Augustus Caesar - Father of the Roman Empire

the man immortalized in history as Caesar Augustus was born on the 23rd of September 63rd BC on the Palatine Hill Augustus was born guas Octavius thinus Octavian was adopted by his great uncle Julius Caesar in 44 BC and then took the name gas Julius Caesar in 27 BC the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus the illustrious one and he was then known as guas Julius Caesar Augustus owing to the many names the man went by in his life it is common to call him Octavius when referring to events between 63 and 44 BC Octavian when referring to events between 44 and 27 BC and Augustus regarding events from 27 BC to his death in 14 CE it should be noted however that Octavian himself between the years 44 and 27 BC never went by that name choosing instead to align himself closely with his great Uncle by carrying the same name a decision which prompted Mark Antony's famous accusation as recorded by Cicero you boy owe everything to your name after Julius Caesar's assassination in March of 44 BC Octavian Allied himself with Caesar's close friend and relative Mark Anthony together with another supporter of Caesar Marcus amelus lepidus Anthony and Octavian formed the second triumvirate in October of 43 BC their first order of business seems to have been the systematic killing of any political Rivals and supporters of Caesar's assassins exactly which of the three was most responsible for the killings is disputed by ancient and modern writers alike with some claiming Octavian innocent and others ascribing to him the most Bloodshed having cleansed Rome of the Bad Blood of their opposition the second triumverate then turned their attention to Caesar's assassins at the Battle of Philippi in October 42nd BC the forces of Brutus and casus were defeated by those of the second triumvirate forcing both assassins to kill themselves between 38 and 36 BC Octavian and lepidus battled seus pompus son of pompy Magnus Julius Caesar's great rival for rule of Rome with Anthony lending aid from Egypt the second Triumph it was Victorious over pompus and lepidus gloring in the Triumph and confident of his strength in insulted Octavian by ordering him to leave Sicily the theater of operations with his troops Octavian however offered lepidus troops more money than lepidus could pay and his army defected to Octavian lepidus was stripped of all his titles save pontifex Maximus and the second triumvirate came to an end during this time however relations between Octavian and Mark Anthony began to deteriorate in 40 BC to solidify their Alliance Octavian had given his sister Octavia Miner in marriage to Anthony Anthony though had Allied himself closely with Cleopatra of Egypt and had become her lover Octavian charged that Anthony had misused his sister when Anthony divorced Octavia in favor of Cleopatra in 33 BC which prompted Anthony to write Octavian what's upset you because I go to bed with Cleopatra but she's my wife and I've been doing so for 9 years not just recently does it matter where or with what women you get your excitement to Octavian Antony's behavior in the East both in private politically and militarily was intolerable he forced the priestesses of the Temple of Vester in Rome to surrender Anthony's will and had it read in the Roman senate the will gave away Roman territories to Antony's sons and contained directions for a great melum to be built in Alexandria for Anthony and Cleopatra among other stipulations which Octavian felt threatened the Grandeur of Rome and branded Anthony a renegade among the worst of Antony's offenses was his declaration that cesarian was the true heir of Julius Caesar not Octavian the Senate revoked Anthony's consulship and declared war on Cleopatra at the Battle of actium on second September 31st BC octavian's forces under the general Marcus agria defeated the combined forces of Anthony and Cleopatra scattered them and pursued the survivors until first August 3th BC when after the loss of Alexandria Anthony and Cleopatra killed themselves Octavian had cesarian strangled and Antony's eldest son executed as a possible threat to Rome Octavian was now the supreme ruler of Rome and all its territories but to keep from making the same mistake his adoptive father had of seeming to covet power Octavian was careful to characterize all of his political strategems as being for the good of the Roman Republic in January of 27th BC Octavian resigned his powers humbly only to receed them back from the Grateful Senate who also bestowed upon him the title Augustus Octavian was careful not to refer to himself by that title at any time in public simply calling himself princeps or First Citizen so carefully did Octavian play the political game in Rome that his claims to the restoration of the Republic seemed in earnest even when he gained supreme power giving him absolute control over Rome and its colonies popular already with the soldiers of his army the title Augustus solidified his power in the provinces as imperator or commander-in-chief the month of August was named in his honor in the year 19th BC he was given Imperium meas over every province in the Roman Empire and from that time on Augustus Caesar ruled supremely the first emperor of Rome and the measure by which all later Emperors would be judged by 2 BC Augustus was declared Peter patrier the father of his country the era of augustus's Reign was a golden age in every respect the peace that Augustus restored and kept the PA Romana caused the economy the Arts and agriculture to flourish an ambitious building program was initiated in which Augustus completed the plans made by Julius Caesar and then continued with his own GR and designs in his famous inscription R gesty Devi austi he claims to have restored or built 82 temples in one year the famous public Roman Bars were constructed under Augustus by his second in command a grippa and the poet Virgil composed his epic the anid Augustus took great personal concern for the Arts and was a personal patron of many artists he passed many sweeping reforms as well as laws to maintain stability in marriage and to raise the birth rate in Rome making adultery illegal offering tax incentives to families with over three children and penalties for childless marriages so strictly did Augustus himself adhere to his laws that he banished his own daughter Julia and his granddaughter for adultery Augustus died at Nola in 14 His official last words were I found Rome a city of clay but left it a city of marble which aptly describes augustus's achievements during his reign as Emperor augustus's body was brought back to Rome and on the day of the funeral all businesses in Rome closed out of respect for the emperor he was succeeded by Tiberius who he had adopted in four and who read the eulogy at augustus's famously Grand funeral the emperor's body was cremated and his ashes were interred in his melum augustus's death was mourned as the loss of a great ruler of immense talent and vision and he was proclaimed a God Among the hosts of the Roman Pantheon