Augustus Caesar (27 BCE - 14 CE) was the name of the first and, by most accounts, greatest Roman emperor. Augustus was born Gaius Octavius Thurinus on 23 September 63 BCE. Octavian was adopted by his great-uncle Julius Caesar in 44 BCE, and then took the name Gaius Julius Caesar. In 27 BCE the Senate awarded him the honorific Augustus ("the illustrious one"), and he was then known as Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus.
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Definition
Timeline
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23 Sep 63 BCEOctavian born Gaius Octavius Thurinus at Rome.
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Mar 44 BCEOctavian / Augustus adopted posthumously by Julius Caesar.
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43 BCE - 36 BCESecond Triumvirate: Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus (official approval by the Roman Senate). Mass proscriptions including Cicero.
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42 BCEOctavian and Antony defeat Republicans under Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi (Greece).
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38 BCEOctavian amasses a naval fleet to defeat Sextus Pompey.
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36 BCEOctavian strips Lepidus of all power but Pontifex Maximus (supreme priest). Lepidus dies of old age in 12 BC.
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31 BCEOctavian uses Corcyra as a Roman naval base.
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2 Sep 31 BCEThe Battle of Actium. Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII.
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29 BCEOctavian celebrates a triple triumph in Rome.
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27 BCEAugustus creates the Praetorian Guard.
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27 BCE - 14 CEReign of Augustus Caesar. Athens and the Agora restored.
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27 BCEOctavian is given extraordinary powers and the name Augustus by the Roman Senate.
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c. 23 BCEAugustus takes over most of the powers of the tribuni plebis.
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19 BCEArch of Augustus built in Rome to commemorate victory over the Parthians.
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19 BCEAugustus is given supreme powers by the Roman Senate.
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c. 10 BCEAugustus rebuilds the Temple of Castor and Pollux in Rome's Forum Romanum.
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c. 10 BCEStatue of Augustus as Pontifex Maximus sculpted.
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9 BCEA massive altar the Ara Pacis is completed by Augustus in Rome.
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2 BCEAugusutus inaugurates the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome to commemorate his victory at the Battle of Philippi in 42 BCE.
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c. 2 BCEAugustus is declared "Father of the Country".
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2 BCEAugustus appoints two Prefects (praefectus praetorio) to command the Praetorian Guard.
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6 CEAugustus creates the aerarium militare, a treasury drawn from taxes in order to fund a professional Roman army.
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6 CEAugustus creates Rome's permanent firefighting force, the Vigiles.
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c. 13 CEAugustus creates the cohortes urbanae in Rome to help maintain public order.
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19 Aug 14 CEAugustus dies at Nola of natural causes.
