Early life of Augustus

Common card · No. 391940

Augustus, the first Roman emperor, was born in Rome on 23 September 63 BC as Gaius Octavius. In his early childhood he was raised by his parents, Gaius Octavius and Atia, but after the elder Octavius's death he was raised in part by his stepfather Lucius Marcius Philippus and his grandmother Julia. In his youth he was provided an education in Greek and Latin rhetoric, mathematics, and philosophy. Dictator Julius Caesar, Octavius's great-uncle, helped foster his early career after Octavius donned the toga virilis at age 15 to mark his coming of age as an adult citizen. Caesar had Octavius elected to the College of Pontiffs, ride in his chariot during a triumph, and accompany him on a military campaign in Hispania. Caesar named Octavius as his primary heir in his will, but was assassinated on the Ides of March in 44 BC while Octavius was studying and undergoing military training at Apollonia in Illyria. Afterwards, Octavius sailed back to Italy to claim his inheritance as the rightful heir...

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