Reign of Augustus

After winning the post-Caesar civil war, Octavian wanted to assure the Roman aristocracy and masses of the return of normalcy, meaning peace and republican procedure in rule. He began with gestures in this direction. Octavian disbanded the majority of the mobilized war-era legions, annulled illegal orders, and declared an amnesty for most civil-war actors, with the exception of Mark Antony's chief lieutenants at Actium. Reversing a Caesarian measure, Octavian also reduced the Senate in two phases, from 1000 to 800, and then finally to 600, endearing the older Rome aristocracy in the process. In 28 BCE Octavian and his friend Agrippa were joint consuls. For the first time in twenty years, the consuls stayed at home and engaged in no major military campaigns. AS well, they conducted a census, for the first time in seventy years. All this was in an effort to restore popular confidence in the mechanisms of state; the initial success of these measures is indicated in the rise in interest rates, reflecting an increase in liquid capital. The major question remaining, however, pertained to the means of governance in the post- Sulla and post-Caesar era.

The answer to the question of government was the Principate, which emerged in the two 'settlements' of 27 and 23 BCE. Until 27, there was an annual consulship, which Octavian always occupied. On January 13 of that year, He publicly resigned all of his provinces and powers in front of the Senate, to which he restored these prerogatives. The senators protested, whereupon Octavian agreed to undertake the government of the large provinces--the Gauls, Iberia and Syria. The remaining regions would be administered by a Senatorial proconsul. At the same time, the Senate continued to nominate Octavian as consul, and voted that he be given a new name--Augustus. An epithet of the gods, it means 'increase', or 'fiver of increase'. Legally, his title was 'Princeps'--the first citizen, and the Principate was the rule of the first citizen. Key to remember is that Octavian-Augustus stage-managed this process through the large numbers of senators who were his allies and owed their status to him.

The second 'settlement' came in 23. Augustus began by relinquishing his annual, repeating consulship, an office that was somewhat offensive to the traditional senatorial aristocracy. More importantly, though, the Senate changed the nature of Augustus' imperium. Usually, a proconsul's imperium lapsed when he crossed the Pomerium into the core Roman lands, which were to be directly administered by the Senate. Now, Augustus was allowed to keep his imperium wherever he was. In addition, his imperium was augmented to maius imperium, superceding that of all others in the state. Part of this involved his receipt of tribunicia potestas, the power of a tribune to introduce legislation into the Senate, as well as to veto administrative legislation and certain categories of senatorial actions. Thus, while the form of republican life was restored and guaranteed by Augustus, his individual steering power was unassailable.

With these powers Augustus undertook to reorganize the civil and military administration. Along with cutting down the size of the Senate, processes of admittance were regulated to require certain financial worth, a military career, as well as attestations to a candidate's good character. The class of equites was also reorganized. Though previously excluded from government service, this was now changed. Under Augustus, when an equestrian finished his military service, he could now enter government as a procurator, which was a financial agent of the Princeps, present in all Augustinian provinces, as well in the senatorial regions containing Augustus' financial interests. Those equites who distinguished themselves would retain the position for years, providing a career civil service. The best equites- procurators could rise higher, either to govern key provinces such as Egypt or Judaea, or to the prefecture (command) of the fleet, the watch, the corn supply, or the prestigious Palace Guard known as the Praetorian Guard. While this was beneficial for equites as a group, there was a second benefit: as the ex- military financial elites of Italian towns often with economic interests in Rome, their earlier support for Octavian now paid off. They could aspire to long-term administrative careers, and some were appointed to the senatorial order by the Princeps, even attaining the consulship. In this period the Senate began to be drawn from a wider socio-political circle, and the distinction between Rome and other Italian towns began to recede. There were similar opportunities for senators, from among whom the Princeps obtained his legates, some of whom led legions, and the best of whom would govern Augustus' own provinces. All theses administrative changes provided the manpower for