Caesar Augustus

:For the honorific title see Augustus (honorific)

Rise to power

Augustus was born at Rome with the name Gaius Octavius Thurinus. His father, also Gaius Octavius, came from a respectable but undistinguished family of the equestrian order and was governor of Macedonia before his death in 58 BC. More importantly, his mother Atia was the niece of Rome's greatest general and de facto ruler, Julius Caesar. In 46 BC Caesar, who had no legitimate children, took his grand-nephew soldiering in Hispania, and adopted him as his heir. By virtue of his adoption, following Roman custom, Octavius then assumed the name C. Julius Caesar Octavianus (hereafter "Octavian".)

Related Topics:
Thurinus - Gaius Octavius - Equestrian - 58 BC - Atia - Julius Caesar - 46 BC - Hispania - Adoption

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When Caesar was assassinated in March 44 BC, his young heir was with the army at Apollonia, in what is now Albania. At the time, he was only eighteen years old, and was consistently underestimated by his rivals for power. He culled support by emphasizing his status as heir to Caesar and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar (probably omitting the customary Octavianus; he is called "Octavian" by historians regardless.) He crossed over to Italy and recruited an army from among Caesar's veterans. At Rome, he found Caesar's republican assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius, in control. After a tense standoff, he formed an uneasy alliance with Marcus Antonius and Marcus Lepidus, Caesar's principal colleagues. The three formed a junta called the Second Triumvirate which, unlike the First Triumvate, was a grant of special powers lasting five years and supported by law.{{ref|2ndTri}} They then set in motion the proscriptions in which 300 senators and 2000 Equites were deprived of their property and, for those who failed to escape, their lives. This went beyond a simple purge of those allied with the assassins and so the main motive was probably to raise money to pay their troops.{{ref|pros}}

Related Topics:
Caesar was assassinated - Albania - Marcus Junius Brutus - Gaius Cassius - Marcus Antonius - Marcus Lepidus - Junta - Equites

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Antony and Octavian then marched against Brutus and Cassius, who had fled to the east. At Philippi in Macedonia, the Caesarian army was victorious and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide (42 BC). While Octavian returned to Rome, Antony went to Egypt where he allied himself with Queen Cleopatra, the ex-lover of Julius Caesar and mother of Caesar's infant son, Caesarion. The Roman dominions were then divided between Octavian in the west and Antony in the east.

Related Topics:
Philippi - Macedonia - Suicide - 42 BC - Egypt - Cleopatra - Caesarion

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Antony occupied himself with military campaigns in the east and a romantic affair with Cleopatra; Octavian built a network of allies in Rome, consolidated his power, and spread propaganda implying that Antony was becoming less than Roman because of his preoccupation with Egyptian affairs and traditions. The situation grew more and more tense, and finally, in 32 BC, Octavian declared war. It was quickly decided: in the bay of Actium on the western coast of Greece, after Antony's men began deserting the fleets met in a great battle in which many ships burned and thousands on both sides lost their lives. Octavian defeated his rivals who then fled to Egypt. He pursued them, and after another defeat, Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra also committed suicide after her coming role in Octavian's triumph was "carefully explained to her" and Caesarion, the son of Julius Caesar by Cleopatra, was "butchered without compunction".{{ref|suicide}}

Related Topics:
Propaganda - 32 BC - Actium - Caesarion

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