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I. INTRODUCTION
AUGUSTUS' ACHIEVEMENT IN BRINGING ORDER T? THE STATE after the turbulent years of civil war is celebrated in many and diverse sources. Velleius Paterqculus (2.89.3) records that "force was returned to laws, authority to the courts, and majesty to the Senate, that the power of magistrates was brought back to its old level" restituía vis legibus, iudiciis auctoritas, senatui maiestas, Imperium magistratuum ad pristinum redactum modum). Velleius continues on to offer the general summation that the old form of the republic had been reinstated frisca illa et antiqua rei publicae forma revocata)} An aureus from 28 b.c. records the restoration of laws and rights to the Roman people leges et iura p.R. restituii).2 Augustus himself speaks of a return to order. The Res Gestae record that over a period of two years Augustus transferred power back to the Senate and people of Rome (34: In consulatu sexto et séptimo Ofelia ubi civiljia exstinxeram per consensum universorum [potitus rerum omnjium, rem publicam ex mea potestate in senat[us populique Romani ajrbitrium transtuli). Included among the republican institutions brought back by Augustus were voting assemblies. Suetonius refers directly to the reestablishment of republican voting practices by Augustus Aug. 40.2: comitiorum quoque pristinum ius reduxit). Dio too mentions the return of voting assemblies, and uses precise language in reference to both the populace and plebs (53.21.6: ...).
Despite this grand "restoration of the republic" the state had undoubtedly changed. Tacitus captures the fundamental paradox as he notes that although the titles of magistracies remained, few men were left who had actually seen the republic Ann. 1.3: eadem magistratuum vocabula; iuniores post Actiacam victoriam, etiam sense plerique inter bella avium nati: quotus quisque reliquus, qui rem publicam vidisset). As Tacitus knew well, while Augustus was bringing back the old forms of law and order, the princeps and his family became connected with state institutions so closely that Augustus' lifetime marks the transition from republic to principare. Augustus' family emerged as an imperial dynasty.3
The links between Augustus, his family, and the Roman state took many forms. Scholars have long been interested in the role that Augustus' building program played in effecting the shift from republic to principate.4 Buildings celebrated Augustus' military success,...