Transcript Rome: From Republic to Empire.

Rome: From Republic to
Empire.
What was a Republic?
► Think
back to when we talked about a
Roman Republic
► What was a republic?
► Who ruled?
► For
five hundred years
Rome was a Republic
and thing were good
► But eventually
problems starting
happening
Problems with the Republic
► 1.
Rome needed tax
money to run the
Republic.
► 2. Elected officials
were using their
positions to get rich.
► 3. Rome did not have
a police force.
Taxes
To run the republic Rome
needed money
► To get money Rome set up
tax collectors
► The problem was that the
tax collectors were not
always fair. They would
abuse their power.
► They would charge some
people a lot of money and
others nothing.
► If you couldn’t pay you
could be sold to slavery.
People were upset
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Elected officials
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In a republic people are
elected to make laws for
the people.
In the later days of the
Republic wealthy people
instead of being elected
legally would use their
money to buy votes
They would also take
money to make laws. This
was illegal but no one
stopped it because the
ones in charge were rich
Police Force
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Rome was not a safe place
because of these issues
Poor people would steal
and kill to get money
Rich people hired guards
that turned into private
armies
These armies fought in the
street
Rome needed a police
force but had no money to
pay them.
Rome was a mess
Think?
► What
could you do to fix the Republic
problem?
► How would you stop the bad tax collectors,
leaders, and crime?
► Take moment, discuss with a partner and be
prepared to share with the class.
Rome’s Solution
► Some
people in Rome thought that the best
thing would be to get rid of all the
politicians and have one strong leader in
charge.
► A strong leader who could fix the
government
► One man who they wanted was Julius
Caesar.
Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar was an
important general and
Roman leader
► During his lifetime, he had
held just about every
important title in the
Roman Republic including
consul, tribune of the
people, high commander
of the army, and high
priest.
► He said he could solve
Rome’s problems
►
What did he do
► Julius
Caesar marched into Rome with his
army
► He took control of the Senate and promised
to fix all the problems of the Republic
► The people loved Caesar because his army
victories made Rome rich
► They gave him total control of the whole
country and called him Dictator for life.
What happened
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After he was named
dictator for life the
senators of Rome were
nervous
They distrusted Caesar
and plotted to do away
with him
Two Senators, Brutus and
Cassius lead the other
senators in stabbing
Caesar to death on March
15
Beginning of an Empire
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After Caesar died his
friends formed a group to
avenge him
They killed Brutus and
Cassius and took control of
Rome
Eventually Julius Caesar’s
adopted son took total
control of the country and
called himself Emperor
Augustus.
A new age had begun.
How was it different?
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Republic was ruled by two
Consuls who were elected
Senate helped carry out
laws and gave advice
Assembly voted on
important matters
Army was loyal to Rome
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Empire was ruled by an
Emperor. Each emperor
appointed his own
successor. They were not
elected
Senate only gave advice.
The Emperor made the big
decisions
Army was loyal to the
Emperor
Augustus took the title of
Emperor and turned Rome into
an Empire
► An Empire is : a government
that includes many different
peoples and lands under one
ruler
► Augustus kicked out the
corrupt leader and replaced
them with honest men. He
made the army strong and
used it to expand Rome and
keep peace. His time as ruler
started the Pax Romana or the
peace of Rome.
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► After
Augustus died he selected a man
named Tiberius to be the next Emperor.
► Emperors were not elected.