Discuss Augustus Caesar's successes and failures, and his place in history.

Question

What will be an ideal response?

Answer 1

Answers will vary. While Augustus Caesar's status as the greatest of the Roman emperors is open to interpretation, his accomplishments were remarkable. In the matter of his big successes, the most long-reaching was the Roman Peace, which allowed him to create a sense of unification among citizens of the empire. His streamlining of the unwieldy apparatus of the empire and emphasis on local government was positive overall, although some might argue that these factors ultimately were a weakening influence. His creation of a local fire department and rudimentary police force from retired soldiers, and the growth of the soldier-farmer found positive ways to utilize manpower and simultaneously decrease the largest expense of the empire: the army. The demobilization of the army ultimately can be considered a failure, however, because there were significantly fewer active troops to defend the empire at the time of the crises in the third century and during times of conflict with barbarians.