ABSTRACT
During the course of forty years, Augustus accomplished a radical reformation of Rome. It blended the constitutional forms of the old Republic and the reality of one-man rule into a palatable constitutional monarchy for the Roman Empire. He created a complex administrative hierarchy that reserved many positions of highest status for the old senatorial aristocracy. At the same time, he brought the equestrians of Italy into positions of real power and made them a loyal part of the system, with chances of obtaining senatorial status. Still, Augustus gave renewed influence to the state religion and successfully promoted the cult of his genius as a way of fostering widespread loyalty to his imperial regime. Many would not care for that regime today. Most Romans, however, preferred it to chaos, civil wars, and failure to address crucial problems, which had characterized the last century of the aristocrats' free Republic, libera res publica.
