pp. VIII, 484; 2er Th., 1er Hlb., pp. 276. Leipzig, 1891. 1er Th.,
2er Bd., pp. 485-1032; 2er Th., 2er Hlb., pp. 277-649. 1896.
Not yet completed; the standard work on the subject. Second part
contains the references. (_Aug._)
=Marquardt, Joachim: Römische Staatsverwaltung.=
=Mommsen, Theodor: Römische Geschichte.= (_Röm. Gesch._)
=Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum.= (=C. I. L.=)
IV. CLASSICAL AUTHORS CITED.
=Ammianus Marcellinus (Amm.)=: _Rerum Gestarum Libri_.
=Appianus (Appian)=: _Bella Civilia (B. C.)_; _Illyrica
(Illyr.)_.
=Cæsar, Gaius Julius (Cæs.)=: _De Bello Gallico (B. G.)_;
_De Bello Civili (B. C.)_.
=Cassiodorus (Cass.)=: _Chronicon (Chron.)_.
=Cicero, Marcus Tullius (Cic.)=: _Epistolae, ad Atticum (ad
Att.)_; _pro Sextio (pro Sext.)_; _Philippica ( Phil.)_.
=Dio Cassius Cocceianus (Dio)=: _Historia Romana_.
=Dionysius=: _Archæologia Romana_.
=Eusebius=: _Chronicon (Chron.)_.
=Eutropius=: _Breviarium Historiæ Romanæ_.
=Festus, Sextus Pompeius=: _De Verborum Significatione_.
=Florus, Lucius Annæus (Flor.)=: _Epitome Rerum Romanarum_.
=Frontinus, Sextus Julius (Front.)=: _De Aquæductibus Urbis
Romæ Libri II (De Aq.)_.
=Gellius, Aulus (Gell.)=: _Commentarii Noctium Atticarum_.
=Horatius Flaccus, Quintus (Hor.)=: _Carmina (Carm.)_;
_Satiræ (Sat.)_; _Carmen Sæculare (Carm. Sæc.)_;
_Epistolæ (Ep.)_; _Epodon (Epod.)_.
=Hyginus, Gromaticus=: _De Limitum Constructione (De Lim.)_.
=Jordanes=: _De Getarum Origine et Rebus Gestis_.
=Josephus Flavius (Jos.)=: _Jewish Wars (Wars)_; _Jewish
Antiquities (Ant.)_.
=Justinus (Justin)=: _Historiarum Philippicarum Libri XLIV_.
=Juvenal, Decimus Junius (Juv.)=: _Satiræ (Sat.)_.
=Livius, Titus (Livy)=: _Annales_; _Epitomæ (Ep.)_.
=Macrobius, Ambrosius Aurelius Theodosius (Mac.)=:
_Saturnaliorum Conviviorum Libri VII (Sat.)_.
=Nepos, Cornelius (Nep.)=: _De Viris Illustribus_.
=Orosius, Paulus (Oros.)=: _Historiarum adversus Paganos (adv.
Pag.)_.
=Ovidius Naso, Publius (Ovid)=: _Metamorphoses (Met.)_;
_Fasti_; _Tristia (Tr.)_; _Ars Amatoria (Ars Am.)_.
=Plinius Secundus, Gaius (Pliny)=: _Historia Naturalis (Hist.
Nat.)_
=Plutarchus (Plut.)=: _Vita Antonii (Ant.)_; _Vita Bruti
(Brut.)_; _Moralia. De Fortuna Romanorum (De Fort. Rom.)_.
=Propertius, Sextus Aurelius (Prop.)=: _Elegiæ_.
=Ptolemæus, Claudius (Ptol.)=: _Geographia_.
=Seneca, Lucius Annæus (Sen.)=: _De Clementia ad Neronem
Cæsarem Libri II (De Clem.)_.
=Strabo=: _Geographia_.
=Suetonius, Tranquillus Gaius (Suet.)=: _Vita Duodecim
Cæsarum_; _Julii (Jul.)_; _Augusti (Aug.)_; _Tiberii
(Tib.)_; _Claudii (Claud.)_.
=Tacitus, Gaius Cornelius (Tac.)=: _Historiæ (Hist.)_;
_Annales (Ann.)_; _Germania (Ger.)_; _Agricola (Agr.)_.
=Valerius Maximus (Val.)=: _De Factis Dictisque Memorabilibus
Libri IX_.
=Varro, Marcus Terentius=: _De Lingua Latina_.
=Velleius Paterculus, Gaius (Vell.)=: _Historiæ Romanæ Libri
II_.
=Vergilius Maro, Publius (Ver.)=: _Æneid (Æn.)_;
_Georgica, (Georg.)_.
=Victor, Sextus Aurelius (Vict.)=: _Historia Romana_.
=Zonaras, Joannes=: _Annales_.
NOTES:
[1] This title at Ancyra extends over the first three pages of the
Latin, that is over so much of the inscription as is on the left wall
of the pronaos; the Greek title extends over seventeen of the nineteen
pages of the Greek version.
In its present form, the title cannot be the same as that over the
original at Rome. All from “as engraved” is certainly an addition,
probably made by the Galatian legate who ordered the magistrates of
Ancyra to have the inscription placed on the temple of Augustus.
The last two words in the Latin (placed first in the English), were
probably inserted only by a blunder at Ancyra. “A copy subjoined,”
doubtless stood in the legate’s letter, just as we might write “see
enclosure.” But what of the remainder of the inscription, “Of the deeds
... Roman people”? It is hardly conceivable that this was the title
of the inscription at Rome, because it embraces only two of the three
parts into which the subject-matter falls. It covers the achievements
and the expenditures of Augustus; in reverse order, however, from that
of the document itself; and it omits any allusion to the subject-matter
of the first fourteen chapters, which have to do with the offices and
honors conferred upon Augustus.
It is impossible to say what was the superscription at Rome. Possibly
there was none. The name of Augustus, most likely, was conspicuous
somewhere in connection with the front of the mausoleum, and this
inscription may very well have been devoid of title.
[2] Augustus was nineteen years old on Sept. 23, 710.
[3] Cicero (_Ad Att._ XVI, 8, 1,) on Nov. 1, 710, writes: “I have
letters from Octavian; great things are doing; he has led over to his
views the veterans of Casilinum and Calatia.” Cf. Vell. II, 61. Dio
XLVI, 29.
[4] Cf. Cic. (_Phil._ III, 2, 3), “The young Cæsar, without our
(the senate’s) advice or consent, raised an army and poured forth his
patrimony.”
[5] Gardthausen, _Aug._ 1er Th. 2er Bd. p. 524, thinks that this
beginning the Res Gestae with the raising of an army, is an admission
of the military foundation of the principate.
[6] Such a statement is part of Augustus’ scheme to pose as a restorer
of the old order. He makes Brutus, Cassius, Pompey and Antony public
enemies.
[7] Cicero says (_Phil._ V, 17, 46), that on Jan. 1, 711, “the
senate voted that Gaius Cæsar, son of Gaius, pontiff, should be a
senator, and hold praetorian rank in speaking.” Dio (XLVI, 29), says
that on Jan. 2 or 3, “Cæsar was made senator as a quaestor.”
[8] Livy (_Ep._ CXVIII), “he received the consular ornaments.”
App. (_B. C._ III, 51) adds that he was given consular rank in
speaking. Cf. Mommsen, _Röm. St._, I, pp. 442, 443.
[9] Cf. Cic. (_Phil._ ii, 8, 20), “The senate gave Gaius Cæsar the
fasces.” Cf. Tac. _Ann._ I, 10; Livy, _Ep._ CXVIII.
[10] App. _B. C._ III, 51. Vell. II, 61.
[11] The formula by which in emergencies, extraordinary powers were
given to the ordinary magistrates. This measure had since 216 B. C.,
entirely superseded the old custom of appointing a dictator. (Cf. note
[32]) Chap. V. The present formula, however, had been employed long
before the disuse of the dictatorship. Cf. Livy III, 4; VI, 19. This
extraordinary commission was not restricted to the consuls. Cf. Cæs.
_B. C._ I, 5.
[12] Hirtius was killed April 16, 711, and Pansa died of wounds
received on the 15th, in the fighting against Antonius. Cæsar
Octavianus and Q. Pedius were elected consuls Aug. 19, 711. Dio
LVI, 30; C. I. L. I, p. 400 = x, 8375; Tac. _Ann._ I, 9; Suet.
_Aug._ 100. Vell. (II, 65), says the election was on Sept. 22. But
Macrobius, (_Sat._ I, 35, 25), assigns the fact that he was made
consul in the month Sextilis, as one of the reasons why the name of
that month was changed to August.
[13] C. I. L. I, p. 466 and App. _B. C._ IV, 7, fix the formal
ratification of the triumvirate by the people, as having been proposed
by the tribune Publius Titius and carried in a public assembly on Nov.
27, 711.
[14] An instance of Augustus’ avoiding the names of his enemies; here,
particularly, Brutus and Cassius.
[15] The _Lex Pedia_, Sept., 711, named from Augustus’ colleague
in the consulship, constituted an extraordinary tribunal for this class
of offenders: the penalty was interdiction from fire and water,
_i. e._, outlawry. Livy, _Ep._ CXX; Vell. II, 69; App. III, 95;
Suet. _Aug._ 10; Dio XLVI, 49.
[16] The only instance in the Res Gestae of a palpable distortion of
fact. The battles at Philippi, in November, 712, are referred to. For
the date see Gardthausen, _Aug._ 2er Th. 1er Halbband, p. 80. In
the first fight, Suetonius says (_Aug._ 13), that Cæsar hardly
escaped, ill and naked, from his camp to the wing of Antony’s army.
He was ill, and had to be carried in a litter, according to Plutarch,
_Brut._ p. 41. In _Antony_, 22, Plutarch says: “In the first
battle, Cæsar was completely routed by Brutus, his camp taken, he
himself very narrowly escaping by flight.” The decisive defeat of the
Republicans was twenty days later.
[17] The text here is conjectural. Mommsen is almost alone in
holding to “surviving,” Zumpt, in his edition of 1869, had read
“suppliant” (_supplicibus_), Bergk, in 1873, “asking pardon”
(_deprecantibus_). Hirschfeld, the same sense, (_veniam
petentibus_). Seeck insists on the latter reading, in spite of
Mommsen’s arguments for his own choice. Augustus did not spare all
surviving citizens either after Philippi or Actium, cf. Dio LI, 2:
After Actium “of the senators and knights, and other leading men, who
in any way had helped Antony, he fined some, many he killed, some he
spared.” For his conduct after Philippi, cf. Suet. _Aug._ 13. But
a coin of 727 (Eckhel VI, 88, Cohen I, p. 66, No. 30), has CÆSAR COS
VII CIVIBUS SERVATEIS, “Cæsar for the seventh time consul, the citizens
having been preserved.” It commemorates the civic crown given to
Augustus, cf. c. XXXIV. There are other coins with OB CIVES SERVATOS,
“On account of the preservation of the citizens.”
[18] This fact is one of the few which the latest text, based on
Humann’s work, alone establishes. Merivale’s comment on the relation
of Augustus to the army is noteworthy: “Their hero (Julius Cæsar)
discarded the defence of the legions, and a few months witnessed his
assassination. Augustus learned circumspection from the failure of his
predecessor’s enterprise. He organized a military establishment of
which he made himself the permanent head; to him every legionary swore
personal fidelity; every officer depended upon his direct appointment.”
(C. XXXII.)
[19] C. 15 states the number colonized at 120,000. The 200,000 over
and above the 300,000 here named, are accounted for in the twenty-five
legions, 150,000 men in service at his death, leaving only 50,000 as
the number who died in service or were dishonorably discharged during
the long rule of Augustus. For a study of the strength and disposition
of the Roman army at the death of Augustus, cf. Mommsen’s R. G., pp.
67-76.
[20] The term of service in 741, was twelve years for praetorian
soldiers and sixteen for legionaries, raised in 758 to sixteen and
twenty years respectively. Cf. c. 17, N. 2.
[21] The reading of Wölfflin and others (see textual note) would give
instead of “lands purchased by me,” “I have assigned lands,” and
instead of “money for farms, out of my own means” “money for reward
of service.” Bormann, _Schr. Nachl._ p. 18-20, does not think
that Augustus meant to state that he paid these charges from private
sources, but believes that such a statement would be irrelevant in this
section, if true, and an anticipation of cc. 15 and 16.
[22] Sextus Pompeius lost thirty ships at Mylae, and at Naulochus, out
of three hundred which he had, eighteen were sunk and the rest, with
the exception of seventeen, burned or captured. Cf. App. _B. C._
V, 108, 118, 121. Plut. _Ant._ 68, says that Augustus took 300
ships at Actium. These captures give, in round numbers, 600 vessels.
[23] The ovation was the lesser triumph. The general entered the city
clad as an ordinary magistrate, and on foot, or as here, (see the
Greek), on horseback, decked with myrtle. Suet. _Aug._ 22, says,
these ovations were after Philippi, and the Sicilian war; the former in
714, the latter, Nov. 13, 718. Cf. Dio XLVIII, 31, XLIX, 15; C. I. L.
1, p. 461.
[24] In the curule triumph, for important victories, the general was
vested in purple, and rode in a four-horse chariot, preceded by the
fasces. These three triumphs were celebrated on the 13th, 14th and 15th
of August, 725, for the Dalmatian successes, the victory of Actium and
the capture of Alexandria. Cf. C. I. L. I, p. 328 and 478. Prop. II,
1, 31, ff, gives an eye-witness’ account of the second day. Cf. Livy,
_Ep._ CXXXIII; Suet. _Aug._ 22; Verg. _Aen._ VIII; 714,
Dio LI, 21.
[25] The acclamation as _imperator_, on account of success in
war, must be carefully distinguished from the title used as a prefix
to the name and as a mark of perpetual authority. The title imperator
was regularly and permanently assumed at the beginning of each reign,
after that of Augustus. To him it was formally assigned by the senate,
in Jan., 725. C. I. L., V, 1873: _Senatus populusque Romanus imp.
Cæsari, divi. Juli. f. cos. quinct. cos. design. sext. imp. sept.
republica conservata._ The term thus had a double usage and meaning
in such cases.
It soon came about that only the _princeps_ could assume the
special designation for military successes, no matter whether won by
him in person or not. Tacitus says, _Ann._ III, 74: “Tiberius
allowed Blaesus to be saluted as imperator by the legions. Augustus
conceded the title to some, but Tiberius’ allowing it to Blaesus was
the last instance.” For a discussion of _Imperator_ as permanent
title, see Gardthausen, p. 527, and Merivale, _History of the
Romans_, c. XXXI.
Most of the acclamations of Augustus as imperator can be traced. No
Greek inscription records them. A list follows. In the later instances
Tiberius was associated.
I. April 15 (?) 711. After battles about Mutina. C. I. L. X, 8375 and
Dio XLVI, 38.
II. Not traced.
III. Before 717. Cohen, _Vipsan._ 3, gives a coin with the words
_imp. divi Juli f. ter. III Vir v. p. c. M. Agrippa cos. desig._
Agrippa entered his consulship Jan. 1, 717.
IV. Probably connected with the Sicilian victory and ovation of 718.
V. 720 or 721. Probably connected with Dalmatian victories of one of
those years. Cf. C. I. L. V, 526.
VI. From Sept. 2, 723, to 725. On account of Actium. Cf. Oros. VI, 19,
14. C. I. L. X, 3826. _Imp. Cæsari divi f. imp. vi, cos. iii_
(723). C. I. L. X, 4830, _imp. Cæsari divi f. cos. v_ (725)
_imp. vi_.
VII. From 725 to 729. C. I. L. VI, 873: _senatus populusque Romanus
imp. Cæsari divi Juli f. cos. quinct._ (725) _cos. desig. sex.
imp. sept. republica conservata_. On account of Thracian and Dacian
victory of M. Licinius Crassus. Dio LI, 25, says: “Sacrifices and
festivals were decreed to Cæsar and to Crassus. He did not, however, as
some say, take the name imperator. Cæsar alone assumed that.”
VIII. From 729 to 734. Two inscriptions at Nismes (Donat. 96, 6) read:
_imp. Cæsari divi f. Augusto cos. nonum_ (729) _designato
decimum, imp. octavum_. Dio LIII, 26, says it was for a Celtic
victory of Marcus Vinicius.
IX. From 734 to 739 (?) Coins have the inscription _Augustus Cæsar
div. f. Armen. capt. imp. viii_. These commemorate the Armenian
expedition of Tiberius in 734. Possibly Augustus took the title on
account of the return of the captured standards from Parthia, which he
accounted a greater triumph than many a victory in open warfare.
X. 739 (?) to 742. C. I. L. V, 8088 and others: _Augustus imp. x,
tribunicia potestate xi_. The latter falls in the years 742, 743.
Probably referable to successes in Rhætian war of 739.
XI. 742. Coins (Cohen, n. 147-150) give: _imp. xi_. The causes
were the successes of Tiberius in Pannonia in 742. Dio LIV, 31.
XII. 743 to 744. C. I. L., III, 3117: _imp. xii tr. pot. xiii_ and
VI, 701, 702: _pontifex maximus, imp. xii cos. xi trib. pot. xiv_.
Referable to Germanic victory of Drusus. Dio LIV, 33.
XIII. Tiberius Imp. 745. Suet., _Tib._ 9, says that Tiberius
received the oration for Pannonian and Dalmatian victories. Cf. Val. 5,
5, 3. Dio LV, 2.
XIV. Tiberius Imp. II. 746-755. Dio LV, 6, refers this acclamation
to the Germanic victories of 746. Many coins, milestones and other
inscriptions of the period indicated mention this fourteenth
acclamation. Cf. C. I. L., II, 3827; 4931; V, 7243; 7817; VI, 1244.
XV. 755. For the Armenian victory of C. Cæsar. Dio Cass. LV, 11. C. I.
L. X, 3827; _pont. max., cos. iii (xiii) imp. xv, tr. p. xxv, p. p._
XVI. Untraced.
XVII. Tiberius Imp. III. 759. Dio LV, 28, referring to the German
expedition of Tiberius in 759, says, “Nothing great was accomplished.
Yet both Augustus and Tiberius received the acclamation as imperators.”
Cf. C. I. L. V. 6416.
XVIII. Tiberius Imp. IV. Probably for successes in Illyricum.
XIX. Tiberius Imp. V, 762. Dio LVI, 17, refers to the Dalmatian war. A
coin of 763-4 (Cohen n. 27) gives: _Ti. Cæsar August. f. imperat. v.
pontifex, tribun. potestate xii_.
XX. Tiberius Imp. VI. 765. The cause is not clear, probably for slight
successes of Tiberius and Germanicus against the Germans in 763, 764.
Dio LVI, 25. A Spanish milestone, C. I. L. II, 4868, gives the data.
XXI. Tiberius Imp. VII. Tac. _Ann._ I, 9, says Augustus was
twenty-one times Imperator. A coin of Lyons (Cohen n. 35-38) has:
_Ti. Cæsar Augusti f. imperator VII_. This dates from the lifetime
of Augustus. Tiberius did not receive a further acclamation.
[26] ᵃ After his own victory over the Cantabri, that of Varro over the
Salassi and that of M. Vinicius over the Germans, in 729. Cf. Florus,
IV, 12, 53.
ᵇ After the restoration of the standards by the Parthians in 734. Cf.
Borghesi II, 100 ff.
ᶜ After the victories of Tiberius in Germany in 746. Dio LV, 6.
ᵈ After the victories of Tiberius in Pannonia? Dio LVI, 17.
[27] A part of the ordinary ceremonial of the triumph. Cf. Mommsen,
_Röm. St._ I, p. 61, 95, Marquardt, _Staatsverwaltung_, II,
p. 582.
[28] For a thanksgiving after the expedition of Tiberius into Armenia
cf. Dio LIV, 9. Cf. also Cic. _Phil._ XIV, 11, 29. For two other
instances, cf. Mommsen, _R. G._, appendix, pp. 161-178.
[29] Not an incredible number. Thanksgivings were offered in Julius
Cæsar’s time of fifteen, twenty, forty and fifty days. Cf. Drumann III,
609, No. 84. Fifty days were decreed for the victories of Hirtius,
Pansa and Octavian in 711.
[30] The only names traceable are those of Alexander and Cleopatra, the
children of Cleopatra and Alexander brother of Jamblichus, King of the
Emesenes. Cf. Dio LI, 2, 21. Prop. 2, 1, 33, tells of “Kings with their
necks surrounded with golden chains,” in the triumph of Aug. 14, 725.
[31] The emperors assumed the consulship only irregularly and for
short periods. Their taking of the “tribunitial power” was not through
a regular election to the tribuneship, as was the case with the
consulship, for Augustus as a patrician was ineligible; but it was the
assumption of a power equal to that of the tribunes. This made the
emperors sacrosanct, gave them the initiative and the veto, and well
subserved the fiction of their being the representatives and champions
of the people. For discussions of this power cf. Merivale, _Hist. of
Rom._ C. XXXI; Mommsen, _Röm. St._ II, p. 759, 771-777, 833-845.
Succeeding emperors, down to 268 A. D., dated their accession from
the day of assuming the tribunitial power. The wording is peculiar in
this sentence. May it not have been that Augustus expected his heir
or executors to fill in the exact dates at the time of his death, as
suggested in the introduction?
[32] Dio, LIV, 1, writes: “In the following year (732) the Tiber
again overflowed; statues in the Pantheon were struck by lightning,
so that the spear was knocked out of the hand of Augustus. Pestilence
was so violent in all Italy that year that there was no one to till
the fields; and I think the same was the case in foreign lands. The
Romans thought that this plague and famine had come upon them, because
they had not made Augustus consul that year; they wished to name him
dictator, and with great show of violence compelled the senate, shut
up in the curia, to decree this; threatening to burn them unless they
did it. So the senate approached Augustus with the twenty-four fasces
(insignia of dictatorship, the consul having only twelve), and begged
him to accept the dictatorship and the administration of the food
supply. He did indeed undertake the latter charge, and ordered that
duumvirs, who had held the praetorship five years before, should be
yearly appointed to have charge of the distribution of grain, but would
by no means accept the dictatorship. When neither by words nor prayers
he could move the people, he tore his garments. For he justly wished to
avoid the jealousy and hatred of that name, since moreover, he already
held a dignity and power superior to that of the dictatorship.” Vell.
II, 89, 5, says: “The dictatorship which the people persistently thrust
upon him, he as constantly repelled.”
The dictatorship had fallen into disuse after 552, and was revived,
irregularly, by Sulla in 672. Cæsar made it the basis of his power,
being made perpetual dictator shortly before his death. After that
event, on motion of Antony, the office was abolished.
[33] In Chap. 15, Augustus states that in 731 he twelve times
distributed grain at his own expense. This assumption of the grain
administration in 732 was not strictly a charity. The extract from
Dio under Note 69, gives some of the details. It is probable that from
this time the tribute in kind was turned into the _fiscus_, or
imperial treasury, instead of into the _ærarium_, or treasury of
the senate, as heretofore. This new task of the imperial government
involved not merely the gratuitous distribution of grain to the
ordinary Roman citizens (after 752 even to senators and knights), but
also the providing of a sufficient supply of grain for all purchasers
at a minimum price, often below the market value. It appears that grain
tickets “tessaræ frumentariæ” were distributed to the citizens entitled
to free grain, and then, to assist the vast multitude of strangers,
freedmen, and _attachés_ of the great houses, money tickets,
“tessaræ nummariæ” were given out. Cf. Mommsen, _Röm. St._, II,
992.
[34] Vell. II, 89; Suet. _Aug._ 26; Dio, LIV, 10. Dio’s statement
that Augustus in 735 accepted the consular power (differing from the
consulship as the tribunitial power from the tribuneship. Cf. Note
31, Chap. 4.) for life, cannot be correct in face of the other two
authorities cited, who corroborate Augustus here. Chapter 8 tells of
two special assumptions of the consular power for the taking of the
second and third census.
[35] Before the restoration of the text of this inscription, in this
case depending entirely upon the remains at Apollonia, it used to be
taught that Augustus accepted the formal superintendence of laws and
morals. And there seemed to be good ground for such belief. Horace,
c., 740 in _Carm. IV_, 5, v. 22, says, “Morality and law have
subdued foul wrong;” and in _Ep._, II, 1, v. 1, “Since thou hast
protected Italy with arms, adorned her with morality, and improved her
with laws.” Ovid wrote, _Tristia_, II, 233: “The city wearies
thee with the care of laws and morals, which thou desirest should be
like thy own.” Suet. _Aug._ 27, says: “He accepted the control of
laws and morals for life, as he had the tribunitial power; and in the
exercise of this control, altho’ without the honor of the censorship,
he yet thrice took the census of the people, the first and third times
with a colleague, the second time alone.” Dio, LIV, 10, 30, says that
in 735 and 742 Augustus accepted this office for periods of five years.
But the inscription shows that Suetonius and Dio were wrong, and that a
natural but incorrect inference had been drawn from the poets.
This power was offered to Augustus three times; in 735, 736 and 743,
and as often refused. Why was it offered, and why refused? Cf. Dio,
LIV, 10; Vell. II, 91, 92; Suet. _Aug._ 19. While Augustus was in
Asia in 735 M. Egnatius Rufus, who is painted as a sort of Catiline,
tried to obtain the consulship, and even to supplant Augustus, and
stirred up sedition in the attempt. This so alarmed the senate and
people that they offered Augustus the plenary power of legislation and
coercion. The repetition of the offer in 736 was from a similar cause.
The reason for that of 743 is unknown. The power thus offered was
analogous to the decemvirate, or the Sullan dictatorship. Cf. Mommsen,
_Röm._, St., II, 686.