Page "Roman emperor" Paragraph 20

In 27 BC, Octavian appeared before the Senate and offered to retire from active politics and government ; the Senate not only requested he remain, but increased his powers and made them lifelong, awarding him the title of Augustus ( the elevated or divine one, somewhat less than a god but approaching divinity ).

Octavian stayed in office until his death ; the sheer breadth of his superior powers as princeps and permanent imperator of Rome's armies guaranteed the peaceful continuation of what nominally remained a republic.

His " restoration " of powers to the Senate and the people of Rome was a demonstration of his auctoritas and pious respect for tradition.