The Roman Empire

Section 2

The Republic Collapses Economic Turmoil

•Gap between rich and poor widens as Roman Republic grows •The number of slaves working on large estates grows •Two tribunes, Tiberius and Gaius, try to help poor, are murdered. •Civil war—conflict between groups within same country begins

Continued…

Military Upheaval •Military becomes less disciplined and disloyal •Soldiers recruited from poor; show loyalty only to their generals.

Julius Caesar

-In 60 B.C. a military leader named Julius Caesar joined forces with Crassus a wealthy Roman, and Pompey a popular general. -With their help he was elected consul in 59BC, and the three would go on to have political control of the senate for 10 years as the Triumvirate.

Early Years in Gaul

Julius Caesar became the governor of Gaul (France) after his term as consul ended. There, he built an army that was fanatically loyal to him, and conquered all of Gaul (in the process, killing over 1 millions Gauls).

Gallic Wars58-50BC

-Allowed Rome to secure access to the Rhine River. -At the battle of Alesia, the the Romans were 60,000 vs. 180,000 and still managed to defeat the Gauls.

Early Years 2 -He grew very popular with the people winning many battles.

-He was incredibly popular among his soldiers, and this worried Pompey back in Rome. In 50BC, the senate took Pompey’s advice and ordered Caesar to disband his legions and return home.

CAESAR TAKES OVER • Caesar ignored Rome’s orders and

marched his army into Rome, as Pompey fled.

• His troops went on to defeat Pompey’s armies in Greece, Asia, Spain and Egypt, and by 46 B.C. Julius Caesar had returned to Rome as a popular leader.

• In 44 B.C. he became the official leader under the title of Dictator for Life.

Caesar’s Reforms •Caesar makes reforms: 1. Granted wider citizenship 2. Created jobs for poor 3. Granted many people Roman

citizenship 4. Expanded senate to include his

friends 5. Increased soldier pay 6. Gave land in Roman colonies to the poor

Many of these reforms were popular with the people, but unpopular among the senators and the rich.

Other Reforms -Granting Greek teachers Roman citizenship. -Ordered the re-building of Carthage. -Land redistribution for veterans.

Caesar ruled with an iron fist; using his friends in the

senate and his military might, he became dictator of

Rome with no term limits.

Caesar helps Egyptian Cleopatra overthrow her brother, King Ptolemy XIII.

This helped establish a strong relationship between Egypt and Rome.

Julius Caesar and Cleopatra

Caesars Assassination Ides of March On March 15, 44BC, the Ides of March, Dictator Caesar was assassinated by a group of a senators. The senators were worried that Caesar’s dictatorship would lead into a tyrannical government.

The Senators believed they

were liberating the people.

Ides of March Committee

January

Stabbed 23 times!

Instead, this backfired and led towards another Civil War between the Liberators (those who killed Caesar) and the supporters of Julius Caesar.

At first two of the main Ides of March conspirators (Brutus and Cassias) fled East; they assembled a make-shift military that was eventually crushed by the powers of the Julius Caesar supporters.

Brutus and Cassias

Should the assassins be rewarded as tyrant slayers (tyrannicides)

and commemorated as “liberators”? Or Should they be

declared as criminal and be brought to trail for murder?

Aftermath Some senators and aristocrats who stabbed Caesar committed suicide, but most asked for forgiveness.

Now, Rome was under the Second Triumvirate of -Mark Antony -Octavian -Marcus Lepidus

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SFsAqqN7fU Dividing Rome into Three

OctavianOctavian took the Western half of the Roman Empire when the triumvirate fell apart. The youngest of the three, he was also the most ambitious. A Ruthless ruler.

Forceful relocation of Roman citizens to make

space for his soldiersOctavian introduced to the senate

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8hNaCnOdcw

Mark Antony-Antony took the Eastern parts of Rome when the Triumvirate split the Roman Empire in three parts. -He was content with this decision since his lover Cleopatra was in Egypt. -He found Lepidus to be a pushover, but feared that Octavian would try to take all of the Roman Empire.

Marcus LepidusThe least charismatic among the three. Quickly loses power in Rome. Given lands in Africa to rule over by Mark Antony. However, in 36 B.C. Octavian defeats Lepidus’s forces and sends him to exile.

Octavian vs. Mark Antony The worked together to defeat Lepidus, but soon afterwards they became rivals.

Final war of the Roman Republic Both sides were roughly equal in strength. Octavian was able to utilize anti-Antony propaganda. -> Octavian defeated Antony.

Results: 1. Rome united under Octavian’s rule 2. Roman Republic becomes Roman Empire 3. Egypt taken over by Rome 4. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide

Republic�is�Dead�Now Rome was controlled by one single man: Octavian accepted the title of Augustus, “exalted one,” and ruled Rome in 27BC.

Augustus Caesar was the first Roman emperor, and his rule was known as the Pax Romana (Roman Peace) because it was a time of prosperity and very few wars.

PAX ROMANA