Important Dates in the Lives of Jesus and Mary 

6. The length of Augustus' life 

    According to Suetonius, Caesar Augustus died just short of his 76th birthday.  He died just thirty five 

days before his seventy sixth birthday. 

839

 Dio Cassius confirms this age:   he passed away, having lived 

seventy five years, ten months, and twenty six days (he had been born on the twenty third of September) . 

840

So, both Suetonius and Dio give the date of Augustus' death as August 19. 

    Josephus gives the length of Augustus' life as 77 years.

841

 He does not, however, give the length of Augustus' 

life exact to the day, as he does when giving the length of his reign or the reigns of other emperors. If one 

counts partial years as whole years, as was the custom among the Jews of that time, then the year of Augustus' 

birth and the year of his death would each be counted as a year. The length of Augustus life would then be 

counted as 77 years by Josephus. In this way the age of Augustus at his death, given by Josephus, does not 

contradict the age given by Dio and Suetonius.

842

    The year of Augustus' birth can then be determined from the year of his death. If Augustus died in 

A.D.

 14 

(usual date), then he was born in 63 

B.C.

 But if Augustus died in 

A.D.

 10 (revised date), then he was born in 

67 

B.C.

    Suetonius tells us the age of Augustus at various points early in his life.  At sixteen, having now come of 

age, he was awarded military decorations when Caesar celebrated his African triumph, though he had been 

too young for overseas service. Caesar then went to fight Pompey's sons in Spain. 

843

 The usual date given to 

Julius Caesar's military victory in Africa, part of the Roman civil war which established him as sole ruler over 

Rome, is 46 

B.C.

844

 According to the usual chronology, Augustus was born in 63 

B.C.

, and so would have 

reached his 17th birthday in Sept. of 46 

B.C.

 In my revised chronology, Augustus was born in 67 

B.C.

, 4 years 

earlier than the usual date, but Julius Caesar died in 49 

B.C.

, 5 years earlier than the usual date. Julius Caesar's 

victory in Africa should then placed in 51 

B.C.

, and Augustus would have celebrated his 16th birthday that 

same year in 51 

B.C.

 Both chronologies can account for Suetonius' statement that Augustus was 16 at the time 

of Caesar's African victory. 

    In the usual chronology, Augustus would have been 18  years old when Julius Caesar died, reaching his 

19th birthday later that year in 44 

B.C.

 But in my revised chronology, Augustus was 17  when Caesar died 

and turned 18 years old later that year, in 49 

B.C.

    My revised chronology places the death of Julius Caesar 5 years earlier than the usual date, and the death of 

Augustus 4 years earlier than the usual date. This means that Augustus was a year younger when Caesar died 

in this revised chronology versus the usual chronology. However, details given about the age of Augustus 

during this time period are not precise enough to use this one year difference to determine which chronology is 

correct. For example, it is unclear whether Augustus turned 16 the year of Caesar's African victory, or if he 

was already 16, and turned 17 in September later that year. 

    Suetonius tells us that Augustus was 19 years old when he first became a Roman Consul.

845

 Dio adds that 

Augustus died,  on the nineteenth day of August, the day on which he had first become consul . 

846

 Since 

Augustus was born on Sept. 23, he probably become consul (on August 19) the same year that he turned 20 

years old (about a month later). In the usual chronology, Augustus first became consul in 43 

B.C.

, the year 

after Julius Caesar's death, about a month before Augustus reached his 20th birthday. In this revised 

chronology, Augustus could have become consul in 48 or 47 

B.C.

    In 48 

B.C.

, one year after the death of Julius Caesar and a few months after the start of his reign (as one of 

three rulers of Rome), Augustus would have turned 19 in September. He would then have been 19 years old 

(and in his 20th year of life) during most of his consulship. Though Suetonius implies that Augustus was 19 

years old when he began his consulship (a month before his birthday), this may be a slight inaccuracy on the 

part of Suetonius. The other possibility is that Augustus became consul in 47 

B.C.

, two years after the death of 

Julius Caesar. In this case, Augustus would have begun his consulship at the age of 19, but have been 20 years 

old for most of his consulship, in agreement with a strict interpretation of Suetonius. This book favors the first 

possibility, that Augustus became consul in 48 

B.C.

, because new rulers of Rome typically solidified their 

political power by taking for themselves the office of consul at the start of their reign. Augustus began to reign 

in February of 48 

B.C.

, about 11 months after Julius Caesar died, so a date of August 19, 48 

B.C.

, for the start 

of his consulship is only a few months into the first year of his reign. 

190