What are the 5 most significant reforms that Octavian Augustus made during his reign?

Answer 1

In 27 BC there was the reforms reached in the First Settlement with the senate. Most of the provinces became imperial provinces where the emperor had the right to appoint the governor (legatus Augusti). These were border provinces where most of the Roman legions were stationed. The senate retained control of the 11 oldest provinces and Italy and Cyrenaica (eastern Libya) et Creta. The name was provincia populi Romani (province of the Roman people) but historians used the term senatorial provinces. The senate appointed the governor (proconsul).

In 23 BC there were the reforms of the Second Settlementwith the senate. Augustus gave up his post as consul (the two annually elected heads of the Roman Republic) which he had held continuously since 29 BC. Technically, he was no longer in an official position to rule the state. He remained in charge of the imperial provinces as their proconsul, but he could no longer intervene in the senatorial provinces. Therefore, he had the senate grant him imperium proconsulare maius, (power over all the proconsuls) which gave him control over the proconsuls of the senatorial provinces. Augustus also assumed the power of a tribune for life, (tribunicia potestas) though not the official title of tribune and this made to include the powers normally assigned to the censor. With this tribunician authority he could convene the senate, set its agenda, speak first at its meetings and preside over elections. He could also veto the senate and the assembly. With the censorial powers he could hold a census, enrol and expel senators, supervise public morality and scrutinize laws to ensure they were in the public interest. Therefore, although Augustus' gave up his role as consul, he effectively remained in charge of the state.

The proconsular power given to the emperor was extra-constitutional and gave him authority over the legions of the governors of the senatorial provinces as well as those of the imperial authority. Therefore, the emperor attained the same level of military authority which was previously held by the consuls, but, as this as an extra-constitutional arrangement, he was not subjected to the constitutional restrictions as he would otherwise been subjected to. The tribunician powers also gave him the same sacrosanctity (inviolability) as a plebeian tribune. This meant that it became a capital offense to harm or to obstruct him. It gave him control institutions of the state. The emperor became the de facto ruler without being a consul. The office of consul suffered a great loss of power and prestige.

Augustus reformed the army. The legions became recruited fully form volunteers. Previously there was a mixture of conscripts and volunteers. He lengthened the career from 16 to XX years. He doubled the size of the first cohort. Augustus also reintroduced the auxiliary troops which supported the legions, which were now recruited form the provinces instead of from the Italians. These troops doubled the size of the Roman forces.

Augustus reformed the coin system. It introduced the gold coins, the aureus and the quinarius aureus, which was worth ½ aureus. He introduced a new silver coin, the quinarius Argenteus, which was worth ½ a denarius (also a silver coin). He scrapped some smaller coins, the triens, the quadrans and the quincunx (they were all bronze coins).

Augustus reformed the tax system. He completed Caesar's abolition of tax faming. This term referred to the depredation of tax payers by private tax collectors who lined their pockets. They also had become powerful enough to influence the vote for politicians through corruption. Augustus established paid officials as tax collectors. He brought a greater proportion of the provinces under Roman taxation and created a more consistent, efficient and fairer system, which greatly increased Rome's revenue and improved her relationship with the provinces, which paid fixed quotas of direct taxes. Rome and Italy paid indirect taxes: 1% on sold goods, 4% on slaves and 5% on large estates inherited by someone who was not a next of kin.