OVERVIEW OF AUGUSTUS’ LIFE:
1. Watch “Episode 1: Order from Chaos” of “The Roman Empire in the First Century” and complete
the following table:
Category Key Details
Family background Of Augustus’ many names and honorifics, historians
favour three of them, each for a different phase in the
emperor’s life.
From his birth in 63 B.C. he was Octavius; after his
adoption was announced in 44 B.C., Octavian; and
beginning in 26 B.C. the Roman Senate conferred on
him the name Augustus, the august or exalted one.
He was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus in Velletri, 20
miles from Rome.
His father was a senator and governor in the Roman
Republic.
His mother Atai was Caesar’s niece, and the young
Octavius was raised in part by his grandmother Julia
Ceasaris, Caesar’s sister.
Rise to power Returning to Italy, he was told that Caesar in his will had
adopted him as his son and had made him his chief
personal heir.
He was only 18 when, against the advice of his
stepfather and others, he decided to take up this
perilous inheritance and proceeded to Rome.
Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius), Caesar’s chief
lieutenant, who had taken possession of his papers and
assets and had expected that he himself would be the
principal heir, refused to hand over any of Caesar’s
funds, forcing Octavius to pay the late
dictator’s bequests to the Roman populace from such
resources as he could raise.
Caesar’s assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius
Cassius Longinus, ignored him and withdrew to the
east. Cicero, the famous orator who was one of Rome’s
principal elder statesmen, hoped to make use of him but
underestimated his abilities.
Celebrating public games, instituted by Caesar, to
ingratiate himself with the city populace, Octavius
succeeded in winning considerable numbers of
the dictator’s troops to his own allegiance.
The Senate, encouraged by Cicero, broke with Antony,
called upon Octavius for aid (granting him the rank of
senator in spite of his youth), and joined the campaign of
Mutina (Modena) against Antony, who was compelled
to withdraw to Gaul.
When the consuls who commanded the Senate’s forces
lost their lives, Octavius’s soldiers compelled the Senate
to confer a vacant consulship on him.
Under the name of Gaius Julius Caesar he next secured
official recognition as Caesar’s adoptive son.
Although it would have been normal to add
“Octavianus” (with reference to his original family
name), he preferred not to do so. Today, however, he is
habitually described as Octavian (until the date when he
assumed the designation Augustus).
Civil war with Antony The War of Actium (32–30 BC) was the last civil
war of the Roman Republic, fought between Mark
Antony (assisted by Cleopatra and by
extension Ptolemaic Egypt) and Octavian.
In 32 BC, Octavian convinced the Roman Senate to
declare war on the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Her lover
and ally Mark Antony, who was Octavian's rival, gave
his support for her cause.
Forty percent of the Roman Senate, together with
both consuls, left Rome to join the war on Antony's side.
After a decisive victory for Octavian at the Battle of
Actium, Cleopatra and Antony withdrew to Alexandria,
where Octavian besieged the city until both Antony and
Cleopatra were forced to commit suicide.
The war involved some of the largest Roman armies
ever seen. Both Antony and Octavian's legions were
experienced veterans of previous civil wars who had
fought together, many also having once served
under Caesar. The two did however raise their own
legions separately.
Political reforms The second settlement was announced in 23 BC, in the
wake of Augustus' ill health.
Aware that his holding of the consulship inhibited his
powers of patronage and may have created resentment
among Rome's rising political stars (he had maintained
the powerful leadership position for the last ten years),
Augustus gave up the position of consul completely.
However, where power was concerned, the
compensation he received was more than adequate:
Whilst not literally being a consul, he maintained the
right to a seat on the consuls' platform at the front of the
Curia.
He was awarded ius primae relationis, the right to speak
first in a Senate meeting.
He was assured the right to summon a meeting of the
Senate, a useful tool for policymaking and upholding
the res publica illusion.
Instead of relying on the powers of the consulship which
he gave up, he instead relied on the tribunicia potestas,
or tribunician power, which enabled him to:
propose laws to the Senate whenever he wanted.
veto any laws he wanted.
grant amnesty to any citizen accused of crime.
Women gain political rights
Military conquests and In the following year the balance of power began to
frontier policy change: whereas Antony’s eastern expedition failed,
Octavian’s fleet—commanded by his former
schoolmate Marcus Agrippa, who, although unpopular
with the influential nobles, was an admiral of genius—
totally defeated Sextus Pompeius off Cape Naulochus
(Venetico) in Sicily.
Octavian was to compete with
Antony’s military seniority, successes in a
foreign war were necessary; and so Octavian between 35
and 33 BCE fought three successive campaigns in
Illyricum and Dalmatia (parts of
modern Slovenia and Croatia) in order to protect the
northeastern approaches of Italy.
With the help of Agrippa, he also lavished large sums on
the adornment of Rome. When Octavian fomented
public clamour against Antony’s territorial gifts
to Cleopatra, it was clear that a clash between the two
men was imminent.
In 32 BCE the triumvirate had officially ended, and
Octavian, unlike Antony, professed no longer to be
employing its powers.
Social contributions Outlawed adultery
Politically and financially rewarded families with 3 or
more children, especially sons
Religious reforms Restored public monuments, especially religious
Revived priesthood, titled Pontifex Maximus
Reintroduced religious festivals
Established an ‘Imperial Cult’ worshipping the emperor
as ‘God.”
Moral reforms Outlaw adultery
Law of three sons
Encourages marriage
Tax placed on unmarried men 38 Years +
Prohibited celibacy and childless marriage ‘Lex Julia de
Mantandis Orinibus’
Succession & heirs Julia (Emperors only child)
- Fathers overbearing control
- Lots of lovers
- Father denounced her out of shame
- Banished for life
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