Aftermath of Julius Caesar's Assassination

Octavian (Caesar's grandnephew & adopted son) takes over and forms his won triumvirate. The people in his Triumvirate are Mark Antony (experienced general) & Lepidus (powerful politician). This is the Second Triumvirate. Octavian forces Lepidus to retire and Mark Antony and Octavian become rivals. Antony partners up with Cleopatra from Egypt for military, personal, economic, and political reasons. Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium. Octavian becomes the unchallenged leader of Rome. He was given the titles "Augustus" (exalted one) and "imperator" (supreme military commander). Rome became an empire instead of a republic. Octavian ruled for 40 years. He began a period of peace and prosperity called Pax Romana (Roman Peace). Pax Romana lasted for 207 years. Octavian expanded the Roman Empire into Africa. He set up civil service to run the government of the empire. He built a network of roads, collected taxes, established a postal service, administered the grain supply, built public facilities (aqueducts, etc.), set up a police department, and ran a firefighting organization. He finally died of natural causes. After Octavian died the power was passed down to more emperors. Tiberius ruled from AD 14 - AD 37. He was a great general but a reluctant emperor. After his son died, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge. He died at the age of 77. Caligula ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years). He won a power struggle after Tiberius' death. He was known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity. He was assassinated by a group of government involved people who wanted to reestablish the republic, but it didn't work. Claudias ruled from AD 41 to AD 54. He suffered from a lot of illnesses like a limp, stammering, shaking, and slobbering, probably from having cerebral palsy. He took over because he was the last adult male of the family. He ruled well. He built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain. He died by poisoning. It was his wife's plan because she wanted her son (Nero) to rise to power. Nero ruled from AD 54 to AD 68. He emphasized the arts. There was a huge fire in AD 64. He wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic. He overspent his money and raided temples to get more. Historians don't like him. These are some of the emperors of Rome.

TEST DATE & more notes

I will take the test on Rome on June 2 at 1:25 to 2:15 with the rest of the Honors 201 class.

In order to keep the Plebeians happy they gave them free grain form the state and entertainment to keep them distracted and docile. Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of paying attention to the plebs. Military generals would work that angle. They would led an army to conquer a some type of land and then give the soldiers a share in the spoils. A soldiers's loyalty was to their military general not Rome. Julius Caesar was a successful military general. he conquered the territory of Gaul. He made the common folk happy and made friends with high up people. Pompey and Crassus were two of these people. These three men formed the first Triumvirate. Crossing the Rubicon was crossing he point of no return. Caesar serves as consul and appoints himself governor of Gaul. Pompey was jealous and became his rival. Pompey's and Caesar's armies fought with each other and Caesar are out as the winner. In 44 BC, he is named dictator. At first it was only six months but later he was named dictator for life. Caesar granted citizenship to people in provinces. He expanded the Senate by adding his friends. He created jobs for the poor. He increased pay for soldiers. He started colonies where those without land could own property. Caesar was assassinated because the senators saw Caesar's rise in power as a huge threat and political viability. They lured him into the senate and stabbed him. Some of his allies were involved. The senators weren't punished.Octavian was named Julius Caesar's sole heir. This was basically the end of the republic.

ESSAY QUESTION CHOICE

My choice for the essay is option A. Compare and contrast the government of Ancient Rome with the government of the modern-day United States.

The Roman Empire

• the creation of the Roman Empire transformed Roman government, society, economy, & culture
• The Roman Empire has served throughout history as a model of political organization & control

IMOPORTANT TERMS:

• civil war : conflict between groups within the same country
• Julias Caesar : military leader who took over Rome
• triumvirate : group of 3 rulers
• Augustus : title given to Octavian meaning "exalted one"
• Pax Romana : "Roman peace"

The Republic Collapses

• Rome's increasing wealth and expanding boundaries brought many problems
• these problems led to a shakeup of the republic & the emergence of a new political system
• Economic Turmoil
• as Rome grew - the gap between rich and poor people widened
• small farmers found it difficult to compete with the large estates run by the labor of enslaved people
• 2 brothers (Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus) attempted to help the poor
• they were tribunes - proposed laws that limited the size of estates and gave land to the poor
• brothers made enemies with lots of senators - both met violent deaths
• after their deaths came civil war
• Military Upheaval
• as the republic became more unstable military generals started seizing power for themselves 
• it was now possible for a military leader supported by his own troops to take over by force
• Julius Caesar Takes Control
• joined forces with Crassus and Pompey-helped him to be elected as consul
• appointed himself governor of Gaul
• Pompey feared Caesar because of his success-so Caesar followed his orders and disbanded his legions and returned home
• Caesar defied the senate's order
• the senate appointed him dictator - he was named dictator for life
• Caesar's Reforms
• Caesar governed as an absolute ruler
• he started a lot of reforms that helped a lot of people
• people started to fear him so they planned his assassination and murdered him
• Beginning of The Empire
• After Caesar's death another civil war broke out
• Octavian, Mark Antony, & Lepidus formed the Second Triumvirate
• After a lot of arguments, rivalry, and suicides - the Second Triumvirate disbanded and Octavian became an unchallenged ruler of Rome

A Vast and Powerful Empire

• period of peace and prosperity
• A Sound Government
• Romans held their empire together through efficient government and able rulers
• Augustus was Rome's ablest ruler
• after he died, the system of government he created remained stable
• Rome expanded, became huge, & now includes many different people, languages, and customs
• Agriculture and Trade
• agriculture was the most important industry in the empire
• having common coinage made trade between different parts of the empire easy
• Rome had a vast trading network - even traded with China & India
• complex network of roads linked Rome to far away places

The Roman World

• Rome emphasized the values of discipline, strength, and loyalty
• most people in the Roman Empire lived on the country side & worked on farms
• Slaves and Captivity
• slavery was a significant part of Roman life
• they could be punished, rewarded, set free, or put to death as their master see fit
• they worked in cities and on farms
• more than a million slaves lost their lives attempting to gain their freedom
• Gods and Goddesses 
• the earliest Romans worshipped powerful spirits or divine forces (numina) that they thought lived in everything around them
• they gave names to these powerful gods and goddesses & honored them through various rituals, hoping to gain favor and avoid misfortune
• government and religion were linked 
• worship of the empire also became part of the official religion of Rome
• Society and Culture
• wealth and social status made huge differences in how people lived
• most people in Rome barely had the necessities of life
• much of the city's population was unemployed
• the government supported these people with daily rations of grain
• to distract and control the masses of Rome, the government provide free games, races, mock battles, and gladiator contests
• during Pax Romana, the practice of Christianity emerged

Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were three wars fought between Rome and Carthage. The first Punic War was a naval battle on the sea. The battle was for control of the island Sicily. Rome won this one. The second Punic War was supposed to be for control of Rome but Carthage never made it. General Hannibal from Carthage was leading the charge. He decided to attack Rome from the North after crossing through Iberia and the Alps on elephants. They lay siege to most of the peninsulas for fifteen years but can never get to Rome. The third Punic War was led by Rome in the hopes of destroying Carthage forever. Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others attacked the city.  Carthage was burned for 17 days. When the war ended, the rest of the people in the city were sold into slavery. All of Carthage's other owned land/areas were also taken by Rome. After all of the wars, there were so many slaves that small farmers were losing their farms to aristocrats, who could buy put their farms and purchase slaves to work on them. Carthage and Rome fought these wars because they both saw each other as threats.

Tarquin & The NEW Government

Tarquin was a tyrant who technically wasn't even in line for the throne. Tarquin's grandfather died and his wife appointed some random guy to be the new king because she liked him better than her own sons. He has two daughters that marry some brothers. One of the daughters killed her sister and her own husband. Then she marries Tarquin, who was her sister's husband. She convinced Tarquin to take the throne. Tarquin sat on the throne and declared himself king and when the real king objected, Tarquin threw him down the stairs and paid people to assassinate him. The daughter sees her dad's body on her way home and runs over his body with the chariot. Tarquin refused to have his body buried and assassinated any senators who objected. A few years after that, Tarquin's son basically tried to rape some girl and when she was refusing, he blackmailed her. The girl gave in to the blackmail, confessed to her family, and then committed suicide. Tarquin tried to make everyone forget about it, but the people rose against the whole family and kicked them out of Rome. After that, the people of Rome didn't want to be ruled by another king. Instead of a king they elected two consuls. The consuls had a year in office and they could only be aristocrats. The plebeians got tired of this and kind of went on strike. They refused to serve in the military until laws were written out. The Romans made a new form of government called a democracy. The US government is pretty similar to the ancient Roman government. They both have three branches and a legal code. The two consuls are kind of like the President and Vice President. This is what we learned today about ROME.    

ROME

There were three main groups of people who settled Rome. The Etruscans came from the north-central part of the peninsula and were metalworkers, artists, and architects. The Greeks had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea. The Romans borrowed ideas from them like religious beliefs, alphabet, art, and military techniques and weaponry. The first settlers were the Latins. They were the descendants of the Indo-Europeans. They settled on the banks of the Tiber. They were situated so that only trading ships could go as far as Rome, but no further. The had a commercial ports that wasn't susceptible to attack. They built Rome on 7 hills. Tarquin the Proud's grandfather built the largest ancient drain called the Cloaca Maxima, which channeled swamp water into the Tiber. Tarquin the Proud was the 7th and last king of Rome. He was also called Tarquin the Arrogant. He was a tyrant. That's what we learned today on Rome.

CHI CAGO

I think that this song was amazing. I didn't know what was going on until I pulled up the lyrics as the song was playing. I wish we all could have been in class to actually witness a concert by Chi Cago. The song really hit on all of the things that we were learning about Rome. I loved this song so much that I showed it to my brother, who started dancing to it. Today would be one of those days where you really miss not being in the actual school building. I think you should have made a music video with this song instead of just the audio. Even though we're not going back to school this year, you should definitely sing this song live to us when we come back.

Twelve Tables

The Twelve Tables weren't a constitution, they were a group of customary laws that reflected the rural aspect of living in Rome. They were originally carved on wooden tablets and on display for everyone to see. Then, they were upgraded to bronze tablets. The Romans would memorize what was on them. The laws that were on the Twelve Tables were proposed at Tribal Assemblies. Someone would propose a law, then they would discuss the law, finally they would vote on the law. There were many different types of laws. The Twelve Tables were basically the first written down laws in Rome. They also became the basis for other Roman laws.

Ancient Roman Architecture

This is the ancient Roman aqueducts. It transported fresh water to heavily populated areas in Rome.