AUGUSTUS: BIOGRAPHY, GOVERNMENT, TRIUMPH, SUCCESSION, ALLIANCES - ARTE - 2025

Augustus (63 BC - AD 14) was one of the most important statesmen and military men in the West. He served as the first Roman emperor, in addition to having been the one who held this position for the longest time among all those who held it.

The government of Augustus began during the last days of the Republic, which was in decline as a result of the dictatorship of Julius Caesar, who named him as heir to his powers when he died. The stability of the Augustus government made Rome begin to progress again calmly and these years they were called the Pax romana.

Statue of Augustus, by Vatican Museums, via Wikimedia Commons

As a curiosity, Augustus was the great-nephew of Julius Caesar, who adopted him in his youth. He was descended from the marriage between Acia and Cayo Octavio Turino and his original name was Octavio. However, it is common to refer to him as Octavian after 44 BC. And Augusto since the Senate granted that title to him in 27 a. C.

He joined forces with that of the former supporters of Julius Caesar, thus forming what became known as the Second Triumvirate, in which Marco Antonio and Lepido participated. They retained a facade of a republic, although power was concentrated in the hands of the triumvirs. After Antonio committed suicide and Lepido went into exile, a new political era began known as the "principality."

At that time, the Roman Senate granted him perpetual powers with which he managed to remain de facto at the head of almost all national institutions.

He managed to achieve many conquests and also introduced various social and financial reforms, which increased both his political and economic power. That allowed him to be responsible for many improvements in the infrastructure of the Roman Empire.

Although he wanted to pass the power to one of his descendants, that was not possible because he had no male children and the other men of his line died before him. Finally, he had to delegate control to his stepson Tiberius.

Biography

Early years

Cayo Octavio was born within the borders of the city of Rome on September 23, 63 BC. C. He was the son of also called Cayo Octavio, a prominent military man and praetor who served as governor of Macedonia. His mother, Acia, was one of the daughters of Julia the youngest, Julius Caesar's sister.

By his paternal branch Octavio's relatives were wealthy people. They came from Velitrae and many of them were members of the Equestrian Order.

Octavio's father died when he was just a four-year-old. His mother remarried Lucio Marcio Filipo, a consul and former governor of Syria. After Acia's new union, little Octavio was left in the care of his grandmother, Julia the youngest.

His grandmother passed away in 51 BC. C., at that time Octavio was about 12 years old and from there he went back to live together with his mother. Approximately three years later she was awarded the manly robe, marking the beginning of her adulthood.

Youth

In 47 a. C. entered the College of Pontiffs, the most important religious institution in Rome. Octavian was also charged with the responsibility of organizing the Greek games, which were held in the Temple of Venus Generatrix.

The boy is presumed to have great maturity and a sense of responsibility for his age. Despite this, his mother refused to allow him to accompany Julius Caesar on the African campaign as Octavian had requested.

A year later, Acia's opinion changed and she gave the go-ahead for the young man to accompany César on the campaign in Hispania. Luck seemed to be against it: Octavio fell ill just before leaving, but when he recovered he went to meet his great-uncle.

The ship in which he was traveling was wrecked and that forced Octavio to cross enemy territory. When he finally arrived at Julius Caesar's camp, he was pleasantly impressed by his nephew's abilities.

The admiration he aroused in Caesar made him allow him to get into his carriage on the way back to Rome. Upon arriving in the city, the Roman ruler changed his will and appointed Octavian as his heir.

Assassination of Julius Caesar

Octavio had resided in Apollonia, a territory that corresponds to present-day Albania. There he was receiving training in both the academic and military fields.

The plot against Julius Caesar, whose execution ended with the death of the Roman ruler, took place in 44 BC. When Octavio found out what happened, he immediately left for Italy.

During his trip he learned that the dictator had adopted him in his will and that he had become his heir.

From that moment on Octavio proposed that, not only would he take two thirds of the inheritance, but that he would be in charge of taking the witness that Caesar had left in Roman politics.

It was at this point that Octavian began to use the name of his father Gaius Julius Caesar and, although custom dictated that he transform the original name of his family into a cognomen, he did not want to. However, in the records his name has been recorded as Octavian since then.

The members of Caesar's army rejoiced at his arrival and he knew then that the loyalty of the troops was in his hands.

No one objected when he claimed the funds that his adoptive father had deposited for the campaign against Parthia, that is, 700 million sesterces.

Peace with the Senate

With the money that Octavian had raised, he began to create an army that would be loyal to him, composed mainly of men who had served under Julius Caesar. Both veterans and members of the force that would fight against the Parthians joined him.

In June it had 3,000 legionaries and each one had offered to pay them 500 denarii. Octavian knew that the Senate's main enemy at the time was Marco Antonio, so he went against him.

He arrived in Rome in May 44 BC. C, during this period a governance agreement had been made between the assassins of Caesar and Antonio, which maintained a delicate stability.

Although very popular and widely supported, Antonio also had detractors, especially among those loyal to Caesar. When Octavian requested the inheritance from Julius Caesar, Marco Antonio refused to deliver it.

With the backing of his adoptive father's supporters, plus the optimates, the party that had opposed Caesar, Octavian found a good political platform.

Cicero, the leader of the optimates, thought they could easily manipulate Octavian because of his youth and inexperience, while Marco Antonio seemed a greater evil because of his dominance of both the military and politics.

War and peace with Marco Antonio

Anticipating the conclusion of his consulate, Marco Antonio maneuvered to remain in control of Cisalpine Gaul. Octavian then had large sums of money and already had a large army, so two legions of Antony moved to his side.

Antonio decided to take refuge in Gaul, where Brutus, one of Julius Caesar's assassins, was. He did not want to receive him and hand over control of the area, so Marco Antonio's men put him under siege.

Meanwhile, Octaviano was appointed senator on January 1, 43 BC. C., likewise he was granted the title of propretor imperium, with which his military power became legitimate.

He was sent along with Hircio and Pansa to attack Antonio, whom they defeated in the battles of the Forum of the Gauls and that of Mutina. However, the other two men perished, leaving Octavian alone as commander of the victorious army.

The Senate, for its part, wanted to award Brutus the honors and prizes of victory, rather than Octavian, who had actually defeated Antony. Furthermore, they suggested that Caesar's assassin take control of the army.

From that moment on, Octavian decided to stop attacking Antony and remain in the Padana plain with his men.

Second triumvirate

Octavian sent a group of centurions to Rome with the message that Antony would not be considered a public enemy, in addition to requesting the consulates of Hircius and Pansa. The Senate answered no.

After the refusal of Rome, Octavian marched to the city accompanied by eight legions. Thus he got Quinto Pedio, a relative of his, and himself appointed consul. Meanwhile, Antonio forged an alliance with Marco Emilio Lépido.

At the end of 43 a. C., a meeting was arranged between Octaviano, Antonio and Lépido in Bologna, on that occasion the second triumvirate was forged. This would last for five years and was approved by the tribunes of the plebs.

At this time between 130 and 300 senators were declared outlaws, in addition to some 2,000 members of the Equestrian Order. Most of these men had their property confiscated within Roman borders.

In January of 42 a. C., Julius Caesar was recognized as a Roman deity, which made Octavian the son of a god (divifilus).

Revenge and division of the territory

The main goal of the triumvirs was to finish off those who betrayed Caesar. Antonio and Octavian went in a fleet with 28 legions on board to confront Brutus and Cassius, who were based in Greece.

After the battles of Philippi in Macedonia, both traitors committed suicide. After the annihilation of the enemies, the triumvirs proceeded to divide the territory of the Roman Empire.

Both Gaul and Hispania passed into the hands of Octavian. Marco Antonio stayed with Egypt, where he forged an alliance with the local ruler, Cleopatra. Finally, Lepidus obtained power over Africa.

Triumvirate on a thread

Octavian confiscated much land within Italy in order to honor his promises to veterans to release them from military duty and offer them a place to settle.

This caused great discontent among the population and was taken advantage of by Marco Antonio's brother, Lucio Antonio, who had his own political aspirations, in addition to the support of the Senate.

In these years, Octavian decided to request a divorce from the daughter of Marco Antonio's wife, whom he married to seal the alliance of the triumvirate. The girl's name was Claudia Pulcra and the separation also had political connotations.

When he sent the girl to his mother's house, he added a note stating that he was returning her in "perfect condition" and claimed that the marriage had never been consummated. This caused a deep resentment in Fulvia, the girl's mother.

Lucio Antonio and Fulvia joined forces to defend the rights of Marco Antonio. However, Octavian managed to besiege them in 40 BC. C. and they gave up then.

For this event, 300 people were executed on the anniversary of César's death on account of having allied with Lucio Antonio.

Alliance with Pompey

Both Marco Antonio and Octavian wanted to make an alliance with Sixth Pompey, who controlled both Sicily and Sardinia. The winner in the struggle for this support was Octavian, thanks to his marriage to Escribonia, the family of Pompey's father-in-law.

The new bond produced a girl they named Julia. This was the only biological descendant that the Roman ruler engendered. However, a year later Octavian divorced and married Livia Drusila.

In 40 a. C., Marco Antonio left for Italy accompanied by a great force and arrived at Brindisi.

However, the centurions refused to take sides in the internal conflict, which made the environment easier for them to reconcile. This event became known as the Treaty of Brindisi.

It was confirmed that Lepidus would have control of Africa, while Antony controlled the east and Octavian the west of the empire. The renewed alliance was sealed with the marriage between Octavia the Lesser and Marco Antonio.

Confrontation with Pompey

The problem between Rome and Pompey began when the latter began to sabotage the entry of grain into Italy. Sixth Pompey had great control over the Mediterranean and began to call himself "son of Neptune."

In 39 a. A truce was agreed in which Pompeyo happened to have control on Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily and the Peloponnese. However, since the divorce of Octavian and Scribe no longer had interest in keeping the peace.

Thanks to changes in the loyalties of the local rulers, Octavian regained control of Corsica and Sardinia. Antonio also sent him 120 ships to undertake his attack on Pompey.

In the attack on Sicily executed during 36 BC. C., Lepido managed to join forces commanded by Agripa. It was this general who was in charge of crushing Pompey, who later fled and was executed at Miletus.

New organization

After the victory Lepidus tried to impose himself and asked Octavian to withdraw with his men from Sicily, but his own military abandoned him.

In honor of his rank Octavian allowed him to retain the title of Pintifex Maximus, but expelled him from the triumvirate. Then the government was divided as follows: the east for Marco Antonio and the west for Octavian.

He gave the soldiers Octavian discharged from the militia lands outside of Italy, which did not bother the inhabitants and also returned about 30,000 slaves who had joined Pompey to their rightful owners.

End of the alliance

The Parthian campaign that was executed by Antony turned out to be a total failure. Octaviano only sent 2,000 men, which meant a contribution so minimal that it made no difference in the conflict.

Antony decided to send Octavia the Lesser to Rome, so that Cleopatra was more willing to assist him. Octavian, for his part, used this action to argue before the public that Antonio was less Roman every day.

In 36 a. Octaviano said that he wanted to end the internal confrontations and that he would withdraw from his position as a triumvir if Antonio did the same, but he refused.

A couple of years later Cleopatra's son with Antony, Alexander Helios, was appointed by him as the ruler of Armenia.

Antonio also gave the title of "queen of kings" to the Egyptian monarch. It was then that Octavian decided to take Armenia under the premise that they wanted to take away its power and conquests from Rome.

In January of 33 a. C., the Senate appointed Octavio consul. He went on to allege that Antony was handing out both titles and honors to Cleopatra's relatives whom he preferred to Roman citizens.

Against Marco Antonio

Senators loyal to Antony left Rome immediately after Octavian's promotion to the consulate. Meanwhile, Octavio received two deserters from his old colleague: Munatius Plancus and Marcus Titius, who provided him with important information to weaken his new rival.

Octavian confiscated the testament of Marco Antonio and published its contents. In this he expressed that his children with Cleopatra would obtain control of their domains after his death and that he wanted to be buried in Alexandria along with the Egyptian monarch.

That was the trigger for the Senate to suspend Antony's powers and open the war against Cleopatra.

Agrippa managed to block supplies for the men of Antony and Cleopatra, thus, Octavian gained ground. He also got many men from the enemy side, seeing the harsh conditions, desert and join him.

When Antonio tried to break the siege the battle of Actium took place in 31 a. The confrontation was favorable to Octavian and Antonio decided to take refuge with the few forces that he had left in Alexandria.

There they met again and after Octavian's final victory on August 1, 30 BC. C., Marco Antonio took his own life and then Cleopatra did the same.

Control of the Empire

To consolidate his position after the death of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian ordered Caesarion who was a supposed son of his adoptive father, Julius Caesar, to be executed with the late Egyptian monarch.

Instead he forgave Antony's children, except for Marco Antony the Younger, who was the son of Fulvia, a Roman citizen, so he was the only one considered worthy of being his heir in the eyes of the Romans.

Although he could do so, Octavian did not want to seize power by force, but through Roman traditions. Furthermore, in order for its authority not to be called into question, it must have a firm legal basis.

After the victory, Octavian and his most esteemed general, Agrippa, were appointed consuls by the Senate. During the 27 a. A., Consul decided to return the control of the provinces and the army to the Senate, although the last ones continued responding to the orders of Octaviano.

For its part, the Senate knew that they needed the heir of Caesar to maintain control of the territory and prevent everything from succumbing to chaos. In this way, Octavian was offered to take power for ten years.

He selected senators he trusted to oversee the areas that remained in his custody, and the Senate chose governors for the few that remained in his power.

August

At the beginning of 27 a. Octavian went on to hold the title of "Augustus", especially linked to religious matters, by the grace of the Roman Senate. Before this he had the one of "Romulus", but that one was too tied to the monarchy, something that was not very well seen.

At the same time, the new Augustus received a second title of great importance, which was that of "Prince", which simply meant that he was the most prominent member of the Senate, but over time it came to mean "first in charge."

From that moment on he was popularly called Augustus by historians, which marked the beginning of the last stage in his life, that of undisputed ruler.

At that time, the Roman emperor made "Caesar" a cognomen of his family, to consolidate the beginning of a hereditary lineage.

He refused to wear crowns, diadems or a purple toga to differentiate him from the rest of the citizens. Thus he detached himself from the image of the rulers who had carried these elements before him and avoided making the mistakes made by Julius Caesar.

The annexation of Galatia to the Roman lands in 25 BC. C. meant one of the first great military conquests of Augustus. In addition to the aforementioned central territory of Asia Minor, Mauritania became a client of the Romans.

Consolidation

In 23 a. A frequent criticism became the fact that Augusto received a consulate each year. It also began to seem evident that the claim of the Roman leader that Marco Claudio Marcelo, his nephew, succeeded him at the head of the empire.

Some soldiers like Agrippa began to feel threatened in their leadership position, while Livia, Augustus's wife, did not see favorably that the emperor chose his nephew as his heir instead of his stepchildren.

To dispel these rumors, Augusto selected Calpurnio Piso as consul, who was recognized for supporting the Republican side.

The Roman ruler fell ill that same year and everyone thought that the end of his life was near. Augustus wanted to establish a way to continue the principality and he did so by giving his ring to Agrippa, with which he was transmitting the command of the armies.

On the other hand, he gave Piso all the legal documents and his heirs would only retain his material assets: the military and political influence had been symbolically in the hands of people outside the family.

Second deal with the Senate

After recovering, Augusto decided that to calm the waters he should resign from the consulate. With this, all the senators obtained more chances of promotion and he maintained control of the institution without the bad reputation that had been forging.

He obtained an imperium proconsulare, which applied to all provinces, which translated into greater power than that held by the consuls themselves. Another of the advantageous agreements that he got that of the tribunicia potestas until his death.

This last element was of great importance since it allowed him to summon the Senate and individuals at will, as well as the right of veto for both the Assembly and the Senate. He could also preside over elections and obtained the powers of a censor.

Augustus later received the general consular empire in 19 BC. C.. From that moment his status improved, since he could wear the consular insignia, in addition to sitting in the middle of the two consuls on duty.

During that year, Agrippa established the domination of Hispania. In the 16 a. C. was carried out the conquest of the Alps, which served as an offensive base later against the Pannonians in a confrontation led by Tiberio, Augusto's stepson. At the same time, Druso fought against the Germans east of the Rhine.

Succession

Julia was the only descendant of Augusto and was married to her cousin Marco Claudio Marcelo. After her husband passed away, she married Agrippa, her father's favorite general.

They had five children, of which two boys were adopted by Augustus. The names of these young people were Gaius Julius Caesar who had been born on 20 BC. C. and Lucio Julio César who came to the world in 20 BC. C.

The other descendants of Julia and Agrippa were Julia the Lesser, Agrippina and Marco Vipsanio Agrippa Posthumous. The same year of the birth of the youngest of her children Agrippa died. Consequently, Julia and Tiberius Claudius Nero, Augusto's stepson, were married.

This union did not bear fruit, in addition, the daughter of the ruler began to display an embarrassing sexual behavior. Therefore, her father decided to exile her to an island where she had no contact with any man.

Augusto also favored his stepsons with high positions within the government. Thus both would be prepared to exercise command after his death, but Druso died in 9 BC. C.

Tiberius withdrew voluntarily from the political plane in 6 BC. C., probably when seeing that the ascent of the adopted children of Augusto was imminent.

Final years

Among the adopted children of Augustus, the first to reach the age to be presented in public life was Gaius Julius Caesar, during 5 BC. From that moment, the boy left to the east of the empire to educate himself and train.

Lucio Julius Caesar had his public introduction in 2 BC. C., in his case the training was carried out in the western portion of the Roman territories. However, both boys who were to inherit the empire, passed away young.

After their deaths, Augustus was forced to request the return of his stepson Tiberius, whom he adopted in the year 4 of our era, on the condition that he adopt his nephew Germanicus, the son of Drusus.

Tiberius dedicated himself to consolidating the conquest of Germania, but a strong local revolt prevented him, so he was ordered to secure the Rhine. In the year 6 Judea was annexed to the Roman territories.

Also at this time a fire brigade was created in Rome with local police duties.

Death

Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus, his Latin name, died in the city of Nola during the year 14 of our era. His adopted son, Tiberius, had been named heir before the Roman ruler's death.

The remains of Augustus were deposited in a mausoleum in Rome where they were transferred in a funeral caravan. Shortly after his death, he was named a member of the Roman pantheon, thus becoming one of the gods of the city.

government

The mandate of Augustus ushered in an era known as the Roman Pax. At the end of the civil war, the Roman Empire had a greater capacity to flourish in different aspects such as the economy, art and agriculture.

Augustus was in charge of restoring numerous temples and building great works such as the Baths of Rome. Also works such as Virgilio's stood out among the local letters of the time. Another advance in the times of Augustus were the reforms he introduced.

In the religious there was the imperial cult, with which the emperor was equated with a god. Taxes were also reformed to promote marriage and fertility, giving exemptions to couples with more than three children.

He created a professional army made up of 28 legions and also started the aerarium militare, an exclusive economic item for the payment of salaries to active and retired soldiers.

References

1. Encyclopedia Britannica. (2020). Augustus - Biography, Accomplishments, Full Name, & Facts. Available at: britannica.com.
2. En.wikipedia.org. (2020). Augustus. Available at: en.wikipedia.org.
3. Suetonio and Agudo Cubas, R. (1995). Lives of the twelve Caesars. Madrid: Editorial Planeta-DeAgostini.
4. Bbc.co.uk. (2020). BBC - History - Augustus. Available at: bbc.co.uk.
5. Stearns, M. (1972). Augustus Caesar, architect of empire. New York: F. Watts.