Augustus+Caesar

“I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”-Augustus Caesar (Brainyquotes). That is what this unthinkable and unbelievable leader once said. Without a doubt, Augustus Caesar was a stronger leader then his great uncle Julius. Even his trampled obstacles and accomplishments strived with Rome for another 200 years after his death (Chappine). Emphatically, Augustus was not the only amazing ruler of the time, however, what he accomplished throughout his life is extraordinary. Despite conquering such tremendous obstacles, Augustus was just like everybody else. His real name was Gaius, Octavius, born South of Bethlehem, 60 B.C. (Butcher). Julius Caesar adopted him after the passing of his parents when he was only 4. His mother had strong ties with Julius as well. (Chappine). Still, Julius Caesar was a very solid ruler and with Augustus by his side, he learned from Julius’ deficiencies. The will Julius left when Augustus was only a child, changed Augustus’ name to Caesar and handed him Julius’ power. (Gill). Octavius also had his name changed to Augustus after showing his supremacy as an emperor. (Butcher). That was, of course, after his amazing accomplishments. Nevertheless, with the power left behind for Augustus, he eventually maximized the use of his father’s power with great effectiveness. He was only 19 when elected to be in the consul. (Gill). Augustus also had many close friends who helped him with many tasks to become where he was. (Watkins). However, Augustus made most of the efforts that brought Rome to from the city of bricks to the city of marble. (Brainyquotes). Not many people knew, but he worried about his government a lot. Augustus also ruled with peace and plenty of security. (Butcher). Of course, it was difficult to keep Rome ruled with security without some kind of effort. Augustus first ruled his people using terror as a tool. (Harris). Without a doubt many people probably disliked his was of rule. On the contrary, they also did not know how incredibly smart Augustus’ intentions were. After Augustus solved many of Rome’s problems, some adopted by Julius’ enemies, he offered to lay down his powers. However, the senate insisted him to take his powers back and granted his name Augustus. (Gill). Sadly, every life comes to an end; Augustus fell ill and died on August 19, 14 A.D. (Butcher). While not all leaders back in time had to take everything into their own hands, Augustus was one who did. However, after his rule and solving many of Rome’s issues, Augustus offered to let down his powers (Gill). Augustus was one who definitely was sad at his great uncle Julius’ funeral, but watched with an opportunistic glee. Also, he very well understood and embraces his uncle’s ideals (Bonta). What many did not know, was that Augustus saw the empire as himself! His care led to various building projects. Although it was not shown it much, he was a believer in religion. Augustus attempted and successfully restored 82 temples (Butcher). Without a doubt, Augustus’ strong personality brought him the right thoughts and acts to build such a solid empire. Climbing to the top of the political power is not easy, even after inheriting power. Any other official easily turned many politically important children into figureheads, especially because of the great responsibility they adopt. Augustus was not one of those children. He was a strong talker and spoke many moving speeches (Chappine). He also had a forceful sense of justice for his people (Watkins). The kind of ruler that can handle this position at a young age will no doubt be nearly invincible later in life, not only himself, but also his empire. In the history of our world, there was nothing known as utopia, only thoughts and dreams. The same obstacles needed to be trampled by Augustus. Since the beginning of rule for Augustus, there were many adopted enemies from his Uncle Julius. The most famous enemies were Brutus and Cassius (Bonta). After Julius’ death, the two killers were still lurking about. There was no question why they were a severe threat to Augustus’ rule. There were also many riots and death brought about by Julius’ death (Harris). Augustus had many thoughts about helping poverty, assisting farmers, and improving army size (Chappine). Augustus always ruled as a leader instead of as a governor. People who ruled before he did accepted the title emperor; he preferred princeps or “first citizen” (Butcher). He also took all the stress of being the leader of religious observances (Gill). Eventually, various difficult tasks were set only on Augustus’ shoulders and heavily relied on his decisions. One of the most difficult tasks was the Battle of Actium. The Battle of Actium consisted of Augustus’ naval forces against Cleopatra’s naval army (Watkins). Augustus always tried to only fight what he could handle. In the end, his leadership was the reason why Rome was so strong and mostly independent. Decisive leaders are nothing to history if they did not conquer meaningful obstacles in their time of rule. During the years forty-five when Augustus ruled, he defeated many enemies and achieved many unbelievable accomplishments (Bonta). Still, Augustus treated every single citizen fairly and taxed his people equally, but his ideals towards criminals had no mercy (Butcher). What many could not do, he alone ushered a period of stability within the government that lasted after many years after his death (Chappine). That is why Augustus created an empire with sheer power, because his decisions were all genuine for the people.
 * Introduction **
 * [[image:AugustusCaesar.png align="left" link="@http://www.biography.com/people/caesar-augustus-39561#synopsis"]]Personal Background **
 * Personality Traits **
 * Obstacles **
 * [[image:StandAugustus.png width="197" height="292" align="left" link="@http://study.com/academy/lesson/the-emperor-augustus-biography-facts-achievements.html"]]Historical Significance **

There were many problems in the empire many would not think or care about during those times. One major event was the growing population and poor individual thoughts. Augustus had passed a legislation declining promiscuity among his people (Butcher). This legislation alone aided the empires food shortage and excessive growth in population. Thinking what many would say “outside the box” is how leaders like Augustus can achieve future success in his empire.

After Julius Caesar passed away, numerous conflicts erupted inside the city-state and outside it’s walls. Rome fell deeper into an abyss of chaos, insecurity, and accustomed to violence each day (Gill). To counteract these corruptions in the city, Augustus quickly improved the security with a larger army, passed many laws to save citizens, and even formed a 2nd Triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey (Harris). Even after inheriting many enemies after his uncle died, he still conquered them and more (Watkins). All those decisions ensured the safety of the people in Rome years to come.

However, there were virtually no empires in history that did not fight a single war. Many battles had to be won in order for revenge and expansion for Rome’s dignity and power (Gill). The most major victory was definitely at the decisive Battle of Actium, an engagement between Cleopatra and Mark Antony. Two equal armies, commanded by Antony and Augustus, clashed together near the city Actium (Harris). Augustus, the superior naval general, defeated most of Antony’s army in a fair match up due to stronger and more strategically placed troops. All in all, Rome was beginning to come from “a city of bricks [to a] city of marble” –Augustus Caesar (BrainyQuotes).

Augustus conquered many events with little defeats; he showed the world the true power of an empire government. What defined his outstanding leadership was the support he earned from his people (Watkins). Crawling from the bottom to the top with an entire empire behind him is how the Roman Empire was at its peak. Sadly a corruption spread hundreds of years later, and the empire fell.

"Augustus." BrainyQuote.com. Xplore Inc, 2015. 11 February 2015. Bonta, Steve. "From Republic to Empire." New American, The. 24 Jan. 2005: 34. eLibrary. Web. 03 Oct. 2014. **SE**#1 Butcher, Richard. "Caesar Augustus, Quinines, and the Census." Our Reedemer Lutherian Church. 1 Jan. 1991. Orlutheran. Web. 20 Nov. 2014. **SE**#5 Chappine, Patricia. "The Emperor Augustus: Biography, Facts & Achievements." Academy. August 2009. education-portal. Web. 9 Dec. 2014. **SE**#6 Gill, N.S. "Octavianus Becomes the First Roman Emperor Augustus Caesar." About. Sept. 2014. acienthistory.about. Web. 15 Oct. 2014. **SE**#3 Harris, Robert. "One to rule them all ; When it comes to his impact on history, Augustus completely eclipses Napoleon, Hitler and Stalin. What was the secret of his hold on the Roman world? BIOGRAPHY Series: Features." Sunday Times of London. 10 Aug. 2014: 30. eLibrary. Web. 03 Oct. 2014. **SE**#2 Watkins, Thayner. "The Timeline of the Life of Octavian, Caesar Augustus." //San Jose State University.// //applet-magic.com//. Web. 7 Nov. 2014. **SE**#4 "Caesar Augustus." //Bio //. A&E Television Networks, 2015. Web. 02 Apr.  2015.
 * References**