Why is the Roman Emperor Augustus called the Son Of God?

Strictly speaking his title is divi filius, “son of the deified.” “Son of God” would be dei filius. The “deified” in this case refers to Julius Caesar, who was Augustus' adopted father. read more

Augustus, being Caesar’s great-nephew and adopted son, decided to use his great-uncle’s status as a deity for a daring political maneuver to gain control of the Senate. He named himself Divus Filius, the Son of God, and the name stuck. read more

An inscription from Pergamum refers to Augustus as “The Emperor Caesar, son of god, Augustus, ruler of all land and sea.” This issue was part of the issue the Pharisees were trying to trap Jesus with concerning the question of taxes. read more

Far from Augustus being the inspiration of Gospel writers’ description of Jesus as the Son of God, the New Testament idea of that concept is much different than the Roman idea. Augustus as a son of god was simply a description of right to rule in line with Julius Caesar’s right to rule. read more