The Roman Emperors

Philosopher-Kingsand

Psychopathic-Madmen

Death of Julius Caesar

Civil War 32-30 BC

• Civil war between Octavian and Antony broke out

• Octavian defeated Antony and his ally, Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra

• Cleopatra and Antony committed suicide; Octavian alone controlled the Roman world

• Republic effectively dead; new period in Roman history beginning

• Caesar’s murder did not save the Republic as his assassin’s had hoped

• 43 BC, Second Triumvirate took power – Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian, loyal officer Marc Antony, and General Lepidus

• Lepidus pushed aside; Antony, Octavian agreed to govern half the empire each, Octavian in the West, Antony in the East

Second Triumvirate 43-33 BC

From Octavian to Augustus

Octavian Takes Power

• Octavian faced with task of restoring order to empire

• Had no intention of establishing dictatorship when he took power

New Political Order• Octavian decided it would

be impossible to return Rome to republican form of government

• Created new political order, known today as the empire

• Began the period of history know as the Pax Romana – Roman peace which would last for over 200 years

Principate• Octavian careful to

avoid title of king or emperor

• Called himself princeps, “first citizen”

• Government called Principate

New Title• 27 BC, Senate gave

Octavian the title of Augustus, “the revered one”

• Title a religious honour: able to wear laurel and oak leaf crown

The Augustan AgeNew Imperial Government• Augustus head of state for more than 40 years, made smooth

transition to new imperial government with power divided between him and Senate

• Most financial, administrative matters under Augustus’ control

Foreign Affairs• Started program to bring peace to the west, particularly

to Gaul and Spain• Began a series of conquests that pushed the border

eastward to Danube River• Also took special care of Rome itself

Legacy• Created police force, fire brigades; stockpiled food, water• Began building program; presided over moral and religious reforms• Great period of cultural creativity; great writers like Horace, Ovid,

Virgil

Praetorian Guard

• Augustus took the Praetorian Guard and turned them into the personal bodyguard of the Emperor

• The leader of the Praetorian Guard, the prefect, would come to be an immensely powerful political position in Rome

• Many later emperors would be chosen by the Praetorian Guard...and assassinated by them as well

The End of the Augustan Age

• Augustus was unable to produce an heir

• Died in 14 AD• “Did I play my part

well in the comedy of life?”

• Had extinguished a century of civil war

• Had presided over 40 years of internal peace and prosperity

• He forged the vision and power that cemented the Empire together

• The Peace of Augustus came at a price...– Augustus (and the position of Emperor) had

eclipsed the senate– Ruled as a monarch– Founded a dynasty that would terrorize

Rome for the next half-century

The Julio-Claudians

• Tiberius Claudius (Claudius)

• Uncle of Caligula

• Reigned from 41 to 54 AD

• Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Caligula)

• Great nephew of Tiberius

• Reigned from 37 to 41 AD

• Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus (Nero)

• Great nephew and step-son of Claudius

• Reigned from 54 to 68 AD

• Tiberius Claudius Nero (Tiberius)

• Step-son of Augustus

• Reigned from 14 to 37 AD

The Julio-Claudians

Tiberius14 to 37 Ad

• Tiberius’ political inability, poor judgment and jealous led Rome into a dark age of political purges, murder and terror

• Failed at “playing Augustus”

Tiberius14 to 37 Ad

• Treason trials• Rarely left Rome• Poorly managed

provinces, Spain in particular

• Heavy Drinker- Biberius Caldius Mero

• Miser• Neglected Public

Works, Augustus’ Temple, Pompey’s Theatre

• Theodorus – Greek teacher of Tiberius -‘mud, kneaded with blood’

• Maiestas – treason law used to attack his enemies

• Daily executions• Nearly every crime

became punishable by death

• Hated the games, cut back funding

Tiberius14 to 37 Ad

• In his later years Tiberius retreated to the island of Capri and left Rome to Sejanus, the very unpopular leader of the Praetorian guards

• Many Senators and wealthy Romans were killed in the purges of Sejanus

• Tiberius was hated even more as a result

• On Capri, Tiberius indulged in all sorts of depraved and perverted pleasures that disgusted and disturbed Roman society

• Here he brought his young grand nephew and heir apparent Caligula to live with him

• When Tiberius died Romans rich and poor cheered

• When rumours spread that Caligula had killed Tiberius the Romans cheered louder

Caligula37 to 41 AD

• Son of Germanicus, a famous and popular Roman general who was the adapted son of Tiberius

• Germanicus was possibly poisoned as a result of his popularity

• Grew up in the army camp and as a child wore a little army uniform and was given the nickname “little soldiers’ boots” - Caligula

• Lived a privileged life – use to people bowing down to him at a young age

• Grew up with violence around him

• This would only intensify when he was brought to live with his great-uncle Tiberius on the island of Capri at the age of 19

• At first all seemed well

• Caligula appealed to the Roman people

• Recalled individuals exiled under Tiberius

• Revived public works• Publically burned

secret files that had been collected on Roman citizens

• However, within a year something changed in the young Emperor

Caligula37 to 41 AD

• Many historians believe that Caligula suffered from some sort of mental disease, possibly hereditary, possibly brought on by his lifestyle

• Modern researchers are able to use state-of-the art techniques to best discover the truth

Caligula37 to 41 AD

• Declared himself a living god

• Killed several relatives painfully

• Appointed his horse a Senator

• Emptied the treasury• Forced Senator’s wives

to become prostitutes to raise money

• Declared war on Neptune and had his soldiers gather seashells on the beach

• And on and on and on...

Caligula37 to 41 AD

• 41 AD, Caligula violently stabbed to death by his Praetorian Guard

• Very few family members left alive to succeed as Emperor

• Only one possible family member left alive...Caligula’s uncle Claudius

Caligula37 to 41 AD

• Had been an object of ridicule and scorn by his family – this most likely saved his life during the purges of Tiberius and Caligula

• Had some forms of physical disabilities

• The Praetorian Guard, after assassinating Caligula, declared Claudius Emperor

Claudius41 to 54 AD

• Passed laws protecting sick slaves

• Increased women’s privileges

• Began the conquest of Britain

• Allowed nobles from other parts of the empire to become senators

Claudius41 to 54 AD

• Constantly seen as vulnerable by the Roman nobility

• Forced to shore up his position, resulting in the death of many senators

• Damaged his reputation amongst ancient writers

• Modern historians view him in a more positive light

Claudius41 to 54 AD

• Claudius had his first wife executed for her multiple affairs, despite loving her deeply

• He would then marry his niece, Agrippina

• Agrippina plotted to make her son Claudius’ successor – she was successful

• She most likely poisoned Claudius and her son, Nero, would become Emperor

Claudius41 to 54 AD

Nero54 to 68 AD

• Became emperor at age sixteen

• Influenced by Agrippina and his tutor Seneca early in his reign

• Promised to rule as Augustus had

• Difficult to discern fact from fiction – though Romans hated him at his death – it would be his persecution of the Christians that would have later historians turn him into one of the greatest villains in history

Nero54 to 68 AD

• Nero came to power as a result of the manoeuvring of his mother – he would later have a falling out with her

• As a result he would kill both his mother and his brother

• Matricide horrified Romans

• He then divorced his wife to marry his pregnant mistress – a former slave girl

• Now beyond caring what the public thinks

Nero54 to 68 AD

• Nero was a great lover of the arts and did much to beautify Rome – this would drain an already depleted treasury

• He also performed on stage – this horrified Romans. Actors were seen on the same level as prostitutes

Nero54 to 68 AD

Great Fire of Rome 64 AD• This would be the significant event of Nero’s

reign• Accused as the Emperor who “fiddled while Rome

burned”• Modern historians believe he did much to save

Rome and later rebuild it – though it would bankrupt the Empire

Nero54 to 68 AD

Persecution of the Christians

• First emperor to do so• Blamed the Great Fire on

them• Suspicious due to their

strange rituals and monotheism

• Had them tortured to such an extent it sickened average Romans

Final Descent into ‘madness’• Uncovered an assassination

plot, as a result many Romans, guilty and innocent, are tortured and murdered

• Rebellion in the provinces amongst the legions

• The army marches on Rome to remove him from power

• Nero has a plan to stop them

Nero54 to 68 AD

• Senate declares Nero an outlaw

• Nero committed suicide in 68 AD

• No living male relatives• This would mark the end

of the Julio-Claudian dynasty which had begun under the immense shadow of Augustus

• It is ironic that during the Pax Romana Rome would be subject to some of its most sadistic Emperors

Year of the Four Emperors

• After the death of Nero civil war broke out in the Roman Empire with four Roman generals vying to become Emperor

• Vespasian, a popular and brilliant general responsible for putting down a massive rebellion in the Roman province of Judea, would

Flavian dynasty 69-96 AD• Vespasian would bring

financial stability back to Rome

• The Colosseum would be built by Vespasian

• Generally viewed as a competent and well liked Emperor

• His two sons, Titus and Domitian, would not be as successful

• Rome had yet to learn its lessons on dynastic emperors

The Five Good Emperors96-180 AD

• Coined by the political philosopher Niccolò Machiavelli

• Included:– Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and

Marcus Aurelius• Trajan – the Roman Empire would

reach its greatest extent, extensive public building programs and social welfare policies

• Hadrian – pulled the Empire back and secured the borders (best illustrated by Hadrian’s wall in Northern Britain) a humanist and lover of Greek culture

Marcus Aurelius – Last of the Good Emperors

• Considered one of the most important Stoic philosophers

• Defeated many outside threats to the empire

• His tome Meditations which he wrote on campaign is still revered as a literary monument to a philosophy of service and duty, describing how to find and preserve equanimity in the midst of conflict by following nature as a source of guidance and inspiration

• Upon his death his son, Commodus, would become Emperor, returning Rome to dynastic rule

• Commodus would be a disaster as Emperor and this would mark the decline of the Roman Empire