Thus, he could easily be elected as consuls for thirty-seven consecutive years during the time when he also had the tribunician power (Tacitus Annals ex. 4). By having so much power, perhaps Augustus possibly wanted to give the impression of how competent and dominant he was, to be able to hold so many positions at a very young age. It also could be considered that he wanted to take full control of the system and diverted the policy using his power for his own benefit. For instance, he did pursuit of Brutus and Cassius but now, with his triumvir position, it gave legality to his action (Ramage 1987, p.33). .
Secondly, Augustus wanted to show the depiction of himself being a merciful leader, but there are also disputes of his picture in terms of giving mercy. As indicated by Res Gestae, Augustus claimed that for them who sought mercy from him, he would spare their life. It implied that he did not imprison or kill people from the country that he conquered. Augustus even let the slaves returned to their home right after their services were done (Augustus Achievements ex. 3) and he returned 10.000 slaves for punishment after Pompey's defeat (Ramage 1987, p. 35). Augustus even gave them land and money as rewards for their military services (Augustus Achievements ex. 3). In contrast, Suetonius, a Roman historian (Suetonius Lives ex. 1, 2, 3, 4), explained that Augustus had shown no mercy to his enemies and foreign citizens. He refused their surrender as he also rejected clemency for prisoners. He forced them to die even when they had begged for pardon. Suetonius claimed that Augustus chose 300 prisoners to die as human sacrifices. He sent Marcus Anthony, his former comrade, to his death by telling him to commit suicide after defeating him. Even though Augustus claimed that he had returned 10.000 slaves, he never mentioned about him crucifying 6.000 others (Ramage 1987, p. 35). Hence, Augustus might not a merciful emperor.