Aim: Was Rome better off with or without Julius Caesar?

Period Two 600 BCE – 600 CE

NY State Standards 2Common Core RS 5, 6, 9, WS 1

I Slave RevoltsA) In 134 BCE, over 70,000 slaves rebelled in Sicily. They decimated an entire Roman army before finally being quelled, only to revolt again in 104 BCE.B) In 73 BCE, a gladiator named Spartacus led a band of fugitive slaves on a rampage across southern Italy. Unlike previous slave revolts, this one had a core of trained fighters in Spartacus and his fellow gladiators. As Spartacus defeated legion after legion, more and more slaves flocked to his army, swelling its ranks to nearly 70,000. It took Rome nearly three years to defeat Spartacus. When his army was finally routed in 71 BCE, Romans wanted to make sure no slave ever got the thought of rebellion into their head again. 6,000 slaves were crucified along the Appian Way, from Rome to Capua, to serve as a grisly reminder of the price of rebellion.

II The Grachus BrothersA) While the plebeians had been conquering new territories in the Roman army, the patricians had been buying up all the good land in Italy, using slaves from newly conquered lands to farm huge plantations. This left many plebs with no land to support themselves in the country, so many of them moved to the city. Yet, the story was the same in Rome. The Senators and Equites took control of the city's many trades, and staffed them with slaves. By the mid 2nd century BCE, the vast majority of Italy's farms, mines, mills and manufacturing ran on slave labor. This left most plebs with no land, no job and few prospects. Two Tribunes, Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus attempted to make reforms to help the poor.1. Tiberius Grachus wanted to take land from the patricians and redistribute it to poor farmers. Instead of proposing his bill directly to the Senate, he first took it to an assembly of the people. After his bill became law, Tiberius was clubbed to death by enraged senators in 133 BCE.2. His brother Gaius proposed a law to distribute wheat at a subsidized price to the poor. When confronted by the military, he ordered his slave to stab him to death in 121 BCE.

The Grachus Brothers Continued…

Recall that Tribunes were members of the Plebeian class. They could veto and propose

laws, but not vote on laws.

III Marius vs. SullaA) In the final years of the Roman republic, the government was split between two factions; the optimates, who wanted to keep most of the power in the hands of the senate and patricians, and the populares, who used the special rights and powers of the popular assemblies, to enact their own agendas. The populares, were not led by the actual "people", but rather by an aristocratic party that sought power to circumvent the majority of the senate, and in order to win the support of the plebeians, supported popular measures such as land-reform. The division between these two factions had begun during the era of the Gracchi.B) In 88 BCE a struggle for power arose between Generals Marius and Sulla. Marius, born a commoner, announced that he was the hero of the plebeians; Sulla, an aristocrat, was backed by the patricians and the Senate. Although Sulla won the office of consul, a rebellion in Asia Minor required his attention. While Sulla was gone, Marius seized power and murdered many of Sulla's supporters.

A dictator was supposed to be appointed by the Senate during an emergency, and

only was supposed to keep the job for

6 months.

Marius vs. Sulla Continued…C) Soon, though, Marius died. Sulla returned in 83 BCE, mounting an attack on Rome's government. After the civil war, he appointed himself dictator in 82 BCE and began a reign of terror, killing as many of Marius' supporters as possible. Many of Rome's wealthy were also killed; Sulla seized their property and used it to bribe the soldiers for loyalty. Although Sulla retired and died in 78 BCE, his civil war proved that the Roman Republic could no longer control its expansion as effectively as the army could.

On the left is Marius. His rival Sulla is on the right.

Ptolemaic Empire

Parthian Empire

Roman Empire

IV Julius Caesar 100 – 44 BCEA) Julius Caesar was a popular military commander. B) By 60 BCE Caesar, Crassus (a wealthy man), and Pompey (a friend of Sulla) formed a secret political alliance, known by historians as the First Triumvirate. Together, they made most of the political decisions in Rome for 10 years. C) 58 BCE Caesar conquered Gaul (what is France today). Pompey feared he was becoming too powerful.

76 BCE, Caesar had been captured by pirates and held for ransom. After he was released,

he hired a ship, hunted down the pirates and killed them.

The First Triumvirate

Julius Caesar Continued…D) After Caesar had conquered Gaul, Pompey ordered him to return to

Rome. Caesar paused at a bridge across the Rubicon (a stream). Caesar knew that if he crossed the stream with his army, he would be starting a Civil War. If he didn’t, he risked being stripped of his

powers as general. He crossed the Rubicon.

[Caesar] snatched a trumpet …and ran to the river with it; then sounding the "Advance!" with a piercing blast he crossed to the other side. At this Caesar cried out, 'Let us go

where the omens of the Gods and the crimes of our enemies summon us! THE DIE IS NOW CAST!‘ - Seutonius, Roman Historian

Julius Caesar Continued…F) After Caesar crossed the Rubicon, Pompey fled to Greece to prepare for war.G) Caesar returned to Rome and forced the Senate to make him a dictator. He was able to do this due to his popularity among the Roman people, and the allegiance of the Roman legions. F) After being defeated in battle in Greece by Caesar, Pompey fled to Egypt. The Pharaoh had Pompey killed in hopes of gaining favor with Caesar. However, Caesar was appalled, and buried Pompey with the highest of honors.

V Caesar and CleopatraA) Cleopatra VII was the last Macedonian ruler of Egypt. 48 BCE Caesar began an affair with Cleopatra, Pharaoh of Egypt.B) She was a co-Pharaoh with her brother/husband Ptolemy XIII. They were fighting each other for the throne when she met Caesar in 48 BCE.C) Cleopatra VII formed an alliance with Caesar and killed her brother. Together they were a threat to the Roman Senate.

According to legend, Cleopatra had herself rolled up in a carpet to surprise Caesar. In 47 CE she gave birth to their son Caesarean, and

moved to Rome.

Do you think their affair was due to love, strategy, or both?

Elizabeth Taylor vs. the Real Cleopatra

Caesar and Cleopatra Continued…E) Back in Rome, Caesar made many reforms (48 – 43 BCE). 1. Made public works projects to create jobs2. Gave public land to poor3. Gave Roman citizenship to more people in conquered lands4. Introduced the Julian Calendar based on knowledge from astronomers in Alexandria, Egypt. It had 365 days, 12 months, and a leap year every four years.

As the Julian Calendar created an extra day every

128 years, the calendar was replaced in the Middle

Ages.

V Death of CaesarA) Even though Caesar had refused to be crowned King, many in the Senate believed he acted as a King, and therefore was destroying the Roman Republic. B) March 15, 44 BCE [the Ides of March] Caesar was stabbed to death on the steps of the Senate.

The Senate rose in respect for his position when they saw him entering. Those who were to have a part in the plot stood near him. Right next to him went Cimber, whose brother had been exiled by Caesar. Under pretext of a humble request … Cimber approached …That was the moment for the men to set to work. All quickly unsheathed their daggers and rushed at him... Caesar rose to defend himself, and in the uproar Casca shouted …to his brother. The latter heard him and drove his sword into the ribs. After a moment, Cassius made a slash at his face, and Brutus pierced him in the side… Under the mass of wounds, he fell at the foot of Pompey's statue. Everyone wanted to seem to have had some part in the murder, and there was not one of them who failed to strike his body as it lay there, until, wounded thirty-five times, he breathed his last. " - Nicolas of Damscus

Julius Caesar’s Altar

Julius Caesar was the only Roman to be cremated in the Roman Forum.

VI After the Death of CaesarA) Following the death of Caesar in 43 BCE, a new alliance was formed, known by historians as the Second Triumvirate. (Mark Antony, Marcus Lepidus and Octavian, Caesar’s grand-nephew.) *Unlike the First Triumvirate, the Second Triumvirate was given official powers by the Senate.B) Mark Antony fell in love with Cleopatra (she had returned to Egypt after Caesar’s assassination). This led to a civil war with Octavian & Lepidus.

Mark Antony was Caesar’s second in

command at the time of the assassination.

Cleopatra allegedly first met Mark Antony while

dressed up as Venus, the Roman Goddess of love, to

make Antony fall in love with her.

Upon Caesar’s death, Octavian was adopted as Caesar’s son in his will. Octavian began to raise an army and got himself elected to the consulship to legitimize his

power.

After the Death of Caesar Continued…C) 31 BCE the Senate declared war on Mark Antony and Cleopatra. After

a major defeat in Alexandria, Egypt by Octavian, Cleopatra committed suicide by an asp. When Mark Antony heard of her death, Mark Antony stabbed himself to death with his sword.

An asp is a poisonous snake, and a symbol of divine royalty.

After the Death of Caesar Continued…D) In 31 BCE (the same year as the death of Antony and Cleopatra), Octavian made himself consul for the 3rd time, although he allowed his colleague and other positions in the government to be elected. He claimed he had no more power than anyone else in the Roman government, and even referred to himself as princeps (the first man among equals); he was not the first to have this title. However, he used his consulship to maintain control over the army. E) In 27 CE Octavian declared he had restored the Republic. He gave amnesty to his deceased rivals. The same year the Senate gave Octavian the title of “Augustus” (Exalted One), making his full title Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus.

After the Death of Caesar Continued…F) In 23 CE Augustus abdicated the consulship (due to resentment he had the title 10

times in a row. The same year, he became a tribune for life. (Is that really any better?) “With this grant, Augustus regained the initiative to bring legislation and motions before the senate; he got the right of putting the first motion in any meeting of the senate, despite the fact that the seniority of the actual tribunate was very low; he technically had the right to the tribunician veto, but he probably never had to use it, because he would already have approved of motions before they reached the senate; he got magisterial power to compel citizens to obey his orders; he got the power to help citizens oppressed by other magistrates (and he had already been granted tribunician sacrosanctity for his personal protection in 36). Augustus did not need any of these new powers themselves, but rather the legitimacy they provided…In 19 he accepted consular power for life, the right to sit between the two elected consuls, to bear the fasces as symbols of power, and to be attended by twelve lictors. Though Augustus did not need consular power, the visibility of it appeared to quell the agitation of the people. He also accepted a five-year appointment as supervisor of morals with censorial powers. By 19 he held not the invidious offices but the actual powers of the consulship, tribunate, censorship; effectively, he also held the military

After the Death of Caesar Continued…dictatorship…In 18 Augustus used his censorial power to reduce the

ranks of the senate again from eight-hundred to six- hundred members (the three such senatorial reforms took place in 29, 18, and 11). By the authority of his tribunician power, he passed the Julian Laws of 18 for moral reform and the criminal code. The new laws were intended to mitigate the social and civil disorder caused by the cynicism of late Republican anarchy, and to encourage long-term stability for the state. There were laws against adultery and promoting marriage and childbirth by the grant of special privileges or penalties, laws against luxury and electoral corruption, and appellate laws superseding public jury-verdicts ultimately to the jurisdiction of Augustus himself. ” – Nino C. Coppolino

E) In 12 CE he named himself pontifex maximus (the highest official Roman priest).

Was the Roman Republic officially over?

Focus Questions1. What were the causes and consequences of the Roman Social Wars? (Mention Spartacus, the Gracchus brothers, Marius and Sulla)2. What allowed for the rise of Caesar to power? 3. What do the quotes below tell you about Julius Caesar? Augustus?4. Was the assassination of Caesar justified?5. Was Rome better off as a Republic or as an Empire? Explain.

A) “ Veni, vidi, vici”. “I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius CaesarB) “I love the name of honor, more than I fear death.” – Julius Caesar

C) “I found Rome of clay; I leave it to you of marble.” – Augustus, on his death bed

Key Vocabulary