... will then base my conclusion on the evidence collected to assess the importance the Roman army was for Augustus' reign. At the end of the Civil War and the beginning of Augustus' reign, he found he had the control of numerous armies containing up to sixty or seventy legions, with some legions obviously from the opposing side to Augustus. In order for Augustus to remain in authority, he realised that this depended wholly upon the army. Not just so Augustus could remain in power but in order to defend the empire, the army must persist in being an immense force. One of the first decisions he made was to have a regular army with long-term service. He reduced the number of legions to 25 or 26 which was then later raised to 283. This left him with a total of around 150,000 men. The reasons why Augustus didn't make the ...

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