Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

Triumvirate and Principate 

intheconsulate,^74 agestureevidentlyintendedasasymbolofnormality,but
onewhose significancewe cannot interpret for lack of evidence from the
precedingperiod.Inthesameyear,aswehavenoted(seetextton.),he
abolishedtheillegalactsoftheTriumvirateand,attheendof it,tookthe
customaryoathofaconsulleavingoffice.^75 Tacitusindeedappearstocouple
withthisabolition,andtoplaceinthisyear,thesubstantialstepswhichcre-
ated the Principate—‘‘Finally Caesar Augustus, when consul for the sixth
time, secure in his power, abolished what he had decreed as triumvirand
gaveusthelawsbywhichweenjoypeaceandtheruleofaPrinceps.’’^76 As
so often withTacitus,we cannot discern precisely towhat he is referring.
Augustus himself (RG) speaks of his sixth and seventh consulates. Dio,
however,clearlyrelatestheessentialchangetothe‘‘settlement’’of.
Of the changes which now took place, those affecting the government
oftheprovincesatleastarereasonablyclear.^77 TheTriumvirshadbeenem-
poweredtoappointallprovincialgovernors,andwehaveadequateevidence
oftheirdoingso,^78 andofOctaviancontinuingtodolikewisebetweenAc-
tiumand.^79 Butitshouldbenotedthattherepublicantitleproconsul(pro
consule) had not been abandoned,^80 thoughlegatus pro praetore(legate with
praetorian rank), first attested in the seventies..,^81 is found also, though
inSicilyunderSextusPompeius.^82 Moresignificantly,theseproconsuls,al-
thoughtheyweretheappointeesof,andinsomesensesubordinateto,the
Triumvirs,continuedtocelebratetriumphs^83 (afactwhichsurprisedDio).^84
In..,however,OctaviansharedthetriumphofGaiusCarrinas(Dio,
,),anddeniedthedepositionofthespolia opima(spoilsremovedfroman

. Dio,.
. Dio,.
.Tac.,Ann.,.
. Cf.JRS(),–(chapterinthisvolume).
. E.g.,Appian,/;/;Dio,,.
. E.g.,Appian,BC,/;Dio,,(cf.Dio,,,CorneliusGallusleftin
chargeofEgypt).
. E.g.,Degrassi,ILLRP^2 I,;cf.Broughton,MRRII,,n.;andmyn..Docu-
mentaryevidenceforthetitlesbornebygovernorsishoweverextremelysparsethroughout
theTriumviralperiod.
.ILSDegrassi,ILLRP^2 I,.
. Degrassi,ILLRP^2 I,.
. Theevidenceontriumphsbetweenand..isadmirablycollectedbyA.De-
grassi,Fasti Consulares et Triumphales,Inscriptiones ItaliaeXIII,(),–.
. Dio,,.