"The rise of Octavian owed more to luck, and the mistakes of his enemies, rather than his own political abilities. Discuss."

... "The rise of Octavian owed more to luck, and the mistakes of his enemies, rather than his own political abilities. Discuss." Octavian's famous claim that he 'found Rome a brick and left it as marble1' is by no means unfounded. It is true that under his reign, Rome grew steadily towards peace and prosperity unlike ever before. But was his eventual ascension to leadership brought about by his own political abilities, or was it more to do with the mistakes of his enemies? Octavian has always maintained the mantle of being 'delicate in health2' to some affect and in his youth he was said to have 'scarcely recovered from a dangerous sickness3', and it has been rightfully said that he was not known for 'grand feats of arms4,' but it seems very hard to deny that he was, in his own right, a masterful statesman. Of course, when he inherited three-quarters

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