ABSTRACT
At his homecoming in the autumn of 19, Augustus was in a much stronger position than at any of his previous returns to Rome. The food crisis of 22, and his prompt, successful action in dealing with it, coupled with the clamorous insistence of the populace that he should always occupy one of the consulships each year, had only served to highlight his popularity and to demonstrate that when he was absent the state did not run quite so smoothly. Acceptance of Augustus* pervasive influence may not have been quite so universal as he liked to claim, but at least his power was assured, legally sanctioned, and preserved by a combination of determination, alert watchfulness, and the latent if reluctant use of force. Military strength was never mentioned, but no one could be in any doubt that should such a drastic measure prove necessary, Augustus would not have hesitated to use it. Precise definition of Augustus' powers is bedevilled as always by lack of any sources at all, or sometimes by conflicting information. It is certain that in 18 he was granted proconsular imperium for a further five years, along with Agrippa, who was also granted tribunician power for the same period, thus becoming Augustus' colleague on one of the five occasions when the Princeps asked for one. There is ongoing debate as to the precise extent of both Augustus* and Agrippa's proconsular power (see above, p. 122), and even more controversy over the powers granted to Augustus on his return in 19-Dio's statement that Augustus was granted 'a kind of consular power for life' has been contested for generations. Dio goes on to say that Augustus henceforth had the right to twelve lictors and to take his seat between the two consuls in the Senate, but the unresolved problem concerns the reality of the powers that Augustus received. It can be interpreted in two different ways. It may mean that Augustus merely took the honorary insignia of a consul denoting his special rank, but did not hold the power as such; or on the other hand he may have received full powers, in which case the twelve lictors and the special seat in the Senate would follow as a matter of course. Unfortunately Dio's source is unknown, and he is the only ancient author who relates these facts, so firm corroboration for what he says cannot be found, which leads to uncertainty, speculation,
and therefore argument. Augustus himself makes the explicit statement that when he was offered the consulship every year for life (in 22), he refused the offer. The difference between the consulship and consular power would be sufficiently well known to the inhabitants of the Roman world, but the omission of any reference whatsoever in this context to a compromise made only three or four years later is almost an insult to people's intelligence. Likewise, it is strange that Suetonius, with his passion for classification of information into categories, did not mention the 'consulship for life* immediately following the statement that Augustus asked for two colleagues whenever he was consul himself. The idea was rejected, but if Dio is correct, and Augustus did eventually assume consular power, this would be the place for Suetonius to add a footnote that Augustus had only to wait a while before he realised his ambition in a slightly different form. But Suetonius makes no reference to it, and it is too simplistic to suggest that some tired-eyed copyist missed out the vital line that would have settled the matter once and for all.1
