Roman+Empire

=media type="custom" key="9426150"The Roman Empire= toc
 * THIS WAS WRITTEN BY YOUR FAVORITE PEOPLE IN THE WORLD.
 * YEAH YOU GUESSED IT, ITS christopher joshua and william

Augustus

 * (Octavian or Princeps) Emerges as sole ruler after civil war between him and Mark Antony but "resigns" his dictorial powers
 * Tries to maintain the illusion that the Republic remains
 * He became sole tribune and consul for life.
 * He gave Senate power to control funds and finances oversee provinces and advise him
 * He began Pax Romana (period of 200 years of relative peace)
 * He uses propaganda and uses idealism when others use realism so people think he is really young and able
 * He makes various reforms
 * He makes census which makes taxation more fair by taxing the rich more than the poor
 * He gives Auxilia citizenship after 24 years of military service
 * He provides free entertainment
 * He makes roads and creates the Imperial Post
 * as well as other public projects to make jobs
 * Women can become more independent if they have 3 children
 * He makes grain dole (basically a soup kitchen)
 * He makes traditional laws
 * Makes adultery illegal- exiles his daughter for breaking the law showing that no one is above the law
 * "Attempted to legislate morality
 * Expands Rome's boarders to the Danube River, and advises not to expand further
 * Decreases size of army
 * Made the Praetorian Guard
 * Died of old age.

Tiberius

 * Not the first choice of Augustus to be the heir, all fo his successors kept dying.
 * Tiberius originally supported Augustus but he lacked all the great qualities that Augustus had.
 * Grew increasingly paranoid throughout his reign
 * His most trusted man, Sejanus, betrayed him and pushed Tiberius further into becoming the cruel emperor he was known to be.
 * Became more cruel overtime and became extremely paranoid
 * He died without an heir.

Caligula

 * Heir but not son of Tiberius
 * He began as a child very innocent and his name meant little boots and he got it from wearing a army suit as a child.
 * His reign was good but then he either fell off a horse and hit his head, or had a fever that hurt him, or he was poisoned and he suddenly became a bad ruler.
 * He thought he was a god, he tried to make his horse the consul, he hated the senate,
 * Was obsessed with his horse, he would talk with it and eat with it.
 * Killed by the Praetorian Guard.

Claudius

 * Caligula's uncle
 * gained power after being caught hiding behind a curtain by the Praetorian Guard during the assassination of Caligula
 * people thought he was a joke because of clubbed foot and stutter
 * created the illusion of stupidity so that he would not be assassinated
 * was actually a very good emperor
 * conquered Britain
 * makes career government workers who are his freed slaves
 * they were loyal to him
 * many wives, his last wife is Agrippina
 * mother of Nero
 * wanted Nero to be Emperor so she sent his sons to die in battle
 * killed Claudius and Nero gains the throne

Nero

 * starts reign young and is helped by Seneca and other advisors
 * soon becomes rebellious against his advisors and overbearing mother
 * kills his mother after many attempts, but is still haunted by her spirit
 * pressures Seneca to commit suicide
 * saw himself as a preformer, not an emperor
 * Great Fire mysteriously breaks out destroying much of Rome
 * builds Golden House over the ashes of the ruined city
 * needs a scapegoat and blames it on the Christians and persecutes them
 * no one is now loyal to him
 * he has killed his mother, 2 wives, and step brother
 * kills himself leaving no heir and ending the dynasty

Vespasian

 * After Year of the Four Emperors, he gained power
 * He gained power after taking Egypt's grain supply instead of racing to Rome
 * Asks Senate to be ruler in order to legitimatize his rule
 * Begins Colosseum
 * tears down nero's palace to do it
 * Has son destroy and loot 2nd Jewish temple to fund the Colosseum
 * First to use Imperator as a formal title

Titus

 * Finishes the Colosseum and it helps to legitimize his reign
 * Mount Vesuvius erupts and people think gods are against him but the Colosseum legitimizes his reign
 * Only ruled for 2 years
 * He sieged Jerusalem and looted the 2nd Temple in order to fund the building of the Colosseum
 * Not known how he died

Domitian

 * Has a terrible relationship with the Senate and he refuses to consult them.
 * Uses treason trials and book burnings to stop opposition.
 * He buries Vestal Virgins alive because they were thought to have committed adultery.
 * Hard to kill, but his wife and guards assassinated him and left no successor.

Nerva

 * put in power by senate because he was old and hold power for long
 * Senate chooses him INSTEAD of republic
 * liked by most
 * pays attention to provinces and helps poor
 * begins pattern of adopting successor (Trajan)

Trajan

 * First Emperor from a province (Spain)
 * conquers Dacia and Mesopotamia
 * rules the largest amount of land ever included in the Empire
 * Trajan's column
 * commemorates Trajan's victory in Dacia
 * Mesopotamia is a great accomplishment because its and advanced civilization
 * good accomplishment but the eastern conquests were hard to control

Hadrian

 * Extremely different reign from militaristic Trajan
 * reverses what Trajan did by giving up much of his conquests including mesopotamia
 * knows it will be time consuming, expensive and not easily defendable
 * Embraces greek culture including bisexuality
 * grows beard which becomes a sign of later emperors
 * Builds Hadrian's wall across northern Britain
 * may have just been to give soldiers something to do so that they would ot rebel
 * Spent a great deal of time touring the Empire

Antoninus Pius

 * If you are reading, don't. This emperor blows. He was very very boring

Marcus Aurelius

 * Very effective emperor but faced problems that would haunt Rome later
 * Plague struck
 * Military draft
 * people invaded Rome
 * Raised taxes
 * Economy declined
 * Writes the Meditations
 * about philosophy and stoicism
 * fulfilling obligations and duties
 * Ended tradition of adopting sucessor and mad