Augustus
(known until
27
BC
as Octavian) (
63
BC
–
14
AD
) The first Roman
emperor. Originally called Gaius Octavius, he took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus when he was adopted by the will of his great‐uncle
Julius Caesar
in
44
BC
. He established his position as one of the triumvirate of
43
BC
, gaining supreme power by his defeat of Antony in
31
BC
. A constitutional settlement in
27
BC
in theory restored the republic but in practice regularized his sovereignty; in the same year he was given the title Augustus (Latin for ‘venerable’). His rule was marked abroad by a series of expansionist military campaigns and at home by moral and religious reforms intended to restore earlier Roman values disrupted during previous civil wars....
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