Download Ancient Rome Chapter 2: The Roman Empire Julius Caesar Just as

Ancient Rome
Chapter 2: The Roman Empire
Julius Caesar
Just as Rome was about to crumble to pieces from internal struggles and a powerless
government, Julius Caesar rose, a strong and powerful leader. Being a general, he led his army
in conquering Gaul and gained loyalty and respect from his soldiers. They followed him without
question back to Italy to take Rome. In 49 B.C., war broke out between Julius Caesar and the
senate. The crumbling government was no match for a strong leader however. Julius Caesar
won and established himself as dictator of Rome in 48 B.C.
While, according to law, dictators were only allowed to rule for a sixmonth period; Julius Caesar had other plans. He maintained elements of the
old government, but he also made changes the other senators resented. In
45 B.C. Julius made himself the only consul; in 44 B.C. he made himself
dictator for life. As he made these reforms, the senate couldn’t help but feel
like a king was suddenly ruling them, with their rights being taken away. On
March 15th, 44 B.C., his fellow senators stabbed Julius Caesar to death during
a senate meeting.
Julius Caesar was a strong leader: he protected Rome, and perhaps saved it from
crumbling into oblivion. However, people argue he was too ambitious, wanted too much
power, and made changes too quickly. In the end, he died for it. But the changes he had made
lasted; Rome was never the same.
Empire
After the death of Julius Caesar, Rome dropped into civil war for thirteen years. The
winner in the end was Octavian, Julius Caesar’s adopted son. When he finally established peace,
Octavian was awarded the title “Augustus”, which means “highly respected”. He was Rome’s
first emperor, and marked a distinct beginning of a new age in Rome.
For the first 500 years, Rome was a republic; it had one of the largest elected
governments of its day, and grew from one simple city-state to a nation. For the next 500
years, Rome would be an Empire; this change of government saved and sustained Rome. Some
say at great cost though. Suddenly, the people of Rome were once again, at the mercy of one
ruler.
With an emperor ruling, the people of Rome still held ideals of peace, freedom, and
morality. Augustus followed these ideals. He established peace and the age was called “Pax
Romana” or the time of “Roman Peace”. This peace lasted two hundred years, and within this
time citizens were free to trade and travel throughout the huge Roman Empire. Augustus was
intelligent in the way he ruled. Once his power was well established, he prudently listened to
the senate and was respectful of their advice. This made them feel like rather than being ruled
by a dictator, they still had power to influence the decisions of their government. Rome also
put into action moral standards, even with the nations they conquered. When they took a city,
they would capture some as slaves. The rest, however, would be free to continue living in their
own land with little interruption. The empire was divided into provinces, each ruled by a Roman
governor with his own army; but the native rulers were also allowed to make decisions for their
people within Roman laws. The Romans did not force their way of life on any of their captured
people. For the most part, they allowed people to live their lives according to their cultures and
religions. Instead of interfering, they simply observed and supervised. This was an
advantageous strategy to creating peace within the empire. Instead of feeling oppressed by
their captors, the conquered people bought and sold supplies; paid taxes; and adopted the
easier ways of the Roman people. Some even learned Latin, Rome’s native language, and began
to worship Roman gods.
In 14 A.D. Augustus died, but the years of peace remained, even when the quality of the
emperors following varied. Some ruled justly and intelligently; others were selfish and ruthless.
Two of the worst rulers were Caligula and Nero. These Emperors were cruel and unfair. Nero
even murdered his half-brother, mother, and wife. 96 A.D., however, marked the time of the
“five Good Emperors”. These emperors were: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and
Marcus Aurelius. These emperors were fair and had the Senate supporting their decisions.
Hadrian, who ruled from 117-138 A.D., wrote a code of laws that established more fair
treatment between classes. He also encouraged learning, and made conditions for soldiers
much better by allowing them to be stationed in their hometowns. Pax Romana and the two
hundred years of peace finally ended when Marcus Aurelius’s son took the throne and ruled
cruelly.
Roman Soldiers
While rulers played a large part in the decisions of the empire, Rome owed a great deal
of its success to its military. Leading officers responsible for overseeing and leading were called
centurions, while plain soldiers were called legionaries. These centurions and soldiers were
citizens and professionals in the art of war. Life was not easy for them, however. They
committed to at least twenty-five years of serving in the military, and
were not allowed to marry while in service. Before Hadrian allowed them
to defend their own home-towns, they spent the majority of their time
serving away from home. This forced them to build an intense loyalty to
their commander and fellow officers. If they still lived after fulfilling their
twenty-five year contract, they were rewarded well with land or money.