Augustus Caesars Foreign Policy Defensive imperialism or aggressive conquest Free Essay Example, 2500 words

Example of wars of conquest includes the war with King Philip the 5th of Macedonia, and King Antiochus the 3rd of Syria. To fully understand the foreign policies of Augustus Caesar, it is important to understand the manner in which he took power in Rome. To become the 1st Roman Empire, Augustus Caesar had to exterminate all his potential rivals, and this includes Mark Anthony, the Roman general who served under Julius Caesar. Augustus Caesar had to convince the senate to wage war against Egypt under the leadership of Cleopatra. This was a war against Mark Anthony, mainly because Egypt was under his protection (Morley, 24). This was the first war of conquest that Mark Anthony initiated, and the aim was to conquer Egypt and exterminate all his rivals to the throne of Rome. It is important to denote that Augustus was successful in this initiative, and he managed to take Egypt, and upon his coronation as an Emperor, he made Egypt his special province that was not governed by a Governor, but by a special prefect appointed by him. This prefect was directly answerable to Caesar, and thus ensuring his absolute control of Egypt. We will write a custom essay sample on Augustus Caesar's Foreign Policy: Defensive imperialism or aggressive conquest or any topic specifically for you Only $17.96 $11.86/pageorder now It is important to denote that Egypt was very special and important to Augustus, mainly because it had the treasures and resources that enabled him to pay his army. Barrett (462) explains that it was a rule that anytime the legions of Augustus Caesar conquered any place, these were able to invoke the name of his title, and called him the supreme commander. Through this law, Augustus Caesar wanted to be associated with every victory his soldiers were able to acquire. Roth (188) further explains that by the year 12 BC, Augustus Caesar managed to conquer at least 21 territories, and in all these territories, his armies proclaimed the title, supreme commander. Furthermore, Augustus was able to promote the concept that the ways of life of the Romans were superior when compared to other ways of life. Furthermore, the emperor believed that the Romans were given the task and duty of ruling the entire world (Wilkinson, 39). Fuhrmann (53) explains that Augustus believed that to rule the world, the Romans had to use strength. It is based on this philosophy that the armies of Augustus Caesar were encouraged and motivated to invade new areas that were not under the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire. Gibbon (53) explains that one of the major characteristics of a state that engages in an aggressive conquest is a tendency of developing policies aimed at making the citizens of the state under consideration as superior to the citizens of other states.