Gaius Octavius Thurinus
An idealizedRomansculptedportrait of youngOctavius as a teenager, possibly produced posthumously or when he was much older, now located in theVatican Museums[1]
Emperor of theRoman Empire
Reign	16 January 27 BC – 19 August AD 14
Successor	Tiberius, stepson by third wife, son-in-law, and adoptive son
Born	23 September 63 BC Rome,Roman Republic
Died	19 August 14 AD Nola,Italy,Roman Empire
Burial	Mausoleum of Augustus
Spouse	1)Claudia ?–40 BC 2)Scribonia 40 BC–38 BC 3)Livia Drusilla 25 BC to AD 14
Issue	Julia the Elder Gaius Caesar (adopted) Lucius Caesar (adopted) Tiberius (adopted) Agrippa Postumus (adopted)
House	Julio-Claudian
Father	Gaius Octavius; adopted byJulius Caesar
Mother	Atia

Augustus, the firstRoman emperor, was born inRome on 23 September 63 BC as Gaius Octavius. In his early childhood he was raised by his father, also namedGaius Octavius, and his motherAtia, but after his father's death he was raised in part by his stepfatherLucius Marcius Philippus and his grandmotherJulia. In his youth he wasprovided an education inGreek andLatin rhetoric,mathematics, andphilosophy.

DictatorJulius Caesar, Augustus's great-uncle, helped to foster Octavius's early career, after the latter donned thetoga virilis at age 15 to mark his coming of age as anadult citizen. Caesar had Octavius elected to theCollege of Pontiffs, ride in his chariot during atriumph, and accompany him on amilitary campaign inHispania. Caesar named Octavius as hisprimary heir in his will, butwas assassinated on theIdes of March in 44 BC whileOctavius was studying and undergoing military training atApollonia inIllyria. Afterwards, Octavius sailed back toItaly to claim his inheritance as the rightful heir to Caesar, and is labeled by historians at this stage with the nameOctavian. Ultimately victorious after aseries of civil wars, he would eventually benamed Augustus by theRoman Senate in 27 BC, an event that traditionally marks the end of theRoman Republic and beginning of theRoman Empire.^[2]

Head of statue, thought to beGaius Octavius, father ofOctavius,c. 60 BC, MunichGlyptothek

A depiction ofAtia from thePromptuarii Iconum Insigniorum

TheTusculum portrait, perhaps the only surviving sculpture of Julius Caesar made during his lifetime, Archaeological Museum,Turin, Italy

Augustus was born Gaius Octavius inRome on 23 September 63 BC.^[3] The historians Anne-Marie Lewis andKarl Galinsky explain how there is scholarly debate surrounding Octavius's precise date of birth. Evidence that it had occurred on 22 September is based on statements by historians such asSuetonius andVelleius Paterculus, thoughCassius Dio affirms that it occurred on 23 September, and confusion also stems from the transition of using the early RepublicanRoman calendar to using theJulian Calendar during Octavius's lifetime.^[4] MostRoman histories gloss over the childhood of Octavius.^[5] Some details about his upbringing from his now-lost autobiography were preserved by Suetonius.^[6] However, the majority of information is preserved in a biography composed byNicolaus of Damascus around 20 BC.^[7] This biography has only partially survived in 10th-centuryByzantine excerpts,^[8] namely theExcerpta Constantiniana.^[9]Appian and Cassius Dio provide information about therise of Augustus as atriumvir, while Cassius Dio andTacitus focus on Augustus's role asprinceps and reign as the firstRoman emperor.^[10]

Octavius was a member of the respectable, but undistinguished,equestrianOctavii family through his father, also namedGaius Octavius.^[11] The younger Octavius was also the great-nephew ofJulius Caesar through his motherAtia.^[12] Octavius had two older siblings: a half sister,Octavia Major, from his father's first marriage, and a full sister,Octavia Minor. Hispaternal family was from theVolscian town ofVelitrae (modern Velletri),^[13] approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of the city.^[14] He was born at Ox Head, a small property on thePalatine Hill, very close to theRoman Forum.^[15] For at least a portion of his childhood he was raised in his family's hometown of Velitrae.^[16]

Octavius's paternal great-grandfatherOctavius was amilitary tribune in Sicily during theSecond Punic War. His grandfather wasa banker. However, the family entered into the senatorial ranks with Octavius's father the elder Octavius as itsnovus homo. The elder Octavius's entrance into theSenate came when he was appointedquaestor. He ascended theCursus honorum as quaestorc. 73,aedilec. 64, andpraetor in 61 BC,^[17] before being madeproconsulargovernor ofMacedonia,^[18] where he was proclaimedimperator for victories against theThracianBessi on its frontiers.^[19]

In his childhood, Octavius may have received thecognomen "Thurinus" to commemorate his father's victory atThurii over a rebellious band ofslaves who had been followers ofSpartacus.^[20] Later, after he had takenthe name of Caesar, his rivalMark Antony referred to him asThurinus in order to belittle him.^[21] However, Antony did so by insinuating that Octavius's great-grandfather was a mereplebeian rope-maker at Thurii, a dismissive insult based onsocial class.^[22][a]

The elder Octavius proved himself a capable administrator inMacedonia. Upon returning toItaly, before he could stand for theconsulship, he suddenly died inNola in 59 BC,^[23] or in 58 BC, when Octavius was only four or five years old.^[24][b] In 58 BC Octavius's mother Atia married a former governor ofSyria,Lucius Marcius Philippus.^[25] Philippus came from a leading familyin Rome and was electedconsul in 56 BC.^[26] According to Galinsky, as Octavius's stepfather, Philippus likely served as a role model in how to delicately navigate troubled political waters while preserving his personal wealth.^[27] It is also likely that Octavius was partly raised by his grandmother,Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar.^[28] When Julia died in 52 or 51 BC, Octavius delivered her funeral oration, his first major public appearance.^[29] HistorianPatricia Southern adds that such a move carried political connotations for Octavius:

When his grandmother Julia died he delivered thefuneral oration for her, probably aged about 11. It was his first public appearance. The content of the speech that Octavius made is unknown; it would not necessarily be absolutely accurate, since the main purpose was aggrandisement of the family. He would have known, or been told at this time, that Caesar had also made a similar funerary oration forhis own aunt Julia, the wife ofGaius Marius, and he had done so at a time when connection with Marius was downright unhealthy, if not actually lethal. Funeral speeches were as much political gestures as they were acts of piety.^[30]

HistorianAdrian Goldsworthy concurs about the political importance of the eulogy. However, he insists that it was delivered in 51 BC when Octavius was 12 years old. He also does not mention the political context that includes Gaius Marius.^[31]

Octavius waseducated in reading, writing, arithmetic, and theGreek language by a Greek slave tutor named Sphaerus, who Octavius later freed from slavery and honored with a state funeral in 40 BC.^[32] Galinsky claims that Sphaerus educated Octavius in the household of his stepfather Philippus,^[33] whereas Goldsworthy claims Sphaerus educated Octavius in the household ofAtia's parents.^[34] As a teenager he studied philosophy under the tutelage ofAreios of Alexandria andAthenodorus of Tarsus,Latin rhetoric underMarcus Epidius, and Greek rhetoric underApollodorus of Pergamon.^[35] In 48 or 47 BC Octavius donned thetoga virilis ('toga of manhood').^[36] Southern explains the discrepancy amongprimary sources for the age in which Octavius was allowed to wear thetoga virilis:

In Rome, Octavius assumed thetoga virilis on 18 October, at the age of 15...The coming of age was a public, formal ceremony, during which boys laid aside thetoga praetexta that marked their youth, and became officially enrolled asadult citizens. The normal age was 17, which was also the age when military service began, and the legal age at which a man could be prosecuted. In the early Empire, the lowering of the age of the assumption of thetoga virilis was regarded as a distinction of honour, and Augustus' grandsons Gaius and Lucius assumed it at the same age as Octavius at 15.Nicolaus of Damascus gives Octavius' age as only 14 when the ceremony took place, but the evidence fromSuetonius weighs against this".^[37]

Galinsky claims that Octavius's coming of age ceremony for wearing thetoga virilis was in 48 BC,^[38] as opposed to Southern, who claims it occurred during 47 BC.^[39] Goldsworthy also says that Octavius exchanged histoga praetexta for thetoga virilis on 18 October 47 BC. However, he clarifies that "Octavius was a few weeks past his sixteenth birthday", not 15 years old per Southern.^[40]

In 63 BC Julius Caesar becamepontifex maximus, head of theCollege of Pontiffs, allowing him to build political clout and eventually form the so-called 'first triumvirate' with the statesmenPompey andMarcus Licinius Crassus in 60 BC.^[41] This informal alliance, which superseded but did not suspendRome's constitution, had fallen apart by the time Caesarcrossed the Rubicon on 11 January 49 BC and initiated a protractedcivil war.^[42] Southern asserts that "the so-called 'first Triumvirate'" formed in 60/59 BC between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus was not a term that they would have recognized in their own day, and was only an informal alliance. Southern insists that it is a "convenient modern term" made analogous to the later legally sanctioned and so-called 'second triumvirate' formed by Octavian,Antony andLepidus.^[43][c] By 46 BC Caesar was elected to serve asdictator for a ten-year term,^[44] an unprecedented length of time for the office of dictatorship that was invoked for handling limited crises and state emergencies.^[45]

At the request of Caesar, to fill apriesthood position left vacant byLucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (after he was killed at theBattle of Pharsalus),Julius Caesar requested that Octavius should be elected to the College of Pontiffs in Rome, being accepted in 47 BC.^[46] The following year he was put in charge of theGreek games that were staged in honor of theTemple of Venus Genetrix, built by Julius Caesar.^[47] In late 47 BC, Octavius wished to join Caesar's staff forhis campaign inAfrica but gave way when his mother Atia protested over his poor health.^[48] Treating him as a son, Caesar had Octavius proceed next to his chariot during histriumph celebrating the campaign, and had him awarded with military decorations as if he had been present for it.^[49] In 46 BC, Atia consented for Octavius to join Caesar inHispania, where he planned to fight thelingering forces of Pompey, Caesar's late enemy, but Octavius fell ill and was unable to travel.^[50] In 45 BC Octavius finally traveled to Hispania to join Caesar's campduring the fight against the forces ofGnaeus Pompeius Magnus the Younger (son of Pompey),^[51] convincing Atia not to join him there despite her worries about his fragile physical health.^[52] The cause of Octavius's perennial health problems is not clear. Goldsworthy speculates thatAugustus's later serious illness suffered in 23 BC may have been feigned orpsychosomatic, and if real, both he and Southern have suggested aliver abscess.^[53]

Caesar deposited a new will with theVestal Virgins.Julius Caesar returned toRome fromHispania in October 45 BC,^[55] but first he drafted his will while staying at his villa inLabici just outside of Rome.^[56] It was here where he named Octavius as the prime beneficiary and his principal heir on 13 September 45 BC.^[57] Goldsworthy provides a different date for Julius Caesar drafting his will, writing that it took place on 15 September 45 BC.^[58]

It is alleged that Caesar had nominated Octavius to serve asMaster of the Horse (Caesar’s chief lieutenant) for the year 43 BC, thus making Octavius the number-two man in the state at the age of 19. However, a recently discovered inscription proves that Octavius was not appointedmagister equitum, in contradiction to the theory formed byTheodor Mommsen.^[59][d] The title may stem from conflation in Greek between themagister equitum andpraefectus urbi.^[61] Historian H. Gesche disagreed withWalter Schmitthenner on the issue.^[62] Schmitthenner argued that 16-year-old Octavius was too young to serve asmagister equitum, and that this was conflated with his role aspraefectus urbi during theFeriae Latinae festivities. Gesche, with whomErnst Badian agreed, argued that Octavius's appointment to the office ofmagister equitum was described plainly enough in Latin byPliny the Elder, and thus he did not seem to confuse the terminology translated into Greek.^[63] Southern argues that Octavius being a relative political nobody in Rome shortly afterCaesar's assassination undercuts the idea that he had ever served in the prestigious office ofmagister equitum.^[64]

Hoping to continue Octavius’s education, at the end of 45 BC Caesar sent him along with his friends—includingMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa,Quintus Salvidienus Rufus, andGaius Maecenas—toApollonia,Illyria across theAdriatic Sea from Italy.^[65] At Apollonia, Octavius was tutored on academic subjects, self-control exercises, and military doctrine and tactics.^[66] Octavius's tutor Apollodorus of Pergamon accompanied him on the journey.^[67] Caesar, however, had more than just education in mind for Octavius. He had sent severallegions to nearby Macedonia in preparation for an upcoming war with theParthian Empire.^[66]

Thewar with the Parthians never came during Caesar's lifetime. In 44 BC, Octavius was still studying and undergoing military training at Apollonia when Caesar was made Rome's firstdictator perpetuo ('dictator in perpetuity') in February.^[68] Caesar wasthen assassinated on theIdes of March (15 March) by senatorsopposed to him.^[69] It is alleged that a slave owned by Octavius's mother traveled to Apollonia to inform him about the assassination.^[70]

Rejecting the advice of some army officers to take refuge with his troops in Macedonia, Octavius sailed to Italy to claim his inheritance and mantle as Caesar's rightful heir.^[71] It was then made public that Caesar had adopted Octavius as his son and main heir.^[72] In response, Octavius changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus and accepted his inheritance outlined in the will.^[73][e] To avoid confusion, modern scholars commonly refer to him at this point asOctavian (Latin:Octavianus). However, he called himself "Caesar", which is the name his contemporaries used,^[75] though some such asCicero and his stepfather Philippus called him Octavianus.^[76] Standing victorious after a series of armed conflicts againstSextus Pompey,^[77] his rivaltriumvirMark Antony,^[78] andCleopatra, Queen ofPtolemaic Egypt,^[79] by 30 BC Octavian became themost powerful individual in theRoman world.^[80] In 27 BC the Senate voted to grant him the title ofaugustus, an event which historians view as the end of theRoman Republic and start of theprincipate phase of theRoman Empire.^[81]

• Adoption in Rome
• Cultural depictions of Augustus
• Outline of Augustus
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• Works by and about Augustus atPerseus Digital Library
• Gallery of the Ancient Art: August
• Augustus – short biography on theBBC'sHistory section
• "Augustus Caesar and the Pax Romana" – essay by Steven Kreis about Augustus's legacy at the History Guide
• "De Imperatoribus Romanis" – article about Augustus byGarrett G. Fagan at the Online Encyclopedia of Roman Rulers

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