HELP: Augustus Essay question (1 Viewer)

[GuitarBICH]

hi
i need help with this question please.
What do i put into an answer for this question?

"Assess the reform programmes and policies of Augustus".

i wasn't sure if i should add the principate and how he changed the structure of the government... that's not really a policy or programme..?

I'm confused..

 

[Gregor Samsa]

Yeah, you would have to list reforms of the principate. I'd also assume that you'd have to include his reforms concerning provincial policy, such as introducing salaries for provincial governors, in order to cut down on corruption.

I'd also include his moral/religious reforms, including the restoration of 82 temples (In a year), and the Julian Laws. (Were they successful? and so on..) et.al.

Good luck. (Personally, I hope that we don't get a question like that in the HSC.)

 

[Yami]

Some important things for Augustus that you could include is his Pax Romana policy and how he cut the amount of legions from 60 to 28 (went down to 25 after Teutoberg Forest incident in 9AD). This is very important when discussing his reforms.

Most important: Historians!!! Make sure you use Tacitus, at the very least.

 

[Left-ism]

its a pretty easy question really- you put everything you know and say how good it was and how smart Augustus was.

 

[Infinite]

Even if you just have a point and dont know where its from.

Its good to just say some historian used it - Suetonius, Tacitus, Res Gestae who or what ever.

 

[Andronicus]

You put everything in that... EVERYTHING!

Military reforms, senatorial role adjustments, propaganda, frontier policy, equestrian class, moral codes of conduct (to which not even his family could adhere), and everything else you know - tax, that's another one.

 

[Wiggum]

Concur.

EDIT: Just thinking about it, you can add frontier policy. But basically you NEED TO ADD EVERYTHING in this essay.

 

[pistig]

andronicus outlined most, but what also was important was how he managed the mob. u can find most of this stuff in his res gestae

 

[Left-ism]

go for it

 

[GuitarBICH]

thanks guys..

Yeah it is a big question.
good luck all

 

[iluvaugustus]

Augustus' RES GESTAE is always a good place to get the little bits and pieces that you need

 

[shamanaic_lord]

Augustus a few tips:

You will probably start off by stating his usage of propaganda, that rather then ruling through power and authority his pretext was the popularity and that he remained within the rights of the republic in terms of the titles and powers he was bestowed.

Another thing is that when you refer to historians like Petercullus and Tacitus you would also mention the opening to bias and how you should interpret their work to get a more objective meaning.

You should also consider his policies dealing with the provinces such as magistracies in the provinces, frontier policy, reforms to the Roman govt. Note he never said he brought the republic back.

A few other things that come to mind is his administrative ratifications, his dealings with people in terms of charity, his resurrection of the religious policies and social administration (his intent as well according to scullard would be best because he deals with this extensively).

The usage of contoversial literates to his own gain Horus, Vero and the other dude.

Apart from this you got so much more you can talk about, omg it aint funny..his building crap, u name it he did it. Best book I found to deal with this is Bradley it aint extensive but very simple and well organised.

 

[dothelimbokimbo]

Originally posted by iluvaugustus
Augustus' RES GESTAE is always a good place to get the little bits and pieces that you need

but the res gestae is full of malarky, if u go to someone like singleton of judge they have all the info and point out the flaws in the res gestae
but you dont really have to assess that, maybe just include a reform and how biased he is in the res gestae if he twists it around or something

 

[tink 18]

hey guys, just remember the Res Gestae will have Augustus' own perspective and biases in it since he was writing about his own achievements! so use him but point this out to show that you are assessing the validity of the source and analysing what is said instead of just pulling qoutes out of the air. the markers will look for this as it is a part of historical methodology.