88 Chapter 5
ble, Augustus and his successors encouraged provincial
cities to adopt Roman institutions and granted Roman
citizenship to their leaders. Where this was impossible,
they encouraged similar developments on a tribal level,
often with considerable success.
The improvement of provincial government was
essential in part because the empire continued to ex-
pand. The defeat of Antony and Cleopatra resulted in
the annexation of Egypt. Augustus added several
provinces in Asia, including Judaea, and extended the
northern borders of the empire to the Danube and the
Rhine. His successors would add Britain and Maureta-
nia (Morocco), Armenia, Assyria, Dacia (Romania), and
Mesopotamia (see map 5.1).
In Rome, Augustus embarked upon an ambitious
program that replaced many of the city’s old wooden
tenements, established rudimentary fire and police ser-
vices, and improved the city’s water supply. Much of this
was accomplished by using the vast resources of Egypt,
which he had appropriated, not by taxing the Romans.
When Augustus died in A.D. 14, he had established a
legacy of sound administration and what has been called
the pax romana,an era of peace and prosperity that later
ages would look upon with envy (see document 5.4).The First Emperors
Augustus’s successors, the Julio-Claudian emperors,
continued his administrative policies, though none of
them was his equal as statesmen. His adopted son,Illustration 5.3
Augustus as Princeps. An idealized but recognizable statue
of Augustus from Prima Porta.
DOCUMENT 5.3
Suetonius Describes the Political
Style of Augustus
The following passage from Lives of the Caesarsby Sue-
tonius (c. 69–after 122) describes what might be called the
political style of Augustus. It helps to explain how he could
rule the empire without arousing significant opposition.He always shrank from the title dominus[“master,” a
title that became obligatory under Caligula and his
successors]... He did not if he could help it leave
or enter the city or town except in the evening or
at night, to avoid disturbing anyone by the obliga-
tions of ceremony. In his consulship he commonly
went through the streets on foot, and when he was
not consul, generally in a closed litter. His morn-
ing receptions were open to all, including even the
commons, and he met the requests of those who
approached him with great affability, jocosely re-
proving one man because he presented a petition
to him with as much hesitation “as he would a
penny to an elephant.” On the day of a meeting in
the Senate he always greeted the members in the
House and in their seats, calling each man by
name without a prompter; and when he left the
House, he used to take leave of them in the same
manner, while they remained seated. He ex-
changed social calls with many, and did not cease
to attend all their anniversaries until he was well
on in years.
Suetonius,vol. 1, trans. R. C. Rolfe. Loeb Classical Library.
Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1913.