Reign of Augustus Begins

The reign of Augustus as Rome's first emperor began in 27 BC with his first settlement with the Roman Senate, which granted him extraordinary proconsular powers, control over half of Rome's provinces and most of its armies, and the title of augustus.^¹ Prior to this event he is labeled by historians as Octavian, having been born Gaius Octavius, before adopting the name of his great-uncle Gaius Julius Caesar, who named him as his primary heir in his will.^¹ In 30 BC Octavian defeated fellow Roman triumvir Mark Antony and his wife Cleopatra, Queen of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, conquering Egypt and bringing it under his personal possession.^¹ Styling himself as princeps, Augustus sought to uphold the facade that he was a restorer of the Roman Republic, though his reign is viewed as the beginning of the Principate phase of the Roman Empire, which was ruled subsequently by members of his imperial family.^¹ After his death in AD 14, Augustus was deified and succeeded by his stepson and adopted son Tiberius.^¹