Page:A General Sketch of Political History from the Earlist Times.djvu/121

 CHAPTER VIII THE ROMAN EMPIRE After the death of Anthony and Cleopatra, Egypt was formally annexed to the Roman dominion, and Octavian returned to Rome the undisputed lord of the whole civilised 1. The Em- woild. In effect Rome claimed to rule over all P ire - Europe west of the River Rhine or south of the River Danube ; over Asia as far as the Euphrates, leaving out Arabia; over Egypt and Northern Africa between the deserts and the Mediterranean Sea. Honours and titles were conferred on the victor by the Senate. The personal title of Augustus is the one by which he is henceforth distinguished, though it. was The Titles conferred also on his successors. The title of of Augustus, Imperator, implying the supreme military authority, B0, 27, became permanently established and still survives in the form of Emperor. The family name of Caesar was also retained by all his successors. But Augustus preferred to give prominence to titles which did not imply power but did imply dignity; therefore he was known as Princeps, meaning probably the 1 first citizen ' ; and it is now customary to apply the term Principate to the Imperial Office during the earlier period. Later, when the military character of the government became more prominent, the military title of Imperator displaced that of Princeps. It was the business of Augustus to establish the system of which the design had been outlined and the foundations laid by Julius Caesar. But Julius had challenged hostility by his open assumption of absolute authority. Augustus saw that the 109