http://www.civilisation.org.uk/augustus/

By the end of the Roman Republic, the structure of Roman society looked completely different than what it was at the beginning. The Roman state was built around the idea that the population acted as one being. Romans did not act as individuals, instead they lived their lives surrounded by the idea that Rome is the most important thing in their life and they existed to make it better. By the end of the Republic they had lost these ideals, and the power of the Roman government was a shell of what it was previously. The Senate was weakened and barely held and political power, instead the Roman populus was making decisions for the state (Lott, 29). Previously government institutions like the First Triumvirate of Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Marcus Crassus had ended in civil war, and Rome needed reform (Merivale, 238). Rome got its saving grace in the form of Octavian, who seized power of Rome from the other two members of the Second Triumvirate, Lepidus and Marc Antony, and declared himself Augustus, the first Emperor of Rome (Merivale, 241). Augustus aimed to revive old Roman values and bring Rome back to where it was at the height of the Republic. His reforms revived the nationalistic ideals of the Roman populus that made the state so powerful, and allowed Rome to once again become the power it was during the height of the Republic.

Augustus’ revival of old Rome was basically a political campaign. He made promises to the Roman populus to get their attention and support, the most prominent being his promise to restore the Republic and give power back into the hands of the Senate and stabilize their government. He wanted to allow all Romans to live as those of the old Republic had generations previously. His reforms began with religion. Roman religion was a huge part in what made Rome so successful. In traditional Roman values people were trained to worship particular Gods such as Ares, the god of war, before going into battle. If a couple were trying to have a child, they would pray to Ilythia, the goddess of childbirth. During the Republic leaders recognized the power of religion, and taught Roman people to live to please the gods. Augustus tried to revive these ideals by making various religious reforms. During his reign, Augustus was appointed pontifex maximus, which is a term meaning head priest or the highest religious leader in Rome (Richardson, 133). Augustus continuously worked to gain the trust of the people until eventually he was able to make his changes. As pontifex maximus he placed importance on restoration of old temples and shrines, as well as traditional ceremonies that had previously died out (Fife). Augustus also held religious festivals to celebrate the gods and entertain the people, both of which strengthened the peoples’ attachment to Rome and made them want to take part in its glory (Richardson, 125). With an increase and prayer and worship of the gods, the Roman people gained trust in the Roman state as well as in the military. Romans did everything they could to ensure the gods were on their side, especially in war. Augustus as pontifex maximus ensured that the people were worshiping the gods correctly, and therefore gained the support of the entire Roman population any time their military got into conflict. With support from home, the Roman military was well cared for and constantly at top strength. Augustus was an expert at making simple changes that improved many aspects of Roman life simultaneously. His religious revival increased his power over Rome, improved the strength of the military, and furthered the connection between the Roman people and the state all at the same time. Along with religion, Augustan reforms drastically changed the shape of the Roman family.

When Augustus took control of Rome, the moral standards of the people were compromised to say the least. Adultery was common, and the concept of a family did not carry much weight in society, until Augustus. The Emperor made various reforms to increase the integrity and moral values of the Roman family. Augustus placed a notable importance on the concept of the paterfamilias, or male head of the family that acts as the head (Richardson, 121). In traditional Roman culture, the paterfamilias is a respected figure at the head of each family that handles the inner workings of the household and makes major decisions. The paterfamilias was a part of Roman culture that Augustus brought back to try to recreate the traditional Roman household. Augustus also placed significant importance on the bond of marriage. Adultery was commonplace in Rome when Augustus took over, so in response he put laws in place that punished those who committed adultery. He made adultery a civil crime instead of a personal crime, meaning the state could take the offender to court if they pleased. He made adultery punishable by death and banishment, the latter of the two he enforced on his own daughter for being adulterous. Like many of Augustus’ decisions, his influence on strong marriages carries multiple latent functions that benefit Rome. If there are more families there will be more children, and the strength of the Roman army was majorly based around its size. Much like for adultery Augustus put laws in place to influence conception in families. He punished unmarried men over 38 by giving them extra taxes and banning them from attending games and festivals, and also provided financial benefits to families that had three or more children (Fife). He did everything he could to make the contemporary Roman family resemble the traditional family in his efforts to get back to Roman roots.

In regards to the common Roman, Augustus made some rather large and important changes to the military. Previously, the Roman army was an Greek/Italian style army made up by the common man. The average Roman soldier would be a volunteer who might have been a farmer or artisan in everyday life, was untrained, and would serve for around 10 years. Under Augustus, the Roman army was transformed into a true, professional army. Roman legionnaires were highly trained and served for closer to 20 years. Since the army is still made of volunteers, Augustus needed convince young Romans to dedicate their working life to the army. Thankfully for him, his entire reformation process was based around centralizing the Roman focus to the needs of the state, so he was already on his way to building a massively strong army. However on top of that he enacted a few laws that provided benefits for soldiers in the Roman army. For example, Augustus set aside a portion of the Roman treasury for the aerarium militare, or military treasury, which provided financial support such as pensions for the troops (“Augustan Army Reforms”). With more reason to join the army, Roman men jumped on the opportunity, and once again followed along with the visions of Augustus. Like every reform Augustus made this strengthened both Rome itself and the desire of the common man to further Roman glory.

Every reform Octavian Augustus made as Emperor of Ancient Rome had one, very simple, goal: revive old Rome. It may seem ridiculous that such a small overall reform would have the drastic effect that it had on the Roman state, but it really was that simple. It shows that the strength of Rome lied solely with the people. Augustan reforms successfully centralized and organized the attention of the entire Roman population and revived the intense nationalistic pride that propelled Ancient Rome to amazing heights. Augustus was able to achieve this extreme level of nationalism just by repairing old religious shrines and encouraging stable Roman families. Through Augustus, Romans became willing to do anything that would gain glory for their nation, and it was this induced pride and unity that made the Roman Empire the presence it was in the Ancient World.