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Augustus
Adopted by Caesar, Augustus (c.62 BC – 14 AD / Reigned 31 BC – 14 AD)
had to fight for his throne. His long rule saw a huge expansion in the Roman Empire and the beginnings of
a dynasty that, over the next century, would transform Rome, for better and worse.
The man who would become one of Rome’s greatest leaders had an unpromising start in life. Despite prophesies of
future greatness, Augustus was a sickly child in a family with few connections.
His father died when Augustus was four. His prospects were bleak: Rome was dangerous, engulfed by civil war between
power-hungry factions. One of these was led by his great-uncle, Julius Caesar.
A bit of luck
Then Augustus got a lucky break. In 46 BC, Caesar won the civil war and was named dictator of Rome. To secure his
position, he needed an heir. With no son of his own, he adopted Augustus.
This was a fantastic opportunity for a young man from nowhere. Almost at once, however, Caesar was dead – murdered
by his own advisors. Augustus was just 19, but immediately threw himself into the backstabbing world of Roman
politics.
Claiming the throne
He formed a strategic alliance with Marc Antony, a successful and ambitious general. Over the next few years, they
defeated their enemies in Rome and chased the survivors to Greece, where they finished them off in two of the
bloodiest battles in Roman history.
The killing over, the empire was theirs and they divided the spoils. Augustus kept Rome, while Antony took Egypt. There
he fell under the spell of Cleopatra, Egypt’s beautiful queen.
Trouble in Egypt
Romans feared that Cleopatra wanted the throne for herself and his relationship with her made Mark Antony a hated
man in Rome. His alliance with Augustus disintegrated but, before Antony and Cleopatra could strike Rome, Augustus
attacked.
The Battle of Actium in 31 BC destroyed three-quarters of the Egyptian fleet. Cleopatra and Marc Antony killed
themselves and, finally, the Roman Empire now included the land of the pharaohs.
Local hero
Back home, Augustus was a hero. At the age of 32, he had become Rome’s first Emperor, promising to restore peace and
security.
To avoid Caesar’s fate, Augustus charmed the Senate and the people by pretending to give up power. But a series of
disasters panicked Romans. They became convinced that only he could save them and begged the Senate to vote him
absolute ruler.
Augustus agreed, but did so cleverly. He convinced Romans that he was ruling in the best traditions of the republic, but
actually was an absolute ruler creating a dynasty. The Romans bought it.
Having fought his way into power, Augustus used religion as a tool to protect his position and promote his
political agenda.
Having gained power by force in a bitterly fought civil war, Augustus was aware that he could easily lose it again. He
was prepared to use any tool at his disposal to strengthen his claim to the imperial throne and thereby make it harder
for his enemies to overthrow him.
A piece of heaven
An important part of this strategy involved religion. The Emperor of Rome was already the most powerful man on
earth, but this wasn’t enough. Augustus wanted a piece of heaven too: he was determined that his people would see
him as their supreme spiritual leader.
Roman religion had many gods and spirits and Augustus was keen to join their number as a god himself. This was not
unusual: turning political leaders into gods was an old tradition around the Mediterranean. There was also precedent
in Roman history – Aeneas and Romulus, who had helped found Rome, were already worshipped as gods.
Halley’s Comet
Aside from their many gods, Romans were deeply superstitious, so when Augustus was handed a huge piece of luck,
he took full advantage of it.
Early in his reign, Halley’s Comet passed over Rome. Augustus claimed it was the spirit of Julius Caesar entering
heaven. If Caesar was a god then, as his heir, Augustus was the son of a god and he made sure that everybody knew
it.
Now regarded as part-god, Augustus encouraged stories of his frugal habits. He let people know that he lived in a
modest house, slept on a low bed and, when he wasn’t fasting, ate only very plain food, like coarse bread and cheese.
In a letter, he boasted to his stepson, Tiberius, of how he had not eaten all day.
Traditional values
Promoting himself as the man who would return Rome’s past glory, Augustus claimed that only by restoring the
traditional values that had first made Rome great could he hope to make it great again. One writer commented: ‘He
renewed many traditions which were fading in our age and restored 82 temples of the gods neglecting none that
required repair at the time.’
As ruler of Rome, Augustus had to lead by example. He re-established traditional social rules and religious rituals,
sacrificing animals to Rome’s gods. In 12 AD he made himself Pontifex Maximus, the chief priest of Rome and head of
the Collegium Pontificum, the highest priests in the land.
These initiatives were very popular. To many Romans, the reign of Augustus marked the point at which Rome had
rediscovered its true calling. They believed that, under his rule and with his dynasty, they had the leadership to get
there. At his death, Augustus, the ‘son of a god’, was himself declared a god. His strategy had worked.
So what did he do?
Augustus had ended 100 years of civil war and achieved over 40 years of internal peace and prosperity. During his reign,
Augustus achieved a lot. He expanded the empire, adding Egypt, northern Spain and large parts of central Europe before
invading Germany. It was a diverse society and enormous marketplace in which people across Europe, north Africa and
the Middle East could trade and travel under Rome’s protection.
He had won over the Senate and founded a dynasty. But this would feature as many villains as heroes, and would take
Rome on a roller-coaster ride into assassination, insanity and terror.
(http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/empire/augustus.html)