And although he did continue to style himself 'divi filius', son of the deified Caesar, he clearly avoided any form of worship to his own person as was the case in the eastern world, where rulers were themselves frequently worshipped as gods.
Most of all, Augustus appeared to appreciate that his personal standing and security benefitted from governing in the public interest. Augustus was no great military commander, but he possessed enough common sense to recognize that this was so. And so he relied on Agrippa to do his fighting for him. After Actium, Augustus only once took command of a campaign (the Cantabrian War of 26-25 BC) in Spain. But even there he eventually had to rely on one of his generals to bring war to a successful conclusion.
Though despite his lack of military skill, Augustus achieved large gains in territory as well as in the standing of Rome.
Most important was no doubt the conquest of Egypt in 30 BC. Then in 20 BC he recovered the legionary standards captured by the Parthians at the Battle of Carrhae in 53 BC simply by threatening Parthia with war. Also he made the Danube the frontier in the east of Europe, after his forces fought hard campaigns conquering the Alpine tribes and occupying the Balkans.
But his attempts at making the river Elbe the empire's northwestern frontier ended in the Varian disaster and it became clear to everyone that the Rhine was to be the future border. Under Augustus the army was thoroughly reorganized strengthened and posted away from Italy into the provinces. He also remodelled the civil service and substantially rebuilt some parts of Rome, even appointing 3'500 firemen under a chief fire officer. No-one could ever have foreseen the success of Augustus' reign. His long life only went to further create him and his family as the natural rulers in the eyes of the Roman people. Although to create a dynasty proved very difficult to Augustus.
At first he clearly understood his loyal friend Agrippa to be his obvious successor. And, when he believed himself to lay dying in 23 BC, it was indeed Agrippa he handed his signet ring to. As his marriage to Livia, accept for a premature birth, produced no children, his plans of inheritence therefore envolved his daughter Julia from his previous marriage to Scribonia.
Had Julia been married to Marcellus in 25 BC (the son of Augustus' sister Octavia), then Marcellus was also a potential heir. But Marcellus died soon after 23 BC.
So, with Agrippa his only possible successor, Augustus had his friend divorce his existing wife and marry the widowed Julia. Agrippa was 25 years older than his new wife, but their marriage brough fourth three sons and two daughters. Augustus adopted the sons Gaius and Lucius as his own.
Then in 12 BC Agrippa died.