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Gaius Octavius Thurinus
A bust of a youngerOctavian, dated to around 30 BC. It is located in the Museo Capitolino ofRome, Italy.
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 Velletri,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)
Names Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus
House	Julio-Claudian
Father	Gaius Octavius; adopted byJulius Caesar
Mother	Atia

Theearly life of Augustus, the firstRoman Emperor, began at his birth inRome on September 23, 63 BC, and is considered to have ended around the assassination ofDictatorJulius Caesar,Augustus' great-uncle and adoptive father, on 15 March 44 BC.

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

Atia fromPromptuarii 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.^[1] He was a member of the respectable, but undistinguished,Octavii family through his father, also namedGaius Octavius, and was the great-nephew ofJulius Caesar through his motherAtia. The young Octavius had two older siblings: a half sister,Octavia Major, from his father's first marriage, and a full sister,Octavia Minor. The Octavii were wealthy through their banking business inVelletri (in theAlban Hills), where the family was part of the local aristocracy. However, the family entered into the senatorial ranks with the elder Octavius as itsnovus homo. The elder Octavius' entrance into theSenate came when he was appointedquaestor in 69 BC. Shortly after the younger Octavius was born, his father gained a victory atThurii over a rebellious band ofslaves, and thus the son was bestowed thecognomen "Thurinus".^[1]

In 61 BC, the elder Octavius was electedpraetor. Following his praetorship, he would serve for two years asgovernor ofMacedonia.^[2] There, he proved himself a capable administrator. Upon returning to Italy in 59 BC, before he could stand for theconsulship, he suddenly died inNola. This left the young Octavius, then four years old, without a father.

Octavius' mother Atia took over his education in the absence of his father. He was taught as the average Roman aristocratic boy was, learning bothLatin andGreek while being trained as anorator. When Octavius was six years old Atia remarried toLucius Marcius Philippus, a supporter of Julius Caesar and a former governor ofSyria.^[3] Philippus didn't care much for his new stepchildren and they were raised primarily by their grandmother Julia. He was consul of 56 BC withGnaeus Cornelius Lentulus Marcellinus.

At this time, theFirst Triumvirate between Julius Caesar,Pompey the Great, andMarcus Licinius Crassus was starting to collapse. By the time Octavius was ten in 53 BC, the alliance completely broke down with the death of Crassus inParthia. Soon thereafter, Octavius made his first public appearance in 52 BC when he delivered the funeral oration for his grandmotherJulia Minor, sister of Caesar.^[4] It was at this time that the young Octavius captured the attention of his great-uncle.

With Crassus dead, Caesar and Pompey began to fight each other for supremacy and power. In 50 BC, the Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to return to Rome fromGaul and to disband his army. The Senate had forbidden Caesar to stand for a second consulshipin absentia. Without the consulship, Caesar would be without legal immunity and without the power of his army. Left with no other options, on 10 January 49 BC, Caesarcrossed the Rubicon (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only one legion and ignitedcivil war.

The Senate and Pompey fled to Greece. Despite outnumbering Caesar, who only had his Thirteenth Legion with him, Pompey had no intention of fighting in Italy. LeavingMarcus Lepidus as prefect of Rome, and the rest of Italy underMark Antony as tribune, Caesar made an astonishing 27-day route-march toHispania, rejoining two of his Gallic legions, where he defeated Pompey's lieutenants. He then returned east, to challenge Pompey in Greece where, on 10 July 48 BC at theBattle of Dyrrhachium, Caesar barely avoided a catastrophic defeat when the line of fortification was broken. He decisively defeated Pompey, despite Pompey's numerical advantage (nearly twice the number of infantry and considerably more cavalry), at theBattle of Pharsalus in an exceedingly short engagement in 48 BC.

The same year as Caesar’s ultimate victory against Pompey, Octavius turned 15 and donned thetoga virillis on 18 October.^[6] Shortly after, Octavius began his first official business upon being elected apontiff in theCollege of Pontiffs.^[6] It was Caesar who had nominated Octavius for this position, the first of many to come from Caesar. While it is unknown if Caesar took the time to explain the current military or political situation, he did take an interest in Octavius. While celebrating the Festival of the Latins, Caesar appointed Octavius thepraefectus urbi until his return. While the position was solely honorary and possessed no authority, it allowed Octavius a place in the public eye.

From 46 BC on, Octavius was very close to Caesar and attended theatres, banquets, and other social gatherings with him. In September 46 BC, when Caesar celebrated his multiple triumphs, Octavius took part in the procession and was accorded military honors despite never having served in combat.^[7] Soon, Octavius had built up considerable influence with Caesar to such a point that others would ask him to intercede with him on their behalf.

Following in the normal path of young Romans, Octavius needed experience with military affairs. Caesar proposed that Octavius join him inAfrica even though Octavius had fallen ill. Though he was now legally a man, his mother Atia was still a dominating figure in his life. According toNicolaus of Damascus, Atia protested Octavius joining Caesar, and the latter recognized the necessity of protecting Octavius’ health.^[8] Though she consented for him to join Caesar inHispania, where he planned to fight the remaining forces under Pompey’s lieutenants, but Octavius again fell ill and was unable to travel.

As soon as he was well, Octavius, accompanied by a few friends (includingMarcus Vipsanius Agrippa), sailed to Hispania. He was shipwrecked and, after coming ashore with his companions, was forced to make it across hostile territory to reach Caesar's camp. Octavius’ actions greatly impressed his great-uncle, who proceeded to teach Octavius the ways of provincial administration.Suetonius in Chapter 68 of hisLife of Augustus^[9] writes thatLucius Antonius, the brother of Mark Antony, accused Augustus for having "given himself toAulus Hirtius in Spain for three hundred thousandsesterces." This alleged homosexual liaison must have taken place in 46 BC during the civil wars when Julius Caesar took Octavian to Spain and Aulus Hirtius was serving there. At the time the future Emperor Augustus was 17 years old.

Suetonius also writes of the following accusations:

• Sextus Pompey accused him of effeminacy.
• Mark Antony accused him of having incestuous, homosexual relations with his uncle to gain adoption. Presumably, this means Julius Caesar.
• Lucius Antonius also accused him and having incestuous, homosexual relations with Julius Caesar. And doing this before his alleged affair with Aulus Hirtius in Spain.
• He did sundry shameless acts in his youth.
• He singed his legs with red-hot nutshells, to make the hair grow softer. This seems to be an extension of the accusation of being effeminate.
• 1 day, an entire theatre crowd thought he was a prostitute, who has sold sexual access to himself for money. Thinking the quote refers to Augustus only makes sense if the crowd thinks Augustus is a prostitute or close. The theatre crowd seemed to think this was Augustus making a statement that he is powerful even while being a prostitute.
• In chapter 69, there is universal consensus that Augustus does adultery. Augustus' friends supported this as for political reasons, rather than passion. It allowed him access to the information of his enemies through the women of their households.

Caesar and Octavius stayed in Hispania until June 45 BC, after which they returned to Rome.Velleius Paterculus reports that Caesar and Octavius shared the same carriage.^[10] When back in Rome, Caesar deposited a new will with theVestal Virgins in which he secretly named Octavius as the prime beneficiary.^[11] Upon returning to Rome, Caesar increasingly amassed more authority and control over theRoman state. He was made Consul for 10 years andDictator for the same period. He was allowed to name half of the magistrates each year and even allowed to name newpatricians. Among others, Caesar used this new power to elevate Octavius.

Hoping to continue Octavius’ education, at the end of 45 BC Caesar sent him, along with his friends Agrippa,Gaius Maecenas, andQuintus Salvidienus Rufus, toApollonia inMacedonia. There, Octavius learned not only academics and self-control but military doctrine and tactics as well. Caesar, however, had more than just education in mind for Octavius. Macedonia was home of fivelegions and he hoped to use it as a launching ground for an upcoming war withParthia in the Middle East.^[12] In preparation, 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, the war with the Parthians never came nor did Octavius’ promotion. While still in Apollonia, word reached Octavius that Caesar had been assassinated on theIdes of March in 44 BC. It was then made public that Caesar had adopted Octavius as his son and main heir. In response, Octavius changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. Though modern scholars to avoid confusion commonly refer to him at this point as Octavian, he called himself "Caesar", which is the name his contemporaries also used. Rejecting the advice of some army officers to take refuge with his troops in Macedonia, Octavian sailed to Italy to claim his role back

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