able to take possession of the island, endeavoured to secure the aid of Pompeius by a matrimonial alliance. He married Scribonia, a sister of the father-in-law of Pompeius, and this lady became the mother of his daughter Julia. The Sicilian governor, however, would not abandon his province, and a new juncture of affairs brought Octavius and Antony into more friendly alliance. Antony married Octavia, the sister of Octavius, and a new cast of the provinces was made, by which Pompeius was to retain his island territories. With these military leaders, however, war was a necessity, and hostilities once more were declared between Octavius and Pompeius—the former putting away his wife Scribonia, and marrying Livia Drusilla, wife of Tiberius Nero. It was also arranged that a son of Antony should marry the daughter of Octavius, and this temporary reconciliation led to a combined action on the part of Octavius and Antony, resulting in the downfal of Pompeius, and the acquisition of Sicily.
The period was now to arrive when the definitive struggle between Octavius and Antony must determine the fate of Rome. They had cleared the arena for the last combat, and the victor was to win the prize of the empire. Antony had forsaken Octavia, and abandoned himself to the fascinations of Cleopatra. Octavius, therefore, declared war on the latter, and the struggle was brought to an issue at the naval battle of Actium, in the autumn of the year 31 b.c. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, were pursued by Octavius, terminated their lives by their own hands, were interred in the same tomb, and Octavius became the sole master of the power of Rome. He returned to the capital, was honoured by three triumphs, the temple of Janus was closed, and Rome was at peace with the world.
Having thus obtained the supreme power by force, Octavius determined to retain it by policy, and the steps by which he accomplished his purpose, proved that he was quite as fitted to manage a tremulous and divided senate at home, as to lead a wavering army to victory in the field. It is said, indeed, that he thought of laying down the power he had acquired, and that he consulted his confidential friends, Agrippa and Mæcenas, as to whether he should adopt this course or not. That he really consulted Mæcenas and Agrippa, there is no reason to doubt; but that he ever seriously intended to abandon the commanding position he had gained, is not in the least probable. From the first, he cautiously veiled his ambitious designs under a show of extreme moderation, and his conference with his friends was simply a device for evading the full responsibility of the course he had already resolved to pursue. The event soon proved this, the advice of Agrippa, who recommended him to resign his power, being neglected, while that of Mæcenas, who advised him to retain it, was followed. He commenced the consolidation of his power by reforming the senate, which was to be henceforth the instrument of his ambition. During the troubled times of the civil wars, the senate had lost much of its dignity and influence; in the absence of better men, a number of citizens, alike unqualified in rank, character, and Intelligence, having been admitted into that once illustrious body. Octavius, acting as censor in conjunction with his faithful friend Agrippa, undertook the reformation of this abuse. Some members of notoriously bad character were expelled, a number more were induced to retire, and the door was closed against their return, by raising the qualifications for a senator far higher than it had previously been. In effecting these reforms, Octavius was, no doubt, acting a patriotic part, and he received in acknowledgment of his labours the honourable title of Prince of the Senate, which had always been bestowed by the censors on the citizen most distinguished for his worth and services. During the same year (b.c. 29) he received the title of Imperator, not in the old sense, as given by the victorious army to the general on the field of battle, in which alone it was understood during the republic; but in a new sense, as indicating supreme and permanent power. The titles of king and dictator were both objectionable, the former being odious to the people, and the latter buried in the grave of its last possessor, Julius Cæsar. The title of imperator, however, designating the various offices Octavius filled, and the manifold state functions he discharged, represented a far more absolute and lasting command than either. The new power was uniformly employed for the good of the state. During the ensuing year, Octavius signalised his sixth consulship by taking a census of the people, which had been long neglected, by improving the administration of the treasury, and by the construction of noble and useful buildings, amongst which were the temple and library of the Palatine Apollo.
The year following, however, b.c. 27, was the most memorable one, both in the history of Octavius and of the empire. In this, the second year of his consulship, he went through the form of resigning his usurped and exceptional powers into the hands of the senate. In an elaborate speech he apologised for the despotic violence of many of his acts, and proposed to the senate to restore the old republican form of government, which was in reality to restore to the senate the administration of the state. "Being now at liberty to satisfy his duty and inclination," he said, "he solemnly restored the senate and people to all their ancient rights; and wished only to mingle with the crowd of his fellow-citizens, and to share the blessings which he had obtained for his country." There can be little doubt that, in taking this course, he but acted a part, and that he wished to place the vast power he had acquired on a popular and legitimate basis, by seeming to accept it at the hands of the people. His speech to the senate, ostensibly an abrogation of all power, was in reality an effective but disguised appeal for absolute dominion. Of course it was successful. Had the mere retention of power been the only object in view, there was, indeed, no necessity for any such appeal at all. With a victorious army devoted to his person and his cause, he was independent of the senate and the people. The senate had lost its power, having gradually become weakened, degraded, and disorganised, during the distractions of the civil wars. The people worn out with the bloody strife of factions, longed for a regular government, scarcely caring to criticise its precise nature, so that it was settled and strong. Octavius was the only man they could look to. All his rivals and competitors being now extinguished, he remained alone on the stage of public affairs, the saviour of the republic, the representative of the empire. He was thoroughly master of the situation, and could have kept his position without appealing to the senate or the people; but he wished to use his power for the good of the state, and to this end it was needful that he should be popular as well as strong. Hence his speech to the senate, which produced exactly the effect he desired. They refused to accept his resignation, imploring him to remain at the head of affairs, and not desert, in the hour of her need, the republic he had saved. He partially acceded to their wishes, consenting to accept the government of the most important provinces, and to share with the senate the administration of the empire. A division of the provinces was accordingly made, by which those which were on the frontiers—the most exposed and unsettled—all in fact that required anything like active government at all—were to be administered by Octavius. While thus affecting to divide his power with the senate, he was in reality the sole ruler of the empire. He declined, however, to accept the government for a longer period than ten years, hoping, as he intimated, that at the end of that time the republic would be able to dispense with his services. But, at the expiration of the ten years, the administration was of course given to him again, and this was repeated to the end of his life, During the same year (16th January, b.c. 27) Octavius also received from the senate and the people the title of Augustus, the Sacred, or the Consecrated, by which name he was henceforth known. This act, which was a popular recognition of something very like a divine right to rule, vested in the chosen imperator, shows how completely his policy had succeeded amongst the people. The Augustan years, and the commencement of the empire, date from this period.
The changes thus effected by Augustus in the constitution of the state, outwardly small, amounted in reality to a complete revolution—the change of the most powerful republic the world has ever seen into an absolute monarchy. The change was outwardly small, because it was the policy of Augustus from the first, instead of startling the people by innovations, to adapt the existing republican machinery to his purpose. The forms of the republic was scrupulously preserved. None of the old offices were abolished. Tacitus, who was an acute critic as well as a competent judge, tells us that "all the names of magistrates were retained." Though disguised under the form of a commonwealth, the government of Augustus was an absolute monarchy nevertheless. The power he possessed was such as had never been enjoyed by any Roman before. He gradually assumed the offices and discharged the functions of all the leading magistrates of the republic, till at length he possessed and exercised all the powers of the government at home and abroad—
