Y12 Julio-Claudian/Roman Ancient History, Points Test 1 – The Constitutional Settlements of Augustus, Moral/Social Reform and how far he restored the republic Flashcards
After Actium, why did Augustus wish to present his political power differently?
- As the figure of Octavian gradually morphed into that of Augustus, his image as a grand military victor, while useful in the short-term, became an unwelcome reminder of civil war.
- His image needed to be changed to show that he now held constitutionally ratified power, balanced between auctoritas and potestas.
Why was it so problematic for Augustus to try and rule Rome as an individual ruler?
- The need for such a balance cannot be over-estimated, as Romans had a hatred of power in the hands of one person: the city had expelled its last king in 510BC and Julius Caesar’s seizure of titles and powers had led to his assassination in 44BC.
- Dio affirms Augustus’ understanding of this in the speech which he gives to Marcus Agrippa (52.4).
- The would-be princeps faced the problem that Rome needed firm leadership and guidance, but inherently resented that need.
What did Augustus need to have his power recognised in a manner which was sustainable and safe for him?
• Augustus needed a formal allocation of powers by the senate, on behalf of the people, to prevent any possible resentment.
How did Augustus ensure that his power would be recognised by the senate, when he claimed to lay down his powers before the first constitutional settlement of 27BC, according to Dio Cassius?
- He did so by ensuring that the senate offered him autocratic powers in light of the need for strong governance, feigning rejection of these powers, and then accepting them on the senate’s insistence.
- Augustus was anxious to suggest that, far from seizing power, he was shouldering the burden of guiding the Roman state at the request of both the senate and the people.
- His speech to the senate, when seeking approval for such powers, telling began by asserting that ‘his power to rule over them for life’ was evident, (Dio 53.4) but that he was stepping aside to preserve the Republic for which he had fought so hard.
How did the senate respond to Augustus’s speech in 27BC, before the Constitutional Settlement and why did they respond in this way, according to Dio Cassius?
- The effect was as desired: there was an outcry in the Curia against such a ‘selfless rejection of power’, though Dio (53.11) said that several senators knew his intentions, while others were suspicious and concerned.
- Unsurprisingly the senate were compelled to either believe him or pretend that they did, and pleaded for monarchical government, pushing Augustus to accept absolute powers.
Why did Dio Cassius argue that the republic was not restored by the 27BC first constitutional settlement?
- Dio’s account is very useful and telling. He explains that in this process, the power of the people and the senate was wholly transferred into Augustus’ hands, and that thereafter, it would be most politically truthful to describe Rome as a monarchy (53.17.1) BUT that Augustus could argue that all their powers had come with the consent of the senate and people.
- This was little more than a façade of republicanism.
- Dio informs us that Augustus immediately pushed through a vote that his personal bodyguard – the Praetorian Guard – should be paid twice the rate of normal troops, so that he might be reliably guarded, and sarcastically notes ‘this shows how sincere had been his desire to lay down the monarchy’ (53.11.5).
How did Augustus try to base his offices and titles in republican tradition and republican precedent, while amending them to cement his power?
- In the RG (6.1) he claims that he took no office that contravened ancestral customs.
- Similarly, VP relates how Augustus refused to become a dictator despite being offered it repeatedly (89.5). But who defined ‘traditional’?
- Here, Augustus sets himself up as the judge of traditionalism.
- This is exemplified when, having attained the office of Pontifex Maximus in 12BC, he collected and destroyed 2,000 volumes of prophetic verses (Suetonius, 31) even editing the Sibylline Books themselves.
- Augustus quite literally rewrote tradition to fit his own ideals and endeavours.
- What titles did Augustus take during his reign?
A. Imperator: conferred initially in 43 as a temporary military title. By 30, officially a praenomen, owing to its military nature Augustus only used it in the eastern provinces: not Rome or Italy.
B. Princeps Senatus: in 28, after Augustus had revised the list of senators for the first time, his name was placed at the head of the senatorial list and this entitled him to be the first to give his opinion in the Senate.
C. In 27, the title ‘Augustus’ was conferred by the senate. It increased his dignitas since it meant ‘one to be revered’, but it did not add to his potestas.
D. In 27, he was also given the title ‘princeps’, used to describe leading members of the state, and it conferred auctoritas but again not power.
E. In 12BC after the death of Lepidus, Augustus took the headship of the priesthoods and the state religion, through which he had control of political and judicial procedure.
F. In 2BC, he was given the title ‘Pater Patriae’, the title which Augustus inscribed on the monument set in the middle of his new forum, which was opened this year. He regarded this as the political high point of his career.
What were the powers and honours given to Augustus by the Constitutional Settlement of 27BC?
- The first constitutional settlement of 27BC marks the beginning of the Principate.
- First, it was not a formal voting of powers, but rather a collection of honours and grants of prestige that acknowledged Augustus’ supremacy.
- Indeed, the very name that he was now given as a title – Augustus ‘revered one’ – affirms this.
- The name was as unprecedented as his position: Dio (53.16.7) tells us that he toyed with the name of Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome, but that its associations with kingship were too problematic.
- It gave Augustus the following honours: that his doorposts could be decorated with laurels, the award of the civic crown, the award and display of the shield of virtue, and the recognition of his auctoritas.
- These honours were commemorated on Augustus’ coinage, reinforcing their propaganda value.
What were the military and frontier arrangements in the Constitutional Settlement of 27BC?
- With regards to the redistribution of provinces, Augustus controlled the most militarised and strategically valuable. One was a super province of Gaul, Syria and Spain (53.12). The senate protested, and granted him proconsular imperium over all parts of the empire requiring military defence: Gaul, most of spain, Syria, Cyprus, Cicilia and Egypt; he had the right to appoint legates, make war and conduct treaties.
- Others were designated public provinces ruled by the senate (Strabo, geography 17.3.25).
- Augustus justified this by saying that his areas still needed pacification and that he wished to reduce the workload of the senate.
- Dio, however, notes that Augustus’ real aim was that ‘the senators should be unarmed and unprepared for war, while he possessed arms and controlled troops’ (53.12).
Why did the Constitutional Settlement of 27BC give Augustus huge power, with a veneer of republican respectability, to help him legitimise it?
- With control of the army, his position as consul and control over public funds (53.16) Augustus was essentially confirmed in supreme command.
- However, even here he was subtle, as this authority was granted for just 10 years (53.13).
- Time-limited power was typically republican, the 1st settlement continued this idea.
- Thus Augustus could declare that ‘he excelled everyone in influence [auctoritas], but had no more power [potestas] than…[his]colleagues in each magistracy) [RG 34.3].
- This might explain Velleius Paterculus’ claims that the republic was restored: the republican machinery of state and organs of government were maintained.
Why was a 2nd constitutional settlement made in 23BC?
- Ultimately, the 1st constitutional settlement was unsuitable and a 2nd was agreed in 23BC.
- By monopolising one of the two consulships, Augustus was snubbing senators and damaging his relationship with them.
- Moreover, he couldn’t leave a loose collection of honours and titles to a successor.
- There is evidence that by 23 he was considering the succession and recognised the need to codify his position as princeps to do this.
- Between 27 and 24 Augustus was away in his provinces, but in 23 2 events occurred which made Augustus rethink: the conspiracy of Caepio and Murena, and Augustus became seriously ill.
What 2 new powers did the 2nd constitutional settlement made in 23BC give Augustus?
• Here, the 2 key powers of the emperor was created.
- Imperius proconsulare maius: reaffirmed princeps as head of the roman army (53.32.5), enabling Augustus to overrule any provincial governor’s authority, which gave him the necessary military imperium he had lost by giving up consulships, and he didn’t need to lay it down once he crossed the pomerium of the city! This power created a lifelong control over the army, and its constitutional nature meant it could be inherited.
- Tribunicia potestas (more significant to CHM!), with which he could pass legislation (morality laws in 18BC), used to date Augustus’ reign and to indicate potential successors, granted him the right to call the senate and to put forward items for discussion, and to veto legislation.
Why were these 2 new powers from the 2nd constitutional settlement made in 23BC so important for Augustus and the Principate?
- These 2 powers confirmed Augustus, and every subsequent emperor, as an authority beyond the normally constituted Roman government.
- They became codified as imperial powers, and were bestowed upon every emperor from Gaius onwards upon their accession.
- These powers perhaps account for Tacitus’ observation that Augustus ‘rose up gradually and drew to himself the responsibilities of senate, magistrates and laws (1.2.1).
- But equally, because of their super-constitutional nature, Velleius Paterculus’ observation that ‘force was restored to the laws, authority to the courts, majesty to the senate’ (2.89.3) is not invalid.
- Augustus’ supremacy was all but complete: by 23BC the façade of republican government was in place, but Augustus had ensured that he existed on a power level above it.
Why was the idea of a republican restoration so important for Augustus in terms of his propaganda and self-image to legitimise his reign?
- However, the idea of restoration was fundamental for Augustus. The need for social and moral restoration in clearly highlighted in contemporary poetry (e.g. Horace’s Ode 3.6). The implication is clear: Rome had become corrupt and decadent; Augustus could portray himself as Rome’s saviour.
- This attitude and presentation, designed to preserve the façade of republicanism, is still clear on much of Augustus’ coinage (see pp.15-16 of CHM).
- Virgil’s Aeneid (6.792-3) refers to Augustus as ‘he who shall bring back again/the age of gold to Latium’.
- The volume of evidence presenting Augustus as a saviour is enormous, though unsurprising. By preserving the best of the old, he made his more innovative political changes more palatable, disguising them with a programme of revival.
