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The Rise of Caesar and the End of the Roman Republic A Roman named Crassus won honor by defeating a slave army led by a slave named Spartacus. Another Roman, Pompey earned fame by ending piracy problems that were cutting off vital food supplies. In the year 70 B.C.E., the Senate elected them as Rome's two consuls (gov’t leaders). Meanwhile, thanks in part to his friendship with Crassus and Pompey, a young aristocrat named Julius Caesar got involved with government. Caesar ran for and won the office in Rome that was responsible for supervising public games. With money he had borrowed from Crassus, Caesar spent lavishly on public entertainment, including gladiator contests, which added to his popularity with the people of Rome. Julius Caesar Conquers Caesar's popularity among the common people of Rome grew. In 61 B.C.E., Caesar was sent to Spain as a Propraetor -- a governor and military commander. There he expanded Roman rule against local tribes to the peninsula's Atlantic coast. He gained more prestige and personal wealth. When his term as governor ended, he returned to Rome with enough wealth to pay his enormous debts. Meanwhile, the Senate refused to grant lands to Pompey's veterans -- despite the wealth Pompey had added to Rome's treasury by his recent conquests -- and Pompey saw this as preventing him from keeping faith with his men. In 59 B.C.E. Pompey accepted Caesar's invitation to form an alliance as a counter to their opponents in the Senate. Crassus was annoyed with the Senate for the position it took against bribery and his business interests. Although they disliked each other, these men joined each other, creating a force known as the First Triumvirate: Pompey with his soldiers, Crassus with his money, and Caesar with his popularity. (A type of oligarchy.) Benefiting from this alliance, Caesar was elected consul in 58 B.C.E.. As consul he proposed to the Senate a land bill for Pompey's veterans. The Senate did not respond. Pompey lent his veterans to Caesar, and the veterans created a dominant military and people’s voice force in Rome. Caesar’s reinforced his alliance with Pompey, who he had marry his daughter, Julia. Caesar Goes to Gaul Forbidden by law to run for a second term as consul, Caesar won a five-year appointment as governor of Gaul. As governor, he launched a war to extend Roman rule over the unconquered lands, occupied by about fifty tribes. These tribes had been fighting among themselves, and some of them, respecting the power of Rome, allied themselves with Caesar. Caesar conquered Gaul, his successes the result of good military tactics, well-disciplined troops and use of the kind of terror that the Romans considered necessary and appropriate to frighten an enemy. Caesar was not a bloodthirsty man, but popularity was important to him, and to maintain the support of his soldiers, he submitted to their passion for blood. With his generosity and his brilliance as a commander, he won their devotion. East of the Rhine River, Caesar came into contact with a Germanic people he described as tall and blond, warlike and utterly savage, people with wagons who had come from Scandinavia -- what is now Denmark, southern Norway and Sweden. They were running from population growth, shortages of food and wars between tribes. Already some of these Germans had settled on the western side of the Rhine River. Caesar fought them. He made slaves of those his army captured and he made the Rhine River the empire's frontier. Caesar against the Senate Romans welcomed Caesar's victories against their ancient enemy the Gauls, and they welcomed extension of their empire. News of each of Caesar's victories inspired a celebration, while some Senators remained unimpressed. The more glory that Caesar won, the more conservative Senators feared him. They described his victories as cheap aggressions against inoffensive peoples. Caesar knew that he needed support against the will of the Senate. In Gaul he acquired more wealth with which to buy political support in Rome. But his position in Rome suffered with the death of his daughter Julia, which ended an important tie between him and Pompey. Additionally, Crassus was jealous of Caesar's successes in Gaul. With Caesar agreeing, Crassus won appointment as governor of Syria. This put Crassus in charge of Rome's relations with the Parthians, and it gave Crassus opportunity to win the glory that Caesar had been winning. In the spring of 53 B.C.E., Crassus took an army of around forty thousand -- mainly infantry -- from Syria and moved them into northeastern Mesopotamia. He had not taken the time to learn much about the local geography and local people as Caesar had. Crassus’ ignorance and impatience led to disaster. Much of his army was taken into captivity. While a captive, he died in a scuffle with a Parthian officer. The Senate turned to Pompey to establish law and order in a city where large groups or “gangs” were forming and fighting -- perhaps some Senators also saw this as an opportunity to split Pompey from his alliance with Caesar. The Senate decided to make Pompey the sole consul and to allow Pompey to raise an army to restore order and to suppress the gangs that roamed the streets. Pompey was delighted by the opportunity to do something heroic. The Senate established special courts to prosecute those responsible for the recent disorders. Pompey restored order. Then despite the illegality of second terms, Pompey won another term as consul, leading one Senator to quip that any government was better than no government. The Senate passed a bill that called for Caesar to be replaced as governor of Gaul. The Senate demanded that Caesar disband his army and resign unconditionally. Caesar refused, and the Senate appealed to Pompey for military support and voted in martial law. Rather than accept an end to his career and perhaps death, Caesar chose to attack. On his way to Rome, some Italians and other soldiers rushed to join his forces. Faced with a popular rising and the might of Caesar's army, most of the Senate fled the city in panic, leaving behind their wives and children. Caesar Triumphs against Pompey Caesar entered Rome triumphant. People throughout Italy cheered his success. Rather than attempt to crush those in Rome opposed to him, Caesar sought reconciliation -- while in Pompey's camp they talked of revenge. For the security of his regime, Caesar had to defeat those armies loyal to Pompey. He and his army went to Spain, and in forty days, triumphed against an army allied with Pompey. They returned to Rome for eleven days while on their way to Greece to confront Pompey. Caesar found that he had been declared dictator. Caesar presided over elections in which he was also made consul, and he passed a law creating relief for debtors. Caesar and his army confronted Pompey in Greece. (Pompey had twice as many infantrymen as Caesar and seven thousand cavalry to Caesar's one thousand.) Caesar was brighter and his troops more experienced, and his army crushed Pompey's army. Pompey fled toward Egypt. Continuing his policy of reconciliation, Caesar offered a pardon to those whom Pompey left behind, and many of them joined Caesar's armies, while others fled. The young Egyptian king, Ptolemy XII, saw Pompey as a loser and a danger. He had Pompey stabbed to death when Pompey arrived in Egypt. Three days later Caesar arrived with his army, and Ptolemy offered Caesar Pompey's embalmed head as a trophy. Caesar was annoyed and dismayed. Caesar found Egypt in political disarray, and he began asserting authority there that many Egyptians believed was not his. He would have preferred reconciliation with Pompey, and he had the two Egyptians who had taken part in Pompey's murder executed. He tried to settle a dispute within the Ptolemy family and finally sided with the king's daughter, Cleopatra. In the streets and harbor at Alexandria war erupted between Ptolemy XII and Caesar and his small force, with Caesar fighting Roman naval forces that had remained loyal to Pompey. Reinforcements for Caesar arrived from Palestine, and Caesar won. Ptolemy XII died in the conflict, and Caesar and his army remained in Egypt for a couple of months. Caesar married Cleopatra to her younger brother, as was the Egyptian custom, and he set the couple upon Egypt's throne. Caesar and Cleopatra secretly wed and vacationed together on a ship on the Nile, which would eventually lead to the birth of a son, Caesarian, by the two. On his return to Rome, he defeated rebel armies throughout Asia Minor on his way. Caesar described this conflict with his famous phrase, "I came, I saw, I conquered." Caesar arrived in Rome with a great triumph parade that included forty elephants and delirious crowds. Many Romans must have thought that their troubles were over, that at last a champion of the people had secured power. Some saw his good fortune as having been granted by the gods. Some elevated Caesar to a god. Caesar and Reform Returning to Rome, Caesar turned his attention to creating a stable government and solving economic and social problems. Seeking order, he announced that the revolution was over. He began to create politics of consensus and a government of laws -- but not democracy, which was commonly believed to be an unruly form of government He restored the Senate, which now consisted of many new members and fewer aristocrats, and he accepted the title of "Dictator for Life." Some of the programs he created were: Reorganization of the courts Penalties for crimes committed by the rich and the poor were increased He upheld property rights and took steps toward the restoration of Rome's system of finances and the creation of economic stability. He gave land in Gaul and Spain to veterans. To ease the burden of debt, he put restrictions on lending and borrowing. Improving housing for the poor; gave Romans temporary relief from rents Began welfare reform, and ruled that to go onto welfare in Rome. one had to wait for someone to leave the program -- this was designed to discourage people from coming to Rome to take advantage of welfare there. (Roughly eighty thousand whom he disqualified from welfare he sent to new, overseas colonies. ) New theaters and temples were built. New construction projects for improving trade by sea and for improving harbors. Caesar laid plans for economic improvements across the empire. He began enlisting men of talent into public service, and he saw the need for improvement in the organization of municipal (city) governments throughout Italy. He sought to bind citizens in the provinces closer to Rome by doing away with laws that made distinctions between them and the citizens of Rome. He gave Roman citizenship to Gauls who had fought alongside him when he was governor there. He created better government in territories governed by Rome, including Judea. He gave Jews there a greater autonomy, reduced their taxes, exempted them from having to serve in Rome's armies, and he allowed them freedom again to worship their god. Caesar placed a learned man in charge of Rome's library, and he laid plans for an increase in government involvement in Rome's public education. He gave Roman citizenship to Greek teachers in hope of encouraging them to come to Rome. Caesar also had the calendar revised. The old calendar was a hodgepodge of contributions by various priests. He drew from the expertise of astronomers and mathematicians, the result being the basic calendar of today. Assassination Some among Rome's privileged saw Caesar as responsible for an end to the republic, and rather than patience and compromise, they opted for a return to the politics of violence: assassination. They did not understand that political improvements would need time and consensus and respect for law and that assassinating Caesar would bring neither. Like most assassins they had little grasp of what would follow their deed. Some of the conspirators were former supporters of Caesar who hoped to advance their own careers. Some were from families as distinguished as Caesar's who resented his condescending air of superiority toward them and others. The conspiracy to assassinate Caesar was led by a former first commander under Pompey, Gaius Cassius. Another conspirator, Marcus Brutus, was a senator who continued to pretend friendship with Caesar and who saw the conspiracy as patriotism that would rid Rome of problems. Caesar had heard rumors of a plot, but he had not surrounded himself with spies, and he knew nothing of who the plotters were or when they might strike. On the morning of March 15, 44 B.C.E., Caesar went to a meeting at the Forum to ratify his using the title of king when outside Italy -- a title for dealing with foreign peoples, who understood authority mainly by that name. As he often did, he went without his bodyguards, but he was accompanied by a rugged companion: one of his former generals and Rome's other consul, Mark Antony (Marcus Antonius). Brutus believed that killing Antony would be an injustice, so another conspirator detained Antony in conversation as Caesar made his way to his seat. It appeared that people were approaching Caesar, as usual, to exchange words and ask for favors. Along side a statue of Pompey, someone pulled at Caesar's cloak. Someone else stabbed him from behind in the neck. Caesar turned and wrestled with the assailant. As many as sixty others joined in the attack, wounding one another in the fray. Nearby senators looked on, some of them stunned. Caesar saw Brutus with his knife raised and asked him: "You too my son?" Stabbed twenty-three times, Caesar fell to the floor and died. News of Caesar's assassination spread fast in Rome. Two days after the assassination, Mark Antony emerged in public with a personal force that he had organized. “Friends, Romans, countrymen, lend me your ear, I come here today not to bury Caesar, but to praise him... “ As the surviving consul, he accepted power and spoke favorably of the powers of the Senate. The Senate was glad to be rid of Caesar but wished to avoid civil war, and in a show of conciliation it voted for a public funeral for Caesar. The funeral was spectacular, and included many foreigners in the crowd who joined the mourning, some believing that Caesar's death was the signal of the end of the world. And some believed that Caesar's assassins should be punished. From the crowd of mourners came the retaliation that had failed to come from Caesar's top lieutenants. Packs of outraged people rushed to the vacated homes of those rumored to be the assassins The Ascent of Caesar's Nephew, Octavian A month after Caesar's death, his eighteen year-old grand-nephew, Octavian, arrived in Italy from the East, where he had been waiting to serve Caesar in a military campaign. Octavian had served with Caesar in Spain, and Caesar had adopted him and made him his heir. Antony considered himself Caesar's political heir, not Octavian. He controlled Caesar's private fortune, which he had quickly spent. Octavian paid the gift of money that Caesar had promised citizens in his will -- which Antony refused to pay. He paid for athletic games in honor of Caesar, and at these games a comet streaked across the sky. The crowd thought it was Caesar's star, a sign of Caesar's immortality, a sign of Caesar having risen, and a sign of heavenly favor bestowed upon Octavian. News of Caesar's star spread rapidly across the empire. Octavian inherited the affection of soldiers and civilians who had worshiped Caesar. Many of Caesar's veterans gathered around Octavian and proclaimed their devotion to him, and war between Octavian and Antony appeared imminent. Antony against the Senate The relationship between Antony, at the end of his term as consel, and the Senate fell apart. Antony was thought of as wanting to follow in the footsteps of Caesar. The Senate refused Antony's attempt to have Octavian declared a public enemy. Instead, the Senate made Octavian a senator and declared Antony an outlaw. Octavian, Antony and the End the Republic Octavian was uncomfortable allied with the Senate, and he saw opportunity in overthrowing those responsible for his uncle's assassination. He signaled Antony that he was willing to create an alliance against those they both opposed. Some were to claim that Octavian and Antony agreed that they had better hang together or they might eventually hang separately. A new triumvirate, Antony, Octavian, and a man named Lepidus was created. The Plebeian Assembly passed a law giving the triumvirate dictatorial powers for five years. Octavian and Antony launched a massacre against those who had conspired against Caesar. Three hundred senators were killed, destroying much of what had been Rome's old governing elite. Caesar was declared a god of the Roman state. The two most prominent of Caesar's assassins, Cassius and Brutus, had fled east and had taken command of armies there. Antony and Octavian waged war against them in Macedonia. Brutus and Cassius committed suicide. Octavian Versus Antony and Cleopatra Antony was considered the senior member of Rome's ruling triumvirate, and he was named authority over most of Gaul and over all of Rome's Eastern Empire. Octavian ruled in Rome, Italy and Gaul. Lepidus was left with only the promise of rule in Northern Africa west of Egypt. Touring in the eastern part of the empire, Antony ordered Egypt's ruler, Cleopatra, to appear before him. She arrived in Alexandria in her gilded ship with purple sails and silver-lined oars, and there the two spent the winter together. Octavian and Antony Renew Their Hostilities The law that had granted the Triumvirate five years of dictatorial power expired in 38 B.C.E., and the Plebeian Assembly extended the dictatorship another five years. Also, that year, Antony returned to the east and married Octavian’s widowed sister Octavia, hoping to help better their relationship. Octavian married into the aristocratic Drusus family, taking Livia Dursilla as his wife. In the east, Antony renewed his contacts with Cleopatra. Antony needed Cleopatra's wealth to pursue his career, and Cleopatra wanted to revive boundaries of the old Ptolemy kingdom of her forefathers. Within a year, Antony sent his pregnant wife, Octavia, back to Rome from Egypt. Antony lived in opulence with Cleopatra. He acknowledged publicly that he had fathered twins by Cleopatra - - a boy and girl -- while in Rome, Antony's wife (Octavian's sister) presided with dignity over Antony' s household, caring for Antony's other children. The Romans still associated marriage with morality, and many looked upon Anthony's association with Cleopatra with disgust and saw Octavia as a mistreated heroine. Octavian was outraged by what he saw as Antony's mistreatment of his sister. Antony's funds were now depleted, and he was more dependent on the wealth of Cleopatra. To please her, he staged a ceremony at which he pronounced her "Queen of Kings" and distributed to her children the titles that were traditionally given to children of royalty. Antony declared Cleopatra's thirteen year-old son by Caesar, Caesarion, as Julius Caesar's legitimate son and as heir to the rule of Egypt, Cyprus and a part of Syria. Antony declared Cleopatra's six-year old boy as king of Armenia. He gave the boy's twin sister titles to Libya and other lands. And he declared Cleopatra's two year-old son as king of Phoenicia. Making Caesar's son by Cleopatra Caesar's legitimate son was equivalent to putting the boy ahead of Octavian, who was merely Caesar's nephew and adopted son. This increased Octavian's displeasure with Antony. Antony gave word that he wanted Octavia and her children out of his house This severed the final bond between Octavian and Antony. Octavian Triumphs In the summer of 32 B.C.E. Antony's divorce from Octavia was announced. Rumor spread in Italy that Antony wanted to make Cleopatra queen of Rome and to transfer Rome's government to Egypt. By now many Romans saw him as a renegade from Roman tradition. Backed by opinion across Italy and much of Rome's western provinces, Octavian, as consul, obtained a declaration of war against Cleopatra -- but not against Antony. It was to be a war against a foreigner, putting Antony in a position of treason. Antony's troops also disliked Cleopatra. Their morale was low, and some high ranking officers among them deserted to Octavian. Antony, with Cleopatra at his side, moved with his army to a strong point in western Greece. There, near the town of Actium, Octavian's talented commander, Agrippa, defeated Antony in a great sea battle, and Antony and Cleopatra fled back to Egypt. Nine months later, Octavian and his forces arrived in Egypt. Antony committed suicide. Cleopatra became Octavian's prisoner, and fearing that Octavian would take her back as display as his triumph, she sent herself as a goddess into the world of the dead -- using the bite of what was probably a cobra. NOTE Octavian saw both Caesarion and Cleopatra's eldest son by Antony as dangerous rivals and had them executed, but he adopted into his own family the other children of Cleopatra and Antony, including the daughters of Antony and Octavia. In the summer of 29 B.C.E., Octavian returned to Rome. His fellow Romans believed they had seen the end of war and strife, and they hailed him as the “Prince of Peace” and benefactor of mankind. Celebrations lasted for days. The Senate gave Octavian the permanent title "Commander Imperitor" -- from which the English word emperor is derived. Octavian Rules as Emperor Augustus In 27 B.C.E., Octavian began his seventh term as consul, and on the first day of that year he renounced his consulship and declared that he was surrendering all powers to the Senate, including control of the army. It was a bogus withdrawal from power. As Octavian expected, the Senate responded by returning much of his power, claiming that it was doing so for the sake of unity. Octavian held the title of princeps, which could be translated as leader, or, in German, führer. In keeping with his great prestige, the Senate gave him a title that had the ring of his being divinely chosen, Augustus Caesar, and the Senate made it law that he be included in the prayers of Rome's priests. In appearance, the Republic had been restored, but in fact ultimate power still lay with Octavian -- Augustus Caesar. Augustus and Pax Romana From the years 27 through 24 B.C.E., Augustus continued as consul, and he spent those years outside Rome, administering and organizing, first in Gaul and then in Spain. In 26 B.C.E., to protect commerce, he allowed a military expedition to be sent against southern Arabs who were trying to maintain a monopoly of trade with India and the coast of Somalia. While Augustus toured Gaul and Spain, Romans were enthusiastic over rumors that he was planning an invasion of Britain. But Augustus had had his fill of war, he decided to leave Britain alone. (Most of Britain's tribal chieftains were friendly toward Rome and wished to maintain and develop trade with the continent.) Augustus' policy of peace was the mainstay of the relatively stable time called the Pax Romana. Augustus Patronizes and Builds Augustus had begun building projects soon after his return from his war against Cleopatra, his first project was repairing temples. In the years that followed, he gave Romans bread, games and magnificent shows, paying for these with both public and his own money. He began to complete buildings that had been left unfinished after Caesar's death, and he encouraged Rome's highest ranking military officers to spend for public works and public parks some of the wealth they had received as war prizes. The construction of a new aqueduct was completed, splendid new public baths were built, new roads, and once a city of sun-dried brick, under Augustus, became a city of marble. The new roads improved communications and helped trade. Mail service improved, improvements were made in civil administration, and he created self-government for cities and provinces. He also created urban fire departments and urban police forces. Augustus also restored power to small farmers, believing that they had contributed to making Rome the power that it was. Religious Study and Protecting the Race As was tradition among the Romans. He tried setting an example by dressing without extravagance and by living in a modest house. He emphasized the worship of those gods he thought had given him victory in battle, among them the god Apollo. Augustus tried to persuade one of the foremost writers of his time, the poet Horace, to create a work comparable to Homer's Iliad, that would inspire Romans to the worship of the state's traditional gods and give the Romans pride in their history and their race. Horace was not interested, but the poet Virgil was. Virgil wrote the Aeneid, a story about the gods and the founding of the Roman race, a myth about the Romans having descended from Trojans who had fled the flames of Troy. Aeneas was described as the son of the goddess Venus and the Trojan Anchises. According to Virgil, among the descendants of Aeneas was Rhea Silva, who married Mars and gave birth to Romulus and Remus. Virgil described Julius Caesar as a more distant descendant of Aeneas. Augustus is Rome’s first emperor = Rome is now considered an empire. Many other emperors will follow and continue to expand Rome’s territory until it grows and grows and becomes the largest empire the world has ever seen!