Download Stage 9: Octavius/Augustus

Latin 1A
Magistra Kelleher
Historical Figure #9: Augustus/Octavius
Gaius Octavius Thurinus was born in September 63BC. His mother, Atia, was
the neice of Julius Caesar and his father had been governor of Macedonia. As a young
man Octavius’ life was uneventful. It was not until Julius Caesar was assassinated that
Octavius’ life changed dramatically. At the time of Caesar’s assassination, Octavius was
in Illyria studying and undergoing military training. Upon hearing of his uncle’s death,
Octavius sailed back to Italy for the reading of Caesar’s will, in which Caesar chose
Octavius as his political and financial heir. Octavius then changed his name to Gaius
Julius Caesar in honor of his uncle (although he is still referred to as Octavius until 27
BC).
After taking up his role as Caesar’s heir, Octavius went to Brundisium to gain
the support of Caesar’s army. The army welcomed him with open arms. After
receiving their support and the political prowess that came with it, Octavius returned
to Rome where Caesar’s former right-hand-man, Marc Antony, was consul. Marc
Antony was having difficulty leading Rome in the wake of Caesar’s assassination. He
had exiled the assassins from Rome which won him praise from Caesarian supports,
but he had also rejected a proposal to elevate Caesar to divine status. The senate
members who remained in Rome hated Antony and worked to undermine him. In late
44 BC Octavius kept a low profile among the senate leaders and instead worked on
gaining the support of the pro-Caesar plebians and armies. He quickly won over
people who had first been loyal to Antony and even swayed two of Antony’s military
legions to his cause by promising them more money.
Octavius first got his chance at power at the start of 43BC. Antony had gone off
to Cisalpine Gaul to take over as governor, but the previous governor, Decimus Brutus,
refused to relinquish his power. Antony had besieged the governor and demanded his
retirement. The senate saw this as an opportunity to take down Antony, but they had
no army to do it. The senate then turned to the young Octavius, only 19 years old, and
begged him to use his armies to bring down Antony. If he agreed he would be made a
full senator, although he was too young, and would be given co-authority of the army
to be shared with the two consuls Hirtius and Pansa. Octavius agreed and set off
against Antony. Octavius’ forces defeated Antony, but Hirtius and Pansa were killed.
After the victory, however, the senate did not honor Octavius and told him to hand over
his armies to the governor of Gaul, Decimus Brutus. Octavius was infuriated and
refused to hand over his armies. He also refused to help Decimus Brutus fight against
Antony who has rebuilt his armies and was preparing to attack again. The senate tried
to appease Octavius by offering him the office of consul, but Octavius refused to agree
unless the senate pardoned Antony. The senate refused and Octavius marched on
Rome, where he encountered no opposition and was elected consul.
After taking up the office of consul, Octavius entered into an alliance known as
the Second Triumvirate with Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus. These men bound
together to wage war on the assassins of Caesar, particularly Marcus Junius Brutus and
Gaius Cassius Longinus. The triumvirate, against Octavius’ wishes, reenacted the
proscriptions in order to destroy anti-Caesar factions and raise money for their war.
The triumvirate’s forces swiftly defeated Brutus and Cassius in 42 BC. After that victory
the triumvirate divided the ruling of the empire as such: Octavius took control of Gaul,
Hispania, and Italy; Antony took Greece and the eastern provinces; Lepidus took Africa.
Antony went to Egypt were he allied himself with Cleopatra and her young son
Caesarion. Antony had an affair with Cleopatra who had twins, a boy and a girl, with
him. After 2 years relations between the three men became strained and Antony tried
to take Italy from Octavius in 40 BC. The conflict between the two men became
deadlocked and Antony sailed to Italy for a peace treaty. The men further solidified
their alliance when Antony married Octavius’ sister Octavia. Each of the triumvirs
returned to their provinces and relations between them were good for another 4 years
In 36 BC Octavius and Lepidus found themselves at war with the governor of
Sicily who they easily defeated. However, Lepidus wanted Sicily for himself and
declared war against Octavius. Unfortunately for Lepidus his troops all deserted him to
join Octavius and he was sent into exile in shame. This left only Octavius and Antony
as the rulers of Rome. In the same year, Antony publically humiliated his wife by
sending her and their two daughters back to Rome so that he could continue his affair
with Cleopatra and join his army with hers. Octavius was enraged and began a
propaganda campaign which claimed that Antony was no longer Roman. Antony
worsened his reputation in Rome by declaring his son by Cleopatra, Alexander Helios,
ruler of Armenia and his daughter by Cleopatra, Selene, ruler of Libya. He also
declared Cleopatra “Queen of Kings”. Octavius used all of this as evidence that Antony
was no longer following the Roman ways of politics, but was setting himself up as a
king in the east. In 32 BC the senate officially revoked Antony’s powers and declared
war on him and Cleopatra in Egypt. Octavius led the Roman armies and won early
victories against the Egyptian naval forces. In September 31 BC the decisive Battle of
Actium took place. During this battle Octavius crushed Antony’s forces and Antony
escaped back to Alexandria. There he and Cleopatra committed suicide. Octavius then
ordered the death of Caesarion, but pardoned Antony’s other children as well as those
who surrendered in Actium.
After the Battle of Actium, Octavius was the most powerful man in Rome. No
one could challenge him, but he kept the senate happy enough to prevent repeating his
uncle’s fate. For the next 40 years Octavius ruled Rome alone. Although he never
called himself a king or emperor, it is clear that he was. He was a brilliant politician
who convinced the Roman people that keeping his as the “first man in Rome” would
prevent civil war. His rule is known as the “pax Romana” and was a peaceful time in
Rome’s history. However, he also finalized the fall of the republic. The government
which Lucius Brutus began in 509 BC finally collapsed and Rome was ruled by
emperors for the next 400 years.
But that’s a story for another year . . . .