Rome Notes pg.160-165

• Main Idea: The creation of the Roman empire transformed Roman government, society, economy, and culture.
• Why it Matters Now: The Roman empire has served throughout history as a model of political organization and control

1. The Republic Collapses

• As Rome grew, the gap between the rich and the poor grew as the rich had more land and lots of slaves. By 100 B.C., slaves probably made up around 1/3 of Rome's population.
• Small farmers, some were past soldiers, couldn't compete with the large slave-run farms so they sold their land and became poor. This became a big problem, so the tribunes and brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus proposed reforms to give the poor some land. 
• Since Tiberius and Gaius made lots of enemies while pushing for reforms, Tiberius was violently killed in 133 B.C., and Gaius was violently killed in 121 B.C. This started a civil war, which is conflict between groups within the same country.
• As conflict started, military generals would rise up for more power and soldiers would only be loyal to their general because of the promise of land and pay. 
• In 60 B.C., a military leader named Julius Caesar, with the help of a rich man named Crassus and a general named Pompey, was elected consul and the three dominated Rome as a triumvirate, a group of three leaders.
• After his one year as a consul, Caesar named himself governor of Gaul and led a successful conquest to capture it all in 58-50 B.C. Pompey, his now political rival, saw he was getting popular and pushed for the Senate to tell Caesar to disband his legions.
• Caesar didn't listen and went back to Rome to defeat Pompey's army in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. In 46 B.C., the senate appointed Caesar dictator and two years later he was named dictator for life.
•  Even with absolute power, Caesar made reforms like giving more people Roman citizenship, adding more people to the Senate from different regions, and giving jobs to the poor, while increasing military pay. 
• On March 15th 44 B.C., Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius led a group of senators to stab Caesar because they thought he was becoming a tyrant. Because of this, there was another civil war between the new triumvirate, Caesar's adopted son Octavius, military general Mark Antony, and politician Lepidus; and Brutus and Cassius. The new triumvirate ruled for ten years, but then Octavius made Lepidus retire and he started war against Antony. Octavius beat Antony, because Antony may have been a little distracted by Cleopatra, and Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide. 
• Octavius was re-named Augustus, which means "exalted one", and he was an unchallenged ruler.

2. A vast and powerful Empire

• Augustus started a period of peace in Rome known as "Pax Romana", and it lasted for 207 years because of the great government system Augustus implemented. Augustus was Rome's ablest ruler and he did many things like increased pay of civil workers, made public buildings, stabilized the frontier, and more. 
• The Romans managed to control an empire that reached from Spain to Mesopotamia, and North Africa to Britain. 90% of the population was agriculture, and it's population was diverse. Rome could trade by sea and by land with a silver coin called a Denarius. 

3. The Roman World

• The Romans had moral values and appreciated people with strength, usefulness, discipline, and loyalty. Most Romans lived on the country side farming, but the cities had a diverse culture of many different people and professions.
• Roman slaves took up 1/3 of the population and were use as property everywhere in Rome. Some were put to gladiator fights, while others were put to hard and tiring labor. Over a million slaves died trying to revolt and they were never successful. 
•  The earliest Romans worshipped spirits called numina , which were thought to be in everything. There were also spirits called the Lares who were specific to each family. Romans were expected to worship the gods publicly and in private. The most popular gods were Jupiter, father of gods; June, his wife, who watched over women; and Minerva, goddess of wisdom and arts.
• There were lots of poor people in the empire, so the government fed them and entertained them with gladiator fights to prevent revolts and conflicts. There later became 150 holidays were 50,000 people, rich and poor, would watch people and animals fight until one of them died. 
• During Pax Romana, the religion of Christianity started to emerge and people who believed in it faced lots of brutality until later when it became a dominant religion.