On the 16th of January, 27 BC, Gaius Octavius took on a new name: Augustus. In doing so, the young ruler (he was just 35 at the time) consolidated control of Rome and ushered in a new golden age of peace and prosperity — the 200 year period known as the Pax Romana.
But how did Rome’s first emperor establish and maintain peace after decades of civil war and bloodshed? Simply put, he learned from the mistakes of another great man: his great-uncle Julius Caesar.
While Caesar was betrayed and murdered by those to whom he showed clemency, Octavian Augustus succeeded in consolidating control, eliminating threats, and reigning over decades of relative stability. The key to his success lay in his mastery of one principle — to show mercy, you must first be ruthless.
Today, we explore why in desperate circumstances, harsh measures are often the prerequisite to clemency — and why you must be strict up front in order to be merciful later…
Caesar’s Fatal Flaw
Julius Caesar was renowned for his clemency. After his victories in the Roman civil war, he pardoned his former enemies, including Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus, even going so far as to grant them positions of influence. Caesar’s magnanimity was rooted in his vision of unifying Rome — but it proved to be a mistake.
The very men he spared, Brutus and Cassius, would go on to lead the conspiracy that ended his life on the Ides of March. Indeed, Caesar’s partial measures left his enemies alive, emboldened, and ultimately, capable of vengeance. The essence of his failure is captured in Machiavelli’s infamous advice:
“People should either be caressed or crushed. If you do them minor damage they will get their revenge; but if you cripple them there is nothing they can do.”
By pardoning the men who had publicly sided against him in the civil war before he had fully stabilized Rome, Caesar opened the door to hidden resentment, conspiracy, and betrayal. While well-intentioned, his clemency ultimately led to more bloodshed — both in his own murder, and in the turmoil of subsequent civil wars.
It was a lesson his heir, Octavian, would never forget…
Ruthless Rise to Power

When Octavian inherited Caesar’s legacy, he also inherited a fractured Rome. Peace rapidly disintegrated as power struggles raged between the Senate, Mark Antony, and other rivals. Octavian, just 19 years old at the time, knew survival would not be easy.
In the years following Caesar’s assassination, Octavian’s actions were cold and calculated — but also the direct product of living under a superpower that was rapidly collapsing into a failed state. During the proscriptions (a campaign of politically motivated property confiscation and executions) he eliminated enemies with brutal efficiency.
But for Octavian, this wasn’t mere bloodlust: it was strategy. Unlike Mark Antony, who allowed people to bribe their way off the lists, Octavian’s proscriptions were ideologically driven. For unlike his colleagues, his goal wasn’t simply to enrich himself, but to destroy the opposition completely.
His approach reflected an understanding of power his relative Julius Caesar lacked — namely, that half-measures invite resentment and retaliation, whereas total measures leave no room for rebellion. At the same time, he understood that clemency is only effective from a position of strength, and almost always backfires when offered from a position of weakness.
By eliminating threats decisively, Octavian secured his position — and set the stage for what was to come…
Peace Under the Empire
Once his position was unassailable, Octavian — now Augustus — pivoted in his approach to power. He implemented reforms that stabilized Rome’s economy, secured its borders, and reorganized its administration. He also set up systems of justice that would not be corrupted nearly as easily as they were under the Roman Republic.
For the average Roman citizen, day-to-day life under the Empire was (contrary to what Hollywood would have you believe) far preferable to life under the Republic. Octavian’s ruthlessness had achieved its purpose — with the constant civil war which had crippled the Republic finally at an end, he could now establish a system of governance that brought justice, peace, and prosperity to Roman citizens throughout the empire.
He could now also afford to be magnanimous. Whereas Julius Caesar showed mercy before fully consolidating his position, Octavian Augustus showed it after having done so — and he showed it in droves. In stark contrast to his early years, the emperor soon became known for his benevolence and clemency towards his enemies. Mercy was no longer a destabilizing point of weakness, but a tool to inspire loyalty and goodwill, and ease almost a century of tensions.
As Roman Emperor, Octavian definitively turned his back on his previously harsh ways. As his later reign showed, he never indulged violence for violence’s sake. Rather, he enjoyed showing mercy to his enemies. Indeed, the sources detail at length how Augustus would generally resort to punishment only if no recourse to mercy existed:
“He himself administered justice regularly and sometimes up to nightfall, having a litter placed upon the tribunal, if he was indisposed, or even lying down at home. In his administration of justice he was both highly conscientious and very lenient; for to save a man clearly guilty of parricide from being sown up in the sack, a punishment which was inflicted only on those who pleaded guilty, he is said to have put the question to him in this form: "You surely did not kill your father, did you?"
Again, in a case touching a forged will, in which all the signers were liable to punishment by the Cornelian Law, he distributed to the jury not merely the two tablets for condemnation or acquittal, but a third as well, for the pardon of those who were shown to have been induced to sign by misrepresentation or misunderstanding”
Suetonius, Life of the Divine Augustus, 33.1-2
But unlike his great-uncle, Augustus understood when such clemency was permissible, and when it was unwise. For as he learned through the great upheavals and bloodshed of the civil wars, mercy at the cost of peace is no mercy at all.
Takeaways
1) Authority Precedes Clemency
As many a schoolteacher knows, you must be strict with your students at the beginning of the year in order to be lenient with them later. Mercy is most effective (and appreciated) when delivered by an individual of unquestionable authority. Be strict upfront in order to establish stability and an environment in which your future generosity is appreciated.
2) Finish the Job
As the saying goes, “don’t start a fight unless you’re prepared to finish it.” Julius Caesar believed he had tied up loose ends, only for them to reemerge and be his undoing. Like Augustus, don’t let problems fester — address them head on and to conclusion.
3) Mercy Without Peace Isn’t Merciful
In an attempt to reconcile the factions of Rome to one another peacefully, Julius Caesar forgave his enemies — but “performative mercy” only resulted in more bloodshed and lives lost. Next time you’re faced with a dilemma, think twice about what “feels” good — is your act of generosity in the present truly merciful, or will it only lead to more chaos down the road?
Want to dive deeper?
James and I go live on X this Thursday at 9am ET to dive into the life of Imperator Caesar Augustus, the first Roman Emperor.
Click here to access the livestream — once it ends, the stream will be added to our Members-Only Video Archive for you to catch the replay.
Also on Thursday, our paid subscribers will receive a deep dive analysis of how Augustus brought Rome back from the brink of ruin — a perfect way to commemorate the anniversary of the senate declaring him Augustus 2,052 years ago.
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Ad finem fidelis,
-Evan