The Augustan Reformation : Responsive Or Ideological?

In 27 BCE, Octavian appointed himself as the first Roman Emperor. After being a republic for approximately 700 years, Rome was now an empire. The Roman Empire grew to be one of the greatest empires in history, conquering the majority of Europe, the Asia Minor, and much of North Africa. Rome went through a time of peace called Pax Roma. During Pax Roma many contributions were made such as arts and architecture. The Roman Empire declined because of its weakened military. The military began to weaken due to laziness, the land was easy to invade, and there we many different leaders throughout the empire.

After Julius Caesar was assassinated, the Roman Republic was overruled and transformed into the Roman Empire. The Republic had many flaws including the fact that it was based on inheritance, it had no genuine voice for the lower class, women, or slaves, and it was not strong enough to govern effectively and keep its citizens happy during endless wars. Ancient Rome only truly became powerful when it became an empire.

After the rule of many prosperous emperors, Rome experienced a period of crisis from 235-285 CE. Almost all of the 19 emperors that ruled during this time were assassinated or died in battle (doc A). From the chart one can conclude that the people were not satisfied with their leaders, therefore they killed them. Rome was built on the idea of pleasing its people as seen by the various forms of entertainment during the Republic.

Octavian, the heir to Rome’s previous leader Julius Caesar, was given the title of Augustus, meaning “Revered One” in 27 B.C. He took power of Rome in 43 B.C and formed the Second Triumvirate which consisted of Marc Antony, Lepidus, and himself. Octavian and Marc Antony quickly shut Lepidus out of power and then later had a civil war over control of Rome which Octavian won. Octavian was humble and generous to the Roman citizens, he kept peace, and restored damages in Rome. Due to his effective leadership qualities, Octavian earned his new title of Augustus.

The Roman Empire began when Augustus Caesar became the first emperor of Rome. Augustus Caesar was the nephew of Julius Caesar, and is known as one of the greatest rulers of Rome. Pax Romana- Roman Peace Under Augustus Caesar, Rome expanded and enjoyed a period of peace- that lasted for 200 years- known as Pax Romana (Roman Peace).

Gaius Octavius Thurinus is a adopted son of Julius Caesar, He is the first true emperor of the Roman Empire, he was believed to be one of the most important emperor of Roma. In 43 EBC, Octavian gathered his army to kill the senate who planned the assassinate targeting Julius Caesar, his adoptive father. Then, he defeat Mark Antony and Cleopatra who was his allies but later betrayed him. Thus , he ended the war continued for decades and brought the great peace to Rome, In 29 EBC Octavian declared the pax romana, also know as the Roman peace. In 27 BCE, he was bestowed the title of Augustus by the Roman senate which was actually reestablished by Augustus himself. In order to remind the Romans the emperor’s power, Augustus ordered sculptor to sculpt the idealized form of him and send those sculptures to every provinces (Module 5 Session 6). The Augustus of Prima Porta is a great example of them.

To begin, the Senate made Julius Ceasar the Dictator after he and his army defeated Ponpey the Great. The most significant contribution Ceasar was responsible for was winning this civil war paving the way for the Roman Republic to become an empire. However, Ceasar was assassinated one year into his dictatorship by Marcus Brutus. After Julius Ceasar’s death, Ceasar Augustus (formally known as Octavious) took over leadership. He eventually would become the first emperor of the new Roman Empire. The most significant contribution Ceasar Augustus was responsible for was ending one hundred years of civil war and attained over forty years of armistice and opulence. This time was known as Pax Romana

During the reign of Augustus in 27 BC, progressive political ideologies were instituted that allowed the Roman Empire to last for centuries.  Augustus’s period of power was known as the “Pax Romana” and it was a time of peace and expansion into Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, Raetia, Africa, Germania and Hispania. Augustus strengthened the political organization of Rome through law and tax reform, protected borders and initiated building projects such as the Colosseum (Emmons, “Roman Empire”).  Additionally, Augustus created networks of roads, police, fire, and courier systems, and a standing army.  The relative freedom from conflict for such a lengthy period of time allowed Rome to prosper culturally, economically, and architecturally.

In the year 63 B.C Augustus became the first emperor of Rome, after the assassination of his adoptive father Julius Caesar in 44 B.C. Augustus raised an army at the age of 19 to overthrow the tyrant leader Mark Antony, whom gained power of Rome after the assassination of Julius Caesar. After overthrowing the tyrannical system, Augustus liberated his father, and was offered dictatorship by the people of Rome. Augustus rejected the title of dictator on more than one occasion; he instead titled himself princeps civitatis: the first among citizens. In his reign Augustus completed many building projects, including the repair and rebuilding of aqueducts, roads, and sewers that had been neglected over time. The expansion of the Roman Empire under Augustus was extensive, stretching from Egypt to Spain including

Gaius Octavius Thurinus, also known as Augustus, was the first Emperor and founder of the Roman Empire ruling from 27 B.C.E. until his death in 14 C.E. He succeeded Julius Caesar after his death in 44 B.C.E. and changed Rome from a Republic to an Empire. Quite arguably Augustus was one of the greatest Roman rulers in history. He was responsible for changing the structure of government by controlling elections and saw to it that promising young men, whatever their origin, served the state as administrators and provincial Governors.

As he always won all the battles, conservative leaders tried to maneuver him out of the power and start their own programs. In 49 b.c.e. Caesar turned his army toward Rome, and in 46 b.c.e. He ruled all the roman empire and started to call himself as a dictator. Some of the rules that Caesar established alienated many members of the roman elite classes, who considered him a tyrant, so they organized to assassinate Julius Caesar and restore the republic.

After his granduncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated by a group that did not want Caesar to be an absolute ruler, Octavian (63 B.C.E. - 14 C.E.) and two others defeated that group; however, their alliance felt apart. In 31 B.C.E., Octavian successfully took over the other two to gain control of Rome, ending the civil war. As the ruler of Rome, he took the name of Augustus which means "one that is blessed by the god in rulership over Rome" (Cohen) and adjusted Rome's political system by turning Rome from a Republic to an Empire. So to what extent did the Roman Empire transform after the civil war in 31 B.C.E.? According to Augustus: Res Gestae which was written by Augustus himself, Rome's transformation is portrayed by his accomplishments that

Augustus became Rome’s first emperor after Rome changed from republic to empire after Julius Caesar assassination. Julius Caesar is Augustus’ great uncle and adopted father. “He shrewdly combined military might, institution-building and lawmaking to become Rome’s sole ruler, laying the foundations of the 200-year Pax Romana (Roman Peace) and an empire that lasted, in various forms, for nearly 1,500 years” (History.com). He was born in 63 B.C. and even his adoption he was known as Octavian.

Octavian (Augustus) had become a Roman empire he to make Rome a well-going city-state. His mindset goal was to bring Rome to a superior city-state, within doing a life changing for the war, people and city. One of his goals was too “demonstrated his political genius by reconciling his military monarchy with republican institutions” (Western Civilization TextBook Pg 140) the Roman Republic had a majority of problems and difficulties of living when Julius was the ruler of the Roman empire. Julius Caesar made Rome go through war and had a misconducted and none guidance of leadership within the military group. Rome had lost half of their military by them getting killed by other countries and losing their lives fighting for their country. Octavian wanted his military to be a more civil-military with no wars nor loss of power. He didn't want to create any type of civil war. All Octavian wanted was to have peace with other countries and to help one another. Octivaina also changed the rules of violence

Julius Caesar ruled Rome when the empire was still a Republic with Senators and other politicians holding equal power to the one man in charge. Caesar was beloved by the people and his role as emperor was one that was given to him by the people of Rome, much to the chagrin of the Senators. Many of his fellow politicians felt this gave Caesar far too much power over them. Rather than allow for their Republic to become an Empire ruled by a "dictator in perpetuity" (Suetonius 25). Julius Caesar was not political enough when he accepted this