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Caesar v. Augustus

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jonkag7:
Hi all, I have a question that I'm sure you can answer for me. I was pretty sure that during the roman imperial period, the emperor was called 'Augustus' and his heir was named 'Caesar'. If this is wrong, please correct me.
But I was wondering becuase on many coins of the earlier emperors there is an abbreviation for Caesar, yet they are the emperor....? Were these coins minted in fact when they were not emperor? 
In addition, in the later years of the empire, around the Constantinian era, we definitively distinguish whether the coin was struck when they were Augustus or Caesar. Was this a change that happened at some point during the empire, or was it there to begin with but not as noticeable?

Thanks in advance!

Jonathan

Jochen:
Hi Jonathan!

There was a thread about this historical important subject on thie Forum but I'm not able to find it. So here is the article from John Melville Jones, A Dictionary of Ancient Roman Coins,  again:

Caesar. This was originally a cognomen used by some of the Julians gens. Fanciful explanations of the meaning of the word around, from words meaning to cut (i.e. the so-called Caesarian operation), grey (i.e. grey-eyed) or with a full head of dark hair, or from the alleged Mauretanian word for an elephant. It became most famous as the name by which the dictator C. Iulius Caesar was known. It was then used by the adopted son Octavian (usually referred to by the title Augustus which he invented for himself) and, in the years following Julius Caesar's assassination until 27 BC when the new imperial title began to be employed, Octavian regularly desribed himself simply as C. CAESAR or as CAESAR DIVI F(ilius), thus emphasising his connection with the deified Julius. Later issues place the name of Caesar before the title of Augustus. This became the standard practice of later emperors.

The first emperor who had no right by birth or adoption to use the name of Caesar was Claudius but it regularly appears on his coinage as a title, and this practice was followed by later emperors. Even after the death of Nero and the extinction of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, Galba, Otho, Vitellius and Vespasian all accepted it (although we are told that Vitellius hesitated and only took it shortly before his downfall, with the result that it is not found on his coins). By now the title of Caesar was becoming so closely linked with that of Imperator that the two form as it were one unit, symbolising the acclamation of a new emperor at the time of his accession.

The only other person named as Caesar on the coins of Augustus was Germanicus, the nephew of the future emperor Tiberius. Since Augustus adopted Tiberius, Germanicus therefore also became a member of the Julian gens, so it was still a personal name at this time. But Germanicus was also a possible successor. This may be regarded as a first step in the development of the later convention that the title of Caesar was bestowed upon the heir apparent. The way in which it was used under Vespasian marks a further step in this direction. Vespasian calls himself Imperator, Caesar and Augustus. His elder son, Titus, had been appointed as co-emperor with his father and was called Caesar and Imperator. The younger son, Domitian, was called Caesar only. When Domitian himself became emperor he gave the title of Caesar to his son, who died young, and whose name we do not know.

It is not certain when the practice of giving a successor who was not a son the title of Caesar began. An aureus of Trajan raising Hadrian to his rank is reported but not confirmed and must therefore remain suspect, since coins which are unique and also happen to settle a historical controversy (Hadrian's adoption was challenged after Trajan's death) may be modern forgeries. There can be no doubt, however, about Hadrian's adoption of Aelius Verus and Antoninus Pius, who were given the title of Caesar.

From the end of the 3rd century AD an inflated form of the title, 'most noble Caesar', or Nobilissimus Caesar is attested in inscriptions (beginning with Geta), although it does not appear on coins until the time of Philip II (abbreviated to N.C. or NOB CAES). During the next few decades some other emperors had sons whom they nominated as their successors in this way, the last being Carinus, who was made Caesar in AD 283/3. With Diocletian a new system was set in place when the empire was devided for administrative purposes into two halves, with a senior and junior emperor in each. The title of Caesar was automatically given to the junior emperor and at the beginning it was imagined that, after twenty years, each Augustus would step down and be succeeded by his Caesar. This system worked for the first twenty years but collapsed after the death of Constantius Chlorus in AD 306. It was partially restored but from that time onwards the system of two Augustuses and two Caesars was not maintained, and sometimes there were fewer, and at times more than two of each. The title of Nobilissimus Caesar was, however, retained. It last appears on coins of the successors of Leo I, Leo II and Zeno, on which the legend NOV(ilissimi) CAES(ares) reproduces the Greek pronunciation of the letter B.
 
Best regards

maridvnvm:
Domitian was given the title Caesar on the accession of Vespasian in A.D. 70.
Martin

curtislclay:
Augustus' grandsons Caius and Lucius became Caesars when Augustus adopted them in 17 BC, Nero became Caesar when Claudius adopted him in 50 AD.  One could say it was just a family name in these cases, but obviously it was also a very important family name!

jonkag7:
Thanks everyone for clearing that up for me. I had suspicions that in the early part of the empire it was rather less a formal title than a name bestowed on relatives, and that it was an actual title later on. What's interesting is trying to determine when it stops being one, and starts being the latter (which some of you have commented on). Thanks again.

Jonathan

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