Who Really Was Caesar Augustus - Essay Example

Introduction Caesar Augustus is considered as the founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor. He is considered as the single most important personality to have the greatest influence on the history of Roman Empire. His reign was the golden period in the history of Rome as he initiated series of governance reforms and brought in the economic prosperity and peace across the whole empire. The Principate i.e. the first period of the Roman Empire from the days of Augustus to the crisis of the third century, is considered as important period as a formal effort was put in place to ensure the continuity of the Roman Empire during the period. Under his rule, the Roman Empire achieved might, strength and significance besides flourishing in most parts of the Region. Tacitus however, views him and his reign full of deception and bloodshed. He described him as a blood thirsty individual who used army as well as civilians to actually perpetuate his own power. He criticized his policies of giving bonuses to the army soldiers while at the same time also exposing his tactics how he used food as one of the political maneuver to gain popularity in masses. Considering the multiple views about the personality of Augustus, this paper will discuss and argue about who he was and what were his actual achievements. Who was Caesar Augustus? Augustus was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first emperor who exercised tremendous power and influence on Roman Empire. He ruled Rome from 27 BC until his death in 14 A.D and during his rule; he developed a system of governance which remained in effect for hundreds of years. He was born as Gaius Octavius in a wealthy family and was subsequently adapted by his maternal uncle. His rise to the power is often considered as dramatic in the sense that he was duly assisted by the soldiers of Julius Caesar in assuming influence and power within the political elites of Rome. He shot to the prominence after Julius Caesar, his maternal uncle, nominated him as heir. For a modern historian, he is exalted as someone under whose reign art flourished, widespread peace was achieved, governance was stable and all the great authors were patronized. However, more research into his overall character further reveal about his overall nature and the methods he used to achieve power and dominance in Rome. His rise to the power was phenomenal as he belonged to a modest family as compared to the family of his maternal uncle. Due to his limited financial resources, he demanded money from the soldiers of Julius and was subsequently given over 70 million in order to ensure that he can politically manipulate powerful Senators and Politicians in order to achieve political prominence. Eck therefore suggests that Augustus was someone who had a modest family background but a strong and powerful group of relatives which ensured his rise to the power. (Eck, 2003) Despite the fact that his period is dubbed as the golden period in the history of Roman Empire however, he is also viewed as a shrewd politician and a dictator who virtually ensured that there was no opposition to his rule. During his times, he was successful in invoking the strong Roman values and cultural dominance. During initial years of his rule, he attempted to deal with both the external as well as internal threats faced by the Roman culture and heritage. He rebuilt temples, successfully dealt with Hellenistic influence, re-established the morals within the society as well as improved the administration and governance system and initiated other reforms aimed at improving the lives of ordinary Romans. A key difference between the attitudes of Antony and Augustus, both members of triumvirate, was the fact that both held relatively different views and approaches towards how they picked up the political conflicts and attempted to deal with them. Octavian was considered as more inclined to play his trump card to gain political influence not only because of his inheritance, connection and support but also due to his sheer insistence on using manipulative political methods to ensure achieving political prominence. It is also critical to note that during his early days and the initial years when he was consolidating his power and grip on political throne of the Rome, he ensured to keep competition out of the race. (Dio, 1987) He used military successes as one of the key tools to project his positive image and to gain greater level of political acceptability in masses. However, he was also criticized for lacking the imagination quality and actually lacked the kind of sophistication and maturity enjoyed by the Julius Caesar himself? It is also suggested that his focus on bringing in the religious piety as well as introducing moral values was actually not driven by his own deeper sense of achieving the order within the society. He is believed to have used morals and religion as one of the means to achieve the end i.e. to further strengthen his own grip on the power and be known as someone who was self-righteous and enjoyed moral high ground. Eck however considers as someone whose actions were never uncontroversial however, he suggests that very few actually dared to challenge them during his peak. Tacitus’s evaluation of his characteristics during the triumvirate therefore his analysis may also be limited and covers a certain period of time during his rise to the power. Tacitus sees him someone who was blood thirsty during the early days of his rise to the power. His later life however, is considered as a mature phase of his life wherein he consistently drifted away from what he was during the early days of his power. Eck further argues that Augustus was accused of cruelty, deception and craving for power. However, Eck credits him for the foundation of re publica as a monarchy apart from giving political statuses to the provinces. His most important achievement was to actually ensure peace across the whole Empire. (Eck, 2003) A closer analysis of the life of Augustus would therefore suggest that his early days and rise to the power were full of cruelty, bloodshed, political maneuvering as well as sheer greed for power. He used deception and mass murder successfully to deal with the political rivals and to tame any opposition. Conclusion Caesar Augustus was the founder of Roman Empire and its first emperor and is considered as the most influential figure in the history of Rome. Rising from the modest background, he was adapted by his maternal uncle i.e. Julius Caesar as Julius had no children. After the death of Julius Caesar he started to seriously consider a role in politics and with the help of the soldiers of Julius. His rise to the power however, is considered as one of the cruelest periods in the history of Rome. He was not only politically shrewd and willing to do anything to achieve political power and recognition. However, he was also someone who was able to put through important administrative as well as governance related reforms within the Empire. He provided new political status to the provinces while at the same time ensuring that their governance remained fair and efficient. During his time, the general public of Rome is believed to be having prosperous and peaceful time however; Augustus enjoyed no political resistance and competition from any side. He was also said to be not a visionary and lacked imagination however, he was considered as an excellent political mover. Bibliography Dio, C. (1987). The Roman History: The Reign of Augustus. London: Penguin Books Limited. Eck, W. (2003). The Age of Augustus. New York: Wiley. Tacitus, C. (2008). The Annals: The Reigns of Tiberius, Claudius, and Nero. Oxford: OUP Oxford. Read More