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40And this was but fitting; for who would not choose to be safe without trouble, to be prosperous without danger, to enjoy without stint the blessings of government while escaping the life of constant anxiety for its maintenance?
“Who was there that could rule better than Augustus even his own house, to say nothing of so many other human beings? 2He it was who undertook as his own task to guard and preserve the provinces that were troublesome and at war, restoring to you such as were peaceful and free from danger; and though he supported so vast a number of soldiers as a permanent force to fight in your behalf, he permitted them to annoy no Roman citizen, but made them most formidable protectors against alien races while being to the people at home unarmed and unwarlike.
3“Furthermore, as regards the members of the senate, he did not take away from them the right to cast lots for the governorship of provinces, but even offered them additional prizes as a reward for excellence; nor in connection with the senate’s decrees did he do away with their privilege of voting, but even added safeguards for their freedom of speech. 4From the people he transferred matters difficult of decision to the strict jurisdiction of the courts, but preserved to them the dignity of the elections; and at these elections he inculcated in the citizens the love of honour rather than the love of party strife, and eliminating the element of greed from their office-seeking, he put in its place the regard for reputation. His own wealth, which he enhanced by sober living, he spent for the public needs; with the public funds he was as careful as if they were his own, but would not touch them as belonging to others. 5He repaired all the public works that had suffered injury, but deprived none of the original builders of the glory of their founding. He also erected many new buildings, some in his own name and some in others’, or else permitted these others to erect them, constantly having an eye to the public good, but grudging no one the private fame attaching to these services.
6“Wantonness on the part of his next of kin he followed up relentlessly, but the offences of others he treated with human kindness. Those who had traits of excellence he ungrudgingly allowed to approach his own standard, but he did not try to censor those whose standards of life were different. 7In fact, even in the case of such as conspired against him, he punished only those whose lives would have been of no profit even to themselves, while he treated the rest in such a way that for years afterward they could find no pretext true or false for attacking him. That he was, indeed, conspired against at times is not surprising, for even the gods do not please all alike; but the excellence of good rulers is discerned, not in the villainies of others, but in their own good deeds.
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