The Attitude Of The People Of Rome To Augustus’ Reign
Augustus’ reign as emperor proved effective to most people of Rome during his time through the plans he executed to solidify his country. After years of Rome feeling lost and longing for a sense of stability, Augustus was effective in regaining the people’s trust in their leader through his rule. In “Odes” from Horace, there is constant worship and praise of Augustus and his successful reign, “O Caesar, has brought back fertile crops to the fields and has restored to our own Jupiter the military standards stripped from the proud columns of the Parthians”. While this identifies one part of the effectiveness of Augustus’ reign it cannot give a clear picture of how an entire population felt about Augustus’ strategies.
In the “Inscription from the City of Narbonne,” it depicts the sense of respect the people had towards Augustus by taking vows to him, building altars and offering sacrifices. This source can be seen as an example of ruler worship through the way they are referring to Augustus. The emperor is referred to as the “son of a god, father of his country, pontifex maximus”. In “Odes” from Horace, he places Augustus on a pedestal resembling that of a God, “As long as Caesar is the guardian of the state, neither civil dissension nor violence shall banish peace, nor wrath that forges swords and brings discord and misery to cities”. This statement provided an insight into how the Romans felt a sense of stability with Augustus as their leader, a sense so strong that led them to treat him like a god. These contemporary sources can be interpreted as the Romans showing their respect and gratitude towards Augustus. However, a different way of looking at these sources could also be that the Romans feared speaking out against Augustus because they would face consequences so instead they followed what everyone else did by worshipping Augustus and offering sacrifices.
In “Annals” from Tacitus, he acknowledges that Augustus established peace, which was desperately needed at the time, but he also discusses how Augustus got the people to support him. “Augustus enticed the soldiers with gifts, the people with grain, and all the men with the allurement of peace, and gradually grew in power, concentrating in his own hands the function of the senate, the magistrates, and the laws”. Tacitus’ wording can imply that Augustus, in a way, bought the support of the people. The people most likely might have felt forced to be grateful to him. It can be argued that the people felt like they owed their loyalty and praise to Augustus because of all the gifts he gave to them. Augustus always tried to protect his people’s loyalty whether it was through gifting them things or through his words. For example, in the “Decree Issued by Emperor Augustus,” Augustus pointed out that this decree was a “decree of the senate”. Augustus’ use of phrases such as “under our care,” could have provided Roman with a sense of security and therefore allowed them to place their trust and loyalty in him.
As previously mentioned, Augustus was successful in acquiring the trust of the Roman people through his words and actions. Augustus knew what the people wanted and how they would be able to comply and trust him completely. An example of this is how the Roman people despised titles that implied total control over them. Augustus knew this and therefore refused to associate himself with terms that hinted at a monarchy. According to the text, he gave himself the honorary title of princeps or “first citizen.” He used this as a tactic to convince the people of Rome that he was like one of them although he was not because he was in such a high position of power. His main goal was to restore peace within Rome while also having the people under his control. He wanted to make the people of Rome feel like they were being heard and seen by him and that maintaining Roman politics was of utter importance to him.
Augustus provided incentives for soldiers, this can imply that he used these as a means to gain favorability. An example of these sorts of incentives can be found in “Res Gestae Divi Augusti” from Augustus, “I transferred out of my own patrimony 170,000,000 sesterces to the soldiers' bonus fund, which was established on my advice for the purpose of providing bonuses for soldiers who had completed twenty or more years of service”. While “Res Gestae Divi Augusti” is an autobiography of Augustus and provides a review of his life and accomplishments, it is undoubtedly biased and intended to make himself look good. Augustus lists all the things he has done and provided for the people of Rome suggests that the people have to ‘pay him back’ for his generosity through their loyalty to him. Augustus was very smart in the way in which he controlled the Roman people with his words and promises without them even noticing.
According to these sources, peace was established in Rome during the reign of Augustus and Romans were generally satisfied with their emperor. However, some sources also depicted him as someone who pretended to understand the needs of the Roman people through his clever use of phrases and incentives that gave Romans the stability that they wanted. By making the people of Rome believe that they were directly under Augustus’ care, he was able to successfully gain complete control of them during his reign.
