Augustus
Augustus (; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14) was a Roman statesman and military leader who was the first Emperor of the Roman Empire, controlling Imperial Rome from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. His status as the founder of the Roman Principate has consolidated an enduring legacy as one of the most effective and controversial leaders in human history.
European balance of power
Rome, a Latin republic with a mixed constitution, unified Italy around the same period and then rose to prominence in the western and eastern Mediterranean through the Punic and Macedonian wars. Such a rapid expansion was followed by the so-called 'Roman Revolution', when the Gracchi, the Servile Wars, the Social War and Sulla's civil wars shook the Italian peninsula. Meanwhile, the popularity and wealth of Roman generals increased:  notably Julius Caesar acquired fame for projecting military power north of the Alps into Gaul, east of the Rhine into Germania and across the English channel into Britain. A group of senators afraid of Caesar's title of "dictator for life" assassinated him the Ides of March of 44 BC. The adoptive son of Caesar, Octavian Augustus, defeated the killers of his father and became the first Roman Emperor ("Princeps") in 27 BC.