How Old Was Octavian When He Took Control Over Rome

Bust of Augustus every bit a immature man

Adopted by Caesar, Augustus (c.62 BC – fourteen Ad / Reigned 31 BC – fourteen AD) had to fight for his throne. His long rule saw a huge expansion in the Roman Empire and the beginnings of a dynasty that, over the next century, would transform Rome, for improve and worse.

The human who would go one of Rome'southward greatest leaders had an unpromising start in life. Despite prophesies of future greatness , Augustus was a sickly kid in a family with few connections.

His father died when Augustus was iv. His prospects were dour: Rome was dangerous, engulfed by civil war between power-hungry factions. Ane of these was led by his great-uncle, Julius Caesar.

A bit of luck

And so Augustus got a lucky break. In 46 BC, Caesar won the civil war and was named dictator of Rome. To secure his position, he needed an heir. With no son of his own, he adopted Augustus.

This was a fantastic opportunity for a fellow from nowhere. Almost at once, nevertheless, Caesar was dead – murdered by his own advisors. Augustus was just 19, but immediately threw himself into the backstabbing world of Roman politics .

Claiming the throne

He formed a strategic alliance with Marc Antony, a successful and ambitious general. Over the next few years, they defeated their enemies in Rome and chased the survivors to Greece, where they finished them off in two of the bloodiest battles in Roman history.

The killing over, the empire was theirs and they divided the spoils. Augustus kept Rome, while Antony took Egypt. There he vicious under the spell of Cleopatra, Egypt's beautiful queen.

Problem in Egypt

Romans feared that Cleopatra wanted the throne for herself and his relationship with her made Mark Antony a hated man in Rome. His alliance with Augustus disintegrated simply, before Antony and Cleopatra could strike Rome, Augustus attacked.

The Boxing of Actium in 31 BC destroyed iii-quarters of the Egyptian fleet. Cleopatra and Marc Antony killed themselves and, finally, the Roman Empire at present included the land of the pharaohs.

Local hero

Dorsum abode, Augustus was a hero. At the age of 32, he had become Rome'south get-go Emperor, promising to restore peace and security.

Winning the war had been hard, but was cypher compared to the challenge of winning the peace. He had divorced his wife and married his meaning mistress, Livia. Many immediately suspected him of wanting to create a dynasty to rule Rome for generations to come.

A charm offensive

To avoid Caesar's fate, Augustus charmed the Senate and the people by pretending to requite up power. But a series of disasters panicked Romans. They became convinced that only he could save them and begged the Senate to vote him absolute ruler.

Augustus agreed, just did so cleverly. He convinced Romans that he was ruling in the best traditions of the commonwealth, only actually was an accented ruler creating a dynasty. The Romans bought it.

Growing older

During his reign, Augustus achieved a lot. He expanded the empire, calculation Egypt, northern Spain and big parts of key Europe earlier invading Germany. At dwelling, he spearheaded a conservative approach that used the glory of Rome'due south past as a blueprint for its futurity.

But problems remained. His moral conservatism had clashed with the public promiscuity of his daughter, Julia. He was forced to banish her.

What'due south more than, Augustus was growing older and weaker. Despite his successes, the plotting continued. Everything that Augustus had worked so difficult to achieve was in danger of collapsing every bit he faced crisis after crisis, both at home and abroad.

Even so, Augustus clung onto ability for another 10 years. When he died, in 14 Advert, the Senate declared him a god. With his 2 grandsons already dead, power passed to his stepson, Tiberius.

So what did he do?

Augustus had concluded 100 years of civil state of war and achieved over xl years of internal peace and prosperity. His vision and power had expanded the Roman Empire to become far more than than a collection of countries. Instead, it was a diverse gild and enormous market in which people beyond Europe, north Africa and the Eye East could merchandise and travel nether Rome's protection.

He had won over the Senate and founded a dynasty. Just this would feature every bit many villains as heroes, and would take Rome on a roller-coaster ride into bump-off, insanity and terror.

Where to next:
Enemies and Rebels – Cleopatra and Egypt
Religion in Ancient Rome – Augustus