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Utilised the image of Caesar took power through the establishment of military might maintained it through the myth of Actium

gained great popularity staging games. comet appearing. took great loans to pay veterans. military might worked to the will of cicero joined with two consuls in order to aid Brutus. Eventually gained command of entire army. Granted PROPRAETORAIN IMPERIUM Antony was declared a public enemy. Octavian, with the power of the military behind him marched upon Rome with his legions and seized the treasury to pay his soldiers. THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE. Divided the Roman empire between them. Proscriptions. Structure of society remained the same but republican traditions had been greatly weakened. His primacy depended on the delicate equilibrium between the support of the Caesarean interests, especially plebs and veterans, and the acquiescence of the senate. A move to one side would alienate the other. 115 Of Antonius, Pressure from a competitor was now beginning to force him to choose at last between the between the senate and the veterans. 119 For the ambitions Octavian, the gradual advancement of a Roman noble all that was too long and too slow Legitimate primacy, it is true, could only be attained at Rome through many extra-constitutional resources bribery, intrigue, and even violence; for the short and perilous path that Octavian intended to tread such resourced would have to be doubled and redoubled. 119 Octavian was ready to exploit every advantage. In the first place, the urban plebs, fanatically devoted to the memory of Caesar and susceptible to the youth, the dignified bearing, the demagogy and the bribes of Caesars heir. 119

More costly but more remunerative as an investment were the soldiers of Caesar as the months passed the Caesarion sentiments of the legionaries were steadily reinforced and their appetites whetted nu the dissemination of propaganda, of promises, of bribes. 120 With his years, his name and his ambition, Octavian had nothing to gain from concord in the state, everything from disorder. 120 Octavian took a firm stand upon dignitas without dangerous indulgence in chivalry or clemency; he perfected himself in the study of the political cant that had been alien to the Caesar. 122 It cannot be claimed that Octavians path to power was a sure and certain one. Rather, the precariousness of his path to power is illustrated in the failed coup of November 10 39 BC. For which, Octavian would have surely been tried for high treason, quite legitimately, except for Antoniuss hasty departure following news of discord in Alba Fucens.

Rome had an unwritten constitution; that is to say no constitution at all, This meant that a revolution could be carried through without any violation of legal and constitutional form. 152 Mos maiorum Libertas was most commonly invoked in defence of the existing order by individuals or classes in enjoyment of power and wealth. 155 The libertas of the Roman aristocrat meant the rule of a class and the perpetuation of priveledge. 155 Nobody ever sought power for himself and the enslavement of others without invoking libertas and such fair names. 155 Octavians power us consecrated in the legend libertas p. R Vindex. Pietas Antony was a scoundrel, Octavian honourable, however he was even more honourable in his patriotism, his willingness to suspend his honour bound vendetta because of his love of country. 158 This appealed to the militaristic side. Western generals would abandon the government for Octavian. Soldiers were loyal to one man calls to patriotism were all embracing.

Movements against Antonius begin Cicero and Octavian unite. Octavian is adected into the senate as well as titled pro-praetor, 13 years ahead of the legal date. He was

then conscripted by the senate, to march with the two consuls for that year against Antonius by way of official imperium. Cicero and his friends had reckoned without the military resource of the best general of the day and the political maturity of the youth Octavian. 175 Of Octavians demand for the consulate; The argument of youth and merit had already been exploited by Cicero. The Senate refused. The sword decided. 185. Aug. 19th Octavian enters Rome to pay sacrifice to the immortal gods and is crowned consul. "for a period of five years, three men were to hold paramount and arbitrary power under the familiar pretext of setting the roman state in order. ( tresviri rei publicae constituendae" 188 "the dynasts made arrangements for some years in advance which provide some indication of the true balance of power and influence." 188 "the foundations of the new order were cemented with the blood of citizens and buttressed with a despotism that made men recall the dictatorship of Caesar sss an age of gold." 196 "the Republic had been abolished ... it could never be restored. Despotism rules, supported by violence and confiscation. The best men were dead or prescribed. The Senate packed with ruffians, the consulate, one the reward of civic virtue, now became the recompense of craft or crime...." 201 "But the Caesareans claimed a right and a duty that transcended all else, the avenging of Caesar. Pietas prevailed and out of the blood of Caesar the monarchy was born." 201 The young Caesar was now in sore need both of the generalship of Agrippa and the diplomacy of Macaenes. Lacking either he might have been lost. 231 Private gratitude had already hailed the young Caesar with the name of epithet of divinity. His statue was now placed in temples by loyal or obedient Italian municipalities. 233 The cessation of war, the freedom of the seas and the liberation of Rome from famine placated the urban plebs that had rioted so often against the triumvirs. Their iron rule in Italy, while it crushed liberty, had at least maintained a semblance of peace. Of the government according to the spirit and profession of the Roman constitution there could be no rational hope any more. There was ordered government and that was enough. 233 Created belief turned the scale of history. The policy and ambitions of Antonius of or Cleopatra were not the true cause of the War of Actium; they were a pretext in the

strife for power, the magnificent lie upon which was built the supremacy of Caesars heir and the resurgent nation of Italy. 275 The old themes were intensified obscure ancestry, and the private vices of lust, cruelty and cowardice. 277 Rome expected (and the poets announce the true, complete and sublime triumph the young Caesar would pacify the ends of the earth, subjugating both Britain and Parthia to the rule of Rome. 302 It might be inexpedient to defy but it was easy to delude, the sentiments of a patriotic people. 302 When a party has triumphed in civil war, it claims to have asserted the ideals of liberty and concord. Peace was a tangible blessing. For a generation, all parties had striven for peace: once attained, it became the spoil and prerogative of the victors. 303 The Senate had voted that the Temple if Janus should be closed, a sign that all the world was at peace in land and sea. 303 To the Roman peace was not a vague emollient : the word pax can seldom be divorced from notions of conquest It was Romes imperial destiny to compel the nations to live at peace, with clemency towards the subject and suppression of the rest. 303 But the armies of Rome presented a greater danfer to her stability than did any foreign enemy. 303 Above all, security of tenure was to be the watchword of the new order. 303 The War of Actium had been fought and won, the menace to Italys life and soul averted. ut salvation hung upon a single thread On the brightest page stands emblazoned the Caesar of Trojan stock, destined himself for divinity, but not before his rule on earth has restored confidence between men and respect for the gods. 305 The conqueror of the East and the hero of Actium must now gird himself to the arduous task of rebuilding a shattered commonwealth and infusing it with new vigour. 306 The rule of Caesar and of the Triumvirs bore the title and pretect of settling the constitution on a stable basis the duty could no longer be evaded on the plea of wards abroad of a faction at home. Peace had been established, there was only one faction left and it was in power. 306 What Rome and Italy desire was a return, not to freedom but to a civil and order government, in a word, to normal conditions. 306

28 BC - Octavian assumes the and of princeps senatus, the senator foremost in rank and authority. The young despot not only conceded but even claimed that he held sovereignty over the whole State and the Empire By what right had it been in his hand? He indicates that it was through general consent that he had acquired supreme power per consesum universorum potitus rerum omnium. 307 )Latin taken from the Res Gestae. Naked despotism is vulnerable, the imperator could depend upon the plebs and the army. Bet he could not rule without the help on an oligarchy, 307 His primacy was precarious if it did not accommodate itself to the wishes of the chief men in his party. 307 Traditionally proconsuls governed large provinces. Octavian now removed the proconsuls from the more powerful military provinces and governed them directly himself with proconsular imperium. Octavians moderation in this agreement is key, it only firther consolidated his power because he could not be seen to be an ACTIVE threat. Octavian is referred to as maxime principum rather than simply princepe to account for his extraordinary (vague and tremendous ) powers. He ruled the provinces with an authority familiar to them as proconsular and absolute, whether it resided upon the dictatorial powers of the triumvirate, pure usurpation, or act of law at Rome. 312