Octavian

Octavian:

Julius "Augustus" Caesar was one of the most important Roman emperors. He ruled Rome for 41 years, longer than any subsequent emperor. He ended a century of civil wars and gave Rome an era of peace, prosperity, and imperial greatness, known as the "Pax Romana" which lasted for over 200 years. He was a member of the second triumvirate with Lepidus and Marc Antony. Like his father, he strengthened the empire and beautified Rome with numerous architectures.

Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus was born on September 23rd, 63 BC in Rome. His father was Gaius Ocatvius, whom was the first in the family to become a senator. He died when Octavian was only four. His mother, Atia, was the niece of Julius Caesar. He was a short, handsome boy whom possessed that commodity which was rare in rules- grace. He had bad teeth and was weak in health. His body was covered in spots and had numerous birthmarks scattered around his chest and body.

Octavian served under Julius Caesar in the Spanish expedition of 46 BC despite his delicate health. He was appointed to take senior military command in Caesar's planned Parthian expedition of 44 BC at the age of eighteen.

When Caesar was murdered on the Ides of March, 44 BC, Octavian was studying in Apollonia, Illyria. In Caesars will, he stated that since he hadn't conceived a child of his own, he adopted Octavian and appointed him to the heir. Since he was adopted, Octavian changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar. He was determined as ever to avenge Caesar's brutal murder. Octavian was now leader of a great army ready to follow the commands of Caesar's heir.

At the time of Caesar's assassination, Octavian held no political position. He went to Rome and demanded that the senate to name him consul with the help of army. He emphasized the fact that he was the son of a god, since Caesar had been Deified. Since he was eighteen years old, he was consistently underestimated by his rivals for power.

In 43 B.C., Octavian, Marc Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the second triumvirate to rule Rome. After taking power, the triumvirate killed thousands of political enemies and firmly established their control of the Roman government. They divided the Roman empire so that each would have a part of land to control. Marcus Lepidus received Africa, Antony received Egypt and the eastern part of the Empire, while Octavian got Rome and the western part of the empire. The leaders led a brutal campaign to punish Caesar's assassins but that shortly they turned on each other. Octavian first attacked Lepidus and took control of Africa and all of Italy. Antony strained relations between Octavian and himself by divorcing Octavian's sister for Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. In 31 BC, war broke out between Octavian and the combined forces of Marc Atony and Cleopatra. Octavian defeated his foes at the naval battle of Actium and became the sole ruler of Rome. Antony ran back to Egypt where he and Cleopatra committed suicide.

In 27 BC, Octavian made a bold and clever political move by declaring the Republican Government restored. He immediately offered to resign from the position of consul, but the senate, rather than accepting his offer, decided to give him the position of princeps. They honored him with the name Augustus which translates to "sacred majesty". The senate determined