Download Your assignment is to: 1) Read about the two most important Ancient

Your assignment is to:
1) Read about the two most important Ancient Roman figures and write a paragraph explaining which
had the greater impact on Rome and why. Provide examples from the text to support your reasoning.
Info on Julius Caesar:
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Julius Caesar was born in Rome on 12 or 13 July 100 BCE into the prestigious Julian clan.
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He was also very shrewd and did not hesitate to use violence to attain more power. He was not faithful to his
wife and power seemed to be his god. Caesar was a brilliant.
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In 61-60 BCE he served as governor of the Roman province of Spain. Back in Rome in 60 BCE, Caesar made a pact
with Pompey and Crassus, who helped him to get elected as consul for 59 BCE. It formed the first Triumvirate (3
consuls) government in Rome’s history.
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Caesar then returned to Italy, disregarding the authority of the senate as he was expected to face several
charges. With his legion, he famously crossed the Rubicon River and marched on Rome, similarly to Gaius Maris.
In the ensuing civil war Caesar defeated the republican forces. Pompey, their leader, fled to Egypt where he was
assassinated. Caesar followed him and became romantically involved with the Egyptian queen, Cleopatra.
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Caesar was now master of Rome and made himself consul and dictator. Dictatorship was always regarded a
temporary position but in 44 BCE, Caesar took it for life.
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His success and ambition alienated strongly republican senators and they feared that Caesar wanted to be king.
A group of these, led by Cassius and Brutus, attacked Caesar as he walked to Senate. He was stabbed 23 times
referred to the Ides (15) of March 44 BCE. This sparked the final round of civil wars that ended the Republic and
brought about the elevation of Caesar's great nephew and designated heir, Octavian, as Augustus, the first
emperor.
Julius Caesar’s accomplishments:
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Caesar was a politician and general of the late Roman republic, who greatly extended the Roman Empire before
seizing power and making himself dictator of Rome, paving the way for the imperial system.
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Julius Caesar was a general, a statesman, a lawgiver, an orator, and historian. He was not an Emperor.
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Caesar never lost a war.
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He reduced the debt and looked after the poor by providing food and land for his soldiers.
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He enlarged the senate and had the Forum Ilium built.
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Caesar was loved by the plebeians and the slaves. While as a consul, he removed tax demands on farmers and
public land was allocated to fathers of three or more children.
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Caesar fixed the calendar.
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Caesar is thought to have created the first news sheet, Acta Diurna, which was posted on the forum to let
everyone who cared to read it know what the Assembly and Senate were up to.
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Caesar instigated an enduring law against extortion.
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He formed libraries and diluted the power of the corrupt Senate.
Info on Augustus Octavian:
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Augustus was born Gaius Octavius on 23 September 63 BC in Rome.
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In 44 BCE his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was assassinated (Ides of March) and in his will, Octavius, known as
Octavian, was named as his heir.
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After his death, Caesar’s heir, Octavius and Mark Antony combined forces and defeated Brutus’s and Cassius’s
forces. That was the end of Caesar’s enemies. Mark Antony, however, betrayed Octavius and started a war with
him. In 31 B.C.E Octavius defeated him in the final encounter in the Battle of Actium. Octavius was now fully
established and he proceeded to Rome where the Senate made him emperor in 27 B.C.E. That was the end of
the republic and the beginning of the “Imperators”.
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Augustus was the first emperor of Rome. He replaced the Roman republic with an effective monarchy and
during his long reign brought peace and stability.
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Instead of following Caesar's example and making himself dictator, Octavian in 27 BCE founded the principate, a
system of monarchy headed by an emperor holding power for life.
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He had ultimate control of all aspects of the Roman state, with the army under his direct command.
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Augustus also ensured that his image was promoted throughout his empire by means of statues and coins.
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Military disaster, the loss of his grandsons and a troubled economy clouded his last years. He became more
dictatorial, exiling the poet Ovid (8 AD), who had mocked his moral reforms. He died on 19 August 14 AD.
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He was succeeded by his step son Tiberius, since he only had a daughter of his own blood.
Augustus Octavian’s accomplishments:
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He restored peace after 100 years of civil war. (Pax Romana)
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Maintained an honest government and a sound currency system.
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Extended the highway system connecting Rome with its far-flung empire.
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He secured its boundaries, provided for the defense of remote areas, reorganized the army, and created a navy.
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Developed an efficient postal service.
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Fostered free trade among the provinces.
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He made adultery a criminal offense.
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Built many bridges, aqueducts and buildings adorned with beautiful works of art created in the classical style.
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Literature flourished with writers including Virgil, Horace, Ovid, and Livy all living under the emperor’s
patronage.
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The empire expanded under Augustus with his generals subduing Spain, Gaul (now France), Panonia and
Dalmatia (now parts of Hungary and Croatia).
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He annexed Egypt and most of southwestern Europe up to the Danube River.
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“Before the end of Augustus's reign water was available for most of the houses in Rome” [27]
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Augustus also overhauled the judicial system, adding new criminal courts, and perhaps more importantly, the
vast extension of appeal [25].
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He made the city safe again by providing a police force and fire-brigades.
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After his death, the people the Roman Empire worshipped Augustus as a god.