It's all just shadows and mirrors to obtain control, power and influence. And if he and his handlers should succeed, in part, they betray the American Ideal, they betray us all. We are not Rome.
http://www.historyguide.org/ancient/lecture12b.html"The reforms of Augustus as well as his long life contributed to the idea that he was something more than human -- he was certainly a hero, the Romans thought, perhaps even a god. His reforms of the system of Roman government were important. He compromised between inherited traditions and a changed economic, political and social reality. In other words, he effectively mixed both the old and the new, a typically Roman idea. His system of reforms save the Empire, but in the long run spelled the death of representative institutions. Augustus never did away with these institutions, he merely united them under one person -- himself. He was consul, tribune, chief priest of the civic religion and the public censor. He ruled by personal prestige: he was princeps (first citizen among equals) and pater patriae (father of the country). He was the supreme ruler, the king, the emperor and his authority (auctoritas) was absolute.
He immediately faced four distinct problems. (1) He had to secure the northern frontiers against attack. Civil wars had involved the army and had led to a weakening of the frontiers of the border. (2) The army had grown too large and unmanageable: the army formed a state within a state. (3) The urban population and small farmers had to be helped. (4) His new government had to promote confidence among the senatorial class which was necessary for efficient rule.
His reform of the administration of the provinces hit all these problems at once. First, the frontiers were consolidated. His policy was to extend the northern frontier (the Rhine and Danube Rivers) no further and to bolster what remained. Augustus reduced the size of the army and the remainder were stationed in the provinces. He provided a cash payment to those soldiers who had served for more than twenty years, thus securing their loyalty to the Roman state and not to their generals. The army was removed from Rome where they were tempted to a meddle in civic affairs. He also created the Praetorian Guard, an elite corps of 9000 men charged with defending him. Stationed at Rome, the members of the Guard were from Italy only, and received higher pay than soldiers in the Roman legions. The Guard served as the personal bodyguard to Augustus but a few decades after the death of Augustus, they often played a decisive role in the "selection" of new emperors. In the home provinces near Rome, Augustus entrusted the senatorial class. He made the senatorial aristocracy feel as if they still had power. They were, of course, losing it quickly. The reforms of Augustus stabilized the economy and made the Mediterranean basin nearly self-sufficient.
But there were flaws which soon became apparent. Economically, the system was based on a network of mutually interdependent areas. If one fell, it could hurt the whole Empire. The system of slave labor was also showing signs of deterioration. Slaves had no desire to work. Furthermore, the number of slaves had been reduced since many slave families had won their freedom by manumission. As a result, manpower was drained off the farms."
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