306–308 Galerius (Gaius Galerius Valerius Maximianus) East only 305–311 Constantius I Chlorus (Marcus Flavius Valerius Constantius) West only 305–306 Severus (Flavius Valerius Severus) West only 306–307 Maxentius (Marcus Aurelius Valerius Maxentius) West only 306–312 Licinius (Valerius Licinianus Licinius) East only 308–324 Constantine I (Flavius Valerius Constantinus) 312–337 Constantine II (Flavius Claudius Constantinus) 337–340 Constans I (Flavius Julius Constans) 337–350 Constantius II (Flavius Julius Constantius) 337–361 Magnentius (Flavius Magnus Magnentius) 350–353 Julian (Flavius Claudius Julianus) 361–363 Jovian (Flavius Jovianus) 363–364 Valentinian I (Flavius Valentinianus) West only 364–375 Valens (Flavius Valens) East only 364–378 Procopius East only 365–366 Gratian (Flavius Gratianus Augustus) West only 375–383 Valentinian II (Flavius Valentinianus) West only 375–392 Theodosius I (Flavius Theodosius) 379–395 Arcadius (Flavius Arcadius) East only 395–408 Honorius (Flavius Honorius) West only 395–423 Theodosius II East only 408–450 Constantius III West only 421 Valentinian III (Flavius Placidius Valentinianus) West only 425–455 Marcian (Marcianus) East only 450–457 Petronius Maximus (Flavius Ancius Petronius Maximus) West only 455 Avitus (Flavius Maccilius Eparchius Avitus) West only 455–456 Leo I (Leo Thrax Magnus) East only 457–474 Majorian (Julius Valerius Majorianus) West only 457–461 Libius Severus (Libius Severianus Severus) West only 461–467 Anthemius (Procopius Anthemius) West only 467–472 Olybrius (Anicius Olybrius) West only 472 Glycerius West only 473–474 Julius Nepos West only 474–475 Leo II East only 474 Zeno East only 474–491 Romulus Augustulus (Flavius Momyllus Romulus Augustulus) West only 475–476
Law and order had vanished from the Roman state when its ruling aristocrats refused to curb their individual ambitions, when the most corrupt and violent persons could gain protection for their crimes by promising their support to the ambitious, and when the ambitious and the violent together could thus transform a republic based on disciplined liberty into a turbulent cockpit of murderous rivalries. Good government depended on limits being set to unrestrained aspirations, and Octavian was in a position to impose them. But his military might, though sufficiently strong in 31 bc to guarantee orderly political processes, was itself incompatible with them; nor did he relish the role of military despot. The fate of Julius Caesar, an eagerness to acquire political respectability, and his own esteem for ancestral custom combined to dissuade Octavian from it. He wished to be, in his own words, “the author of the best civilian government possible.” His problem was to regularize his own position so as to make it generally acceptable, without simultaneously reopening the door to violent lawlessness. His pragmatic responses not only ensured stability and continuity but also respected republican forms and traditions so far as possible.
Large-scale demobilization allayed people’s fears; regular consular elections raised their hopes. In 29–28 bc Octavian carried out, with Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, his powerful deputy, the first census of the Roman people since 70; and this involved drawing up an electoral roll for the Centuriate Assembly. Elections followed, and Octavian was inevitably chosen consul. Then, on Jan. 13, 27 bc, he offered to lay down his powers. The Roman Senate rejected this proposal, charging him instead to administer (besides Egypt) Spain, Gaul, and Syria for the next 10 years, while it itself was to supervise the rest of the empire. Three days later, among other honours, it bestowed upon him the name by which he has ever since been known, Augustus.