Page 15 - Cause & Effect: Ancient Rome

other public offi cials in place, and elections for the latter went on as
in the past. But this was now mostly for show. Behind the scenes, Oc-
tavian, renamed Augustus, made all the important decisions. Accord-
ing to the Roman historian Dio Cassius,
“on paper the Republic still existed,” but in “The power both of
truth, “the power both of the people and the people and of the
Senate was wholly
of the Senate was wholly transferred into
transferred into the
the hands of Augustus. And it was from
hands of Augustus.” 28
this time that a monarchy, strictly speak-
ing, was established.” 28 — Second-century-CE
Well aware that, as Dio noted, “the Roman historian Dio
Cassius
Romans vehemently hated the actual
29
name of monarch,” Augustus cautiously
avoided calling himself either a king or emperor. Rather, he used the
title Princeps, or “First Citizen,” and carefully reshaped his image to
that of a simple man of the people who respected Roman traditions
and laws. Th is gamble, along with the other aspects of his attempt to
totally control the state, paid off and forever changed Rome’s fate.
In Robert B. Kebric’s words, after a long, productive reign, Augustus
“died in 14 CE shortly before his seventy-sixth birthday. Few who
were then alive even remembered the Republic. Th e foundation of the
Empire had been fi rmly set, and Augustus became the model for all
succeeding emperors.” 30

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