Octavian, not Octavius

                Today in Western Civilization we continued our PowerPoint on Rome. Keep in mind, I have yet to look up the notes for the stuff that I missed on Caesar’s life, but I will do so tonight. We started on the slide that was titled sic semper tyrannis meaning “Thus always to tyrants”. This slide told about Caesar’s assassination in the Senate by his own Senators and his being stabbed twenty-three times. There may or may not be some play in from Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar, but Caesar’s death is historically accurate. Caesar’s throne is inherited by Octavian, who is his adopted son and grandnephew, and is eighteen years old. This is considered the end of the Roman Republic. The Senators that caused Caesar’s death were not punished. Octavian makes a new triumvirate, consisting of Mark Antony, and good general, and Lepidus, a trained politician. Eventually Octavian forces Lepidus to retire, but Octavian and Mark Antony become rivals. Mark Antony partners with Cleopatra of Egypt personally, politically, and economically. However, Octavian wins at the Battle of Actium, and Octavian becomes the unchallenged ruler of Rome. Octavian is renamed Augustus, meaning “exalted one”. He is also given the title imperator meaning “supreme military commander”, which is where the word emperor is derived from. Rome becomes an empire at this point. Octavian rules for forty years (from 27 BC-14 AD), and this time of stability and prosperity are known as Pax Romana, which lasts for 207 years (27 BC-180 AD). During his rule Octavian: expanded the Roman Empire into Africa, started a civil service to run the government that built roads, collected taxes, ran postal, administered grain supply, built aqueducts and building, and ran the police and a sort of fire department. Octavian eventually died of natural causes, and the age of emperors began.