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.