4.1 Augustus’ titles
While the position of Roman ruler became an institution that continued, usually passed on from father to son, for many centuries, at this stage one could say that Augustus’ official role was a bit of a fudge. We use the word ‘emperor’ now, but neither this word, nor the concept behind it, existed in the Roman period. (Our word ‘emperor’ comes from the Latin word ‘imperator’, meaning ‘military commander’.) The ancient world only had the concept of the king (‘rex’), and Augustus certainly could not call himself that! Instead, he acquired (i.e. leant on the Roman senate to give him) a series of honorific titles over the course of his rule that meant different things, and these corresponded to the different qualities Augustus tried to emphasise in his written and visual publicity.
Activity 6
Below is a list of the main honorific titles Augustus was given with a translation of what each means. Match up the title and definition with the further details (copying and pasting from the options below into the table). The first one has been done for you.
| Honorific title and translation | Further details |
| Augustus: ‘sacred, solemn, dignified’ | We see this as his name, and indeed this is what it became, but originally he was called Octavian. This honorific title was one he acquired four years into his rule and it denoted religious, rather than political, authority, and showed him as pious, dutiful and respectful of the gods. Tied up with this title was the fact that Augustus acted as priest in several important cults, including as pontifex maximus, chief priest of Rome. |
| Imperator: ‘military commander’ or ‘commander in chief’ | |
| Pater patriae: ‘father of the fatherland’ | |
| Divi filius: ‘son of a god’ |
Option A
Like a father in a Roman family, who was the head of the household, Augustus’ job was both to ensure the wellbeing of his people, and to keep an eye on their behaviour in terms of morality (e.g. taking steps against things like adultery, extravagance and impiety). Augustus used his own family as a model for the Roman people to follow and was the first Roman statesman to portray not just himself but also his family members in public art. Being a family man, along with the title ‘pater patriae’, suggested simplicity, wholesomeness and tradition (in contrast to the egotism and depravity of the civil wars).
Option B
Augustus had been adopted by the famous general Julius Caesar during his lifetime. (Romans often did this: it was a way of being able to choose someone to inherit from you if you either didn’t have children or you felt that the ones you did have weren’t capable of stepping into your shoes.) Although Caesar was eventually assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BCE by a group of senators who were unhappy with his increasing control of the Roman state, he had been extremely popular with the general populace, and was deified (i.e. declared a god) after his death. The connection to Caesar was a mixed blessing for Augustus. On the one hand, he didn’t want to appear to have monarchical ambitions like Caesar; but on the other, he could benefit from Caesar’s popularity with ordinary people, and especially, as this title shows, from the fact that he could claim divine connections! The fact that he became Caesar’s son meant that he also took on his name and became ‘Caesar Augustus’.
Option C
This is where we get the word ‘emperor’ from. While Augustus was keen to downplay his more aggressive side and his role in the civil wars, there was still a lot of respect to be gained from being a skilled military commander, capable of not only defending the empire from external threat, but also expanding it to increase Rome’s glory. (Remember the mindset revealed by the Virgil quote you read in Section 3.1: the Romans saw themselves as the ‘masters of the world’!)
Comment
| Honorific title and translation | Further details |
| Augustus: ‘sacred, solemn, dignified’ | We see this as his name, and indeed this is what it became, but originally he was called Gaius Octavius/Octavian. This honorific title was one he acquired four years into his rule and it denoted religious, rather than political, authority, and showed him as pious, dutiful and respectful of the gods. Tied up with this title was the fact that Augustus acted as priest in several important cults, including as pontifex maximus, chief priest of Rome. |
| Imperator: ‘military commander’ or ‘commander in chief’ | This is where we get the word ‘emperor’ from. While Augustus was keen to downplay his more aggressive side and his role in the civil wars, there was still a lot of respect to be gained from being a skilled military commander, capable of not only defending the empire from external threat, but also expanding it to increase Rome’s glory. (Remember the mindset revealed by the Virgil quote you read in Section 3.1: the Romans saw themselves as the ‘masters of the world’!) |
| Pater patriae: ‘father of the fatherland’ | Like a father in a Roman family, who was the head of the household, Augustus’ job was both to ensure the wellbeing of his people, and to keep an eye on their behaviour in terms of morality (e.g. taking steps against things like adultery, extravagance and impiety). Augustus used his own family as a model for the Roman people to follow and was the first Roman statesman to portray not just himself in public, but also his family members. Being a family man, along with the title ‘pater patriae’, suggested simplicity, wholesomeness and tradition (in contrast to the egotism and depravity of the civil wars). |
| Divi filius: ‘son of a god’ | Augustus had been adopted by the famous general Julius Caesar during his lifetime. (Romans often did this: it was a way of being able to choose someone to inherit from you if you either didn’t have children or you felt that the ones you did have weren’t capable of stepping into your shoes.) Although Caesar was eventually assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BCE by a group of senators who were unhappy with his increasing control of the Roman state, he had been extremely popular with the general populace, and was deified (i.e. declared a god) after his death. The connection to Caesar was a mixed blessing for Augustus. On the one hand, he didn’t want to appear to have monarchical ambitions like Caesar; but on the other, he could benefit from Caesar’s popularity with ordinary people, and especially, as this title shows, from the fact that he could claim divine connections! The fact that he became Caesar’s son meant that he also took on his name and became ‘Caesar Augustus’. |