The Roman Empire Began on January 16, 27 BCE

Two thousand and forty-seven years ago today, the Republic of Rome became the Roman Empire. (Since there is no year ‘dot’, 27 BCE is actually twenty-six years before the change to our present designation of the ‘year of our lord’ Anno Domini – AD.)

Did the Senate and People of Rome (SPQR) perpetuate a fraud on their subjects? Well, maybe. But the jury is out on whether this was ‘a good thing or a bad thing’ (1066 and All That). Two hundred years of Pax Romana is nothing to thumb your nose at, is it?

Because the chart is set for 12 noon, the one inconjunct that appears may, in fact, be false. But it doesn’t hurt to look at the evidence.

Jupiter Inconjunct Midheaven

The problem with this aspect is to find a balance between, on the one hand, expressing yourself creatively, perhaps artistically, and having a good time and, on the other hand, getting ahead in life, learning the ways of the world and finding an acceptable role in society. You know you will have to make sacrifices in order to accomplish anything of value.

Later in life, you will enter a critical period when your need for personal satisfaction and freedom force you to change jobs or even careers. When you have learned more about the world, you will understand how to make changes intelligently, but now you should discipline your Jupiterian drive for freedom and learn what you need to know to take over your own destiny. You should learn as much as possible about any subject or skill that will make you more aware of the larger world. Travel or foreign study would be beneficial, if that is possible. The more you know about how you fit into the larger scheme of life, the easier it will be to make the right decision when you have to change to a more rewarding and personally satisfying course.

Augustus Caesar (September 23, 63 BCE – August 19, 14 AD)

When the Senate made Octavian the Emperor, they were avoiding a conflict with the military who were totally in favour of their leader. Obviously, the people would have lost in a civil war. Octavian became Augustus as a result. But who is this man?

I cannot confirm the accuracy of his birth time, but because it was already on my Kepler 7.0 program, I’m going to leave the chart as it is. There are two inconjuncts…

Mercury Inconjunct Mars

You often find it difficult to separate yourself from what you believe. You fight very hard for your ideas, even when you suspect you are wrong. You must learn that you are not your ideas, that you have them but are not them. If you do not learn this, it will be difficult even to have a friendly talk with friends, because you are always trying to make a point, defend your opinion or prove somebody else wrong. This also makes you irritable and touchy, so that others prefer not to be around you. Of course, you should not give in about something your seriously believe in, but it is unlikely that you would make that mistake.

On the other hand, with this aspect you might find it hard to complain to others, especially if you are not sure that you are right. In that case, you should learn to speak your mind, but without being unpleasant about it. You should learn to release your resentment or anger to a certain extent, because that energy can turn inward and cause you to become nervous, edgy or irritable, which could be quite difficult. Or you could develop unhealthy habits.

Saturn Inconjunct Uranus

If either of these planets is near conjunct or opposition with the Ascendant or Midheaven, this aspect indicates a serious tension in your life between freedom and restriction. Many people have this conflict, but in your case the tensions may be so severe that you express them physically as muscle tension and possibly nervousness. You feel that somehow you must keep everything in your life under tight control, that if you let go, the whole structure will fall apart. In a very real and direct sense, even while you are young, you must learn to relax.

On the positive side, if you can learn to live with this tension a bit and express your feelings and emotions before they reach the breaking point, you can be extremely patient and persistent. You will be able to accomplish many tasks that others would give up on, if you do not hold in all your feelings and desires for freedom.

How Augustus and the Roman Empire Creation Intersect

If you can see what I can see, you’ll understand that this event couldn’t have happened without Augustus Caesar. They go together like a horse and chariot. And at the centre of the combined charts is a conjunction between the event’s Neptune and Augustus’ Mercury. That’s where the ‘fraud’ is.

Neptune Conjunct Mercury (from Planets in Transit by Robert Hand)

This can be an extremely difficult transit to handle, because Neptune and Mercury are so different in their functions. But as with many other Neptune transits, this one has a positive side that you should seek to bring out.

The logical and rational faculties of your mind are likely to be scrambled by the influence of Neptune, so that you are no longer quite sure what you think about anything. Or you may come under the influence of ideas that you would not have held previously. You are likely to make the worst mess of this transit if you try to organize and restructure your life now. The ordering function of Mercury is so much at odds with Neptune’s lack of orderliness that any arrangements you make will not make sense later to yourself or anyone else. Consequently this is a bad time for making important decisions that will affect the direction of your life. It is also a bad time for most business transactions, because there is a danger that you are poorly informed about what is going on.

Neptune and Mercury combined always raise the issue of self-deceit, being deceived by others or your deceit towards others. Be extremely careful of these hazards in any kind of negotiations. Deceit may be inadvertent. For example, you may find that you are unable to clearly express what is on your mind because the thoughts seem so complex and disorganized, and when you do say something, others misunderstand you completely. Be very sure that people really understand your meaning when they say they do.

According to H. H. Scullard, however, Octavian’s power was based on the exercise of “a predominant military power and … the ultimate sanction of his authority was force, however much the fact was disguised.” The Senate proposed to Octavian, the victor of Rome’s civil wars, that he once again assume command of the provinces. The Senate’s proposal was a ratification of Octavian’s extra-constitutional power. Through the Senate, Octavian was able to continue the appearance of a still-functional constitution. Feigning reluctance, he accepted a ten-year responsibility of overseeing provinces that were considered chaotic

Wikipedia

But It Wasn’t All Bad…