Augustus
Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus | |
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Augustus of Prima Porta, 1st century | |
Biographical Information | |
Pronunciation | ah-GUHS-tus |
Other names | Augustus (causal name) Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus (grandfather name) Octavianus Octavian (Octavian) Gaius Octavius Thurinus (birth name) Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (legal name, 44 BC onward) Gaius Julius Caesar V (legal name, circ. 44 BC onward) Gaius Julius Caesar Divi filius (42 BC onward) Imperator Caesar Divi filius (38 BC onward, Latin for "Commander Caesar, Son of the God") Increaser ("Augustus" translated to Galactic Standard Basic) |
Race | Deified Demigod |
Titles | Emperor Triumvir (formerly) |
Element | Sound (Music) Water (Healing) |
Position | Roman Emperor Pontifex Maximus Head of Julio-Claudian dynasty Triumvir in the Second Triumvirate (formerly) |
Location | Rome |
Affiliation | Roman Empire Olympus Roman Republic Second Triumvirate |
Spoken language(s) | Latin |
Birth | September 23, 63 BC Rome, Roman Republic |
Death | August 19, 14 AD Nola, Italia, Roman Empire |
Notable (for) | Founding the Roman Empire and ruling as the first Roman emperor |
Rule | January 16, 27 BC—August 19, AD 14 (40 years, 7 months, 3 days) |
Alternate selves and forms | Augustus/tree |
Family | |
Family/House | Julio-Claudian dynasty |
Marital status | Married |
Immediate family | Apollo (father)[1] Atia Balba Caesonia (mother) Octavia Minor (half-sister) Livia Drusilla (wife) Clodia Pulchra, Scribonia (wives, divorced) Julia the Elder (daughter) |
Extended family | Chaos (ancestor) Terra (ancestor) Caelus (ancestor) Saturn (paternal great-grandfather) Ops (paternal great-grandmother) Polus (paternal great-grandfather) Phoebe (paternal great-grandmother) Jupiter (paternal grandfather) Latona (paternal grandmother) Anchises (maternal ancestor) Venus (maternal ancestor) Priam (maternal ancestor) Hecuba (maternal ancestor) Aeneas (maternal ancestor) Creusa (maternal ancestor) Appius Claudius Sabinus Regillensis (maternal ancestor) Sextus Julius Caesar I (maternal ancestor) Marcus Atius Balbus (maternal grandfather) Julia Minor (maternal grandmother) Julius Caesar (maternal great-uncle) Gaius Caesar, Lucius Caesar (grandsons) Agrippina Major (granddaughter) Marcus Claudius Marcellus (nephew) Antonia Minor (niece) Lucius Caesar, Gaius Julius Caesar VI (great-nephews) Agrippa Postumus (grandson) Caligula (great-grandson) Julia Drusilla, Agrippina Minor (great-granddaughters) Nero (descendant) Octavian (descendant) |
Marital family | Tiberius (son-in-law) |
Stepfamily | Lucius Marcius Philippus (stepfather) Gaius Octavius IV (stepfather, deceased) Several paternal half-siblings Tiberius, Drusus the Elder (stepsons) |
Physical Description | |
Gender | Male |
Height | 5.58 feet (1.7 meters) |
Skin | Between dark and fair |
Hair | Light brown, near golden, slightly curly |
Eyes | Light brown |
Emperor Augustus (Latin: Imperator Caesar Divi filius Augustus; 63 BC—14 BC) was the first emperor of Rome.
Born a demigod with the name of Gaius Octavius Thurinus to the Roman Olympian Apollo[1] and Atia Balba Caesonia, the niece of Julius Caesar, he became Caesar's heir and adopted son in 45 BC and took the name Gaius Julius Caesar V, although history would remember him at this time as Octavius (anglicized Octavian). After Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC, Octavius used his new status to gain support in his great-uncle's legionaries. In late 43 BC, Octavian formed the Second Triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus. Octavian and Lepidus launched a joint operation in Sicily in 36 BC against Sextus Pompeius, a political enemy and demigod son of Neptune. The operation was successful, but Lepidus proceeded to betray Octavian and was ejected from the Triumvirate and effectively exiled. In the Final War of the Roman Republic, Octavian led most of the Roman Republic against Antony and his lover, the Egyptian Pharaoh Cleopatra VII. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide and Octavian unified the Republic into the Roman Empire, taking his new name of Imperator Caesar Augustus and ruling as the first Roman emperor.
Upon Marcus Lepidus's death in 12 BC, Augustus took up the former's position of pontifex maximus, effectively unifying said position with the position of emperor. Following several wars and achievements, Augustus died at the age of 75 in August AD 14 while visiting Nola and was succeeded in his titles by his stepson, adopted son, son-in-law, and heir, Tiberius.
Physical appearance
About a century after Augustus's death, his biographer Suetonius described his appearance as "... unusually handsome and exceedingly graceful at all periods of his life, though he cared nothing for personal adornment. He was so far from being particular about the dressing of his hair, that he would have several barbers working in a hurry at the same time, and as for his beard he now had it clipped and now shaved, while at the very same time he would either be reading or writing something ... He had clear, bright eyes ... His teeth were wide apart, small, and ill-kept; his hair was slightly curly and inclined to golden; his eyebrows met. His ears were of moderate size, and his nose projected a little at the top and then bent ever so slightly inward. His complexion was between dark and fair. He was short of stature, although Julius Marathus, his freedman and keeper of his records, says that he was five feet and nine inches (just under 5 ft. 7 in., or 1.70 meters, in modern height measurements), but this was concealed by the fine proportion and symmetry of his figure, and was noticeable only by comparison with some taller person standing beside him...",[2] adding that "his shoes [were] somewhat high-soled, to make him look taller than he really was"[3]; scientific analysis of traces of paint in Augustus's official statues show his hair and eyes most likely were both light brown.
Augustus's official images were tightly controlled and idealized and remained youthful even until he died in his seventies; by then they had "a distance air of ageless majesty".[4]
Family
Main article: Augustus/tree
Augustus was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus as the supposed son of Gaius Octavius IV and Atia Balba Caesonia. In reality, his father was the Roman Olympian Apollo, in turn the son of Jupiter and Latona. Atia was the daughter of Marcus Atius Balbus II and a Julia Minor. Julia was the daughter of Gaius Julius Caesar III, making Augustus the maternal great-nephew of Gaius Julius Caesar IV, better known simply as Julius Caesar. Caesar eventually adopted his great-nephew as his son and heir. Augustus had only one biological child, a daughter, Julia Augusti filia, and adopted his stepson and son-in-law Tiberius as his son and heir, as well as his grandsons Gaius Julius Caesar VI and Lucius Julius Caesar VI.
Trivia
- Augustus died in August, the month named after him.
Notes and references
Vacant New office | Roman Emperor 27 BC—AD 14 | Followed by Tiberius |
Preceded by Julius Caesar | Leader of Rome 44 BC—AD 14 | |
Head of the Julio-Claudian dynasty 44 BC—AD 14 | ||
Preceded by Marcus Aemilius Lepidus | Pontifex Maximus 12 BC—AD 14 | |
Preceded by Lucius Julius Caesar IV | Heir to the Caesars 63 BC—44 BC | Followed by Lucius Julius Caesar IV |