Augustus: The first Roman Emperor, Augustus was Julius Caesar's great-nephew and heir, and he came to power after Caesar's assassination. He was a skilled statesman and a brilliant general, and he played a critical role in transforming the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire. Augustus was responsible for many political, economic and social reforms which laid the foundation for the Pax Romana, a period of relative peace and stability in the Roman world that lasted for over 200 years.
