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Caesar Augustus

Caesar Augustus’ rule reigned from 31 BC – 14 AD. Caesar had to battle to achieve his throne actively. His government that lasted for many years, made him acquire many territories to expand the Roman Empire. The expansion of the Roman Empire will later fuel the start of a dynasty that would change Rome for good and for worse, over the following century. The guy had an unpromising start in life, but he maximized his potential and climbed the ladder and became one of the greatest leaders in Rome. Augustus’ family had close to no connections, not to mention him being a sickly child. Also, Augustus was destined for future greatness, according to the prophecies. At four years of age, Augustus lost his father, and it meant that his prospects were bleak. The engulfment of civil war led by the power-hungry factions made Rome a hostile place to live. Julius Caesar (his great-uncle) led one of the civil wars. Augustus managed to transform Rome barely from a republic to an empire, as a Roman emperor, at the time of tumultuous years after his adoptive father and a great-uncle died. Caesar consolidated his militia strength, lawmaking, not to mention his institution-building to achieving the sole rule of Rome. He laid a foundation for Roman peace (Pax Romana) that lasted for 200 years. Besides, he built an empire that reigned for nearly 1500 years.

In 46 BC, Augustus was a bit lucky as he emerged victorious in the civil war. To guarantee his position, Caesar needed an heir. He adopted Augustus since Caesar had no sons. Augustus had a perfect opportunity presented to him as a young man despite his lack of connections (Shotter, Pg. 3). His advisors at once murdered Caesar. Immediately, the situation led Augustus to become part of the untrustworthy world of Roman politics just at a tender of 19 years. A victorious general by the name Marc Antony formed a strategic alliance with Augustus.

After a few years, they had managed to suppress all Rome’s enemies, and the survivors ran to Greece for asylum. The survivors were killed by the alliance in what emerged in Roman history as the two bloodiest fights. Marc Antony and Augustus portioned the spoils since the assassinations had stopped, and the realm was now theirs. Marc got away with Egypt while Augustus kept Rome. The beautiful queen of Egypt (Cleopatra) influenced the Marc decision-making process, and it led to Romans thinking that the Egyptian queen wanted the throne for herself. Romans feared the relationship between Cleopatra and Marc, and it orchestrated the Romans’ hatred toward Marc. Following the deterioration of the Marc and August alliance, August rushed at attacking their empire before they could strike his Roman Empire. Three-quarters of the Egyptian fleet was destroyed in 32 BC, in the battle of Actium (Grebe, Pg. 37). Following the defeat of the Egyptian fleet, both Marc and Cleopatra committed suicide, and the pharaoh’s land was now part of the Roman Empire.

Consequently, Augustus was regarded as a hero back home. Merely at the age of 32 years, Augustus was the first Rome’s Emperor who brought hope in restoring peace and security. It was a daunting and risky task to win the war but was nowhere near the challenge of peace restoration. The separation of his wife and him and marrying of Livia (his mistress) who was pregnant made many to suspect him of trying to lay a foundation of dynasty rule for Rome that was to rule for generations to come (Evans, Pg. 7). To avoid what happened to Caesar, Augustus had to strategize on how to manipulate both the people and the Senate by pretending he wanted to surrender the power. However, the Romans had been terrified by a series of disasters. It led to people buying his idea of being their only savior, and they requested the Senate to make Augustus the absolute rule by casting the ballot. Augustus did his calculations so cleverly, and he agreed. As opposed to the creation of dynasty, Augustus deceived the Romans that he was serving for the best interests and traditions of their empire. The Romans did not hesitate to buy the idea.

As he was growing older, Augustus achieved a lot of greatness during his reign. He managed to invade Germany, expanded the jurisdiction of the Roman Empire, acquiring the central part of Europe, northern Spain, and Egypt. Augustus spearheaded a more conservative approach that got its future blueprint through the utilization of Rome’s old methodology. However, there existed a problem. His daughter, Julia, promiscuous acts had clashed with his moral conservatism, and he had to exile her. Also, Augustus was aging and becoming weaker. The plotting continued despite all the greatness and success. Augustus faced crisis after crisis, and everything that he dedicated himself to achieving was nearing the collapse (Osgood, Pg. 1). However, he managed to reign for another decade and died in 14 AD. Following his death, Augustus was declared as God by the Senate. The leadership thrown went to Tiberius, his stepson since Augustus’ two grandsons were already dead.

To conclude, Augustus successfully achieved to bring to an end the civil war that lasted for ten decades. For more than 40 years, he spearheaded the Roman Empire into internal peace and prosperity. Augustus’ authority and vision led to the Roman Empire expansion from a mere collection of countries to a diverse society and a significant economic hub where people across many parts of the globe traveled under the protection of Rome. Augustus had established a dynasty and prevailed over the Senate. In any case, this would highlight the same number of scoundrels as legends and would take Rome on an exciting ride into death, insanity, and dread.

Works Cited

Evans, Rhiannon. Utopia Antiqua: readings of the golden age and decline at Rome. Routledge, 2007.

Grebe, Sabine. “Augustus’ Divine Authority and Vergil’s” Aeneid”.” Vergilius (1959-) (2004): 35-62.

Osgood, Josiah. Claudius Caesar: image and power in the early Roman empire. Cambridge University Press, 2011.

Shotter, David. Augustus Caesar. Routledge, 2005.