Download The Rise of the Roman Empire

The Rise of the Roman
Empire
The Republic
Collapses
• Many or Rome’s rich
landowners lived on huge
estates. These estates were
worked by slaves-many of
whom were captured peoples
from various wars.
• Small farmers found it difficult
to compete with the large
estates run by labor of
enslaved people. Many of the
farmers were former soldiers.
• This caused the number of
urban poor to total about onefourth of Roman society.
The Gracchus
Brothers
• Two brother, Tiberius and Gaius
Gracchus attempted to help
Rome’s poor.
• They proposed to limit the size
of estates and giving land to
the poor.
• The brothers made enemies of
numerous senators. Both met
violent deaths because of this.
• Their deaths caused a civil
war, of conflict between groups
within the same country.
Trouble in Rome
• The republic was starting to
collapse and so was its onceloyal military.
• Generals started seizing power
for themselves. They recruited
soldiers from the landless poor
by promising them land.
• It was now possible for a
military leader supported by his
own troops to take over by
force.
Caesar Takes Control
• In 60 B.C., a military leader
named Julius Caesar joined
forces with Crassus, a wealthy
Roman, and Pompey, a popular
general. • Caesar was elected consul in
59 B.C.
• For the next ten years these
three men would dominate
Rome as a triumvirate, a group
of three rulers.
Caesar Takes Control
• Caesar was a strong leader and
a genius at military strategy.
• During 58-50 B.C., Caesar led
his legions in a grueling but
successful campaign to
conquer all of Gaul (now
France).
• The reports of Caesar’s
successes in Gaul made him
very popular with the people of
Rome.
Caesar Takes Control
• Caesar’s successes in Gaul
made Pompey fear his former
ally.
• Pompey convinced the senate
to disband Caesar’s legions
and order them to return home. • This angered Caesar and
January 10, 49 B.C., he led his
army swiftly toward Rome.
Caesar and
Cleopatra
• Caesar allied himself with the
21 year old co-ruler of Egypt
named Cleopatra.
• She promised help in the war
against Pompey if Caesar
would help her overthrow her
12 year-old brother the
Pharaoh.
• Eventually Caesar had a son
with Cleopatra named
Caesarian.
Caesar Takes Control
• With help from Cleopatra,
Caesar’s troops defeated
Pompey’s armies in Greece,
Asia, Spain, and Egypt.
• In 46 B.C., Caesar returned to
Rome, where he had the
support of the army and
masses. • That same year the senate
appointed him dictator. In 44
B.C., he was named dictator for
life.
Caesar’s Reforms
• Granted Roman citizenship to
many people in the provinces. • He expanded the senate,
adding his friends and
supporters from Italy and other
regions.
• Caesar also helped the poor by
creating jobs, especially
through the construction of new
public buildings. • He started colonies where
people could own property, and
he increased pay for soldiers.
Caesar’s Reforms
• Caesar also gave land to his
soldiers and free grain to the
poor citizens of Rome. • He changed the way people
measured time-creating the
basis for our modern calendar.
(January - Roman god Janus,
March - named for Mars, June named for Juno, July - named
for Julius Caesar)
Beware the Ides of
March
• The changes created in Rome
made Caesar many enemies in
the Senate.
• A group of 60 senators, led by
Marcus Brutus, felt they only
way to protect Rome was to
assassinate him.
• On March 15, 44 B.C., as
Caesar entered the senate
chamber, he was stabbed 35
times.
Beginning of the
Empire
• After the murder of Caesar,
many people fought for control
of Rome. • One of those people was
Caesar's youngest sister's
grandson Octavian. • Caesar had adopted him as his
son so that made him the
rightful heir to the rule of Rome.
The Second
Triumvirate
• Octavian joined with an
experienced general named Mark
Antony and a powerful politician
named Lepidus.
• The triumvirate tracked down the
senators who plotted Caesar’s
death and defeated their forces.
• They then split the Roman
territories among themselves.
• Lepidus took over control of the
western part, Octavian stayed in
Italy and Marc Antony was
awarded the East.
Mark Antony and
Cleopatra
• Octavian forced Lepidus to
retire.
• While leading troops against
Rome’s enemies in Anatolia,
Mark Antony met and fell in
love with Cleopatra. • He was convinced to appoint
Caesarion, son of Cleopatra
and Caesar as co-ruler of Egypt
and legitimate son and inheritor
of Caesar’s empire.
• Octavian accused Antony of
plotting to rule Rome from
The Battle of Actium
• Another civil war erupted.
• Octavian defeated the
combined forces of Antony and
Cleopatra at the naval battle of
Actium in 31. B.C.
• Later, Antony and Cleopatra
committed suicide.
Augustus
• With the death of Mark Antony
and Cleopatra, Octavian
became the unchallenged ruler
of Rome.
• Eventually he accepted the title
of Augustus, or “exalted one.”
• He also kept the title imperator,
or “supreme military
commander,” a term from
which the word emperor is
derived.
The Pax Romana
• Rome was at the peak of its
power from the beginning of
Augustus’s rule in 27 B.C. to
A.D. 108.
• For 207 years, peace reigned
throughout the empire. This
period of peace and prosperity
is known as the Pax Romana “Roman peace.”
• During this time, the Roman
Empire included more than 3
million square miles. Its
population numbered between
60 and 80 million people.
The Pax Romana
• The Romans held their vast
empire in part through efficient
government and able rulers. • Augustus set a up a government
that survived centuries.
• He set up a civil service-paid
workers to manage the affairs of
government.
• Although the senate still
functioned, civil servants drawn
from plebeians and even former
slaves actually help run the
empire.