Augustus was definitely one of the most influential Roman emperors ever in the entire history of the Roman Empire. He changed many different things and had many different reforms that were very beneficial to the Roman people. He also helped the Romans become one of the most advanced architects and one of the best artisans of the time. The Roman aqueducts and the massive structures that he built helped strengthen the Empire by keeping its people healthy even in Rome, where it was really densely packed with people. He also kept Rome very peaceful. Augustus was able to keep the peace in Rome and improve Rome through numerous military and political reforms as well as getting help from Marc Anthony and Lepidus during the time of the second triumvirate. He also made numerous advancements that kept people happy and away from civil war.
Augustus did some smart things to come into power. Augustus was not Caesar’s real son. He was Caesar’s adopted grandnephew. After Caesar’s sudden murder, Octavian claimed power over the throne. He also engineered his own election even if he was too young to do so. He also had a few rivals. One of them being Marc Antony. They later reconciled with in 43BCE to form the second triumvirate and also brought in a third man, Marcus Lepidus who provided the triumvirate with its financial resources. The second triumvirate was formed mainly to hunt down the murderers of Caesar “In 43 BCE Anthony, Lepidus and Octavian had combined, and by the passage of a tribunician law had been given supreme powers.” the triumvirate was very powerful combined and it managed to hunt down and kill Brutus and Gaius Cassius in the year 42 BCE, but there were some rivalries between Marc Antony and Octavian. Soon after, Marc Antony ran away to Egypt and he has three kids with the current and last Pharaoh of Egypt, Cleopatra. Octavian then declares Marc Antony a traitor while the senate declares war on Egypt. Egypt is eventually defeated in the year 31 BCE at the Battle of Actium. Marc Antony and Cleopatra both commit suicide after their defeat, but their children are spared and are then sold into slavery. Egypt then becomes a Roman province. Octavian no longer has any rivals and is then named Imperator and Augustus. “One is Octavian’s victory at Actium in 31 BCE which made him politically and militarily supreme.” Augustus finally truly had no rivals to compete for his power. Augustus is then the most powerful man in Rome. He is also one of the most powerful men in the entire world. As seen in this letter to Octavius : “So I have at last set eyes upon that man whose person now is the most powerful in Rome, and hence (I suppose) in the world” This shows the amount of power that the emperor of Rome had. This was the power that both Octavius and Marc Antony were in a rivalry for. And at the time, this shows that Rome was one of the most powerful empires in the entire world. Because Octavian did not want to be seen as a tyrant, he left most of what was there in the republic of Rome before he arrived. He simply got rid of all their power so that he would have total control.
Octavius put all the power that he had as emperor to good use. He changes a lot of things and put many different reforms in place. “He put in place a new institutional framework for the Roman Empire and inspired the ideology that sustained it for the next three hundred years.” these changes lasted a long time and were very useful to the Roman empire. The reforms and changes that Octavian brought lasted for a long time and also helped to keep the peace as well. A few of the changes that he made were creating a police force and adding a fire brigade as well as adding a new system of coinage. He also reorganized the army and let cities and provinces govern themselves more. He also abolished corrupt tax collection. He did this by hiring tax collectors that were his own representatives and giving them regular salaries. He kept his representatives under strict supervision to make sure that they were not taking more money than they were supposed to be. “Augustus added more territory to the empire than anyone else in Rome’s history” Although this isn’t about his reforms or anything, this is still a change that he brought to the empire. He helped add more land to the Roman empire which made the Roman empire more powerful. He also built aqueducts and developed complex sewage systems. This was critical because of the very dense population of Rome. A supply of clean water and a sewage system helped Rome have less diseases helped up Rome’s very low birthrate. A few Roman aqueducts are even still here today.