Blog Day Fifty-Three: The Roman Empire Notes

Today for class we were asked to take noted on the Roman Empire. Here are mine:

The Roman Empire
Terms and Names
Civil War- conflict between groups within the same country.
Julius Caesar- A military leader who took over control of Rome and met a horrible death after being stabbed by a close friend of his.
Triumvirate- A group of three rulers.
Augustus- Name meaning "exalted one" Ocativian takes on this new name as the new, sole leader of Rome.
Pax Romana- meaning "Roman Peace," a time were Rome had peace and prosperity
Notes

• Rome getting more land/countries = an unsteady Republic
• this was not good for the lower class citizens
• Gap between rich and poor grew wider
• Slaves made up 1/3 of the Roman population
• Slaves were captured from different wars
• Slaves work on plantations owned by rich Roman landowners
• Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus were tribunes fighting for the poor people of Rome
• Proposed reforms to limit sizes of plantations and to give land to the poor
• Tiberius explain that the people who fought for Rome were being mistreated, while the rich get to live luxuriously
• Many senators felt threatened by the men
• Tiberius died in 133 BC 
• Gaius died in 121 BC
• Roman military fell apart
• Soldiers made allegiances to only the commander
• Commander would pay soldiers with land for their allegiance
• These new soldiers replace the citizen soldiers, who fought for the Republic
• Now military leaders had enough power to take over individually
• Caesar, a military leader; Crassus, a wealthy Roman; and Pompey, a popular general take over as leaders of Rome
• Caesar was the main leader, as consul of Rome, but the two other men ruled with him for ten years
• Caesar only serve one year as consul, per tradition
• Appointed himself as governor of Gaul for 8 years 
• Eventually conquer all of Gaul
• Had won his men loyalty because he shared in the hardships of war
• Success in war = Caesar becoming popular in Rome
• Pompey, who feared Caesar's popularity, ordered Caesar back to Rome in 50 BC
• Caesar refused and took his men to battle against Pompey 
• Caesar and his troops fought and won in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt
• Caesar returned to Rome and was named dictator for life in 44 BC 
• Caesar made many reforms with his power
• Granted Roman citizenship to many people in the provinces
• Added friends from Italy and other regions to the senate
• Helped the poor by creating jobs
• Started colonies so people without land could own property
• increased pay for soldiers
• Many people feared Caesar's power
• Caesar was stabbed to death on March 15, 44 BC by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius
• Following the death, civil war broke out and the Republic crumbed
• Caesar's adopted son, Octavian; Mark Antony, an experience general; and Lepidus, and politician formed the 2nd triumvirate for ten years
• The mens loyalty to each other did not last
• Octavian forced Lepidus to retired
• Mark Antony and Octavian became enemies
• Mark Antony left for Cleopatra
• Octavian fought against Mark Antony and won
• Later Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide
• Octavian restores some parts of the Republic s new leader of Rome
• Octavian takes on new name "Augustus" meaning "exalted one"
• Augustus is now the sole leader of Rome
• Pax Romana occured for 207 years
• Rome thrived with almost 1 million people living in the city itself
• Augustus didi great things for Rome and its citizens
• When he died the stability in Rome continued because of the effectiveness
• 90% of Romans were involved in farming
• Rome had a huge trading network with roads stretching to Russia and Persia
• Gravitas- a person who held values of strength, discipline, and loyalty, displayed in many Roman citizens
• Slaves were stilled used for anything their masters saw fit, and were mainly used on plantations
• The Roman government and religion were linked
• The worship of the emperor was important and apart of the official religion
• The difference between the rich and poor was still great
• Some upper class citizens lived extravagantly
• Lower class citizens sometimes barely lived off of rations of grian
• Rome held games and entertainment to distract Roman citizens and control them
• Christianity also emerged during this time, but early members were persecuted for their beliefs

Happy Tuesday everyone!