The second method, while not as easy and foolproof as the first, would be Octavian's best chance for power and a long life. Octavian was also lucky that at the time, Romans were in dire need of peace. There had been civil war and constant fighting for one hundred years, and they wanted it to end. This worked to Octavian's favor, because to kill him would be opening the position to more power-hungry politicians and generals. Octavian wisely chose the better of the two proposals; he would keep his power by giving it up.
Octavian, taking the advice of his advisors Agrippa and Maecenas, called the Senate together in 27 BCE. He had already shared the consulship with Agrippa for the past three years, which was illegal in the laws of the Republic. He was not the first to serve back to back terms as consul, so the Senate assumed that he was assuming this position for life. He shocked them by offering to restore Rome to its true form, a Republic. Octavian would give the Senate their power back that they had lost over the years. He now looked like a man out for the best interests of Rome. If he had publicly stated that he was taking control of Rome, he would have been chastised for it. Octavian gambled by offering to give up his power, and he won. In the Senate, even though not every member was a supporter of Octavian, they could not deny that the past two years had been the most peaceful in a century. Those two years promised something not worth passing on, regardless of one's feelings for Octavian. After the Senate refused to let him resign, Octavian proposed a new plan. This system called for a government where the Senate and himself would share the power. Any ill feelings that the Senate had towards Octavian were gone for the time being. They were so pleased by this turn of events that they granted him a new title a few months later: Imperator.
The Imperator of Rome was not a new title; it was given to generals after victories (Octavian had held it twenty-one times himself).
