be little ground to expect, that he should voluntarily relinquish the
prize for which he had spilt the best blood of Rome, and contended for so
many years. Ever since the final defeat of Antony in the battle of
Actium, he had governed the Roman state with uncontrolled authority; and
though there is in the nature of unlimited power an intoxicating quality,
injurious both to public and private virtue, yet all history contradicts
the supposition of its being endued with any which is unpalatable to the
general taste of mankind.

There were two chief motives by which Augustus would naturally be
influenced in a deliberation on this important subject; namely, the love
of power, and the personal danger which (150) he might incur from
relinquishing it. Either of these motives might have been a sufficient
inducement for retaining his authority; but when they both concurred, as
they seem to have done upon this occasion, their united force was
irresistible. The argument, so far as relates to the love of power,
rests upon a ground, concerning the solidity of which, little doubt can
be entertained: but it may be proper to inquire, in a few words, into the
foundation of that personal danger which he dreaded to incur, on
returning to the station of a private citizen.

Augustus, as has been already observed, had formerly sided with the party
which had attempted to restore public liberty after the death of Julius
Caesar: but he afterwards abandoned the popular cause, and joined in the
ambitious plans of Antony and Lepidus to usurp amongst themselves the
entire dominion of the state. By this change of conduct, he turned his
arms against the supporters of a form of government which he had
virtually recognized as the legal constitution of Rome; and it involved a
direct implication of treason against the sacred representatives of that
government, the consuls, formally and duly elected. Upon such a charge