CAESAR AUGUSTUS AND
IMPERIAL ROME
Week Five
ance/ence = state or quality
of
eleg____
radi____
persever_____
What suffix finishes these words?
ped = foot
pedestrian
pedicure
pedal
CAESAR AUGUSTUS AND
IMPERIAL ROME
Week Five
I. The Altar of Augustan Peace

In 27 BCE, the Senate decreed that Augustus be honored by the construction
of an altar to Pax, the new goddess of peace.
Pax Romana or Pacification Romana?
II. The Price of Empire, 146-121
A. Winners



Optimates: members of
the traditional Roman
oligarchy
Equites: the nouveau
riche
Tax collectors
B. Losers


Slaves
Provincials
Spartacus (1960)
“I am Spartacus”
“I am Spartacus,” Part II
II. The Price of Empire
C. Populares
Political leaders who appealed to
the masses
1. Tiberius Gracchus
 Redistributed land
 Undermined the Senate
 Assassinated by senators
2. Gaius Gracchus
 Younger brother who
reintroduced reforms
 Extended citizenship
 Also assassinated

III. The End of the Republic
A. Personal armies

Shifting allegiances
B. Civil Wars



Populares (led by Marius)
revolt against optimates
(led by Sulla)
Optimates under Sulla win
Dictatorship gives way to
republican rule after Sulla
wearies of butchery, but
tensions remain
Sulla entering Rome
III. The End of the Republic
C. The First Triumvirate
 Political
infighting leads
to an alliance between
Pompey, Crassus, and
Julius Caesar
 Alliance doesn’t hold—
Caesar crosses the
Rubicon, which initiates a
bloody civil war
Crossing the Rubicon
mater = mother
mother
alma mater
matrimony
manu = hand
manufacture
manual labor
manuscript
Exam next Monday



Bring a blue book
25% of final grade
Format
5
identifications (who, what, where, when, and significance)
 One essay

Sample themes
 Conceptions
of freedom in the ancient world
Battle of Marathon

The Battle of Marathon took place in the fifth
century BCE in ancient Greece. A vast Persian army
threatened Sparta, Athens, Corinth, and other
Greek poleis. The Greeks, underarmed and
outnumbered, defeated the Persians at Marathon.
This battle was significant because it convinced
Athenians of the invincibility of their fighting
strategy (the hoplite phalanx), the superiority of
their culture, and the efficiency of democratic
government as instituted by Cleisthenes.
The Career of Julius Caesar
III. The End of the Republic
D. The Second Triumvirate
 Julius
Caesar introduces
democratic reform, but
then declares himself
perpetual dictator
 Assassination on the Ides
of March
 Second alliance between
Mark Antony, Ledipus, and
Octavian
 Octavian emerges
Octavian
Julius Caesar (1953)
IV. The Augustan Age and Pax Romana
A. Caesar Augustus



An unexpected leader
Rise to power: instinct
for power and
publicity;
determination; and had
the right name
Absolute rule: Granted
by the Senate in 27
BCE; any remnant of
republican rule was a
sham
IV. The Augustan Age and Pax Romana
B. The Empire Renewed
1. Senate


Subordinated to Caesar’s
interests
“Men fit for slaves!”
2. Equites


Expanded ranks of wealth
businessmen
More room for upward
mobility
3. Citizens


Treated veterans well
Placated the poor with food
and entertainment
Ben-Hur chariot race
IV. The Augustan Age and Pax Romana
4. Divine Augustus
Restoration of religion and
traditional values
 Emperor worship

5. Poetry and patronage
Horace and Virgil
 The Aeneid (19 BCE)

6. Geographical expansion

From Europe to Africa to Judea
Aeneas’ journey
hydro/aqua = water
hydroplane
hydroelectric
aquarium
cur = run
cursive
curriculum
current
Dido and Aeneas (early 1700s)
B. After Augustus

Death
“Have I played the part
well? Then applaud as I
exit.”
 “Behold, I found Rome of
clay, and leave her to you
as marble.”


Succession
Tiberius
 Caligula
 Claudius
 Nero


Expansion of boundaries
Tile mosaic of Christian
persecution under Nero
The Roman Empire to 117 C.E.
Epilogue

Augustan peace vs. the peace of Christ