own law. He revived old festivals and ceremonies, like the Lupercalia festival and the Lustrum ceremony- both ceremonies of purification for the city, to further associate the emperor with the state cult. The multiplication of religious rites affirmed a return to normalcy after decades of civil war, and kept the citizens of Rome preoccupied with specific religious activities. Augustus also promoted ceremonies in honour of the gods, not the least of which were the Secular Games in 17 BC, sacred to the gods Apollo and Diana. Celebrated only once every 100 years, this ceremony represented renewal and a new order, thereby expressing the new religious attitude that was being revived in Rome. Lastly, he established the Imperial Cult to propagate the image of the Roman emperor. The Imperial cult was the official Empire-wide worship of the emperor. The Imperial Cult both paid tribute and honour to Augustus, and served as a unifying factor for the Empire. Clearly, through the reconstruction of public religion, he was able to instill a strong renewed faith in the Roman Empire.Apart from the reconstruction of public monuments and religion, Augustus realized that the revival of Roman religion meant the restoration of moral standards. He aimed to regulate public behaviour and stop the decline of Roman morals by enacting social reforms. His views on morality extended to laws regarding adultery, unchastity, and bribery. The Lex Julia di maritis ordinibus prohibited celibacy and childless marriages. It was made compulsory for roman citizens to get married. Special benefits, such as tax breaks, were established for couples with children in order to encourage procreation. Thus, this law had the added advantage of replacing the decimated Roman population that was lost during the numerous civil wars. To handle the issue of adultery, which the Romans then practiced extensively, Augustus enacted Lex Julia de adulteria that made adultery a punis...
