Augustus

Augustus, birth name Gaius Octavianus, reign: 27 BC to AD 14

When Julius Caesar was stabbed 23 times on the Ides of March, 44 A.D., Rome had been a republic for almost five centuries. But already, the old system was on the way out. Caesar's military accomplishments and cult of personality paved the way for transition to an empire, ruled by one man.

Gaius Octavianus, great nephew of Julius Caesar, pretty much had his ticket punched for primetime when he was essentially named as the heir in the Julius Caesar's will. The Caesar name was enough to secure the loyalty of the much of the army. Nevertheless the purple toga wasn't handed to Augustus on a silver platter; he fought a war and triumphed over Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony).

He ultimately proved to be a great leader of men, and also a smart politician. He played the role of the reluctant king; he even announced that he was stepping down from power and made it look like he needed to be persuaded to assume control. By opting to seize power gradually rather than all at once, he was able to appease the aristocracy and stay around long enough to gradually break down the republican system. He was officially crowned as Augustus on January 16, 27 B.C, and would end up being one of the longest ruling emperors, dying peacefully at age 75.

Augustus is inevitably known as the man who officially transformed Rome from a republic to an empire. Which is why his NFL QB counterpart is:


Johnny Unitas

The Golden Arm, headliner of the "Greatest Game Ever Played", Johnny U was the face of NFL as it entered the modern era. He had the old school, tough guy appeal, but didn't lack a flair for the dramatic. The famous 1958 championship game is credited for launching the NFL into the mainstream consciousness. That game was a marketing success because it was a well played, down to the wire thriller that ended with Unitas leading the Colts on a game winning drive in OT.

What if, instead of Johnny U, a '50s version of Jake Delhomme was on the national stage and threw 6 picks in an anticlimactic 31-0 loss in that seminal title game? What if instead of Augustus, Julius Caesar's great nephew turned out to be a weak, corrupt shell of a ruler? We'll never know, and its probably for the best.


Additional notes:

The reign of Augustus was relatively peaceful on the frontiers in the grand scheme of history; no major territories were acquired or lost. However one of the most infamous military disasters in Roman history occurred on his watch: The Battle of Teutoburger Wald in 9 A.D. Three Roman legions, over 20,000 men total, were lured into a trap in the forests of Germania by the treacherous Arminius, a Roman military commander of Germanic origin. There they were ambushed, unable to form ranks in the dense forest, and slaughtered. The prisoners were sacrificed alive in cages to the German gods.

In that same vein, Johnny U was on the losing end of another one of the most famous games in NFL history: Super Bowl III in 1969. As we all know, Joe Namath issued a highly publicized guarantee of a Jets victory over the heavily favored Colts and then went out and pulled it off. Unitas had actually been hurt most of that season, and started the game on the bench, but was put in the game in the second half to try to jumpstart the offense. It didn't work, and the rest is history.