Transcript Latin II Emperors Power Point

Julius Caesar
•His family claimed descent from
Venus.
•He gathered his power in Gaul
(modern France) where he
conquered and ravaged the
countryside
•Returned to Italy and crossed the
Rubicon River without disbanding
his army.
•When Caesar cross the Rubicon, he ignited a
civil war.
•His primary rival was Pompey, whom he
defeated shortly after fighting began
PHARSALUS
 Caesar
defeats Pompey at the battle of
Pharsalus
 In Greece
Why did they murder Caesar?
“Et tu Brute?!”
 After
Pompey was defeated, Caesar’s
passionate love affair with Cleopatra
intensified.
•He even brought her back to Rome!
•The Senate feared that he would
form an monarchy with her…
•The “Roman mob” loves Caesar.
•Assassinated by Cassis, Brutus, et.
al. on the Ides of March (15th)
Cleopatra hooks up with Mark
Antony…
•After Caesar’s death in
44BC
•Antony is formerly
Caesar’s right-hand
man
•A romantic and
military alliance
•Defeated by Octavian, Caesar’s nephew and adopted
son (later Augustus Caesar) at the Battle of Actium
Augustus Caesar (formerly known
as Octavian)
 Great-nephew/adopted
son of Julius Caesar
 Brought a much needed
stability and firmly
established imperial
system of rule.
 Arts and literature
flourished: Vergil,
Horace, Ovid, etc.
Why a Cupid riding a dolphin?
Augustus begins the Julio-Claudian
dynasty
 Linked
to the gens Iulia and gens claudia
 First five emperors are J-C
 Augustus, Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius,
and Nero
 27BC-68 AD
TIBERIUS
 Married Augustus’ daughter
and became a
Julian
 Famous as a general (Germania)
 Tristissumus hominum: really depressed
 Exiled himself from Rome
 Scandalous rumors
 Succeeded by Caligula (adopted
grandson)
Caligula (37-41 A.D.)
 His
reign is poorly
documented…but everyone
agrees he was crazy.
 Openly autocratic and
disrespectful to the Senate.
 Incest with his sisters.
 He eventually winds up
assasinated.
 Weakens the Roman state
through corruption.
Incitatus (Caligula’s horse)





Made a senator to
disrespect the Senate
Caligula built him a palace of
marble
Ate oats mixed with gold
Hosted dinner parties
Had 18 personal servants
CLAUDIUS
 Unlikely
emperor
 Some type of illness:
weird voice, weak
knees and elbows
 Capable
administrator
 Public works
 Conquered in Britain
 Poisoned
Cladius, Nero’s greatuncle
Nero (64-78 A.D.)
 First
5 years of his reign are actually good.
 Great fire in 64 AD, started near the Circus
Maximus.
 Spread through 75% of Rome.
 The plebs blamed Nero, said that he
“fiddled while Rome burned.”
Persecution of the Christians
 Martyred
Peter and Paul
 Blamed Christians for the great fire so
people wouldn’t blame him.
 Coated Christians with pitch and used
them to light the night.
 Eventually killed himself, after he was
going to be toppled by a revolt.
“Five Good Emperors of the
Roman Empire.”
 Term
coined by Edward Gibbon in the
“History of the Decline and Fall of the
Roman Empire.”
 96-180 AD-Five “benevolent despots”
Nerva
 1st
of the emperors to pick his
successor based on ability, not
family connections.
 Domitian (previous emperor)
had instituted reign of
terror_executed many for treason,
etc.
 Nerva granted amnesty; banned
prosecutions for treason.
Trajan (98-117)
 Second
good emperor
 Under Trajan, the empire reached
it’s greatest territorial extent.
Hadrian (117-138)
 Versatile
and artistic—
 A great patron of the arts
 Under Hadrian, the Pantheon
was rebuilt in its domed form…
Pantheon
Temple of “All the Gods” built for the
state religion in Rome.
Interior
Antoninus Pius (138-161)
 Adopted
son and sucessor to
Hadrian
 4th good emperor
 Period of relative peace
 Longest reign since Augustus
 Earned the name “pius”
because he insisted the
Senate give divine honors to
Hadrian
Marcus Aurelius (162-180)
 Last
of the five good emperors
 Stoic philosopher


Rely on reason, not emotion
Relative peace ends: Rome
fights with Parthians in the East,
and Germanic peoples to the
North.
From Meditations
 "If
mind is common to us, then also the
reason, whereby we are reasoning beings,
is common. If this be so, then also the
reason which enjoins what is to be done or
left undone is common. If this be so, law
also is common; if this be so, we are
citizens; if this be so, we are partakers in
one constitution; if this be so, the Universe
is a kind of Commonwealth." (4.4)
Marcus Aurelius, cont.
 Wrote
Meditations, a Stoic philosophical
work, which is praised for its tenderness
and sincerity.
 Made Commodus (his real kid) coemperor in 177, this ended the practice of
“adopting” a fitting successor
Commodus (180-192)
 Son
of Aurelius and Faustina (supposedly)
 Co-emp with his dad, then sole emp. after
he died.
 Loved by the people at first, and hated by
the Senate
Commodus
Why was he considered crazy?
 Dressed
up like Hercules with a lion skin
and a club.
 Wanted to be associated with the mythical
slayer of all wild beasts as a protector of
Rome.



Took part in gladiatoral games (Aurelius
denounced the games all together)
Won all of them he fought in
Also killed wild beasts in the arena
Commodus
 Renamed
all the months after his own
titles.
 Refounded Rome in 190 AD and declared
himself the new Romulus.
 Renamed the legions after himself.
Test Study Guide
 Last
two good emperors are Antoninus
Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
 Review Emperor notes and Roman
Republic notes
 Vocab. 13-15 (straight vocab).
 Ch. 16 Translation
 Identifying and correctly translating the
imperfect tense.