The Achievements Of Augustus During His Reign In Rome

Accounts of Augustus’s rule can be contradictory due to the personal interpretations and beliefs of those who documented his rule. There are those who could include their own personal grievances along with the information that is at hand, therefore contradicting the information given by someone who only speaks highly of Augustus. There may be times where historians misinterpreted information or did not do complete research on Augustus’s rule, contradicting the words of those who did more research on the topic. Due to Augustus ruling unchallenged, there may be historians who only exemplify Augustus’s greatness, whereas those who studied the direct facts of the situation may contradict others. The people of Rome often praised Augustus’s rule, so the chances of historians who documented his rule mentioning something that contradicts others is bound to happen. 

Some examples of contradictions of Augustus’s rule may come from the sources that are presented to the reader. Each source may contain its own version of bias, which in turn will more than likely contradict some other sources. Source 3, for example, was written by Horace, a man who “lived at the courts of Augustus. ” It’s noted that his source is a “literary rather than a primarily historical work”. It can be deduced that not only would a piece of work such as this one could be biased to some degree, but it could easily be contradicted by something that was purely historical. Source 5 is written by Dio Cassius, who was writing about the history of Rome. These two sources could easily contradict each other, as Source 3 tends to show unquestionable praise whereas source 5 describes things as purely historical. Source 3 describes Augustus as the “guardian of the state,” also stating that “neither civil dissension nor violence shall banish peace” in Rome. Horace’s stories seem to be written with the intention of making Augustus seem as amazing as possible, which could be contradicted by others. 

The first step to Augustus’s success came with his decision to work with the government (Senate) and the people instead of working against them like his predecessors. It is noted that Augustus “encouraged the building of temples dedicated to ‘Rome and Augustus,’ laying the foundations for the growth of a ruler cult closely linked with patriotic loyalty to Rome” (Source 1 78). In working with the people’s religious views, Augustus is able to win over the public and keep them satisfied with his rule. He was also able to further his success by keeping the Roman people on his side through writings that glorified Rome. Due to the belief that the Romans were guided by the gods into victory, Augustus’s victories both in battle and politics were seen as proof that he had “the gods on his side”. Augustus hired “writers, sculptors, architects, and painters to glorify Rome,” which more than likely attributed to his perceived successes. Through his ability to keep the people of Rome satisfied, Augustus was able to maintain a highly successful reign as leader of Rome. 

Another way Augustus was able to succeed was through the use of coins and roads. Through the use of coins, Augustus was able to get another connection with the “common” Roman. Due to most people living in the Roman Empire being unable to read, they were able to learn more about Augustus through the use of coins. Augustus would place portraits of himself and his recent victories on each coin that he created, updating the coins with each victory. This gave the illiterate commoners a sense of “what the emperor looked like, what he’d recently done, or what qualities to associate with him”. With these details being more and more insinuated the Roman people may be able to identify with and be prouder of their emperor. The use of coins continues his “success” by keeping the people on his side, as the views of “success” can be decided through the opinion of public perception. Roads are another contributor to his success, as the Romans saw roads as a “symbol of power as well as a means to maintain and extend it”. Therefore, an emperor who contributed to the building of roads would be considered one of successful status. Augustus was able to maintain a status of success with his people by keeping them as closely associated with him as he could, exhibiting the qualities a leader should always show. 

In keeping with Roman tradition, Augustus often displayed portraits of himself and his victories just as his predecessors had done before him. As stated previously in my answer to the third question, he would constantly update coins to show his “successes,” updating the coins with each victory in battle. In Source 1, we find out that Augustus and the Senate passed a decree that allowed people hoping to receive compensation for “extorted money” were able to now see the Senate as soon as they could and were assigned an “advocate” by the Senate if requested. Another part to this was the assigned judge’s ability to focus purely on the cases at hand, as they were “exempted from all public duties except public worship” in these cases. With the use of these new laws, he kept with the tradition of Roman Law, which worked to protect both consumers and producers. Both the Senate and the people of Rome supported his ideas and laws, which ended up earning him the title of “Augustus,” as stated by Dio Cassius. 

In Source 4, it is noted that the citizens of Rome offered Augustus the title of “father of his country”. Because this was not the traditional way of earning a title, he declined it, keeping with the traditions he was meant to follow. Later, the citizens brought the title to the Senate, using Valerius Massala to officially give him the title of “father of his country. ” Since he has the approval of both the Senate and the people, he accepts this title, stating that he wants to “retain this same unanimous approval of yours (as in the Roman people) to the very end of my life”. This shows that Augustus kept with tradition as often as possible, showing his true leadership abilities. As stated on page 78, Augustus preferred the title of “princeps,” (meaning “first citizen”) over any other title given to him by either the citizens or the Senate. When he realized the importance of religion to Romans, he gave himself the title “pontifex maximus”, (meaning “supreme priest”), later encouraging that temples be built to praise “Rome and Augustus. ” These titles and the way he reacted to them shows the type of leader he is, as he focused more on being a man of the people rather than a man of high status. He would not accept the title of “father of his country” without the approval of both the Senate and his people, showing that he either did not want to anger the Senate like his father had previously and/or that he respected the status of the Senate. The emphasis on his titles is created to emphasize the leadership skills and qualities of Augustus, as this helps us understand what type of person he was. 

Augustus transformed the Roman Republic into an Empire by shifting the control of the military purely to the “Caesar,” while also keeping the Senate in some form of power. He worked to bring back the power to the Senate that was taken from them during his father’s reign and the civil war that followed after his death. Source 5 acknowledges the way that Octavian shifted the power into an empire type rule, with the source stating that he, “himself was destined to have absolute power in all matters for life, because he was not only in control of money matters but also in control of the army.” When it comes to being successful, though, Augustus essentially charmed the Roman people into being on his side. As stated in Source 4, Augustus was so beloved by the people that he was offered the title “father of his country”. The support of the people came from his ability to bring Rome to a time of peace and tranquility, as the civil war in Rome had just ended. The majority of the Senate supported him due to his restoration of their power, and those who opposed him did not have the intention on disposing of him the way they did his father. Augustus’s success came from playing things smart, as he gave himself complete power while giving the people and the Senate the illusion of power, making any opposition towards him seem both pointless and a waste of time.