Western Civilization

for a longer period. The shift to a professional army

was completed when early emperors created a bureauc-

racy that could train and administer such an army. The

peace of the Roman Empire depended on the army,

and so did the security of the princeps. Though primar-

ily responsible for guarding the frontiers of the empire,

the army was also used to maintain domestic order

within the provinces.

Augustus maintained a standing army of twenty-

eight legions, or about 150,000 men. Roman legionaries

were recruited only from the citizenry and, under

Augustus, largely from Italy. Augustus also maintained a

large contingent of auxiliary forces—around 130,000—

enlisted from the subject peoples. He was also responsi-

ble for establishing thepraetorian guard. Although

nominally a military reserve, these “nine cohorts of elite

troops,” roughly 9,000 men, had the important task of

guarding the person of the princeps. Eventually, the

praetorian guard would play an important role in mak-

ing and deposing emperors.

The role of the princeps as military commander gave

rise to a title by which this ruler eventually came to be

known. When victorious, a military commander was

acclaimed by his troops asimperator(im-puh-RAH-tur),

a title that is the source of the wordemperor. Augustus

was so acclaimed on a number of occasions. Although

this title was applied to Augustus and his successors,

Augustus still preferred to use the titleprinceps.

ROMAN PROVINCES AND FRONTIERS Augustus inaugu-

rated a new system for governing the provinces. Under

the republic, the senate had appointed the provincial

governors. Now certain provinces were allotted to the

princeps, who assigned deputies known as legates to

govern them. These legates were from the senatorial

class and held office as long as the emperor chose. The

senate continued to designate the governors of the

remaining provinces, but the authority of Augustus

enabled him to overrule the senatorial governors and

establish a uniform imperial policy.

Augustus added more territory to the Roman

Empire than any other single Roman. In the East,

instead of creating new provinces, he established cli-

ent kingdoms, continuing a policy that had begun in

the early second centuryB.C.E. with the conquest of

Greece and parts of the Near East; this policy enabled

Augustus to minimize the Roman military presence in

the East so that he could use his forces elsewhere. He

conquered the central and maritime Alps and then

expanded Roman control of the Balkan Peninsula up

totheDanubeRiver.HisattempttoconquerGer-

many failed, however, when three Roman legions

under Varus were massacred in 9C.E.intheTeuto-

burg Forest by a coalition of German tribes. The

defeat severely dampened Augustus’s enthusiasm for

continued expansion in central Europe. Thereafter,

the Romans were content to use the Rhine as the

frontier between the Roman province of Gaul and

the German tribes to the east. In fact, Augustus’s

Augustus.Octavian, Caesar’s adopted son, emerged

victorious from the civil conflict that racked the republic after

Caesar’s assassination. The senate awarded him the title

Augustus. This marble statue from Prima Porta is an idealized

portrait, based on Greek rather than Roman models. The

statue was meant to be a propaganda piece depicting a

youthful general addressing his troops. At the bottom stands

Cupid, the son of Venus, goddess of love, as a reminder that

the Julians, Caesar’s family, claimed descent from Venus and

thus the ruler had a divine background.

Braccio Nuovo, Vatican Museums, Vatican State//Scala/Art Resource, NY

122 Chapter 6The Roman Empire

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