The First Emperor (1)

It almost goes without saying, but for there to be an Empire you usually need
an Emperor. Over the next 2 posts, we'll be taking a look at the man who has the honour of
being Rome's first emperor, and the way in which he was able to claim that seat without
anyone even realising.
But first, a bit of background might be necessary.
The history of Rome, in particular its founding, is intermingled with so many elements of
myth and legend that untangling all the facts from it is almost impossible. According to the
tradition, the city was founded by Romulus and Remus. You might have seen the famous
statue of two babies being suckled by a she-wolf? If so, those are the guys. Long story short,
Romulus kills Remus and founds the city of Rome- the date for both of these events is noted
as 21st April 753 BC.
From this date, Rome is then ruled by a succession of 7 kings (some good, some bad, and
some really bad) until the expulsion of the seventh king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, in 510
BC following a revolt. In 509 BC the Roman Republic was established and for over 400 years
the city was ruled by two annually elected consuls, who worked on the advice (and on
behalf, in theory) of the Senate and the people. During this time, Rome conquered numerous
lands and accumulated territories left, right, and centre until it could boast of being the great
Mistress of the Mediterranean. Things started to go a little downhill in the last century BC or
so with individual men trying to seize power for themselves, until the straw finally broke the
camel's back, and Julius Caesar was murdered in the Senate House on 15th March 44 BCstabbed to death by over 60 men, chief among these being Brutus and Cassius, two of the
most senior magistrates in the Senate (what a way to go...).
The reasons behind Caesar's murder may not seem all that relevant to the founding of the
Empire, but they actually are. Not in the least because the man that was to succeed him, and
take his place at the centre of the Roman world as emperor was Caesar's own grandnephew, Gaius Octavius.
Octavius was made Caesar's heir (in more ways than one) in his will and the 18 year old, now
posthumously adopted by Caesar, wasted no time in avenging his father's death and picking
up the reins.
If you pick up any five random books on the Roman Empire you may be struck by the lack of
consistency between them when it comes to dating the start of Octavian's* reign. That's

because there isn't really a clear day which can be marked as Octavian's 'first day as
Emperor'. Earlier I made mention to the importance of why Caesar was murdered, and it is
here that things should become clearer.
Many of the Senate observed the way Caesar was behaving, how popular he was amongst the
masses, and the way in which he was accumulating powers and offices. Between 69 BC and
59 BC, Caesar held the offices of quaestor, aedile, pontifex maximus, praetor, governor,
triumvir and consul, and by 45 BC following numerous successful military victories and the
gradual picking off of his opposition, Caesar essentially ruled the Roman world. He
introduced a number of great legislation and reforms while holding the office of dictator, a
post he was given in 47 BC, but Caesar wasn't careful enough with the way he went about
things. The Romans, after the bad experiences of their early years, hated the idea of kingship,
and the office of dictator very closely resembled that of a king- as such it was to be used only
in emergencies. In 46 BC, Caesar was made dictator for a fixed period of 10 years- an
unprecedented duration, but a fixed time nonetheless. However in 44 BC, Caesar, seeing the
progress he was making in his current post, had himself made dictator perpetuus ('dictator
for life'). Although a sole ruler may have been what Rome needed, it is not what Rome
wanted, and on the Ides of March, Caesar was murdered.
The 18 year old Octavian kept this memory with him throughout his ascent through the
Roman political system, and it was by doing so that he was able to succeed where Caesar
failed. Octavian's first declared act as Caesar's heir was to avenge his father's murder,
something which relatively few Romans would have objected to, as it was seen as a son's duty
to do so. But Octavian was young and needed a little helping hand to get him where he
wanted to be: the top. Following in the footsteps of his adopted father, Octavian formed
the Second Triumvirate** in 43 BC, a political alliance formed of himself, Mark Antony,
and Aemilius Lepidus, which basically gave them free rein to kill off their
opposition, appoint their own pals to offices, and divide up the empire among themselves
(which they promptly proceeded to do). In 42 BC, Octavian and his fellow triumvirs defeated
the last of Caesar's assassins, pretty much putting a complete end to the Republic- with
Brutus and Cassius now dead, there was no one left to fight the republican cause.
The trio continued to wage campaigns and gain territories, but in a group of 3 where each
man wants to be the star, things were bound to go bad sooner or later. And bad they went.
Lepidus was kicked out in 36 BC after attempting to take over territory Octavian had set his
sights on, and forced to retire, keeping only his office of pontifex maximus as this was an
office held for life. With just 2 triumvirs left, tensions soon began to rise and after a lot of
mud slinging and name calling, Octavian (in the west) finally declared war against Antony
(in the east) in 32 BC. Thanks to Octavian's skilled and experienced general Marcus Agrippa,

the joint forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra were defeated at the naval Battle of Actium in
31 BC and fled back to Egypt. Octavian's legions were sent after them, and in 30 BC Antony,
with no way out, committed suicide- Cleopatra would follow suit shortly afterwards.
With no one man left to challenge him for power, Octavian was now the undisputed ruler of
the Roman world. In the next post we'll go through the ways in which Octavian condensed
his powers after Actium and how he went from Octavian, to Augustus.

The Prima Porta statue depicting Octavian in military attire.

source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus#/media/File:Statue-Augustus.jpg

* NB: By this point he was known as Gaius Julius Caesar (Octavianus), after his
adoptive father, but Octavian is the name traditionally used by historians during this sticky
period to distinguish him from Gaius Julius Caesar senior.
** NB: The First Triumvirate consisted of Julius Caesar, Pompey the Great, and Marcus
Crassus and was a private alliance formed between the three men to help each other better
their political positions. The Second Triumvirate, on the other hand, was legally ratified with
the object of 'reconstituting the state' and gave the triumvirs the powers of a dictator.

Glossary:

Aedile - just above a quaestor, aediles were responsible for city administration
including the overseeing of the water and grain supplies.

Consul - the chief magistrate in Roman politics. Two consuls were annually elected
and presided over the Senate.

Pontifex maximus - the high priest in charge of the college of priests.

Praetor - the second highest office in Roman politics, just below consul. They assisted
consuls but had particular jurisdiction over legal matters.

Quaestor - the lowest ranked civic office. The holding of it led to admission to the
senate, and quaestor usually assisted more senior officials.