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Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law [d] and so had adopted Octavian, his grand-nephew, in his will, making him his primary heir. [34] Mark Antony later charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favours, though Suetonius describes Antony's accusation as political slander. [35]
It was then made public that Caesar had adopted Octavius as his son and main heir. In response, Octavius changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus. Though modern scholars to avoid confusion commonly refer to him at this point as Octavian, he called himself "Caesar", which is the name his contemporaries also used.
Augustus (Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus), as Caesar's adopted son and heir, discarded the family name of his natural father and initially renamed himself "Gaius Julius Caesar" after his adoptive father. It was also customary for the adopted son to acknowledge his original family by adding an extra name at the end of his new name.
Antony and Lepidus now had to deal with Octavian Caesar, Caesar's great-nephew, who had been adopted by Caesar in Caesar's will. Octavian was the only surviving commander of the forces that had defeated Antony at Mutina (modern Modena). The Senate instructed Octavian to hand over control of the troops to Decimus Brutus, but he refused.
The title, in full, of princeps senatus / princeps civitatis ("first amongst the senators" / "first amongst the citizens") was first adopted by Octavian Caesar Augustus (27 BC–AD 14), the first Roman "emperor" who chose not to reintroduce a legal monarchy.
The Octavii originally came from the Volscian town of Velitrae, in the Alban Hills.The historian Suetonius writes, . There are many indications that the Octavian family was in days of old a distinguished one at Velitrae; for not only was a street in the most frequented part of town long ago called Octavian, but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by an Octavius.
As a result of the various titles he adopted throughout his life, Augustus is known to history by several different names, however he is most commonly referred to as either Octavian, Caesar or Augustus in popular culture, depending on the stage of his life that is being depicted. [1]
[3] Octavian wanted to solidify his status as master of the state, but avoid the fate of his adopted father. On January 13 of 27 BC, Octavian transferred control of the state back to the Senate and the People of Rome, [3] but, in all likelihood, he knew what the result of such a move would be. Without Octavian, Rome could again descend into ...