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Transition From The Roman Republic To The Roman Empire: Octavian/augustus Caesar
The time in power of Augustus inaugurated almost three centuries of comparatively passive and inert administration, in which the central power pursued few policies and was basically content to respond to pressures and demands from below. The power of Augustus from the point of view of an origin of its basic components, way of formation and the constitutional forms represented not a monarchy (especially in antique sense), but an extraordinary magistracy. The essence of principate was more despotic, than its external form: actually in the relations with the senate, city councils and the people of Rome Augustus acted as the monarch, and even as the monarch-god, being the son (divi filius) of officially recognized deity (Julia Caesar). The major factors, transforming Augustus and his successors into monarchs in practice if not by name, were: distribution of the concept of greatness (majestas populi Romani) of the princeps and his family, the cult of the emperor and a dynastic character of the imperial power. By the end of his life and career Caesar’s successor, wishing to seem a defender of the ancient constitution, was actually the governor of Roman empire, but saying that he has created the monarchy, means simplifying a real picture. Considering the power of Augustus as basically unlimited, many scientists, nevertheless, see it more as preparation of monarchic board of subsequent time, than a real monarchy. The researchers, dealing with a problem of principate, try to present the transition from republic to empire in Rome not as a simple change of political forms, but as a part of a wider sociopolitical revolution. The essence of the changes which took place in the Roman state at the turn of an old era, according to many researchers, consisted in the fact that the oligarchy of Roman nobility was replaced by another structure which included various groups of italian population. Principate has resulted from the compromise between the revolutionary leader Octavian, and republican aristocracy, which had lost its monopoly for the power during the civil wars of the first century B.C. The compromise issued by constitutional agreement of 23 BC, became a basis of political position of Augustus which was expressed, besides the powers handed over to him by the senate and the people, in special influence of his personality (auctoritas Augusti), possessing a huge force. The system created by August cannot be defined within the limits of any one of the existing state-legal categories; the modern science can only give its all-round description. First, the power of August developed gradually, in the course of several years. Its occurrence was not the result of any single political certificate. Second, the legal bases of the power of August were proconsular imperium and tribune power, expanded by means of a number of special powers. Third, though August, by various political shifts succeeded in giving to his regime a visibility of legitimacy, his success on this way was not full and definitive. To an organic part of political structure of the Roman state principate has turned much later, and without the account of this circumstance it is impossible to understand the subsequent evolution of the regime. Millar, F. (2002). The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution. Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press. Severy, B. (2003). Augustus and the Family at the Birth of the Roman Empire. New York: Routledge. Article Directory: http://www.articledashboard.com Michael Bailey is a staff writer for www.easywriting.org, visit it to find free video essay writing guide |
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