How does octavian come to power

The Roman Republic describes the period in which the city-state of Rome existed as a republican government from B. Join our community of educators and receive the latest information on National Geographic's resources for you and your students.

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Related Resources. Ancient Rome. View Collection. The vast Roman Empire, long contested by consuls and generals, was now firmly in the grasp of an emperor: Augustus Caesar. Like Darius I of Persia , Augustus was an organizational genius; his administrative accomplishments surpassed his military feats. He added senators from throughout Italy and empowered them to appoint independent proconsuls to govern Roman provinces. Augustus did maintain authority over the Senate, though, and exercised his veto power.

He confidently halved the number of legions and settled veterans in colonies, which helped Romanize distant provinces and consolidate the empire. Notwithstanding battles in Germany and other contentious regions, Augustus initiated a tranquil era known as the Pax Romana that held sway for generations.

Instead of conflict, Rome now imposed order. Lands once plundered by Roman troops became docile provinces, subject to taxation but spared devastation unless they rebelled. Trade flourished. Cities prospered as Augustus and his successors built roads, aqueducts, baths, and amphitheaters to entertain the masses. Roman engineering urbanized provincial cities, helping transform conquered subjects into complacent Roman citizens. Read why Rome's border walls were the beginning of its downfall.

When Augustus died in A. For his huge contributions to Rome, he earned the posthumous title Divine Augustus. Through her Ptolemaic forebears, Cleopatra was Greek, and her capital, Alexandria, was the epitome of Hellenism.

Because of this, Octavian habitually wore sandals that were constructed with extra-thick soles to make himself appear taller. The hair on his head was yellowish and curly, and his eyebrows met above his nose, giving him a unibrow. Watch it now, Wondrium. He was plagued throughout his life by a sickly constitution, and he suffered from recurrent kidney stones. In old age, his teeth became badly decayed and he lost many of them. What of his habits? We know that Octavian took great pleasure in gambling and dice games, but was an abstemious drinker, rarely having more than three cups of water mixed with wine at dinner.

He preferred to eat modest, simple foods, and dressed in unostentatious clothes sewn by the female members of his family. He enjoyed collecting rarities and possessed an assemblage of dinosaur bones. At the time, these were thought to be the remains of giants and mythological monsters. He was a superstitious man, always carrying around on his body a piece of seal skin as a magic amulet that would protect him from thunderstorms. He believed that if he started a long journey in light rain, this would guarantee a speedy return.

Conversely, if he accidentally put his right foot into his left shoe when getting out of bed in the morning, he viewed it as a bad omen. Even the all-powerful ruler of the Roman world fretted about his appearance, had ordinary hobbies, and possessed idiosyncratic mannerisms. The greatest challenge now facing Octavian was how to permanently consolidate power in a way that would be palatable to the Romans.

To learn some behaviors to avoid, he looked to the negative model of his immediate predecessor, Julius Caesar, who had been in a similar position of one-man rule. For at the same time, Augustus boasted of victory after victory won over foreign rulers and peoples, often adding new territory to the empire.

Augustus presented himself as the greatest servant of the state, and defeating external enemies was a glorious means of service.

He also laboured untiringly and publicly to restore good government throughout the empire, spending his days receiving petitions and resolving the problems long neglected by the inertia of the Senate under the Republic. There were monuments to his glory, but many of them were also practical amenities for the wider good, such as aqueducts, fountains and sewers, bath-houses for comfort, temples to restore a proper relationship with the gods who protected the Roman people, and theatres and circuses for entertainment.

In 88 BC Sulla was the first Roman commander to turn his legions against the city of Rome and seize power by force. After fighting a war in the east, he returned in 83 BC and stormed the city a second time. He made himself dictator — turning a temporary emergency measure into the basis for long-term power — and created the first proscriptions, posting up death lists in the Forum, that named hundreds of his opponents.

In 49 BC Pompey and Caesar became rivals when the latter crossed the Rubicon and began a new civil war. Caesar won, and copied Sulla by using the dictatorship as the basis of his power.

When this was made permanent, he was murdered by conspirators including Brutus and Cassius. Tiberius was unpopular and far less active than Augustus. Yet the imperial system became even more firmly established during his rule. A teenager when he came to power, he was fonder of luxury and performance than government. In the end he lost the support of the army, followed by the Senate, and took his own life. Neither related to Augustus nor from the old Roman aristocracy, he came from the local gentry of Italy.

All of the powers accumulated by Augustus were awarded to Vespasian, and he was followed as emperor by his two sons in turn, giving the empire three decades of stability.

In the last years of his life he invaded Parthia but most of his conquests there were abandoned by his successor, Emperor Hadrian. His reign was beset by a series of catastrophes, with warfare and plague ravaging the empire.

Life was more stable under Augustus, and for most people it was also more comfortable.