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Julius Caesar was never Roman emperor. He ruled as dictator, and soon after being named dictator for life he was assassinated, on 15 March 44 BC. The first emperor was his adopted heir Octavian, who took the name Augustus in 27 BC.

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In Caesar's time Rome was still a republic, run by elected magistrates and the Senate. A dictator was an emergency office, normally held for six months; Caesar held it again and again, and early in 44 BC he was named dictator for life. Fearing that he meant to make himself king, a group of senators killed him on 15 March, the Ides of March. In his will Caesar adopted his great-nephew Octavian, who won the civil wars that followed. In 27 BC the Senate gave Octavian the name Augustus. He avoided the title of king and called himself princeps, ‘first citizen’, but he ruled alone until AD 14. Caesar's family name later became a title for rulers: Kaiser in German, tsar in Russian, and Kayser-i Rûm, ‘Caesar of Rome’, used by Mehmed II after he took Constantinople in 1453.

Türkçe oku
Jül Sezar hiçbir zaman Roma imparatoru olmadı. Roma'yı diktatör olarak yönetti; ömür boyu diktatör ilan edilmesinden kısa süre sonra, 15 Mart MÖ 44'te öldürüldü. İlk imparator, Sezar'ın evlat edindiği vârisi Octavianus'tu; Octavianus MÖ 27'de Augustus adını aldı.

Sezar'ın zamanında Roma hâlâ bir cumhuriyetti; devleti seçilmiş yöneticiler ve Senato yönetiyordu. Diktatörlük, normalde altı ay süren olağanüstü bir görevdi. Sezar bu göreve üst üste getirildi ve MÖ 44'ün başında ömür boyu diktatör ilan edildi. Onun kral olmak istediğinden korkan bir grup senatör, 15 Mart'ta onu öldürdü. Sezar vasiyetinde kız kardeşinin torunu Octavianus'u evlat edinmişti; ardından gelen iç savaşları da Octavianus kazandı. MÖ 27'de Senato ona Augustus adını verdi. Octavianus kral unvanından kaçındı ve kendine princeps, yani “birinci yurttaş” dedi, ama MS 14'e kadar Roma'yı tek başına yönetti. Sezar'ın aile adı zamanla bir hükümdarlık unvanına dönüştü: Almancada Kaiser, Rusçada çar oldu. Fatih Sultan Mehmet de 1453'te İstanbul'u fethettikten sonra Kayser-i Rûm, yani “Roma'nın Sezar'ı” unvanını kullandı.

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