The Punic Wars
1.) What did Rome do to people they conquered?
A.) Made them slaves
B.) Forced them to join the army
C.) Killed them
D.) Made them equal citizens
2.) What did Hamilcar Barca teach his son?
E.) To hate and destroy Rome some day
F.) How to sail a Carthaginian boat
G.) How to survive in the Sahara
H.) How to build a Republic
3.) What did Hannibal do that was so remarkable?
I.) Brought war elephants to Europe
J.) Marched across the Alps Mountains in winter
K.) Did not lose a battle in Italy for nine years
L.) All of the above
4.) What eventually happened to Carthage?
M.) They were destroyed by Rome
N.) They became Roman citizens
O.) They grew powerful and challenged Rome
P.) None of the above
5.) According to this article, how are the Romans most like the Athenians?
Q.) They had a democracy
R.) They had a polytheistic religion
S.) They had philosophers
T.) They had many myths
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar was born in 100 AD to a family that was very rich and powerful in
the city of Rome. He was born rich, but then his family lost all of their money and his
father went to jail. He understood how life was for the rich and the poor. Caesar joined
the army and showed he was courageous and a genius- he quickly rose to a position of
power. He also began to get elected to offices in Rome’s Republic.
Once, when Caesar was sailing in the Aegean Sea he was kidnapped by pirates.
The pirates threatened him and told him that they would kill him if Rome did not give
them 20 pieces of gold. Caesar said that he was worth more than that, and told the pirates
to ask for 50 pieces of gold instead. When he was released he hunted down the pirates
and crucified them.
When Caesar reached the age of 30, he looked at a statue of Alexander the Great
and realized that when Alexander the Great was 30 he had conquered much of the world.
Caesar vowed to do more with his life from that day on.
Whenever Caesar’s army conquered a new place- he would not keep the gold he
had taken. He would send it back to Rome and it would be given to the poor. Also, he
never kept any land he won- he would distribute it to his soldiers and earn their loyalty
for life.
Caesar continued to expand Rome. He conquered took Egypt from the Pharaoh
Cleopatra. Egypt would supply Rome will all of the food they needed. While he was
there he fell in love with Cleopatra and the two had a son- Caesarian (Say-zare-ee-on),
but people in Rome became worried he may be becoming more Egyptian than Roman so
he returned home and never spoke to Cleopatra or his son again.
Many rich and powerful people in Rome began to fear how popular he was
becoming. The Senate ordered him to quit the army – instead, Caesar used his loyal army
to conquer Rome and become its leader. This ended the Roman Republic and began the
Roman Empire.
He ruled for two years, but many of the Senators missed having their power and
plotted to kill Caesar. They claimed that they wanted to bring back the Republic. On
March 5, 44BCE the members of the Senate stabbed him to death and claimed that they
would bring back Democracy…
1.) In the line:
“Also, he never kept any land he won- he would distribute it to his soldiers and earn their loyalty for
life.”
What does distribute mean?
A.)
B.)
C.)
D.)
He shared the land with his soldiers
He bought the land from his soldiers
He built farms on the land
He gave equal amounts of land to his soldiers
2.) What word(s) best describe what Caesar did during and after he was taken by pirates?
E.) Foolhardy
F.) Brave
G.) Persistent
H.) All of the above
3.) Why was Caesar popular with the poor?
4.) What effect did the statue of Alexander the Great have on him?
5.) How did Caesar escape his political enemies in Rome?
6.) Why was Caesar killed?
The Roman Civil War
After Caesar’s assassination there were four groups that thought they should rule
Rome:

The Senate

Caesar’s adopted nephew Octavian Augustus

Caesar and Cleopatra’s son Caesarian

Caesar’s loyal friend in the army, Marc Antony
After raising armies and fighting each other at first, Antony and Octavian joined
forces and went after the Senate. Once they had defeated the Senate, Octavian and
Antony were still very mistrustful of each other, but- they made a deal.
Octavian Augustus would be the next “Caesar” or Emperor of Rome like Caesar had
wanted BUT, Antony would get to be the governor of the eastern parts of Rome (Greece,
Persia, Egypt, Israel) also, Antony would be able to keep fighting east and extend his
lands. Even though they both agreed to this arrangement- they both instantly began to
make plans for destroying each other.
Marc Antony
Cleopatra
The moment Antony arrived in Egypt he fell in love with Cleopatra, still the
Pharaoh of Egypt. She kept telling Antony that her son Caesarian was supposed to be
the king of Rome. She and Antony began plotting against Octavian. Meanwhile,
Octavian stopped sending soldiers money and supplies to the east because he knew what
Cleopatra and Antony were up to.
In 34 BC Antony and Cleopatra stood before the Egyptians in Alexandria, Egypt
and declared that they were no longer a part of the Roman Empire. Octavian Augustus
had expected this and the two went to war. Antony and Cleopatra’s forces were
destroyed by Octavian’s at the Battle of Actium (near Greece) in 31 BC. In the chaos of
losing, Antony and Cleopatra got separated.
Antony arrived back in their palace in Egypt first, when he saw that Cleopatra
was not there he assumed he was sure that she had been killed. He sat upon his thrown
and killed himself with his sword. Later, when Cleopatra arrived and saw Antony, she
sat on her thrown next to him and had an asp (king cobra) bite her to kill her. Before she
killed herself, she made sure that 17 year old Caesarian was being taken to India, so that
he could return someday and fight Octavian Augustus and become the Emperor of Rome.
When Octavian Augustus arrived in Egypt he found that he only had to kill
Caesarian. Sadly, Cleopatra’s guards had betrayed her, and they turned Caesarian over to
Octavian Augustus for some money. Octavian had Caesarian strangled to death.
Octavian Augustus had now destroyed all of his enemies and people that could
challenge him for control of Rome. He would rule the Roman Empire until 14 BC and
lead Rome into its Golden Age- The Pax Romana.
Octavian Augustus
3.) What is a Civil War?
I.) When one country takes over another country
J.) When a war destroys a country
K.) When there is a war inside of a country for control of it
L.) When it is a war with no end
4.) What role did Cleopatra play in the Roman Civil War?
M.) She wanted to be queen of Rome
N.) She wanted to make Rome a democracy again
O.) She wanted Marc Antony to be the new Emperor of Rome
P.) She wanted her son Caesarian to be the new Emperor of Rome
5.) What battle ended the Roman Civil War?
Q.) The Battle of Bucephalus
R.) The Battle of Gaugemela
S.) The Battle of Actium
T.) None of the above
6.) After he knew he had complete control of the Roman Empire Octavian Augustus must have
felt___?
U.) Discombobulated
V.) Infinitesimal
W.) Joyous
X.) Triumphant
The Pax Romana
After Octavian Augustus won the Roman Civil War, Rome entered its Golden
Age. Pax Romana means “Roman Peace”. Octavian was able to unify the entire Empire
under him. He made sure laws were the same everywhere—but most importantly, he had
vanquished all of his enemies and everyone saw him as the true leader since he had
fought so hard and so smartly for so long. Romans liked war- but Octavian convinced
the Empire that peace was ok because they had defeated all of their enemies.
Even after Octavian had died, Rome continued its Golden Age. Octavian had
slowed down Rome’s expansion and the following Emperors did too. In fact, Emperor
Hadrian built a wall in Northern England to mark the end of Rome. Slowing down
Rome’s expansion had two positive effects: 1.) The Roman armies could be used to
keep the peace and defend against barbarians & 2.) Generals could not take new lands
and challenge the Roman Emperors for control of Rome.
Emperor
Hadrian
During the Pax Romana there were good and bad Emperors but it didn’t matter.
Octavian had showed them how to achieve wealth, peace and stability. During the height
of the Pax Romana, Rome controlled the Mediterranean Sea and 2 million square miles
of land on three continents.
Explain why the Pax Romana happened.


Use a topic sentence
Use two specific details from the article