Augustus And The Senate Essay

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It was the senate that gave Augustus his power and many titles, yet he managed to manipulate them from the outset, on 16th January, Octavian was given the title Augustus, the revered one. Augustus wanted to convince the people that he was merely the first citizen at a free community. Augustus form of government is now known as the principate. The roles and responsibilities of the senate 1have amended overtime.
Augustus needed to legitimize his powers. He did this by handing back his powers to the senate and the people of Rome. The senate protested, and voted to give Augustus the powers of proconsul imperium over provinces that needed military defence as well as make him consul. As these powers were given by the senate and the people, they were …show more content…

He reorganized the senatorial order and in so doing attempted to increase the dignity and prestige of that body. Under Augustus the role of the Senate had changed dramatically. While claiming to restore the Senate to its former level of dignity and power, he in many ways undermined it. While the senate was useful to Augustus in maintaining the traditional Republican ideals and image, he did remove any senator that was deemed unsuitable for the position, reduced the numbers of the senate to 600 as well as assuming a number of responsibilities that were the domain of the senate.
The senate was a collective of the state’s best people, by tradition chosen from the aristocracy. Their role was to advise the elected magistrates. In practice, they came to be the collective of former magistrates. Their authority lay in their advice became like orders to serving magistrates. Their authority lay in their prestige and their experience. The roman senate was basically the governing body of men in Rome. It consisted of few hundred members, all who had to have property or money.
The purpose of the Roman Senate was to be the perpetual council of the republic, and at first consisted only of one hundred Senators chosen from the Patricians. They were called Patres, either on account of their age or the paternal care they had of the state. The word senate derives from the Latin word senex, which means "old man". Therefore,

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