"We are doing what the Roman Empire did right before it Collapsed"

[happyslug]

112. Actually he was an "Impertor", which was what a successful General was called in the Republic

The English term Emperor is just a corruption of the Latin Term Impertor. Thus Julius Caesar was AN EMPEROR. In fact so was Augustus, who held many titles including "Pontifex Maximus" "Tribune of the people" another, "First Senator" a third, and finally a Proconsul. Under the Republic and the Empire, every Legion had to be under the command of a Consul or former Consul.

The title of Impertor, derived from Imperium, which was "The power to command". The Imperium was the ability to order people do due what the holder of the Imperium wanted done, and such orders had to be obeyed UNLESS you held a superior Imperium OR were a Tribune. Thus the Emperor held command over anyone below him in command BUT not his equal or his superiors AND not the Tribunes. Imperium was an absolute power, but restricted by who held the Imperium and over what territory. An Imperium tied in with the Army (An Imperium Pro-consulship) meant absolute command over the Army AND the area the Army was operating or stationed in. This is what Julius Caesar and Augustus wanted, the Imperium over the Legions AND BOTH HAD IT.

More on what is an "Imperium":
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Imperium

Both Caesar and Augustus also had held the title of "Dictator", which was a temporary absolute ruler of Rome during times of Crisis. A person could only be a Dictator for Six months till Sulla had himself made Dictator for life in 81 BC. Due to Sulla's abuse of the power of Dictator it had become a title of tyranny, so both Julius Caesar and Augustus thought it was better to give up that title then retain it.

The next most important position for Julius Caesar And Augustus was the Pontifex Maximus, chief priest of Rome. The Chief Priest controlled the highways, the bridges AND the communication system of the Rome State (i.e. how do you get the people to know what the State wants them to do, today it is done by newspapers, Televisions, Radio and the net, but prior to about 1850 it was done by the Church and prior to 376 the various pagan priests that reported to the Pontifex Maximus. In many ways due to the Catholic Church wanting EVERYONE to attend a church every Sunday appears to be the Reason Constantine embraced Christianity, it did a better job then the Pagan Priests at both getting messages to the peasants AND from the peasants. The Pagan Priest's temples tended to be quite small, limited to just the priests who took the sacrifices of the people from outside the temple into the temple to sacrifice. The Christian Church of having everyone INSIDE the Church made it easier for the Christian priests to reach more people quicker then the old Pagan Priests who had to talk to the people directly OUTSIDE of their temple IF they were willing to talk to the people).

The third most important was the position of Consul or Proconsul (Someone who had been a Consul in the past) over every legion, Julius Caesar did NOT quite have this power, his legions each had their own Proconsul, but Augustus made himself the Proconsul of every legion, and the legionary actual commander was his Lieutenant (Legate of the Emperor, The Emperor was the Proconsul of the Legion, The Legate was just the Emperor's agent in command of the Legion).

The Fourth most important power was that of the Tribune, the Tribune could convent the Senate AND the People's assembly. They could also veto anything passed by the Senate. As a patrician Augustus could NOT be the Tribune, but he had the People's Assembly given him the POWER of the Tribune, which is all he really wanted, the ability to veto anything the Senate passed.

The Fifth power was that of First Senator, prior to Augustus this had been an elected position, but a position generally held by the eldest Senator. Augustus made sure he was elected First Senator. The First Senator controlled the Agenda of the Senate, thus Augustus controlled the Senate.

Given that all the Judges of the Roman Republic were elected by the Senate from among themselves, the power of First Senator AND the Power of the Tribune, meant Augustus could prevent anyone he did NOT want into the Senate AND with the Veto power prevent the Senate from picking anyone to any Judaical, Executive, military position or other position that Augustus did NOT want (This included naming the Proconsul and Legates to the Legions).

More on the Position of Pontifex Maximus:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pontifex_Maximus

More on the Tribune:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tribune

Thus Julius Caesar was an Emperor, as had been Sulla and Sulla's rival (and Julius Caesar's uncle) Marius.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gaius_Marius

Please note, no one called Augustus and his successor "Emperor" or "Impertor" till Diocletian. Diocletian decided he needed a title as fancy as the Persians' King of Kings title and found the traditional term "Impertor" convenient. The term seems to have been used as to the Emperors since Augustus, but it was NOT a formal title, it was a Declaration by the Troops that they would follow the Orders of whoever they declared to be Emperor since he had one at least one victory. Please also note, by the time of Diocletian no leader of a Roman Legion dare have his troops declare him Impertor without Imperial permission UNLESS he wanted to go to war with the ruling Emperor. Thus by the time of Diocletian, Impertor had become a term restricted to the Emperor, unlike its earlier use for any successful general.

In fact not till Charlemagne did not any BUT the Roman and later Eastern Roman Empire ever used the Term Emperor. Charlemagne called himself "Emperor of the Franks" something the Eastern Empire refuse to accept (Through within 20 years the Eastern Emperor was using the Title "Roman Emperor" instead of just "Emperor", the later had been the norm since the days of Augustus 800 years before).