After the death of Marcus Antonius, Octavian was next in line for the throne in Rome. Octavian, who was soon after known as Augustus, used the power given to him to bring success and a strong foundation to Rome after years of civil war. Romans turned their attention towards the emperor’s house as Augustus came into power, which meant much of Rome’s historical writings began to focus on him as well. This essay will center on a primary source document that is an excerpt from his life, as well as two secondary source maps that show the expansion and wars of the Roman Empire. Augustus helped the spread of the Roman Empire by maintaining order and building a lasting, more authoritarian future for its provinces. As of 14 B.C., according to the …show more content…
“He corrected many ill practices, which, to the detriment of the public, had either survived the licentious habits of the late civil wars, or else originated in the long peace.” (Primary Source, par. 6) These ill practices included robberies, rebellious citizens, and general crime that usually included the victim suffering loss in one way or another. No one could pinpoint exactly how the crime rate had become so high. One reason was that during the civil wars, seen in the first map from the secondary source, there was a widespread need for survival or success to win. People began to take whatever was needed, which happens in almost every other historical war. This would become a habit for some people, and it could have possibly carried into the current times for Augustus. The other reason for these ill practices could be that during the time of peace after the civil wars, Roman citizens were no longer living in fear and had the audacity to go against the law, whether they agreed with it or not. Either way, Augustus was serious about ending this sort of crime. This same paragraph states that he would sometimes turn bandits into soldiers, which is pretty remarkable given that other rulers would have most likely just executed them. Augustus believed in second chances just as much as he did justice, and the people loved him for that. Later on in his life, he would be given the …show more content…
Rome was a republic before Augustus’ time as emperor, but it was an imperial government by the time he rose to power. An imperial government is having power over a nation through gaining territory or control of the political and economic status of the nation. This can be seen visually in the second map from the secondary source: the Roman Empire expanded in all directions outward from the Mediterranean Sea during Augustus’ time as well as through his successors. There were two different occasions where Augustus considered going back from an imperial form of government to a republic, and they revolved around either pride or sickness. “But reflecting at the same time that it would be both hazardous to himself to return to the condition of a private person, and might be dangerous to the public to have the government placed again under the control of the people, he resolved to keep it in his own hands.” (Primary Source, par. 4) Augustus had built so much through the imperialistic empire and knew he would lose all progress if they switched back to a republic. His final decision was to remain imperial. This arguably affected the culture of Rome. Politics were of immense importance to everyone, and the people understood how their government worked, unlike many modern day United States citizens. Officials met in the senate-house according to the second paragraph of the primary source document, which was called the
Livy’s The Rise of Rome serves as the ultimate catalogue of Roman history, elaborating on the accomplishments of each king and set of consuls through the ages of its vast empire. In the first five books, Livy lays the groundwork for the history of Rome and sets forth a model for all of Rome to follow. For him, the “special and salutary benefit of the study of history is to behold evidence of every sort of behaviour set forth as on a splendid memorial; from it you may select for yourself and for your country what to emulate, from it what to avoid, whether basely begun or basely concluded.” (Livy 4). Livy, however, denies the general populace the right to make the same sort of conclusions that he made in constructing his histories. His biased representation of Romulus and Tarquin Superbus, two icons of Roman history, give the readers a definite model of what a Roman should be, instead of allowing them to come to their own conclusion.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
414-443. Antony Kamm The Romans: An Introduction Second Edition, Published in 2008, pages 47, 93. Dio Cassius Roman History (as presented in Antiquity 2). Augustus (Octavian) Res Gestae Divi Augusti (as presented in Antiquity 2). Eck, The Age of Augustus, p.45 (as presented in Antiquity 2).
Subsequently, competition for power led to civil wars that paved the way to the growth of a one-man leadership. Gradually, dictatorship replaced republic government, and when Augustus rose to power, he became the sole and undisputed leader of Rome. This marked the beginning of the Roman Empire, where the ruling was carried out through Augustus’ policies. Augustus’ foreign policy focused on the expansion of the Roman Empire. However, scholars have argued as to whether Augustus’ policy was out of aggressive conquest and greediness or simply, defensive imperialism.
In the early first century AD, the Roman Empire was subject to autocratic rule and the old Republic was long dead. Augustus had been ruling for forty years and most of that time he was loved and praised by the Senate and the people of Rome. Throughout his reign, Augustus had the one lingering problem of finding a successor to take over the role of Emperor. He had chosen 3 different heirs in his time of rule; however, they all passed before they had the chance to inherit Augustus’ esteemed power. His fourth choice, Tiberius, was the one to succeed Augustus. He was often referred to, by Augustus, as an outstanding general and the only one capable of defending Rome against her enemies. The statement, ‘Tiberius is condemned by many ancient historians (including Tacitus), and his reign is often portrayed as being detrimental to the welfare of the Roman Empire’ is invalid as he treated the senate fairly, created strong economics and security in the state and boosted the empire into an unprecedented state of prosperity. This hypothesis will be proven through this essay by analyzing factors such as Tiberius’ administration of the Empire, his relationship with the senate, his financial control, the effect of Sejanus over his rule and why were his last years as Emperor referred to as a ‘reign of terror’ by Tacitus.
He has multiple spouses but married to Levia. Under Augustus’s throne, he brought Rome back together. He was a very cagey ruler by transferring government to senate. Also, he expanded the Egypt through Germany and Balkan. The Roman economy were flourished along with its expansion. Some of his achievement was Augustus created first responders such as fire fighters and polices. One way he brought Rome back together is by doing a tax reform. The tax reform creates funds for the city and increase it treasury department. He also passed multiple law by reestablishing social rules. He constructed buildings like Bath of Agrippa, Forum of Augustus, and Temple of Caesar. From these, he repaired 82 structural temples of gods and ignored the other that needs repair. Followed by 23rd BC where a deadly disease called plague went to Rome. Also, during that time period, the city of Rome suffered from terrified
Furthering his impressive resume, Augustus played a significant role in religion during the Roman Empire, being appointed The High Priest of The Ancient Roman College of Priests. He was held in such prestigious regard, for trying to reconstruct the priesthoods. This made Augustus the leader of the Roman Empire, as well a religious leader. He worried about the decline in of gods in Rome and the decline of the Roman Family and Virtue. With that being said, he reintroduced past ceremonies and festivals, including the Lustrum ceremony and Lupercalia festival. Then retried the Ludi Secular (Secular Games), a religious celebration in which sacrifices and theater performance were held. Finally, he established the Imperial Cult for worship of the
The Romans were on one of the greatest people of all. They had power, wealth, and even a half of the world. They built one of the strongest and vast empire that world has ever seen. They came from nothing to something awesome. It started of as a city and ended up being one of the greatest empire of all. This essay is going to focus on the Roman Empire from the rise to the fall and the government, architecture, mythology, Family Structure, and Food of the Romans.
He claimed that he had transferred the Republic from his own power to that of the authority of the Senate. Because of this gesture the Senate adored him. They honored him. The people saw him as the restorer of peace and the Republic. When all along his goal was to hide his real power and legalize it. The historian Tacticus wrote, “He took on himself the functions of the Senate, the magistrates, and the laws”. Augustus did not derive his power from his titles or positions. He derived his power from his army’s loyalty and his ability to eliminate rivals. (Page
“Augustus inaugurated Rome’s golden age” (HIST 101 Western Civilization I, Section 8). In other words, he helped to create the Roman Empire. Another name for this empire is “Pax Romana (Roman Peace)” (Section 8: Romanitas). Yes, this was a period of peace for Rome, and it lasted about “two hundred years” (Section 8). This raises some important questions. What caused this great era of peace in Rome? Was it one specific thing? Or, was it a mixture of things? Well, to answer these questions, you must consider the three different perspectives concerning this issue. They are the following: The Augustus, Talcitus, and Christian viewpoints.
Realising that something the Senate was afraid of was another leader such as Tarquin the Proud. Augustus realised that his main priority when keeping the senate on side was being humble. Augustus’ Res Gestae states “The dictatorship offered to me both in my absence and in my presence both by the people and the Senate in the consulship of Marcus Marcellus and Lucius Arruntius [22 BC] I refused to accept.” Augustus wrote Res Gestae, a large pillar of information, such as his military triumphs, personal gains, and what he did during his reign. What Augustus would have wrote must have been true as an item such as the Res Gestae must have gone through the Senate; and if he made sections up it obviously would not have passed through. This source shows that Augustus refused to accept positions as they showed that it might gain him too much power, leading to the same thing that happened to Caesar: Death. Another concept that was important was settlements/agreements on Augustus’ behalf. These settlements gave the illusion that Augustus had no power, his first Settlement was himself surrendering all his power to the senate; which then after he persuaded the senate to accept him as head of the Roman state, showing that they had the power, while the second settlement was himself giving up consulship and becoming tribune through more persuasion of the Senate. Gaining power for Augustus was easy, but holding it
The Roman Republic began approximately around 509 B.C. when the nobles drove the King and his family out of Rome. This monumental incident helped shape the start to the transformation of the monarchy into a republican governmental system. This is known to have begun by that of the Roman nobles trying to hold their power that they had gained. The Republic was “[a] city-state [which] was the foundation of Greek society in the Hellenic Age; in the Hellenistic Age, Greek cities became subordinate to kingdoms, larder political units ruled by autocratic monarchs” (Perry 105)
Augustus Caesar was very ambitious leader. He is best known for bringing peace to Rome. Augustus was considered the first great roman emperor, because He didn’t care about wealth and fortune. Augustus cared about the people of Rome. He was a great military leader and was successful in most of his missions. He showed people that being a good ruler requires a lot of hard work and dedication. He was a very generous man. Augustus was greatly admired by the Roman people.
3)Gwynn, David M. The Roman Republic: A Very Short Introduction. Oxford: Oxford UP, 2012. Print.
The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BC after the ruling Tarquins abused their extensive power as monarchs and were overthrown. The goal of the Roman Republic was to have a strong government, governed equally by the patricians and the plebians, and to avoid another Roman Monarchy. For years Rome was guided by great men, such as Cincinnatus and Scipio Africanus, who led the Republic through hard times, conquering such enemies as the Etruscans and the Carthaginians. Large-scale war united Roman society in its common goals. However, after Scipio’s victory at Zama in 202 BC, a new Roman world began to take shape. Roman soldiers returned home from their victory to find that they could not pay for their farms, becoming “squatters” on their own lands after having to sell them to richer men. The Senate became corrupted, and despite the Gracchi brothers’ best efforts, the rich patricians soon monopolized nearly all aspects of the Republic, from trading and “farming” to governing the people. After marching on Rome, Sulla became dictator in 82 BC. After Sulla, the First Triumvirate: Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar, owned virtually all power in Rome, yet each had his own desire to defeat the other two and become Emperor. When Crassus died in battle, Caesar had his chance. He defeated Pompey and marched on Rome, victorious. After declaring himself Dictator for Life, Caesar was assassinated, and another Civ...