Triumvirate and Principate creditmustbecalledback,licentiousnessmustbecurbed,populationgrowth
mustbeencouraged;allthathasbecomedisintegratedanddissipatedmust
beboundbyseverelaws.’’Velleius’versionismoredetailedandornate:‘‘The
civilwarswereendedaftertwentyyears,foreignwarssuppressed,peacere-
stored,thefrenzyofarmseverywherelulledtorest;validitywasrestoredto
thelaws,authoritytothecourts,anddignitytotheSenate;thepowerofthe
magistrateswasreducedtoitsformerlimits,withthesoleexceptionthattwo
wereaddedtotheeightexistingpraetors.Theoldtraditionalform(forma)
oftheres publicawasrestored.’’^101 Wecouldreasonablyparaphrasethispas-
sageas‘‘Augustusrestoredtheres publica,’’butnotas‘‘Augustusrestoredthe
Republic.’’Thereferencetotheraisingofthenumberofpraetorsfromeight
totenshowshowpreciseandrestrictedisthemeaningof ‘‘theformofthe
res publica’’inthiscontext.
Our most valuable source for these events would have been Livy. But
whilehisprefacereferstotheclosingofthegatesofJanusin(,,),it
happensnottorefertothepoliticalsettlementwhichfollowed.However,
insofaraswemayjudgebytheEpitome,whenhecametothesettlement
hedescribeditinneutralterms:‘‘GaiusCaesar,wheneverythinghadbeen
putinorder,andalltheprovincesbroughtwithinadefiniteframework,also
receivedthecognomenAugustus.’’Itisunnecessaryandpointlesstogoonto
listthereferencesinlaterauthorstothesettlementofaffairsatthistime,for
ourconcernisessentiallywithhowitwasdescribedandthoughtofbycon-
temporaries.Butwemaynotethetwowell-knownpassagesinwhichTacitus
characterisesthedevelopmentofOctavianfromtriumvirtoprinceps:
Ann.,: Afterhelaiddownthenameoftriumvir,heconductedhim-
selfasconsul,andascontentwith(having)thetribunicianpowerwith
whichtoprotecttheplebs.
Ann. , : Finally Caesar Augustus, when consul for the sixth time
(..), secure in his power, abolished what he had decreed as tri-
umvirandgaveusthelawsbywhichweenjoypeaceandtheruleofa
Princeps.
In both of these passagesTacitus alludes to, rather than describes, features
of Augustus’ position in the s..Neither reflects any knowledge of a
claimthattheRepublichadbeenrestored.Infacttheonlystatementinour
sourceswhichcanbeinterpretedasmakingaclaimofthatsortcomesfrom
AugustushimselfinResGestae.Howeverwellknown,hiswordsstillneed
reconsideration:
. Velleius,,–.