destination (see Mohler, Symbolism, ch. iii, § 10). I Some of the forerunners of the Reformation during the Middle Ages, as Wickliffe and Savonarola, were strict Augustinians ; but others, e. g. Wessel, urged the necessity of a free appropriation of divine grace on the part of man as a conditio sine qua non. Luther was an : Augustinian monk, and, as a reformer, he was at first ' confirmed in his Augustinian views by the contests which he had to maintain against the doctrine of the meritoriousness of works. But there is reason to be- lieve that, in common with Melancthon, he modified his views as to absolute predestination; and, under the guidance of Melancthon, the Lutheran Church has avoided the strict consequences of the Augustin- ian system by asserting that the decrees of God are conditional. Calvin was a strict Augustinian, and even went beyond Augustine, by maintaining repro- ; bation. He, and the early reformed theologians gen- ' erally, in their religious controversies, not only ad- mitted all the consequences of the Augustinian sys- tem, but, having once determined the idea of predes- tination, went beyond the premises so far as to main- tain that the fall of man was itself predestinated by God (supralapsarianism). This view, however, did I not meet with much approbation, and was at last al- most entirely abandoned. In opposition to the ultra Augustinian views, Arminius, admitting Augustine's anthropology, defined the true doctrine of the rela- tions between God and man in the work of salvation. In Germany, the Rationalists and the school of Spec- ulative Philosophy discarded Augustinism, while the Pietists, and other theologians who returned to the old | faith of the church, and (though with various modifi- l cations) the followers of Schleiermacher, revived it in | its essential points. At present, hardly one of the great theologians of Germany holds the extreme Au- gustinian doctrine of absolute predestination.
The first good work on the Augustinian system was
written by Wiggers, Versuch einer pragmatischen Dar-
stellung di's August inismus nnd Pelagianismns (Berlin,
I 1821 ; Hamburg, 1833, vol. i translated by Prof. Fmer-
; son, Andover, 1840, 8vo). See also Gangauf, Psycho*
{ logie des htil. August inus (Augsb. 1852). More philo-
AUGUSTUS
548
AUGUSTUS
Bophica] than theological, yet of great value forthe his- tory of the theological system of Augustine, is the work ofNourrisson on "The Philosophy of St. Augustine" ( La Philosophic d> Saint Avgustin," Par. 1865, 2 vols.). This work received a prize from the French Academie ,1 , Sa\ rues Moral s and Politique*. The first volume contains a memoir of the bishop, and a detailed expo- sition of his philosophical views; the second gives an account of the sources from which Augustine borrow- ed bis ideas, an estimate of the influence which the Augustinian theories exercised, especially during the seventh century, and a critical discussion of the Au- gustinian theories. See Armixiaxism ; Augustixe. Augustus (venerable, Graecized Avyovo-roc), the imperial title assumed by Octavius, or Octavianus, the successor of Julius Caesar, and the first peacefully ac- knowledged emperor of Rome. He was emperor at the birth and during half the lifetime of our Lord (B.C. 30 to A.D. 14), but his name occurs only once (Luke ii, 1) in the New Testament, as the emperor who appointed the enrolment in consequence of which Joseph and Mary went to Bethlehem, the place where the Messiah was to be born. See Jesos. The successors of the first Augustus took the same name or title, but it is seldom applied to them by the Latin writers. In the eastern part of the empire the Greek StjSaoroc (which is equiv- alent) seems to have been more common, and hence is used of Nero (Acts xxv, 21). In later times (after Diocletian) the title of "Augustus" was given to one of the two heirs-apparent of the empire, and "Caesar" to their younger colleagues and heirs-apparent.
Toiii of Angti.-tus.
Augustus was descended from the Octavian family (gens Octavia), being the son of a certain praetor, Caius Octavius, and born in the year of Rome G91, B.C. 62 ( Sueton. Octav. 5). His mother was Atia, daughter of Julia, the sister of C. Julius Csesar. He bore the same name as his father, Caius Octavius. Being adopted and educated by his great uncle Julius Csesar, he changed his name from Octavius to that of Caius Julius Caesar < Ictavianus (i. e. ex-Octavius), in accordance with Ro- man usage. After the assassination of Caesar, he went, although still a youth, into Italy, and soon acquired Buch political connections and importance (Suet. Cces. 83 sq. ; Octav. 8) that Antony and Lepidus took him into their triumvirate (Suet. Octav. 13). After the re- moval of the weak Lepidus, he shared with Antony the chief power over the entire Roman empire, having iharge of the western provinces, as Antony did over the eastern (Suet. Octav. 16, 54; Appian. Civ. v, 122 Bq.). But there was no cordial union between these two ambitious men; their opposition gradually developed itself, and soon reached its crisis in the de- cisive Qava] battle of Actium (B.C. 31), in which Oc- tavius was victor (Suet. Octar. 17; Dio Cass. 1. 15 sq. : Veil. Paterc. ii. 85). Two years afterward he was greeted as "emperor" (imperator) by the senate, and somewhat later | B.C. 27), when he desired voluntarily to receive the supreme power, as "Augustus" (Veil. Paterc. ii. '.'1 ; Dio Cass. liii. 16). Liberality toward the army, moderation toward the senate, which he al- lowed to retain the gemblam fits ancient authority,