Octavian and Future Emperors

After Caesars assassination, his nephew and adopted son Octavian took over power at the young age of 18. Octavian, Mark Antony( an experienced general) and Lepidus(an strong politician created the Second Triumvirate. This Triumvirate ends as Octavian forces Lepidus to retire and once Mark Antony became Octavian rival. Mark Antony joined forces with the Egyptians and caused a battle to which Octavian won, the Battle of Actium. This is when Rome became an empire instead of a republic. Octavian became "Augustus" or "exalted one". He was also called the "imperator" or the supreme military commander.  Octavian was a great leader. He ran for 40 years (27Bc-14AD), he began the Pax Romana, or era of peace and prosperity for 207 years (27BC- 180 AD). Other accomplishments of his were; expanding the Roman Empire into Africa, setting up civil service to run the gov't/empire(building roads, collecting taxes, setting up police and fire departments, building major facilities, and more). Octavian then died of natural causes. Octavian's power was then passed down to many different emperors with different styles of running Rome. The first one was Tiberus, a ruler from 14-37AD. He was a great general, but not so great as an emperor. He exiles himself after
the death of his son and he left his prefects in charge of Rome. He later died at age 77. Next came Caligula from 37-41 AD. He was a cruel ruler and closer to a modern tyrant. He won power after the death of Tiberus, but he was assassinated by a group of praetorian guards. After Caligula's death, Senators and imperial court tried to re-establish the Republic which failed in the end. Next came Cladius. He ruled from 41-54 AD. He took over because he was the last adult male in his family. He was not the average ruler, he had many infirmities, but he was a good ruler who built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain. He eventually died from poisoning from his wife. Next came Nero, the son of Cladius and ruler from 54-68 AD. Nero emphasized the arts and wanted to rebuild Rome to become more majestic. He was not wise in his spending on money to the point of over spending and raiding temples in search of money.

The Plebeians and Julius Caesar

I will be taking my test on Tuesday, June 2nd at 1:25pm-2:15pm.

The first few slides discuss the benefits of tending to the needs of the plebeians. It discussed giving the bread or food and circuses for entertainment. The ruler Tiberius Gracchus was the one to trying pleasing the plebeians first. Military generals worked to get them a share of the land conquered. This also helped to gain the loyalty of soldiers to their military leader rather than Rome or the Republic in general. Julius Caesar was one of the most successful generals. His leadership was from 100-44BC and during this time he conquered the territory of Gaul or modern France. He was highly liked for tending to the common people and even liked by more popular people. Two of the higher up or powerful people were Pompey, conqueror of Syria and Palestine, and Crassus, richest man of Rome and even close to all time, to which he later formed the First Triumvirate("rule of three men"). Caesars ruling was as a consul for one year and him appointing himself governor of Gail. The First Triumvirate was soon broken as Pompey became a rival of Caesar over jealousy. This rivalry cause a clash of army from Caesar's army and Pompey's in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt with Caesar becoming out victorious. In 44 BC Caesar became dictator in the beginning for six months, which later became for life. As part of his dictator ship, he made many reforms such as; granting citizenship to people in provinces, expanding the Senate by adding his friends, creating jobs for the poor(public work projects), increase pay of soldiers, and starting colonies for those without land. The republic came to an end after Caesars assassination. He was assassinated by Even Brutus, Caesars ally, because the Senators thought Caesar's rise in power was a threat to their political power. They killed him by stabbing him 23 times after luring him into the Senate, to which the Senators were never punished. The next heir was Octavian, and this was the end to the republic. 

Rome Essay Topic

For my Rome essay, I have decided to to choose topic A.) Compare and contrast the government of ancient Rome with the government of modern-day United States. I would begin with discussing the change in Romes gov't from a tyranny, to a monarchy, aristocracy, and finally a democracy. The Romans rebelled against their tyrants because of how poorly they were treated. They then got a king who was just as bad as a tyrant, Lucius Tarquinias Superbus, who seized power. Within that family there was a lot of jealousy and violence between everybody. There was murder for power, cheating, and lies. This family was finally expelled from Rome and all agreed to never be ruled by a king again. Next came the aristocracy. This is where two consuls were elected officials. There terms in office lasted one year. The consuls were always the aristocrats, or in Rome the Patricians. The duties of these consuls involved dealing justice, making law, and commanding the army. Another interesting thing is that the consul could veto one another power. The fifth century BCE the patricians held the most power although 98% of the population was the plebeians or common people. The patricians held this power by having plebeians serve in the army, plebeians could not hold office power, the plebs were threatened with debt slavery, and they had no legal rights. These laws and code was officially written in The Law of the Twelve Tables in 450BCE. This is where the tribunes were elected as leaders. This is the next part of the essay describing the similarities in the Roman gov't. Both have a the three branches of gov't; executive, legislative, and judicial. Both also have their written legal code. The differences are what each branch and code have within. The first branch is the executive.
Rome: Untied States:
Two consuls(leaders) President and Vice President
one year term Four year term
can appoint dictator for a six month term Veto power of proposed laws
Veto power from each leader

Both: Two main leaders(just different power to each) and in charge of military

Legislative
Rome: United States:
Senate of 300 aristocrats with lifelong terms Senate 100 people(two from each state)
Assemblies of 193 to later 373 members(lifelong) Six year terms
House of Representatives 435
members(2 year term)
Both: have group of Senate and large group of members to represent the people

Judicial
Rome: Untied States:
Praetors Supreme Court (nine members)
Chosen by the Centuriate Assembly Lifelong terms
One year term Appointed by President, Confirmed by Senate

Legal Code
Rome -Twelve Tables Untied States- Bill of Rights
Publicly displayed in the Forum First ten amendments of the Constitution
Gave rights to plebeians(common) and rich Gives freedoms and rights to everybody
Only protected free-born male citizens

The two governments are very similar. Most of the differences between the branches are number of officers elected, their terms, and the power they have. Rome was not as fair as the United States is to the common people. In the United States everybody is given the same rights and equality. The United States is known for the freedom and diversity among the people. Rome was a little more in favor of the aristocrats who were given more power. The Romans did not settle to things they did not want. That is a lot like the United States, this country was founded on wanting Independence and a voice.

Leadership and Life in Rome

Many problems surfaced after the Punic Wars. One of the largest problems was form the economic struggles. The wealthy citizens of Rome owned large estates and had enslaved people as workers. These enslaved workers took up 1/3rd of Romes population by 100BC. The poor citizens, often former soldiers or farmers, could no longer compete with the wealthy class. The former poor landowners had sold the land they had to the plebeians for money, but that led to many homeless and jobless citizens. The Gracchus brothers were two tribunes who attempted to help Romes lower class. They proposed reforms such as limiting estate size and giving land to the poor. These brothers were not liked and both had terrible deaths, Tiberius died in 133BC and Gaius died in 121BC. Generals began to take control and they would choose the poor citizens to take as soldiers. They would do this by offering them pay and land to join. One military leaders was Julius Caeser in 60BC. He was voted consul in 59BC along with Crassus and Pompey to become triumvirate group or group of three leaders. He was a governor of Gaul (modern France) from 59-50 BC and he gained many of the peoples trust and loyalty. He was a strong military leader and he took absolute power or control in Rome. He granted citizenship, increase pay for soldiers, and creating jobs for the poor. Caeser was then murdered due to many peoples fear of his success and power. Once he died, civil war broke out a second time just like the deaths of the Gracchus brothers. Three people who banned together after Julius Caesers death were his grandnephew and adopted son Octavian, an experienced general Mark Anthony, and a politician named Lepidus. This group was the Second Triumvirate that ruled for 10 years together. This triumvirate ended due to jealousy and violence troubles. Octavian forced Lepidus to retire and Mark Anthony became a rival. This broke out in a civil war. Octavian then changed his name to Augustus and was called a imperator, or "supreme military commander". Rome was then empire or ruled by one man. The Pax Romana was a time of peace for 207 years during Augustus ruling. Augustus stabilized the frontier, glorified Rome with amazing public buildings, set up a government that'd last years, and setting up a civil service (the pay for those employed in the civil administration of government. The trade and agriculture is what kept them well in economics. Ninety percent of the people were engaged in farming and the Romans would trade to gather whatever else they needed with places such as China, India, Greece, Russia, and more. High values in Rome consisted of discipline, strength, and loyalty. The poor citizens lived in the countryside to work on their farms or land. The smaller cities were filled with merchants, soldiers, foreigners, slaves, and philosophers. This created a very diverse society. Slaves were an important part of Roman life. Slaves consisted of all different people; men, women, children. The slaves could be bought, sold , rewarded, set free, put to death, and bought as their owners saw fit. The powerful or divine forces were called numia. The gods and goddesses were honored in hopes to gain favor and avoid misfortune. In Rome, government and religion were linked. Important gods and goddesses were, Jupiter, father or the gods; Juno, his wife and watched over women; and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and the arts. Worship of the emperor was part of the official religion of Rome. The lifestyle was the rich lived expensive lives while the common people lived with the necessities. 

Punic War

The Punic War was a group of three major wars for Rome. This war was the Roman Legion against Carthage from 246-146BC. The Roman legion was 5000 soldiers who were apart Romes elite infantry. Some of their common weaponry were shields, swords, daggers, armor, and tunics. One of their strong strategies was on horseback with their cavalry. The first of the three wars was from 264-241 BC. This was a battle of the navy located on the island of Sicily in which the outcome was Rome winning this battle. The Second Punic War was from 218-201 BC. In this battle, Carthages general Hannibal took control for Carthage. He attacked from from the North after crossing Iberia or Spain and the Alps. This battle was once again won by Rome. The final war of the Punic Wars was from 149-146 BC. Rome was tired of the attacks and threat of Carthage so strong leaders such as Scipio and Tiberius Gracchus helped to attack Carthage. The Romans burned the city and sold all 50,000 people left in the city to slavery. The rest of Carthage's land was annexed and taken over by Rome. This then led to millions of slaves entering Italy. The poor or common people began to lose lots of their earnings to the wealthy to pay back debt. The economics were changing due to wars. Slaves were now put to work on farms for aristocrats or the wealthy. This change benefited the wealthy, but hurt the poor.

Tarquin and the Roman Gov't

Tarquin was a very harsh and careless ruler of Rome. He seemed to be heartless. He gained power by seizing and killing the previous king, Tarquins grandfather(fifth king). The entire family was found to be in scandals where they cheated, blackmailed, threatened, and even killed innocent people. Tarquin was extremely cruel to everybody, which is why he and his wife were thrown out of Rome he was the final tyrant of Rome. The next to discuss is the republic gov't. The rulers in the type of gov't were consuls. These two rulers were elected officials who were patricians. They had an important role of dealing justice, making laws, and commanding the army. One consul could even veto the other or reduce the power of the other. Plebeians were 98% of the population, but the patricians still had majority power around 5th century BC. The written law of the Romans were The Law of the Twelve Tables in 450BC. The Romans had a mix of democracy, aristocracy, and monarchy with the peoples assembly and the tribunes, the senate, and the consuls. Both our current democracy and the Roman republic have the three branches of gov't as executive, legislative, and judicial. The Twelve Tables of Rome is their legal code like the Untied States Bill of Rights. 

Rome First 8 Slides

The Etruscans were the ones to settle in Rome. They came from the north-central peninsula. There mmost common occupations were metalworkers, artists, and architects. Two myths they have that was Virgil's Aneneid where Aeneas escapes Troy and the story of Remus and Romulus. The Greeks also had a major impact on the settlement of Rome. The Greeks had colonies set up around the Mediterranean Sea where the Romans took ideas such as: religious beliefs, alphabet, art, military techniques, and weaponry. The first settlers were the Latins. The Latins are descendants of Indo- Europeans. They settled on the banks of the Tiber which was an important port for trading ships and transportation. Palatine was one of the major settlements of Rome. The Tiber was an important river in Rome. Marshy areas in between the cities were called Forums. The Cloaca Maxima was one of the largest ancient drains built into the Tiber. Tarquin (Lucius Tarquinias Superbus) the Proud's grandfather was the one to build Cloaca Maxima. Lucius Tarquinias Superbus was the seventh and final king of Rome. He was a tyrant in the old way, just a powerful leader, and the modern sense being harsh and cruel.

Chi Cago Rome Song

Today we got to listen to the Rome song. I enjoyed the song. I thought it was a fun song and I enjoyed listening to this song because it was catchy to me. Often songs that are catchy are easy for me to remember. This song will be able to help me in the future if I can remember the lyrics. It was entertaining and I also like the original song so it more enjoyable to listen to. It was quite funny, but effective. I also thought the name Chi Cago was quite funny. It was nice to get a break from all the just book work and just take a minute to laugh. This reminds me of all the Egypt and Mesopotamia songs. I can't imagine how long it takes to create these songs with the right words to fit the unit and beat.

Roman Twelve Tables

The Twelve Tables in Rome was their written law. These laws were written down in 451BC to give the Plebeians or lower class reassurance that their laws are set in writing.  The Plebeians asked for this because during this time they were just the lower class. They had little to no rights and no voice within politics. The laws written down helped ensure that they would get their voice. These laws were written on clay tablets by 10 men. They also began to have assemblies where laws were proposed, discussed, and voted upon by citizens. The main goal or idea was that all free citizens would have the right to the protection of law. The Twelve Tables gave Plebeians a voice in politics. The Patricians no longer had overall ruling, the Plebeians would assemble their consul to be their representatives. The Roman government went through many phases staring with monarchy, aristocracy, and then resembling a democracy. The noble and wealthy could no longer overrule the common people. The Twelve Tables reminds me of the United States Constitution since it sets our morals and laws for the people to follow and view. It sets a standard and makes them put into place. They both also allow for the reforms to better our country and government.

Roman Aqueducts

 This is a picture if a Roman aqueduct. I think these are very pretty to look at, but they also have an interesting background.I love arches so these are just pretty to me. I think it looks beautiful in the water and how open they are. The purpose of these aqueducts were used to pump water and bring it to Rome from far away places. These aqueducts were most commonly found underground. Some of these are still in use today which is crazy to me. I can't imagine having to create something like this, but the Romans did it in 312 BC.The engineering for this and idea is incredible for how long ago they built these. They were so useful and can even be found in modern times in the United States. I think this is just a pretty piece of architecture that is also beneficial in society.