last-of-the-romans:Augustus & The Empire The 41- year reign of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, f
last-of-the-romans:Augustus & The Empire The 41- year reign of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, first and greatest of Rome’s many emperors, was long remembered as a golden age. Romans called him Augustus, meaning “the revered” and provincials hailed him as a god. But Julius Caesar’s posthumously adopted son, Augustus, was above all a consummate politician. Augustus fought his way to power by eliminating the leaders of the old Republic, most notably Mark Antony. Once Augustus was in power, he reorganized Roman government so brilliantly that it served less able (even demented) emperors for centuries to come.Augustus left no aspect of Roman life untouched. Among other things, in his 4 decades of rule he changed the face of the city with temples, basilicas, baths and a huge new aqueduct. But buildings were only the outward symbol of his changes. He brought Rome an age of peace, and to ensure internal stability he imposed regulations covering areas as disparate as marriage and the marketplace. The greatest change was in the structure of the Roman state. He left the people only a minimal political role and was intolerant of public opposition. He controlled the armies, he was preeminent in the Senate, he managed state enterprises with an iron fist, and he made the most of his great power of patronage. This was dictatorship. But Augustus was clever enough to drape it in the toga of tradition- by restoring the Republic in form though not in practice. -- source link