Augustus
Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus
Princeps · Imperator · Pater Patriae · Pontifex Maximus
63 BC – 14
Biography
Born Gaius Octavius, grandnephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, he emerged from the civil wars of the late Republic as Rome's first emperor. His settlement of 27 BC preserved republican forms while concentrating real power in his person — a constitutional fiction that would last three centuries. His forty-one-year reign produced the Pax Romana, the golden age of Latin literature, and the closing of the temple of Janus, signifying universal peace.
Events
On 16 January 27 BC the Senate confirmed Octavian's settlement of the previous month, granting him the title Augustus and conferring extraordinary powers while maintaining the formal continuity of the Republic. The arrangement created the role of princeps — first citizen — and gave Rome its first emperor in all but name. The Principate as Augustus designed it lasted three centuries.
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