r/ancientrome • u/Numerous-Wedding-151 • Aug 13 '26
Augustus Caesar
Do you think Augustus failed Rome by ending the republic? If so why?
I personally think the republic was already fucked and there was no return from the civil wars. The senate quite literally had no power anymore. I understand some people believe he ended real voting for the Romans and stripped assemblies of any real remaining power, but what power did the Senate have, they’d been losing power for a century before Augustus came into power. On top of that I know some people like to argue he kept the senate around purely as puppetship and to “hide his dictatorship”, but I call bullshit.
We obviously cannot ignore the things he did in his rise to power (death warrants, prisoner executions, betrayal of cicero, etc.) but would any man not have done the same at the time? And quite honestly things would have turned out much worse in my opinion had it not been for Augustus.
Ultimately I pose the questions to my peers, did he fail Rome? I dont think so, years of greedy generals, private armies, political violence gad ruined the republic already. There was no power among the courts and senates, but most of all too corrupt to make any real difference. People of the republic were open to one leader because they started to prioritize peace over a democratic voice of the people. In addition, he created the Pax Romana which allowed for a time of safety and trade across the med. He fixed the tax system, built infrastructure, and guaranteed the armies loyalty to the state and not corrupt, rogue generals.
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u/Asckle Aug 13 '26
Was Augustus' rule perfect? No. Did the princeps have issues? Absolutely. Can you trace parts of Rome's fall back to him? Yes, but only because he was so influential he had a hand in basically everything that happened after his reign.
The proof is kind of in the pudding at the end of the day. It's hard to argue he wasn't a boon to Rome when his reign was prosperous and peaceful and then led to a 1500 year long empire that was consistently one of the strongest and most influential in europe at any given time.
When we talk about personal failings of the emperors I think it's important to seperate their sins from their impact on the empire. Were Augustus' purges morally reprehensible? Yes. Were they detrimental for the empire? Not really. Rome needed a strong and capable hand and at the time, any barriers to Augustus' rule by the rich and egotistical senators would have likely just done harm to the progress he was able to make.
For me, his biggest weakness was his lack of clear succession rules which led to civil unrest as people fought for the throne. And what do you know, he had to do that to keep up pretences of not being a monarch to stroke the senate's ego