Augustus Trivia
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70 free Augustus trivia questions with answers — history quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This Augustus trivia quiz covers the sickly great-nephew of Julius Caesar who marched on Rome at 19, outlasted Antony and Cleopatra, and spent forty years building an empire while pretending to restore a republic. The easy questions cover the outline: his birth name, his great-uncle, the triumvirate, Actium, the meaning of the title Augustus, the month named after him and the stepson who succeeded him. The harder half is for readers of Suetonius and Syme: the cognomen from Thurii, the share of Caesar's estate, the illness at Philippi, the executions on the Ides of March, the golden shield's four virtues, the town in Spain he governed from, the physician who saved him in 23 BC, the standards recovered from Parthia, the size of the standing army, the tax on slaves, the fossil collection on Capri, the fig, and the last words about a play well acted. Every answer was checked against Augustus's encyclopaedia entry before publishing. If you enjoy this, try our Cleopatra, Julius Caesar and Roman Empire quizzes next.
30 of 70 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01What was Augustus's birth name?
Gaius Octavius
He was born Gaius Octavius on 23 September 63 BC; historians call him Octavian for the years after the dictator's death, though there is no evidence he used that name himself.
Q 02Augustus founded which dynasty of Roman emperors?
Julio-Claudian
Augustus founded the Julio-Claudian dynasty, named for the Julian and Claudian families it united; it ruled Rome until the death of its last emperor in AD 68.
Q 03On which of Rome's hills was Octavius born in 63 BC?
The Palatine
Suetonius records that he was born on the Palatine, at a spot called Ox Heads; his house as emperor, the Domus Augusti, later stood on the same hill.
Q 04Suetonius links the infant's cognomen Thurinus to his father's victory over runaway followers of whom?
Spartacus
Suetonius says the cognomen Thurinus recalled the victory of Augustus's father over a band of runaway slaves, remnants of Spartacus's army, near Thurii in southern Italy.
Q 05Octavius's mother Atia was what relation to Caesar?
His niece
Atia was his niece, Caesar's sister Julia being her mother; at Julia's funeral in 51 BC the twelve-year-old Octavius delivered the oration, his first public appearance.
Q 06Where was Octavius when Caesar was assassinated in March 44 BC?
Apollonia, in Illyria
Octavius was studying at Apollonia, in Illyria, alongside the legions Caesar had gathered for his planned eastern campaign; on hearing the news he sailed to Italy to test his prospects.
Q 07What share of Caesar's estate did his will leave to Octavius?
Three-quarters
Caesar's will left three-quarters of his estate to Octavius, with the remaining quarter shared by two other great-nephews, Quintus Pedius and Lucius Pinarius.
Q 08How old was Octavian when he marched on Rome and became consul in August 43 BC?
19
He was Rome's youngest elected consul; his co-consul Quintus Pedius set up a tribunal that convicted Caesar's assassins in absentia.
Q 09With Mark Antony and which third man did Octavian form the Second Triumvirate in 43 BC?
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus
Octavian, Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate in November 43 BC; the lex Titia gave the three men supreme power for five years.
Q 10The three triumvirs first met to seal their alliance near which city in October 43 BC?
Bononia
The triumvirs met on a small river island near Bononia, modern Bologna, in late 43 BC; Octavian sealed the pact by a betrothal to Antony's stepdaughter Claudia.
Q 11According to Appian, roughly how many members of the Senate did the triumvirs' proscriptions condemn?
300
Appian puts the proscription lists at about 300 members of the Senate and 2,000 equestrians, among them Cicero; their estates were seized to pay the triumvirs' legions.
Q 12At which 42 BC battle did Antony and Octavian defeat Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius?
Philippi
At Philippi in Macedonia, in October 42 BC, two battles three weeks apart ended with the suicides of first Cassius and then Brutus.
Q 13Where was Octavian during the first battle against Caesar's assassins, earning Antony's jibe of cowardice?
Ill in bed, away from the command
Q 21Which naval commander won the Battle of Actium for Octavian?
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa commanded Octavian's fleet at Actium, as he had against Sextus Pompey; he later married Julia and was raised to powers almost equal to the emperor's.
Q 22What city did Octavian found near the site of the Battle of Actium?
Nicopolis
Octavian founded Nicopolis, 'victory city', on the site of his camp across the gulf from Actium, and held games there every four years to commemorate the battle.
Q 23After its conquest in 30 BC, Egypt was treated as what?
Octavian's personal property
Octavian was ill in bed, away from the command, during the first battle; Brutus's men overran his camp, and he later claimed a friend's dream had warned him to leave his tent.
Q 14Who was the mother of Octavian's only surviving child, Julia?
Scribonia
He divorced her on the very day Julia was born, in order to marry Livia.
Q 15When Octavian fell for Livia, she was already married and pregnant by which man?
Tiberius Claudius Nero
Livia was the wife of Tiberius Claudius Nero and pregnant by him with Drusus; she gave birth on 14 January 38 BC and married Octavian three days later.
Q 16After the siege of Perusia in 40 BC, Octavian executed prisoners on which symbolic date?
The Ides of March
Suetonius says the prisoners were slaughtered on the Ides of March, the anniversary of Caesar's murder, at an altar to the deified Julius; the reprisal stained Octavian's reputation for years.
Q 17The renegade Sextus Pompey used which island as the base for his blockade of Italy?
Sicily
Sextus Pompey held Sicily from 42 BC and used its fleet to choke Italy's grain supply; the resulting food riots in Rome saw a hungry mob attack Octavian and Antony.
Q 18At which battle in September 36 BC was Sextus Pompey's fleet all but destroyed?
Naulochus
At Naulochus, on 3 September 36 BC, Octavian's admiral sank or captured most of Sextus Pompey's ships; Sextus fled east and was executed the following year.
Q 19After forcing Lepidus into retirement in 36 BC, Octavian let him keep which office for life?
Pontifex maximus
Lepidus kept the office of pontifex maximus until his death in 12 BC; only then did Augustus take the chief priesthood himself.
Q 20In which year was the Battle of Actium fought?
31 BC
The Battle of Actium was fought on 2 September 31 BC off the west coast of Greece, where Octavian's fleet routed the combined navy of Antony and Cleopatra.
Egypt became in effect Octavian's personal property, governed by an equestrian prefect answerable to him alone; its wealth paid his soldiers and cleared his civil-war debts.
Q 24Which group did Augustus forbid to travel to Egypt?
Senators
Augustus barred senators from entering Egypt without his leave, fearing that whoever held its grain could starve Rome; he never visited the country again after 30 BC.
Q 25What does the honorific title 'Augustus', granted by the Senate in January 27 BC, mean?
The revered
Augustus means 'the revered' or venerable one, a word of religious rather than political flavour that set him above ordinary men without making him a king.
Q 26Which name was proposed for Octavian in the Senate before it settled on 'Augustus'?
Romulus
Some in the Senate suggested Romulus, as a second founder of Rome, but the name smacked of kingship, and on Munatius Plancus's motion the Senate chose Augustus instead.
Q 27The golden shield the Senate awarded him in 27 BC listed four virtues: valor, piety, justice and what?
Clemency
The golden clipeus virtutis honoured his virtus, clementia, iustitia and pietas, so the fourth virtue was clemency; the shield hung in the Curia Julia.
Q 28From 26 to 24 BC Augustus governed the Empire from which town in Roman Spain?
Tarraco
Augustus made Tarraco, modern Tarragona, his residence while directing the Cantabrian War in northern Spain; he fell ill there and returned to Rome in 24 BC.
Q 29Which personal physician nursed Augustus through his near-fatal illness of 23 BC?
Antonius Musa
Antonius Musa, a freedman physician, cured Augustus with cold baths and cold compresses; the Senate rewarded him with money and granted freedom from taxes to physicians.
Q 30Which nephew of Augustus, married to his daughter Julia, died in 23 BC and has a theatre named for him?
Marcellus
Marcellus, son of Augustus's sister Octavia, married Julia in 25 BC and died in 23 BC; the Theatre of Marcellus beside the Tiber was dedicated in his memory.