CAESAR

a title of the Roman emperors, was originally a family name of the Julia gens; it was a umed by Oct avian us as the adopted son of the great dictator, C. Julius Caesar, and was by him handed down to his adopted son Tiberius. It continued to be used by Caligula, Claudius, and Nero, as members either by adoption or female descent of Caesar’s family; but although the family became extinct with Nero, succeeding emperors still retained the name as part of their titles, and it was the practice to prefix it to their own names, as for instance, Imperator Caesar Dom it i an us August us . When Hadrian adopted Aelius Varus, he allowed the latter to take the title of Caesar; and from this time, though the title of August us continued to be confined to the reigning emperor, that of Caesar was also granted to the second person in the state and the heir presumptive to the throne. [ August us . ]