ABSTRACT
Augustus rejected the alternative that was bruited about, and which he allegedly desired: Romulus. It is in the most celebrated chapter in his Achievements that Augustus claims in his sixth and seventh consulships to have handed over the Res Publica from his power to the arbitrium of the Senate and People. Its kingly associations were discouraging, and so was the story, which Livy declared very obscure, of his being torn in pieces by a group of senators. Whether Octavian really thought of taking that name or not, the story shows that at the time it was realised that he intended to bring in a new constitution under his own supremacy. In any case, with his preferred designation Augustus even got his reference to Romulus, who according to the poet Ennius founded Rome Augusto augurio, with august augury. Augustus had the advantage of being fresh and above all open to a range of favourable interpretations.
