Wars of Augustus The wars of Augustus are the military campaigns undertaken by the Roman government during the sole rule of the founder - emperor Augustus ( 30 BC - AD 14 ) . This was a period of 45 years when almost every year saw major campaigning , in some cases on a scale comparable to the Second Punic War ( 218 - 201 BC ) , when Roman manpower resources were stretched to the limit . The result of these wars was a major expansion of the empire that Augustus inherited from the Roman Republic , although in one case , the German Wars , there was little end - result to show for the enormous deployment of resources involved . Overview . In 29 BC , the Roman Senate ordered the closure of the doors to the Temple of Janus in the Roman Forum for the first time in over 200 years . Signifying that the Roman state was no longer at war , this act reportedly pleased Augustus , then in his 5th Consulship , more than all the other honours showered on him . But the closure could not have been less appropriate . As Dio himself points out , there were ongoing major operations against the Treveri in Gaul , and the Cantabri and Astures in Spain . Furthermore , the closure inaugurated nearly half a century of virtually incessant warfare , as a result of which the Roman Empire assumed the borders it would hold , with a few modifications , for its entire history . Chronology . 30 BC . GAUL : The Morini and Treveri tribes of Gallia Comata province ( Pas - de - Calais region of NE France ) , rebel against Roman rule and the Suebi Germans cross the Rhine to give them support . But the Morini are defeated by the proconsul ( governor ) of Gaul , Gaius Carrinas , who goes on to drive out the Suebi , for which he is awarded a joint Triumph with Augustus in 29 BC . EGYPT : The " praefectus Aegypti " ( governor of Egypt ) Gaius Cornelius Gallus quells two local revolts in Heroonpolis in the Nile delta and in the Thebaid . Subsequently , he leads a Roman army South of the First Cataract of the Nile for the first time . He establishes a puppet - state called " Triacontaschoenos " under a local petty king to act as a buffer - zone between Egypt and Aethiopia ( i . e . the kingdom of Aksum ) , as well as a loose protectorate over Aethiopia itself . Despite his success , Gallus incurs Augustus ' displeasure by erecting monuments to himself and is recalled to Rome , tried by the Senate and convicted of various unspecified charges and banished . 29 BC . GAUL : The Treveri revolt is quelled by the new proconsul of Gaul , C . Nonius Gallus , who is rewarded with the title of " imperator " ( " supreme commander " ) . LOWER DANUBE : The proconsul of Macedonia , M . Licinius Crassus , grandson of Crassus the triumvir , launches the conquest of Moesia . He chases an army of Bastarnae , which was raiding a Roman allied tribe , back over the Haemus ( Balkan ) mountains but fails to bring them to battle . He then marches against a major fortress held by the Moesi people . Although his vanguard is routed by a Moesi sortie , Crassus succeeds in taking the stronghold . After that , he intercepts and routs the Bastarnae host near the " Ciabrus " river ( Tsibritsa , Bulgaria ) , personally killing its leader in combat . Those Bastarnae who escape across the Danube river , and entrench themselves in a natural strongpoint , he dislodges with the assistance of the local king of the Getae . Crassus then turns his attention to the Moesi again . After a long and arduous campaign , he forces the submission of the great majority of Moesi . 26 BC . SPAIN : Augustus takes personal command of the campaign against the Cantabri . EGYPT : Responding to a directive from Augustus , the " praefectus Aegypti " , Aelius Gallus ( no relation to his predecessor , Cornelius Gallus ) leads an expedition across the Red Sea against the Sabaeans of Arabia Felix ( mod . Yemen ) . The key attraction was that this region produced aromatic substances such as frankincense and myrrh , which were greatly prized in Rome . In addition , occupation of Sabaea would give the Romans control of both sides of the entrance to the Red Sea , the Bab - el - Mandeb strait , since Cornelius Gallus had established a garrison at Arsinoe ( near Assab , Eritrea ) on the Ethiopian shore . The expedition consists of 10 , 000 troops including allies , and 130 freight - ships . Gallus was counting on the assistance of the Nabataean Arabs of NW Arabia , whose king Obodas was a Roman ally and contributed 1 , 000 warriors under his chief secretary , Syllaeus . But the latter allegedly sabotaged the mission throughout with poor advice . The force sails by ship from " Clysma " ( Suez , Egypt ) to " Leuke Come " ( prob . Sharmah , Hijaz , NW Saudi Arabia ) but suffers big losses to storms in transit , so that on arrival , Gallus is forced to spend the rest of the year at Leuke Come to give his men a chance to recuperate and to effect repairs to his fleet . 25 BC . SPAIN : Augustus , although in nominal command of the campaign against the Astures and Callaeci , is incapacitated by illness . The campaign is brought to a successful conclusion , with the last rebels crushed , by the governors of Hispania Citerior and Ulterior , respectively Gaius Antistius Vetus and Publius Carisius . ALPS : Augustus despatches an army under Aulus Terentius Varro Murena against the Salassi tribe of the Val d ' Aosta region of the northwestern Alps . The latter controlled the Great St Bernard pass , the shortest route between Italy and the Upper Rhine region .