legislative and executive, civil and military, social and religious. The union of these different functions in one person—the permanent exercise of these various powers, constituted, in fact, the change which he effected; and it is the change thus effected that Tacitus aptly characterises by saying, that he by degrees "assumed the functions of the senate, of the magistrates, and of the laws."
In the first place, the perpetual proconsular power was conferred upon Augustus by the senate, and he enjoyed it at home and abroad. In his provinces he had authority as full and complete as any proconsul had enjoyed under the republic. When at Rome, he governed his provinces by deputies, who were his representatives, always possessing a military force sufficient for that purpose. In this way he retained under his command the chief armies of the empire. Again, a few years later, in the eleventh consulship (b.c. 23) of Augustus, the senate conferred on him the tribunitian power for life. It does not appear that he was made tribune, but he received and exercised for thirty-seven years all the authority of the office, as if he had been actually elected to it in the old constitutional way. The power of the tribunes under the republic was an important element of the Roman constitution—a check to the absolute authority of the consuls, that helped to keep the balance true. It was the special business of the tribunes to defend the distressed, and arraign the enemies of the people. They could arrest by a word the proceedings of the senate, and possessed, it would appear, an arbitrary power of throwing into prison all who opposed their measures. The possession of this office gave Augustus a civil power, which, combined with his imperial and proconsular authority, was more than any constitutional monarch in Europe possesses. His person was thus declared inviolable; and he could, according to the old forms, obstruct any measures in the senate, and prevent the passing of any law in the popular assemblies. Though scarcely in a position to fulfil its special duties, the assumption of the title and power of tribune was a politic step on the part of Augustus, as he thus declared himself the guardian of the popular element in the constitution, and the preserver of the people's rights. Still further, the office of perpetual censor was vested in Augustus, and he thus possessed a social power of the widest kind—could degrade at will any citizen, even of the very highest rank. Finally, on the death of Lepidus a few years later, Augustus was made pontifex maximus, probably by the voice of the popular assembly, the choice of the pontifex maximus having been vested in them fifty years before. His appointment to the office made Augustus the head of the college of Priests, and he thus acquired and exercised the highest religious functions of the empire. It should be added, that while paying the senate the greatest outward respect, he had early superseded their administrative functions, by appointing a council or cabinet composed of fifteen of their number, with whom he deliberated on matters of state—on all matters to be proposed to the senate, who thus soon lost the power of originating any measures at all.
It will be seen from this sketch how completely Augustus absorbed in himself the large and almost unlimited powers which the republic intrusted to its first magistrates. Without creating a single new office, or assuming any fresh title, he became an absolute monarch in the midst of the republic. Professing to follow the wishes of the people, and to obey the mandates of the senate, he in reality, from the very first, led the one, and commanded the other. It should be added, however, that whatever were the motives of his policy, or the means by which he so successfully carried it out, he invariably used the great power he acquired well. During the forty years of his comparatively peaceful reign, he devoted himself to secure the welfare of the state and people of Rome. His name is identified with triumphs in arts as well as in arms. He executed a number of most important public works; improved and beautified the city so, that it was said "he found the city brick and left it marble;" he developed the commerce of the empire, which had previously been much neglected; and by his encouragement of literature and art, gave a name to the most splendid era of Roman letters. The great political events which mark the reign of Augustus belong to the history of Rome, and need not be chronicled here. He chiefly devoted himself to subduing rebellion within the limits of the empire, consolidating the conquests already made, and promoting the internal peace and prosperity of the state. How thoroughly his attention was devoted to the welfare and progress of the empire, may be gathered from the fact that, while at the head of affairs, he thrice took a census of the people—at the beginning, in the middle, and at the very close of his reign.
[In the fourth year before the account called Anno Domini, "Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea, in the days of Herod the king."—Matt. ii. 1.—Ed.]
The third and last census was taken by Augustus with the aid of Tiberius, in the year a.d. 14. He had for some time been in feeble health. In the summer of this year, after superintending the celebration of some games at Naples, he retired to Nola, where he died on the 19th of August, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and in the same room in which his father had died. Feeling his end near, he called his friends together, and asked them if they thought he had played his part well in life; and if they did, he added, "Give me then your applause." He died while he was kissing Livia, and telling her to remember their union. An accomplished actor undoubtedly he was, and he played a great part. A rumour that he was poisoned by his wife has been preserved by the historians, but not the slightest evidence is alleged in confirmation of it. By his will he left Livia and Tiberius his heirs. The ceremonial of his funeral and the accompanying events belong to the period of his successor Tiberius, the commencement of whose reign is intimately connected with the close of the reign of Augustus. In this imperfect sketch some facts have been stated without any limitations, which in a history would require a careful examination. Of all periods this is one of the most eventful, and of all perhaps the most fruitful in consequences; for it is the period in which was consolidated that system of government and administration which has determined the character of European civilization. It is remarkable also for the personal history of the man, which, from the battle of Actium, comprised a period of nearly forty-four years, and from the time of his landing at Brundisium in b.c. 44, a period of fifty-seven.
Augustus was a man of middle stature, or rather below it, but well made. The expression of his handsome face was that of unvarying tranquillity; his eyes were large, bright, and piercing; his hair a lightish yellow; and his nose somewhat aquiline. The profound serenity of his expression and the noble character of his features are shown by his gems and medals. He was temperate even to abstinence in eating and drinking, and he thus attained a great age, though he was of a feeble constitution; but though a rigid father, and a strict guardian of public morals, he is accused of incontinence. He was fond of simple amusements, and of children's company. In all his habits he was methodical, an economizer of time, and averse to pomp and personal display. He generally left the city and entered it by night, to avoid being seen. The master of so many legions—he who directed the administration of an empire which extended from the Euphrates to the Pillars of Hercules, and from the Libyan Desert to the German Ocean—lived in a house of moderate size, without splendour or external show. His ordinary dress was made by the hands of his wife, his daughter, and his granddaughters. The young women were kept under a strict discipline, and their conduct every day was carefully registered in a book. He assisted in the education of his grandsons and adopted sons, Caius and Lucius. From his youth he had practised oratory, and was well acquainted with the learning of his day. Though a ready speaker, he never addressed the senate, the popular assemblies, or the soldiers, without preparation, and it was his general practice to read his speeches. He was a man of unwearied industry, a great reader, and a diligent writer. He drew up memoirs of his own life, in thirteen books, which comprised the period up to the Cantabrian war, and also various other works in prose. He also wrote a poem in hexameter verse, entitled "Sicilia," and a book of Epigrams, some of which are extant, and are very obscene. His Latin style, as appears from the few specimens which are extant, was simple and energetic, like his character; he disliked trivial thoughts and farfetched words, and his object was always to express his meaning in the clearest possible way.
The age of Augustus is the most brilliant literary period in the history of Rome. There were the lawyers M. Antistius Labeo and C. Ateius Capito; the poets Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and others; and the historian Livy. The literary remains of Augustus were published by J. A. Fabricius, Hamburg, 1727, 4to.
The relationship of the various members of the family of Augustus is very complicated, but it is necessary to understand
