The Roman Empire’s Founder (Part 1)
Gaius Octavius, known to history as Augustus (63 BC – 14 AD), was Rome’s first emperor. He was born to an affluent plebian family on his father’s side, while his mother was of the patrician Julii lineage, and a niece of Julius Caesar. Octavius’ famous grand uncle launched his grand-nephew into public life, and groomed him to be his heir. Octavius was in Albania, completing his military and academic studies, when his grand uncle was assassinated in 44 BC. He returned to Italy, where he learned that Caesar had adopted him as his son in his will, and made him his chief heir. Octavius was advised to decline the dangerous inheritance, but he ignored the advice and went to Rome. There, Caesar’s chief lieutenant, Mark Antony, refused to honor the will.
Caesar’s assassins ignored the teenager. Cicero, one of Rome’s leading elder statesmen and a key figure of a politically powerful but militarily weak faction, sought to manipulate him. He quipped that he would: “raise, praise, then erase” the young man. All underestimated Octavius. He paid for public games in honor of his adoptive father to gain recognition and popularity, and wooed Caesar’s veteran soldiers to his side. With a military force now at Octavius’s command, Cicero’s faction sought his aid. They bent the rules to appoint him a senator despite his youth, and sent him against Mark Antony, who was forced to retreat from Italy to Gaul. The consuls in official command of the forces arrayed against Mark Antony were killed, so Octavius compelled the Senate to appoint him to a vacant consulship even though he was legally too young for the office.
