Download Chapter 7 Section 3

Chapter 7 Section
3
The Birth of the Roman
Empire
Review
In Africa Hannibal met his match in a
general named ______?
 What increased the size of Rome and
increased the power of the Senate?
 What happened to the people Rome
conquered?


What natural barrier protects Italy in the
North?

Who prompted the engraving of the
Roman laws on the Twelve Tables?
A Weakening Republic
Two brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
(known as The Gracchi) saw the need for
reform in the Roman Empire.
 Tiberius’ suggestions for reform made him
popular with the common people but not with
the Senate.
 Senators and their supporters clubbed Tiberius
and hundreds of his followers to death. They
also had Gaius killed as well.
 From this point on violence replaced respect for
the law as the primary tool of politics in Rome.

Tiberius (right) & Gaius (left)
Gracchus
The Social War
During this time Rome’s relationship with
its allies all over Italy entered a crisis.
 Citizens of the Italian cities who served in
the Punic Wars with Rome wanted the
right to hold public offices in the Roman
government.
 The Senate resisted their demands
 Finally the {Roman allies rebelled and

fought the Social War to have the right
to participate in government.}
Social War Continued…
The war that followed was one of the
bloodiest in Roman history. Seeing as how
the allies were all trained by the Roman
army itself.
Rome ultimately won the war
but… The Senate did agree to grant the
allies political participation & citizenship
This made the Roman state grow to
include the entire peninsula
Caesar in Power
Julius Caesar, a general and a powerful public
speaker, had a lot of pull with Rome’s poor
 In 60 B.C. Caesar joined with Gnaeus Pompey
and Licinius Crassus forming the political alliance
The First Triumvirate
 With their support Caesar became consul in 59
B.C.
 During the next 10 years he brought all of Gaul
under Roman rule

Julius Caesar
Continued…






Crassus died in battle leaving Pompey sole
consul.
Jealous of Caesar’s fame he ordered Caesar
home without his army
Caesar refused and instead marched an army
toward Rome. With this act he declared war on
the republic.
He defeated Pompey in Greece and Pompey fled
to Egypt
Caesar chased Pompey into Egypt where the
King of Egypt presented Caesar with the head of
Pompey
2 years later {Caesar was named dictator for
life by the Senate}
Caesar in Egypt
Egypt was considered off limits to the Romans
who feared the wealth and possible corruption
from dealing with Egypt
 Caesar becomes romantically involved with
Cleopatra and helps her overthrow her brother
and waste time traveling up and down the Nile
 Cleopatra eventually becomes pregnant with
Julius Caesars only child
 She is hated in Rome and eventually her son is
denied the right to be the heir to Rome.

The Rule of Caesar

{Caesar increased the Senate to 900
members but reduced its power}
Fearing Caesar’s popularity and ambitions
many Senators formed a conspiracy
against him
 Two of the conspirators he considered
friends Gaius Cassius and Marcus Brutus
 On March 15th the conspirators stabbed
Caesar to death in the Senate

The Second Triumvirate






Caesar chose his grandnephew Octavian as his heir.
He was 19 when Caesar was murdered.
Marc Antony, a general and ally of Caesar drove out
the conspirators and took control of Rome
Octavian and Antony along with Lepidus, Caesars
second-in-command formed the Second Triumvirate
Antony led an army east to conquer Syria and Asia
Minor from the armies of Brutus and Cassius.
Then he joined his “ally” Cleopatra in Egypt
Meanwhile Octavian forced Lepidus to retire and he
built his own power in Italy
Octavian/Augustus Caesar
Octavian: The First Augustus
In time Octavian persuaded the Senate to
declare war on Antony and Cleopatra.
 Octavian captured Alexandria within an year.
Antony and Cleopatra seeing they had no
chance of escape killed themselves
 Octavian determined not to meet Caesars fate,
did not present himself as a king or emperor.
 The Senate gave him the title Augustus. He has
been known ever since as Augustus Caesar or
just Augustus


Cleopatra VII, daughter of Ptolemy
XII, born in 69 B.C., became jointruler of Egypt with Ptolemy XÎII.
Expelled in 48 B.C., by Ptolemy's
party, she was reinstated by Julius
Caesar. In the summer of 47, she
bore a son whom she called
Ptolemy Caesar, asserting that
Caesar was his father. In 46, on his
invitation, she came to Rome with
her son and husband, returning to
Egypt after his murder. Her image
has been distorted by Roman
propaganda. She was not Egyptian
but Macedonian. She probably did
not betray Antony at Actium whose
suicide she had to follow suit to
avoid figuring in Octavian's
triumph. She chose death by the
asp because it was a royal symbol.
She was well-educated, and able
to speak several languages
Continued…….
Beginning with the reign of Augustus the Roman
Republic became the Roman Empire
 Under his rule the Empire stretched from Spain
to Syria and from Egypt to the Rhine.
 Augustus tried to go further north but the
German tribes defeated them. Rome accepted
the Rhine as the northern boundary of the
Empire
 {In Augustus’ reign a period called the Pax

Romana, a period of peace that lasted 200
years} came to be
The Pax Romana Emperors
After Augustus’ death, for the next 54 years
{relatives of Julius Caesar, called the JulioClaudian Emperors,} ruled the empire
 {The Pax Romana kept Rome stable but

reduced the power of the government}
After the Julio-Claudian emperors Rome
experienced Army Emperors (4 in one year) and
the Flavin Emperors (for 30 years)
 Then came a series of rulers known as the {Five
Good Emperors Hadrian and Marcus Aurelius

were among this notable group}
Continued…..
Hadrian spent a lot of time trying to
protect the boundaries of the Empire by
building “walls” on the frontier borders
 Marcus Aurelius preferred studying
philosophy rather than fighting wars.
 But he did have to defend the empire
against invaders from the north and the
east. These invaders would play a key role
in the future of Rome.

Hadrian’s wall in Chester
Review






In Africa Hannibal met his match in a general
named ______?
What happened to the people Rome conquered?
What war did roman allies fight to have the right
to participate in government?
Who was named dictator for life by the Senate?
What happened when Caesar increased the
Senate to 900 members?
What was a period of peace that lasted
200 years?
Enjoy the rest of your day!!!