Augustus gives up his permanent consulship soon after his bout of illness subsides.

The only other times Augustus will serve as consul will be in the years 5 and 2 BCE, both times to introduce his grandsons into public life.

Although he has resigned as consul, Augustus retains his consular imperium, leading to a second compromise between him and the Senate known as the Second Settlement.

Augustus is no longer in an official position to rule the state, yet his dominant position over the Roman provinces remains unchanged as he becomes a proconsul.

Earlier as a consul, he had the power to intervene, when he deemed necessary, with the affairs of provincial proconsuls appointed by the Senate.

As a proconsul Augustus does not want this authority of overriding provincial governors to be stripped from him, so imperium proconsulare maius, or "power over all the proconsuls" is granted to Augustus by the Senate.

Never referred to on the official coinage or in Augustus' political testament, it is intended to be exercised mainly in emergencies and on personal visits.

Scholars debate the existence of imperium maius and also argue that he was only granted imperium aequum, or power equal to that of the governors, but his supreme influence allows him to control the affairs of the provinces.

Augustus is also granted the power of a tribune (tribunicia potestas) for life, though not the official title of tribune.

Legally it is closed to patricians, a status that Augustus had acquired years ago when adopted by Julius Caesar.

This allows him to convene the Senate and people at will and lay business before it, veto the actions of either the Assembly or the Senate, preside over elections, and the right to speak first at any meeting.

Also included in Augustus' tribunician authority are powers usually reserved for the Roman censor; these include the right to supervise public morals and scrutinize laws to ensure they are in the public interest, as well as the ability to hold a census and determine the membership of the Senate.

With the powers of a censor, Augustus appeals to virtues of Roman patriotism by banning all other attire besides the classic toga while entering the Forum.

There is no precedent within the Roman system for combining the powers of the tribune and the censor into a single position, nor is Augustus ever elected to the office of censor.

Julius Caesar had been granted similar powers, wherein he was charged with supervising the morals of the state, however this position did not extend to the censor's ability to hold a census and determine the Senate's roster.

The office of a tribune, because of the ancient character of the annually elected tribunes of the people as defenders of the plebs, surrounds Augustus with a “democratic” aura.

This is, perhaps, more necessary because Augustus himself—while admittedly supporting the interests of poorer people by a great extension of the right of judicial appeal—tends to back the established classes as the keystone of his system.

The office of the tribune plebis had begun to lose its prestige due to Augustus' amassing of tribunal powers, so he revives its importance by making it a mandatory appointment for any plebeian desiring the praetorship.