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Introduction
Augustus was born in 63 BC and in 44 BC he was adopted by his uncle Julius Cesar; it was during the same year that he became Rome’s emperor after the sudden demise of his uncle. He ruled the empire till he died in AD 14. In 43 BC he collaborated with Mark Anthony and Marcus Lepidicus and together they introduced a form of dictatorship which was known as the Second Triumvirate. He ruled Rome and numerous of its provinces and even took consular power after the demise of consuls Hirtius and Pansa, he even made himself be re-elected continuously.
Dictatorship however came to an end due to its rulers ambitions; Lepidus went into exile while Anthony strangled himself to death after he was defeated by Augustus in the battle of Actium in 31 BC. After the death of dictatorship, Augustus revived the outward frontage of the Roman republic, with governmental powers entrusted on the Roman Senate. Augustus took a couple of years to come up with a structure of a republican state that could be ruled by a single ruler. The result of the developed structure came to be known as the Roman Empire.
Augustus successes
The reasons behind Augustus success in moving Rome from a republican form of government to an imperial one lies within the successes and victories he had in major combats. One of the reasons of his success was the hurting taunts that were hurled by anti cesaerian individuals; such comments made the senate induct him as senator and gave him commanding power which legalized his command on troops. In 43 BC Augustus went for war together with consuls Hirtius and Pansa against Anthony, he managed to defeat Anthony army, however he lost both of the consuls leaving him in full command of the army (George, 38).
After the war Decimus Brutus received more praises than Augustus and even the senate wanted to give him command of the consular legions, but Augustus declined. In August 19, 43 BC Augustus was elected as consul to fill the vacancy that was left by the demise of Hirtius and Pansa. In October of 43 BC, Augustus, Anthony and Lepidus established the second triumvirate. The triumvirate set up proscriptions which saw 300 senators branded as outlaws and were striped of their property and those who never escaped were killed. This was a means of obtaining cash to pay soldiers salary for the war against Cesar murderers. The demise of republican senators enabled the triumvirs occupy their positions. The scenario is branded the name Roman revolution; it cleared the old order and formed a basis of Augustus form of leadership.
On January 1, 42 BC, the senate declared Caesar as a divine figure of the Roman state. This strengthened Augustus leadership as he was seen as the son of God by his subjects. In the same year Augustus divorced his wife Clodia claiming that his marriage to her had not been legal. Clodia wanted to revenge for the humiliation she had undergone due to the divorce. She collaborated with Lucious Antonious who was Antonys brother and the two waged a war against Augustus. The two however lost the war as they were forced to surrender. Augustus victory over this war further heightened his political career (George, 42).
The rivalry between Anthony and Augustus had heightened and the two even were planning to wage a war against each other in 40 BC. However the war never occurred since the Centurions of both the two who were very important political figures refused to participate in the war. The sudden death of Antonys wife Fulvia made the centurions on both sides force the two to reconcile. In the year 40 BC, both Augustus and Anthony signed the treaty of Brundisium, which saw Lepidus remain in Africa, Anthony remain in the East and Augustus in the West. The agreement strengthened the alliance of the two.
As time went on Augustus and Sextus Pompeius were involved in a territorial conflict; the conflict resulted in the two signing a temporary peace treaty. However with time the peace treaty began to fall. Augustus needed Antony’s help to invade Pompeius, the two signed an agreement would see Anthony supply 120 ships for Augustus to use against pompadours and Augustus to supply 20,000 soldiers to support Anthony in his war against Parthia.
However Augustus never kept his promise as he only supplied a tenth of the number of soldiers he had agreed to supply. After the war against Parthia, Augustus managed to convince Lepidas army to defect to his camp since he enticed them with high salaries. This made Lepidus surrender to him which brought an end to Lepidus career. The Romans were now divided between Anthony in the East and Augustus in the West. Augustus was able to maintain peace and stability in his empire by ensuring the rights of his citizens’ property (Emilio, 106).
The war Anthony waged against Parthia tarnished his image; he further tarnished his image by having an affair with Cleopatra and sending his wife Olivia back to Rome. In 34 BC after the Roman troops invaded Armenia, Anthony made his son Alexander King of Armenia and he also named Cleopatra Queen of Kings. Augustus used this to convince the Roman senate that Anthony characters were meant to tarnish the Romans name.
Many of the Consuls defected from Antonys side to support Augustus. In 32 BC the senate took off Antonys power as consul and waged a war against Cleopatra in Egypt. Augustus emerged victorious in the war. Anthony and Cleopatra managed to escape and after another loss that occurred in Alexandria in 30 BC both Anthony and Cleopatra committed suicide. Augustus went ahead to kill Caesarion so that he could remain as the only Caesar.
After Augustus victory over Anthony and Cleopatra, he ruled the entire republic. However to rule effectively he had to increase his powers, courting the senate and people and still maintaining Rome’s traditions so that he could not be viewed as practicing dictatorship. As him and Agrippa walked into Rome, they were elected as double consuls by the senate. The many years of civil wars had left Rome in a state of disorderliness but the state was also not ready to accept Augustus leadership. Augustus on the other hand was not prepared to give up his power without waging a civil war with the Roman generals. The main aim of Augustus was to return Rome into a state of normalcy (George, 52).
In 27 BC, Augustus gained full authority over the Roman state and also had full authority over all Roman provinces and its armies. Although he had no direct control of the armies, he still was able to have the Roman soldiers remain loyal to him. One of the reasons that made Augustus successful was many clients and adherents depended on him for financial help.
The strength of his power came from the number of offices given to him by the senate and the citizens, second from his wealth, and thirdly from a relationship he had created with a number of individual groups all over the empire. The public in general supported him because they were aware of his immense wealth. At one time when senators failed to finance the construction of roads in Italy, he decided to take over the responsibility, this deed was highly publicized in 16 BC after he supplied enormous amount of money to the public treasury (George, 54).
Augustus authority was based on the practice of a predominant military strength and he also exercised force to his subjects. In the Senate, Augustus maintained the constitution of the Roman republic and he also accepted the responsibility of controlling all the provinces that were in a mismanaged state. He also had to control some of the areas Rome had concurred which included Hispania, Gaul, Syria and Cicilia, Cyprus and Egypt. Augustus control over the provinces provided him with authority of over most of the Rome legions. While he was a consul in Rome, he controlled the other legions by using senators he had appointed as his representatives.
However some of the provinces that were not under his command were controlled by governors who had been appointed by the Roman senate. During his reign Augustus became one of the most authoritative political image in Rome and the rest of its provinces and yet he lacked a single monopoly on political power. The senate managed North Africa which was an essential provider of grain and other regions such as Illyria and Macedonia. However the senate powers could still not compare to those of Augustus since he controlled 20 legions as compared to five which were under the senate (Emilio, 119).
Conclusion
It is clear to state that Augustus was a successful leader, and his success of converting in moving Rome from a republican form of government to an imperial one was made possible from the success he had in the wars he waged in. The war that mostly propelled his success was the one he waged against Cleopatra and Anthony that enabled him to have full control of the whole of Rome as a single emperor. Other reasons that played a huge part are his financial stability and his ruling style which was efficient.
Works Cited
George, M, “Rome under Augustus”, Oxford press (1992), 38-54.
Emilio, B, “Roman history”, Princeton publishers (1989), 101-119.
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