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He believed that the degradation of Rome was due in large part to a “breakdown in religious tradition as well as political and moral order. Old rites had been forgotten, old temples were allowed to crumble in neglect, and the gods were angry with this”. Augustus attempted to renew peace and stability in Rome through political and moral legislation, at the heart of which was the revival of traditional Roman religion in the state. He believed that the order and prosperity needed so desperately by the Romans relied on the thoughtful fulfillment of religious rites; that is, religious duties to the gods. There were several principle ways in which Augustus sought to reemphasize the traditional religion of Rome. By the reconstruction of public religion and public monuments, the regulation of private behavior, and the emergence of literature which extolled the virtues of piety and morality, Augustus was successful in pressing religion into service in the state, and as a result, renewed a Roman sense of pride, peace and prosperity. Augustus’ first task in the religious revival of Rome was the restoration of public monuments, namely, the temples of the gods. Aside from appeasing the gods, the refreshed temples proclaimed a sense of renewed Roman faith. Augustus also commissioned the construction of certain monuments to further encourage traditional Roman religion. One such monument was the Ara Pacis Augustae, an elaborate marble altar replete with symbols and meanings that Augustus was trying to propagate in the public, and which celebrated Augustus and his successful domination of much of the known world. It included scenes of religious rites, processionals, Augustus and his family, (thus demonstrating his own piety), as well as conveying a sense of peace and Roman pride. The revitalization of Rome’s religious buildings was an enormous step in the religious revival of the Empire, and the healthy condition of the shrines confirmed for observers the healthy condition of the state as restored by Augustus. Word of this achievement was widespread; coins spread throughout the empire depicting the refreshed and attractive monuments. Ancient Roman coins were often used to convey political ideals, and Augustus “turned this tradition to his own purposes by stamping significant types on the coins such as ‘peace’ and ‘victory’”. Augustus not only commissioned coins which spread word about his achievements, but also those which associated him with the gods-gods which he was making such an effort to revive. Many coins depict pictures or symbols of the gods, such as Apollo, and by his association with these religious entities, Augustus was able to subtlety remind people of his power and greatness. Although the revitalization of Rome’s religious monuments did wonders to instill a renewed sense of faith in the state, Augustus realized that to truly revive Roman religion, he had to also awaken an interest in worship. Augustus’ revival of traditional religion in the state was due in large part to the reconstruction of public religion. During the decades of civil war, many religious rites had been curtailed or discontinued. Throughout the years of his reign, Augustus “enhanced the status of various religious groups, promoted the renewal of lapsed ceremonies, and encouraged the institution of rites to honor his achievements”. He revived the priesthoods, and his eventual appointment as pontifex maximus, saw him become not only the secular head of the Roman Empire, but the religious leader as well. Augustus used religion to reorganize the state and to establish his 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 punishable crime. He also passed sumptuary laws, such as importation laws, that restricted luxury items and extravagance, in order to encourage the people of Rome to lead more simple lives. These laws stemmed from Augustus’ basic religious belief in monogamy, chastity, and piety, and by them, he was able to press religion into the state by inter-weaving traditional morality and religion with his social policy. Lastly, in addition to public monuments and religious laws, Augustus’ ideas about religion were largely circulated throughout the state by literature, namely poetry. In literature, Roman military success and prosperity were often attributed to religious piety. The foremost contributors to the atmosphere in which the political system of Augustus became stabilized, were the poets Virgil, Horace, and Livy. Their works mirrored Augustus’ sentiments that the re-adoption traditional moral standards were needed to create a strong, unified, state, and that prosperity and military supremacy were achieved only through the piety of obedience to the will of the gods. Through their didactic works, these poets greatly aided Augustus in extolling the virtues of morality, piety, and family values. There were, however, some writers who flouted Augustus’ moral agenda, most notably, Ovid. Ovid’s works, mock didactic in nature, were often laced with cynicism and immorality, and encouraged the licentious actions such as adultery and fornication which Augustus was trying so hard to abolish. Such writing could have had destructive effects on the renewed religious and moral attitudes in Rome, and so, in keeping with his moral agenda, Augustus had Ovid banished to the Black Sea for the remainder of his life. In this way, Augustus allowed only the literature that reflected his religious sentiments, to circulate throughout the state to educate the people and encourage them to adopt a more moral and pious way of life. Clearly, by the reconstruction of public monuments and religion, political and moral legislation, and the emergence of didactic literature, Augustus was able to press religion into the state, and thereby created a stronger, more unified Empire. A return to traditional ways of life, piety and peace helped the Romans to heal after the corruption and demoralization of the civil wars, and allowed for the rebirth of Rome as a capital city. Augustus’ success can be measured by the subsistence of the Empire for another 300 years, as well as his formal deification. Many of the traditional moral standards and values that Augustus promoted during his regime lasted until the final transformation of the Empire to Christianity As the saviour of traditional values, Augustus was looked upon as the bringer of peace, security and prosperity in a world of chaos, and as a result, eventually came to be accepted as one of the gods. The first, and perhaps finest of the Roman emperors, Augustus succeeded in creating a strong and religious state which unified and kept peace in Rome for a great many years. Bibliography: none Word Count: 1460
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