In the period 44bc to 31bc, how easily had Augustus overcome the difficulties he faced in gaining power? Augustus acquisition and consolidation of power can be split in three stages, the era from March 44BC to October 42BC sees a fairly easy yet fortunate gaining of power wherein he secured funds, military support and successfully outmaneuvered the senate and Antony. The period from October 42BC to 34BC sees Augustus face much greater difficulty in gaining power, his rivals in the Triumvirate as well as domestic troubles in Rome such as need for Veteran land and Sextus' piracy. In the final stage from the donations of Alexandria in 34BC to Actium in September 31BC, Octavian overcomes his difficulties with ease within the final three years, using propaganda, his allies, Antony’s failings and his auctoritas to overcome difficulties, gaining great power with great ease.
Octavian easily overcomes the difficulties he faced within the years 44BC to 42BC. Octavian received three quarters of the inheritance of Julius Caesar, as well as being proclaimed his heir and adopted son. This is essential in understanding how Octavian was capable of securing support in the early years of his political career. This allows him to overcome his first difficult of financing military pursuits, in which the name could be used to borrow much of the coin needed. Furthermore, Octavian Caesar attracted many veterans previously loyal to Julius Caesar, who supported the name of Caesar. Augustus was able to overcome these early difficulties with relative ease, due to the image he gave, selling his property to raise funds and borrowing against his name but largely due to the fortunate circumstances that Julius Caesar had bestowed. Aided by loans, troop loyalty and the injection of coin from the Parthian war chest, Octavian was able to overcome the difficulties prevalent in his early career, such as Antony withholding inheritance and Octavian’s own inexperience. Upon raising a army, Octavian overcomes the problem first of his illegal army, then Antony, and finally the liberatores with great ease, largely through fortune. They key to Octavian’s success leading from his march into Rome to the battle of Philippi is his ease in playing Antony and the senate/liberatores against each other. Octavian successfully negates both Mark Antony’s forces and the senate’s, buy allowing Hirtius and Pansa to help win the battle against Antony, and very conveniently die during, Octavian having overcome his difficulties of Senatorial and Antony's forces, gaining in personal power. After being ordered to hand command of his legions to Decimus Brutus, Octavian marches 8 legions into Rome, where he coerced the senate into revoking the decree declaring Antony a public enemy, and having himself elected consul. This shows how control of the legions nuked any possible political opposition Octavian received, without a doubt Octavian’s difficulties in the form of senatorial opposition were overcome with the greatest ease. Octavian’s alliance with Mark Antony against the liberatores, lends to the idea that Augustus ability to overcome difficulties owed to his ability to adapt to military and political revelations in order to survive, and to gain power. This is also shown in Octavian’s use of the proscription as a political tool, learning from the mistakes of Caesar and mirroring Sulla. The period from 44BC to 42BC are essential in Octavian’s ascent to power, his adaptability and name are the key factors that allow him to traverse the difficulties he faces with great and almost unbounded ease.
The years 42BC to 34BC represent a time of difficulty and opposition for Octavian, despite the defeat of the liberatores. The formation of the Triumvirate in 43BC split the potential power within the empire, which served well while the liberatores and senate were still a threat. This system of power would prevent Octavian from spreading his own personal power throughout the eastern and African parts of the empire for 8 more years. Octavian was also faced with grain shortages in the capital as results of Sextus Pompey’s blocking of Sicilian grain and ocean trade routes. Octavian’s difficulties within the 8 intermediate years Between Philippi and the Alexandria donations are worsened by lack of land for veterans and conspiracies against him. Octavian’s need to secure steady grain to Rome was jeopardized by Sextus, Octavian, despite initial defeat by Sextus, arranged a peace treaty at Misenum to buy time and eventually defeated him. The defeat of Sextus shows the significant influence Octavian had, constructing the Via Hurculanea and the Piscina Mirabilis in order to defeat Sextus. Octavian also had the difficulty of finding land for his veterans, so had to take Gaul for himself from Antony in order to home them. Octavian’s planning and evident auctoritas in Rome allowed him to muster the resources and support to overcome the issues facing the Italian peninsula. It is arguable that In overcoming the difficulties of Pompey and the veterans, Octavian gained little to no power other than a consolidation of his already existing power, and to gain power the foundations of the Triumvirate would need to be destabilized. This is Octavian’s greatest difficulty to overcome. Octavian does however completely and very easily usurp Lepidus by marching into his camp, after the defeat of Sextus. Despite difficult challenges to his existing power from 44BC to 42BC, Octavian’s actual gaining of power in the time period is easy and great, knocking out Lepidus with unexampled ease, though the consolidation of Italy’s underlying issues are difficult to overcome, yet essential for Octavian’s coming campaign against Antony.
Despite Antony's isolation in the years 44BC to 42BC, the difficulty that he poses to Octavian’s gaining of power is significant, after Octavian’s consolidation of his personal power in the west. In 34BC the crucial kick starter to Octavian’s route to complete power begun after the donations of Alexandria was released to the Roman public. From the years 34 to Antony's defeat at Actium in 31BC, Octavian’s gaining of power is not only steady and paralleled by Antony's decrease of support and power, but Octavian’s gaining of power is easy, and certainly aided by the shortcomings and failures of Antony in the war of propaganda. The donations of Alexandria, sharing Roman provinces to a foreign queen and stating Caesarion as rightful heir to Caesar armed Octavian with the necessary ammunition needed to turn the Roman people and senate against Antony, the only man in the way of control of the eastern provinces and Egypt. The divinity of Octavian’s name Divus Filius, his understanding that Agrippa was the better general, and Octavian’s shrewd and well managed propaganda campaign made the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, the easiest difficult to overcome in the years 44BC to 31BC and the move that gained him the most power by far. The ease of Octavian’s victory over Antony is down largely to his ability to gain the support of the Roman people to launch a campaign, for this Octavian was careful not to use Antony as a target for Roman aggression, learning from Caesar not to make a mockery of defeated Romans. Octavian’s own character encouraged desertion among Antony’s troops. The mistrust of Oriental decadence and anger at Roman legions being commanded by Egyptians was intolerable. Octavian’s gaining of power from 44BC to 31BC was a very easy one. Despite numerous threats to himself, Octavian was always in a position to deal with them, his name and inheritance gave him a huge advantage from a young age, later his legions and authority in the capital would allow him to gently consolidate his power and authority over the Roman populace. Octavian’s gaining of power was above all else, fortunate. He always had the means at hand to increase his own power, and never faced a strong united enemy alone. The absolute failure of his enemies to consider him the threat he was is as much credit to his rise to power as his own personal ability to overcome difficulties. Octavian arose from a legacy of civil war, his absolute flexibility of character always ensured that the mob of Rome would support him, his prudent care of the military ensured his safety.