Suetonius records that Augustus escaped a threat of death as an infant. A portent convinced the Romans that a king was about to be born, and in response the Senate planned to ban the rearing of male children for a year. Some of the Senators’ wives were already pregnant, and to protect these patrician children, some Senators prevented the decree from being filed with the treasury. Each was hoping his son would fulfill the prophecy. But Octavius won out.
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