Octavian As Son of A Roman God
On 1 January 42 BC, nearly two years after the assassination of Julius Caesar on 15 March 44 BC, but before the final victory of the Second Triumvirate over the conspirators who had taken his life, the Roman Senate recognised him as a divinity. He was therefore referred to as Divus Iulius (the divine Julius), and his adopted son styled himself Divi filius (son of the deified one, son of the god). The fuller form, "divi Iuli filius" (son of the divine Julius) was also used.
Octavian used the title divi filius to advance his political position, finally overcoming all rivals for power within the Roman state. The title was for him "a useful propaganda tool", and was displayed on the coins that he issued.
Read more about this topic: Divi Filius
Famous quotes containing the words son, roman and/or god:
“The mother must teach her son how to respect and follow the rules. She must teach him how to compete successfully with the other boys. And she must teach him how to find a woman to take care of him and finish the job she began of training him how to live in a family. But no matter how good a job a woman does in teaching a boy how to be a man, he knows that she is not the real thing, and so he tends to exaggerate the differences between men and women that she embodies.”
—Frank Pittman (20th century)
“Plato is philosophy, and philosophy, Plato,—at once the glory and the shame of mankind, since neither Saxon nor Roman have availed to add any idea to his categories.”
—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)
“I distrust those people who know so well what God wants them to do, because I notice it always coincides with their own desires.”
—Susan B. Anthony (1820–1906)