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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.
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]
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.
Octavian used the title divi filius to advance his political position, finally overcoming all rivals for power within the Roman state. [4] The title was for him "a useful propaganda tool", and was displayed on the coins that he issued.
Octavian, the future Augustus, was adopted in this way by his maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar. [42] Although adoptio was a practice aimed at furthering the succession of male privileges, both men and women could in effect "adopt" by passing along their property in a will with the condition that the heir carry on the family name (condicio ...
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.
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 Julio-Claudian dynasty was the first dynasty of Roman emperors.All emperors of that dynasty descended from Julii Caesares and/or from Claudii.Marriages between descendants of Sextus Julius Caesar and Claudii had occurred from the late stages of the Roman Republic, but the intertwined Julio-Claudian family tree resulted mostly from adoptions and marriages in Imperial Rome's first decades.