Constitutional reforms of Augustus

The Constitutional reforms of Augustus were a series of laws that were enacted by the Roman Emperor
Augustus between 30 BC and 2 BC, which transformed the Constitution of the Roman Republic into the
Constitution of the Roman Empire. The era during which these changes were made began when Augustus
defeated Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the final war of the Roman Republic in 30 BC, and ended when the
Roman Senate granted Augustus the title "Pater Patriae" in 2 BC.

Contents
Republican framework
Historic constitution
Sulla's reforms
Caesar's reforms
Second Triumvirate
Transformation into Empire
First settlement
Second settlement
See also
Notes
References

Republican framework

Historic constitution

The constitution of the Roman Republic was a mostly unwritten constitution which developed organically
from the Republic's founding in 509 BC. Significant emphasis was placed on custom, the mos maiorum
("ways of the elders"), in the managing of Rome's affairs. The most important institutions within the
Republican framework were the Consuls, the Tribunes, the Provincial Governors, and the Senate.

Consuls - Two Consuls were elected each year (serving one-year terms) to serve as the chief
executives over the Republican government. The Consuls commanded the Republic's military
forces, could convene the Senate and lay business before it, could convene any of the
Republic's legislative assemblies and lay business before them, and conducted the Republic's
foreign relations with other polities. Over time, the Consuls' domestic functions were gradually
shifted to other officials (the Praetors assumed the judicial functions and the Aediles assumed
the administrative tasks), resulting in the Consuls serving primarily as military figures. Their
imperium (military authority) placed all military governors under their command. While their
military authority was limited within the city of Rome itself, outside its boundaries their powers
were absolute. To prevent corruption in office, each Consul held the power to veto his
colleague, with the negative always defeating the affirmative. After a year in office, former
Consuls would be assigned by the Senate to serve as a governor (Proconsul) of one of the
Republic's provinces.
 Tribunes - The office of Tribune was established in the 5th century BC as a method of the
Plebeians of checking the Patrician-dominated government of the day. Following the ending of
the Conflict of the Orders, the Tribune represented the interests of the individual citizens
against those of the state. Ten Tribunes were elected each year to serve one-year terms, and
only Plebeians were allowed to hold the office. The Tribunes' powers were based on the
sacrosanctity of his person, which prevented him being arrested and made physical injury to
him a capital offense. The Tribunes had the power to convene the Senate and lay business
before it, to convene the Plebeian Council and lay business before, to veto the actions of any
Republican magistrate or institution, and to inflict summary punishment upon any person who
did not recognize his veto. If any magistrate (including either Consul) was threatening to take
action against a citizen, the citizen could appeal the magistrate's decision to a Tribune for
review. The Tribune's powers, however, were only valid within the city of Rome itself.
Provincial Governors - The governors were the chief administrator of the Republic's many
provinces. The governor's chief duties included collecting taxes, hearing cases and
administering justice, and ensuring security as a military commander. The Senate would select
governors by extending the terms of ex-magistrates and a determine their provinces through
their advice. Though nominally subject to the higher authority of the reigning Consuls and to
the direction of the Senate, the governors, in practice, were largely autonomous.
Senate - The Senate was a body of 300 members (each serving a life term) which served as
the main deliberative body of the Republic. The Senate passed decrees called senatus
consulta, which constituted "advice" from the Senate to a magistrate or legislative assembly on
a particular course of action. While the Senate's advice did not hold legal force, by custom they
were usually obeyed. Through its advice, the Senate directed the magistrates, especially the
Consuls in their conduct of military conflicts and foreign affairs. The Senate also had an
enormous degree of power over the civilian government in Rome itself. The Senate managed
the Republic's finances as only it could authorize the disbursal of public fund from the treasury
or impose taxes. The Senate also supervised the administration of the provinces, with Senators
serving as provincial governors upon assignment by the Senate.

Sulla's reforms

In 82 BC, the general Lucius Cornelius Sulla marched on Rome and assumed control over the Republic's
government. Sulla was appointed "Dictator for Writing the Constitution and Laws of the Republic" (dictator
legibus faciendis et rei publicae constituendae causa) by the Senate, an emergency official dating from the
early years of the Republic. As Dictator, Sulla was the Republic's supreme military and civil official. In
particular, the Senate granted Sulla the power to reorganize the Republic's constitution. Unlike the traditional
dictatorial office which held office for six months, Sulla's term was for an unlimited term.

Sulla, a wealthy aristocrat himself, was naturally conservative and reactionary.[1] As such, he sought to
strengthen the aristocracy against the masses, in particular the powers of the Senate.[1] Sulla required
Senatorial approval before any bill could be submitted to the Plebeian Council (which had developed into the
Republic's principal legislative assembly). Sulla also reduced the power of the Tribunes. Through his reforms
to the Plebeian Council, the Tribunes effectively lost the power to initiate legislation. Sulla then prohibited ex-
Tribunes from ever holding any other office, so ambitious individuals would no longer seek election to the
Tribunate, since such an election would end their political career.[2] Finally, Sulla revoked the power of the
Tribunes to veto acts of the Senate.

Sulla then weakened the independence and prestige of the various magisterial offices by increasing the number
of magistrates who were elected each year,[1] and required that all newly elected Quaestors be given automatic
membership in the Senate. These two reforms allowed Sulla to increase the size of the Senate from 300 to 600
members. This removed the need for the Censor to draw up a list of senators, since there were always more
than enough former magistrates to fill the senate.[1] The Censorship was the most prestigious of all magisterial
offices, and by reducing the power of the Censors, this particular
reform further helped to reduce the prestige of all magisterial offices.
In addition, by increasing the number of magistrates, the prestige of
each magistrate was reduced, and the potential for obstruction within
each magisterial college was maximized. To prevent obstruction, the
various magistrates looked to the Senate for advice and guidance.
This increased the importance of the Senate as the principal organ of
the Republican government.

To further solidify the prestige and authority of the Senate, Sulla

codified the cursus honorum,[2] which required an individual to
reach a certain age and level of experience before running for any
particular office. In this past, the cursus honorum had been observed
through custom but had never actually been a legal requirement. By
requiring Senators to be more experienced than they had been in the
past, he hoped to add to the prestige, and thus the authority, of the
Senate as a body.

Sulla also wanted to reduce the risk that a future general might
attempt to seize power as he himself had done. To reduce this risk, he Roman Dictator Sulla, who attempted
reaffirmed the requirement that any individual wait for ten years to increase the power of aristocracy
before being reelected to any office. Sulla then established a system at the expense of the masses.
where all Consuls and Praetors served in Rome during their year in
office, and then commanded a provincial army as a governor for the
year after they left office.[2] These two reforms were meant to ensure that no governor would be able to
command the same army for an extended period of time so as to minimize the threat that another general might
attempt to march on Rome.

With his reforms enacted, Sulla resigned as Dictator and retired to private life in 79 BC, dying the next year in
78 BC. Without his continued presence in Rome, Sulla's reforms were soon undone. Gnaeus Pompey Magnus
and Marcus Licinius Crassus, two of Sulla's former lieutenants, were elected Consuls for the year 70 BC and
quickly dismantled most of Sulla's constitution.[3] While the Senate continued to be the primary organ of the
Republican government with the magistrates subservient to its will, the Tribunes regained the powers Sulla had
stripped from the office.

Caesar's reforms

Julius Caesar campaigned in Gaul from 59 BC to 49 BC, which granted him unmatched military power and
popularity with the people of Rome. With the Gallic Wars concluded, the Senate ordered Caesar to lay down
his military command and return to Rome as a privatus ("private citizen"). Caesar refused, and marked his
defiance in 49 BC by crossing the Rubicon River at the head of his army, leaving his province and illegally
entering Roman territory under arms.[4] Civil war resulted, from which Caesar emerged as the unrivaled ruler
of Rome.

With the legitimate government of the Republic defeated, Caesar set about initiating his own constitutional
reforms. Caesar immediately set about consolidating the various offices of the Republic into himself. He was
first appointed dictator in 49 BC but resigned it within eleven days. In 48 BC, he was re-appointed dictator,
only this time for an indefinite period, and in 46 BC, he was appointed dictator for ten years.[5] Finally, in 44
BC, Caesar was appointed dictator for life. In addition to holding the dictatorship, Caesar held the Consulship
in 48 BC, 46 BC, 45 BC (without colleague), and 44 BC. By holding the dictatorship and the consulship
simultaneously, Caesar's imperium ("military authority") was
supreme and all provincial governors were subservient to his will.
With his unchallengeable command authority, Caesar could remove
any civil magistrate or military commander from office at his
pleasure.

In 48 BC, Caesar was granted tribunicia potestas ("Tribunician

Powers") for life,[6] which granted him all the powers of a Tribune
without actually holding the office itself. His person was made
sacrosanct, he was allowed to convene the Senate and lay business
before it (including vetoing any of its actions), he was allowed to
veto the actions of any magistrate (including exercising summary
execution against those who disobeyed him), and he could convene
the Plebeian Council and lay legislation before it. Significantly, his
holding of tribunal power without actually holding the office allowed
Caesar to veto the Tribunes without being vetoed by them in return.
Caesar thus dominated the Plebeian Council, preventing the election
of Tribunes who might oppose him.[6] On at least one occasion, a
Tribune attempted to obstruct him. The offending tribunes in this case
were brought before the Senate and divested of their office.[6] After
the impeachment, Caesar faced no further opposition from other
members of the Tribunician College.[6]
Dictator Julius Caesar assumed
In 46 BC, Caesar gave himself the title of Praefectura Morum control over the Roman government
("Prefect of the Morals"). While the office itself was a new by placing himself above all
institution, its powers were identical to those of the Republican Republican institutions.
Censorship.[6] Thus, he held the powers of the Censors without
subjecting himself to the checks the ordinary Censors were subject
to. The ranks of the Senate had been severely depleted due to Caesar's civil war, and so Caesar used his
Censorial powers to appoint many new Senators, swelling the Senate's membership to 900.[7] All of these
appointments were of his own partisans, which robbed the Senatorial aristocracy of its prestige, and made the
Senate increasingly subservient to him.[8]

While the legislative assemblies continued to meet, all candidates for election required his approval and all bills
submitted to the assemblies for enactment required his approval. This caused the assemblies to become
effectively powerless and unable to oppose Caesar or operate outside his direction.[8] Caesar then increased
the number of magistrates who were elected each year, which created a large pool of experienced magistrates,
and allowed Caesar to reward his supporters. This also weakened the powers of the individual magistrates, and
thus of the magisterial colleges as a whole.[7] To minimize the risk that another general might attempt to
challenge him, Caesar passed a law which subjected governors to term limits of no more than two years in
office.[5] As Caesar began to prepare for a war against the Parthian Empire in 44 BC, he passed a law which
allowed him to appoint all magistrates in 43 BC, and all Consuls and Tribunes in 42 BC.[7] This transformed
the various magistrates from being representatives of the people to being agents of Caesar.[7]

Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March 44 BC. The motives of the conspirators were both personal, as
well as political.[9] Most of the conspirators were Senators and many were angry that Caesar had deprived the
Senate of much of its power and prestige.[9] There were also rumors that Caesar was going to proclaim himself
king. With Caesar's death, the various powers and authority he had assumed lapsed and many of his
constitutional reforms were undone.

Second Triumvirate
Following Julius Caesar's assassination, his adoptive son Caesar Octavian and former generals Mark Antony
and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus united in 43 BC to defeat the assassins of Caesar and to assume power over the
Republic.[10] The Triumvirate was legally established as the Triumviri Rei Publicae Constituendae Consulari
Potestate ("Board of Three Men with Consular Power for Restoring the Republic") with the enactment of the
Lex Titia.

The Triumvirate was granted power to rule the Republic for five years and was, in effect, a three-man
dictatorship. The Triumvirs adopted the positive collegiality principles but not the negative ones. All three
Triumvirs were vested with the full power of office but did not possess the ability to veto the others. Much like
Caesar's dictatorship, the Triumvirs were granted imperium superior to all civilian magistrates and provincial
governors subservient to their will. Their supreme military authority allowed the Triumvirs to remove any civil
magistrate or military commander from office at their pleasure. Like Caesar before them, the Triumvirs held the
authority to name all magistrates and to punish (without trial) those who disobeyed their commands.

After the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the Triumvirs entered an arrangement to divide the Republic's territory
between themselves. Octavian received the provinces of Gaul, Hispania, and Italia. Antony received Greece,
Asia, and the Republic's eastern client kingdoms (including Egypt under Queen Cleopatra VII). Lepidus, the
clear junior partner in the Triumvirate, was left with the province of Africa.[11] The Triumvirate's powers were
extended for another five-year period beginning in 37 BC.[12][13] In 36 BC, Octavian and Lepidus launched a
joint operation against the rebel Sextus Pompey, who ruled Sicily.[14] Despite initial setbacks, Sextus' fleet
was almost entirely destroyed by Octavian's general Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa at the naval battle of
Naulochus.[15] Both Lepidus and Octavian gathered the surrendered troops, yet Lepidus felt empowered
enough to claim Sicily for himself and ordered Octavian to withdraw.[15] Lepidus' troops deserted him,
however, and defected to Octavian since they were weary of fighting and found Octavian's promises of money
to be enticing.[15] Lepidus surrendered to Octavian and was ejected from the Triumvirate, but was allowed to
retain his position of Pontifex Maximus.[15][16] Government of the Republic was now divided between
Octavian in the West and Antony in the East. Though the Triumvirate officially expired at the end of 33 BC,
both men continued to govern their respective halves.

Despite having married Octavia, Octavian's sister, Antony openly lived in Alexandria with Queen Cleopatra of
Egypt, even siring children with her. By using anti-Egyptian propaganda, Octavian turned public opinion
against his colleague. Octavian illegally obtained Antony's will in July 32 BC and exposed it to the Roman
public: it promised substantial legacies to Antony's children by Cleopatra, and left instructions for shipping his
body to Alexandria for burial. Rome was outraged, and the Senate declared war against Cleopatra, an
important distinction, because Octavian did not want the Roman people to consider it a civil war. Octavian's
forces decisively defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in Greece in September 31
BC, chasing them to Egypt in 30 BC. Both Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide in Alexandria, and
Octavian personally took control of Egypt and Alexandria.

The complete defeat of Antony and the marginalization of Lepidus allowed Octavian to become the sole
master of the Roman world.

Transformation into Empire

First settlement

Eschewing the open anti-elitism exhibited by Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony, Augustus modified the
political system in this settlement, making it palatable to the senatorial classes of Rome.
In 28 BC Augustus invalidated the emergency powers of the civil war
era and in the following year and announced that he was returning all
his powers and provinces to the Senate and the Roman people. After
senatorial uproar at this prospect, Augustus, feigning reluctance,
accepted a ten-year responsibility for the "disordered provinces". As a
result, Augustus maintained his imperium over the provinces where
the great majority of Rome's soldiery were stationed.

The second part of the settlement involved a change of title. Firstly, he

would become princeps. Roughly translating as "first in order", this
title traditionally meant leader of the Senate and assured the right to
speak first in meetings. The title lent plausibility to his claim to be the
restorer of republican institutions vitiated during the civil wars, and as
The clupeus uirtutis or shield of
Oxford historian Craig Walsh notes in his seminal work Classics in honour granted to Caesar Augustus
Room 39: "Princeps was pretty much the same idea as the latin by the Senate, apparently along with
Primus Inter pares".[18] the name "Augustus" and the right to
display an oak wreath over his
On the motion of L. Munatius Plancus, he was also given the door[17]
honorific cognomen Augustus, which made his full name Imperator
Caesar divi filius Augustus. Imperator stressed military power and
victory, emphasising his role as commander-in-chief. Divi filius, translating as ‘son of the divine’, showed that
whilst he himself didn't have a "god complex" and wasn't an autocrat, he was on the shoulders of the gods,
enhancing his legitimacy. Caesar forged a connection to the deified Julius, illustrating where he got his
authority. This would have gone down well with Rome's urban poor. Lastly, Augustus was a stamp of
religious authority. Meaning "the illustrious" or "the majestic", it associated the ruler with Rome's traditions,
gave him extra-constitutional status, served as a demarcation from "Octavian's reign of terror", and was not too
suggestive of autocracy like rex.

The first settlement put him in an ideal political position. As summed up by the Res Gestae:

"After this time I excelled all in influence [auctoritas], although I possessed no more official
power than others"[19]

Second settlement

The second settlement was announced in 23 BC, in the wake of Augustus' ill health. Aware that his holding of
the consulship inhibited his powers of patronage and may have created resentment among Rome's rising
political stars (he had maintained the powerful leadership position for the last ten years), Augustus gave up the
position of consul completely. However, where power was concerned, the compensation he received was
more than adequate:

Whilst not literally being a consul, he maintained the right to a seat on the consuls' platform at
the front of the Curia.
He was awarded ius primae relationis, the right to speak first in a Senate meeting.
He was assured the right to summon a meeting of the Senate, a useful tool for policy-making
and upholding the res publica illusion.

Instead of relying on the powers of the consulship which he gave up, he instead relied on the tribunicia
potestas, or tribunician power, which enabled him to:
 1. propose laws to the Senate whenever he wanted.
2. veto any laws he wanted.
3. grant amnesty to any citizen accused of crime.[20]

Whilst effectively giving Augustus legislative supremacy, the honour of tribunician power had popular
connotations, harking back to the traditions of the republic, and was thus not offensive to the aristocracy. As
well as leader of the Senate, Augustus was now guardian of the freedom and welfare of the Roman people.

Beyond Rome, Augustus was granted a form of greater proconsular imperium.[20] Along with governing his
own provinces and armies, this position meant that he could effectively override the orders of any other
provincial governor in the Roman Empire, which, as the Edicts of Cyrene[21] indicate, he was quite prepared
to do.

See also
Constitution of the Roman Republic
History of the Constitution of the Roman Republic
Constitutional reforms of Lucius Cornelius Sulla (82 BC - 80 BC)
Constitutional reforms of Julius Caesar (49 BC - 44 BC)
Second Triumvirate (43 BC - 33 BC)
Constitution of the Roman Empire

Notes
1. Abbott (1901), p. 104.
2. Abbott (1901), p. 105.
3. Abbott (1901), p. 109.
4. Keppie (1998), p. 102.
5. Abbott (1901), p. 136.
6. Abbott (1901), p. 135.
7. Abbott (1901), p. 137.
8. Abbott (1901), p. 138.
9. Abbott (1901), p. 133.
10. Eck (2003), p. 15.
11. Eck (2003), p. 18.
12. Scullard (1982), p. 163.
13. Eck (2003), p. 24.
14. Eck (2003), pp. 15-16.
15. Eck (2003), p. 26.
16. Scullard (1982), p. 164.
17. At any rate, Augustus mentions these three honours together in Res Gestae 6:34 (https://penelo
pe.uchicago.edu/Thayer/E/Roman/Texts/Augustus/Res_Gestae/6*.html).
18. Craig Walsh, Classics in Room 39, page number needed.
19. Res Gestae, 34.
20. Taylor, Thomas Marris (1899). A Constitutional History of Rome. London: Methuen & Co.
pp. 410–417.
21. Augustus; translated by Allan Chester Johnson, Paul Robinson Coleman-Norton, and Frank
Card Bourne; general editor, Clyde Pharr (2008). "Edicts of Augustus and Decree of the Senate
on the Judicial Process in Cyrene, 64 B.C." (http://avalon.law.yale.edu/ancient/augustus_001.a
sp) The Avalon Project. Retrieved 2016-02-08.

References
Abbott, Frank Frost (1901). A History and Description of Roman Political Institutions. Elibron
Classics. ISBN 0-543-92749-0.
Eck, Werner (2003). The Age of Augustus (https://archive.org/details/ageofaugustus00wern).
Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-0-631-22957-5.
Keppie, Lawrence (1998). The making of the Roman Army: from Republic to Empire. Norman,
OK: University of Oklahoma Press. ISBN 978-0-8061-3014-9.
Scullard, H. H. (1982) [1959]. From the Gracchi to Nero: A History of Rome from 133 B.C. to
A.D. 68 (https://archive.org/details/fromgracchitoner00scul) (5th ed.). London; New York:
Routledge. ISBN 0-415-02527-3.

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