Augustus Caesar Family
Augustus Caesar was the greatest Roman emperor. He was married to Scribonia at a young age of twenty-three in the year 40 BC. Their only daughter Julia was born in 39 BC. After sometime, Augustus divorced his wife to marry his beloved Livia. She was the wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero and had a son Tiberius. |
Augustus compelled Nero to divorce Livia while she was carrying his second child. Augustus and Livia lived together happily for 52 years till Augustus’ death, but they had no kids from this marriage. Thus Augustus had only three children, his daughter Julia, and 2 stepsons, Tiberius and Nero Drusus from Livia.
Augustus died in 14 AD. However, prior to dying, he wanted to have an heir to the throne and wanted someone who his blood relation. Therefore, he fixed his daughter Julia’s marriage with his sister Octavia’s son Marcellus to nominate him his heir. But Marcellus died after two years. Then Julia was married to Agrippa, who was Augustus’ most trustworthy soldier. Later on, Augustus adopted Gaius and Lucius, the 2 sons (out of 5 children) born to Julia and Agrippa. Augustus wanted that after his death, Agrippa would take care of the Empire until Gaius or Lucius become mature enough to manage the empire. But Agrippa died in 12 BC before his sons grew up.
Now, there was no one from his blood relations to become his successor. So, he turned to Tiberius, the eldest son of his wife Livia. But he had no blood relation with him. So, he forced Tiberius to divorce his wife and then got him married to his daughter, Julia. Julia and Tiberius had a son, but he died in infancy. Then Julia and Tiberius parted ways. Thereafter, her eldest son Gaius was appointed as consul at the age of 14, as Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the adopted sons of Augustus Caesar were now the only successors. But, they too died at a very young age, Lucius in AD2 and Gaius in AD4. By this time Augustus had turned sixty-seven, he adopted Tiberius officially as his son andheir and compelled him to adopt Germanicus, the 19 year old grandson of Livia and his sister Octavia, to maintain the legacy in his own family.
So at last, when Augustus died in AD 14, Tiberius became his successor. He killed his stepson and his natural contender Agrippa Posthumus, the only living grandson of Augustus. Germanicus, the official successor, married Augustus’ granddaughter, Agrippina. Germanicus was more efficient than Tiberius. When he died suddenly in AD 19 while campaigning in Syria, rumors spread that he was poisoned out of rivalry. Now, Germanicus’ sons Nero and Drusus were his inheritors. It is not known if Augustus Caesar had any heirs after the early part of the third century.
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