[♠] ‘H. 15, c. 70’ replaced with ‘Annals, bk. 15, ch. 50’
Augusta, a name given to 70 cities in the Roman provinces in honour of Augustus Cæsar.——London, as capital of the country of the Trinobantes, was called Augusta Trinobantia.——Messalina, famous for her debaucheries, was called Augusta, as wife of the emperor Claudius. Juvenal, satire 6, li. 118.
Augustālia, a festival at Rome, in commemoration of the day on which Augustus returned to Rome, after he had established peace over the different parts of the empire.
Augustīnus, a bishop of Hippo in Africa, distinguished himself by his writings, as well as by the austerity of his life. In his works, which are numerous, he displayed the powers of a great genius, and an extensive acquaintance with the philosophy of Plato. He died in the 76th year of his age, A.D. 430. The best edition of his works is that of the Benedict, folio, Antwerp, 1700 to 1703, 12 vols.
Augustodūnum, now Autun, a town of Gaul, the capital of the ancient Ædui.
Augustŭlus, the last Roman emperor of the west, A.D. 475, conquered by Odoacer king of the Heruli.
Augustus Octaviānus Cæsar, second emperor of Rome, was son of Octavius a senator, and Accia daughter of Julius, and sister to Julius Cæsar. He was adopted by his uncle Cæsar, and inherited the greatest part of his fortune. He lost his father at the age of four; and though only 18 when his uncle was murdered, he hastened to Rome, where he ingratiated himself with the senate and people, and received the honours of the consulship two years after, as the reward of his hypocrisy. Though his youth and his inexperience were ridiculed by his enemies, who branded him with the appellation of boy, yet he rose in consequence by his prudence and valour, and made war against his opponents, on pretence of avenging the death of his murdered uncle. But when he perceived that by making him fight against Antony, the senate wished to debilitate both antagonists, he changed his views, and uniting himself with his enemy, soon formed the second triumvirate, in which his cruel proscriptions shed the innocent blood of 300 senators and 200 knights, and did not even spare the life of his friend Cicero. By the divisions which were made among the triumvirs, Augustus retained for himself the more important provinces of the west, and banished, as it were, his colleagues, Lepidus and Antony, to more distant territories. But as long as the murderers of Cæsar were alive, the reigning tyrants had reason for apprehension, and therefore the forces of the triumvirate were directed against the partisans of Brutus and the senate. The battle was decided at Philippi, where it is said that the valour and conduct of Antony alone preserved the combined armies, and effected the defeat of the republican forces. The head of the unfortunate Brutus was carried to Rome, and in insolent revenge thrown at the feet of Cæsar’s statue. On his return to Italy, Augustus rewarded his soldiers with the lands of those that had been proscribed; but among the sufferers were many who had never injured the conqueror of Philippi, especially Virgil, whose modest application procured the restitution of his property. The friendship which subsisted between Augustus and Antony was broken as soon as the fears of a third rival vanished away, and the aspiring heir of Cæsar was easily induced to take up arms by the little jealousies and resentment of Fulvia. Her death, however, retarded hostilities; the two rivals were reconciled; their united forces were successfully directed against the younger Pompey; and, to strengthen their friendship, Antony agreed to marry Octavia the sister of Augustus. But as this step was political, and not dictated by affection, Octavia was slighted, and Antony resigned himself to the pleasures and company of the beautiful Cleopatra. Augustus was incensed, and immediately took up arms to avenge the wrongs of his sister, and perhaps more eagerly to remove a man whose power and existence kept him in continual alarms, and made him dependent. Both parties met at Actium, B.C. 31, to decide the fate of Rome. Antony was supported by all the power of the east, and Augustus by Italy. Cleopatra fled from the battle with 60 ships, and her flight ruined the interest of Antony, who followed her into Egypt. The conqueror soon after passed into Egypt, besieged Alexandria, and honoured, with a magnificent funeral, the unfortunate Roman and the celebrated queen, whom the fear of being led in the victor’s triumph at Rome had driven to commit suicide. After he had established peace all over the world, Augustus shut up the gates of the temple of Janus, the year our Saviour was born. It is said he twice resolved to lay down the supreme power, immediately after the victory obtained over Antony, and afterwards on account of his ill-health; but his friend Mecænas dissuaded him, and observed that he would leave it to be the prey of the most powerful, and expose himself to ingratitude and to danger. He died at Nola, in the 76th year of his age, A.D. 14, after he had held the sovereign power during 44 years. Augustus was an active emperor, and consulted the good of the Romans with the most anxious care. He visited all the provinces except Africa and Sardinia, and his consummate prudence and experience gave rise to many salutary laws, but it may be said, that be finished with a good grace what he began with cruelty. While making himself absolute, he took care to leave his countrymen the shadow of liberty; and if, under the character and office [♦]of perpetual tribune, of priest and imperator, he was invested with all the power of sovereignty, he guarded against offending the jealous Romans, by not assuming the regal title. His refusal to read the letters he found after Pompey’s defeat arose more from fear than honour, and he dreaded the discovery of names which would have perhaps united to sacrifice his ambition. His good qualities, and many virtues he perhaps never possessed, have been transmitted to posterity by the pen of adulation or gratitude, in the poems of Virgil, Horace, and Ovid. To distinguish himself from the obscurity of the Octavii, and, if possible, to suppress the remembrance of his uncle’s violent fate, he aspired after a new title; and the submissive senate yielded to his ambition, by giving him the honourable appellation of Augustus. He has been accused of licentiousness and adultery by his biographer; but the goodness of his heart, and the fidelity of his friendship, which in some instances he possessed, made some amends for his natural foibles. He was ambitious of being thought handsome; and as he was publicly reported to be the son of Apollo, according to his mother’s declaration, he wished his flatterers to represent him with the figure and attributes of that god. Like Apollo, his eyes were clear, and he affected to have it thought that they possessed some divine irradiation; and was well pleased if, when he fixed his looks upon anybody, they held down their eyes as if overcome by the glaring brightness of the sun. He distinguished himself by his learning; he was a perfect master of the Greek language, and wrote some tragedies, besides memoirs of his life, and other works, all now lost. He was married three times; to Claudia, to Scribonia, and to Livia; but he was unhappy in his matrimonial connections, and his only daughter Julia by Scribonia disgraced herself and her father by the debauchery and licentiousness of her manners. He recommended, at his death, his adopted son Tiberius as his successor. He left his fortune, partly to Tiberius and to Drusus, and made donations to the army and to the Roman people. Virgil wrote his heroic poem at the desire of Augustus, whom he represented under the amiable and perfect character of Æneas. Suetonius, The Twelve Caesars.—Horace.—Virgil.—Pausanias.—Tacitus.—Paterculus.—Dio Cassius.—Ovid.——The name of Augustus was afterwards given to the successors of Octavianus in the Roman empire as a personal, and the name of Cæsar as a family, distinction. In a more distant period of the empire, the title of Augustus was given only to the emperor, while that of Cæsar was bestowed on the second person in the state, who was considered as presumptive heir.
[♦] ‘or’ replaced with ‘of’
Avĭdiēnus, a rich and sordid man, whom Horace styles happy, bk. 2, satire 2, li. 55.
Avidius Cassius, a man saluted emperor, A.D. 175. He reigned only three months, and was assassinated by a centurion. He was called a second Catiline, from his excessive love of bloodshed. Diodorus.