to be the cornerstone of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. 
During the Conflict of Orders, the lower class Romans, or plebeians, forced the upper
class Romans, known as patricians, to give them more rights and liberties (Hadas 1969).
The Republican government in Rome was established to satisfy the plebeians, while still
leaving a majority of the control with the patricians. The government consisted of three
main parts: the senate, the assemblies and the magistrates. The Senate was a group of
former state officials, usually patricians, who acted as advisors, controlled public
finances and handled all diplomatic dealings with other states (Hanes 1997). The
assemblies were the various public meetings where citizens voted on laws and public
office (Hanes 1997). Magistrates were the elected officials who put the laws into
practice. The most important of these magistrates were the consuls. The two consuls each
elected for one year acted as the chief executives of the state. Censors were also very
important magistrates. Censors were elected every five years to take a census and record
the wealth of the people. Censors also had two other very important jobs. The first was
to appoint candidates for the Senate and the second was to award contracts for government
projects (Hanes 1997). As time passed, the Romans also began to elect other magistrates
called praetors. Praetors acted as judges but could also fill in for the Consuls when
they were away (Hanes 1997). 
The Republic first started to lose power in 133 BCE Tiberius Gracchus and his brother
Gaius were the leaders of a campaign to help the landowners/soldiers of Rome (Hanes
1997). The brothers tried to redistribute the public land of Rome to small farmers. The
Senate, however, feared that the brothers were trying to take power away from the
government. They ordered mobs to kill the brothers and hundreds of their supporters. The
Gracchi's efforts were the beginning of the Roman Revolution (Hanes 1997). 
In 107 B.C.E, a popular general named Marius was elected consul. Because of his military
background, Marius was interested in improving the army. He started to accept anyone into
the army regardless of whether they owned any land. This created a vast change in the
makeup of the armies. Many poor people decided to join in hopes that they would benefit
financially from any victories. Soldiers became attached to Roman generals rather than
the state because of the possible economic gains (Hanes 1997). The government's
separation of the army would prove to be a major problem. Laws could only be enforced if
The Republic controlled the armies. When the army followed a general rather than the
government, the government lost all power. 
In 90 B.C.E, Roman allies in Italy finally rebelled against the city. The allies were
angry that they were not considered citizens of Rome. They had benefited little from
Roman expansion even though their citizens had served in the military. After a very
bloody campaign, the Social War, as it was called, eventually ended when the allies were
defeated. The Senate, however, decided to grant citizenship to the allies (Hanes 1997).
This move expanded the Roman State to all of Italy. As the number of citizens grew, The
Republic became harder and harder to manage. 
During the Social Wars, one general, Lucius Cornelius Sulla proved to be very successful
in battles. Based on this military success, Sulla was elected consul in 88 BCE After
completing his term, Marius tried to stop Sulla from taking any military command. Sulla
countered by marching his troops on Rome (Hanes 1997). Civil war broke out. Sulla led his
troops to victory and became dictator. After killing many of his opponents, Sulla tried
to change Rome back to its days of Republican government. When he felt he had
accomplished his task, Sulla retired to his farm in the country. Sulla's brief reign as
dictator did not prove helpful to the Republic. Instead, Sulla had shown the power and
opportunity that a dictator possesses. Though he didn't intend to, Sulla had moved Rome
one step closer to becoming an empire. 
Three men who would vie for this power: Gauis Pompey, Julius Caesar and Licinius Crassus.
These three formed the First Triumvirate, or rule of three men, by dominating Rome with
their personal armies (Drinkwater & Drummond 1993). When Crassus later died, Caesar
defeated Pompey and became Rome's sole leader (Hadas 1969). In 44 B.C.E, the senate
declared Caesar dictator for life. But, he was murdered later that year by a group of
senators hoping to maintain the Republic (Drinkwater & Drummond 1993). The Triumvirate
had shown that a large Senate was not needed to successfully govern Rome. The
assassination did not help the Republic because within a year, three more men had come to
power: Marc Antony, Ledipus and Octavian. They were to form the Second Triumvirate. 
Octavian was born on September 23, 63 B.C.E (Coppolino 1997). His great-uncle was Julius
Caesar and therefore he had many political connections in Rome. Octavian was favored by
Caesar from an early age (Coppolino 1997). In 48 Caesar had his fifteen-year-old
great-nephew elected to the priestly college of the pontifices, and he also enrolled him
in the hereditary patrician aristocracy of Rome: (Quote from: Coppolino 1997) Octavian
joined Caesar in 46 B.C.E on campaign against Pompey in Spain. Later, Octavian was sent
to Apollonia, on the coast of Greece, to attempt to finish his education. While in
Apollonia, Octavian trained with Roman legions stationed there. (Coppolino 1997) Only
months after arriving in Apollonia, Octavian learned that Caesar was murdered. He also
learned that he was named as the beneficiary in Caesar's will and had been formally
adopted as his son. The will thrust tremendous power on Octavian. He was now the leader
of a great army ready to follow the commands of Caesar's heir. 
Octavian used this army to occupy Rome and force the Senate to make him consul. Marc
Antony, who had been consul with Caesar, was now forced to create the alliance with
Lepidus, a high priest, and Octavian. 
The three leaders divided the land that Rome had conquered. Antony controlled the East
and Octavian the West. Lepidus controlled Africa. The leaders led a ruthless campaign to
punish Caesar's assassins but soon turned on each other. Octavian first attacked Lepidus
and took control of Africa and all of Italy. Antony strained relations between Octavian
and himself by divorcing Octavian's sister, in favor of Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt.
Finally, in 31 B.C.E, war broke out between Octavian and the combined forces of Cleopatra
and Antony. Octavian defeated his foes at the naval battle of Actium and became sole
ruler of Rome. He returned to Rome in 29 B.C.E and celebrated his recent victories
against Antony. 
Although Octavian insisted that he had restored the Republic, Rome had finally become an
empire. It was too large to be ruled by a group of people; it needed a strong central
authority that could make quick, efficient decisions. 
In 27 B.C.E, Octavian made a bold and clever political move by declaring the Republican
Government restored (Nardo 1994). To the public, this sounded sincere, but it was really
a ploy to gain more power. He immediately offered to resign from the position of consul,
but the Senate, instead of accepting his offer, decided to give him the position of
princeps, or first citizen (Coppolino 1997). The Senate also gave him the name Augustus,
meaning revered one. The Senate knew that it could not accept Octavian's offer to resign;
he controlled a vast army and had tremendous personal wealth not to mention being the man
who brought the civil wars to an end. The Senate decided to give Octavian control of the
provinces of Gaul, Syria, Spain and Egypt. These areas had large numbers of troops
stationed within their borders giving Octavian almost total military authority (Coppolino
1997). In 23 BC, Octavian renounced his position as consul and became proconsul. He now
had absolute control over the army without the administrative hassles of consul (Nardo
1994). Octavian was next granted the title of tribune of the people. Tribune was a very
important position to Octavian. The Tribune was supposed to represent the citizens of
Rome and had the authority to veto any laws passed by the Senate. Octavian now had all
the political powers of an emperor without the hatred that came with the title. 
To help run the empire, Octavian established an imperial household. The household ran the
affairs of the empire and completed the various political tasks required by Octavian. He
filled positions not only with former senators and statesmen, but also talented laborers
and even an occasional slave (Nardo 1994). Octavian's appointed men were much more
efficient than the Senate. The household gained more and more power as time passed. 
While the household managed the daily affairs of the empire, Octavian made it his duty to
beautify the city. He once said that he had found the city in brick, and left it in
marble. Octavian also organized fire and police brigades within the city (Coppolino
1997). 
Octavian reformed the tax system by taking a census to determine how much each province
should pay in taxes. He used this extra money to improve roads and harbors, which in turn
increased trade. 
Although the Senate held little power, Octavian treated them with the utmost respect.
Octavian addressed the Senators by their full names and attended any events he was
invited to. Octavian was careful to consult members of the Senate before making political
decisions, even if he held little value in their opinions. In these ways, the Senators
remained happy with Octavian even as they gradually lost their power. 
Octavian became more and more powerful by becoming pontifex maximus, the religious head
of state, in 12 B.C.E and pater patriae, or father of the country, in 2 B.C.E (Drinkwater
& Drummond 1993). Octavian held strong beliefs in traditional Roman religion. He restored
over 80 temples and passed strict moral laws that mirrored older Roman values. The return
to traditional values was influential in uniting the empire. 
With his position solidified, Octavian set about on yet more reforms of government. He
cast out Senators that he deemed unworthy and filled their spaces with provincial
governors and army commanders. Octavian had by now changed the government exactly to his
liking. He knew that his system would remain strong for many years to come. When Octavian
died in AD 14, his achievements seemed remarkable, and they would only become more
remarkable as time passed. 
One thing Octavian had not prepared well for was who would succeed the emperor. Octavian
had adopted his stepson Tiberius and made it clear he would be his successor but could
anyone govern as well as Octavian had? Tiberius, although highly experienced and a superb
commander of troops, did not have the personal touch of Octavian (Drinkwater & Drummond
1993). Tiberius left Rome and lived on the island of Capri where he maintained his power
as emperor, but was the target of many rumors and plots back in Rome. 
Caligula was the next to become emperor. However, like Tiberius he was a disappointment.
Caligula focused more on the personal benefit provided by being emperor rather than
improving the empire. He was eventually murdered in AD 41. 
After the disappointments of Tiberius and Caligula, there was much talk of truly
restoring the Republican Government. The emperor's personal bodyguards, known as the
Praetorian Guards, quickly found a replacement emperor before the talk could proceed
(Drinkwater & Drummond 1993). They chose Claudius, an uncle of Caligula, to become the
next Roman emperor (Hadas 1969). Claudius was successful in managing the government but
his personal life was marred with unstable marriages. Claudius' son, Nero, was the next
to succeed and his reign was disastrous. A devastating fire in AD 64 was rumored to have
been started by the emperor simply so he could win praise for rebuilding the city. When
Nero committed suicide in AD 68, it brought an end to Octavian's line (Nardo 1994). 
The empire, however, was far from finished. Titus Flavius Vespasianus, who won the
support of many troops soon, emerged as the next emperor (Hadas 1969). His two sons
succeeded him and returned peace and prosperity to the empire. The Pax Romana, or Roman
Peace, was a time of great prosperity for all people under Rome's rule. Roman citizens
enjoyed the spectacles of the gladiators in the coliseum and the comedies performed at
the many theatres (Hadas 1969). The Romans are attributed with the development of
concrete, which enabled them to build large structures such as aqueducts. 
As Rome grew into the primary world leader, it's Republican government was falling apart.
The Senate was ineffective because it had no control of the vast armies that provided
power. Conservative Romans who believed strongly in the Republic would immediately target
a strong general who took sole control. Rome was in need of a solitary, powerful leader.
Octavian skillfully turned himself into an emperor without suffering the fate of his
great-uncle, Caesar. He controlled the army, and managed to please the masses. Once in
the position of power, he changed the government not only to benefit himself, but also to
benefit the Empire and ultimately the people. This structure was so strong, that it could
survive through weak emperors such as Caligula and Nero and major problems like who the
next emperor should be. Octavian was so influential that eventually the Romans did not
care that they were no longer a Republic. They knew that with Octavian, they could become
the greatest empire in the world.