Augustus

I was born Gaius Octavius at Rome in 63 BCE. Julius Caesar adopted me in his will; at eighteen, after his murder, I took his name and duties. With the veterans’ loyalty and the Senate’s fear of Antony, I became necessary. I sealed the Second Triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, raised money and vengeance through proscriptions, and at Philippi avenged Caesar upon Brutus and Cassius. When the pact frayed, I husbanded men and ships, let time do its work, and waited for the moment fortune offered.

At Actium in 31 BCE Agrippa broke Antony and Cleopatra; the next year at Alexandria their end made me sole master. I kept Egypt under a prefect; no senator entered without my leave. In 27 BCE I laid down extraordinary powers before the Senate; they returned them with new settlements and the name Augustus. I called myself princeps, accepted tribunician power renewed each year and a greater proconsular command, and refused the title of dictator. Authority lay not in shouting, but in holding the keys others needed.

I fixed soldiers’ terms and pay, created the Praetorian Guard, and in 6 CE founded the military treasury, fed by a twentieth on inheritances. I divided provinces between Senate and my command, kept the dangerous frontiers, and closed the doors of Janus three times. I restored temples, set up the Ara Pacis, strengthened marriage laws, and, when law bit my own house, banished my daughter. I built roads and posts so orders could outpace rumor. I set down my deeds on bronze before my mausoleum; let you weigh me by that measure.