imperial rome

Caesar

superb general, astute politician, and an author whose lucid and forthright *Commentaries on the Gallic Wars* was a significant contribution to the great literary surge of the late republic; had keen and practical intelligence → could probe to the core of a problem, work out a logical solution, and carry his plan to realization

* Allied himself w/ Pompey (disgruntled general) and Crassus (ambitious millionaire) 
* Advocated for land distributions other other policies that helped the poorer classes (caused hostility of the Senate)

First Triumvirate

59 BCE; political alliance between Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus; succeeded in dominating the Roman state; collapsed in 49 BCE (Crassus died in battle and Pompey sided w/ the Senate)

Gaul

where Caesar led his army on a series of campaigns that resulted in its conquest (present day france and belgium); thoroughly Romanized after Caesar’s conquest

Rubicon River

where Caesar defied the Roman constitution and led his own army across this provincial boundary into Italy → after he was declared a public enemy

Caesar’s reforms

made himself dictator for life; extended citizenship to Italy & other provinces that supported him; sent 80,000 jobless people to form new communities in Gaul, Spain, and North Africa; restored senatorial opponents to their former positions and ordered the execution of Pompey’s murderers; UNQUESTIONED MASTER OF THE STATE

Dictatorship for life

Caesar held the office of dictator year after year until Senate granted him this title

Pontifex maximus

supreme pontiff or chief priest of the civic religion of Rome; Caesar assumed this title b/c he was the key republican office of consul

Julian calendar

introduced by Caesar; based on the solar year → almost universal use today (July was named in his honor

Ides of March

15 March in 44 BCE; conspirators of Caesar (led by Brutus) assassinated Caesar and another civil war began

Caesar’s death

marked the death of the Roman republic and the beginning of the Roman empire → anarchy

Second triumvirate

octavian joined forces w/ marc antony and lepidus; set out to defeat Caesar’s murderers

Mark Antony

caesar’s trusted lieutenant; defeated Brutus and Cassius (committed suicide rather than being taken)

Cicero

Rome’s supreme literary craftsman; targeted for his hostility to mark antony; made a half-hearted attempt at escape, but roman soldiers sent by antony caught & murdered him in retaliation (7 december 43 BCE)

Consequences of the 2nd triumvirate falling apart

lepidus was forced out of office by octavian & marc antony became allied w/ cleopatra

Battle of Actium

where antony & cleopatra defeated in 31 BCE by octavian forces after they tried to assume control of rome

Cleopatra of egypt

mark antony’s wife; took her and antony’s life after the fortunes of the war turned against them

Octavian

victory ended an age of civil war; long period of peace followed; refused to be seduced by cleopatra’s charms; vowed to display her as war-booty in his triumph through rome

Augustus

new name the senate voted to honor octavian with; every emperor of rome would be called caesar

Pax romana

augustus ruled many years → lead rome into a period of peace; rebuilding of the constitution and gov’t; demobilization of armies loyal only to their generals; creation of the praetorian guard; subduing of dangerous barbarians that threatened rome’s frontiers

Praetorian guard

 job was to protect the roman emperor; full-time professional force that was loyal to Augustus personally; paid for his maintenance by imposing an inheritance tax

Principate

octavian established himself the sole ruler of this after he restored the republic w/ the senate’s cooperation; with this title Octavian shrewdly retained the senate consuls, courts, and other republican trappings to make his monarchy palatable to the roman people

Princips

first citizen

Tiberius

Augustus’s stepson who he chose as heir to succeed to power; beginning of the Julio-Claudian dynasty; power rested on the support of the military; built a fortified camp in rome for the praetorian guard

Julio-Claudian dynasty

named for Augustus’s family; understood that the Senate would confirm each successor

Julia

Augustus’s promiscuous daughter who Tiberius had to marry after he divorced his wife he was in love with → caused him to neglect his duties and live in isolation

Caligula

member of Tiberius family that was Tiberius’s successor; Augustus’s great-grandson that added to the violence and cruelty; was a cross-dresser that appeared in public as a god & spent vast sums on personal whims; allowed his favorite horse to dine at the imperial table during formal state dinners (consumes the finest food and wines from jeweled dishes)

Claudius

Augustus’s grandnephew, won the support of the praetorian guard; shrewdly built loyalty by opening high positions to non-Italians and by freeing slaves

Agrippina

Claudius’s niece whom he married → blood relationship to both caesar’s line and the claudian line made her a good choice

Nero

claudius's successor; won the favor with the poor through his lavish public festivals, but the elite feared him b/c he falsely accused senators of treason in order to seize their property; wasteful expenditure of public funds led to military dislike; possessed childish cruelty (wallowed in the pleasure of watching his prisoners tortured to death)

* 1st emperor to persecute christians

Vespian

69-79; became the first foreign-born emperor and worked to reinforce imperial power by promoting the worship of the emperor as a living god; 2 sons succeeded him to establish the flavian dynasty

Titus and domitian

79-81 / 81-96; launched successful military campaigns against the northern barbarian tribes; left behind great public works, including the coliseum

Domitian

arrogance eventually alienated the senate; when a general in germany revolted, he reacted by executing a number of upper-class citizens as conspirators; wife and other members of the court, fearing that they would be next → murdered him in 96 CE

Five good emperors

Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, and Marcus Aurelius

Nerva

96-98; made succession a matter of talent rather than bloodline; established trade relations w/ china

Trajan

98-117; first emperor to come from a foreign land (spain)

Hadrian

117-138; reformed claudius’ imperial bureaucracy and put it on an official basis; executed allege senate conspirators and punished a jewish revolt by turning jerusalem into a military colony

Antonius pius

138-161; increased trade and established cities in europe

Marcus aurelius

161-180; atomic and the last of the five good emperors; during his reign the barbarians would attack rome’s frontiers; epidemic disease spread from china to rome (claim the emperor’s life); only one of the 5 emperors that had a son of his own

Problem of succession

succession usually fell to a close relative of the previous emperor → led to the dispute that was settled by violence and/or civil war

The era of the five good emperors

period of peace and prosperity; considered the golden age of the empire; biggest contribution of these men was they managed to transfer power peacefully among themselves w/o the violence that had marked the rise of Rome after the fall of the republic

Commodus

heir of Marcus Aurelius; incompetent; had a disastrous reign → the age of enlightened imperial rule came to an end and was followed by a century of invasion, civil strife, and economic breakdown