Why Is Augustus Caesar Important

Augustus Caesar

Roman emperor Augustus once stated, “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.”, meaning the emperor has taken credit to have brought the city wealth and prosperity once he arrived. Born on the 23rd of September, in 63 B.C.E., Augustus was originally named Gaius Octavious. He was soon known as “Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus”; Caesar was the first emperor of Rome, after the fall of the Roman republic. Augustus had a family of high wealth with his father, who was a senator, and his mother, Atia, who was Julius Caesar’s sister and Julia’s daughter.3 Unfortunately, Augustus Caesar’s father died when he was at the age of four.3 His uncle, Julius Caesar, filled the role of a father figure in Augustus’ life

To his surprise, when he arrived Mark Antony, who was Julius Caesar’s chief lieutenant, thought he was going to be the heir and refused to give Augustus any of the necessary documents.3 In 31 B.C.E., Augustus beat Atony and Cleopatra in order to take revenge for the murder of his uncle in the Battle of Actium.2 In late November of 43 B.C.E., Augustus Caesar, Mark Antony and , Marcus Aemilius Lepidus were legally triumvirs for a five year period, known as the “Second Triumvirate”.3 After achieving this title, the men wrote up a list of political enemies to be vanquished or executed.3 The three men split the empire in order to rule more efficiently; Mark Antony ruled the East, where he fell under Cleopatra’s seducing spell and made an alliance, Marcus Lepidus took Africa and Augustus took the Western

For example, in October of 42 B.C.E, the triumvirs defeated Brutus and Cassius as they committed suicide at the Battle of Philipi, in October. Additionally, between 38 and 36 B.C.E., the trio dueled Julius Caesar’s archenemy, Sextus Pompeius. Tension arouse between Augustus Caesar and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus because Marcus began to act presumptuous against him. Lepidus felt overly-confident over his victory, had the audacity to instruct his team to leave Sicily. Augustus responded with bribing his troops because he had more cash, and ended the Second Triumvirate.4 Augustus and Mark Antony’s alliance became distant as well. Augustus set up a marriage between Mark and his sister, Octavia Minor, in order to strengthen the bond. However, the marriage ended up in a divorce because Mark Antony fell under Cleopatra’s seducing powers, counteracting the effort to cement their