Does Caesar mean emperor

Answer 1

For the first 200 years after him, the rulers of Rome called themselves Princeps (First Citizan). aware that any suggestion of kingship would bring out the knives as it had with Julius Caesar.

The word Emperor did not exist - there was Imperator (from which we later derived the word Emperor) but that was then a title of acclaim which soldiers on a winning battlefield shouted at their successful general.

The title Caesar was commonly adopted by successive rulers, whatever else they titled themselves, and carried through to modern times - in Germany the king was called Kaiser, which was their pronunciation of Caesar, and in Russia, the Czar was their version of Caesar. Everyone of note wanted to be Caesar, so highly was he regarded.

Answer 2

Yes and no. Caesar was originally a family name, the most famous ones being Julius and his great nephew Octavian, after his adoption into the Caesar family. Given the Roman custom of calling men by their last names, in this case Caesar, Octavian, even though he had the title Augustus, was still also called Caesar. All the emperors that followed Augustus up to Nero, were all Caesars either by birth or by adoption. During the 100 year span from the time of Julius to the end of Nero, the family name Caesar morphed into a title for the emperor. All emperors were then called "Caesar" not as a name but as a title so in common use it did mean emperor.