Augustus was the first Roman emperor, reigning from 27 BCE to 14 CE. He was the great-nephew and adopted son of Julius Caesar, who had established a dictatorship but was launching a series of political and social reforms when he was assassinated in 44 BCE. Several men sought to become his successor, and Augustus eventually came to power following military successes. His autocratic regime is known as the principate because he was the princeps, the first citizen, at the head of that array of outwardly revived republican institutions that alone made his autocracy palatable. With great patience, skill, and efficiency, he overhauled every aspect of Roman life and brought durable peace and prosperity to the Greco-Roman world.
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