Download Rome Rulers - Little Miami Schools

Rome Rulers
Rulers of the World:
The Good and the VERY BAD
The Good
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Julius Caesar - Set the standard for which all other rulers
will be judged
All others take the title of Caesar as an embodiment of
total power
Tried to eliminate dishonest practices in the government
Corrected the Roman calendar
Diluted the power of the corrupt Senate
Impressive military general - greatly expanded Roman
Territory
Good Rulers Cont.
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Augustus - Reformed Rome’s Army - paid
them out of the Imperial treasury and
making the Legion’s swear alliance to him
Reformed the Roman economy, ordered a
census, and set up a postal service
Good Emperors Cont.
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Hadrian put his armies to work building roads
and walls that marked the boundaries of the
empire
Worked very hard to improve the life of the
average Roman
Created the Wall of Hadrian which marked the
Northern border in England
Designed to keep barbarians out - designed like
the Great Wall of China - Used for over 300
years
Good Rulers Cont.
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Marcus Aurelius - Very close to Plato’s
idea of a philosopher king - dedicated
himself to the idea of improving Rome
Expanded the boundaries of the empire
The Very Bad
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Commodus - Bread and circuses
He neglected his office by spending most
of his time at games and shows.
He even fought in the arena
Murdered in his sleep
The Very Bad
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Nero - Selfish Ruler
Wanted to rebuild his palace - he is told that there is no money in
the treasury to do so
Not long after there was a fire which burnt most of the city of Rome
to the ground
There is some evidence which points to Nero as the man behind the
fire, legend says that Nero played the violin while the city burned
Whether Nero started the fire or not he got to rebuild his palace and
blamed a weird new religious cult for starting the fire, the Christians
This began several hundred years of religious persecution against
Christians in Rome
Christians were crucified, forced to fight, and feed to beasts in the
arena by the hundreds
The Very Bad Cont.
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Caligula is the most famous bad ruler of them all
Caligula started out as a good ruler but after suffering
from a fever that almost killed him, Caligula recovered
physically but was most probably criminally insane
Caligula delighted in dinner parties during which people
were tortured to death for entertainment
Caligula forced the Senate to place their wives in a
public brothel or be horribly murdered
Caligula even made his horse a Senator and forced the
Senate to address his horse as such