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Augustus: Emperor of Rome Part 1

© S Cuppari

During ancient times, the glory of an empire could be defined by a ruler's accomplishments, his vision for the future of that empire, his strengths and weaknesses and his hold on power. This power matched the grandeur of an empire's geographical size as well as the great powerful armies defending its borders and its investment in fostering the arts, architecture, construction of some roads, economy, trade, political and legislative arenas and so on.

Rome falls into this mould, and although in the contemporary world, is seen along with Paris and London as a fashion capital, it fast became somewhat the capital of the world in ancient times-it continued to conquer territories with organized legions.

When Julius Caesar reigned, his hold on power was strong but not absolute. He had achieved many triumphs but there had been some civil wars and he had turned dictator. This did not go down very well and in 44 BC he was murdered-he died of multiple stab wounds.

Betrayed by others (some were his supporters) he was to have the last laugh. During his life, Caesar could have seen qualities in Augustus which would make him a great leader or even noticed that Augustus' vision for Rome's future could have been similar to his own. So much so that when Caesar's will was read out in public, he had adopted him as son and heir.

Augustus was born September 23, 63 BC into a so-called aristocratic family. That is, Augustus was Julius Caesar's grandnephew and his mother, Atia, was niece of Caesar. His father, on the other hand, died when he was young.

Augustus is described as a powerful figure. This depiction can be seen in a statue of this leader, which is now in the Vatican Museum. Augustus is dressed in legion attire and some width of his garment is flung over his right arm while the left is extended out away from his body. His hair is short and there's a blank expression on his face.

By the time Augustus became a young adult he had been ignorant of his path in life. That of being Caesar's adoptive son, but when the news of his good fortune spread and he eventually heard about his status, the only course of action was to take what was rightfully his.

An opponent would be Marc Antony. Next month read about the inevitable defeat of Marc Antony and the rise of Augustus to the status of Emperor of Rome.