ollowed the retirement and death of Sulla, and, in
disposing of his rivals, Octavian had assumed the obligation of giving to
the Roman world a stable form of government. Public sentiment demanded a
strong administration, even if this could only be attained at the expense
of the old republican institutions.

But while ambition and duty alike forbade him to relinquish his hold upon
the helm of state, Octavian shrank from realizing the ideal of Julius
Caesar and establishing a monarchical form of government. From this he was
deterred both by the fate of his adoptive father and his own cautious,
conservative character which gave him such a shrewd understanding of Roman
temperament. His solution of the problem was to retain the old Roman
constitution as far as was practicable, while securing for himself such
powers as would enable him to uphold the constitution and prevent a
renewal of the disorders of the preceding century. What powers were
necessary to this end, Octavian determined on the basis of practical
experience between 27 and 18 B. C. And so his restoration of the
commonwealth signified the end of a regime of force and paved the way for
his reception of new authority legally conferred upon him.

*The imperium.* Nothing had contributed more directly to the failure of
the republican form of government than the growth of the professional army
and the inability of the Senate to control its commanders. Therefore, it
was absolutely necessary for the guardian of peace and of the constitution
to concentrate the supreme military authority in his own hands.
Consequently on 13 January, 27 B. C., the birthday of the new order,
Octavian, by vote of the Assembly and Senate, received for a period of ten
years the command and administration of the provinces of Hither Spain,
Gaul and Syria, that is, the chief provinces in which peace was not yet
firmly established and which consequently required the presence of the
bulk of the Roman armies. Egypt, over which he had ruled as the successor
of the Ptolemies since 30 B. C., remained directly subject to his
authority. As long as he continued to hold the consulship, the _imperium_
of Octavian was senior (_maius_) to that of the governors of the other
provinces which remained under the control of the Senate. In effect, his
solution of the military problem was to have conferred upon himself an
extraordinary command which found its precedents in those of Lucullus,
Pompey and Caesar, but whic