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Augustus's Res Gestae: Military Analysis

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Augustus's Res Gestae: Military Analysis
In this essay I will argue that the Principate is a history of military dictatorships insofar as certain emperors seize power via some form of military coup. I shall cover emperors via the themes of: bread and circuses, reliance on the army and Praetorian Guard as depicted on imperial coinage and the times when the accession of an emperor is instigated by either defeat in battle or the assassination of one’s predecessor.

The first theme I shall look at is military influence and might. Augustus’s Res Gestae says that he had around 500,000 Roman citizens bound to him by a military oath and that just over 300,000 soldiers/ veterans had been assigned lands or been given money for their dutiful service. The point here is that the soldiers are
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