Difference between revisions of "Augustus"

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== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_54918" /> ==
== Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament <ref name="term_54920" /> ==
<p> <b> AUGUSTUS. </b> —The designation usually applied to Cains Octavius, son of [[Caius]] Octavius and Atia, grandson of [[Julia]] the sister of C. [[Julius]] Caesar, grand-nephew of the [[Dictator]] and ultimately his adopted son and heir. He was born 23rd Sept. [Note: Septuagint.] b.c. 63, not far from the ‘House’ on the [[Palatine]] afterwards built for him; declared [[Emperor]] b.c. 29; honoured with the title of ‘Augustus’ b.c. 27; died 19th Aug. a.d. 14 at Nola, when he had almost reached the age of 77. </p> <p> If we take b.c. 6 as the corrected date for the birth of Jesus, we find that [[Augustus]] was then in his 58th year, had already been Emperor 23 years, and had before him 20 more. Though his reign thus runs parallel with the [[Christian]] era for 20 years, there is but a single allusion to him in the [[Gospel]] history (&nbsp;Luke 2:1). In the NT writings there are but three other instances of the use of the name Augustus. Of these one only (&nbsp;Acts 27:1) can be held as possibly pointing to him, the other two (&nbsp;Acts 25:21; &nbsp;Acts 25:25) mean the reigning [[Caesar]] ( Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 ‘Emperor’), in both cases Nero. Even that solitary allusion to Caesar Augustus might have had no place in the Gospel record, had it not been St. Luke’s aim to ‘trace the course of all things accurately from the first.’ In ‘drawing up his narrative’ he makes it evident that Nazareth, not Bethlehem, was the home of [[Joseph]] and Mary, and that the ‘enrolment,’ originating in a decree of Caesar Augustus, was the occasion of the journey from [[Nazareth]] within a little time of the expected birth. The [[Syrian]] governor is named with the view of fixing the date, as was the custom in those days. Theophilus, as a Roman official, would have access to the list of provincial governors, and must have at once understood the exact period meant. Thus Augustus’ contact with Jesus, so far as [[Scripture]] deals with it, begins and ends with &nbsp;Luke 2:1. </p> <p> It need not surprise us that there is no further reference in the 20 years of contemporaneous history that followed. The birth of Jesus took place in a remote part of the [[Empire]] and in an insignificant town of Judah. The first 30 years of His life, with the exception of the brief sojourn in Egypt, were spent in the obscure, even despised, Nazareth. Among His townsmen He was known only as the carpenter (&nbsp;Mark 6:3), or the carpenter’s son (&nbsp;Matthew 13:55). Though the arrival of the wise men from the East, with the inquiry as to the birth of ‘the King of the Jews,’ ‘troubled Herod’ and ‘all [[Jerusalem]] with him’ (&nbsp;Matthew 2:3), the commotion caused by their advent soon passed with the tyrant’s death in b.c. 4. Even the [[Massacre]] of the [[Innocents]] ‘from two years old and under’ in [[Bethlehem]] may never have been heard of in the palace of Augustus, or, if heard of, would have made very little impression, owing to the many acts of cruelty that had marked Herod’s reign. It was about this very time that Augustus is reported to have said that it was ‘better to be Herod’s sow than his son’ (Macrob. <i> [[Saturn]] </i> , ii. 4). </p> <p> For St. Luke, with his wider outlook as a cultured Greek writing to a Roman official, it was quite natural to give a distinct place in his record to the decree about the census as leading up to the birth in Bethlehem. The object of the decree is given in the Revised Version NT 1881, OT 1885 correctly as ‘an enrolment’ (ἀτογραφή), not necessarily involving ‘a taxing’ as well. As on this occasion it did not lead to any serious uprising of the Jews, as in a.d. 6, it must have been only a census in accordance with [[Jewish]] customs: ‘all went to enrol themselves, every one to his own city.’ The historian is careful to point out that it was part only of a world-wide enrolment (‘all the world’). In the light of later research, we can add that this decree seems to have introduced a periodic census in the Roman Empire. The carefully chosen language of St. Luke distinguishes between the going up from [[Galilee]] as an act once for all completed (ἀνέβη), and an enrolment begun and having a continuance (ἐπορεὺουτο πἀντες ἀτογράφεσθαι).* [Note: It is true, indeed, that the imperf. may point, not to a repetition of the census, but simply to the fact of its going on for some time (cf. Winer, Gram. of NT Greek [Eng. tr.]9, p. 335).] The further description of the census as ‘the first’ accords with this, not the first under Quirinius, but the first of a series. For those to whom St. Luke wrote the decree was memorable as ‘the first’ that affected the Jews. Other enrolments may have taken place before it under Augustus, as the review by the Emperor himself in the celebrated Monumentum Ancyranum bears, but there is no contradiction between that and the Evangelist’s testimony. Three distinct censuses are there named (in b.c. 28, b.c. 8, and in a.d. 14). Only the number of Roman citizens is given in each case, as all others might not have been considered worthy of being mentioned in the Emperor’s Memorials. Important light has recently been thrown on the system of enrolments in the Roman Empire through the labours of various scholars referred to by Prof. W. M. Ramsay in his volume <i> Was Christ born at Bethlehem? </i> The tombs and even the dust-heaps of Egypt are proving that enrolments of households there were quite common, and even that a cycle of 14 years was observed. Applying this cycle to the period immediately before and after the Christian era, we bring out well-known dates, b.c. 8 and a.d. 6, the former marking a Roman-citizen census taken by Augustus, and the other that of the ‘great census,’ when the disturbances took place in [[Palestine]] which were quelled by Quirinius. There is thus a strong presumption, amounting almost to proof, that b.c. 8 is the most likely date for the issue of the decree referred to in &nbsp;Luke 2:1. The delay between b.c. 8 and b.c. 6, so as to have it coincide with the corrected date for the birth of Jesus, may be accounted for by the strained relations existing about the time between Augustus and Herod, and also between Herod and his subjects. As it seems to have been the first enrolment of [[Jews]] under the Empire, it is easy to cooceive that time was needed to overcome Jewish scruples. </p> <p> The real difficulty, however, as to this alleged census under [[Quirinius]] lies in reconciling St. Luke’s testimony with the facts of secular history. The Syrian governors in the period of b.c. 9–4 are given by Schürer as C. Sentius Saturninua (b.c. 9–6) and P. Quintilius Varus (a.c. 6–4). As a.c. 4 is the generally accepted year of Herod’s death, the possibility of a governorship of Quirinius at the time of the execution of the decree of Caesar Augustus is thereby excluded. Many therefore have been ready to say, with Mommsen, that St. Luke has ‘erred.’ Even Tertullian is quoted against the Evangelist, when he affirms that an ‘enrolment’ was made by Sentius Saturninus. And yet his testimony, while it differs from that of St. Luke as to the name of the governor of Syria, supports none the less the fact that there was a census earlier than the famous one of a.d. 6. The evidence in favour of an earlier as well as later governorship of Quirinius is now admitted to be so strong, that Mommsen and others have fully accepted it. The only question that remains is as to where we are to place it. Important help towards the solution of it has been found in the inscription discovered at [[Tivoli]] in 1764, now preserved in the [[Lateran]] Museum of Christian Antiquities. On it are recorded the exploits of a Roman official, with the honours awarded to him in the time of Augustus. While no name has been preserved, we are told that he was proconsul in Asia, and that he twice governed Syria and Phœnicia. The only one, known to us, who satisfies these conditions is Quirinius. Where then, in the interval immediately before the birth of Jesus in b.c. 6 or at latest b.c. 5, are we to find room for his earlier Syrian governorship? It must be between [[Saturninus]] and Varus, or as a contemporary of the one or the other. If we can find proofs in history of a double ‘hegemony’ in provincial government, we may consider that only <i> there </i> can the solution lie. In the history of [[Josephus]] we have a singular confirmation of this twofold governorship. A Volumnius is named in relation to Sentius Saturninus as ‘the hegemon of Caesar’ (Schürer, <i> HJ </i> P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] i. i. p. 350). Why might not Quirinius have been the military governor, while Saturninus was the civil administrator? In view of the progress of discovery in recent years, may we not hope that some additional fragment of the Tiburtine inscription will be found, and definitely settle the much debated question as to the historical accuracy of St. Luke? See art. Census. </p> <p> Though secular history from b.c. 6 to a.d. 14 furnishes us with no trace of any influence having been exerted by Augustus on Jesus or by Jesus on Augustus, we are able to trace, in the remarkable career of Augustus, a singular preparation for the Christian era. In nothing is this more manifest than in his unification of the Empire. When Augustus finally defeated Antony at [[Alexandria]] in b.c. 31, he was the one ruler left in the whole Roman world. The only adverse influence with which he had thereafter to contend was found among the heads of the old families in the Roman Senate. In the course of the next 10 or 12 years he so skilfully guided the affairs of the State, that he was clothed with every attribute of supremacy which it seemed possible for the State to bestow. The title of ‘Princeps Senatus’ was revived in b.c. 29, and had new significance given to it. In b.c. 27 the [[Senate]] conferred upon him the proconsular <i> imperium </i> for 10 years. This put into his hands an all but absolute military power throughout the empire. At this same time he received the title of ‘Augustus,’ a name having to do with the science of augury [or from <i> augeo </i> , as <i> an </i> -gustus from <i> ango </i> ], and suggesting something akin to religious veneration. Though even then he wished himself to be considered as having a primacy only among equals, yet, as wielding the power both of purse and sword, he had become really the master of the Roman world. Nor was he content with this. The <i> tribunicia potestas </i> was granted to him in a sense more extended than ever before. While he appeared to assume it year by year, it really became his for life, and was the symbol of his sovereign authority, being used to mark the years of his reign. In b.c. 23 the whole machinery of the State had definitely and permanently passed into his hands. When the Christian era dawned, Augustus had for 17 years exercised a dominion unrivalled in its nature and extent, entitling it to be spoken of as over ‘the whole world.’ And yet there was no one in his day that felt so much the need of limiting the extension of the Empire. Among his last instructions there was one enjoining his successors not to seek enlargement, as it only made the work of guarding the frontiers more difficult. One of his greatest anxieties during his later years, owing to the deaths of Marcellus, Agrippa, Lucius, and Gaius, had to do with the succession to the Imperial throne. While the Christian era had not yet reached its first decade, he had only Tiberius, his step-son, to look to as his successor. At an early period of his reign Augustus had given himself to the development of a complete system of road-supervision for Italy and the provinces. The celebrated pillar of gilded bronze, the ‘Milliarium Aureum,’ of which but a fragment of the marble base can be seen to-day near the ascent of the Capitol, was set up by Augustus on ‘his completion of the great survey and census of the Roman world’ (Lanciani). On it were marked the distances of all the principal places along the main roads from the city gates. Where these roads led, civil government was found established, with a representative of the Emperor or the Senate, and with tribunals for the administration of justice. Anyone claiming to be a Roman citizen had the privilege of appeal to Caesar, and could be assured of a safe conduct to Rome. [[Safe]] and comparatively speedy modes of travel were assured. </p> <p> Our knowledge of the government of the provinces under Augustus is too limited to admit of any clear and full description of it. Suctonius ( <i> August. </i> 47) has given us the principles on which he acted in dividing the provinces between himself and the Senate, in these words: ‘The provinces which could neither be easily nor safely governed by annual magistrates he undertook himself.’ In other words, those that required a strong force to hold them in subjection, or whose frontiers were exposed to attack on the part of restless and powerful enemies, he retained in his own hands. The others, which could he easily governed and had nothing to fear from surrounding peoples, he handed over to the Senate. This arrangement placed in his hands almost the whole military forces of the Empire. The Emperor’s legates, commanding the provincial troops, were not only appointed by him, but could be suspended or dismissed at his pleasure. The provinces were divided into groups according as they were administered by consuls, praetors, or simply knights. Even those that appeared to be entirely under the control of the Senate were restricted in their appointments by the Emperor, as the list of those eligible had to be submitted to him, and all on the list must have served, with an interval of five years, as consuls or praetors. In the case of Syria we find an imperial province exposed to inroads from warlike peoples on its Northern and Eastern borders, and therefore in need of a military more than a civil commander over it to act as its <i> hegemon </i> . The term answers best to our Viceroy. This was the position which Quirinius probably held, and he would have power from Augustus to allow in Herod’s dominions a census that would as little as possible offend Jewish prejudices. </p> <p> Each set of provinces had its own separate treasury. The revenues from the Imperial provinces flowed into the Emperor’s <i> fiscus </i> , and out of it were taken the enormous sums spent on the great military roads, which became the highways for Christianity. To the Senate, Augustus granted the right of minting copper only, reserving gold and silver for the Imperial treasury. As the result of these and other measures the Empire enjoyed unusual prosperity. Augustus also bestowed great care on the selection of his legates, closely watched over their administration, and made it all but impossible for a corrupt governor to escape swift punishment. To this in great measure the Empire owed its popularity in Augustus’ time. </p> <p> There was another remarkable preparation for the world-census in the ordnance survey initiated by Julius Caesar, and completed only after 25 years of labour on the part of four of the greatest surveyors of the age. The main object of it, no doubt, was the taxation of land, the most profitable source of revenue under the Empire. Thus a completely organized and a world-wide Empire, in absolute dependence upon its supreme ruler in Rome, had become an accomplished fact ere the Christian era had dawned. </p> <p> As this new era approached, signs were multiplying of a desire for peace on the part of ruler and ruled, though it is scarcely true that the actual year of the birth at Bethlehem was distinguished by the prevalence of universal peace. To the immediately preceding period, b.c. 13–9, belongs the famous ‘Altar of Peace,’ whose actual site has been laid bare within very recent years (1903–1904) under the Via in Lucina, a little way off from the Corso, the old Flaminian Way. The very same year in which Augustus became [[Pontifex]] Maximus owing to the death of his former co-triumvir Lepidus, the Senate decreed the erection of an ‘Altar of Peace,’ which at first was to have been set up in the Senate-house, but was afterwards placed on the edge of the Campus Martius. One of the chief features of the period to which it belongs was the closing of the temple of Janus. Horace, writing in b.c. 13 ( <i> Epp. </i> ii. i. 255 and <i> Odes </i> iv. xv. 9), speaks of the closing as a recent occurrence. Twice before in the reign of Augustus, in b.c. 29 and b.c. 25, this temple had been closed ( <i> Mon. Anc. </i> 13), ‘when peace throughout the whole dominions of the Roman people by land and sea had been obtained by victories,’ and ‘only twice before his birth since the foundation of the city,’ in all five times up to the Christian era. The [[Gades]] (Cadiz) inscription is a remarkable confirmation of b.c. 13 as the date of the third closing of the temple of [[Janus]] in Augustus’ time. </p> <p> The monument entitled the ‘Ara Pacis Augusti’ is of unusual proportions and of exquisite workmanship. Within the walls of a massive marble screen there was placed the altar on an elevated base, pyramidal, and having marble steps leading up to it. The screen was splendidly decorated both within and without with sculptures in high relief. The outer side of the screen had two distinct bands of ornamentation: the lower floral, the upper a procession with figures, many of which might have been actual portraits. The best known of these processional reliefs are to be found in the [[Gallery]] of the Uffizi at Florence, one is in the Cortile Belvedere of the Vatican, and one in the Louvre, Paris. </p> <p> The altar was a splendid tribute to Peace, but it was a peace after many and bloody victories, reminding us of the saying, ‘where they make a desert they call it peace’ (Tac. <i> [[Agricola]] </i> , 30), and it was also a peace that was not to last. Yet there the altar stood on the field of Mars, as the reign of the ‘Prince of Peace’ was ushered in, and became for ages thereafter a witness to the [[Pax]] Romana of the Augustan age. Far more of it remains to the present time than of the triple arch of Augustus set up in celebration of his victories, of which only the bare foundations can be seen between the temple of Julius and that of [[Castor]] and Pollux. </p> <p> The energies of Augustus found scope for themselves in other lines, and all with the object of building up his world-wide Empire that he meant to last in the ages to come. At the beginning of his reign he put his hand to the restoration of the State religion. In b.c. 28 he claims to have ‘repaired 82 temples of the gods’ ( <i> Mon. Anc. </i> 20), earning for himself the title given him by Livy ( <i> Hist. </i> iv. xx. 7), ‘the builder or restorer of all the temples.’ The sacred images, we are told, had become actually ‘foul with smoke’ or were ‘mouldering with mildew.’ The ancestral religion was dead, belief in the gods had all but disappeared. Nor was it only the repair of edifices for religious worship that he took in hand; from him the sacred colleges and brotherhoods received a new impulse by his becoming a member himself of one and all of them. Through him their endowments were greatly increased. With great ceremony was observed the centenary of the city, for which Horace prepared his well-known ode, as the inscription found in the [[Tiber]] in 1871 so strikingly confirms (‘carmen composuit Q. Horatius Flaccus’). The worship of the [[Lares]] was restored. At crossways and street corners three hundred small shrines were set up, whose altars were adorned twice a year with flowers. One of the latest discoveries is that of a shrine of the Lares Publici in front of the [[Arch]] of Titus, on the branch of the Via [[Sacra]] leading up to the Palatine by the old Mugonian Gate. New temples were erected, the most notable being that of [[Apollo]] behind his own ‘Domus.’ A new spirit also was infused into the rites and ceremonies of the old worship, to which the writings of [[Virgil]] contributed in a special degree. </p> <p> The hardest task yet remained in the social and moral reformation of his people. As early as b.c. 25 we find Horace ( <i> Od. </i> iii. vi.), in this reflecting probably the opinion of his master, affirming the necessity of ‘a reformation of morals as well as a restoration of temples and a revival of religion.’ In a later ode (xxiv.) he promises immortality to the statesman who shall bring back the morality of the olden time. The action taken by Augustus about that time was effective, temporarily at least, for his praises were celebrated as ‘one Who by his presence had cleansed the family from its foul stains, had curbed the licence of the age, and recalled the old morality.’ The text of his laws enacted for this purpose has not come down to ns, but their date may be taken as from b.c. 18 to 17, or about 12 years before the Christian era. His own example, unfortunately, did not enable him to take up a very high position on the subject of marriage. He had put away Scribonia in order to marry Livia, whom he took from her husband [[Tiberius]] Nero. Again and again he interposed to dissolve existing marriages, when his policy as to the succession required it. High motives, therefore, we do not expect to find in his legislation on marriage. Nothing could have brought out more, clearly the impotence of such legislation than the openly scandalous character of his daughter Julia. In b.c. 2, the very year when he was hailed by the Senate as the father of his country, he became aware of what had long been in everyone’s knowledge. So keenly did he feel the scandal that he shunned society for a time, and even absented himself from the city. His only remedy was her banishment to Pandataria. Never afterwards was she allowed to set foot in Rome. Nor did she see again the face of her father, whom she outlived only by a few short weeks. There were not wanting schools of philosophy that vied with each other in leading men to virtue. Greek philosophers of note were welcomed to the halls of the ‘Domus Augusti.’ But no system of morals or philosophy had yet appeared that could show the way of attaining to the [[Divine]] likeness by the bestowal of a new nature, until [[Christianity]] came upon the scene. </p> <p> The same moulding hand that built up the Empire can be traced in the modification through which Caesar-worship passed under Augustus. The deification of Julius by the Senate in b.c. 42 was only what was to be expected. The decree ran: ‘To the [[Genius]] of the divine Julius, father of his country, whom the Senate and Roman people placed among the number of the gods.’ In the very heart of the Roman Forum, from b.c. 29, there was to be seen, on an elevated platform, a most beautiful marble temple proclaiming the deification of the great Julius. Augustus never allowed such worship of himself during his lifetime as had been the case with Julius. From the earliest period of his reign there is evidence that he allowed it in the provinces, but only in conjunction with ‘Rome,’ and the formula enjoined for all that were not Roman citizens was ‘Rome and Augustus.’ In the case of citizens the one name allowed, along with Rome, was that of ‘the divine Julius.’ For his Roman subjects he would be neither ‘rex’ nor ‘divus,’ but outside the favoured circle of Roman citizenship he had less scruple in receiving for himself a share of divine honour, believing that it formed the binding link that was needed to knit all the parts of his wide Empire into one great unity. </p> <p> As to the permanence of this ‘cult’ in the provinces, under the joint title of ‘Rome and Augustus,’ there is still a measure of uncertainty. Dr. [[Lindsay]] believes the balance of evidence is in favour of ‘Rome’ having been left out even in Augustus’ lifetime. In that case ‘Augustus’ signified ‘not the person of the Emperor, but the symbol of the deification of the Roman State, personified in its ruler.’ [[Certainly]] that might have admirably served to establish his State policy, and make him believe that he had accomplished all that human ingenuity could to make his Empire as enduring as it was world-wide. </p> <p> On his death in a.d. 14 a modification necessarily came, when the Senate decreed that thereafter he should be known as ‘Divus Augustus.’ </p> <p> The priesthood of this Imperial ‘cult’ was divided into two classes, the one representing the State religion in a province, and the other having charge of religious ceremonies in the cities. The provincial priests were responsible only to the Emperor as Pontifex Maximus, and had, in the West at least, jurisdiction over the municipal priests. The way was thus prepared for the development of a full hierarchical system, which became afterwards the model for the Roman Church, with its Pontifex Maximus in Rome, its Metropolitans in each province, and the municipal priests in the cities. The ‘cult’ itself spread with great rapidity, was binding on every Roman subject with the ‘exception of the Jews only, and prepared the way for the application of the prime test for the [[Christians]] of the early ages: ‘Sacrifice to the Emperor or death.’ The man of all others, who created the conditions in which Christianity was to find that supreme test, was Augustus. The Universal Empire, with its ruler as an object of worship, had not long become an accomplished fact when the God-man, in contrast with the man-god, appeared,—‘the Word became flesh and dwelt among us.’ No contrast could well be greater than that which distinguished (in b.c. 6–a.d. 14) this world-ruler from the [[Founder]] of Christianity:—Augustus, a perfect master in State-craft, merciful to his foes only when he had made his position absolutely sure, only somewhat more advanced in his morality than the men of his age, full of self-esteem, as the last scene of his life reveals, yet entitled to be considered by the world in which he lived as its ‘chief benefactor’ (&nbsp;Luke 22:25); Jesus, though in His twelfth year able to claim a relationship with the Father in heaven such as distinguishes Him from every other son of man, yet remaining for those 20 years of His life at Nazareth as the carpenter’s son, all unknown to the great world without, subject to His reputed father and His ‘highly favoured’ mother, ‘advancing in wisdom’ as in stature, and above all ‘in favour with God and man.’ Of the whole of Augustus’ work there now remains little but crumbling or half-buried ruins, but the name of Jesus ‘endures,’ and gives evidence of the truth of the prophecy which points to the world’s kingdom as becoming His, and His reign as being ‘for ever and ever’ (&nbsp;Revelation 11:15). </p> <p> Literature.—Mommsen, <i> Res Gestae Divi [[Augusti]] </i> , also <i> The Roman Provinces </i> , and <i> History of Rome </i> ; Schürer, <i> HJ </i> P [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] Index, <i> s.v. </i> ‘Octavianus Augustus’; W. M. Ramsay, <i> Was Christ born at Bethlehem?, The Church in the Roman Empire </i> ; Shuckburgh, <i> The Life and Times of the Founder of the Roman Empire </i> ; John B. Firth, <i> Augustus Caesar and the [[Organization]] of the Empire of Rome </i> ; Baring Gould, <i> The Tragedy of the Caesars </i> ; T. M. Lindsay, <i> The Church and the [[Ministry]] in the Early Centuries </i> ; Merivale, <i> History of the Romans under the Empire </i> . </p> <p> J. Gordon Gray. </p>
<p> <b> 1. The name. </b> -The Lat. name <i> [[Augustus]] </i> occurs only once in the Revised Versionof the NT, namely in &nbsp;Luke 2:1. The word, cognate with <i> augur </i> , had a sacred ring about it, having been applied ( <i> a </i> ) to places and objects which either possessed by nature or acquired by consecration a religious or hallowed character; ( <i> b </i> ) to the gods. It was a new thing to apply it to a human being, and the [[Senate]] felt and intended it to be so, when it conferred the title upon [[Octavian]] on 16 Jan., 27 b.c. By this title they went as near to conferring deification upon a human being as robust [[Italian]] commonsense would allow. ‘It suggested religious sanctity and surrounded the son of the deified [[Julius]] with a halo of consecration’ (Bury, <i> A History of the Roman [[Empire]] </i> , 1893, p. 13). The official Gr. equivalent of <i> Augustus </i> was Σεβαστός. It is noteworthy that Luke in his own Greek narrative keeps the Latin word, whereas he puts the Greek Σεβαστός into the mouth of [[Festus]] (&nbsp;Acts 25:21; &nbsp;Acts 25:25; Authorized Version‘Augustus,’ Revised Version‘the emperor,’ Revised Version margin ‘the Augustus’). The difference is important. A Greek [[Christian]] like Luke could only use the word Σεβαστός (which meant ‘to be worshipped,’ ‘worthy of worship’) of God Himself: being a Greek, writing his own language, he had not the same objection to the foreign word <i> Augustus </i> , and he had to be intelligible. The absence of θεός (‘god,’ <i> diuus </i> ), with the name of the deceased and deified [[Emperor]] in &nbsp;Luke 2:1, is also perfectly consistent with the Christian attitude (on &nbsp;Acts 27:1, see Augustan Band). </p> <p> <b> 2. Life. </b> -The Emperor of whom we commonly speak as Augustus was originally named [[Gaius]] Octavius [Thurinus], like his father, and was born on 22 Sept., 63 b.c., the year of Cicero’s consulship. The ancestral home of his race was Velitrae (modern Veletri) in the Volscian country, at no great distance from Rome. The family was equestrian and rich, the father of the future Emperor being the first of his race to enter the Senate. He had an honourable and successful official career, attaining to the praetorship and the governorship of the province of Macedonia. He died suddenly, and left three children, one of them the future Emperor (aged 4), whose mother was Atia. This Atia was the daughter of M. Atius Balbus and Julia, the sister of the great dictator Julius Caesar. Augustus was thus the grand-nephew of the dictator. He received the dress of manhood at 15, and was allowed to accompany his grand-uncle to Spain (47 b.c.), where he already showed the quality of courage. Soon after he was sent to [[Apollonia]] on the other side of the Adriatic, to pursue his studies. He was still there when the dictator was assassinated, on 15 March, 44 b.c. It was then that he revealed what was in him. Though only eighteen and a half years of age, he, having been adopted into the Julian family by the will of his grand-uncle, whose heir he was at the same time constituted, took the name Gaius Julius [[Caesar]] Octavianus, and immediately left for Italy, to claim not only the private but also the public inheritance of his grand-uncle. His great career is best followed in the next section. His private and family history may be summed up here. As a young man he was betrothed to a daughter of P. Servilius Isauricus, but he broke off this engagement, and for political reasons married Claudia, step-daughter of Mark Antony, in her extreme youth. Her he immediately divorced, and afterwards Scribonia, his second wife. Immediately after the second divorce he robbed [[Tiberius]] [[Claudius]] [[Nero]] of his wife, Livia [[Drusilla]] (38 b.c.), and with her he lived all the rest of his life. His immediate household consisted of her, her two sons by her previous husband, the future Emperor Tiberius ( <i> q.v. [Note: quod vide, which see.] </i> ), and Drusus, as well as his own daughter Julia, Scribonia’s child. [[Julia]] bore five children to the second of her three husbands, M. Vipsanius Agrippa, namely Gaius, Lucius, Agrippa, Julia, and Agrippina. Gaius and [[Lucius]] were adopted by their grandfather, but died early. All his direct descendants in fact died early or disgraced him, and he was forced to fall back on his step-son Tiberius for the succession. [[Drusus]] having perished in 9 b.c., Tiberius was compelled in his turn to adopt his nephew Germanicus. Augustus died 19 August, a.d. 14. </p> <p> <b> 3. [[Official]] career. </b> -The stages in Augustus’ official career may be summed up as follows. He was recognized by the Senate in 44 b.c.; received praetorian <i> imperium </i> against Antony, on 19 August made consul (though hardly twenty years of age), elected <i> triumuir rei publicœ constituendœ </i> (with Antony and Lepidus) for five years, 43; appointed <i> augur </i> , 37 (or later); first conferment of <i> tribunicia potestas </i> , 36; between 37 and 34 elected <i> XVuir sacris faciundis </i> ; 30, fourth consulship (hence annually, with certain exceptions, until the 13th was reached in 2 b.c.); 27, title <i> Augustus </i> and imperial powers; 23, the <i> tribunicia potestas </i> conferred on him for life; 22, a special <i> cura annonœ </i> ; 18, imperial powers renewed for 5 years; 16 (before this date), elected <i> septemuir epulonum </i> ; 15, coinage of gold and silver for the Empire reserved to Emperor; 12, elected <i> pontifex maximus </i> ; 8, imperial powers renewed for ten years; 2, received title of <i> pater patriœ </i> ; a.d. 3, imperial powers renewed for ten years, and again in a.d. 13. The ‘deification’ took place on 17 Sept., 14. </p> <p> <b> 4. Achievements. </b> -This bare enumeration marks the steps by which the power of Augustus was gradually consolidated, and with it the Empire itself. The achievements of Augustus which led to this result can only he briefly enumerated. [[Amongst]] the most important, because without them nothing further could have been attained, are his military achievements. His military career, with few exceptions, was continuously successful. It began by the driving of [[Antonius]] into Gallia Transalpina (43 b.c.), and was followed up by the defeat of Brutus and [[Cassius]] at [[Philippi]] (42), the defeat of [[Sextus]] Pompeius (36), and the defeat of [[Cleopatra]] and Antonius at [[Actium]] (31). At this point civil war ends, all his Roman enemies and rivals are removed, and he can give attention to frontier problems. A succession of frontier wars ends in victory for the Romans: in 19 the [[Cantabri]] were exterminated, in 15 the Raeti and Vindelici were conquered. The German wars gave great trouble throughout the later part of his reign, in which most valuable help was rendered by his step-sons Tiberius and Drusus. In the earlier period Augustus was most fortunate in possessing such an able lieutenant as M. Vipsanius Agrippa. </p> <p> In other respects also Augustus was extremely active-in the spheres of law, religion, architecture, and building. He did all he could to restore the sapped virtue of the Italians by his encouragement of family life and his attempts to recover the simplicity of the ancient Italian religion. He was a patron of literature, and was greatly helped in his aims by the writings of [[Virgil]] and Horace. In all his schemes for the betterment of Rome, Maecenas, an Etruscan knight, himself a patron of literature, was his right-hand man. Among the important statutes passed were the <i> Lex Iulia de adulteriis </i> (18 b.c.), the <i> Lex de maritandis ordinibus </i> , and the <i> Lex Papia Poppœa </i> -all in the interests of a worthy family life, which Augustus recognized to be the indispensable foundation of a truly great State. The <i> Lex aelia [[Sentia]] </i> (4 b.c.) regulated the status of manumitted slaves, a large class of growing influence in the State (see Claudius). Augustus’ interest in religion was shown by his acceptance of several sacred offices, as well as by the restoration of many decayed temples and rituals. His boast that he had found Rome made of brick and left it made of marble probably means no more than that he faced the (regular) brick core of buildings with marble slabs, but he certainly spent vast sums on building. Among the most important monuments of his reign are the Portus Iulius (37 b.c.), the Templum Diui Iuli (29), the temple of [[Apollo]] on the [[Palatine]] Hill, equipped with public libraries of Greek and Latin literature (28), and the theatre of [[Marcellus]] (11). The personal ability of Augustus is sometimes unjustly depreciated. It may be questioned if he owed more than inspiration to his grand-uncle. </p> <p> <b> 5. Administration. </b> -The Emperor’s administration covered not only the whole of Italy, but the imperial (or frontier) provinces, where an army was required. He had financial agents also in the senatorial provinces. The great achievement of Augustus was that he ruled the Roman Empire as a citizen (though the chief citizen, <i> princeps </i> ), under constitutional forms. In theory the Empire ceased with the death of the Emperor, but under these constitutional forms he laid the foundations of a lasting despotism. Luke refers in &nbsp;Luke 2:1 to a census of the whole Empire ordered by him. This was one of his administrative reforms, and the census recurred every 14 years. A census of Roman citizens, as distinguished from subjects of the Empire, was taken twice in his reign, in 28 and 8 b.c. Cf. articleCaesar. </p> <p> Literature.-There are many vexed questions connected with the career of Augustus, which will make one always regret that T. Mommsen did not write the fourth volume of his <i> Römische Geschichte </i> , which was to cover Augustus’ reign; cf. however, the second edition of the <i> Res Gestœ Divi [[Augusti]] </i> (Berlin, 1883), edited by him; V. Gardthausen’s <i> Augustus und seine Zeit </i> , Leipzig, 1891ff. (2 parts, each in three volumes, first part text, second part notes), has not filled the gap. [[Chronology]] of chief events is best given by J. S. Reid in <i> A [[Companion]] to Latin Studies </i> (ed. J. E. Sandys, Cambr. 1910), 129ff. The theory of the Empire is best expounded in the same writer’s chapter in the <i> [[Cambridge]] Mediœval History </i> , i., Cambr. 1911; a splendid account is found also in H. F. Pelham, <i> Outlines of Roman History </i> , London, 1893; A. v. Domaszewski’s <i> Gesch. der röm. [[Kaiser]] </i> , 2 vols., Leipzig, 1909, vol. i. pp. 11-250, by a master of Roman history and antiquities; etc. The chief ancient authorities are the <i> Monumentum Ancyranum </i> , Suetonius’ <i> Life of Augustus </i> , Velleius Paterculus, Appian, [[Dio]] Cassius, and the early chapters of Tacitus. </p> <p> A. Souter. </p>
          
          
== The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_67981" /> ==
== Smith's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_71470" /> ==
<p> The name of several princes of [[Saxony]] and [[Poland]] in the 16th and 17th centuries. </p>
<p> '''Augus'tus.''' ''(Venerable).'' Cae'sar, the first Roman emperor. He was born A.U.C. 691, B.C. 63. His father was [[Caius]] Octavius; his mother Atia, daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar. He was principally educated by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, and was made his heir. After his murder, the young Octavius, then Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was taken into the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and, after the removal of the latter, divided the empire with Antony. The struggle for the supreme power was terminated in favor of Octavianus by the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. On this victory, he was saluted imperator by the senate, who conferred on him, the title Augustus, B.C. 27. </p> <p> The first link binding him to New [[Testament]] history is his treatment of Herod after the battle of Actium. That prince, who had espoused Antony's side, found himself pardoned, taken into favor and confirmed, nay even increased, in his power. After Herod's death, in A.D. 4, Augustus divided his dominions, almost exactly according to his dying directions, among his sons. Augustus died in Nola in Campania, Aug. 19, A.U.C. 767, A.D. 14, in his 76th year; but long before his death, he had associated Tiberius with him in the empire. </p>
       
== Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_49426" /> ==
<p> <strong> AUGUSTUS </strong> . This name is Latin, and was a new name conferred (16th Jan. b.c. 27) by the Roman Senate on Caius Octavius, who, after his adoption by the dictator Caius Julius Cæsar, bore the names Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus. The word means ‘worthy of reverence’ (as a god), and was represented in Greek by <em> Sebastos </em> , which has the same signification, but was avoided by &nbsp; Luke 2:1 as impious. In official documents Augustus appears as ‘Imperator Cæsar Augustus.’ He was born in b.c. 63, was the first Roman emperor from b.c. 23, and died in a.d. 14. He was equally eminent as soldier and administrator, and the Empire was governed for centuries very much on the lines laid down by him. In &nbsp; Luke 2:1 he is mentioned as having issued a decree that all inhabitants of the Roman Empire should be enrolled (for purposes of taxation). There is evidence for a 14-year cycle of enrolment in the Roman province of Egypt. </p> <p> A. Souter. </p>
       
== People's Dictionary of the Bible <ref name="term_69620" /> ==
<p> [[Augustus]] ( ''Äu-Gŭs'Tus'' ), ''Venerable.'' A title given to the Cæsars by the Roman Senate, first applied in b.c. 27 to C. J. C. Octavianus. This was four years after the battle of Actium. Augustus was the emperor who appointed the enrollment, &nbsp;Luke 2:1, causing [[Joseph]] and Mary to go to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born. He also closed the temple of Janus, in token of the rare occurrence, a universal peace; thus unconsciously celebrating the coming of the Prince of Peace. He died a.d. 14, having two years before admitted Tiberius [[Cæsar]] to a share in the government. In &nbsp;Acts 25:21; &nbsp;Acts 25:25, the title (translated the emperor in. R. V.) refers to Nero. </p>
       
== Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary <ref name="term_80043" /> ==
<p> emperor of Rome, and successor of Julius Caesar. The battle of Actium, which he fought with Mark Antony, and which made him master of the empire, happened fifteen years before the birth of Christ. This is the emperor who appointed the enrolment mentioned &nbsp;Luke 2:1 , which obliged Joseph and the [[Virgin]] Mary to go to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus Christ was born. Augustus procured the crown of [[Judea]] for Herod, from the Roman senate. After the defeat of Mark Antony, Herod adhered to Augustus, and was always faithful to him; so that Augustus loaded him with honours and riches. </p>
       
== American Tract Society Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_15302" /> ==
<p> Venerable, the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome, began to reign B. C. 19. Augustus was the emperor who appointed the enrolment, &nbsp;Luke 2:1 , which obliged Joseph and the Virgin to go to Bethlehem, the place where the [[Messiah]] was to be born. He died A. D. 14. </p>
       
== Morrish Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_64997" /> ==
<p> Title given to the Roman Emperors after Augustus Caesar, named in &nbsp;Luke 2:1 . In &nbsp;Acts 25:21,25 the Augustus or Caesar at that time wasNero. </p>
       
== Holman Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_38609" /> ==
&nbsp;Luke 2:1&nbsp;Acts 25:21&nbsp;25:25
       
== Easton's Bible Dictionary <ref name="term_30500" /> ==
&nbsp;Luke 2:1&nbsp;Micah 5:2&nbsp;Luke 3:1
       
== Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature <ref name="term_21576" /> ==
<p> (venerable, Graecized '''''Αὔγουστος''''' .), the imperial title assumed by Octavius, or Octavianus, the successor of Julius Caesar, and the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome. He was emperor at the birth and during half the lifetime of our Lord (B.C. 30 to A.D. 14), but his name occurs only once (&nbsp;Luke 2:1) in the New Testament, as the emperor who appointed the enrolment in consequence of which Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah was to be born. (See [[Jesus]]). The successors of the first Augustus took the same name or title, but it is seldom applied to them by the Latin writers. In the eastern part of the empire the Greek '''''Σεβαστός''''' (which is equivalent) seems to have been more common, and hence is used of Nero (&nbsp;Acts 25:21). In later times (after Diocletian) the title of "Augustus" was given to one of the two heirs- apparent of the empire, and "Caesar" to their younger colleagues and heirs- apparent. </p>
       
== International Standard Bible Encyclopedia <ref name="term_1329" /> ==
<p> ''''' ô ''''' - ''''' gus´tus ''''' Αὔγουστος , <i> ''''' Aúgoustos ''''' </i> ̌ : </p> <p> (1) The first Roman emperor, and noteworthy in Bible history as the emperor in whose reign the [[Incarnation]] took place (&nbsp;Luke 2:1 ). His original name was Caius Octavius Caepias and he was born in 63 bc, the year of Cicero's consulship. He was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, his mother Atia having been the daughter of Julia, Caesar's younger sister. He was only 19 years of age when Caesar was murdered in the Senate house (44 bc), but with a true instinct of statesmanship he steered his course through the intrigues and dangers of the closing years of the republic, and after the battle of Actium was left without a rival. Some difficulty was experienced in finding a name that would exactly define the position of the new ruler of the state. He himself declined the names of <i> rex </i> and <i> dictator </i> , and in 27 bc he was by the decree of the Senate styled Augustus. The epithet implied respect and veneration beyond what is bestowed on human things: " <i> Sancta vocant augusta patres: augusta vocantur Templa sacerdotum rite dicata manu </i> ." - [[O]] vid Fasti. 609; compare Dion Cass., 5316 </p> <p> The [[Greeks]] rendered the word by Σεβαστός , <i> ''''' Sebastós ''''' </i> , literally, "reverend'" &nbsp;Acts 25:21 , &nbsp;Acts 25:25 ). The name was connected by the Romans with <i> augur </i> - "one consecrated by religion" - and also with the verb <i> augere </i> . In this way it came to form one of the German imperial titles "Mehrer des Reichs" (extender of the empire). The length of the reign of Augustus, extending as it did over 44 years from the battle of Actium (31 bc) to his death (14 ad), doubtless contributed much to the settlement and consolidation of the new régime after the troubled times of the civil wars. </p> <p> It is chiefly through the connection of Judea and [[Palestine]] with the Roman Empire that Augustus comes in contact with early Christianity, or rather with the political and religious life of the [[Jewish]] people at the time of the birth of Christ: "Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled" (&nbsp;Luke 2:1 ). During the reign of Herod the Great the government of Palestine was conducted practically without interference from Rome except, of course, as regarded the exaction of the tribute; but on the death of that astute and capable ruler (4 bc) none of his three sons among whom his kingdom was divided showed the capacity of their father. In the year 6 ad the intervention of Augustus was invited by the [[Jews]] themselves to provide a remedy for the incapacity of their ruler, Archelaus, who was deposed by the emperor from the rule of Judea; at the same time, while [[Caesarea]] was still the center of the Roman administration, a small Roman garrison was stationed permanently in Jerusalem. The city, however, was left to the control of the Jewish [[Sanhedrin]] with complete judicial and executive authority except that the death sentence required confirmation by the Roman procurator. There is no reason to believe that Augustus entertained any specially favorable appreciation of Judaism, but from policy he showed himself favorable to the Jews in Palestine and did everything to keep them from feeling the pressure of the Roman yoke. To the Jews of the eastern [[Diaspora]] he allowed great privileges. It has even been held that his aim was to render them pro-Rom, as a counterpoise in some degree to the pronounced [[Hellenism]] of the East; but in the West autonomous bodies of Jews were never allowed (see Mommsen, <i> Provinces of the Roman Empire </i> , chapter 11). </p> <p> (2) For Augustus in &nbsp;Acts 25:21 , &nbsp;Acts 25:25 the King James Version, see Emperor . </p>
       
== The Nuttall Encyclopedia <ref name="term_67982" /> ==
<p> Called at first </p> <p> ltimately </p> <p> he first of the Roman Emperors or Cæsars, grand-nephew of Julius Cæsar, and his heir; joined the Republican party at Cæsar's death, became consul, formed one of a triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus; along with Antony overthrew the Republican party under Brutus and Cassius at Philippi; defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and became master of the Roman world; was voted the title of "Augustus" by the Senate in 27 B.C.; proved a wise and beneficent ruler, and patronised the arts and letters, his reign forming a distinguished epoch in the history of the ancient literature of Rome (63 B.C.-A.D. 14). </p>
       
== Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature <ref name="term_14822" /> ==
<p> Augus′tus (venerable), the title assumed by Octavius, who, after his adoption by Julius Caesar, took the name of Octavianus (i.e. Ex-Octavius), according to the Roman fashion; and was the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome. He was emperor at the birth and during half the lifetime of our Lord; but his name has no connection with Scriptural events, and occurs; only once (&nbsp;Luke 2:1) in the New Testament. </p>
          
          
==References ==
==References ==
<references>
<references>


<ref name="term_54918"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/augustus+(2) Augustus from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
<ref name="term_54920"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-new-testament/augustus Augustus from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_71470"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/smith-s-bible-dictionary/augustus Augustus from Smith's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_49426"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/hastings-dictionary-of-the-bible/augustus Augustus from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_69620"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/people-s-dictionary-of-the-bible/augustus Augustus from People's Dictionary of the Bible]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_80043"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/watson-s-biblical-theological-dictionary/augustus Augustus from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_15302"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/american-tract-society-bible-dictionary/augustus Augustus from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_64997"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/morrish-bible-dictionary/augustus Augustus from Morrish Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_38609"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/holman-bible-dictionary/augustus Augustus from Holman Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_30500"> [https://bibleportal.com/dictionary/easton-s-bible-dictionary/augustus Augustus from Easton's Bible Dictionary]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_21576"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/cyclopedia-of-biblical-theological-and-ecclesiastical-literature/augustus Augustus from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_1329"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/international-standard-bible-encyclopedia/augustus Augustus from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia]</ref>
       
<ref name="term_67982"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/augustus Augustus from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
          
          
<ref name="term_67981"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/the-nuttall-encyclopedia/augustus+(2) Augustus from The Nuttall Encyclopedia]</ref>
<ref name="term_14822"> [https://bibleportal.com/encyclopedia/kitto-s-popular-cyclopedia-of-biblial-literature/augustus Augustus from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature]</ref>
          
          
</references>
</references>

Latest revision as of 17:49, 15 October 2021

Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament [1]

1. The name. -The Lat. name Augustus occurs only once in the Revised Versionof the NT, namely in  Luke 2:1. The word, cognate with augur , had a sacred ring about it, having been applied ( a ) to places and objects which either possessed by nature or acquired by consecration a religious or hallowed character; ( b ) to the gods. It was a new thing to apply it to a human being, and the Senate felt and intended it to be so, when it conferred the title upon Octavian on 16 Jan., 27 b.c. By this title they went as near to conferring deification upon a human being as robust Italian commonsense would allow. ‘It suggested religious sanctity and surrounded the son of the deified Julius with a halo of consecration’ (Bury, A History of the Roman Empire , 1893, p. 13). The official Gr. equivalent of Augustus was Σεβαστός. It is noteworthy that Luke in his own Greek narrative keeps the Latin word, whereas he puts the Greek Σεβαστός into the mouth of Festus ( Acts 25:21;  Acts 25:25; Authorized Version‘Augustus,’ Revised Version‘the emperor,’ Revised Version margin ‘the Augustus’). The difference is important. A Greek Christian like Luke could only use the word Σεβαστός (which meant ‘to be worshipped,’ ‘worthy of worship’) of God Himself: being a Greek, writing his own language, he had not the same objection to the foreign word Augustus , and he had to be intelligible. The absence of θεός (‘god,’ diuus ), with the name of the deceased and deified Emperor in  Luke 2:1, is also perfectly consistent with the Christian attitude (on  Acts 27:1, see Augustan Band).

2. Life. -The Emperor of whom we commonly speak as Augustus was originally named Gaius Octavius [Thurinus], like his father, and was born on 22 Sept., 63 b.c., the year of Cicero’s consulship. The ancestral home of his race was Velitrae (modern Veletri) in the Volscian country, at no great distance from Rome. The family was equestrian and rich, the father of the future Emperor being the first of his race to enter the Senate. He had an honourable and successful official career, attaining to the praetorship and the governorship of the province of Macedonia. He died suddenly, and left three children, one of them the future Emperor (aged 4), whose mother was Atia. This Atia was the daughter of M. Atius Balbus and Julia, the sister of the great dictator Julius Caesar. Augustus was thus the grand-nephew of the dictator. He received the dress of manhood at 15, and was allowed to accompany his grand-uncle to Spain (47 b.c.), where he already showed the quality of courage. Soon after he was sent to Apollonia on the other side of the Adriatic, to pursue his studies. He was still there when the dictator was assassinated, on 15 March, 44 b.c. It was then that he revealed what was in him. Though only eighteen and a half years of age, he, having been adopted into the Julian family by the will of his grand-uncle, whose heir he was at the same time constituted, took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, and immediately left for Italy, to claim not only the private but also the public inheritance of his grand-uncle. His great career is best followed in the next section. His private and family history may be summed up here. As a young man he was betrothed to a daughter of P. Servilius Isauricus, but he broke off this engagement, and for political reasons married Claudia, step-daughter of Mark Antony, in her extreme youth. Her he immediately divorced, and afterwards Scribonia, his second wife. Immediately after the second divorce he robbed Tiberius Claudius Nero of his wife, Livia Drusilla (38 b.c.), and with her he lived all the rest of his life. His immediate household consisted of her, her two sons by her previous husband, the future Emperor Tiberius ( q.v. [Note: quod vide, which see.] ), and Drusus, as well as his own daughter Julia, Scribonia’s child. Julia bore five children to the second of her three husbands, M. Vipsanius Agrippa, namely Gaius, Lucius, Agrippa, Julia, and Agrippina. Gaius and Lucius were adopted by their grandfather, but died early. All his direct descendants in fact died early or disgraced him, and he was forced to fall back on his step-son Tiberius for the succession. Drusus having perished in 9 b.c., Tiberius was compelled in his turn to adopt his nephew Germanicus. Augustus died 19 August, a.d. 14.

3. Official career. -The stages in Augustus’ official career may be summed up as follows. He was recognized by the Senate in 44 b.c.; received praetorian imperium against Antony, on 19 August made consul (though hardly twenty years of age), elected triumuir rei publicœ constituendœ (with Antony and Lepidus) for five years, 43; appointed augur , 37 (or later); first conferment of tribunicia potestas , 36; between 37 and 34 elected XVuir sacris faciundis  ; 30, fourth consulship (hence annually, with certain exceptions, until the 13th was reached in 2 b.c.); 27, title Augustus and imperial powers; 23, the tribunicia potestas conferred on him for life; 22, a special cura annonœ  ; 18, imperial powers renewed for 5 years; 16 (before this date), elected septemuir epulonum  ; 15, coinage of gold and silver for the Empire reserved to Emperor; 12, elected pontifex maximus  ; 8, imperial powers renewed for ten years; 2, received title of pater patriœ  ; a.d. 3, imperial powers renewed for ten years, and again in a.d. 13. The ‘deification’ took place on 17 Sept., 14.

4. Achievements. -This bare enumeration marks the steps by which the power of Augustus was gradually consolidated, and with it the Empire itself. The achievements of Augustus which led to this result can only he briefly enumerated. Amongst the most important, because without them nothing further could have been attained, are his military achievements. His military career, with few exceptions, was continuously successful. It began by the driving of Antonius into Gallia Transalpina (43 b.c.), and was followed up by the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi (42), the defeat of Sextus Pompeius (36), and the defeat of Cleopatra and Antonius at Actium (31). At this point civil war ends, all his Roman enemies and rivals are removed, and he can give attention to frontier problems. A succession of frontier wars ends in victory for the Romans: in 19 the Cantabri were exterminated, in 15 the Raeti and Vindelici were conquered. The German wars gave great trouble throughout the later part of his reign, in which most valuable help was rendered by his step-sons Tiberius and Drusus. In the earlier period Augustus was most fortunate in possessing such an able lieutenant as M. Vipsanius Agrippa.

In other respects also Augustus was extremely active-in the spheres of law, religion, architecture, and building. He did all he could to restore the sapped virtue of the Italians by his encouragement of family life and his attempts to recover the simplicity of the ancient Italian religion. He was a patron of literature, and was greatly helped in his aims by the writings of Virgil and Horace. In all his schemes for the betterment of Rome, Maecenas, an Etruscan knight, himself a patron of literature, was his right-hand man. Among the important statutes passed were the Lex Iulia de adulteriis (18 b.c.), the Lex de maritandis ordinibus , and the Lex Papia Poppœa -all in the interests of a worthy family life, which Augustus recognized to be the indispensable foundation of a truly great State. The Lex aelia Sentia (4 b.c.) regulated the status of manumitted slaves, a large class of growing influence in the State (see Claudius). Augustus’ interest in religion was shown by his acceptance of several sacred offices, as well as by the restoration of many decayed temples and rituals. His boast that he had found Rome made of brick and left it made of marble probably means no more than that he faced the (regular) brick core of buildings with marble slabs, but he certainly spent vast sums on building. Among the most important monuments of his reign are the Portus Iulius (37 b.c.), the Templum Diui Iuli (29), the temple of Apollo on the Palatine Hill, equipped with public libraries of Greek and Latin literature (28), and the theatre of Marcellus (11). The personal ability of Augustus is sometimes unjustly depreciated. It may be questioned if he owed more than inspiration to his grand-uncle.

5. Administration. -The Emperor’s administration covered not only the whole of Italy, but the imperial (or frontier) provinces, where an army was required. He had financial agents also in the senatorial provinces. The great achievement of Augustus was that he ruled the Roman Empire as a citizen (though the chief citizen, princeps ), under constitutional forms. In theory the Empire ceased with the death of the Emperor, but under these constitutional forms he laid the foundations of a lasting despotism. Luke refers in  Luke 2:1 to a census of the whole Empire ordered by him. This was one of his administrative reforms, and the census recurred every 14 years. A census of Roman citizens, as distinguished from subjects of the Empire, was taken twice in his reign, in 28 and 8 b.c. Cf. articleCaesar.

Literature.-There are many vexed questions connected with the career of Augustus, which will make one always regret that T. Mommsen did not write the fourth volume of his Römische Geschichte , which was to cover Augustus’ reign; cf. however, the second edition of the Res Gestœ Divi Augusti (Berlin, 1883), edited by him; V. Gardthausen’s Augustus und seine Zeit , Leipzig, 1891ff. (2 parts, each in three volumes, first part text, second part notes), has not filled the gap. Chronology of chief events is best given by J. S. Reid in A Companion to Latin Studies (ed. J. E. Sandys, Cambr. 1910), 129ff. The theory of the Empire is best expounded in the same writer’s chapter in the Cambridge Mediœval History , i., Cambr. 1911; a splendid account is found also in H. F. Pelham, Outlines of Roman History , London, 1893; A. v. Domaszewski’s Gesch. der röm. Kaiser , 2 vols., Leipzig, 1909, vol. i. pp. 11-250, by a master of Roman history and antiquities; etc. The chief ancient authorities are the Monumentum Ancyranum , Suetonius’ Life of Augustus , Velleius Paterculus, Appian, Dio Cassius, and the early chapters of Tacitus.

A. Souter.

Smith's Bible Dictionary [2]

Augus'tus. (Venerable). Cae'sar, the first Roman emperor. He was born A.U.C. 691, B.C. 63. His father was Caius Octavius; his mother Atia, daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Caesar. He was principally educated by his great-uncle Julius Caesar, and was made his heir. After his murder, the young Octavius, then Caius Julius Caesar Octavianus, was taken into the triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus, and, after the removal of the latter, divided the empire with Antony. The struggle for the supreme power was terminated in favor of Octavianus by the battle of Actium, B.C. 31. On this victory, he was saluted imperator by the senate, who conferred on him, the title Augustus, B.C. 27.

The first link binding him to New Testament history is his treatment of Herod after the battle of Actium. That prince, who had espoused Antony's side, found himself pardoned, taken into favor and confirmed, nay even increased, in his power. After Herod's death, in A.D. 4, Augustus divided his dominions, almost exactly according to his dying directions, among his sons. Augustus died in Nola in Campania, Aug. 19, A.U.C. 767, A.D. 14, in his 76th year; but long before his death, he had associated Tiberius with him in the empire.

Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [3]

AUGUSTUS . This name is Latin, and was a new name conferred (16th Jan. b.c. 27) by the Roman Senate on Caius Octavius, who, after his adoption by the dictator Caius Julius Cæsar, bore the names Caius Julius Cæsar Octavianus. The word means ‘worthy of reverence’ (as a god), and was represented in Greek by Sebastos , which has the same signification, but was avoided by   Luke 2:1 as impious. In official documents Augustus appears as ‘Imperator Cæsar Augustus.’ He was born in b.c. 63, was the first Roman emperor from b.c. 23, and died in a.d. 14. He was equally eminent as soldier and administrator, and the Empire was governed for centuries very much on the lines laid down by him. In   Luke 2:1 he is mentioned as having issued a decree that all inhabitants of the Roman Empire should be enrolled (for purposes of taxation). There is evidence for a 14-year cycle of enrolment in the Roman province of Egypt.

A. Souter.

People's Dictionary of the Bible [4]

Augustus ( Äu-Gŭs'Tus ), Venerable. A title given to the Cæsars by the Roman Senate, first applied in b.c. 27 to C. J. C. Octavianus. This was four years after the battle of Actium. Augustus was the emperor who appointed the enrollment,  Luke 2:1, causing Joseph and Mary to go to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus was born. He also closed the temple of Janus, in token of the rare occurrence, a universal peace; thus unconsciously celebrating the coming of the Prince of Peace. He died a.d. 14, having two years before admitted Tiberius Cæsar to a share in the government. In  Acts 25:21;  Acts 25:25, the title (translated the emperor in. R. V.) refers to Nero.

Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary [5]

emperor of Rome, and successor of Julius Caesar. The battle of Actium, which he fought with Mark Antony, and which made him master of the empire, happened fifteen years before the birth of Christ. This is the emperor who appointed the enrolment mentioned  Luke 2:1 , which obliged Joseph and the Virgin Mary to go to Bethlehem, the place where Jesus Christ was born. Augustus procured the crown of Judea for Herod, from the Roman senate. After the defeat of Mark Antony, Herod adhered to Augustus, and was always faithful to him; so that Augustus loaded him with honours and riches.

American Tract Society Bible Dictionary [6]

Venerable, the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome, began to reign B. C. 19. Augustus was the emperor who appointed the enrolment,  Luke 2:1 , which obliged Joseph and the Virgin to go to Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah was to be born. He died A. D. 14.

Morrish Bible Dictionary [7]

Title given to the Roman Emperors after Augustus Caesar, named in  Luke 2:1 . In  Acts 25:21,25 the Augustus or Caesar at that time wasNero.

Holman Bible Dictionary [8]

 Luke 2:1 Acts 25:21 25:25

Easton's Bible Dictionary [9]

 Luke 2:1 Micah 5:2 Luke 3:1

Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [10]

(venerable, Graecized Αὔγουστος .), the imperial title assumed by Octavius, or Octavianus, the successor of Julius Caesar, and the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome. He was emperor at the birth and during half the lifetime of our Lord (B.C. 30 to A.D. 14), but his name occurs only once ( Luke 2:1) in the New Testament, as the emperor who appointed the enrolment in consequence of which Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah was to be born. (See Jesus). The successors of the first Augustus took the same name or title, but it is seldom applied to them by the Latin writers. In the eastern part of the empire the Greek Σεβαστός (which is equivalent) seems to have been more common, and hence is used of Nero ( Acts 25:21). In later times (after Diocletian) the title of "Augustus" was given to one of the two heirs- apparent of the empire, and "Caesar" to their younger colleagues and heirs- apparent.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [11]

ô - gus´tus Αὔγουστος , Aúgoustos ̌ :

(1) The first Roman emperor, and noteworthy in Bible history as the emperor in whose reign the Incarnation took place ( Luke 2:1 ). His original name was Caius Octavius Caepias and he was born in 63 bc, the year of Cicero's consulship. He was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar, his mother Atia having been the daughter of Julia, Caesar's younger sister. He was only 19 years of age when Caesar was murdered in the Senate house (44 bc), but with a true instinct of statesmanship he steered his course through the intrigues and dangers of the closing years of the republic, and after the battle of Actium was left without a rival. Some difficulty was experienced in finding a name that would exactly define the position of the new ruler of the state. He himself declined the names of rex and dictator , and in 27 bc he was by the decree of the Senate styled Augustus. The epithet implied respect and veneration beyond what is bestowed on human things: " Sancta vocant augusta patres: augusta vocantur Templa sacerdotum rite dicata manu ." - O vid Fasti. 609; compare Dion Cass., 5316

The Greeks rendered the word by Σεβαστός , Sebastós , literally, "reverend'"  Acts 25:21 ,  Acts 25:25 ). The name was connected by the Romans with augur - "one consecrated by religion" - and also with the verb augere . In this way it came to form one of the German imperial titles "Mehrer des Reichs" (extender of the empire). The length of the reign of Augustus, extending as it did over 44 years from the battle of Actium (31 bc) to his death (14 ad), doubtless contributed much to the settlement and consolidation of the new régime after the troubled times of the civil wars.

It is chiefly through the connection of Judea and Palestine with the Roman Empire that Augustus comes in contact with early Christianity, or rather with the political and religious life of the Jewish people at the time of the birth of Christ: "Now it came to pass in those days, there went out a decree from Caesar Augustus, that all the world should be enrolled" ( Luke 2:1 ). During the reign of Herod the Great the government of Palestine was conducted practically without interference from Rome except, of course, as regarded the exaction of the tribute; but on the death of that astute and capable ruler (4 bc) none of his three sons among whom his kingdom was divided showed the capacity of their father. In the year 6 ad the intervention of Augustus was invited by the Jews themselves to provide a remedy for the incapacity of their ruler, Archelaus, who was deposed by the emperor from the rule of Judea; at the same time, while Caesarea was still the center of the Roman administration, a small Roman garrison was stationed permanently in Jerusalem. The city, however, was left to the control of the Jewish Sanhedrin with complete judicial and executive authority except that the death sentence required confirmation by the Roman procurator. There is no reason to believe that Augustus entertained any specially favorable appreciation of Judaism, but from policy he showed himself favorable to the Jews in Palestine and did everything to keep them from feeling the pressure of the Roman yoke. To the Jews of the eastern Diaspora he allowed great privileges. It has even been held that his aim was to render them pro-Rom, as a counterpoise in some degree to the pronounced Hellenism of the East; but in the West autonomous bodies of Jews were never allowed (see Mommsen, Provinces of the Roman Empire , chapter 11).

(2) For Augustus in  Acts 25:21 ,  Acts 25:25 the King James Version, see Emperor .

The Nuttall Encyclopedia [12]

Called at first

ltimately

he first of the Roman Emperors or Cæsars, grand-nephew of Julius Cæsar, and his heir; joined the Republican party at Cæsar's death, became consul, formed one of a triumvirate with Antony and Lepidus; along with Antony overthrew the Republican party under Brutus and Cassius at Philippi; defeated Antony and Cleopatra at Actium, and became master of the Roman world; was voted the title of "Augustus" by the Senate in 27 B.C.; proved a wise and beneficent ruler, and patronised the arts and letters, his reign forming a distinguished epoch in the history of the ancient literature of Rome (63 B.C.-A.D. 14).

Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature [13]

Augus′tus (venerable), the title assumed by Octavius, who, after his adoption by Julius Caesar, took the name of Octavianus (i.e. Ex-Octavius), according to the Roman fashion; and was the first peacefully acknowledged emperor of Rome. He was emperor at the birth and during half the lifetime of our Lord; but his name has no connection with Scriptural events, and occurs; only once ( Luke 2:1) in the New Testament.

References

  1. ↑ Augustus from Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament
  2. ↑ Augustus from Smith's Bible Dictionary
  3. ↑ Augustus from Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible
  4. ↑ Augustus from People's Dictionary of the Bible
  5. ↑ Augustus from Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary
  6. ↑ Augustus from American Tract Society Bible Dictionary
  7. ↑ Augustus from Morrish Bible Dictionary
  8. ↑ Augustus from Holman Bible Dictionary
  9. ↑ Augustus from Easton's Bible Dictionary
  10. ↑ Augustus from Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature
  11. ↑ Augustus from International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
  12. ↑ Augustus from The Nuttall Encyclopedia
  13. ↑ Augustus from Kitto's Popular Cyclopedia of Biblial Literature
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