On the one hand, to describe someone as “augustus” simply indicated that he was a deeply pious individual who was filled with respect for the gods. The term Augustus was a traditional one that had an interesting, ambiguous set of meanings related to religion. (Image: Photography by I, Sailko/Public domain) Again, he had probably arranged behind the scenes for this to happen, but he could publicly claim the Senate had spontaneously granted him this title in gratitude for his actions.Īncient Roman statue of Emperor Augustus as Jove. One of the most interesting of these was the title of Augustus, bestowed upon Octavian by a vote of the Senate after his supposed abdication of power in 27 B.C. Learn more about Octavian and the dawn of the Roman Empire What Does “Augustus” Mean? What he did was to take on not just one name or title, but a plethora of them, each of which individually didn’t seem that intimidating or autocratic, but which collectively bestowed unprecedented status and prestige upon him.Īdditionally, all of these names or titles either had republican precedents or were based on long-standing cultural concepts, so that it appeared Octavian was respectful of tradition, even if, in his version, these same terms took on additional or novel meanings. Being innovative, it gave the appearance of simply following established traditions. To solve this vexatious dilemma, Octavian turned to his facility at propaganda and devised a remarkably clever solution. Thus, to create a Dictator for Life was to directly contradict the most fundamental characteristic of the original office and was too equivalent to being a king. Julius Caesar’s response to this issue had been to adopt the title of “Dictator for Life.” While the office of dictator had indeed existed during the republic, it had been strictly limited to a six-month term. That association would have been too close for comfort. Octavian briefly considered taking the name Romulus after the legendary founder of Rome, but rejected this idea because Romulus himself had been a king. While his position was monarchical in reality, he obviously could not openly label himself as a king. Watch it now, WondriumĪn additional leg supporting Octavian’s settlement concerned the difficult question of finding a name or title to call himself. This is a transcript from the video series The Roman Empire: From Augustus to the Fall of Rome. However, the handful of provinces that remained under Octavian’s direct control were precisely those which contained the overwhelming majority of the Roman army. One strategy was to give up control of government offices through an election, or else with candidates chosen by the Senate. Thus, he focused on consolidating power while at the same time maintaining the illusion that he did not have the absolute control of a king. When Octavian assumed leadership of Rome, his primary goal was not to be assassinated like his predecessor Julius Caesar had been. (Image: Unknown – Santo Attilio, Augusto, Milano 1902/Public domain) Octavian’s Title: The Importance of a Label By Gregory Aldrete, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, Green Bay What’s in a name? A lot, as we discover when exploring the many titles of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor.
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