Augustus And The Senate Essay

Now he had found a way to reconstruct Roman society, which had been completely torn apart during the civil war, Rome saw Octavian as a hero, making it easy for him to manipulate his image. He was able to present himself not as a monarch, but as a man who had restored the Republic. Augustus called himself Princeps, as if he was nothing else but a first Senator, and combined governorships of all provinces with armies and left the remainder to the Senators. For them the normal career (cursus honorum) still existed. They could become quaestors, aediles, praetors, consuls, and pretend to be the men in charge of the Empire. Officially, they were still elected by the People’s assembly, although, the people elected only those who were supportive of Augustus. After

However, it was the Emperor, Augustus, who held the true powers of the state. Augustus who inherited a Senate whose membership had increased to a size of 900 Senators by his adoptive father Julius Caesar, sought to reduce the size of the Senate to 600 Senators. To reduce the size of the Senate, Augustus expelled Senators who are of low birth. He reformed the rules which specified how an individual becomes part of the Senate. “Under Augustus’ reforms, a Senate must be a citizen of free birth, have not convicted any crimes under lex Julia de vi privata, and have property worth at least 1,000,000 sesterces.” The Senate was primarily composed of either wealthy or military men. With the Roman Empire, the highest official governmental power was Emperor, or “first citizen”. The Emperor Augustus was worshipped like as a god. The Senate remained in existence, but was largely ceremonial, as the Emperor had power over the Senate. No Senator could stand for election to a magisterial office without the Emperor’s approval, Senators usually did not vote against bills that had been presented by the