What type of government was inaugurated with Augustus?

Answer 1

As the final winner of the civil wars of the Late Roman Republic (by winning the Final Civil War of the Roman Republic, which was a fight against Marc Antony to decide who would be the sole ruler of Rome and her territories) Augustus ended the 482-year old Roman Republic. He established himself as an absolute ruler, He started the 506-year period of rule by emperors which followed the Roman Republic. Historians call this Roman Empire. This is a confusing use of the term because they use it both in the usual territorial sense and in the sense of rule by emperors. In the territorial sense, the Romans already had an empire during the Republic. In fact much of Rome's imperial expansion occurred in the republican period.

Augustus' creation of strong personal power led to a 207-year period of relative political stability in the Roman Empire, prosperity, and imperial greatness, which has been called by historians Pax Romana, "Roman peace." Her also consolidated the empire annexing Egypt, completing the conquest of Spain, extending the border in north Africa further inland, annexing client states in Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula, as well as Judea, and conquering the peoples of the alpine regions to consolidate the borders of the empire north of Italy. Augustus also encouraged the development of thriving trading networks across the empire and the construction of infrastructure which facilitated trade, such as roads, bridges, ports and aqueducts.

Augustus was concerned with public morality, and enacted legislation. He was a great believer in what he thought of as "traditional values," such as hard work, discipline, obedience, piety, and the appreciation of art and culture. He encouraged marriage, giving tax concessions to couples with children to encourage the repopulation of Italy after the civil wars, made adultery a crime, and he also restricted luxury and extravagance with a sumptuary law.

Augustus also pretended to be the upholder of republican values while in actual fact he was creating the instruments, institutions and the Propaganda for his absolute personal rule and was destroying the institutions of the Roman Republic. He did so not to paper over his real intention because this would have been seen as an attempt to become a king, which was anathema to republican values. The republic had been created in 509 BC in a rebellion which deposed the last king of Rome, who was a tyrant. Kingship or personal rule by one man was associated to tyranny. Raising suspicions of trying to become a king was what had led to the assassination of Julius Caesar in4 BC. One of the ways in which Augustus tried to avoid this problem was to call himself princeps, which roughly means 'first citizen,' 'first among equals.' Instead his rule was absolute.

Augustus' creation of strong personal power led to a 207-year period of relative political stability in the Roman Empire, prosperity, and imperial greatness, which has been called by historians Pax Romana, "Roman peace." Her also consolidated the empire annexing Egypt, completing the conquest of Spain, extending the border in north Africa further inland, annexing client states in Turkey and the Balkan Peninsula, as well as Judea, and conquering the peoples of the alpine regions to consolidate the borders of the empire north of Italy. Augustus also encouraged the development of thriving trading networks across the empire and the construction of infrastructure which facilitated trade, such as roads, bridges, ports and aqueducts.

Augustus was concerned with public morality, and enacted legislation. He was a great believer in what he thought of as "traditional values," such as hard work, discipline, obedience, piety, and the appreciation of art and culture. He encouraged marriage, giving tax concessions to couples with children to encourage the repopulation of Italy after the civil wars, made adultery a crime, and he also restricted luxury and extravagance with a sumptuary law.

Augustus also pretended to be the upholder of republican values while in actual fact he was creating the instruments, institutions and the propaganda for his absolute personal rule and was destroying the institutions of the Roman Republic. He did so not to paper over his real intention because this would have been seen as an attempt to become a king, which was anathema to republican values. The republic had been created in 509 BC in a rebellion which deposed the last king of Rome, who was a tyrant. Kingship or personal rule by one man was associated to tyranny. Raising suspicions of trying to become a king was what had led to the assassination of Julius Caesar in4 BC. One of the ways in which Augustus tried to avoid this problem was to call himself princeps, which roughly means 'first citizen,' 'first among equals.' Instead his rule was absolute.