Augustus (title)
Augustus (plural Augusti; /ɔːˈɡʌstəs/ aw-GUST-əs,[1] Classical Latin: [au̯ˈɡʊstʊs]; "majestic", "great" or "venerable") was the main title of the Roman emperors during Antiquity.[2][3][4] It was given as both name and title to Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (often referred to simply as Augustus) in 27 BC, marking his accession as Rome's first emperor. On his death, it became an official title of his successor, and was so used by all emperors thereafter. The feminine form Augusta was used for Roman empresses and other female members of the imperial family. The masculine and feminine forms originated in the time of the Roman Republic, in connection with things considered divine or sacred in traditional Roman religion. Their use as titles for major and minor Roman deities of the Empire associated the imperial system and family with traditional Roman virtues and the divine will and may be considered a feature of the Roman imperial cult.
For other uses of Augustus, see Augustus (disambiguation).
In Rome's Greek-speaking provinces, "Augustus" was translated as Sebastos (Σεβαστός), or Hellenised as Augoustos (Αὔγουστος); these titles continued to be used in the Byzantine Empire until the Fall of Constantinople in 1453, although they gradually lost their imperial exclusivity in favour of Basileus and Autokrator.
After the fall of the Western Roman Empire, the title "Augustus" would later be incorporated into the style of the Holy Roman Emperor, a precedent set by Charlemagne who used the title serenissimus Augustus. As such, Augustus was sometimes also used as a name for men of aristocratic birth, especially in the lands of the Holy Roman Empire. It remains a given name for males.
Other uses[edit]
Holy Roman Empire[edit]
Charlemagne used the title serenissimus Augustus as a prefix to his titles. The style assumed by Otto I was imperator Augustus. The relative simplicity of the style and absence of any mention of Rome was in deference to Byzantium (although he would briefly use the title imperator Augustus Romanorum ac Francorum (Emperor-Augustus of the Romans and Franks) in 966), which would soon reach the medieval apex of its power. By the 12th century, the standard style of the Emperor had become Dei gratia Romanorum imperator semper Augustus (By the grace of God, Emperor of the Romans, ever Augustus) and would remain so until at least the 16th century.
The formula of semper Augustus ("ever exalted") when translated into German in the late period of the Holy Roman Empire was not rendered literally, but as allzeit Mehrer des Reiches ("ever Increaser of the Realm"), from the transitive verbal meaning of augere "to augment, increase".
Brian Boru[edit]
The Irish High King Brian Boru (c. 941 – 1014) was described in the Annals of Ulster as ardrí Gaidhel Erenn & Gall & Bretan, August iartair tuaiscirt Eorpa uile ("High King of the Gaels of Ireland, the Norsemen and the Britons, Augustus of the whole of north-west Europe"), the only Irish king to receive that distinction.[14][15]