27 BC

Events in 27 BC 2

• 27 BC – 14 Augustus — the reign Augustus rules from 27 BC to 14 AD — 41 years — transforming Rome from a city of brick to a city of marble. He creates a standing army with fixed pay and terms, a praetorian guard, a professional civil service, and a system of provinces governed by his legates. He reforms taxation, builds roads, reorganises the calendar and patronises Virgil, Horace, Livy and Ovid. The Pax Augusta — Roman peace — begins. His succession is troubled: he outlives three designated heirs before Tiberius succeeds him.
• 27 BC Augustus becomes first Emperor On 13 January 27 BC, Octavian returns his powers to the Senate in a carefully staged performance of republican modesty. The Senate, gratefully, returns them — and adds the honorific "Augustus" (the revered one). Augustus never calls himself emperor or king; he is princeps (first citizen) and holds a collection of republican offices simultaneously. The fiction of the restored Republic is maintained for centuries, but power is unambiguous: Augustus rules Rome for 44 years and transforms it utterly.