Julius Caesar remains one of the best generals and propagandists in history. However, Caesar's reign ended only a few years after it began with his assassination. In contrast, his inexperienced nephew, Augustus, succeeded where Caesar failed, establishing his long and successful rule over Rome. While Augustus' comparative success might appear to be the result of historical contingencies, closer examination reveals that Augustus was a far more astute politician than Caesar. Specifically, Augustus dealt with his enemies more effectively than Caesar and at the same time presented his assumption of absolute power as consistent with, rather than in opposition to, both the laws and values ​​of the Republic. Julius Caesar played the game of Roman politics well. After Caesar named Augustus his heir to the throne, he was denied everything except the name Caesar. However, Augustus accepts the name Caesar and then sets out to destroy all who were enemies of his adoption. Augustus took out huge loans from the bank, donating the money to the citizens of Rome, gaining favor. Then he turned his attention to his father's enemies. He did this by cleverly attacking the Senate for killing Caesar and blaming Antony for not doing enough. Antony subsequently flees Rome and Augustus is elected consul by a terrified senate. "At the age of nineteen, on my own initiative and at my own expense, I raised an army to restore freedom to the republic." (Res Gestae Divi Augusti). Augustus and Antony clash, but resolve their differences when the Treaty of Brundisum is negotiated. Augustus promises his sister Octavia to Caesar to strengthen the pact. This already shows how good a leader Augustus was, the citizens of Rome favored him, the senate was beginning to fear him and he had avoided a complete civil war. The next step for Augustus was to eliminate the men who had conspired to kill Caesar. Antony and Augustus united their legions and quickly killed Brutus and Cassius. Now, unlike Caesar before him, Augustus recognized that he had a number of enemies in the Senate, Augustus proscribed members of the Senate and eliminated all of his enemies from the Senate. Augustus then offered clemency, appearing merciful but knowing that there were no more enemies in the Senate. Augustus then cleverly devised to make the assonability much more difficult, the praetorian guard. The Praetorian Guard was effectively a small army of a thousand men, loyal only to the Emperor. Augustus also appeared as a great peacemaker. When