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136-514: The black marble paving (1st century BC) and modern concrete enclosure (early 20th century) of the Lapis Niger overlie an ancient altar and a stone block with one of the earliest known Old Latin inscriptions (c. 570–550 BC). The superstructure monument and shrine may have been built by Julius Caesar during his reorganization of the Forum and Comitium space. Alternatively, this may have been done

272-504: A series of speeches portraying him as a threat to the republican order. With opinion in Rome turning against him and his year of consular power nearing its end, Antony attempted to pass laws that would assign him the province of Cisalpine Gaul . Octavian meanwhile built up a private army in Italy by recruiting Caesarian veterans, and on 28 November he won over two of Antony's legions with

408-405: A stem . Stems are classified by their last letters as vowel or consonant. Vowel stems are formed by adding a suffix to a shorter and more ancient segment called a root . Consonant stems are the root (roots end in consonants). The combination of the last letter of the stem and the case ending often results in an ending also called a case ending or termination. For example, the stem puella- receives

544-462: A suggestum where the early kings of Rome would speak to the crowds at the forum and to the Senate. The two altars are common at shrines throughout the early Roman or late Etruscan period. The Lapis Niger is mentioned in an uncertain and ambiguous way by several writers of the early Imperial period: Dionysius of Halicarnassus , Plutarch , and Festus . They do not seem to know which old stories about

680-399: A bonus of 500 denarii . Arriving in Rome on 6 May 44 BC, Octavian found consul Mark Antony, Caesar's former colleague, in an uneasy truce with the dictator's assassins. They had been granted a general amnesty on 17 March, yet Antony had succeeded in driving most of them out of Rome with an inflammatory eulogy at Caesar's funeral, mounting public opinion against the assassins. Mark Antony

816-443: A case ending -m to form the accusative case puellam in which the termination -am is evident. In Classical Latin textbooks the declensions are named from the letter ending the stem or First, Second, etc. to Fifth. A declension may be illustrated by a paradigm , or listing of all the cases of a typical word. This method is less often applied to Old Latin, and with less validity. In contrast to Classical Latin, Old Latin reflects

952-615: A consonant declension, in the nominative singular, the -s was affixed directly to the stem consonant, but the combination of the two consonants produced modified nominatives over the Old Latin period. The case appears in different stages of modification in different words diachronically. The Latin neuter form (not shown) is the Indo-European nominative without stem ending; for example, cor < *cord "heart". The genitive singular endings include -is < -es and -us < *-os . In

1088-474: A contemporary of Augustus , described a statue of a resting lion placed on each base, "just as they may be seen today guarding graves". This is sometimes referred to as the Vulcanal. Also added at another period was an honorary column, possibly with a statue topping it. Archaeological excavations (1899–1905) revealed various dedicatory items from vase fragments, statues and pieces of animal sacrifices around at

1224-498: A coward for handing over his direct military control to Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa instead. After Philippi, a new territorial arrangement was made among the members of the Second Triumvirate. Gaul and the province of Hispania were placed in the hands of Octavian. Antony traveled east to Egypt where he allied himself with Queen Cleopatra , the former lover of Julius Caesar and mother of Caesar's son Caesarion . Lepidus

1360-558: A date that he would later commemorate as the beginning of his public career. Antony's forces were defeated at the battles of Forum Gallorum (14 April) and Mutina (21 April), forcing Antony to retreat to Transalpine Gaul . Both consuls were killed, however, leaving Octavian in sole command of their armies. These victories earned him his first acclamation as imperator , a title reserved for victorious commanders. The Senate heaped many more rewards on Decimus Brutus than on Octavian for defeating Antony, then attempted to give command of

1496-410: A few masculines indicates the nominative singular case ending may have been originally -s: paricidas for later parricida , but the -s tended to get lost. In the nominative plural, -ī replaced original -s as in the genitive singular. In the genitive singular, the -s was replaced with -ī from the second declension, the resulting diphthong shortening to -ai subsequently becoming -ae. The original form

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1632-613: A generation earlier by Sulla during one of his construction projects around the Curia Hostilia . The site was rediscovered and excavated from 1899 to 1905 by Italian archaeologist Giacomo Boni . Mentioned in many ancient descriptions of the Forum dating back to the Roman Republic and the early days of the Roman Empire , the significance of the Lapis Niger shrine was obscure and mysterious to later Romans, but it

1768-674: A major setback in Germania . Beyond the frontiers, he secured the empire with a buffer region of client states and made peace with the Parthian Empire through diplomacy. He reformed the Roman system of taxation, developed networks of roads with an official courier system , established a standing army , established the Praetorian Guard as well as official police and fire-fighting services for Rome, and rebuilt much of

1904-454: A meaning as puella , so Roma, which is singular, and Syracusae, which is plural, have been substituted. The locative plural has already merged with the -eis form of the ablative. The stems of the nouns of the o-declension end in ŏ deriving from the o-grade of Indo-European ablaut . Classical Latin evidences the development ŏ > ŭ. Nouns of this declension are either masculine or neuter. Nominative singulars ending in -ros or -ris syncopate

2040-518: A monopoly on political and martial power. The Senate still controlled North Africa, an important regional producer of grain , as well as Illyria and Macedonia , two strategic regions with several legions. However, the Senate had control of only five or six legions distributed among three senatorial proconsuls, compared to the twenty legions under the control of Octavian, and their control of these regions did not amount to any political or military challenge to Octavian. The Senate's control over some of

2176-429: A new family usually retained their old nomen in cognomen form (e.g., Octavianus for one who had been an Octavius, Aemilianus for one who had been an Aemilius, etc. see Roman naming conventions for adoptions ). However, though some of his contemporaries did, there is no evidence that Octavian officially used the name Octavianus , as it would have made his adoptive origins too obvious. Historians usually refer to

2312-1001: A new will with the Vestal Virgins , naming Octavian as the prime beneficiary. Octavian was studying and undergoing military training in Apollonia , Illyria , when Julius Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March (15 March) 44 BC. He rejected the advice of some army officers to take refuge with the troops in Macedonia and sailed to Italy to ascertain whether he had any potential political fortunes or security. Caesar had no living legitimate children under Roman law and so had adopted Octavian, his grand-nephew, in his will, making him his primary heir. Mark Antony later charged that Octavian had earned his adoption by Caesar through sexual favours, though Suetonius describes Antony's accusation as political slander . This form of slander

2448-490: A political and martial gamble in opposing Octavian however, since the Roman army still depended on the triumvirs for their salaries. Lucius and his allies ended up in a defensive siege at Perusia , where Octavian forced them into surrender in early 40 BC. Lucius and his army were spared because of his kinship with Antony, the strongman of the East, while Fulvia was exiled to Sicyon . Octavian showed no mercy, however, for

2584-477: A rebellious band of slaves which occurred a few years after his birth. Suetonius wrote: "There are many indications that the Octavian family was in days of old a distinguished one at Velitrae; for not only was a street in the most frequented part of town long ago called Octavius, but an altar was shown there besides, consecrated by an Octavius. This man was leader in a war with a neighbouring town ..." Due to

2720-543: A renegade general, following Julius Caesar's victory over his father, had established himself in Sicily and Sardinia as part of an agreement reached with the Second Triumvirate in 39 BC. Both Antony and Octavian were vying for an alliance with Pompeius. Octavian succeeded in a temporary alliance in 40 BC when he married Scribonia , a sister (or daughter) of Pompeius's father-in-law Lucius Scribonius Libo . Scribonia gave birth to Octavian's only natural child, Julia ,

2856-412: A second founding of Rome. The title of Romulus was associated too strongly with notions of monarchy and kingship, an image that Octavian tried to avoid. The Senate also confirmed his position as princeps senatus , which originally meant the member of the Senate with the highest precedence, but in this case it became an almost regnal title for a leader who was first in charge. The honorific augustus

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2992-551: A show of returning full power to the Roman Senate and relinquishing his control of the Roman provinces and their armies. Under his consulship, however, the Senate had little power in initiating legislation by introducing bills for senatorial debate. Octavian was no longer in direct control of the provinces and their armies, but he retained the loyalty of active duty soldiers and veterans alike. The careers of many clients and adherents depended on his patronage, as his financial power

3128-420: A somewhat vague term ... Bell, De locativi in prisca Latinitate vi et usu , Breslau, 1889, sets the later limit at 75 BC. A definite date is really impossible, since archaic Latin does not terminate abruptly, but continues even down to imperial times." Bennett's own date of 100 BC did not prevail; rather Bell's 75 BC became the standard as expressed in the four-volume Loeb Library and other major compendia. Over

3264-506: A team, two heads, sterile… Along the route ... (Him) who (will) not (sacrifice) with a young animal .. in ... lawful assembly in grove... Old Latin Old Latin , also known as Early , Archaic or Priscan Latin (Classical Latin : prīsca Latīnitās , lit.   'ancient Latinity'), was the Latin language in the period roughly before 75 BC, i.e. before

3400-569: A tenth of those promised, which Antony viewed as an intentional provocation. Octavian and Lepidus launched a joint operation against Sextus in Sicily in 36 BC. Despite setbacks for Octavian, the naval fleet of Sextus Pompeius was almost entirely destroyed on 3 September by General Agrippa at the naval battle of Naulochus . Sextus fled to the east with his remaining forces, where he was captured and executed in Miletus by one of Antony's generals

3536-441: A type of which one can cite other instances, as lucidus and Lucius , fluuidus and flŭuius , liuidus and Līuius . Michael Grant , in his book Roman Forum writes: "The inscription found beneath the black marble ... clearly represents a piece of ritual law ... the opening words are translatable as a warning that a man who damages, defiles or violates the spot will be cursed. One reconstruction of

3672-473: Is from the Latin word augere (meaning "to increase") and can be translated as "illustrious one" or "sublime". It was a title of religious authority rather than political one, and it indicated that Octavian now approached divinity. His name of Augustus was also more favorable than Romulus , the previous one which he styled for himself in reference to the story of the legendary founder of Rome , which symbolized

3808-419: Is maintained in some formulas, e.g. pater familiās . The genitive plural ending -āsōm (classical -ārum following rhotacism ), borrowed from the pronouns, began to overtake original -om. In the dative singular the final i is either long or short. The ending becomes -ae, -a (Feronia) or -e (Fortune). In the accusative singular, Latin regularly shortens a vowel before final m. In the ablative singular, -d

3944-424: Is read inscribed inside the o .) Dumézil declined to interpret the first seven lines on the grounds that the inscription was too damaged, while acknowledging it was a prohibition under threat. Dumézil's attempt is based on the assumption of a parallelism of some points of the fragmentary text inscribed on the monument and a passage of Cicero 's De Divinatione (II 36. 77). In that passage, Cicero, discussing

4080-452: Is seen in his chosen names, the implied rejection of monarchical titles whereby he called himself Princeps Civitatis ('First Citizen') juxtaposed with his adoption of the title Augustus . Augustus dramatically enlarged the empire, annexing Egypt, Dalmatia , Pannonia , Noricum , and Raetia , expanding possessions in Africa , and completing the conquest of Hispania , but he suffered

4216-831: Is the reading of the inscription as given by Dumézil (on the right the reading by Arthur E. Gordon): I a 1 quoiho... b 2-3 s akros: es/ed:sord... II a 4-5 ...iaias/recei: lo ... b 6-7 ...euam/quos: r e ... III a 8-9 ...m: kalato/rem: ha.... b 10-11 ...od: io: uxmen/takapia: d o tau... IV a 12 ...m: i: te: r p e b 13-14 ...m: quoiha/uelod: nequ... c 15 ...od: iouestod/ V 16 loi u quiod po qvoiho[.]... (or qvoi ho i ...) sakros:es/ed:sord... ...[..]a[..]as/recei: i c (or i o ) ...evam/qvos: re... ...m:kalato/rem: ha b (or ha l ) ... t od:iovxmen/ta: kapia:duo:tavr... m: iter[..]... ...m:qvoiha/velod: neqv... ...[.]od:iovestod/ loivqviod qo ... (Roman numbers represent

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4352-442: Is thought to be essentially the same as in classical Latin: These differences did not necessarily run concurrently with each other and were not universal; that is, c was used for both c and g. Old Latin is thought to have had a strong stress on the first syllable of a word until about 250 BC. All syllables other than the first were unstressed and were subjected to greater amounts of phonological weakening. Starting around that year,

4488-524: The Via Sacra they should avoid meeting a iuges auspicium . As the Via Sacra begins on the Capitol and stretches along the whole Forum , in the descent from the hill to the Forum the first crossing they met, i.e. the first place where the incident in question could happen, was named Vicus Jugarius : Dumézil thinks its name should be understood according to the prescription on issue. In fact

4624-417: The aerarium Saturni , the public treasury. According to historian H. H. Scullard , however, Octavian's power was based on the exercise of "a predominant military power and ... the ultimate sanction of his authority was force, however much the fact was disguised." The Senate proposed to Octavian, the victor of Rome's civil wars, that he once again assume command of the provinces. The Senate's proposal

4760-510: The Comitium , where the cippus was found, is very close to the left side of this crossing. This fact would make it natural that the cippus were placed exactly there, as a warning to passers by of the possible occurrence of the order of the calatores . In support of such an interpretation of the inscription, Dumézil emphasises the occurrence of the word recei ( dative case of rex ). Lines 8-9 could be read as: (the augur or

4896-661: The Crisis of the Third Century . Octavian was born into an equestrian branch of the plebeian gens Octavia . His maternal great-uncle Julius Caesar was assassinated in 44 BC , and Octavian was named in Caesar's will as his adopted son and heir; as a result, he inherited Caesar's name, estate, and the loyalty of his legions. He, Mark Antony , and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat

5032-516: The Etruscan alphabet as it evolved into the Latin alphabet . The writing conventions varied by time and place until classical conventions prevailed. A part of old inscriptions, texts in the original writing system have been lost or transcribed by later copyists. Old Latin could be written from right to left (as were Etruscan and early Greek) or boustrophedon . Some differences between old and classical Latin were of spelling only; pronunciation

5168-677: The Orientalizing period , in the first half of the seventh century BC. Other Old Latin inscriptions dated to either the late Roman Kingdom or early Roman Republic include the Lapis Niger stone, the Duenos Inscription on a kernos vase, and the Garigliano bowl of Bucchero type. The concept of Old Latin ( Prisca Latinitas ) is as old as the concept of Classical Latin – both labels date to at least as early as

5304-478: The Peloponnese , and ensured him a future position as consul for 35 BC. The territorial agreement between the triumvirate and Sextus Pompeius began to crumble once Octavian divorced Scribonia and married Livia on 17 January 38 BC. One of Pompeius's naval commanders betrayed him and handed over Corsica and Sardinia to Octavian. Octavian lacked the resources to confront Pompeius alone, so an agreement

5440-620: The Ptolemaic queen of Egypt , killed themselves during Octavian's invasion of Egypt, which then became a Roman province . After the demise of the Second Triumvirate, Augustus restored the outward facade of the free republic, with governmental power vested in the Roman Senate , the executive magistrates and the legislative assemblies , yet he maintained autocratic authority by having the Senate grant him lifetime tenure as commander-in-chief , tribune and censor . A similar ambiguity

5576-572: The Rostra , the senatorial speaking platform. The inscription on the stone block has various interesting features. The lettering is closer to Greek letters than any known Latin lettering, since it is chronologically closer to the original borrowing of the Greek alphabet by peoples of Italy from Italian Greek colonies , such as Cumae . The inscription is written boustrophedon . Many of the oldest Latin inscriptions are written in this style. The meaning of

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5712-722: The kings , mainly songs. Thus, the laws of the Twelve Tables (5th century BC) from the early Republic were comprehensible, but the Carmen Saliare , probably written under Numa Pompilius (who according to tradition reigned from 715 to 673 BC), was not entirely clear (and remains so). On the other hand, Polybius , a Greek historian of Rome who flourished in the late second century BC, commented on "the first treaty between Rome and Carthage ", (which he dated to 28 years before Xerxes I crossed into Greece; that is, in 508 BC) that "the ancient Roman language differs so much from

5848-459: The 18th century. The definition is not arbitrary, but the terms refer to spelling conventions and word forms not generally found in works written under the Roman Empire . This article presents some of the major differences. The earliest known specimen of Latin seems to be on the Praeneste fibula . An analysis done in 2011 declared it to be genuine "beyond any reasonable doubt" and dating from

5984-558: The 377 years from 452 to 75 BC, Old Latin evolved from texts partially comprehensible by classicists with study to being easily read by scholars. Old Latin authored works began in the 3rd century BC. These are complete or nearly complete works under their own name surviving as manuscripts copied from other manuscripts in whatever script was current at the time. There are also fragments of works quoted in other authors. Many texts placed by various methods (painting, engraving, embossing) on their original media survive just as they were except for

6120-680: The Classical Latin stress system began to develop. It passed through at least one intermediate stage, found in Plautus , in which the stress occurred on the fourth last syllable in four-syllable words with all short syllables. Most original PIE ( Proto-Indo-European ) diphthongs were preserved in stressed syllables, including /ai/ (later ae ); /ei/ (later ī ); /oi/ (later ū , or sometimes oe ); /ou/ (from PIE /eu/ and /ou/ ; later ū ). The Old Latin diphthong ei evolves in stages: ei > ẹ̄ > ī . The intermediate sound ẹ̄

6256-571: The Comitium in front of the Curia Julia , this structure survived for centuries due to a combination of reverential treatment and overbuilding during the era of the early Roman Empire. The site is believed to date back to the Roman regal period . The inscription includes the word rex , probably referring to either a king ( rex ), or to the rex sacrorum , a high religious official. At some point,

6392-450: The East, Octavian in the West. The Italian Peninsula was left open to all for the recruitment of soldiers, but in reality this provision was useless for Antony in the East. To further cement relations of alliance with Antony, Octavian gave his sister, Octavia Minor , in marriage to Antony in late 40 BC. Sextus Pompeius threatened Octavian in Italy by denying shipments of grain through

6528-548: The Mediterranean Sea to the peninsula. Pompeius's own son was put in charge as naval commander in the effort to cause widespread famine in Italy. Pompeius's control over the sea prompted him to take on the name Neptuni filius , "son of Neptune ". A temporary peace agreement was reached in 39 BC with the Pact of Misenum ; the blockade on Italy was lifted once Octavian granted Pompeius Sardinia, Corsica , Sicily, and

6664-440: The Roman generals, and even if he desired no position of authority his position demanded that he look to the well-being of the city of Rome and the Roman provinces . Octavian's aims from this point forward were to return Rome to a state of stability, traditional legality, and civility by lifting the overt political pressure imposed on the courts of law and ensuring free elections—in name at least. On 13 January 27 BC, Octavian made

6800-440: The Roman provinces helped maintain a republican facade for the autocratic principate. Also, Octavian's control of entire provinces followed republican-era precedents for the objective of securing peace and creating stability, in which such prominent Romans as Pompey had been granted similar military powers in times of crisis and instability. On 16 January 27 BC the Senate gave Octavian the new title of augustus . Augustus

6936-519: The Romans forgot the original significance of the shrine. This led to several conflicting stories of its origin. Romans believed the Lapis Niger marked either the grave of the first king of Rome, Romulus , or the spot where he was murdered by the Senate; the grave of Hostus Hostilius , grandfather of King Tullus Hostilius ; or the location where Faustulus , foster father of Romulus, fell in battle. The earliest writings referring to this spot regard it as

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7072-473: The Senate and the people while upholding the republican traditions of Rome, appearing that he was not aspiring to dictatorship or monarchy. Marching into Rome, Octavian and Agrippa were elected as consuls by the Senate. Years of civil war had left Rome in a state of near lawlessness, but the republic was not prepared to accept the control of Octavian as a despot. At the same time, Octavian could not give up his authority without risking further civil wars among

7208-467: The Senate grant him, his wife, and his sister tribunal immunity , or sacrosanctitas , in order to ensure his own safety and that of Livia and Octavia once he returned to Rome. Meanwhile, Antony's campaign turned disastrous against Parthia, tarnishing his image as a leader, and the mere 2,000 legionaries sent by Octavian to Antony were hardly enough to replenish his forces. On the other hand, Cleopatra could restore his army to full strength; he already

7344-597: The Senate officially revoked Antony's powers as consul and declared war on Cleopatra's regime in Egypt. In early 31 BC, Antony and Cleopatra were temporarily stationed in Greece when Octavian gained a preliminary victory: the navy successfully ferried troops across the Adriatic Sea under the command of Agrippa. Agrippa cut off Antony and Cleopatra's main force from their supply routes at sea, while Octavian landed on

7480-759: The Senate's archenemy Mark Antony. Octavian made another bold move in 44 BC when, without official permission, he appropriated the annual tribute that had been sent from Rome's Near Eastern province to Italy. Octavian began to bolster his personal forces with Caesar's veteran legionaries and with troops designated for the Parthian war, gathering support by emphasizing his status as heir to Caesar. On his march to Rome through Italy, Octavian's presence and newly acquired funds attracted many, winning over Caesar's former veterans stationed in Campania . By June, he had gathered an army of 3,000 loyal veterans, paying each

7616-459: The adjective always meant these remnants of a previous language, which, in Roman philology , was taken to be much older in fact than it really was. Viri prisci , "old-time men", meant the population of Latium before the founding of Rome . In the Late Latin period, when Classical Latin was behind them, Latin- and Greek-speaking grammarians were faced with multiple phases, or styles, within

7752-549: The age of Classical Latin . A member of the Italic languages , it descends from a common Proto-Italic language ; Latino-Faliscan is likely a separate branch from Osco-Umbrian . All these languages may be relatively closely related to Venetic and possibly further to Celtic ; compare the Italo-Celtic hypothesis. The use of "old", "early" and "archaic" has been standard in publications of Old Latin writings since at least

7888-568: The armies of Brutus and Cassius, who had built their base of power in Greece. After two battles at Philippi in Macedonia in October 42, the Caesarian army was victorious and Brutus and Cassius committed suicide. Mark Antony later used the examples of these battles as a means to belittle Octavian, as both battles were decisively won with the use of Antony's forces. In addition to claiming responsibility for both victories, Antony branded Octavian as

8024-515: The assassins of Caesar. Following their victory at the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as de facto dictators . The Triumvirate was eventually torn apart by the competing ambitions of its members; Lepidus was exiled in 36 BC, and Antony was defeated by Octavian at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Antony and his wife Cleopatra ,

8160-531: The city during his reign. Augustus died in AD 14 at age 75, probably from natural causes. Persistent rumors, substantiated somewhat by deaths in the imperial family, have claimed his wife Livia poisoned him. He was succeeded as emperor by his adopted son Tiberius , Livia's son and former husband of Augustus's only biological child, Julia . As a consequence of Roman customs , society, and personal preference, Augustus ( / ɔː ˈ ɡ ʌ s t ə s / aw- GUST -əs )

8296-628: The college of priests) but was ejected from the Triumvirate. His public career at an end, he effectively was exiled to a villa at Cape Circei in Italy. The Roman dominions were divided between Octavian in the West and Antony in the East. Octavian ensured Rome's citizens of their rights to property in order to maintain peace and stability in his portion of the empire. This time, he settled his discharged soldiers outside of Italy, while also returning 30,000 slaves to their former Roman owners—slaves who had fled to join Pompeius's army and navy. Octavian had

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8432-427: The consonant-stem in the pre-Latin period and went further in Old Latin. I/y and u/w can be treated as either consonants or vowels; hence they are semi-vowels . Mixed-stem declensions are partly like consonant-stem and partly like i-stem. Consonant-stem declensions vary slightly depending on which consonant is root-final: stop-, r-, n-, s-, etc. The paradigms below include a stop-stem (reg-) and an i-stem (igni-). For

8568-555: The consular legions to Decimus Brutus. In response, Octavian stayed in the Po Valley and refused to aid any further offensive against Antony. In July, an embassy of centurions sent by Octavian entered Rome and demanded the consulship left vacant by Hirtius and Pansa and also that the decree should be rescinded which declared Antony a public enemy. When this was refused, he marched on the city with eight legions. He encountered no military opposition in Rome and on 19 August 43 BC

8704-430: The covering and keep the marble in place). An awning now protects the ancient relics until the covering is repaired, allowing the public to view the original suggestum for the first time in 50 years. The nature of the coverings and ongoing repairs makes it impossible to see the Lapis Niger which is several meters underground. The Lapis Niger went through several incarnations. The initial versions were destroyed by fire or

8840-519: The crowded nature of Rome at the time, Octavian was taken to his father's home village at Velletri to be raised. Octavian mentions his father's equestrian family only briefly in his memoirs. His paternal great-grandfather Octavius was a military tribune in Sicily during the Second Punic War . His grandfather had served in several local political offices. His father, also named Octavius, had been governor of Macedonia . His mother, Atia ,

8976-1037: The early songs). This eventually also evolved to ī . Old Latin often had different short vowels from Classical Latin, reflecting sound changes that had not yet taken place. For example, the very early Duenos inscription has the form duenos "good", later found as duonos and still later bonus . A countervailing change wo > we occurred around 150 BC in certain contexts, and many earlier forms are found (e.g. earlier votō, voster, vorsus vs. later vetō, vester, versus ). Old Latin frequently preserves original PIE thematic case endings -os and -om (later -us and -um ). There are many unreduced clusters, e.g. iouxmentom (later iūmentum , "beast of burden"); losna (later lūna , "moon") < * lousna < */leuksnā/; cosmis (> cōmis , "courteous"); stlocum , acc. (> locum , "place"). Early du /dw/ becomes b : duenos > duonos > bonus "good"; duis > bis "twice"; duellom > bellum "war". Final /d/ occurred in ablatives, such as puellād "from

9112-417: The ending: *agros > *agrs > *agers > *agerr > ager . (The form terr "three times" for later ter < *tris appears in Plautus .) Many alternative spellings occur: This declension contains nouns that are masculine, feminine, and neuter. The stem ends in the root consonant, except in the special case where it ends in -i (i-stem declension). The i-stem, which is a vowel-stem, partly fused with

9248-438: The enticing offer of monetary gain. In the face of Octavian's large and capable force, Antony saw the danger of staying in Rome and, to the relief of the Senate, he left Rome for Cisalpine Gaul, which was to be handed to him on 1 January. However, the province had earlier been assigned to Decimus Junius Brutus Albinus , one of Caesar's assassins, who now refused to yield to Antony. Antony besieged him at Mutina and rejected

9384-541: The evolution of the language from an ancestor spoken in Latium . The endings are multiple. Their use depends on time and place. Any paradigm selected would be subject to these constraints and if applied to the language universally would give false constructs, hypothetical words not attested in the Old Latin corpus. Nevertheless, the endings are shown below by quasi-classical paradigms. Alternate endings from different stages of development are given, but they may not be attested for

9520-541: The exception of Antony's older son . Octavian had previously shown little mercy to surrendered enemies and acted in ways that had proven unpopular with the Roman people, yet he was given credit for pardoning many of his opponents after the Battle of Actium. After Actium and the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian was in a position to rule the entire republic under an unofficial principate —but he had to achieve this through incremental power gains. He did so by courting

9656-405: The following interpretation of this inscription, which he too considers to be a law: Whosoever (will violate) this (grove), let him be cursed. (Let no one dump) refuse (nor throw a body ...). Let it be lawful for the king (to sacrifice a cow in atonement). (Let him fine) one (fine) for each (offence). Whom the king (will fine, let him give cows). (Let the king have a —) herald. (Let him yoke)

9792-453: The following session in the Senate with a vehement attack on Antony's grants of titles and territories to his relatives and to his queen. The breach between Antony and Octavian prompted a large portion of the senators, as well as both of that year's consuls, to leave Rome and defect to Antony. However, Octavian received two key deserters from Antony in the autumn of 32 BC: Munatius Plancus and Marcus Titius. These defectors gave Octavian

9928-419: The following year. As Lepidus and Octavian accepted the surrender of Pompeius's troops, Lepidus attempted to claim Sicily for himself, ordering Octavian to leave. Lepidus's troops deserted him, however, and defected to Octavian since they were weary of fighting and were enticed by Octavian's promises of money. Lepidus surrendered to Octavian and was permitted to retain the office of pontifex maximus (head of

10064-435: The forces of Pompey , Caesar's late enemy, but Octavian fell ill and was unable to travel. When he had recovered, he sailed to the front but was shipwrecked. After coming ashore with a handful of companions, he crossed hostile territory to Caesar's camp, which impressed Caesar considerably. Velleius Paterculus reports that after that time, Caesar allowed the young man to share his carriage. When back in Rome, Caesar deposited

10200-408: The foundation of his political actions. To a large extent, the public was aware of the vast financial resources that Octavian commanded. He failed to encourage enough senators to finance the building and maintenance of networks of roads in Italy in 20 BC, but he undertook direct responsibility for them. This was publicized on the Roman currency issued in 16 BC, after he donated vast amounts of money to

10336-415: The four faces of the cippus (pedestal) plus the edge. Fragments on each face are marked with letters (a, b, c). Arabic numbers denote lines. A sign (/) marks the end of a line). (The letters whose reading is uncertain or disputed are given in italics. The extension of the lacuna is uncertain: it may vary from 1 ⁄ 2 to 2 ⁄ 3 or even more. In Gordon's reading the v of duo in line 11

10472-474: The funds that were allotted by Caesar for the intended war against the Parthian Empire in the Middle East. This amounted to 700 million sesterces stored at Brundisium, the staging ground in Italy for military operations in the east. A later senatorial investigation into the disappearance of the public funds took no action against Octavian since he subsequently used that money to raise troops against

10608-857: The funeral oration for his grandmother. From this point, his mother and stepfather took a more active role in raising him. He donned the toga virilis ("toga of manhood") four years later and was elected to the College of Pontiffs in 47 BC. The following year he was put in charge of the Greek games that were staged in honor of the Temple of Venus Genetrix , built by Julius Caesar. According to Nicolaus of Damascus , Octavian wished to join Caesar's staff for his campaign in Africa but gave way when his mother protested. In 46 BC, she consented for him to join Caesar in Hispania , where he planned to fight

10744-406: The genitive plural, some forms appear to affix the case ending to the genitive singular rather than the stem: regerum < * reg-is-um . In the dative singular, -ī succeeded -eī and -ē after 200 BC. In the accusative singular, -em < *-ṃ after a consonant. In the ablative singular, the -d was lost after 200 BC. In the dative and ablative plural, the early poets sometimes used -būs. In

10880-423: The girl" or campōd "from the field", later puellā and campō . In verb conjugation, the third-person ending - d later became - t , e.g. Old Latin faced > Classical facit. Latin nouns have grammatical case , with an ending, or suffix, showing its use in the sentence: subject, predicate, etc. A case for a given word is formed by suffixing a case ending to a part of the word common to all its cases called

11016-483: The information that he needed to confirm with the Senate all the accusations that he made against Antony. Octavian forcibly entered the temple of the Vestal Virgins and seized Antony's secret will, which he promptly publicized. The will would have given away Roman-conquered territories as kingdoms for his sons to rule and designated Alexandria as the site for a tomb for him and his queen. In late 32 BC,

11152-403: The inscription is difficult to discern as the beginning and end are missing and only one third to one half of each line survives. It appears, however, to dedicate the shrine to a rex or king and to level grave curses at anyone who dares disturb it. Attempts have been made at interpreting the meaning of the surviving fragment by Johannes Stroux, Georges Dumézil and Robert E. A. Palmer . Here

11288-468: The language. Isidore of Seville ( c. 560 – 636) reports a classification scheme that had come into existence in or before his time: "the four Latins" ("Moreover, some people have said that there are four Latin languages"; "Latinas autem linguas quattuor esse quidam dixerunt" ). They were: This scheme persisted with little change for some thousand years after Isidore. In 1874, John Wordsworth used this definition: "By Early Latin I understand Latin of

11424-404: The late Roman Republic . In that period Cicero , along with others, noted that the language he used every day, presumably upper-class city Latin, included lexical items and phrases that were heirlooms from a previous time, which he called verborum vetustas prisca , translated as "the old age/time of language". In the classical period, Prisca Latinitas , Prisca Latina and other idioms using

11560-559: The legions under their command followed suit. Meanwhile, in Sicyon, Antony's wife Fulvia died of a sudden illness while Antony was en route to meet her. Fulvia's death and the mutiny of their centurions allowed the two remaining triumvirs to effect a reconciliation. In the autumn of 40, Octavian and Antony approved the Treaty of Brundisium, by which Lepidus would remain in Africa, Antony in

11696-590: The locative singular, the earliest form is like the dative but over the period assimilated to the ablative. In the instrumental singular, the earliest form is an -e during its early days. The stems of the nouns of the u-declension end in ŭ and are masculine, feminine and neuter. In addition there is a ū-stem declension, which contains only a few "isolated" words, such as sūs , "pig", and is not presented here. Augustus Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius ; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian ( Latin : Octavianus ),

11832-416: The mainland opposite the island of Corcyra (modern Corfu ) and marched south. Trapped on land and sea, deserters of Antony's army fled to Octavian's side daily while Octavian's forces were comfortable enough to make preparations. Antony's fleet sailed through the bay of Actium on the western coast of Greece in a desperate attempt to break free of the naval blockade . It was there that Antony's fleet faced

11968-450: The majority of Rome's legions. While Octavian acted as consul in Rome, he dispatched senators to the provinces under his command as his representatives to manage provincial affairs and ensure that his orders were carried out. The provinces not under Octavian's control were overseen by governors chosen by the Roman Senate. Octavian became the most powerful political figure in the city of Rome and in most of its provinces, but he did not have

12104-409: The mass of allies loyal to Lucius. On 15 March, the anniversary of Julius Caesar's assassination, he had 300 Roman senators and equestrians executed for allying with Lucius. Perusia also was pillaged and burned as a warning for others. This bloody event sullied Octavian's reputation and was criticized by many, such as Augustan poet Sextus Propertius . Sextus Pompeius , the son of Pompey and still

12240-523: The modern that it can only be partially made out, and that after much application by the most intelligent men". There is no sharp distinction between Old Latin, as it was spoken for most of the Republic, and Classical Latin, but the earlier grades into the latter. The end of the republic was too late a termination for compilers after Wordsworth; Charles Edwin Bennett said, " 'Early Latin' is necessarily

12376-508: The much larger fleet of smaller, more maneuverable ships under commanders Agrippa and Gaius Sosius in the Battle of Actium on 2 September 31 BC. Antony and his remaining forces were spared by a last-ditch effort from Cleopatra's fleet that had been waiting nearby. A year later, Octavian defeated their forces in Alexandria on 1 August 30 BC—after which Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide . Antony fell on his own sword and

12512-403: The new Caesar as "Octavian" during the time between his adoption and his assumption of the name Augustus in 27 BC in order to avoid confusing the dead dictator with his heir. Octavian could not rely on his limited funds to make a successful entry into the upper echelons of the Roman political hierarchy. After a warm welcome by Caesar's soldiers at Brundisium, Octavian demanded a portion of

12648-560: The original form of classic Latin aluus , 'abdomen', and also stools, as still attested in Cato Maior was * aulos , that Max Niedermann on the grounds of Lithuanian reconstructs as * au(e)los . The h in quoihauelod could denote a hiatus as in ahēn(e)us , huhuic (i.e. bisyllable huic ). Dumézil then proposes the following interpretation for lines 12–16: ... ne, descensa tunc iunctorum iumentoru ] m cui aluo, nequ [ eatur (religious operation under course in

12784-521: The passive infinitive) auspici ] o iusto liquido . The hiatus marked by h in line 13 would require to read the antecedent word as quoii , dative of quoi : quoiei is the ancient dative of the accentuated relative pronoun, but one could suppose that in the enclitic indefinite pronoun the dative could have early been reduced to quoiī . The e in auelod can be an irrational vowel as in numerus from * nom-zo : cf. Etruscan Avile . As for loi(u)quod , it may be an archaic form of

12920-399: The precautions taken by augurs to avoid embarrassing auspices , states: "to this is similar what we augurs prescribe, in order to avoid the occurrence of the iuges auspicium , that they order to free from the yoke the animals (which are yoked)". 'They' here denotes the calatores , public slaves whom the augurs and other sacerdotes (priests) had at their service, and who, in

13056-521: The proscription of his ally Cicero, Antony the proscription of his maternal uncle Lucius Julius Caesar (the consul of 64 BC), and Lepidus his brother Paullus . On 1 January 42 BC, the Senate posthumously recognized Julius Caesar as a divinity of the Roman state, divus Iulius . Octavian was able to further his cause by emphasizing the fact that he was divi filius , "Son of the Divine". Antony and Octavian then sent twenty-eight legions by sea to face

13192-403: The quoted passage, are to execute orders aimed at preventing profane people from spoiling and, by their inadvertent action thereby rendering void, the sacred operation. Even though impossible to connect meaningfully to the rest of the text, the mention of the rex in this context would be significant as at the time of the Roman monarchy, augury was considered as pertaining to the king: Cicero in

13328-411: The ravages of time. Some of these were copied from other inscriptions. No inscription can be older than the introduction of the Greek alphabet into Italy but none survive from that early date. The imprecision of archaeological dating makes it impossible to assign a year to any one inscription, but the earliest survivals are probably from the 6th century BC. Some texts, however, that survive as fragments in

13464-415: The resolutions passed by the Senate to stop the fighting. The Senate had no army to enforce their resolutions. This provided an opportunity for Octavian, who already was known to have armed forces. Cicero also defended Octavian against Antony's taunts about Octavian's lack of noble lineage and aping of Julius Caesar's name, stating "we have no more brilliant example of traditional piety among our youth." At

13600-815: The rex) [ ... iubet suu ] m calatorem ha [ ec *calare ] , lines 10–11 could be [ ... iug ] ō (or [ ... subiugi ] ō or [ ... iugari ] ō) iumenta capiat , i.e.: "that he take the yoked animals from under the yoke" (with a separation prefix ex or de before the ablative as in Odyssea IX 416: "άπο μεν λίθον ειλε θυράων" = capere ). Line 12 could be accordingly interpreted as: [ ... uti augur/ rex ad...- ] m iter pe [ rficiat ] . The remaining lines could also be interpreted similarly, in Dumézil's view: iustum and liquidum are technical terms used as qualifying auspices, meaning regular, correctly taken and favourable. Moreover,

13736-403: The sacking of the city and buried under the slabs of black marble. It is believed this was done by Sulla; however, it has also been argued that Julius Caesar may have buried the site during his re-alignment of the Comitium. The original version of the site, first excavated in 1899, included a truncated cone of tuff (possibly a monument) and the lower portion of a square pillar ( cippus ) which

13872-595: The same day that he divorced her to marry Livia Drusilla , little more than a year after their marriage. While in Egypt, Antony had been engaged in an affair with Cleopatra and had fathered three children with her. Aware of his deteriorating relationship with Octavian, Antony left Cleopatra; he sailed to Italy in 40 BC with a large force to oppose Octavian, laying siege to Brundisium . This new conflict proved untenable for both Octavian and Antony, however. Their centurions, who had become important figures politically, refused to fight because of their Caesarian cause, while

14008-532: The same treatise states: "Divination, as well as wisdom, was considered regal ". The iuges auspicium are defined thus by Paul the Deacon : "The iuges auspicium occur when an animal under the yoke makes its excrements". Varro in explaining the meaning of the name of the Via Sacra , states that the augurs, advancing along this street after leaving the arx used to inaugurate . While advancing along

14144-458: The same. Antony refused. Roman troops captured the Kingdom of Armenia in 34 BC, and Antony made his son Alexander Helios the ruler of Armenia. He also awarded the title " Queen of Kings " to Cleopatra, acts that Octavian used to convince the Roman Senate that Antony had ambitions to diminish the preeminence of Rome. Octavian became consul once again on 1 January 33 BC, and he opened

14280-411: The shrine should be believed. In November 2008 heavy rain damaged the concrete covering that has been protecting the Vulcanal and its monuments since the 1950s. This includes the inscribed stone block accorded the name of "The Black Stone" or Lapis Niger (the marble and cement covering is a mix of the original black marble said to have been used to cover the site by Sulla, and modern cement used to create

14416-442: The site in a layer of deliberately placed gravel. All these artifacts date from very ancient Rome, between the 5th and 7th centuries BC. The second version, placed when the first version was demolished in the 1st century BC to make way for further development in the forum, is a far simpler shrine. A pavement of black marble was laid over the original site and was surrounded by a low white wall or parapet. The new shrine lay just beside

14552-404: The spelling of original occurrences of ī that did not evolve from ei (e.g. in the genitive singular -ī , which is always spelled -i in the oldest inscriptions but later on can be spelled either -i or -ei ). In unstressed syllables, *oi and *ai had already merged into ei by historic times (except for one possible occurrence of poploe for populī "people" in a late manuscript of one of

14688-483: The summer, Octavian won the support of Caesarian veterans and also made common cause with those senators—many of whom were themselves former Caesarians—who perceived Antony as a threat to the state. After an abortive attempt by the veterans to reconcile Octavian and Antony, Antony's bellicose edicts against Brutus and Cassius alienated him from the moderate Caesarians in the Senate, who feared a renewed civil war. In September, Marcus Tullius Cicero began to attack Antony in

14824-408: The text interprets it as referring to the misfortune which could be caused if two yoked draught cattle should happen while passing by to drop excrement simultaneously. The coincidence would be a perilous omen". That the inscription may contain some laws of a very early period is also acknowledged by Allen C. Johnson. Palmer instead, on the basis of a detailed analysis of every recognisable word, gave

14960-416: The urging of Cicero, the Senate inducted Octavian as senator on 1 January 43 BC, yet he also was given the power to vote alongside the former consuls. In addition, Octavian was granted imperium pro praetore (commanding power) which legalized his command of troops, sending him to relieve the siege along with Hirtius and Pansa (the consuls for 43 BC). He assumed the fasces on 7 January,

15096-455: The whole period of the Republic, which is separated very strikingly, both in tone and in outward form, from that of the Empire." Although the differences are striking and can be easily identified by Latin readers, they are not such as to cause a language barrier. Latin speakers of the empire had no reported trouble understanding Old Latin, except for the few texts that must date from the time of

15232-557: The word of the paradigm. For example, in the second declension, * campoe "fields" is unattested, but poploe "peoples" is attested. The locative was a separate case in Old Latin but gradually became reduced in function, and the locative singular form eventually merged with the genitive singular by regular sound change. In the plural, the locative was captured by the ablative case in all Italic languages before Old Latin. The stems of nouns of this declension usually end in -ā and are typically feminine. A nominative case ending of -s in

15368-400: The works of classical authors, had to have been composed earlier than the republic, in the time of the monarchy . These are listed below. Some authors, especially in recent texts, refer to the oldest Latin documents (7th–5th c. BCE) as Very Old Latin (VOL). Notable Old Latin fragments with estimated dates include: Authors: Old Latin surviving in inscriptions is written in various forms of

15504-534: Was a ratification of Octavian's extra-constitutional power. Through the Senate, Octavian was able to continue the appearance of a still-functional constitution . Feigning reluctance, he accepted a ten-year responsibility of overseeing provinces that were considered chaotic. The provinces ceded to Augustus for that ten-year period comprised much of the conquered Roman world, including all of Hispania and Gaul , Syria , Cilicia , Cyprus, and Egypt . Moreover, command of these provinces provided Octavian with control over

15640-413: Was always discussed as a place of great sacredness and significance. It is constructed on top of a sacred spot consisting of much older artifacts found about 5 ft (1.5 m) below the present ground level. The name "black stone" may have originally referred to the black stone block (one of the earliest known Latin inscriptions) or it may refer to the later black marble paving at the surface. Located in

15776-465: Was amassing political support, but Octavian still had the opportunity to rival him as the leading member of the faction supporting Caesar. Antony had lost the support of many Romans and supporters of Caesar when he initially opposed the motion to elevate Caesar to divine status. It is alleged that Antony refused to hand over the money due Octavian as Caesar's adopted heir, possibly on grounds that it would take time to disentangle it from state funds. During

15912-407: Was elected consul with his relative Quintus Pedius as co-consul. Meanwhile, Antony formed an alliance with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus , another leading Caesarian. In a meeting near Bononia in October 43 BC, Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate . Their powers were made official by the Senate on 27 November. This explicit arrogation of special powers lasting five years

16048-486: Was engaged in a romantic affair with her, so he decided to send Octavia back to Rome. Octavian used this to spread propaganda implying that Antony was becoming less than Roman because he rejected a legitimate Roman spouse for an "Oriental paramour ". In 36 BC, Octavian used a political ploy to make himself look less autocratic and Antony more the villain by proclaiming that the civil wars were coming to an end and that he would step down as triumvir—if only Antony would do

16184-446: Was inherited by all future emperors and became the de facto main title of the emperor. As a result, modern historians usually regard this event as the beginning of his reign as "emperor". Augustus himself appears to have reckoned his "reign" from 27 BC. Augustus styled himself as Imperator Caesar divi filius , "Commander Caesar son of the deified one". With this title, he boasted his familial link to deified Julius Caesar, and

16320-473: Was inscribed with an Old Latin inscription, perhaps the oldest in existence if not the Duenos inscription or the Praeneste fibula . A U-shaped altar, of which only the base still survives, was added some time later. In front of the altar are two bases, which may also have been added separately from the main altar. The antiquarian Verrius Flaccus (whose work is preserved only in the epitome of Pompeius Festus),

16456-617: Was known by many names throughout his life: He was born in Rome on 23 September 63 BC. His paternal family was from the Volscian town of Velletri , approximately 40 kilometres (25 mi) south-east of the city. He was born at Ox Head, a small property on the Palatine Hill , very close to the Roman Forum . In his childhood, he received the cognomen "Thurinus", possibly commemorating his father's victory at Thurii over

16592-515: Was left with the province of Africa, stymied by Antony, who conceded Hispania to Octavian instead. Octavian was left to decide where in Italy to settle the tens of thousands of veterans of the Macedonian campaign, whom the triumvirs had promised to discharge. The tens of thousands who had fought on the republican side with Brutus and Cassius could easily ally with a political opponent of Octavian if not appeased, and they also required land. There

16728-523: Was most responsible for the proscriptions and killing. However, the sources agree that enacting the proscriptions was a means by all three factions to eliminate political enemies. Marcus Velleius Paterculus asserted that Octavian tried to avoid proscribing officials whereas Lepidus and Antony were to blame for initiating them. Cassius Dio defended Octavian as trying to spare as many as possible, whereas Antony and Lepidus, being older and involved in politics longer, had many more enemies to deal with. This claim

16864-432: Was motivated in part by a need to raise money to pay the salaries of their troops for the upcoming conflict against Caesar's assassins, Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus . Rewards for their arrest gave incentive for Romans to capture those proscribed, while the assets and properties of those arrested were seized by the triumvirs. Contemporary Roman historians provide conflicting reports as to which triumvir

17000-484: Was no more government-controlled land to allot as settlements for their soldiers, so Octavian had to choose one of two options: alienating many Roman citizens by confiscating their land, or alienating many Roman soldiers who could mount a considerable opposition against him in the Roman heartland. Octavian chose the former. There were as many as eighteen Roman towns affected by the new settlements, with entire populations driven out or at least given partial evictions. There

17136-533: Was popular during this time in the Roman Republic to demean and discredit political opponents by accusing them of having an inappropriate sexual affair. After landing at Lupiae near Brundisium , Octavian learned the contents of Caesar's will, and only then did he decide to become Caesar's political heir as well as heir to two-thirds of his estate. Upon his adoption, Octavian assumed his great-uncle's name Gaius Julius Caesar. Roman citizens adopted into

17272-482: Was reached with the Second Triumvirate's extension for another five-year period beginning in 37 BC. In supporting Octavian, Antony expected to gain support for his own campaign against the Parthian Empire , desiring to avenge Rome's defeat at Carrhae in 53 BC. In an agreement reached at Tarentum , Antony provided 120 ships for Octavian to use against Pompeius, while Octavian was to send 20,000 legionaries to Antony for use against Parthia. Octavian sent only

17408-399: Was regularly lost after a long vowel. In the dative and ablative plural, the -abos descending from Indo-European *-ābhos is used for feminines only ( deabus ). *-ais > -eis > -īs is adapted from -ois of the o-declension. The vocative singular had inherited short -a. This later merged with the nominative singular when -ā was shortened to -ă. The locative case would not apply to such

17544-431: Was rejected by Appian, who maintained that Octavian shared an equal interest with Lepidus and Antony in eradicating his enemies. Suetonius said that Octavian was reluctant to proscribe officials but did pursue his enemies with more vigor than the other triumvirs. Plutarch described the proscriptions as a ruthless and cutthroat swapping of friends and family among Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian. For example, Octavian allowed

17680-465: Was simply written e but must have been distinct from the normal long vowel ē because ẹ̄ subsequently merged with ī while ē did not. It is generally thought that ẹ̄ was a higher sound than e (e.g. perhaps [eː] vs. [ɛː] during the time when both sounds existed). Even after the original vowel /ei/ had merged with ī , the old spelling ei continued to be used for a while, with the result that ei came to stand for ī and began to be used in

17816-599: Was taken by his soldiers back to Alexandria where he died in Cleopatra's arms. Cleopatra died soon after by poisoning, contrary to the popular belief that she was bitten by an asp . Octavian had exploited his position as Caesar's heir to further his own political career, and he was well aware of the dangers in allowing another person to do the same. He therefore followed the advice of the Greek philosopher Arius Didymus that "two Caesars are one too many", ordering Caesarion killed while sparing Cleopatra's children by Antony, with

17952-521: Was the founder of the Roman Empire . He reigned as the first Roman emperor from 27 BC until his death in AD ;14. The reign of Augustus initiated an imperial cult , as well as an era of imperial peace (the Pax Romana or Pax Augusta ) in which the Roman world was largely free of armed conflict. The Principate system of government was established during his reign and lasted until

18088-533: Was the niece of Julius Caesar. His father died in 59 BC when Octavian was four years old. His mother married a former governor of Syria , Lucius Marcius Philippus . Philippus claimed descent from Alexander the Great and was elected consul in 56 BC. Philippus never had much of an interest in young Octavian. Because of this, Octavian was raised by his grandmother, Julia , the sister of Julius Caesar. Julia died in 52 or 51 BC, and Octavian delivered

18224-411: Was then legalised by law passed by the plebs , unlike the unofficial First Triumvirate formed by Pompey , Julius Caesar, and Marcus Licinius Crassus . The triumvirs then set in motion proscriptions , in which between 130 and 300 senators and 2,000 equites were branded as outlaws and deprived of their property and, for those who failed to escape, their lives. This decree issued by the triumvirate

18360-444: Was unrivaled in the Roman Republic. Historian Werner Eck states: The sum of his power derived first of all from various powers of office delegated to him by the Senate and people, secondly from his immense private fortune, and thirdly from numerous patron-client relationships he established with individuals and groups throughout the Empire. All of them taken together formed the basis of his auctoritas , which he himself emphasized as

18496-624: Was widespread dissatisfaction with Octavian over these settlements of his soldiers, and this encouraged many to rally at the side of Lucius Antonius , who was brother of Mark Antony and supported by a majority in the Senate. Meanwhile, Octavian asked for a divorce from Claudia , the daughter of Fulvia (Antony's wife) and her first husband Publius Clodius Pulcher . He returned Claudia to her mother, claiming that their marriage had never been consummated. Fulvia decided to take action. Together with Lucius Antonius, she raised an army in Italy to fight for Antony's rights against Octavian. Lucius and Fulvia took

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