Augustus claimed that he was restoring the republic, but he actually transformed the government into one in which all real power was held by a single ruler. As he did this, however, he maintained the illusion that the republic still existed, and he linked his rule with the traditional idea of SPQR (see Chapter 5).

Augustus fit his own position into the republican constitution not by creating a new office for himself but by gradually taking over many of the offices that traditionally had been held by separate people. The Senate named him often as both consul and tribune. As consul, Augustus had the right to call the Senate into session and present legislation to the citizens’ assemblies, and as tribune he presided over the concilium plebis (see Chapter 5). He was also named imperator, a title with which the Senate customarily honored a general after a major victory. He held control of the army, which he made a permanent standing organization. Furthermore, recognizing the importance of religion, he had himself named pontifex maximus, or chief priest.

An additional title that Augustus had the Senate bestow on him was princeps civitatis (prihn-KEHPS cih-vee-TAH-tees), “first citizen of the state.” This title had no official powers attached to it and had been used as an honorific for centuries, so it was inoffensive to Roman ears. One of Augustus’s cleverest tactics was to use noninflammatory language for himself and the changes he was making. Only later would princeps civitatis become the basis of the word prince, meaning “sovereign ruler,” although “prince” quite accurately describes what Augustus actually was.

Considering what had happened to Julius Caesar, Augustus wisely wielded all his power in the background, and the government he created is called the principate. Although principate leaders were said to be “first among equals,” Augustus’s tenure clearly marked the end of the republic. Still, for a generation that had known only civil war, the shift away from republican government may have seemed minor compared to the benefits brought by the stability of Augustus’s rule.

Augustus curtailed the power of the Senate, but it continued to exist as the chief deliberative body of the state, and it continued to act as a court of law. Under Augustus and his successors, it provided officials to administer Rome and its provinces. The Senate’s relations with particular emperors were often hostile, and senators were involved in plots to overthrow various emperors. In general, however, the Senate adapted itself to the new reality and cooperated in running the empire. Governors sent to the provinces were often members of the Senate, and they took the Roman legal system with them.

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Without specifically saying so, Augustus created the office of emperor. The English word emperor is derived from the Latin word imperator, an origin that reflects the fact that Augustus’s command of the army was the main source of his power. Augustus governed the provinces where troops were needed for defense and guarded the frontiers from attack. He could declare war, he controlled deployment of the Roman army, and he paid the soldiers’ wages. He granted bonuses and gave veterans retirement benefits. Augustus never shared control of the army, and no Roman found it easy to defy him militarily.

Augustus professionalized the military even more than it had been in the late republic, and made the army a recognized institution of government. Soldiers were generally volunteers; they received a salary and training under career officers who advanced in rank according to experience, ability, valor, and length of service. (See “Thinking Like a Historian: Army and Empire.”) Soldiers served twenty-year terms, plus five in the reserves, and on retiring were to be given a discharge bonus of cash or a piece of land. To pay for this, Augustus ordered a tax on inheritance and on certain types of sales. Those soldiers who were Roman citizens were organized into legions, units of about five thousand men. The legions were backed up by auxiliaries, military forces of noncitizens, some conscripts but mostly volunteers who also served twenty- or twenty-five-year terms. Auxiliaries were paid — though at a lower rate than legionaries — and were granted Roman citizenship when they retired, which gave them legal, social, and economic privileges. Legions were often transferred from place to place as the need arose. Auxiliaries were more likely to stay near the area where they had been recruited, but sometimes they served far away from home as well.

Grants of land to veterans had originally been in Italy, but by Augustus’s time there was not enough land for this. Instead he gave veterans land in the frontier provinces that had been taken from the people the Romans conquered, usually near camps with active army units. Some veterans objected, and at Augustus’s death they briefly revolted, but these colonies of veterans continued to play an important role in securing the Roman Empire’s boundaries and controlling its newly won provinces. Augustus’s veterans took abroad with them their Latin language and Roman culture, becoming important agents of Romanization.

The army that Augustus developed was loyal to him as a person, not as the head of the Roman state. This would lead to trouble later, but the basics of the political and military system that Augustus created lasted fairly well for almost three centuries.