"the revered one"
Emperor Augustus began his life on September 23, 63 B.C., as Gaius Octavius, the great-nephew to Julius Caesar. Having fathered no legitimate heirs of his own, Caesar adopted Octavius as his son to fulfill this role. However, Caesar died prematurely—killed by a group of senators in 44 B.C. He had not yet had the opportunity to prepare Octavius for a career in politics, and the knowledge that eighteen year old Octavius was to replace Caesar was only discovered because it had been written in Caesar's will.
Despite these circumstances, Octavian soon proved himself to be a capable leader. In the November of 43 B.C., he was able to reach a truce with his political opponents, Mark Antony and Lepidus. The agreement that the three men came to is called the Second Triumvirate, and it gave them rule over the Republic together.
Lepidus's power soon diminished to the power of Antony and Octavian. The latter two eliminated those who had caused trouble or dissented against them, among which included the senators that had been involved in the murder of Caesar. So in 42 B.C., Antony and Octavian allied with each other and led their forces to Philippi, in northern Greece. It was there that the senators were finally defeated.
Sadly, the partnership was not to last. A series of conflicts between Antony and Octavian began to take place; each wanted more power than what had been allotted to him. In their effort to dissuade the public from questioning their alliance, Octavian gave his sisters' hand in marriage to Antony; a horrible choice on his part. The sister had no say in this. Press F to pay your respects for Octavia.
Long story short, the marriage fell through. Antony fell in love with Cleopatra, Octavian used Antony's infidelity as an excuse to wage war against him, and then Cleopatra and Antony killed themselves.
Now Octavian was the sole leader of Rome! He might have claimed that he had given power back to the Senate and to the people, as Octavian was well aware that Caesar's willingness to admit to his autocracy resulted in his untimely departure, but this was merely a ruse that Octavian insisted on to prevent his own demise. Octavian was most assuredly the one who held ultimate power.
He discarded his previous name and began calling himself "Augustus Caesar," and took up the epithet of "the revered one." Augustus's reign lasted from 31 B.C. to 14 C.E.—in which time he helped restore the nation's infrastructure, architecture, and economy—and he was met at the end with a natural death. He had ruled for an impressively long period of 45 years.
The background image is a F2U photo taken by Szymon Shields and found on Pexels.
imagine being named after footwear
Caligula was not always known by a name that translates to "little boots." He was born on August 21, 12 C.E., as a boy named Gaius, a child well-loved by the troops under his father's command. He grew up alongside these soldiers, who would often dress him in a costume to resemble one of their own.
It was actually Caligula's father, Germanicus, who was meant to ascend the throne. Unfortunately, Germanicus died before that could happen. His son was given the position that would have otherwise gone to him in 37 C.E.
The first few months of Caligula's rule were filled with public events—games and festivals and all sorts of spectacles that his subjects displayed great enthusiasm for. The beginning of his political career was bright and rife with promise.
This would soon all change, however.
Within a short span of time, Caligula grew increasingly brutal. His behavior became more and more erratic, his demands more and more nonsensical. He hired people who would claim treason from affluent citizens, just so he could have a reason to execute those affluent citizens and take all of their wealth to fund his own personal, self-indulgent projects. He decided that the government office of consul should go to his horse. He led a military expedition to Britain, but took a detour in France to force the soldiers to collect seashells, and then made everyone return home.
It may not come as a shock that by then, people really hated him.
Caligula was so hated, in fact, that the military killed him in 41 C.E. Not even half a decade had passed since he first inherited the title of emperor.