ABSTRACT
The military superiority that had won Rome vast overseas territories by the late Republic was the result of a long evolution, noticeably accelerated during the Augustan age. Working upon the foundations so ably laid by Gaius Marius and Julius Caesar, Augustus set about organizing a new army that could fulfil the requirements of an expanded Roman world and support the new imperial system. In this, two objectives were paramount: the defence of the Empire and the security of his own position. His arrangements, a model for numerous successors, took due account of worthy tradition yet for the most part showed an originality that was to be both successful and lasting, and produced a professional organization that remained almost unaltered for two centuries.
