It was a response to the Romans' fear of having a King, which is what provoked the assassination of Julius Caesar. In theory Augustus kept the Republican constitution, and as a senator and Consul he was merely 'first among equals', and not the King of Rome. He was called Princeps, which meant First Citizen not Prince, although you can easily see how it came to have the modern meaning.
He later took the title Pater Patriae 'Father of the the Nation' , which may have had more weight then than today since the head of a family had the power of life and death over his household. By retaining the military title of Imperator he made himself permanent Commander in Chief, he took permanent Tribunician powers, which were rather like US Presidential powers, and he later added the post of Pontifex Maximus, Chief Priest.
All in all he covered just about every base, familial, political, military and religious.
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