Augustus' Staff Policy

During the transition from the Republic to empire, many excellent persons in Roman politics tried to distinguish themselves, but they failed respectively on account of lack of capacity and power. Only Augustus, by virtue of his great capacity and tactics, not only ended the turbulent civil war, but also established the unique principate. However, as far as the essence of this principate is concerned, scholars at home and abroad have shared many opinions, and they discuss the topic mostly from the angle of politics, the economy. Yet very few have studied Augustus' staff policy. Augustus' staff policy is a direct reflection of his principate, and thus the thesis intends to examine the essence of Augustus' principate again from a new angle-through the study of Augustus' staff policy.The thesis consists of six parts. In the introduction, I briefly introduce the four controversies on Augustus' principate and the reason for my writing. In chapter I, I survey the constitution of the senate in the Augustan age, and thus explain that in appearance the senate still occupied the supreme status, but indeed it had been subordinated to iheprinceps. It was an administrative body rather than a political organ. I analyze Augustus' appointment of provincial governors hi chapter II. In senatorial provinces, Augustus adopted the Republican tradition and took the method of lot in election, while in his own provinces, he chose able staff members and advanced new men. In chapter III, I explain the achievements of Augustus' four chief advisors in order to reveal that in political, military and administrative affairs, Augustus depended more on his advisors, thus the power of the senate was increasingly decreased. In chapter IV, I discuss Augustus' policy in the selection of heirs.On the basis of the foregoing discussion, I conclude that learning from the lesson of Caesar, Augustus exercised a flexible and successful staff policy in the vein of the Republic. He adopted Republican traditions, while he chose capable and eligible staff members with little regard to their backgrounds. In appearance, he honored the authority of the senate, but in fact he controlled the power of the government. He appointed the officials, advanced his four advisors and thus oppressed the senate; besides, he selected his own successors during his life. All of these points deeply show that the essence of Augustus' principate was a monarchy behind the cover of the Republican garment.