Augustus

=== War and expansion ===
{{Main|Wars of Augustus}}
{{Further|Roman–Iranian relations|Augustus' Eastern policy}}

By AD 13, Augustus boasted 21 occasions where his troops proclaimed him ''[[imperator]]'' after a successful battle. Almost the entire fourth chapter in his publicly released memoirs of achievements known as the ''[[Res Gestae Divi Augusti|Res Gestae]]'' is devoted to his military victories and honors.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=93}}

Augustus also promoted the ideal of a superior Roman civilization with a task of ruling the world (to the extent to which the Romans knew it), a sentiment embodied in words that the contemporary poet [[Virgil]] attributes to a legendary ancestor of Augustus: ''tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento''{{Sfn|Eder|2005|page=30}}—"Roman, remember to rule the Earth's peoples with authority!" The impulse for [[expansionism]] was apparently prominent among all classes at Rome, and it is accorded divine sanction by Virgil's Jupiter in Book 1 of the ''[[Aeneid]]'', where Jupiter promises Rome ''imperium sine fine'', "sovereignty without end".{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=95}}

By the end of his reign, the armies of Augustus had conquered northern Hispania (modern Spain and Portugal) and the [[Alps|Alpine]] regions of [[Raetia]] and [[Noricum]] (modern Switzerland, Bavaria, Austria, Slovenia), [[Illyricum (Roman province)|Illyricum]] and [[Pannonia]] (modern Albania, Croatia, Hungary, Serbia, etc.), and had extended the borders of [[Africa (Roman province)|Africa Proconsularis]] to the east and south. [[Judaea (Roman province)|Judea]] was added to the [[Roman Syria|province of Syria]] when Augustus deposed [[Herod Archelaus]], successor to [[client state|client king]] [[Herod the Great]]. Syria (like Egypt after Antony) was governed by a high prefect of the equestrian class rather than by a proconsul or legate of Augustus.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=94}}

[[File:Tiberius NyCarlsberg01.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Bust of [[Tiberius]], a successful military commander under Augustus who was designated as his heir and successor]]

Again, no military effort was needed in 25&nbsp;BC when [[Galatia]] (part of modern Turkey) was converted to a Roman province shortly after [[Amyntas of Galatia]] was killed by an avenging widow of a slain prince from Homonada.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=94}} The rebellious tribes of [[Asturias]] and [[Cantabria]] in modern-day Spain were [[Cantabrian Wars|finally quelled in 19&nbsp;BC]], and the territory fell under the provinces of Hispania and [[Lusitania]]. This region proved to be a major asset in funding Augustus's future military campaigns, as it was rich in mineral deposits that could be fostered in Roman mining projects, especially the very rich gold deposits at [[Las Médulas]].{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=97}}

[[File:TabulaPeutingerianaMuziris.jpg|thumb|left|[[Muziris]] in the [[Chera Kingdom]] of [[Southern India]], as shown in the [[Tabula Peutingeriana]], with depiction of a "Temple of Augustus" ("Templum Augusti"): an illustration of [[Indo-Roman relations]] in the period]]
Conquering the peoples of the Alps in 16&nbsp;BC was another important victory for Rome, since it provided a large territorial buffer between the Roman citizens of Italy and Rome's enemies in [[Germania]] to the north.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=98}} [[Horace]] dedicated an ode to the victory, while the monumental [[Tropaeum Alpium|Trophy of Augustus]] near Monaco was built to honor the occasion.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|pages=98–99}} The capture of the Alpine region also served the next offensive in 12&nbsp;BC, when Tiberius began the offensive against the Pannonian tribes of Illyricum, and his brother [[Nero Claudius Drusus]] [[Roman campaigns in Germania (12 BC – AD 16)|moved against the Germanic tribes]] of the eastern [[Rhineland]]. Both campaigns were successful, as Drusus's forces reached the [[Elbe]] River by 9&nbsp;BC—though he died shortly after by falling off his horse.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=99}} It was recorded that the pious Tiberius walked in front of his brother's body all the way back to Rome.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=416}}

To protect Rome's eastern territories from the [[Parthian Empire]], Augustus relied on the client states of the east to act as territorial [[Buffer state|buffers]] and areas that could raise their own troops for defense. To ensure security of the empire's eastern flank, Augustus stationed a Roman army in Syria, while his skilled stepson Tiberius negotiated with the Parthians as Rome's diplomat to the East.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=96}} Tiberius was responsible for restoring [[Tigranes V of Armenia|Tigranes V]] to the throne of the Kingdom of Armenia.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=416}}

Arguably his greatest diplomatic achievement was negotiating with [[Phraates IV]] of Parthia (37–2&nbsp;BC) in 20&nbsp;BC for the return of the [[Vexilloid|battle standards]] lost by [[Marcus Licinius Crassus|Crassus]] in the [[Battle of Carrhae]], a symbolic victory and great boost of morale for Rome.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=416}}{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=96}}{{Sfn|Brosius|2006|pages=96–97, 136–138}} Werner Eck claims that this was a great disappointment for Romans seeking to avenge Crassus's defeat by military means.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|pages=95–96}} However, Maria Brosius explains that Augustus used the return of the standards as propaganda symbolizing the submission of Parthia to Rome. The event was celebrated in art such as the breastplate design on the statue [[Augustus of Prima Porta]] and in monuments such as the [[Forum of Augustus|Temple of Mars Ultor]] ('[[Mars (mythology)|Mars the Avenger]]') built to house the standards.{{Sfn|Brosius|2006|page=97}}{{Sfn|Bivar|1983|pages=66–67}} Parthia had always posed a threat to Rome in the east, but the real battlefront was along the [[Rhine]] and [[Danube]] rivers.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=96}} Before the final fight with Antony, Octavian's campaigns against the tribes in [[Dalmatia (Roman province)|Dalmatia]] were the first step in expanding Roman dominions to the Danube.{{Sfn|Rowell|1962|page=13}} Victory in battle was not always a permanent success, as newly conquered territories were constantly retaken by Rome's enemies in Germania.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|page=96}}

[[File:Hermann (Arminius) at the battle of the Teutoburg Forest in 9 CE by Peter Jannsen, 1873, with painting creases and damage removed.jpg|thumb|''Der siegreich vordringende Hermann'' (The Victorious Advancing [[Arminius|Hermann]]), depiction of the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]], by [[Peter Janssen]], 1873]]
A prime example of Roman loss in battle was the [[Battle of the Teutoburg Forest]] in AD 9, where three entire legions led by [[Publius Quinctilius Varus]] were destroyed by [[Arminius]], leader of the [[Cherusci]], an apparent Roman ally.{{Sfn|Eck|Takács|2003|pages=101–102}} Augustus retaliated by dispatching Tiberius and Drusus to the Rhineland to pacify it, which had some success although the battle brought the end to Roman expansion into Germany.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=417}} The Roman general [[Germanicus]] took advantage of a Cherusci civil war between Arminius and [[Segestes]]; at the [[Battle of Idistaviso]] in AD 16, he defeated Arminius.{{Sfn|Bunson|1994|page=31}}