Alternate Ceasars

The rules for this aren't necessarily set in stone, I'm just looking for a way to make this work.

Here's my idea -- since many of these are likely to be figures who didn't exist OTL, I thought we'd do a biographical section per post. Each emperor (other than Augustus) gets a bio with three sections, similar to Suetonius:

I. Life Prior to the Throne
II. Reign as Emperor
III. Personal Life

I thought we'd do twelve of these (so 36 posts or so) before starting another list.

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1. Augustus (726-767 AUC*)
born: Gaius Octavius Thurinus
later named: Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus

2. Vipsanius (767-803)
born: Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa
later named: Gaius Julius Caesar**

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Vipsanius

I. Life Prior to the Throne

Gaius Julius Caesar (734-803 AUC), most commonly known as Gaius Caesar or Caius Caesar, was the oldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Julia the Elder. He was born between 14 August and 13 September or according to other sources in 23 September, with the name Gaius Vipsanius Agrippa, but when he was adopted by his maternal grandfather Roman Emperor Augustus, his name was changed to Gaius Julius Caesar.

His birth father was Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, a Roman statesman and general. He was a close friend, son-in-law, lieutenant and defense minister to Octavian, the future emperor Caesar Augustus. He was responsible for most of Octavian’s military victories, most notably winning the naval Battle of Actium against the forces of Mark Antony and Cleopatra VII of Egypt.

Gaius was adopted along with his brother Lucius Caesar in 737 by their maternal grandfather, the Roman Emperor Augustus, who named the two boys his heirs. In 758 the Roman plebs agitated for Gaius to be created consul, despite the fact that he was only 14 and had not yet assumed the toga virilis. As a compromise, it was agreed that he should have the right to sit in the Senate House, and he was made consul designatus with the intention that he should assume the consulship in his twentieth year. Gaius was at this point created "Prince of Youth" ("princeps iuventutis"), an honorific that made him one of the symbolic heads of the equestrian order. Lucius, three years his junior, was granted the same honours after the appropriate interval had elapsed. Temples and statues were erected in their honour (as in the case of the Maison Carrée in Nîmes).

In 753, he married his relative, Livilla, daughter of Drusus the Elder and Antonia Minor. (More will be said of this in the third part of his biography.) As he and Gaius were the heirs to Augustus they had promising legal and military careers. Lucius died in Gaul of an illness in 20 August 755, leaving only Gaius as potential heir.

Gaius served in a number of honorable military and political posts. In 753 he was made army commander in the East and made a peace treaty with Phraates V on an island in the river Euphrates. In 754, he was made Consul with Lucius Aemilius Paullus as his colleague. He faced death in the face during an Armenian campaign, and was serving in Germania when he heard news of his grandfather's death.

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*27 BC-14 AD

**OTL, he died 4 AD; here's a picture:

3664781848_084e4170d2.jpg
 
Quite a good choice for a point of divergence. One of the sons of Agrippa living long enough to be Emperor will have great repercussions on the entire family dynamics of the Julio-Claudian dynasty. (Indeed, that would be a misnomer in this timeline) Please, do continue and show your further ideas.
 
OK, I'll do another post, but I was really hoping someone would have some ideas to fill in here.

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II. Reign as Emperor

It is said rulers are known for how they differed from their predecessors -- to the extent that this is so, it should come as no surprise that Vipanius is well known primarily for his imperial and foreign affairs. Although he relaxed a number of his grandfathers sumptuary laws, especially those dealing with freeing slaves, and greatly reduced penalties for childlessness and divorce, the Second Emperor in large measure continued the domestic policies of Augustus -- it was under his reign that the imperial tax sysytem, once thought of as revolutionary, became commonplace and accepted as such -- while settling for a far less ambitious city maintenance for the capital city...

These differences are enough for a number of Roman citizens to know him informally "Laxus Imperator", or the Relaxed Emperor.

In foreign affairs, Vipsanius was known for different approaches to two fronts -- a settled peace with Parthia, and aggressive action in the north... Contrasting with the glorious conquest of England are the series of expeditions into Germania, that, while considerable weakening the tribes, failed to bring any significant or lasting territory or resources to the Empire...

OOC: Didn't know how to put it in there, but Vipsanius also appoints someone other than Pontius Pilate as Prefect of Judea, who in turn does not crucify one Jeshua ben Joseph.
 
Just do the next post -- remember the OP though -- each new emperor gets three sections, one section per post, etc... oh, but they don't have to be in order or anything, so whatever you have... :D
 
Just do the next post -- remember the OP though -- each new emperor gets three sections, one section per post, etc... oh, but they don't have to be in order or anything, so whatever you have... :D

Ok, well how about I'll let you finish Gaius and I'll do his heir. That way your guy isn't messed up and I get a clean start-ok?
 
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