Augustus - Emperor 27 B.C. - 14 A.D.


Name at birth: Caius Octavius Thurinus
Changed his name to Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus after the death
of Julius Caesar in 44 BC, who adopted him in his will. 
Received the title Augustus "exhaulted one" from the Senate in 27 BC.
Born: 23rd of September, 63 BC in Rome.
Died: 19th of August, 14 AD in Nola, Campania, of natural causes at
the age of 77. Rumours suggesting he was poisoned by Livia have
not been proven.
Father: Caius Octavius (about 100-59 BC), a knight from Velitrae (Velletri,
south-east of Rome), a favorite of Julius Caesar, who helped him rise to
become Senator and Praetor.
Mother: Atia Balba Caesonia (85-43 BC), Caesar's niece. Daughter of
Marcus Atius Balbus (105-51 BC) and Caesar's sister
Julia Caesaris Minor (101-51 BC).
Atia raised the young Octavius by herself after the death of his father
in 59 BC
Siblings: 1 sister: Octavia Minor (64-11 BC), who was first married to consul
Caius Claudius Marcellus
and then to Mark Antony from 39 BC
until their divorce in 37 BC, when he married Cleopatra VII.
Their daughter Antonia Minor (36 BC-AD 37) married Drusus Sr.
(38-9 BC), Livia's son and Tiberius' younger brother.
Antonia, in turn, gave birth to 4 children:
- Germanicus Caesar (15 BC-AD 19),
-Livilla (13 BC-AD 31)
-The 4th emperor Claudius (10 BC-AD 54) and
- Julia
(?? BC-??, died in infancy).
- ?? (?? BC-??, died in infancy).
Married: 1. Claudia Pulchra  (57/56 BC-??), daughter of Mark Antony's 1st
    wife Fulvia. Divorced, no children.
2. Scribonia (68 BC-AD 16), who bore him 1 daughter:
     Julia
. Married 41 BC, divorced 38 BC.
3. Livia Drusilla (58 BC-29 AD), no children by Augustus, but 2 from
    her previous marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero (died 33 BC): 
    The 2nd emperor Tiberius (42 BC-AD 37) and Drusus (38-9 BC), 
    father of Claudius. Livia was married to Augustus from 38 BC,
    when she was still pregant with Drusus, to Augustus' death in 14 AD.
Children: 1 daugher: Julia Major (39-BC-AD 14),
- She was betrothed to Mark Antony Jr. (aka Antyllus)
- married her cousin M. Claudius Marcellus in 25 BC. He died in 23 BC.
- married Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa (63-12 BC) in 21 BC
- After Agrippa's death, Julia was married to Livia's son Tiberius in
   11 BC until he divorced her in 6 BC. Julia was banished to the island
   Pandateria in 2 BC by Augustus, together with her mother Scribonia.
   She was later allowed to move to Rhegium in mainland Italy, where she
   lived until her death by starvation in AD 14.
Julia had 5 children by M. Agrippa.
Grandchildren: 5 grandchildren - all by Julia and Agrippa:
-Caius Caesar (20 BC-AD 4)
-Lucius Caesar (17 BC-AD 2)
-Julia Minor (16 or 15 BC-AD 28)
-Agrippina Major. (14 BC-AD 33), she married Germanicus Caesar,
   mother of Nero Caesar (AD 6-30) and the 3rd emperor
   Caius [Caligula]
(AD 12-41)
-Agrippa Postumus (12 BC-AD 14)
Julio-Claudian family tree
Historic dates:
- 63 BC, 23rd of September - Caius Octavius is born in Rome.
- 59 BC - His father dies unexpectedly. Atia, his mother, raised him by herself.
- 51 BC - Octavius delivers the tribute (laudatio) of his dead grandmother Julia. He is appointed pontifex (priest).
- 46 BC - Octavius accompanies his great-uncle Caesar in his triumph.
- 45 BC - Octavian joins Caesar in Spain, and remains with Marcus Agrippa to complete his studies.
- 44 BC, 15th of March - Julius Caesar is murdered, adopting his grand newphew Octavius as heir in his will.
       Octavius changes his name to Caius Julius Caesar Ocatavianus
- 43 BC - Octavian defeats Marc Antony at Mutina in northern Italy, and causes him to retreat to Gaul.
- 43 BC - Octavian appointed senator and consul
- 43 BC, 27th of November  - Octavian forms the 2nd Triumvirate with Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
- 42 BC, 23rd of October - Final defeat of the republican army of Brutus & Cassius by the armies of the Triumvirs, near Philippi, Macedonia.
       Octavian cannot be present at these battles because of an illness, and retreated to Dyrrhachium (Duerres), while Antony marched towards
       Philippi. As a result of this Anthony is now seen as the stronger of the two principal rivals
- 41 BC - After the siege of Perusia (campaining against Lucius Antony), Octavian  marries Scribonia, relative of Sextus Pompeius, for political
       reasons - to appease this potential military rival.
- 40 BC, October - Octavian reaches a settlement with Antony in the Treaty of Brundisium, causing him to divorce Scribonia and marry Livia Drusilla,
       whereas Antony marries his sister Octavia, but the latter soon leaves for Egypt to rejoin Cleopatra VII.
- 38 BC, 17th of January - Livia married to Octavian, whereby Tiberius automatically becomes the stepson of the later Emperor Augustus.
- 37 BC - The Triumvirate is officially renewed at Tarentum, though Antony and Octavian are by now clear rivals for supremacy and Lepidus
        plays second fiddle.
- 36 BC - Defeat of the semi-piratical  navy of Sextus Pompeius, by Agrippa off Cape Naulochus (Venetico), Sicily. Augustus was said to have lain ill
        in his tent until after the battle. This was naturally exploited by Anthony for propaganda reasons.
- 36 BC, autumn - Lepidus forced to retire into private life, but still holds the office of 'Pontifex Maximus' (chief priest).
        Octavian starts using the title "Imperator"
- 35-33 BC - Octavian fights campaigns in Illyricum and Dalmatia to secure the borders of northern Italy. He was wounded during the Dalmatian
         campaign in 33 but recovered.
- 32 BC - The Triumvirate officially expires. Antony officially divorces Octavia; Octavian seizes Antony's last will and testament,
        publishing the fact that in it his rival has illegally ceded Roman terrirories to Cleopatra VII.
- 31 BC, 2nd of September - Battle of Actium, where the fleet of Mark Antony and Cleopatra was defeated by Agrippa, Augustus' general.
- 30 BC, - Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide at Alexandria. Octavian conquers Egypt (AEGYPTA CAPTA), and becomes consul for this and
        every following year until 27 BC.
- 29 BC - Octavian officially receives the title "Imperator" from the Roman Senate, devotes the temple of Divus Julius, and from now on promotes
       himself as "Divi Filius", son of the divine Julius Caesar.
- 27 BC, 16th of January - Octavian is granted the title "Augustus" by the Roman Senate.
        This is sometimes seen as the official beginning of the Roman Empire.
- 25-23 BC - Augustus plagued by serious illness during and after the Cantabrian War in Spain. Augustus allegedly believed he was dying.
        False reports that he had died were actually issued. According to Suetonius, Augustus was saved by his physician Antonius Musa, with a
        controversial series of cold baths and fomentations.
- 23 BC - Augustus assumes the Tribunician Power (Tribunicam Potestas) for life, giving him the right to convene the Senate. Sometimes seen as the
        official end of the Roman Republic.
- 23 BC - Death of Marcellus, Julia's husband and possible heir to the throne, through illness.
- 22-19 BC - Augustus travels in Sicily, Greece and Parthia. Armenia established as a protectorate.
- 21 BC - Augustus' daughter Julia marries Marcus Agrippa.
- 20 BC - Caius Caesar, Augustus' first grandson is born to Julia and Agrippa.
- 17 BC - Lucius Caesar, his 2nd grandson, is born. Augustus adopts him and Gaius as his sons. They are gradually being groomed as his heirs.
- 16-15 BC - Anexxation of Noricum and Raetia by legions under Tiberius and his brother Nero Drusus, extending the imperial frontier to the Danube.
- 15-13 BC - Augustus resides in Gaul. He moves the minting of silver coins to the newly established mint in Lugdunum (Lyon)
- 12 BC - Augustus also becomes 'Pontifex Maximus', chief priest, upon the death of Lepidus.
- 12 BC - Marcus Agrippa dies. Augustus' daughter Julia is reluctantly persuaded to marry Tiberius.
- 9 BC - Tiberius' younger brother Nero Drusus, having advanced with his legions to the Elbe, dies of his injuries after falling off a horse.
- 6 BC - Tiberius shares in the Tribunician Power, but then falls out of grace with Augustus, divorces Julia, and goes into exile on the Greek Island
         of Rhodes.
- 5 BC - Caius Caesar assumes the 'Toga Virilis, is admitted to the Senate and is hailed as 'Princeps Iuventutis'.
- 2 BC - Augustus receives the title 'Pater Patriae', father of the country.
- 2 BC - Lucius Caesar also assumes the 'Toga Virilis, is admitted to the Senate and is hailed as 'Princeps Iuventutis'.
- 2 BC - Augustus banishes his daughter Julia to the island Pandateria, allegedly after being provided with evidence of her promiscuity.
- AD 2, 20th of August - Lucius Caesar dies under mysterious circumstances in Massilia, southern Gaul. Tiberius returns to Rome.
- AD 4, 21st of February - Caius Caesar dies in Lycia while on his way back to Rome. Tiberius now becomes the obvious choice to succeed Augustus.
- AD 4, 26th of June - Tiberius is adopted by Augustus as his son, sent to Boiohaemecum to conquer the German tribal state of the Macromanni.
- AD 6-9 - Major revolts break out in Pannonia and Illyricum - Tiberius is sent to deal with them.
- AD 9 - Three roman legions led by the general Quintillus Varus ambushed and slaughtered by Germans under Arminius, chief of the Cherusci tribe,
          in the Teutoberg forest near the modern village of Kalkriese, Germany.
          Consequently, the further advance of the Romans into Germany is haulted indefinitely. Tiberius is sent to crush the revolt.
- AD 13 - Tiberius appointed Imperator, officially recognizing him as Augustus' heir. Augustus leaves his will at the House of the Vestals in Rome,
          along with his autobiographical record "Monumentum Ancyranum" (also known as "Res Gestae")
- AD 14, 19th of August  - Augustus dies in Nola, Campania, while on his way back to Rome. Tiberius becomes the 2nd Emperor.
- AD 14, 17th of September - Three days after his burial, Augustus is officially declared a god by the Roman Senate.
My coins of Augustus


Suggested reading on the life and reign of Augustus:

-Suetonius, Tranquillus, after A.D. 126, "De Vita Caesarum" (aka "The Twelve Caesars"), available in various modern translations
-Grant, Michael - "The Roman Emperors", 1985. Paperback edition released by Phoenix Press, 2002 - ISBN 1-84212-652-0
-Grant, Michael - "Sick Caesars - Madness and Malady in Imperial Rome", 2000. Released by Barnes & Noble, 2000 - ISBN 0-7607-0937-8
-Grant, Michael - "The Twelve Caesars", 1975. New edition released by Book-of-the-Month-Club, Inc., 2000 - ISBN 0-965-01421-5
-Grant, Michael - "History of Rome", 1978,  Charles Scribner's Sons, New York. ISBN 0-684-15986-4
-Sear, David R. - "The Emperors of Rome and Byzantium", 1974,1981, Seaby, London. ISBN 0-900652-54-3

Wikipedia: Caesar Augustus
-Fagan, Garrett G. - "De Imperatoribus Romanis: Augustus"

Suggested viewing on the life and reign of Augustus:

-"Cleopatra", 20th Century Fox, 1963, directed by Joseph L. Mankiewicz - available on DVD - Roddy McDowall plays Octavian/Augustus
-"I, Claudius", 13-part TV series, BBC-TV, 1976, directed by Herbert Wise - available on DVD - Brian Blessed plays Augustus
-"Imperium: Augustus", TV movie/mini-series, 2003, directed by Roger Young - available on DVD - Peter O'Toole plays Augustus Caesar
-"Rome", -22-part TV series (2 seasons), HBO/BBC, 2005-2007, directed by 7 people - available on DVD - Max Pirkis plays Gaius Octavian