Augustus Caesar

After Caesar died, Rome was in an uproar! Who would be in charge of Rome now? The people had loved Caesar. They were angry about his death. Some of the senators were angry about Caesar’s death too.

Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, was only nineteen when Caesar died. But he had inherited all of Caesar’s money, because he was Caesar’s adopted son. He took Caesar’s money and threw a big party in memory of Caesar. The party lasted ten days, and the whole city of Rome was invited. Then Octavian gave presents and money to every poor family in Rome. Suddenly Octavian was very popular! The people of Rome loved him because he was generous. The army loved him because he was Caesar’s adopted son.

When he saw how popular he was, Octavian went to the Senate and demanded to be made a consul. The Senate didn’t want to make Octavian a ruler of Rome. He was too young. And he was too much like Caesar. Once he had power as consul, he could start to work towards becoming a king.

But the people of Rome and the army wanted Octavian to be a consul, and the Senate was afraid to say no. So Octavian became a consul of Rome. Just like Julius Caesar, he led the army into nearby countries and conquered them for Rome. Just like Julius Caesar, he made the Roman Empire bigger and richer.

But Octavian didn’t make the same mistakes that Caesar had made. He knew that Caesar had made the Senate angry when he demanded to be called “king.” Octavian wanted to be like Cincinnatus instead. We read the story of Cincinnatus a few days ago. He was taking care of his grapes when the Senate asked him to be head of the army. But when all the Romans asked him to be king, he gave his power back to the Senate and went back to taking care of his grapes.

One day, Octavian called the whole Senate together. “I have made Rome bigger and wealthier than ever,” he said. “Now there is peace, all over the Roman Empire. No one is fighting. No enemies are attacking us. Rome is strong and healthy. So I have decided to quit my job. I don’t need to be consul any more. I won’t lead the army any more. You can be in charge from now on.”

The senators should have been pleased by this. But Octavian had become popular with the people, and they knew that the people would protest if he left the government. They might even riot. And then other ambitious Romans would begin to fight for power. A civil war might break out.

So they protested, “But you brought peace to Rome. If you stop being consul, Rome will fall apart again! Please, stay on and be consul.”

“No, no,” Octavian said. “Rome shouldn’t have a king, and if I stay people will want me to be king. I’m just a Roman citizen like everyone else.”

“We won’t call you king, then,” the senators promised him. “We’ll call you the ‘First Citizen’ instead.”

Then the whole Senate met together and voted to make Octavian the “First Citizen” of Rome. In Latin, the word for “first citizen” is princeps. Our English word “prince” comes from the word princeps. A prince is the most important citizen in his country. And even though Octavian was called “First Citizen,” he acted like a prince. He ruled Rome, led the army, and had complete control over the whole Roman Empire. He was actually the first emperor of Rome.

The Senate also gave Octavian a new name. His old name was “Octavian Caesar,” because he was Caesar’s adopted son. But his new name was “Augustus Caesar.”

Augustus means “Blessed” and “Majestic.” To show how much they honored Augustus Caesar, the Senate even decided to name a month of the year after him! Can you guess which month of the year is named after Augustus Caesar? The month of August.

They also agreed to name a month of the year after his adopted father, Julius Caesar. Can you guess which month is named after Julius Caesar? The month of July. Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar lived a very long time ago. But every time we look at a calendar, we are reminded of them.

Note to Parent: Octavian became a consul in 43 BC/BCE, one year after Caesar’s death. He remained a consul until 27 BC/BCE, when he assumed the position of emperor and continued to rule until 14 AD/CE.