Transcript Ch7, Sec3 (cont)-from the assassination of Julius Caesar

Ch7, Sec3 (cont)-from the
assassination of Julius Caesar to
the end of the Pax Romana
Julius Caesar was assassinated!
2nd Triumvirate
• 3 men connected with Caesar pursued &
defeated the assassins:
– Marc Antony-Caesar’s general, brother-in-law
& best friend;
– Lepidus- another general & friend;
– Octavian-Caesar’s nephew & adopted son &
heir (only 19 years old!)
2nd Triumvirate
• Lepidus was pushed out & Marc Antony &
Octavian divided the Empire; Octavian
took the west; Marc Antony took the East
2nd Triumvirate falls apart-Marc
Antony misbehaves
• Marc Antony moved to Egypt,
since he was in charge of the
eastern half of the Empire, and
Egypt was the richest part of the
east
• He began a long term affair with
Cleopatra (Caesar’s former
girlfriend)
• This made Octavian angry
because Marc Antony was married
to his sister
ANOTHER POWER STRUGGLE:
OCTAVIAN vs. MARC ANTONY
• Octavian persuaded the
Senate to declare war on
Antony & Cleopatra
• 31BC – Battle of Actium – in
a great naval battle,
Octavian (troops led by his
friend Agrippa) defeated
Antony & Cleopatra
• Both committed suicide:
Antony stabbed himself &
Cleopatra used an asp
OCTAVIAN
OCTAVIANIN
INTOTAL
TOTAL CONTROL
CONTROL
• Octavian was now in
complete control
• Was loved by most people
of all social classes
• Octavian-one of the most
brilliant politicians & leaders
of world history
OCTAVIAN the HUMBLE
EMPEROR
• Did not flaunt his power; lived & dressed
simply
• Took a humble title for himself-”Princeps” ,
“1st Citizen”
• Senate gave him the title “Augustus””revered one”
• The reality was that he was Rome’s first
Emperor
What AUGUSTUS –Octavian
(31BC-14AD) did:
• Totally organized the empire so that it rolled
along for almost 500 years despite many
incompetent or insane emperors
• With his friend Agrippa in charge of the army,
expanded the boundaries of the empire to the
Rhine & Danube rivers.
• Tried to push beyond the Rhine River to the Elbe
River, but was pushed back.
• Began the EMPIRE PERIOD (27BC-476AD),
and the PAX ROMANA (27BC-180AD)
PAX ROMANA
• 27BC-180AD
• There was peace and prosperity in most of
the Roman Empire most of the time
• Europe’s longest recorded period of peace
ROMAN GOVERNMENT DURING
THE EMPIRE (27BC-476AD)
• Senate & Assemblies still existed; Consuls,
praetors & censors were still elected, but there
power was greatly diminished
• One man was actually in charge, the Emperor
• There was no set way of deciding who would be
the next emperor (no rule of succession) so
there was often a power struggle
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JULIO-CLAUDIAN EMPEROR
(Emperors after Augustus related
to Julius Caesar)
Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Nero
TIBERIUS (14AD-37AD)
• Step-son of Augustus; son of Augustus’ wife
Livia from her previous marriage
• Augustus had forced him to divorce his wife and
marry Augustus’ daughter Julia, whom Tiberius
detested (Augustus later had to exile his
daughter Julia for her numerous acts of adultery)
• Adequate ruler, but disliked
• Became depressed and reclusive; moved to the
island of Capri and left much of the work to
subordinates
CALIGULA(37AD-41AD)
• Caligula was a
nickname – meant
“little boots”
• Definitely insane
• Could be generous at
times, cruel at times
• Made his horse a
Senator
• Murdered by the
Praetorian Guard
CLAUDIUS
• Only member of the family who was
eligible and alive (they kept murdering
each other)
Physical problems: limped & drooled;
thought by some to be stupid
• Actually intelligent and a scholar
• Fairly good emperor; conquered
Britain & added it to the Empire
• His wife Agrippina poisoned him with
poisonous mushroom
NERO 54AD-68AD
• Probably the most cruel of all the
emperors
• Killed his own wife and mother
• Believed he was a great musician
and forced people to listen to his
concerts
• Blamed the Great Fire of Rome
(64AD) on the new religious sect –
the Christians-and began viciously
persecuting them
• In the area of Rome cleared by the
fire, he built a huge palace called
the “House of Gold”
• There was a rebellion and he
committed suicide-” What an artist
dies in me!”
“Army Emperors” (68AD-69AD)
• 3 emperors who ruled a very short time –
Galba, Othos, Vitellius
• Chosen and supported by legions they
commanded
• There was no rule of succession
FLAVIAN EMPERORS (69AD-96AD)
• VESPASIAN-very good leader
• TITUS-adequate leader
• DOMITIAN-adequate leader
Expanded the Empire
• Built the Colosseum (the Flavian
Amphitheatre)
“5 GOOD EMPERORS”-96AD-180AD
• NERVA-good leader
• TRAJAN – Good leader
– r;uled when the empire was at its largest
• HADRIAN: very gifted leader
– & knew all parts of the empire very well;
– Goal was to “Romanize” (bring Roman culture to) all parts of the
Empire;
– patron of the arts;
– built Hadrian’s wall-wall between Roman Britain and Scotlandthe northern boundary of the Empire
• ANTONINUS PIUS- good leader
• MARCUS AURELIUS-good leader & extremely good
man
– also a famous Stoic philosopher
– After him his son Commodus-who was a very bad ruler-took
power; last of the “5 Good Emperors”
SUCCESSION
• There was never a rule of succession-a
rule to decide who became the next
emperor
• Sometimes it was the son of the previous
emperor, sometimes not
• Often the army decided who was the next
emperor
Ch7, Sec 5-The Jewish people
under Roman rule, and the rise
of Christianity
Judaea and the Jewish People
 Israel/Palestine, the
homeland of the Jews
became a part of the
Roman Empire.
 The Romans called it
the province of
Judaea.
Jewish People and the Roman
Empire
 Jewish people were strictly monotheistic
 Romans exempted the Jews from the requirement
that subjects of the Empire honor Roman gods & the
divine spirit of the Emperor.
 However, many Jews resented the Romans, and saw
the presence of the Romans as weakening and
undermining their religion.
 Some Jews, called Zealots, supported rebellion
against Rome to regain their independence.
 Many Jews were hoping for the coming of a special
leader called the “Messiah”, who would free them
from Roman rule.
Jewish Revolts
• 1st Jewish Revolt-66AD70AD• Rome put down the 1st
Jewish revolt and
destroyed the Jewish
Temple
• The last Jewish rebels held
out on the stronghold of
Masada, and when the
Romans finally built a ramp
and were about to take it,
they committed suicide.
Jewish Revolts
135AD-2nd Jewish Revolt
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Rome put down the 2nd Jewish revolt
Rome forced the Jews to leave Judaea, and live in other
parts of the Empire. This was the beginning of the
Diaspora – the scattering of the Jews.
Life of Jesus
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Jesus was a Jew born about 3-4BC (reign of
Augustus) in Judaea during the period
called the Pax Romana.
Jesus began public teaching about 27AD
He was a devout Jew who followed Jewish
religion, but put less emphasis on the details
of the law & more emphasis on:
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People should love God & love their
neighbors
God cares deeply about the poor and
suffering.
Criticized the Jewish leaders, but was devoted to
the religion of Judaism.
Performed miracles of healing
Attracted many followers, including 12 special
followers called “Apostles”
Death and Resurrection of Jesus
• He was arrested, put on trial & crucified
by the Romans about 30AD. The
reason is not entirely clear.
• Jewish leaders were angry because he
claimed to be the Messiah. The
Romans seemed to believe he might
cause a riot or rebellion.
• Only the Roman government had the
power to impose the death sentence,
so the final decision was theirs.
• His followers claimed that 3 days after
his crucifixion, he rose from the dead;
that he remained on earth 40 more
days, and then ascended into heaven.
Christianity develops
– His followers claimed that he was the Jewish
Messiah, and called him “Christos”, the Greek
word for Messiah, or Anointed One. They
claimed that he brought spiritual salvation not
just to the Jews, but to everyone.
– Story of what Jesus did and said was
recorded in 4 accounts: The GospelsMatthew, Mark, Luke and John (there were
several other accounts, but these were the
oldest and the ones chosen to be in the
Christian Bible.
– These, along with the letters of Paul, make up
most of the New Testament
Christianity-Religion of Judaism
plus. . .
*
Jesus is the son of God, which means that God put his
spirit in a special way into Jesus, who did not sin.
Jesus willingly became a sacrifice that paid the debt of
human sin. The life, death and resurrection of Jesus
make eternal life possible.
Christianity gradually separated
from Judaism
– Spread by the Apostles (original followers of Jesus)
and by a new follower, Paul, a Jewish rabbi.
– At first Christianity was a sect within Judaism and
all the earliest Christians were Jewish, but soon
many non-Jews began to convert.
– Paul persuaded the other early Christians that
people should not have to be Jewish in order to
become Christian. Paul made numerous trips to
many cities in the Roman Empire, preaching
Christianity.
– Within about 100 years, Christianity became a
separate religion from Judaism.
Rome outlaws & persecutes
Christianity
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Nero accused the Christians of starting the Great
Fire of Rome
Christians refused to honor the Roman Gods
Christians were suspected of strange practices,
such as cannibalism (a misunderstanding of the
communion ceremony)
Christianity was spreading rapidly
Rome outlawed Christianity & made it
punishable by death.
Persecution of Christians
– Roman government outlawed Christianity began
arresting and executing Christians in brutal, public
ways. These people who died for their faith are called
martyrs.
– The result was the opposite of what they intended.
People saw the courage of the Christians, and more
began to convert.
– By 300AD, Christianity was very widespread throughout
the Roman Empire.
 312AD- Emperor
Constantine issued the
“Edict of Milan”, which
legalized Christianity
 On his deathbed,
Emperor Constantine
was baptized &
became a Christian
 In 391AD-Emperor
Theodosius made
Christianity the official
religion of the Roman
Empire
Council of Nicaea
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325AD- Council of Nicaea-attended by
many Christian thinkers & the Emperor
Constantine himself, debated the questions
of Christianity, especially the nature of
Christ and his relationship to God. They
eventually wrote down the official statement
of Christian belief, called the Nicene Creed
– which says:
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God is One, but is also a Trinity (has three
forms), Father, Son and Holy Spirit
Jesus Christ was/is both fully God and fully man
Organization of the early Church
Christian communitiesbecame
well organized. At the top:
• 5 Patriarchs. Bishops
(literally means “shepherd”)
of 5 important cities: Rome,
Constantinople, Alexandria,
Antioch, Jerusalem.
• Bishop- over a region.
• Priest-over a congregation
• People
Church begins to divide:
 Eventually, the Patriarch of Rome became
known as the Pope, and claimed to be
supreme over the other 4 Patriarchs, although
they did not recognize this.
 When the Roman Empire split into two parts:
 Pope was the head of the Western Church, which
became known as the Roman Catholic
 Patriarch of Constantinople became the head of
the Eastern Church, which became known as the
Eastern (or Greek) Orthodox Church.