Augustus

Augustus (meaning increased or venerable) was the cognomen of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, the first Roman emperor (27 BC – AD 14). He appears in the New Testament as the emperor who issued the decree for a census of the entire Roman world, which brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem for the birth of Jesus (Luke 2:1). His long reign transformed the Roman Republic into an empire and established the Pax Romana under which much of early Christianity spread. He is also referenced indirectly through the Augustus band (Acts 27:1) and the coins bearing his image (Luke 20:24).