To What Extent Was Augusts Victory at Actium Important in Securing His Position as Princeps of Rome

To what extent was Augustus' victory at Actium and the aftermath of the civil war important in securing his position as princeps of Rome? – By Harry Aspinall

Augustus’ victory at the battle of Actium did help him secure the title of Princep’s of Rome this is not to say however that there weren’t other equally important factors, which may have contributed to his establishment in this role.

For instance, while Vellius might say that –when describing the pertinence of the victory at Actium- “There was nothing, thereafter, which men could hope for from the God’s” which implications of this would obviously be that the people saw this as the greatest achievement possible and would subsequently be most effervescent towards the appointment of their new leader however as we see just from the existence of later sources i.e the odes from Horace and other poets that reputability and self image were significant at the time after all if Augustus truly were a great leader and his actions alone in this case the triumph at Actium spoke volumes for his suitability for the role then the ostentatious displays of worship through the media of the time literature etc. would be unessential, obsolete and would their production would never have been needed.

Another source alluding to the supreme importance of the battle are the coins or aureus’ issued under Augustus – having control of the mint- to commemorate his triumph, but as we know Augustus having power over the production of such coins gives us a very incomprehensive view on the attitudes shown towards Augustus before or after the battle and just how important citizens genuinely believed Actium to be and to what degree it helped him attain his role or whether it even made a difference, however what neither source so far has told us is that Augustus essentially won this battle by default so even if this coin is commemorating the victory which lead to Caesars acquisition of preincep’s, the battle was practically handed to...