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Augustus. Who was Augustus (Octavian) Caesar?

Octavius Augustus took the official name Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus as the first Roman emperor after the republic’s fall. With inexhaustible patience, skill and efficiency, he took charge of every aspect of Roman life, ensuring peace and prosperity throughout the empire.

Augustus is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire. He was born on 23 September 63 I BC and died on 19 August 14 AD. Augustus Octavius was born into a wealthy family established in Velitrae (Velletri), SE Rome. 

In 44 BC, he was in Apollonia (today’s Albania), completing his academic and military studies and where the news of Caesar’s assassination reached him.

Biography of Caesar Octavius Augustus

Full name:Julius Augustus Octavian Caesar
Date of birth:0063 BC
Death day:0014 AD
The thread of life:87 years old
Place of birth:Rome, Italy
Father's name:Julius Caesar
Grandfather's name:Gaius Octavianus

What was Emperor Augustus known for?

Named before Gaius Octavius Taurine, he gained his last name Augustus which meant(the worshipped one) from the Senate. During the time he ruled the empire, he changed his people. The Romans knew him after Julius Caesar’s death who adopted him to have a successor.

Emperor August was famous when he joined the triumvirate of Rome with Mark Antony and Marcus Lepidus. The strategy of Augustus was to form a partnership with Mark Antony, a Roman general under Julius Caesar; the other was Marcus Lepidus, the son of a roman politician who was a praetor (a judicial officer who had immense power in cases of justice). Together they were responsible for ruling in different provinces, ensuring the Roman republic with a military dictatorship.

But in the end, this alliance breaks and leads to a conflict between Marcus Antonius and Augustus Battle of Actium, where the winner is Caesar Augustus. And transforms’ Rome into an emperor, the strongest that Rome will ever have.

Was Augustus a good emperor?

He was so successful that he transformed Rome from a republic into an empire. In his time, the Romans idolized him because of his efforts to develop the infrastructure. 

During Augustus’ reign, it was peace and prosperity in the roman’s life, so he was declared a good emperor. The Senate always approved his ideas. And because of his alliance with Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus (Aemilius). They formed an unsteady triumvirate, which helped them control the Roman republic.

 After this great implementation, human greed took the eyes of his partners, and the trivia fell apart. The most important event was the fight against Mark Antony and Cleopatra in the battle of Actium, where Augustus won and became the sole ruler. 

Was Augustus emperor when Jesus was born?

The coincidence is that Joseph had to register his marriage with Maria (The Mother of Jesus) while she was pregnant and gave birth at the time of the census.

The New Testament reminds us about Caesar Augustus as he was the emperor of the Romans when Jesus was born in Luke 2. 

The answer for the Pharisees was, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s,” showing again that Augustus Caesar was fair with the people.

augustus

Which Roman emperor declared himself God?

During his time ruling, Augustus saw the importance of the Gods and religion among his people, so he tried to take advantage of this. After this story, he continues bragging in the face of the Romans that he lives in a small house and he has a humble lifestyle, and often when he wasn’t fasting, he was eating just bread with cheese. He has a modest lifestyle, and often when he wasn’t fasting, he ate It turned out from a letter that came in that he and his stepson Tiberius had not eaten all day. 

The Romans will consider Caesar the one who proclaimed himself God. The Romans were very “religious,” but not in the ways we think nowadays of a religious person.

For them, it was a social and political matter. Priesthood for them was like a public office, and the role of religion was less “doing the right thing” than “doing things right.”

Is Augustus related to Julius Caesar?

As a ruler of Rome, he had to be an example and add back traditional social rules and rituals like sacrificing animals to Rome’s Gods.

Augustus is related to Julius Caesar, for he was the son of Attica, and she was the daughter of Julius Caesar’s sister. Needing a descendant, he adopts Augustus as his son and heir. Caesar Augustus became known when the assassination of Julius Caesar took place.

Augustus was Julius Caesar’s adoptive son, but they shared more in common than just blood. Their family had solid political ties (he lacked money before Caesar’s political career took off), and both came to power among political confusion. Both men pleased the people with propaganda, fascinating crowds, and promises of change. 

Primary Takeaways

  1. Rome’s first emperor, who entered into Rome’s violent power fights in the early ages, proceeded to destroy all the rivals he had and, more than anyone else did, create the Roman Empire. Roman families used to have complicated affairs.
  2. Augustus’ father was a senator, and his mother was Caesar’s niece, Attia. Afterward the assassination of Caesar, Augustus Caesar fought for revenge for his great-uncle. And adoptive father’s death, wishing to show his desire to become Caesar’s political heir.
  3. He improved the Romans’ life by creating regulations and developing the infrastructure to ease their life, adding physical comfort and encouraging trading posts.

Conclusion

Augustus Caesar was the strongest emperor that the Roman empire could ever have. He restored order in the chaos left by adding rules and taxes fair for the people, and because of that, he became a much-loved one. He also made roads, aqueducts, and temples. The tariffs were reasonable, a fact that encouraged the trading post. Augustus Caesar was a young man with a possessive mother and high self-confidence. And for this reason, he merged quickly to form alliances to use in the needed time.

His relationship with his stepbrother Mark Antony ended when the triumvirate broke. Marcus Antonius’ morals and political behavior opened a conflict, which caused the battle of Actium.