OCTAVIUS IN HIGH FAVOUR ii

dangerous to one now practically a princeuncontaminated by

the grosser vices of Rome. Stories to the contrary, afterwardsspread abroad by his enemies, are of the most unsubstantial

and untrustworthy kind.

But though he seems to have quietly submitted to thistutelage, he soon conceived an ardent desire to share in the

activities of his great-uncle. Caesar had been very

Afiicawifh ^ little at Rome since the beginning of the civilwar. A few days in March, B.C. 49, thirteen

days in December of the same year, were all that he had spentin the city. He was absent during the whole of his consulship(b.c. 48) till September, B.C. 47. On his return fromAlexandria in that month, he stayed barely three months atRome. On the 19th of December he was at Lilybaeum, onhis way to Africa to attack the surviving Pompeians. Octaviuslonged to go with him, and Caesar was willing to take him.But his health was not good, and his mother set herself againstit. The Dictator might no doubt have insisted, but he saw thatthe boy was not fit to face the fatigues of a campaign. Octaviussubmitted, quietly biding his time. He was rewarded by find-ing himself high in his great-uncle's favour when he returnedin B.C. 46 after the victory of Thapsus. He was admitted toshare his triple triumph, riding in a chariot immediately behindthat of the imperator, dressed in military uniform as though hehad actually been engaged. He found, moreover, that he hadsufficient interest with Caesar to obtain pardon for the brotherof his friend Agrippa, taken prisoner in the Pompeian army inAfrica. This first use of his influence made a good impression,without weakening his great-uncle's affection for him. ThoughCaesar did not formally adopt him,i he treated him openly as

* Octavius was sui itiris, his father being dead ; his adoption thereforerequired the formal passing of a lex curiata. Now the opposition, sup-ported by Antony, against this formahty being carried out was one of thegrounds of Octavian's quarrel with him in B.C. 44-3, and the completion ofit was one of the first things secured by Octavian on his entrance intoRome in August, B.C. 43 [Appian, b. c. iii. 94 ; Dio, 45, 5]. This seems

CHAPTER VIII

THE NEW CONSTITUTION, B.C. 3O-23

Hie ames diet pater atque frineeps.

The seven years which followed the death of Antony andCleopatra witnessed the settlement of the new constitution in

its most important points. It has been called a

collsStutilJIn.dyarchy^ the two parties to it being the Emperorand the Senate. They were not, however, at any

time of equal power. As far as it was possible Augustus restedhis various functions on the same foundation as those of the

Republican magistrates, and treated the Senate with studiousrespect. But in spite of all professions, in spite even of him-self, he became a monarch, whose will was only limited bythose forces of circumstance and sentiment to which the mostautocratic of sovereigns have at times been forced to bow.The important epochs in this reconstruction are the yearsB.C. 29, 27, 23 ; but it will be necessary sometimes toanticipate the course of events and to speak at once of whatoften took many years to develop.The reduction of the vast armaments which the various

phases of the civil war had called into existence was madepossible by the wealth which the possession of

^the'a^my.''^ Egypt put into Cssar's hands. Though Egyptbecame a Roman province it was from the first

in a peculiar position, governed by a *' prefect " appointed by131

CHAPTER XII

THE REFORMER AND LEGISLATOR

Quid leges sine moribiisvance proficiunt f

The activity of Augustus as reformer in the city and Italy,and to a great extent in the provinces also, was subsequent to

the settlement of his constitutional position in B.C.

reformrinthe 23, after which date changes in it were generally^'^^^^'

consequential, and in matters of detail. But it

began long before. In B.C. 36 he had taken effective measures

to suppress the brigandage which had pushed its audacitynearly up to the very gates of Rome. In B.C. 34-3 Agrippa,

under his influence, had started the improvement in thewater supply of Rome by restoring the Aqua Marcia ; had

j

cleansed and enlarged the cloacae, repaired the streets, and

begun many important buildings. In B.C. 31 we haveevidence that Augustus was turning his attention to the

details of administration in the provinces,^ and in the next

year, in his resettlement of Asia, he restored to Samos,

Ephesus, Pergamus, and the Troad, works of art whichAntony had taken from them to bestow upon Cleopatra.^

^ The lex liilia et Titia^ enabling the provincial governor to assignguardians to such persons as were legally bound to have them, was passedbetween the ist of May and ist of October, B.C. 31, the period duringwhich M. Titius was consul.

Authorities will be found in Mommsen, res gestce, p. 96.212