Res Gestae 34.3 (‘auctoritate omnibus praestiti’) is conventionally taken to reflect Augustus' conception of the fundamental nature of his rule, and a great deal of attention has consequently been given to the word auctoritas. But no other source repeats this idea or gives weight to auctoritas. The passage is best understood as alluding to a specific event, probably Octavian's becoming princeps senatus in 28 b.c.