Introduction to Caesar Augustus

Caesar Augustus, born Gaius Octavius on September 23, 63 BC, was a member of the equestrian class and later became the first emperor of Rome. His life was closely tied to the politics of Rome in the 1st century BC, a volatile period in the Roman Republic’s history.

Rise to Power

Octavian’s early years were marked by turmoil in Rome, and he was sent to his ancestral lands at Veletri. After his father’s death in 59 BC, his mother remarried, but Octavian was placed in the care of his grandmother Julia, whose brother Gaius Julius Caesar played a significant role in his life and ascent to becoming Emperor of Rome.

• Octavian grew closer to his great-uncle Caesar and navigated Roman politics, becoming a pontiff at 15 and playing a significant role in 46 BC.
• He joined his great uncle on campaigns in Hispania in 46 BC and made a major impression on Caesar, who adopted him and made him his principal heir.
• After Caesar’s assassination in 44 BC, Octavian headed to Rome, where he learned of Caesar’s death and discovered he was the primary beneficiary of Caesar’s estate and adopted as his successor.

Establishment of the Roman Empire

The Roman Republic ended in 27 BC, marking the beginning of the Roman Empire, which lasted nearly 500 years. Augustus, having established supreme authority, expanded the empire’s borders, and early conquests included the annexation of Egypt and the conversion of the Kingdom of Galatia into a Roman province.

• Augustus tightened control over client kingdoms, such as the Herodian kingdom of Judea, and secured a diplomatic success with the Parthian Empire, retrieving lost battle standards.
• He introduced reforms to the tax system, creating a stable source of revenue through taxation of land and trade, and initiated improvements to the empire’s administration.
• Augustus also initiated a massive road building system with relay stations to deliver information quickly to and from Rome.

Cultural and Literary Achievements

Rome’s literary scene flourished under Augustus’s reign, with poets like Virgil creating iconic works such as the Aeneid, which told the story of Rome’s mythical founding by Aeneas. Many poets were supported by Gaius Maecenas, Augustus’s unofficial minister of culture.

• Augustus played a considerable role in the development of Latin literature, and his reign is considered a golden age of Roman culture.
• He constructed numerous monumental buildings, including the Forum of Augustus, the Temple to Mars, and the Mausoleum of Augustus, which became the resting place for the emperor’s family and subsequent emperors.
• Vitruvius, an engineer and architect, wrote “De Architectura”, a major work on Roman architecture, during Augustus’s reign, which remained influential until the 18th century.

Personal Life and Succession

Octavian, later Augustus, formed alliances through marriages, first to Scribonia, with whom he had a daughter, Julia, but divorced her the day she gave birth. He then married Livia, who was previously married to Tiberius Claudius Nero, after she obtained a divorce, and they remained married for 50 years until Augustus’s death.

• Augustus’s marriage to Livia did not produce any children, despite both having children from previous marriages.
• The issue of succession was unclear, and Augustus considered various heirs, initially favoring Marcus Agrippa, his trusted general, who was betrothed to Augustus’s daughter Julia and had five children with her.
• After Agrippa’s death in 12 BC, Augustus groomed his grandchildren, Gaius and Lucius Caesar, as potential heirs, but they died under mysterious circumstances.

Legacy

Caesar Augustus’s legacy is open to opposing interpretations, with some viewing him as responsible for the deaths of tens or hundreds of thousands in conflicts he initiated, while others see him as a leader who brought an end to decades of civil war within the Roman Republic, ushering in a period of stability, social reforms, and cultural flourishing.

• Augustus consolidated the Roman Empire by establishing defensible geographic areas, bringing stability after a century and a half of chaotic expansion, and bequeathing a more stable situation to his successors.
• He created a period of unprecedented peace, stability, and prosperity, known as the Pax Romana, which lasted for nearly two centuries.
• Augustus’s reign as the first emperor of Rome was followed by several poorer ones, including those of his direct successor Tiberius, who was an aloof and poor ruler, and Caligula, who was deemed a mad tyrant.