The Senate next conferred upon Octavius the title of AUGUSTUS; then it made him Proconsul (an officer with the right to govern provinces), and Consul, with the privilege of having twelve lictors, and of sitting in the curule chair between the two Consuls. The regular Consuls, of course, were only too ready to follow his wishes. Finally, he was made Pontifex Maximus, the head of the Roman religion.
Augustus was now supreme ruler in fact, if not in name. The Senate was practically subject to his will. The Assemblies gradually lost all voice in the government, and finally disappeared entirely. The Senate, however, continued nominally to act until the time of Diocletian (284 A. D.).
As Augustus had exclusive command of the armies, he chose to govern as Proconsul those provinces which required military forces. He himself resided at the capital, and sent deputies (_legati_) to oversee them. The other provinces, called Senatorial, were governed by Proconsuls appointed by the Senate. These were at this time Sicily, Africa, Achaia (Greece), Macedonia, Asia (Minor), Hispania Ulterior, and Gallia Narbonensis.
The city government now included all Italy. In this Augustus was assisted by three _Praefects_; one in charge of the corn supplies, a second in charge of the city proper, and a third in charge of his body guard of nine thousand men, called the PRAETORIAN GUARD. These Praefects soon overshadowed all the regular magistrates, and through them Augustus reigned supreme.
The Roman Empire at this time included all the countries bordering on the Mediterranean, extending east to the Parthian kingdom (the Upper Euphrátes) and the Arabian Desert, south to the Desert of Sahara, and west to the Atlantic Ocean. On the north the boundary was unsettled, and subject to inroads of barbarians. In the early part of his reign Augustus joined to the Empire a new province, Moesia, comprising the territory along the Lower Danube, and making nineteen in all.
Augustus next devoted himself to the task of conquering the territory between the Lower Rhine and Moesia, which was occupied by hardy mountaineers whose resistance was likely to be stubborn. His two step-sons, Drusus and Tiberius, were in charge of this important work. They were so successful as to acquire enough territory to form two new provinces, Rhaetia and Noricum (15 B.C.).