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C6.2 – From Republic to Empire
II. Rome Becomes an Empire
A. The First Triumvirate
60 BC - Caesar and two other generals,
Gnaeus Pompey and Licinius Crassus, formed
the First Triumvirate
Julius Caesar
100 - 44 BC
Gnaeus Pompey
106 - 48 BC
Licinius Crassus
115 BC – 53 BC
A. The First Triumvirate
Crassus died; Caesar defeated Pompey in a
civil war; named dictator for life in 44 BC
Julius Caesar and the Crossing of the Rubicon
The Period from 44BC- 28bc
• Formation and breakdown of the
Second Triumvirate; power vacuum left
by Caesar’s death, candidates for power, Senate
response, fate of the assassins
• Role of Significant individuals;
Octavian , Antony, Cicero, Cleopatra,
Fulvia and Octavia
Landless Roman Peasants
Italian Allies
- Served in the armies that
had won an empire
- Wanted farmland and a minimum
standard of living
- Served in the armies that
had won an empire
- Wanted citizenship and equal
Treatment
Senate
- Intense rivalries
-Jealously protected
privileges and power
-Did not address needs for
reform
Roman Plebs
Equites
- Laborers and poor of the capital
- Access to grain and bread at
affordable prices
- Wealthy and distinguished non-senators
- Wanted honors and recognition and did
not want senators to look down on them
The Power Vacuum
• The legacy of Julius Caesar’s death was
the political vacuum that was left after the
Ides of March.
• Caesar’s series of dictatorships and the
many titles and honors granted by the
Senate had effectively dismantled the
mechanism of government. Free elections
had not been held since 49BC
• Whoever was to fill the vacuum would
need wealth and a loyal army.
Octavian and Antony
Heirs apparent?
As individuals what do they have and what do
they lack to take up the mantle of Caesar?
OCTAVIAN
Sources of power
NAME OF CAESAR:
Patrician birth
Clientale
Loyal army
Wealth?
MARK ANTONY
SOURCES OF POWER
•In possession of CaesarS will
•Consul for 44BC
•Loyalty of veterans
•From the Civil War
B. The Second Triumvirate
43 BC - Octavian, Marc Antony, and Lepidus
seized power; formed the Second Triumvirate
Octavian
63 BC - AD 14
Marc Antony
83 BC – 30 BC
Lepidus
90 BC - 13 BC
B. The Second Triumvirate
Lepidus forced out; Antony and Octavian
each governed half the empire
B. The Second Triumvirate
31 BC - Civil war between Octavian and Antony;
Octavian defeated Antony and Egypt’s Cleopatra
The Battle of Actium
B. The Second Triumvirate
Cleopatra, Antony committed suicide; Octavian
controlled Rome; republic ended, beginning a
new period in Roman history
Antony and Cleopatra
C. From Octavian to Augustus
Octavian called himself princeps, government
called Principate; new political order emerged –
the empire
Augustus (63 B.C. – AD 14)
First Roman Emperor
(27 BC - AD 14)
“He subjected the whole wide
earth to the rule of the
Roman people”
C. From Octavian to Augustus
27 BC - Senate gave Octavian title of Augustus,
“the revered one”
Birth name:
Gaius Octavius Thurinus
Name as Emperor:
Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus
D. The Augustan Age
Ruled 40 years, power divided between him
and Senate; conquests expanded the empire
and brought peace – Pax Romana
D. The Augustan Age
Life in Rome improved; period of cultural
creativity, greatest writers in Roman history –
Horace, Ovid, Livy, and Virgil
E. The Emperors
AD 14 - Augustus died; empire ruled by
Caesar’s relatives next 54 years – the JulioClaudian Emperors
E. The Emperors
Abilities varied: Tiberius a good soldier and
ruler; Caligula brutal, mentally unstable; Nero,
last Julio-Claudian, committed suicide in AD 68
Tiberius (A.D. 14-37)
Caligula (37 to 41)
Nero (54-68 A.D.)
E. The Emperors
After Nero, civil wars raged in Rome; four
military leaders ruled in AD 69; last was
Vespasian
Titus Flavius Caesar
Vespasianus Augustus
(AD 9 – AD 79
E. The Emperors
69 to 96 AD - Vespasian re-established order;
stability returned under the Flavians - Vespasian
and his two sons
The Flavian family,
Vespasian and his sons
Titus and Domitian,
depicted in The Triumph
of Titus
E. The Emperors
AD 96: reign of the Good Emperors began – five
rulers who governed Rome almost a century
The Five Good Emperors - Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian,
Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aurelius
E. The Emperors
Empire grew under the Good Emperors;
reached limits of expansion under Trajan
Aureus issued by Trajan to
celebrate the conquest of
Parthia
E. The Emperors
Hadrian thought empire too large, withdrew from
the east; built defensive fortifications as guard
against invasions
Hadrian's Wall in
northern England
Hadrian
A. Government
Government strongest unifying force in empire:
maintained order, enforced laws, defended
frontiers
A. Government
Empire divided into provinces ruled by
governors appointed and monitored by Rome
B. Laws, Trade, Transportation
Law unified the empire; specified crimes and
penalties; applied to everyone in empire - the
“Rule of Law”
B. Laws, Trade, Transportation
Agriculture remained primary occupation;
tenant farmers began replacing slaves on large
farms
B. Laws, Trade, Transportation
Manufacturing increased; produced everything
from cheap pottery to world’s finest goods
Ancient Roman drinking vessels,
bowls and jars
Ancient glassware from the
Roman era
B. Laws, Trade, Transportation
Imported grain, meat, raw materials from
provinces; Rome and Alexandria became
commercial centers
B. Laws, Trade, Transportation
Commercial activity possible because of
empire’s location and extensive (about 50,000
mile) road network