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Augustus
First emperor (r. 27 BCE–14 CE)
- 63 BCE – 14 CE
- Roman Empire · 2 of 10
Hall of the Roman Empire
First emperor (r. 27 BCE–14 CE)
Fetching the article from Wikipedia…
Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian (Latin: Octavianus), was the founder of the Roman Empire and the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult and an era of imperial peace (the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta) when the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The principate, a style of government in which the emperor showed nominal deference to the Senate, was established during his reign and lasted until the Crisis of the Third Century.
Octavian was born into an equestrian branch of the gens Octavia. Octavian's great-uncle, the Roman dictator Julius Caesar, named him as his primary heir in his will, and after Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, Octavian inherited his estate and assumed his name. He fought for the loyalty of Caesar's legions. He was made a senator during a state emergency and seized power by marching on Rome in 43 BC, becoming its youngest elected consul. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed a triumvirate regime with legally sanctioned powers to outlaw and oppose Caesar's assassins and their allies. Following their victory at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BC, the triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as de facto oligarchs. Competing ambitions eventually tore their alliance apart; Octavian had Lepidus exiled in 36 BC for opposing him in Sicily, while Marcus Agrippa, Octavian's naval commander, defeated Antony in Greece at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Antony and his wife Cleopatra, the Ptolemaic queen of Egypt, killed themselves during Octavian's invasion of Egypt, which then became Octavian's personal property.
After the demise of the triumvirate, Augustus reached an accord with the remaining Roman elite: he would restore the façade of a free republic, centered around the Senate, the executive magistrates and the legislative assemblies. But his control of the military and of half of Rome's provinces meant he maintained autocratic power legitimized by his appointment as commander-in-chief of most Roman armies. To avoid the appearance of monarchy or dictatorship, he eventually refused to stand for reelection to the consulship, but the Senate granted him the powers of the tribunate and censorship and the titles princeps ('first citizen'), augustus ('the revered'), and pater patriae (lit. 'father of the country'), and named the month of August after him. After the death of Lepidus, Augustus also assumed the title of pontifex maximus ('supreme pontiff').
Augustus dramatically enlarged the Empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia, Pannonia, Noricum, and Raetia, expanding possessions in Africa, and completing the conquest of Hispania. His expansionism, however, suffered a major setback in Germania. Beyond the frontiers, he secured the empire with a buffer region of client states and negotiated peace treaties with the Parthian Empire and Kingdom of Kush. He reformed the Roman system of taxation and currency, developed networks of roads with an official courier system, established a standing professional army, established the Praetorian Guard as well as official police and fire-fighting services for the city of Rome, and renovated much of the city during his reign. Augustus was a writer and patron of poets such as Virgil, and has been featured in various works of art from ancient to modern times. He died in AD 14 at age 75 from natural causes, and the Senate posthumously deified him. Persistent rumors have claimed his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as emperor by his stepson and adoptive son Tiberius.
Augustus ( aw-GUST-əs) was known by many names throughout his life:
Octavian was born Gaius Octavius in Rome on 23 September 63 BC, at a family property on the Palatine Hill. His father, Gaius Octavius, came from a moderately wealthy equestrian family of the gens Octavia. He ascended the cursus honorum and served as a proconsular governor of Macedonia. His family was from Velitrae, near Rome, where his son spent part of his childhood. The younger Octavius's mother, Atia, was a niece of Julius Caesar.
After Octavius's father died in 59 BC or 58 BC, his mother married Lucius Marcius Philippus, who was elected as consul in 56 BC. When Octavius's grandmother Julia, sister of Julius Caesar, died in 52 or 51 BC, Octavius delivered her funeral oration, his first public appearance. A Greek slave tutor named Sphaerus educated him in reading, writing, arithmetic, and Greek. Octavius later freed Sphaerus and gave him a state funeral in 40 BC. As a teenager, he studied philosophy under Areios of Alexandria and Athenodorus of Tarsus, Latin rhetoric under Marcus Epidius, and Greek rhetoric under Apollodorus of Pergamon.
Julius Caesar had formed an informal alliance with Pompey and Crassus in 60 BC, but by 49 BC it had fallen apart and Pompey and Caesar were fighting a protracted civil war. In 47 BC, after Octavius donned the toga virilis and became an adult citizen, Caesar had him elected as pontiff, replacing the slain Lucius Ahenobarbus. The following year, Octavius presided over the Greek games commemorating the opening of Caesar's Temple of Venus Genetrix. He wished to join Caesar's staff for the African campaign but gave way when his mother Atia protested over his poor health, although afterward Caesar allowed Octavius to proceed next to his chariot during his triumph and awarded Octavius with military decorations as if he had been present. In 45 BC Octavius traveled to Hispania to join Caesar's Spanish campaign against Pompey the Younger. On 13 September 45 BC Caesar deposited a new will with the Vestal Virgins naming Octavius as his principal heir.
In 44 BC, Octavius was at Apollonia, Illyria, when Julius Caesar was made Rome's first dictator perpetuo ('dictator in perpetuity') in February, and then assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March). Octavius consulted Caesar's officers in Macedonia before sailing for Italy to ascertain his political fortunes. Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law. His will made Octavius his main heir with the condition that he assume Caesar's name. After landing near Brundisium in southern Italy, Octavius received a copy of the will, which bequeathed him three-quarters of Caesar's estate. Against the advice of his stepfather Philippus, Octavius accepted Caesar's will on 8 May 44 BC. He purported that Caesar adopted him as his son and assumed the name Gaius Julius Caesar. His stepfather, Cicero, and other contemporaries referred to him as Octavianus.
Octavian lacked adequate funds to establish a political career. After a warm welcome by Caesar's soldiers at Brundisium, he demanded a portion of the funds allotted by Caesar for his eastern war against the Parthians. This amounted to 700 million sesterces stored at Brundisium, the staging ground in Italy for military operations in the east. Octavian made another bold move when, without official permission, he appropriated the annual tribute from Rome's province of Asia to Italy. He also began to recruit Caesar's veterans and men designated for the Parthian war. On his march to Rome, Octavian's presence and new wealth won over the veterans and others. By June, he had gathered an army of 3,000 men, paying each a bonus of 500 denarii, which was more than twice a soldier's annual pay.
Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BC, Octavian found consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in an uneasy truce with Caesar's assassins. A general amnesty on 17 March pardoned the assassins in exchange for recognition of Caesar's legal acts. Soon afterwards, Antony succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome with an inflammatory eulogy at Caesar's funeral, mounting public opinion against the assassins.
Mark Antony amassed political support, but had lost the support of many Romans and Caesarians when he opposed the motion to elevate Caesar to divine status. Octavian challenged him as the leader of the Caesarians. Antony withheld Octavian's inheritance from Caesar to halt him from granting the 300 sesterces per capita to the urban plebs stipulated in Caesar's will, He also blocked the curiate assembly from hearing Octavian's attempts to legitimize his supposed adoption by Caesar, to have Caesar formally deified and to reinstate Caesar's golden throne for public view at games staged in April and June. During Caesar's victory games, Octavian distributed some of the funds in Caesar's will and combined this with his own money, enhancing his popularity while damaging Antony's.
During the summer of 44 BC, more veterans and also senators began to support Octavian, viewing Antony as a threat to the state. Antony had lictors drag Octavian away from a hearing over the reinstatement of private property seized by Caesar in 49 BC. Octavian then claimed Antony threatened his life as retribution for distributing money to the plebs in Caesar's will. Caesar's veterans convinced Antony to publicly reconcile with Octavian in the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus. Thereafter, Antony's bellicose edicts against the assassins Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus alienated him from the moderate Caesarian senators, who feared a renewed civil war. In September, Marcus Tullius Cicero, now a political ally of Octavian, began to give a series of speeches portraying Antony as a threat to the Republic.
With opinion in Rome turning against him and his consulship concluding, Antony illegally took control of the province of Cisalpine Gaul in northern Italy. Octavian meanwhile built up a private army in Italy by recruiting Caesarian veterans, and in early November entered Rome with this private force to challenge Antony. However, they left Rome shortly afterwards, as some veterans refused to involve themselves in a Caesarian squabble rather than a revenge campaign against Caesar's assassins. Nevertheless, on 28 November, Octavian won over two of Antony's legions with the enticing offer of monetary gain. Antony then left Rome for Cisalpine Gaul, which was to be handed to him on 1 January 43 BC. However, the province had earlier been assigned to the assassin Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus, who now refused to yield to Antony. Antony besieged him at Mutina. This provided an opportunity for Octavian, whose private army was at hand.
Cicero defended Octavian against Antony's taunts, and had him inducted as a senator on 1 January 43 BC. Octavian was given the power to vote alongside the former consuls, the privilege to stand for election at an earlier age than usual, and imperium pro praetore which legitimized his command. Octavian accompanied the consuls to relieve the siege of Mutina. He assumed the fasces on 7 January, a date that he would later commemorate as the beginning of his public career. Antony retreated to Transalpine Gaul after his forces were defeated at the battles of Forum Gallorum and Mutina in April. Both consuls were killed, however, leaving Octavian in sole command of their armies. These victories earned him his first acclamation as imperator, a victorious commander.
Largely ignoring Octavian, the Senate heaped many rewards on Decimus Brutus and attempted to give him command of the consular legions. In response, Octavian stayed in the Po Valley and refused to pursue Antony. In July, an embassy of centurions sent by Octavian entered Rome; they demanded the now-vacant consulship for Octavian, with Cicero as co-consul, and the rescission of the decree declaring Antony a public enemy. When this was refused, Octavian marched on Rome, where he encountered no military opposition. On 19 August 43 BC, aged 19, he became consul alongside his relative Quintus Pedius. Pedius passed legislation creating a special tribunal for Caesar's assassins and their alleged associates; Octavian presided over the trial and had them convicted and exiled in absentia. Octavian also induced the curiate assembly to have him adrogated into Caesar's family, legitimizing his claim of testamentary adoption. Meanwhile, Antony formed an alliance with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, then governor of Gallia Narbonensis. The Senate branded Lepidus, a fellow Caesarian, as a public enemy for joining Antony, but they reversed the pair's outlawing at Pedius's behest while Octavian marched north to fight Decimus Brutus and meet with Antony.
In a meeting near Bononia in October 43 BC, Octavian joined with Antony and Lepidus to form the triumvirate, ostensibly for the stability of the Roman Republic, and on 27 November the lex Titia legitimized their agreement for five years. The triumvirate gave the men consular power, the right to appoint magistrates, and allowed their division among themselves of the provinces not controlled by the liberatores in the east. Octavian had previously been engaged to Servilia, daughter of Servilius Isauricus, but instead became engaged to Antony's stepdaughter Claudia to solidify their political union. Octavian also relinquished the consulship to Antony's ally Publius Ventidius.
The triumvirs then introduced proscriptions outlawing some 300 men, divided roughly evenly between senators and equestrians. Thousands more had their properties confiscated. Contemporary Roman historians disagree about which triumvir was most responsible for the proscriptions and killing, but agree that all three used them to eliminate political enemies.
The triumvirs used the proscriptions partly to finance their campaign against Caesar's assassins Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius, but mainly to eliminate wartime rivals. However much money the triumvirs obtained from the proscripts was insufficient, so they introduced various new taxes to fund their war. They reinstituted property taxes and created new imposts on slaves, before also demanding property assessments for taxes on rich women that were reduced after a public protest of women in Rome.
Text from the Wikipedia article “Augustus”, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.