Augoustos (Αὔγουστος) is the Greek transliteration of the Latin Augustus, meaning "revered," "majestic," "worthy of honor" — a title given to Gaius Octavius (63 BC–14 AD), the first Roman Emperor and grandnephew of Julius Caesar. He is mentioned once in the New Testament (Luke 2:1), as the emperor who issued the census decree that brought Mary and Joseph to Bethlehem.
The theological significance of Augustus in Luke 2 is one of Scripture's most stunning ironies. The man who called himself Augustus — "the Revered One," Divi filius ("Son of God" in Roman imperial propaganda) — issued a decree for taxation and political control. That decree became the instrument through which God fulfilled ancient prophecy: the Messiah was to be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2), and Mary and Joseph were in Nazareth. God used the most powerful man in the world as an unwitting servant of His eternal plan. The "Son of God" of Rome's propaganda was the vehicle for the arrival of the actual Son of God. Proverbs 21:1 reads: "The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the LORD; he turns it wherever he will." Augustus turned it toward Bethlehem — and the world was never the same.