Quick questions on The Augustan Settlement: HSC Ancient History

In the senate on 13 January 27 BC, Octavian staged a carefully theatrical speech announcing the "return" of his extraordinary powers to the senate and Roman people, the moment Res Gestae 34 later calls res publica restituta ("the Republic restored"). The senate responded, in a scripted exchange, by pleading with him to retain control of the state; three days later, on 16 January, the arrangement was formalised. Together these days make up the First Settlement.

In 23 BC Augustus faced a compounding political crisis. He became seriously ill, reportedly cured by his doctor Antonius Musa's unconventional cold-water treatment, and, believing he might die, handed his signet ring to Agrippa rather than to a designated political heir, exposing the regime's lack of any accepted succession mechanism.

The settlements established the framework but Augustus continued to acquire additional powers over time.

The settlements were a sophisticated political achievement. Augustus claimed (Res Gestae 34) that he had "transferred the state from his own power to the discretion of the senate and the Roman people."

A 10-year command over the major frontier provinces: Spain, Gaul, Syria, and Egypt. These provinces contained the bulk of the Roman legions (around 20 of 28 legions). The senate retained the unarmed provinces (Africa, Asia, Macedonia, etc.), reinforcing the impression that the "dangerous" work of defending Rome, not the exercise of naked power, justified his command.

"Revered One," a religious title suggesting divine sanction without claiming divinity, voted on 16 January 27 BC. The name was new: no Roman had been called Augustus before. The poet Ennius had used it in a religious sense ("augusta templa").

Augustus's accumulated personal prestige was formally recognised. Auctoritas (the moral authority that allowed a senior figure's recommendations to be followed without formal compulsion) was a Republican concept; it now became the rhetorical foundation of the principate. Res Gestae 34 states this claim in his own words: "auctoritate omnibus praestiti, potestatis autem nihilo amplius habui quam ceteri qui mihi quoque in magistratu conlegae fuerunt" ("in authority I excelled all, but of power I held no more than those who were my colleagues in each magistracy").

A golden shield (clipeus virtutis) was placed in the Curia Julia listing Augustus's virtues: virtus (courage), clementia (mercy), iustitia (justice), and pietas (piety toward the gods, ancestors, and country). A civic crown (corona civica) of oak leaves, traditionally awarded for saving a citizen's life, was fixed above the door of his house on the Palatine, publicly casting him as the saviour of the entire citizen body.

Greater proconsular power. This allowed Augustus to override governors anywhere in the empire, even in senatorial provinces. The power was renewed at intervals.

The powers of the plebeian tribune without the office: sacrosanctity (legal protection of his person), the veto (intercessio) over any magistrate, the right to convene the senate and the popular assemblies, and the right to introduce legislation. The tribunician power was renewed annually and counted as a regnal year for dating purposes.

Responsibility for the grain supply of Rome.

Responsibility for public morals (a moral censorship).

Chief priest of the Roman state, on the death of Lepidus.

"Father of the country," a high-prestige honorific.