When did Caesar make himself emperor?

Answer 1

Julius Caesar never declared himself anything except insulted. That's why he started the civil war by crossing the Rubicon. Any other position or honor that he held, such as dictator, was given to him by the senate.

Answer 2

Augustus Caesar never declared himself emperor of anything. The only title he took for himself was "princeps" or "first citizen". All the other titles, honors, privileges, etc were given to him by the senate. Incidentally, the Romans had no word for emperor. they called their rulers "Caesar" which was not only a name but morphed into a title as well.

Answer 3

Caesar never made himself emperor. When he was assassinated Rome was still a republic. He had himself 48 BC appointed dictator for the normal term of this office (6 months) to preside over his election as consul and resigned after 17 days. In the same year he broke the 6 month rule and had himself appointed dictator with a term of one year. 46 BC he had himself appointed dictator for 10 years and in 45 BC he had himself appointed dictator for life.

The term dictator had a different meaning in for the Romans. The Dictatorship was an extraordinary office of state of the Roman Republic which had extraordinary powers. The consuls (the heads of the Republic) appointed the dictator for a term of 6 months and the object of his mandate was established by senatorial decree. This was a measure which was taken to deal with an emergency.