Augustus

Augustus (Latin: Imperātor Caesar Dīvī Fīlius Augustus; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August 14 AD) was the founder of the Roman Empire and its first Emperor, ruling from 27 BC until his death in AD 14.

He was born Gaius Octavius into an old and wealthy equestrian branch of the plebeian Octavii family. 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. He, Mark Antony, and Marcus Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate to defeat the assassins of Caesar. Following their victory at Philippi, the Triumvirate divided the Roman Republic among themselves and ruled as military dictators. The Triumvirate was eventually torn apart under the competing ambitions of its members. Lepidus was driven into exile and stripped of his position, and Antony committed suicide following his defeat at the Battle of Actium by Octavian in 31 BC.

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. In reality, however, he retained his autocratic power over the Republic as a military dictator. By law, Augustus held a collection of powers granted to him for life by the Senate, including supreme military command, and those of tribune and censor. It took several years for Augustus to develop the framework within which a formally republican state could be led under his sole rule. He rejected monarchical titles, and instead called himself Princeps Civitatis ("First Citizen of the State"). The resulting constitutional framework became known as the Principate, the first phase of the Roman Empire.

Octavius (horse)

Octavius (1809–1831) was a British Thoroughbred racehorse and sire. In a racing career that lasted from April 1812 to May 1814 he ran thirteen times and won four races. He recorded his most important success when winning the Derby. Octavius remained in training for two more seasons, his best subsequent performance coming when he won the Epsom Gold Cup as a four-year-old in 1813. At the end of 1814 Octavius was retired to stud where he had moderate success as a sire of winners.

Background

Octavius was sired by Orville a successful staying racehorse who excelled over extreme distances. At stud he was Champion sire in 1817 and 1822 and sired the Classic winners Emilius (Derby), Charlotte (1000 Guineas), Zoë (1000 Guineas) and Ebor (St Leger). Octavius's dam, Marianne, went on to produce Caroline, the winner of the 1820 Epsom Oaks.

Octavius was owned during his racing career by his breeder, the banker Robert Ladbroke, a friend of the Duke of York and Lord Egremont, whose horses were trained by Richard Boyce at Newmarket, Suffolk.

Octavius (praenomen)

Octavius is a Latin praenomen, or personal name. It was never particularly common at Rome, but may have been used more frequently in the countryside. The feminine form is Octavia. The name gave rise to the patronymic gens Octavia, and perhaps also to gens Otacilia. A late inscription gives the abbreviation Oct.

The praenomen Octavius is best known from Octavius Mamilius, the prince of Tusculum, and son-in-law of Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, the seventh and last king of Rome, who was slain by Titus Herminius at the Battle of Lake Regillus about 498 B.C. Members of gens Mamilia afterward came to Rome, and the name must have been used by the ancestors of the Octavii and perhaps the Octacilii, but examples of the praenomen are scarce. It must have been used from on occasion throughout the Roman Republic and well into imperial times. The name was used by gens Maecia, and an Octavia Valeria Vera lived at Ticinum in the 2nd or 3rd century; and indeed, the name has survived to the present day.