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Augustus Octavian Caesar
Augustus was the adopted son of the most famous Roman of all time, Julius Caesar. Augustus was very successful and has earned his place as
one of the greatest Roman Emperors ever to live. This passage is adapted from an article written by Vicki Chao on edhelper.com
For ancient Rome, 27 B.C. was a defining moment. That
year, the Roman Republic ceased to exist. In its place, the
Roman Empire was born, and Augustus was its first
emperor.
Augustus’ rise to power was in many ways, a stroke of
luck, for he had a very powerful great uncle. That great
uncle of his was none other than Julius Caesar. Julius
Caesar took Augustus under his wing and gave him plenty
of opportunities to succeed. On every occasion, Augustus
did exceedingly well. He never let his great uncle down.
Impressed by the boy’s potential, Julius Caesar secretly
changed his will. In it he adopted Augustus as his son and
named him his successor. Not long afterwards, on March
15, 44 B.C., a group of senators stabbed Julius Caesar 39
times in the senate building. The senators had no idea that
Julius Caesar had appointed Augustus, who was only 18
years old, as his successor. Right away, the
already chaotic Roman Republic became
even more divided. Despite the mounting
pressures, Augustus refused to back down
and quickly gathered enough support from
his great uncle's troops.
2
4 Like
so many political alliances in history, the Second
Triumvirate stood on rather shaky ground. When the deal
was struck, Mark Antony, Augustus, and Marcus
Lepidus had a common goal – avenge the death of Julius
Caesar. Once that was achieved, there was not much else
to keep their relationship strong. With Mark Antony and
Augustus disliking each other more and more and
Marcus Lepidus dieing peacefully, the final straw came
when Mark Antony decided to leave his fourth wife,
Augustus’ sister and be with Cleopatra. Mark Antony
then set up a will to appoint Cleopatra and Julius
Caesar’s son Caesarion, the rightful heir of Julius Caesar.
When Augustus got word of this document, he stole it
and used it as the proof that Mark Antony no longer
cared about Rome and Roman traditions. This set off a
public outcry against Mark Antony and Cleopatra.
Knowing this could start a civil war, Augustus persuaded
the Senate to declare war on Cleopatra. The two sides
starting fighting and almost immediately it was clear that
Augustus had the advantage. Mark Antony and
Cleopatra fled from the battleground and returned to
Egypt where they committed suicide together.
5 Now
3
In the midst of this power struggle,
Augustus, was more or less considered a
minor player. Nobody took him seriously
because of his young age. At the time, Mark Antony
(Julius Caesar’s general and right-hand man) and Cicero (a
well-spoken senator) were both vying for the control of the
Roman Republic. Cicero had ridiculed Augustus behind his
back. When Augustus learned of the man's true intention,
he forged an alliance with Mark Antony; together with
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, they reached a five-year
agreement and formed the so-called Second Triumvirate.
Immediately after the ink was dry, the trio unleashed a
ruthless campaign of killing in Rome. In all, there were
some 300 senators and 2,000 noblemen killed. Among the
victims, Cicero’s fate was the worst. He was caught and
slain near Caieta on December 7, 43 B.C. Upon his death,
his head and hands were brought back to Rome and
displayed on the speaker's platform at the Forum. Mark
Antony's new third wife, Fulvia, allegedly pulled out
Cicero's tongue and jabbed it repeatedly with a hairpin, in
final defiance against the man's power of speech.
with victory firmly in his hands Augustus took
over Egypt and quickly had Caesarion killed so that there
would be nobody else who could have and hereditary
claims to Julius Caesar. At the age of 33, Augustus
defeated every opponent and united the Roman Republic.
Such accomplishments were simply unthinkable. Had
Julius Caesar been alive, he would have surely been very
impressed!
6 As
the most powerful man in the world, Augustus knew
that he must not rush to consolidate his position and get
rid of the senate as Julius Caesar has tried. For example,
instead of declaring himself Emperor right away, he
served as a consul for several years. He then announced
his he wanted to retire and the general public and
senators begged him to stay because they thought he
truly understood what it was like in the Roman Republic.
Augustus has gotten what he wanted, in reality he didn’t
want to retire.
Augustus Reading Questions
1. Who was Augustus’ great uncle?
2. Julius Caesar adopted Augustus, true or false?
3. Why didn’t anyone take Augustus seriously at
first?
4. Who did Augustus form an alliance with to
defeat Cicero?
5. What was Cicero’s fate?
6. What was the goal of the 2nd Triumvirate?
7. Why did Mark Antony want to go back to Egypt?
8. What was the name of Julius Caesar’s biological
son?
9. Who won the battle between Augustus and Mark
Antony? What did Mark Antony do afterwards?
10. How old was Augustus when he united the
Roman Republic?
11. Did Augustus want to retire?
12. What is the main idea of the 2nd paragraph?
13. What is the main idea of the 3rd paragraph?
14. What is the main idea of the 5th paragraph