How did Augustus Caesars reign inaugurate a new era in not only Roman history,but also in Western civilization? Discuss the key elements of his...

The metamorphosis of Octavian into Augustus

Caesar and the Roman Republic into the Empire looks very different with hindsight from
the way
it must have appeared at the time, and certainly from the way
Augustus intended it to look.
Augustus claimed that he had restored the
Republic after the defeat of Antony at the Battle of
Actium and he never took
a title with any of the royal associations which are suggested by the
English
word Emperor. Augustus was the Imperator, which means general or commander,
the
Princeps, which means first citizen and took upon himself many titles
from the Republican era.
However, he ostensibly derived his power from the
Senate and the various offices he held within
it.

The most
important element in the creation of the Augustan Age (which
has connotations
of peace, prosperity and splendor even now) was the Pax Romana, the largely

peaceful and stable administration of a vast area under exceptionally tolerant rule. It
could be
said that it was under Augustus, rather than the Republic, that the
Romans first came close to
the modern conception of a government by consent.
This is a government which collects taxes and
in exchange provides services
and protects its citizens both through the rule of law and
military repulsion
of external threats, but otherwise leaves them alone to live as they

wish.

The only difference most Romans would have noticed under the
rule of
Augustus was that life became more peaceful and stable. Augustus used
what we would now call
soft power whenever possible, pretended to consult the
Senate on policy and generally behaved
less like a king or a dictator than
Julius Caesar had. Meanwhile, of course, he had the sanction
of being the
adopted son of the Divine Julius. This is why his de
facto
autocracy was accepted.

The
Julio-Claudian Dynasty that followed Augustus was
a dismal failure. Tiberius
was a competent administrator, but was never particularly popular or
highly
respected and became increasingly withdrawn and autocratic towards the end of his
rule.
Caligula may not have been quite as monstrous as his popular reputation
suggests, but his
grandiose caprices were, at the very least, utterly unlike
Augustuss stable, careful
administration. With him, the dynasty started to
spiral into tyranny and
madness.