ABSTRACT
Scholars have long debated the role of the military in the maintenance of Octavian Augustus’ position in the state.1 The armed forces were certainly a branch of the public sphere with which he was actively engaged, and for good reason. He initiated several reforms to restore order and consolidate his own control: the number of legions was significantly reduced, and they were made permanent, standing forces. Soldiers were enlisted for a fixed number of years and kept distinct from the citizen body during their terms of service. Augustus thus completed the republican trend of professionalizing the Roman army.2 Around 38 B.C.E., Octavian had unprecedentedly adopted the title Imperator as his praenomen, laying claim to a unique and successful military leadership.3 In nomenclature and ceremony, Augustus continued to present himself as the one ultimately responsible for all military victory, thus articulating a permanent caretakership role for himself in Rome.
