Who was Caesar Augustus?

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Born Gaius Octavius Thurinus in 63 BC, Augustus was the first and arguably the greatest Roman emperor. "Augustus" was a title awarded to Octavian by the Roman Senate and that is the name by which he is remembered. (The month of August is named for him.) He was the grand nephew of Julius Caesar, as well as Caesar's adopted son (Julius himself was never emperor, just dictator). Augustus was the founder of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which included the emperors Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, and Nero.

After the murder of Caesar in 44 B.C., Octavian was named heir in Caesar's will. He formed an uneasy alliance with Julius Caesar's fellow soldier Marc Antony and the general Marcus Lepidus, an alliance known as the Second Triumvirate. The three spent several years conquering their common enemies, but Octavian and Antony finally turned on one another after Antony formed a political (and romantic) alliance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra. Octavian defeated the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra in the naval battle of Actium (31 B.C.) and became the absolute power in Rome.

In 27 B.C. the Roman Senate added to his adopted name of Caesar the title Augustus (meaning "divine" or "majestic"). As emperor he expanded the borders of Rome and took a particular interest in civic and cultural affairs, building temples and theaters, improving aqueducts and supporting poets and historians like Virgil and Ovid. Augustus died in 14 A.D. and was replaced by his stepson Tiberius, the son of Augustus's second wife Livia.

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