provinces under his command as his representatives to manage provincial affairs and ensure that his orders were carried out. The provinces not under Octavian's control were overseen by governors chosen by the Roman Senate. Octavian became the most powerful political figure in the city of Rome and in most of its provinces, but he did not have a monopoly on political and martial power. The Senate still controlled North Africa, an important regional producer of grain, as well as Illyria and Macedonia, two strategic regions with several legions. However, the Senate had control of only five or six legions distributed among three senatorial proconsuls, compared to the twenty legions under the control of Octavian, and their control of these regions did not amount to any political or military challenge to Octavian. The Senate's control over some of the Roman provinces helped maintain a republican façade for the autocratic principate. Also, Octavian's control of entire provinces followed republican-era precedents for the objective of securing peace and creating stability, in which such prominent Romans as Pompey had been granted similar military powers in times of crisis and instability. Change to Augustus On 16 January 27 BC the Senate gave Octavian the titles of augustus and princeps. Augustus is from the Latin word augere (meaning to increase) and can be translated as "the illustrious one". It was a title of religious authority rather than political authority. His name of Augustus was also more favorable than Romulus, the previous one which he styled for himself in reference to the story of the legendary founder of Rome, which symbolized a second founding of Rome. The title of Romulus was associated too strongly with notions of monarchy and kingship, an image that Octavian tried to avoid. The title princeps senatus originally meant the member of the Senate with the highest precedence, but in this case it became an almost regnal title for a leader who was first in charge. The name augustus was inherited by all future emperors, eventually becoming, at least in practice, the main title of the emperor. As a result, modern historians usually regard this event as the beginning of Augustus' reign as "emperor". Augustus also styled himself as Imperator Caesar divi filius, "Commander Caesar son of the deified one". With this title, he boasted his familial link to deified Julius Caesar, and the use of imperator signified a permanent link to the