How Did Augustus Improve Roman Culture

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Augustus, the first emperor of Rome, declared himself as the “Restorer of the Republic.” He believed in traditional values such as monogamy, chastity, and virtue. During the civil war and political mayhems, there was a great loss of and weakening of family tradition and an increase in celibacy and sterile marriages. Augustus sought to improve the Roman way of life because of his value of traditional Roman customs during a time of peace known as the Pax Romana. Augustus improved Roman culture, and brought back traditional values by restoring Roman religious beliefs, producing better marriages, and encouraging people to have more children. The first step that Augustus took to revive the Roman religion was restoring public monuments,…show more content…
He did so by reviving priesthood, and was appointed as pontifex maximus; this made him the head of the Roman Empire and the religious leader (Fife). He reinstated past ceremonies and festivals such as the Lustrum ceremony and Lupercalia festival; the Lustrum is a ritual cleansing of the state performed by the Roman censors every five years, and the Lupercalia was a festival conducted by priests every year to worship the god Luercus (Lendering). He also established the Imperial Cult for worship of the emperor as a god. Within a decade, this spread throughout the empire and became an important part of the Roman…show more content…
He did this thorough social reform. He attempted to put a cap on divorces, and adultery through marriage regulations. His measures included a law that the all celibates above a certain age who did not marry and all widowers below a specific age that did not remarry could not receive inheritances, and attend public games. He also imposed penalties on childless couples. He also promoted marriage and childbearing by releasing enslaved women from male guardianship if they had given birth to a certain number of children (Fife). The adulatory law made infidelity a public crime as well as a private offence. A divorced husband who suspected his wife could prosecute her and her new partner. People convicted of adultery were liable to be banished to an island. Other laws restricted the number of rights of freed men and women. He even limited the number of slaves that could be freed by a master, and put the age restriction of 20 on the age that slaves that could be freed. He also made sure his laws applies to everyone; he even banished his daughter and granddaughter for immoral conduct (“Augusts”). Thus, Augustus strongly upheld traditional values, and was determined to restore them throughout his
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