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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.
Octavian [ edit ] On 1 January 42 BC, nearly two years after the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, but before the final victory of the Second Triumvirate over the conspirators who had taken his life, the Roman Senate recognised Caesar as a divinity.
As Caesar's adopted heir, Octavian stood to inherit the genius, heritable property and honours of his adoptive father in addition to those obtained through his own birth gens and efforts. [203] The exceptionally potent genius of living emperors expressed the will of the gods through Imperial actions. [ 204 ]
The religious ambiguity of the title allowed for this kind of deification throughout the empire as subjects – beginning from Asia and Bithynia – adopted the worship of the genius or soul of Augustus, establishing a ruler-cult. [11] The first emperor bequeathed the title Augustus to his adopted heir and successor Tiberius in his will. [4]
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.
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]
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.