AGUSTUS CAESAR

EARLY LIFE

• Born January 16, 27 BC
• Originally named Gaius Octavian
• His mother was Atia, niece of Julius Caesar and daughter of Caesar's sister Julia.
• His father died when he was four, leading Julius Caesar to adopt him.
• Caesar did so in order to secure a legitimate heir to the throne of Rome.

EARLY LIFE

• Once adopted by Julius Caesar, he took on spending great time with him.
• He served under Julius Caesar as a member of the board of Roman Priests.
• He also accompanied Caesar on many of his military expeditions.
• One in particular was an attack on Spain, in efforts to crush his sworn enemy Pompey.
• The object if this expedition was to destroy the sons of Pompey who were planning attacks on Caesar.

ASSUMING ROYALTY

• While in Albania completing academic and military training, Caesar was assassinated.
• So at the age of 19, Octavian chose to immediately "throw himself into the backstabbing world of Roman politics" as the heir to Caesar.
• Much of Augustus' knowledge of the Roman politics came from shadowing his great uncle Caesar through the board of Roman Priests and accompanying him on the many expeditions.
• He went to great lengths to carry out the will of Caesar for the citizens of Roman, despite great opposition from Senator Mark Anthony.
• In doing so, Octavian gained great support from Senators and citizens alike all over Rome.

RISE TO POWER

• In his efforts to carry out. Caesar's will, Octavius had to kill two consuls in the senate.
• Once the position of Consul was open due to this event, Octavius' troops demanded the Senate grant Octavian the title of Consul.
• At this point he was then officially recognized as the son of Julius Caesar and took on the name Gaius Julius Caesar.
• Once he gained this power, Anthony decided to reconcile and join forces with Octavian Caesar.
• This is when the second Triumvirate was created: a sharing of power among Octavian, Anthony, and Lepidus the Pontifex Maximus (Chief Priest)

TENSION AMONG RULERS

• Under the triumvirate the Roman Empire was split into three sections.
• Each section was ruled by one of the three Emperors.
• Once Lepidus tried to challenge Octavian in power.
• He was quickly stopped and was forced to retire from the triumvirate.
• This forced retirement of Lepidus by Octavian then went on to create tension between him and Anthony.

FALL OF THE TRIUMVIRATE

• This tension then led Octavian to accuse Anthony of treason by him allowing Cleopatra to rule Egypt.
• In order to stop this "treason" Octavian launched a naval attack on the two in the Battle of Actium.
• During this battle, Anthony and Cleopatra both surrendered and fled to safety.
• After doing so, they both ultimately decided on committing suicide, making Octavian the ruler over all of Rome.

START OF THE PRINCIPATE

• Octavian went to great lengths to conceal his efforts of building a great Empire.
• Afterwards, Octavian proclaimed he was returning Roman back to a "republic" state of government.
• He called himself "princeps" to make citizens believe he was one of them.
• These actions gained such support from the Senate they granted him honorary title of Augustus.

LIFE FOR ROMANS UNDER AUGUSTUS

• The population of Rome reached nearly 1,000,000 people
• Due to over abundance of people, they were jammed into apartment buildings.
• These buildings were cheaply and poorly made and often the bottom apartments had dirt floors.
• The contractors often cheated in building the apartments and they were very unstable and dangerous.
• Augustus therefor enforced height limits of 70 ft per building, to ensure safety and prevent collapses.

LIFE FOR ROMANS CONTINUED

• Augustus established many first in the Empire.
• Including the first police force and publics fire department.
• He also established public bathing areas.
• These areas provided citizens with a place to bathe, socialize, and exercise.
• Augustus also increased sewage lines due to the over abundance of people.

LAWS AND ENFORCEMENT

• Augustus took it among himself to provide funding for food for the poor.
• He also made efforts to increase reproduction among elites by granting them special privileges.
• He also criminalizes adultery due to his strong religious beliefs.
• He went as far as to exile his only daughter and grand daughter after they were accused of sex scandals.
• Violence was also displayed as a way of enforcing his laws through Roman Theater.

ROMAN THEATER

• Augustus felt as if the theater was his was of communicating with the citizens.
• The Emperor was to sit up front with other political heads such as Senators.
• Violence was a big factor in the theater, such a chariot races and gladiator fights.
• The gladiators often fought for fame or entertainment.
• However, they also fought prisoners and traitors at the Emperor's command.