Prof Heidi Amelia-Anne Weber
Augustus

(3)
Why didn't he resign after having healed the illness of the State, like Sulla did? Why did he choose a successor, definitely killing the Republic?

G With the passing of Augustus in 14 AD, few remained who had lived in the Roman world of the old Republic. The Republic had been created at a time when it was needed for it grew out of the need for stability in a age of tumultuous conflict and insecurity. However, its demise resulted from power being concentrated into the hands of a single individual, which went against its very nature. Also, there was an inability of the system to function effectively. At various points, the Roman state began to crumble and needed to be healed. The solutions frequently proved to be temporary and not always binding.
When Sulla brought his army into Rome, he met with minimal favor. However when his actions turned violent and he began a mass campaign of burning homes, the public tepidly accepted him. His struggle to attain power was a bitter one, but he became dictator with the passage of the lex Valeria. Sulla then proceeded to create his type of government wherein his power was to end only with his death or resignation. He modified the courts, the laws and the Senate to help foster the grand changes he hoped to instill. One of the major aspirations in his reforms was a means to minimize the ability of the "wrong" people to move into office.
Sulla believed he had created the ideal government for the burgeoning Rome. Attaining satisfaction with the system, he felt
his work done and retired from office to live his few remaining days at peace. The government that had been established was based on Senatorial supremacy, members whom he had personally selected. Having abandoned popular assemblies, the lack of representation of their interests left a large void in the state, one that would backfire. Great animosities toward the government that had been generated promptly emerged within a relatively brief time after Sulla's resignation. Overall, Sulla's allegiances had lain with himself and no other, which did not create a stable government. Almost instantly, the government began to crumble and with his demise, it rapidly buckled. His mending of the wounds of the state technically had only received temporary bandages. Those who came after Sulla in leadership positions were faced with the problems associated with these failures and had great difficulty in trying to repair Rome.
Augustus was aware of the inadequacies of the government instituted by Sulla. He also recognized that that government functioned under Sulla's authority and none other. The emperor knew he needed to see his changes and institutions followed through as long as he was able. Augustus did not want to abandon the state that he had created, for he felt in the times in which they lived, his guidance was necessary for its success. Though he was well aware he would not live forever, he would see to it that his ideals and beliefs were followed cautiously.
Though in a measure to ease the ill fears of the people, Augustus vowed to restore the Republic and then step down. The res
republica was loosely defined and he was aware that he could mold it to conform to the government he had established. Augustus had no intention of removing himself from office yet sought the Senate's reaffirmation of his leadership when he proclaimed both the rebirth of the Republic as well as his resignation. Since he chose not to step down after the Senate conferred numerous honors and powers upon him, he in turn created an oligarchy. The res republica would truly not be reinstated in fact. In actuality, it existed really only in the minds of the people. The Roman Republic ceased to exist with the conference of the title Augustus to Octavian.
Augustus had created an imperial monarchy or at least set the basis for its existence in Rome. The Republic's death knell had
been a long process and not one individual is completely responsible for its demise. Augustus' maintenance of power did not abolish the Republic, but it did take the government further away from those institutions embodied in its very existence. What Augustus brought to Rome was peace, something that had been missing in the lives of the citizens. Under the mask of being the Republic, his option to remain in power was one that helped sustain the empire, which was still recovering from the decades of chaos that had proceeded.