Octavius

BY HASSAN HOSSAYRAMI & JOSH HOUSMAN

Background • OCTAVIAN WAS BORN on September 23rd 63 B.C. TO GAIUS OCTAVIUS—AND OLD , WEALTHY

EQUESTRIAN FAMILY—AND ATIA, Caesar’s niece.

• Because Octavian’s father died in 59 b.c. Octavian had a better relationship with his mother.

• He was not a very healthy child

• His mother made sure he had the best teachers to tutor him at home. She also prepared him for the world of politics.

Politics & Military

• 47 BC: Octavian was made a member of the board of Roman priests, pontifices. His great uncle, Julius Caesar, became the chief priest, Pontifex Maximus.

• In 46 B.C. Octavian accompanied Julius Caesar in the public precession celebrating the victory of Caesar over his opponents in Africa.

• Octavian accompanied Caesar, in 45 B.C. on his military expedition to Spain to defeat the sons of Pompey, his rivals, who were trying to preserve their father's opposition to Caesar.

• In 44 B.C. Caesar is assassinated and Octavian is adopted under his will and Octavian become Gaius Julius Caesar Octavius.

Rise to Power & Military

• On January 1st, 42 B.C. Caesar is deified (regarded to as a God) and Octavius becomes the son of a God.

• On October 23rd of that same year was the Battle of Philippi where Mark Antony and Octavian avenge Caesar’s assassination by killing Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus.

Marcus Junius Brutus Gaius Cassius

Longinus

Marriage & Family Life • 39 B.C. Octavius marries Scribonia, and together they have a

daughter, Julia. The main purpose of this marriage was political, like many marriages back then.

• In 38 B.C. Octavius divorces Scribonia and married Livia. He later married his daughter to his general Agrippa, she was sixteen and he was forty!

Scribonia

Livia Julia

Important Battles

• 36 B.C.Octavian defeats Sextus Pompey at Naulochus, in Sicily. Lepidus is removed from the Triumvirate which puts the power into the hands of two men, Antony and Octavian.

• 34 B.C.Antony divorces Octavian's sister

• In 32 B.C. Rome declares war on Egypt and puts Octavius in charge

• With the help of Agrippa, Octavian defeats Antony at Actium in 31 B.C. in a battle against Antony and Cleopatra.

Bibliography Parrelli, Patrick. Octavian: Rise to Power: The Early Years of Caesar Augustus.

N.p.: International and Pan-American, 2008. Print.

"Augustus Gaius Julius Octavius (63 BC - AD 14)." Roman-Empire. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 April 2013. <http://www.roman-empire.net/emperors/augustus.html>.

McManus, Barbra F. "Antony, Octavian, Cleopatra: The End of the Republic." VRoma. N.p., n.d. Web. 23 Apr. 2013. <http://www.vroma.org/~bmcmanus/antony.html>.

"Octavian." UNRV History. N.p., n.d. Web. 1 May 2013. <http://www.unrv.com/fall-republic/ octavian.php>.

BBC History. N.p., n.d. Web. 25 Apr. 2013. <http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/ augustus.shtml>.

Gill, N.S. "Octavianus Becomes the First Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar." About.com. N.p., n.d. Web. 2 May 2013. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/augustusbio/a/aa092397Augustu.htm>.