Roman Empire is one of the most interesting empires in world history; a lot of legacies were left by many Roman Emperors and one of them is Octavian Caesar or Augustus Caesar—the first Emperor of Rome. To gain the power of the most powerful man in Rome at that time, Octavian had been through a lot. He was Julius Caesar’s grand-nephew and was the one that Julius Caesar appointed to be his true heir. When seeing that Julius Caesar slowly turned himself to an absolute ruler, the Senators united and murdered him in 44 B.C.E.. However, the Senators’ purpose of returning Rome back to a Republic was ruined when “eighteen-year-old Octavian (63 B.C.E.-14 C.E), joined with two of Caesar’s followers, Marc Antony and Lepidus, in the Second Triumvirate”
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Octavian reconstructed Rome by turning her from a Republic to an Empire, rebuilding the government system, and providing social services to Roman people who were really tired of wars. In 27 B.C.E, the Senate gave him the name of Augustus, meaning “one that is blessed by the God in rulership over Rome” to honor Octavian who everyone looked up as the son of God. So as one of the most wonderful political leaders in the Roman history, did Augustus Caesar use his ruler’s power to make Rome the greatest Empire or to make himself the greatest Emperor? Augustus has so many opportunities to expand his power and the potential to become absolute ruler of Rome but he declined them all because he put Rome first rather than himself. He knows that, after years of civil war, average Roman people just want to start new lives in peace where they can focus on life quality rather than worried about their own lives. He also wants everyone to remember Rome as one of the greatest empires in world history by keeping peace throughout Rome as long as possible and developing Roman society to enhance Roman life …show more content…
It only shows what can an emperor do to help his empire reaching its peak. It is true that all the titles that Augustus Caesar obtained during his ruling in Rome makes him look like the greatest Emperor because of all the power he holds; however, they might want to consider the fact that most of these titles were given to Augustus by the Senate and the Roman People. For example, the titles of “consul and tribune”, “Princeps” were given by the Senate; the titles of “Triumvir for Restoring the Republic”, “Father of [his] Country” was given by the Roman people. Another point that people who argue about Augustus using his power to make himself great might want to notice that the title of Princeps has “no official powers attached to it” (McKay, Ebrey, Beck, Crowton, Wiesner-Hanks and Davila 156) therefore some titles were given to Augustus just to honor his services to Rome. He also knows that he is the creator of a new political system and if he took too many power and failed to use all of his power effectively, then Rome would be at war again and his political idea for the greatest empire would be forgotten. He knows when to stop, and how much is enough. In addition, if Augustus Caesar did everything to polish his name, he would keep expanding Rome by waging war in every possible
Octavian reconstructed Rome by turning her from a Republic to an Empire, rebuilding the government system, and providing social services to Roman people who were really tired of wars. In 27 B.C.E, the Senate gave him the name of Augustus, meaning “one that is blessed by the God in rulership over Rome” to honor Octavian who everyone looked up as the son of God. So as one of the most wonderful political leaders in the Roman history, did Augustus Caesar use his ruler’s power to make Rome the greatest Empire or to make himself the greatest Emperor? Augustus has so many opportunities to expand his power and the potential to become absolute ruler of Rome but he declined them all because he put Rome first rather than himself. He knows that, after years of civil war, average Roman people just want to start new lives in peace where they can focus on life quality rather than worried about their own lives. He also wants everyone to remember Rome as one of the greatest empires in world history by keeping peace throughout Rome as long as possible and developing Roman society to enhance Roman life …show more content…
It only shows what can an emperor do to help his empire reaching its peak. It is true that all the titles that Augustus Caesar obtained during his ruling in Rome makes him look like the greatest Emperor because of all the power he holds; however, they might want to consider the fact that most of these titles were given to Augustus by the Senate and the Roman People. For example, the titles of “consul and tribune”, “Princeps” were given by the Senate; the titles of “Triumvir for Restoring the Republic”, “Father of [his] Country” was given by the Roman people. Another point that people who argue about Augustus using his power to make himself great might want to notice that the title of Princeps has “no official powers attached to it” (McKay, Ebrey, Beck, Crowton, Wiesner-Hanks and Davila 156) therefore some titles were given to Augustus just to honor his services to Rome. He also knows that he is the creator of a new political system and if he took too many power and failed to use all of his power effectively, then Rome would be at war again and his political idea for the greatest empire would be forgotten. He knows when to stop, and how much is enough. In addition, if Augustus Caesar did everything to polish his name, he would keep expanding Rome by waging war in every possible