Augus´tulus, Romulus, the last of the Western Roman emperors; reigned for one year (475-6), when he was overthrown by Odoacer and banished.
Augus´tus, Gaius Julius Cæsar Octavianus (originally called Gaius Octavius), Roman emperor, was the son of Gaius Octavius and Atia, a daughter of Julia, the sister of Julius Cæsar. He was born 63 B.C., and died A.D. 14. Octavius was at Apollonia, in Epirus, when he received news of the death of his uncle (44 B.C.), who had previously adopted him as his son. He returned to Rome to claim Cæsar's property and avenge his death, and now took, according to usage, his uncle's name with the surname Octavianus. He was aiming secretly at the chief power, but at first he joined the republican party, and assisted at the defeat of Antony at Mutina. He got himself chosen consul in 43. Soon after the second triumvirate was formed between him and Antony and Lepidus, and this was followed by the conscription and assassination of three hundred Senators and two thousand knights of the party opposed to the triumvirate. Next year Octavianus and Antony defeated the republican army under Brutus and Cassius at Philippi. The victors now divided the Roman world between them, Octavianus getting the West, Antony the East, and Lepidus Africa. Sextus Pompeius, who had made himself formidable at sea, had now to be put down; and Lepidus, who had hitherto retained an appearance of power, was deprived of all authority (36 B.C.) and retired into private life. Antony and Octavianus now shared the Empire between them; but while the former, in the East, gave himself up to a life of luxury, and alienated the Romans by his alliance with Cleopatra and his adoption of Oriental manners, Octavianus skilfully cultivated popularity, and soon declared war ostensibly against the Queen of Egypt. The naval victory of Actium, in which the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was defeated, made Octavianus master of the world, 31 B.C. He returned to Rome, 29 B.C., celebrated a splendid triumph, and caused the temple of Janus to be closed in token of peace being restored. Gradually all the highest offices of State, civil and religious, were united in his hands, and the new title of Augustus was also assumed by him, being formally conferred by the Senate in 27 B.C. Great as was the power given to him, he exercised it with wise moderation, and kept up the show of a republican form of government. Under him successful wars were carried on in Africa and Asia (against the Parthians), in Gaul
and Spain, in Pannonia, Dalmatia, &c.; but the defeat of Varus by the Germans under Arminius with the loss of three legions, A.D. 9, was a great blow to him in his old age. Many useful decrees proceeded from him, and various abuses were abolished. He gave a new form to the Senate, employed himself in improving the morals of the people, enacted laws for the suppression of luxury, introduced discipline into the armies, and order into the games of the circus. He adorned Rome in such a manner that it was said: "He found it of brick, and left it of marble". The people erected altars to him, and, by a decree of the Senate, the month Sextilis was called Augustus (our August). He was a patron of literature; Virgil and Horace were befriended by him, and their works and those of their contemporaries are the glory of the Augustan Age. His death, which took place at Nola, plunged the Empire into the greatest grief. He was thrice married, but had no son, and was succeeded by his stepson Tiberius, whose mother Livia he had married after prevailing on her husband to divorce her.—Bibliography: J. B. Firth, Augustus Cæsar (in Heroes of the Nations series); E. S. Shuckburgh, Augustus.
Augustus II (or Frederick Augustus I), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, second son of John George III, Elector of Saxony, was born at Dresden in 1670, died at Warsaw 1733. He succeeded his brother in the Electorate in 1694, and the Polish throne having become vacant, in 1696, by the death of John Sobieski, Augustus presented himself as a candidate for it and was successful. He joined with Peter the Great in the war against Charles XII of Sweden, invaded Livonia, but was defeated by Charles near Riga, and at Clissow, between Warsaw and Cracow. In 1704 he was deposed, and two years later formally resigned the crown to Stanislaus I, now devoting himself to his Saxon dominions. In 1709, after the defeat of Charles at Poltava, the Poles recalled Augustus, who united himself anew with Peter. The two monarchs, in alliance with Denmark, sent troops into Pomerania, but the Swedish general Steinbock defeated the allies at Gadebusch, 20th Dec., 1712. The death of Charles XII put an end to the war, and Augustus concluded a peace with Sweden. A confederation was now formed in Poland against the Saxon troops, but through the mediation of Peter an arrangement was concluded by which the Saxon troops were removed from the kingdom. Augustus now gave himself up to voluptuousness and a life of pleasure. His Court was one of the most splendid and polished in Europe. The Poles yielded but too readily to the example of their king, and the last years of his reign were characterized by boundless luxury and corruption of manners. His wife left him one son. The Countess of Königsmark bore him the celebrated commander Marshal Saxe (Maurice of Saxony).
Augustus III (or Frederick Augustus II), Elector of Saxony and King of Poland, son of Augustus II, born at Dresden 1696, succeeded his father as Elector in 1733, and was chosen King of Poland through the influence of Austria and Russia. He closely followed the example of his father, distinguishing himself by the splendour of his feasts and the extravagance of his Court. He preferred Dresden to Warsaw, and through his long absence from Poland the government sank into entire inactivity. During the first Silesian war he formed a secret alliance with Austria. The consequence was that during the second Silesian war Frederick the Great of Prussia pushed on into Saxony, and occupied the capital, from which Augustus fled. By the peace of Dresden, 25th Dec., 1745, he was reinstated in the possession of Saxony. In 1756 he was involved anew in a war against Prussia. When Frederick declined his proposal of neutrality he left Dresden, and entered the camp at Pirna, where 17,000 Saxon troops were assembled. Frederick surrounded the Saxons, who were obliged to surrender, and Augustus fled to Poland. On the threat of invasion by Russia he returned to Dresden, where he died in 1763. His son, Frederick Christian, succeeded him as Elector of Saxony, and Stanislaus Poniatowski as King of Poland.
Auk, a name of certain swimming birds, family Alcidæ, including the great auk, the little auk, the puffin, &c. The genus Alca, or auks proper, contains only two species, the great auk (Alca impennis), and the razor-bill (Alca torda). The great auk or gair-fowl, a bird about 3 feet in length, used to be plentiful in northerly regions, and also visited the British shores, but has become extinct. Some seventy skins, about as many eggs, with bones representing perhaps a hundred individuals, are preserved in various
museums. Though the largest species of the family, the wings were only 6 inches from the carpal joint to the tip, totally useless for flight, but employed as fins in swimming, especially under water. The tail was about 3 inches long; the beak was high, short, and compressed; the head, neck, and upper parts were blackish; a large spot under each eye, and most of the under parts white. Its legs were placed so far back as to cause it to sit nearly upright. The razor-bill is about 15 inches in length, and its wings are sufficiently developed to be used for flight. It is found in numbers on some parts of the British shores, as the Isle of Man.
Aulap´olay, or Alleppi, a seaport on the south-west coast of Hindustan, Travancore, between the sea and a lagoon, with a safe roadstead all the year round; exports timber, coir, coconuts, &c. Pop. 24,918.
Auld Lichts. See Presbyterianism.