Caesar Reforms & Emperors

• Granted citizenship to people in provinces
• Expanded the Senate, adding his friends
• Created jobs for the poor, especially through public works projects
• Increased pay for soldiers
• Started colonies where those without land could own property
• “Sic semper tyrannis!”
• “Thus always to tyrants!”
• Why? The senators saw Caesar’s rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability
• How? They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved
• Who? Even Brutus, Caesar’s ally (“et tu, Brute?”)
• Senators were not punished
• Octavian was named Julius Caesar’s sole heir
• Basically, this is the end of the republic
• Julius Caesar’s grandnephew - and adopted son - Octavian takes over at the age of 18! with his own triumvirate
• Mark Antony is an experienced general
• Lepidus is a powerful politician
• This is the Second Triumvirate
• Octavian forces the weak Lepidus to retire
• He and Mark Antony become rivals
• Mark Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt
• Militarily
• Personally
• Politically
• Economically
• Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium
• He is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome
• He was given the honorific “Augustus”
• "Exalted one”
• He was also given the title “imperator”
• Supreme military commander
• This is where we get the word “emperor”
• Now Rome is an empire, not a republic
• 40 years of ruling as emperor (27 BC to AD 14)
• He began a stable era of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace)Pax Romana was 207 years long
• 27 BC to AD 180
• Expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa
• He set up civil service to run the government/empire
• Building a network of roads
• Collecting taxes
• Establishing a postal service
• Administering the grain supply
• Building awesome public facilities

• Buildings, aqueducts
• Setting up a police department
• Running a fire-fighting organization
• Finally died of natural causes
• After Octavian’s death, power was passed down to emperors
• Some were good, some were horrible, some appeared to be completely insane

Tiberius

• Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37
• an excellent general, but a reluctant emperor
• after the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge
• died at age 77

Caligula

• Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years!)
• won a power struggle after Tiberius' death
• known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant
• assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court, trying to re-establish the Republic
• but it didn't work...

Claudius

• Ruled from AD 41 to AD 54
• suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering... possibly because of cerebral palsy
• took over because he was the last adult male in the family
• ruled well - built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain
• died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

Nero

• ruled from 54 to 68
• emphasized the arts
• huge fire in 64 (although he DIDN'T fiddle)
• he wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic
• he hugely overspent, and even raided the temples for money
• historians do not look kindly on him