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The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire. Vocabulary Words. Civil war Julius Caesar Triumvirate Augustus Pax Romana. The Republic Collapses. As Rome expands, the republic grows unstable More discontent among the lower class Breakdown in military order Emergence of a new political system. Economic Turmoil.

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The Roman Empire

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  1. The Roman Empire

  2. Vocabulary Words • Civil war • Julius Caesar • Triumvirate • Augustus • PaxRomana

  3. The Republic Collapses • As Rome expands, the republic grows unstable • More discontent among the lower class • Breakdown in military order • Emergence of a new political system

  4. Economic Turmoil • Gap between rich and poor grows wider • Rich landowners have huge estates, run by enslaved peoples • Small farmers could not compete • Many sold there farms to the larger estates and became homeless and jobless • Went to Rome to look for work

  5. Economic Turmoil • Brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus attempt to help Rome’s poor • As tribunes they propose reforms to limit the size of estates and giving land to the poor • Made enemies of many senators • Both met violent deaths • A period of civil war follows their deaths

  6. Military Upheaval • The once loyal military breaks down • The republic grows more unstable • Generals seize greater power for themselves • Recruited poor soldiers by promising them land • Soldiers owed their loyalty only to their commanders • Military leaders could now take over by force

  7. Military Upheaval • Julius Caesar joins forces with Crassus, a wealthy Roman, and Pompey, a popular general • These men help elect Caesar consul in 59 BCE • For the next 10 years these men dominate Rome as a triumvirate(group of three leaders)

  8. Julius Caesar • Strong leader and military genius • Served one year as consul • Appointed himself governor of Gaul (now France) • Conquered all of Gaul • Wins his men's loyalty and devotion • His success makes him very popular in Rome

  9. Julius Caesar • Pompey, now a political rival fears Caesars ambitions and gets the Senate to order Caesar to disband his legions and return to Rome • He defied the Senates command and marched his army to Rome, Pompey flees • Caesar defeats Pompey’s armies • Caesar returns to Rome in 46 BCE with the full support of the military and the Senate • The senate appoints him dictator in 46 BCE, in 44 BCE he is named dictator for life

  10. Caesar’s Reforms • Governed as an absolute ruler • Granted Roman citizenship to many people in the provinces • Expanded the senate by adding friends and supporters • Created jobs to help the poor • Increased pay for soldiers

  11. Caesar’s Decline • Many nobles and senators feared his growing power, success, and popularity • Some feared losing their influence • Others considered him a tyrant • A number of senators including Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius plotted his assassination • Caesar was assassinated on March 15, 44 BCE by stabbing in the senate chamber

  12. Beginning of the Empire • After Caesar’s death, civil war breaks out again, destroying what was left of the Roman republic • Three of Caesar’s supporters band together to squash the assassins • Octavian – Caesar’s grandnephew and adopted son • Mark Antony – an experienced general • Lepidus – a powerful politician • Controlled Rome for ten years as the second triumvirate

  13. Beginning of the Empire • Alliance falls apart due to jealousy and violence • Octavian forces Lepidus to retire • Lepidus and Mark Antony become rivals • Mark Antony is fighting Rome’s enemies in Anatolia • While there he meets Queen Cleopatra of Egypt

  14. Beginning of the Empire • Mark Antony and Cleopatra fall in love, and he follows her to Egypt • Octavian accuses Antony of plotting to rule Rome from Egypt, and more civil war breaks out • Octavian defeats the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra in Actium in 31 BCE • Antony and Cleopatra both end up committing suicide

  15. Beginning of the Empire • Octavian is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome • He accepts the title Augustus meaning “exalted one” • Rome is now ruled by one man

  16. PaxRomana • Rome at the peak of its power from the beginning of Augustus’s rule in 27 BCE to 180 CE • This period of peace and prosperity is known as PaxRomana (Roman peace) • Empire is larger than 3 million square miles • Population is between 60 – 80 million people, with 1 million roughly living in Rome

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