Did Augustus Restore the Republic? Res Gestae 4-10, 34

Does the writer agree that Augustus restored the Republic?

• YES
• Augustus writes that he did in fact restore the Republic, but he took power in all but name
• He makes it sound like all of the powers he receives are gifted to him by the people and the Senate, and that he is not reaching for power himself at all
• "having become master of everything by the consent of all, I transferred the Republic from my power (potestas) to the control of the Senate and the Roman people"
• "by decree of the Senate I was called Augustus"
• "I excelled in all authority (auctoritas) but I had no more power (potestas) than others who were my colleagues in each magistracy"
• He makes it seem like Augustus wasn't the single most powerful man (as he had no more power than his colleagues) and that things were just given to him

What powers does the writer claim that Augustus had?

• "I was acclaimed imperator twenty-one times"
• "I had been consul thirteen times when I wrote this, and I was in the thirty-seventh year of my tribunician power"
• "I was triumvir for setting the Republic in order for ten consecutive years"
• "I was princeps senatus, up to the day of writing this, for forty years"
• "I was pontifex maximus, augur, quindecimvir sacris faciundis, septumvir epulonum, frater arvalis, sodalis titius and fetialise"

What powers does the writer claim that Augustus refused?

• "The Senate decreed further triumphs for me, all of which I declined"
• "The dictatorship was offered to me both in my absence and in my presence by both the people and the Senate...,but I refused it"
• "the Senate and the people of Rome agreed that I should be appointed supervisor of laws and morals with supreme power and without a colleague, but I did not accept any office offered contrary to ancestral tradition"

What are the limitations of the source?

• Augustus is the only person in the world who knows his side of the story, and all of the powers he was given, therefore it is more than fair to assume that his account is quite accurate. The only limitation is the fact that Augustus was writing about himself, and so would be very unlikely to write unfavourably - making him biased