The Legacy of January 16th: Augustus and Ivan the Terrible
On this day in 27 BC, Octavian, Julius Caesar’s nephew and adopted son, officially received the title “Augustus” from the Roman Senate during his seventh consulship. This marked the birth of the Roman Empire, with Octavian becoming its first emperor. This date is attested in a calendar originally set up in the very early first century in the public square of Praeneste, now known as Palestrina, a town about 22 miles east of Rome. On the Ides of January, it notes that the Senate had voted that a crown of oak be placed over the door of his home, because he had restored the Republic; this is most likely why Ovid in his Fasti says, mistakenly, that he was granted the title on this day.
The Greek historian Cassius Dio (53.16.8) explains the significance of the title:
“Caesar was exceedingly desirous of being called ‘Romulus,’ but when he perceived that this caused him to be suspected of desiring the kingship, he desisted… and took the title of ‘Augustus,’ signifying that he was more than human; for all the most precious and sacred objects are termed augusta.”
In his monumental inscription, Res Gestae Divi Augusti, (the Deeds of the Divine Augustus), the man himself writes:
“In consulatu sexto et septimo, bella ubi civilia exstinxeram per consensum universorum potitus rerum omnium, rem publicam ex mea potestate in senatus populique Romani arbitrium transtuli. Quo pro merito meo senatus consulto Augustus appellatus sum et laureis postes aedium mearum vestiti publice coronaque civica super ianuam meam fixa est clupeusque aureus in curia Iulia positus, quem mihi senatum populumque Romanum dare virtutis clementiae iustitiae pietatis caussa testatum est per eius clupei inscriptionem. Post id tempus praestiti omnibus dignitate, potestatis autem nihilo amplius habui quam qui fuerunt mihi quoque in magistratu conlegae.” (cap. 34).
“In my sixth and seventh consulships, when I had extinguished the flames of civil war, after receiving by universal consent the absolute control of affairs, I transferred the republic from my own control to the will of the senate and the Roman people. For this service on my part I was given the title of Augustus by decree of the senate, and the doorposts of my house were covered with laurels by public act, and a civic crown was fixed above my door, and a golden shield was placed in the Curia Julia whose inscription testified that the senate and the Roman people gave me this in recognition of my valour, my clemency, my justice, and my piety. After that time I took precedence of all in rank, but of power I possessed no more than those who were my colleagues in any magistracy.”
From "Caesar" to "Tsar": Ivan the Terrible
It is said that history never repeats, but it often rhymes, and as an example of this, on this same day in 1547, Ivan IV was crowned the first “Tsar of All Russia,” uniting the fractured principalities under one ruler. The title “tsar” derives from the Latin “Caesar”, a reflection of the enduring influence of Roman authority. But even with the establishment of this monarchy, Latin documents still often referred to the new state as “Moscovia”, after the capital of the principality whose ruler became the tsar.
The title “tsar” was not invented for this occasion; it occurs in Church Slavonic translations of the Bible well before then. I make note of it in reference to Augustus not only because of the coincidence of date, but also because the word is derived from the Latin “Caesar”, the name of his uncle which Augustus had previously used as a title; the same is true of the German word “Kaiser.” For a sense of historical perspective, the last known military veterans to serve under the men who held these titles both died in 2008.
Ivan IV earned the nickname “Grozny – the Terrible”, not only in the sense of “awe-inspiring” but also for his brutal reign. He purged the nobility, allowed fierce oppression of the peasantry, and in 1581, murdered his own son and heir. His death in 1584 left Russia in the incompetent hands of his son Fyodor. The latter’s death culminated in the Time of Troubles (1598–1613), a period of famine and political upheaval that reduced Russia’s population by nearly a third. This period ended with the election of a new tsar in 1613, Michael Romanov, a relative of Ivan the Terrible’s first wife; the new dynasty would last until the revolution of 1917.
