Western Civilization Exam 2

Saturnalia

December 17-23 - Festival to Saturn, father of Jupiter. - Free public banquets, family dinners, gift giving. Slaves would be masters for a day. - Stores and businesses closed. - The holiday is so popular, that when the Popes run Rome, they turn it into... Christmas!

next conflicts

Rome's next spat of conflicts arise because of a couple of factors. 1) What to do with all of these new citizens with regards to incorporating them into the voting/assembly system. Rome granted citizenship pretty much under duress, so they're not looking to bend over backwards for the Italians. 2) What to do about Mithridates VI, the Hellenistic King of Pontus, who not only tried to give aid to the Italian rebels, but also used the conflict to attack Roman possessions in Asia Minor in the hopes of enlarging his kingdom and ridding that area of Romans.

Claudius

With Caligula dead, the only adult male alive in the imperial family is Claudius... - Why hasn't Claudius been considered for emperor before? - Born in 9 BC/E, Claudius is the son of Tiberius' brother Drusus and Mark Antony's daughter Antonia. He's the brother of Germanicus (so you'll know his pedigree is impeccable). - What holds Claudius back is that he seems to have suffered from cerebral palsy. He walks with a limp, his head tics (uncontrollably at times) and he talks with an extreme stammer. - As a result, he is seen as an embarrassment by most of his family, and even his own mother says things like "That man is as stupid as my son Claudius!" He is never seriously considered as a possible successor because of this, but at the same time he has never really been seen as a threat. - But Claudius isn't stupid. He is actually a professional historian (writing histories on Carthage and the Etruscans). He also speaks several languages (Latin, Greek, Etruscan, Punic, etc.), and is an avid dice player, writing a book on how to win at the game (suggesting mathematical skills). He also tried to invent two letters for the Roman alphabet. When Caligula becomes emperor, at first he rewards Claudius, but then turns on him. - While neither the Senate nor the imperial family expected much of Claudius, he has the respect of the general public, especially the equestrians. - Claudius, after the death of Drusus and during the time of Sejanus, downplays himself as a possible successor (he even seems to get on with Sejanus, and marries his sister Aelia, whom he divorces with Sejanus' fall). - Caligula, via his loyalty to his father's memory, appoints Claudius his co-consul in 37. However, this seems to have been an exception to Caligula's later behavior, in which he would play numerous practical jokes on Claudius, humiliate him in meetings of the Senate, and charging him enormous sums of money for no reason. Claudius evidently was under a lot of stress during this time, and became very sickly and thin. When Caligula is assassinated, Cassus Chaerea (without support of the Praetorians) plots to murder the entire imperial family. With him on the loose (as well as the German guards killing everyone), Claudius hides behind a curtain, and is found by the loyal Praetorians. Claudius reigned 41 to 54 AD/CE, and takes his responsibilities seriously. - When the Praetorians proclaimed Claudius as emperor, the Senate (who were considering the restoration of the Republic) laughed at first, but had to acquiesce when Claudius paid a large sum to the Praetorians to reward them for their loyalty (he ensures that the Praetorian Prefect would be a joint position, however). Claudius is therefore Rome's fourth Roman emperor. - While the Senate is resentful of Claudius, he nevertheless gives them the respect to which they feel entitled. The Senate grudgingly accepts him, despite him doing the following: - He takes an active role in government, revives the office of Censor, and presides as judge over many civil and criminal trials. Claudius also starts to recruit senators from outside of Italy, esp. from the Western Provinces. - While consulting with the Senate, Claudius also relies on the advice of his freedman, the talented Narcussus, to make decisions. This really annoys the Senate, but Claudius still gives them respect and consults with them regularly. -When the Praetorians proclaimed Claudius as emperor, the Senate (who were considering the restoration of the Republic) laughed at first, but had to acquiesce when Claudius paid a large sum to the Praetorians to reward them for their loyalty (he ensures that the Praetorian Prefect would be a joint position, however). Claudius is therefore Rome's fourth Roman emperor. -While the Senate is resentful of Claudius, he nevertheless gives them the respect to which they feel entitled. The Senate grudgingly accepts him, despite him doing the following: -He takes an active role in government, revives the office of Censor, and presides as judge over many civil and criminal trials. Claudius also starts to recruit senators from outside of Italy, esp. from the Western Provinces. -While consulting with the Senate, Claudius also relies on the advice of his freedman, the talented Narcussus, to make decisions. This really annoys the Senate, but Claudius still gives them respect and consults with them regularly. Claudius' reign enjoys foreign policy successes. - Claudius manages to use diplomacy to quell the revolt down in Judaea caused by Caligula. - Claudius gives blanket citizenship to many communities on the frontiers to help establish a friendly presence in these lands. - Claudius invades Mauretania, puts down the revolt there, and turns that land into a Roman province. - Claudius campaigns with success in Germany, but his biggest success is to invade Britain in 43, which has not been invaded since the time of Caesar. His troops establish a Roman presence there that lasts 400 years, and he personally takes part in it at the end of the campaign, but partially lifts the ban on triumphs for non-family members to reward his generals who had taken part in this campaign. Claudius issues many edicts that were well received. - To cut down on frivolous lawsuits, Claudius decrees that plaintiffs are required to remain at Rome while their cases are pending (just like defendants), and this cuts down on the number of these cases. He also increases the age requirement for juries to 25 years old. - He resolves controversies between the Greeks and the Jews, and reaffirms Jews' freedom to practice their religion. - Claudius exempts many provincial communities from taxes, but at the same time manages to successfully investigate false claims to citizenship. - Claudius makes it illegal to abandon a slave while that slave is ill, then re-enslave them once they are recovered. A master who kills a slave while he is ill will be brought up on murder charges and executed if found guilty. - After rioting happens at Rome over the food supply, Claudius manages to finish the renovation of the port of Ostia (begun by Julius Caesar), and resolves the food crisis. Claudius also builds aqueducts to supply Rome, and tries to reclaim arable land in Italy for farming. - Corruption has been rampant in the government during the time of Caligula, and Claudius makes efforts to cut down on such practices. Claudius is a big fan of the gladiatorial games as well as the races, and even puts on celebrations for the 800th anniversary of the foundation of Rome. While the Senate follows him reluctantly, he is loved by the people While Claudius is successful in his public life, his personal life is marred by scandal. - Due to his disabilities, Claudius hasn't exactly been the prime choice for women, and was unlucky in love. His first wife, Urgulanilla, was a family marriage alliance in which either hardly saw one another. The second marriage was to Aelia, Sejanus' sister, whom he divorced with Sejanus' fall. - Shortly before Claudius became emperor, he was forced into a third marriage by Caligula with his first cousin (once removed), Valeria Messalina. - While Messalina has two children by Claudius (a son, Britannicus, and a daughter, Octavia), and puts on the appearance of a loving wife, it seems that she was a serial adulteress ,and ancient historians tended to play this up by providing unbelievable, nigh-on pornographic accounts of the empress' insatiable lust (including a story that she had a running competition with Rome's most famous prostitute, defeating her by sleeping with 25 men in eight hours). This might be exaggeration! - What we do know is that we can confirm that Messalina had a few lovers on the side, including a nobleman called Gaius Silius. While Claudius is away at Ostia in 48, Messalina forces her lover Silius to divorce his wife so that she can marry him publicly. This is effectively a coup attempt by Messalina against Claudius. Claudius is warned of this by Narcissus, and has both his wife and Silius executed before the coup can gain steam. With Messalina dead, Claudius is expected to remarry... - There are many candidates for Claudius, who by this time was almost 60, but Claudius initially has no desire to re-marry, and actually makes the Praetorian Guard promise to kill him if he ever marries again! - Nevertheless, Claudius believed that his position as emperor was weak, mainly because his heir, Britannicus, was still a young boy, and he needed a wife to legitimize his authority as head of the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. He could name another family member (Sulla Felix, guess who he's descended from) successor, but Felix is Messalina's half-brother, so it's "too soon" to consider him. - He marries his niece, Agrippina the Younger (Caligula's sister), who has Julian blood in her thanks to being Augustus' great-granddaughter. Moreover, she has a teenage son, L. Domitius Ahenobarbus,. Once married, Claudius adopts Domitius as his son (marrying him to his daughter Octavia), and makes him co-heir with Britannicus. Domitius then takes the name "Nero." to tie himself with Claudius' family. By the early 50s, however, Claudius is becoming more combative with Agrippina, and considers making Britannicus his sole heir. Before he can do this, she poisons him and he dies in 54 at the age of 64.

Caligula

With the death of Tiberius, the 25 year old Caligula becomes emperor (37-41). - Nevertheless, the succession falls to Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus (and his cousin, the 18 year oldGemellus). - Gaius Caesar was born in AD/CE 12 to Germanicus and Agrippina. He has an impeccable pedigreewith regard to his relations. His great-grandparents include Livia, Mark Antony, and Marcus Agrippa. Augustus is his step-grandfather, and Tiberius is his granduncle. - When Gaius was a toddler, his father Germanicus went on campaign with him, and the troops adopted him as an unofficial mascot, even crafting a miniature uniform for him. This is where he gets the name "Caligula" from, as it means "little boots" and refers to the miniature boots he wore as part of this uniform. - History refers to him by this name, as it's shorter (and less confusing) than Gaius Julius Caesar Germanicus! With regards to his family, Caligula had a tumultuous early life - Caligula's father Germanicus died in Antioch when he was only seven. When Agrippina returned with her children to Rome, Caligula was raised by her as well as his grandmother Antonia and his great-grandmother Livia. - Agrippina tended to be at odds with Tiberius, and (in part because she made the mistake of playing politics with him, trying to control the influence of Sejanus), was forbidden from taking a new husband as Tiberius feared any new rivals. - With the death of Livia, Sejanus (looking to get rid of competition for thePrincipate), engineered the fall of Agrippina as well as Caligula's two older brothers, all of whom were dead by 33.By virtue of his age, Caligula wassent to live with Tiberius at Capri, and whatever peers he had there were most probably royal hostages, astrologers, and sycophants.Moreover, Tiberius seems to have played a hand in his education, which may have colored his views somewhat while he was emperor When Caligula does become emperor, there is much rejoicing as no one liked Tiberius, and Caligula uses his connection with his father to gain popularity. - Caligula becomes emperor in 37, and was very popular in the first year of his reign. He puts an end to the treason trials and recalls people from exile. He is known for publishing the first imperial budget, aided those who suffered from fire damage to their homes, abolished certain taxes, and allowed new members to the Senate and equestrian orders. He also restored democratic elections of some offices. He also put on lavish games and races, and was known to personally award prizes to the public at athletic events. - Six months into his reign, however, Caligula falls ill, and was near death. No one knows what it could have been (poison, meningitis, encephalitis, or epilepsy have been given as reasons). Nevertheless, when he emerges from his illness, his behavior changes somewhat... Caligula seems to have experienced problems (some self-created) in his family shortly after his illness in 37. - He executes his cousin, Gemellus, on the charge that Gemellus was plotting against him during his illness. His grandmother, Antonia (who, by the way, was the one to expose Sejanus' plotting), either committed suicide, or may have been poisoned. - His favorite sister Drusilla died of a fever in 38. - His two other sisters, Agrippina and Julia, may have actually been plotting against him in order to replace him with a mutual lover, so he had them exiled. - He has his former father-in-law executed, on the excuse that they had also been plotting against him (although many say he simply found him annoying). - He stripped his Praetorian Prefect Macro of his office, driving Macro to suicide. - By 39, his ire is finding its way outside of his family, and by that time he is running into conflict with the Senate. Caligula and The Senate - From Tiberius' departure from Capri to Caligula's reign, the Senate seems to have become used to doing their own thing. Initially, they were relieved at Caligula's rule, which initially gives them respect - Inexplicably, Caligula began to start coming into conflict with the Senate (perhaps he looked over Tiberius' treason records, and felt that there were people he couldn't trust). - Caligula starts to humiliate senators who he feels are being sycophantic (including one that he nearly allows to drown on his orders!). He also forces senators to wait on him, as well as run alongside him while he is riding in his chariot. - As well as humiliating senators, he also revives the treason trials, and has the sitting consul removed, and other senators put to death. Nevertheless, Caligula retains his popularity with the people. - This is especially the case with his building projects. He improves harbors in Sicily and Southern Italy, allowing for more grain to come from Egypt. - Caligula finishes the building of the Temple to Augustus, as well as finally finishes the Theatre of Pompey. - He builds two aqueducts so that more fresh water can come to Rome. He also builds a racetrack for chariot racing (the Circus of Gaius and Nero), with the centerpiece being a huge obelisk brought from Egypt. - He commissions repairs of various buildings throughout the empire. - As a spectacle, he builds a floating, two mile bridge that stretches from the resort of Baiae to the port of Puteoli. - Caligula builds the two largest ships in the ancient world, one to use as a temple to Diana, another held a floating palace with marble floors and plumbing! But with games, parties, and buildings, this all costs money - One of the good things about Tiberius being so cheap is that he left HS 2.7 Billion in the treasury. - Caligula, via building projects, extravagant games, expensive parties (and payments by Caligula to others for political support), has managed to go through this government surplus in only two years! - To make up for this deficit, Caligula starts to do things like petition the public to lend the state money. He also levies taxes on lawsuits, weddings, and prostitutes. He auctions gladiators' lives at the games, forces centurions who have made money via plunder to turn it over to the state, and even brings people up on false charges (including the King of Mauretania, his own cousin!) and executes them so that he can seize their fortunes. - But instead of using the money to replenish the treasury, Caligula keeps spending. Moreover, despite trying to catch people out for corruption or embezzlement, he is too addled to notice that his own people are stealing money for themselves right out from under his nose. Caligula's Overseas Policy - Caligula attempts to invade Britain, but the seas are too choppy and the soldiers don't want to go for fear of drowning, so Caligula instead declares war on Neptune, God of the Sea, and has the soldiers collect booty in the form of seashells on the seashore! - Caligula tries to annex Mauretania after killing its king, Ptolemy, but the land erupts in revolt and doesn't get put down until a couple of years later. - Caligula tries to campaign in Germany, but just sits on the Rhine and comes up with new ways to kill the Senators that accompany him. - In Alexandria, Egypt, feuding between Greeks and Jews causes rioting, which the prefect of Egypt tries to placate the Greeks by putting statues of the emperor in synagogues (Caligula responds by having the prefect, who in the past had plotted against his mother, executed). When asked to arbitrate between the Jews and the Greeks, who send delegations to Rome, Caligula proceeds to do nothing but joke about Jews in front of them. When Jews, obviously angered, proceed to destroy altars dedicated to the imperial family, Caligula decides to go full troll and order that a colossal statue of himself be erected in the Temple of Jerusalem (he is later convinced to rescind this order). Caligula's reign by this time is beset by scandals. Caligula is accused of much in his reign, some of which may or may not be true: - Killing people for amusement. - Incest with his sisters (especially Drusilla), as well as putting them up for prostitution. - Sleeping with the wives of senators and then bragging about it in the Senate. - Sending troops on illogical military exercises, either because he was crazy, or just for a laugh. - Turning the imperial palace into a brothel, where he ran around in drag. - One time, when presiding over games, he ordered his soldiers to take a whole section of the crowd and throw them into the arena to be eaten by wild animals, because he was bored. Towards the end of his reign, the people of Rome (as well as the army and the Senate) are tiring of Caligula's violent and bizarre behavior. Caligula manages to alienate everyone with impunity, but he oversteps his bounds when he angers his Praetorian Prefect, Cassius Chaerea. - Caligula could largely depend on his Praetorian Guard to protect him, but like the Equestrians, the Senate, the provincials, and the people even here he manages to alienate them. - He regularly antagonizes his VERY RESERVED Praetorian Prefect, the war hero Cassius Chaerea, by constantly questioning his masculinity, as well as calling him things like "Venus" (slang for eunuch), and "Priapus" (a fertility god with a freakishly large penis). He also constantly berates Chaerea for being too easy going on taxpayers. - When Caligula announced that he was moving the capital of the empire to Alexandria (where he hoped to be worshipped as a living god), Chaerea, the Senate, and the Equestrians have had enough, and plot to kill the emperor. - In late January 41, Caligula was walking back to his palace via a tunnel that connected it to the theatre where he was holding games dedicated to Augustus. Caligula (29 years of age), was cornered by Cassius, Senators, and Equestrians, who stabbed him 30+ times to death. Chaos breaks out in the city, with Cassius and the conspirators attempting to launch a purge...

Most famous Dictator/Master of the Horse Team

Julius Caesar and Mark Antony

Mithridates VI Eupator

King of Pontus 135-63 BC/E - Hellenistic King of Pontus (located in what is now Eastern Turkey). Descended from both Alexander the Great's generals as well as Cyrus the Great and Darius the Great of Persia. Was a polyglot. - Father was poisoned by enemies at a banquet when he was a child. Had to deal with the intrigues of his own mother and brother, both of whom were plotting to put him out of the way. By 113, he turns the tables on them and has them killed. - Understandably paranoid. Legend says that he built up an immunity to all poison (and came up witha universal antidote of 54 ingredients). Also was said to have slept with a horse, bull and stag to guard his bed. - Had six wives (one of whom was his sister) and 23 legitimate/illegitimate children. - Mithridates doesn't really want to make himself the new Alexander. Rather, his ambitions mainly had to do with making himself the dominant power in the Black Sea and Asia Minor. He conquers Colchis in the East and the Crimean Peninsula in the North, and Paphlagonia in the West. - Invades Bithynia after a falling out with King Nicomedes (a Roman Ally), but is repeatedly told by the Romans (most notably Marius, who was on a diplomatic mission) to stay out of the west. - Roman advisors manipulate Nicomedes' successor to declare war on Mithridates, which was a bad idea... - Attacking Mithridates was a BAD idea because - It gives him an excuse to start a war that he's been looking to start for awhile. - The Romans only have two legions in the region to back up Nicomedes IV - Nicomedes can't fight his way out of a kindergarten classroom during naptime - The Romans during this time are dealing with the Social War/Marius and Sulla Feud so they are too preoccupied to send reinforcements. - Most in Asia Minor hate the Romans and like Mithridates. - Mithridates defeats the Roman led force sent against him in 89, then counterattacks in 88, effectively overrunning most of Asia Minor and organizing the Asian Vespers in which he kills every Roman man, woman and child he can find in the region, effectively erasing any Roman presence in the region.

The 2nd Battle of Philippi

Late October 42 BC/E - With the death of Cassius, the assassins have lost their best general, and Brutus has VERY LITTLE military experience. While his fleet was able to keep both Antony and Octavian from receiving re-inforcements, Brutus' delaying tactics were not popular with his troops or mercenaries, who were threatening desertion. - Brutus launches an attack against Octavian, in which grisly hand-to-hand combat takes place. By this time, however, Brutus' troops are exhausted and flee once repulsed. With Octavian's troops moving against his camp, and Antony encircling him on the other side, Brutus commits suicide and his army surrenders. - No one knows how many people died in this battle, but it was A LOT!! The battle of Philippi is largely Antony's victory, and he is seen as the senior member of the alliance at this time (and much more gracious in victory than Octavian!). - While Antony was in the East discharging many of his legions as well as those of Brutus and Cassius (and setting up a new series of client kingdoms), Octavian (not looking so good), had to find land for his veterans. On top of confiscating land from the 18 richest cities in Italy during the proscriptions, Octavian finds that he also has to confiscate the land of another 22 cities to give to his veterans. This caused him to be hated throughout Italy. - On top of this, Sextus Pompey was still running around the Mediterranean, and had rebuilt his fleet, using it to blockade grain imports to Rome. This causes discontent and rioting. - Unbeknownst to Antony, in 41 his wife Fulvia, as well as his brother Lucius (consul for that year) decided to launch a revolt against Octavian called the Perusine War.

Gaius Octavian (Augustus)

(62 BC/E-AD/CE 14) - Born in 62, Octavian is the grandnephew of Julius Caesar. - Despite having a mother and step-father, he's not really paid attention to by them, and is raised by his grandmother (Caesar's sister). - Elected to the priestly college at 47, and organized games for Caesar to commemorate the building of a new temple. - Joins Caesar in Spain, when Caesar cultivated him as his heir. At the time of Caesar's assassination, he was studying in Greece, but with the help of his best friend Agrippa, was able to sail back to Rome to assert his rights as Caesar's heir. When Octavian comes to Rome, he goes to Antony to demand the funds that Caesar would have used to distribute amongst the population be released to him. - Antony, however, who was made executor of Caesar's estate after being made so by Caesar's wife Calpurnia, has the money tied up in other ventures, so doesn't grant Octavian's request. - Octavian therefore mortgages some of his own land to come up withthe money to distribute amongst the people, and he becomes instantly popular with the people. As Caesar's heir, he takes the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus, and insists on being called "Caesar," and makes much in his political speeches of being Caesar's heir and appealing to Caesar's memory. - Antony, who feels that Octavian is trying to steal the position that he has worked for, sees all of this as rather shameless behavior (he even tells Octavian "You, boy, owe everything to a name!"). Rather than fight a PR campaign with an 18 year old kid, Antony departs for Cisalpine Gaul where he has arranged to become governor through very irregular means. Cicero's plan to remove Octavian - Cicero's speeches are pretty much like the following, declaring Antony to be as bad as Catiline and PubliusClodius. He gets much political capital out of this, and is able to build up Octavian's credibility, as well as have Antony declared a public enemy. - Cicero, in sending Octavian to fight Antony at Mutina, is that, while the consuls for that year (Cicero believed) would survive, Octavian would be killed, or at least isolated (and ripe for removal) once Antony was out of the way. Cicero privately said of Octavian that "we must praise the boy, reward him...and discard him." - Unfortunately for Cicero, when Octavian and the consuls attack Mutina, both consuls are killed, Octavian lives, and Antony gets away! When the Senate tries to award Decimus Brutus more legions to defeat Antony, they are stopped by Octavian, who demands to be made consul as both consuls are dead and he, as pro-praetor, should replace them. Octavian then marches on Rome with 8 legions, but does not enter the city. - Octavian then is elected consul for 43 along with a relative as co-consul. He gets a law passed declaring the assassins of Caesar as murderers, and thus fair game. Cicero by this time has been completely outmaneuvered, and is of course kicking himself over this! - Decimus Brutus tries to flee to Greece, but ends up running into a Gallic chieftan who was loyal to Antony, and gets killed. - Antony, meanwhile, flees to Gaul, where his old co-worker, Lepidus, is commanding several legions. Antony, being the charmer he is, convinces those legions to overthrow Lepidus as commander in favor of him, and forces Lepidus into an alliance. - A meeting at Bologna in 43 BC between Antony, Octavian and Lepidus leads to a political alliance... With the deaths of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian can't rule arbitrarily - Taking note that to continue to act the way he has during past years might get him killed like his Awesome Uncle Julie, Octavian realizes it's best not to act like a king, nor depend solely on the army, but rather appear to restore traditional Republican institutions. - As well as appearing to share power with his subordinate, Marcus Agrippa, he calls a (carefully staged) meeting of the Senate in January of 27 to tell them he will lay down all of his legal and military powers and give them over to the Senate. - The Senate (knowing that this may cause another civil war) BEG Octavian not to retire. - Octavian then agrees to stay consul, while taking control of frontier provinces/provinces that are in danger of revolt (Spain, Gaul, Cilicia, Syria, Cyprus and Egypt) for 10 years (giving the rest of the provinces to the Senate to administrate). If things cool down in 10 years, then Octavian will step down. - This is called the First Settlement! As a reward for not stepping down, the Senate grants Octavian the title of Augustus ("revered"), the name he now goes by. Augustus shares power over the empire with the Senate, as well as client kings... - Augustus is allowed by the Senate to appoint legates to govern the provinces ostensibly under his control. Unlike before, if a governor does a good job, they can stay there for as long as Augustus wants them to (most provinces are governed by senators, save for Egypt, which is governed by an equestrian). Taxes are collected by elites, who then give them to the governors. - The Senate appoints governors of their own provinces. - Client kings exist mainly as a way of not having to station Roman troops all over the place, but more in problem areas. Augustus tries to use old titles and keeps old offices in place to make it look like "The Republic is Restored." - Augustus leaves offices like the Senate, Consulships, Praetors, etc. in place. There are, moreover, still elections of certain offices. - Augustus regularly consults the Senate on issues, making himself look approachable and willing to listen to other opinions, and gives positive encouragement to the Senate for their input. When he does want something passed, he does so implicitly and diplomatically (esp. via the use of his auctoritas). - Augustus accepts no special titles (least of all "king" or "dictator") but rather the title princeps ("First Citizen," or "First Man in Rome"). Via his command of the army, he is given the title of imperator (Victorious General). The First Settlement of Augustus works for a time, but not forever. - By 23, many are nevertheless annoyed with Augustus' continued hold on power. This is in part to the fact that he's held the title consul continuously for the past several years, as well as his continued governance of all of the best provinces. Some are questioning Augustus' overblown imperium of over half the Roman world. - After an attempt on his life, as well as a prolonged sickness, Augustus realizes he needs to modify his First Settlement a bit to keep people happy. - Therefore he announces... The Second Settlement of Augustus Augustus and the Army - Augustus retains control of the army, paying them out of his own pocket for thirty years. This is to cement loyalty to both himself and his family. After this, Augustus institutes a small tax on the population to pay for the army's maintenance and upkeep. - Augustus establishes an Imperial Cult in which he and his family are revered. This creates holidays for the army. - Augustus, in order to frustrate the aims of ambitious generals, forbids any general who is not related to his family from celebrating a military triumph. Instead, he awards those generals "triumphal ornaments." - To protect his own person, Augustus establishes a Praetorian Guard (recruited from the legions) and an Imperial German bodyguard (recruited from the frontiers) to protect his person. - To keep peace at Rome and guard the imperial mints, Augustus establishes an Urban Cohort. Propaganda in Literature - Augustus' reign is credited for a resurgence of literature, but in many cases this serves as propaganda for the regime. - Augustus' friend Gaius Maecenas promoted several writers to praise the Augustan regime. The poet Horace (65-8BC/E) wrote poetry that promoted Augustus' family as well as the emperors' social reforms ("blame poetry"). - The poet Virgil (70-19 BC/E), who had regularly written poetry on behalf of Augustus since the 40s BC/E, wrote both the Eclogues, as well as the Aeneid. The latter work portrays the journeys of Aeneas as a predetermined course that could only end with Augustus' triumph. Propaganda in Art and Architecture - Augustus was known for building much in Rome, once bragging that "I found Rome in brick and left it in marble!" - Much of Augustus' buildings tended to glorify his reign, and were purely for propaganda's sake, such as the Ara Pacis Augustae (Altar of Augustan Peace)seen here. - The altar shows a religious ceremony celebrating the Peace Augustus established, with members of his family, the Senate, celebrating traditional rites of Roman religion (to the goddess Pax) as envisioned by Augustus. You can guess who he was trying to make look good here... Propaganda Roman Religion and Morals - Edifices such as the Ara Pacis Augustae and its advertisements of Augustus' family were not only the brainchild of Augustus, but also had input from his third wife, Livia. This glorification of that family was a major motivation behind the foundation of the Imperial Cult, which was created to support the legitimacy of Augustus and his heirs, esp. in relation to Julius Caesar (although Augustus was not worshipped as a god at Rome during his lifetime, the Imperial Cult nevertheless allowed worship of the Imperial Family outside of Rome). - Augustus also revived old religious rituals such as the lustrum ceremony (a ritual public cleansing of the state), reintroduced religiously related games such as the Secular Games, revived festivals such as the Lupercalia (which hadn't been celebrated for a generation after Julius Caesar's death) , rebuilt old temples and re-founded defunct priesthoods. He also served as Pontifex Maximus from 12 BC/E (when the overthrown triumvir Lepidus had died) to his death in AD/CE 14. - Augustus emphasized piety, monogamy, chastity, loyalty, and virtue as a way of highlighting Roman family values. Augustus also tried to emphasize public morality, especially when he passes a series of Marriage Laws in 18 BC/E - Augustus was quite conservative when it came to other people, and was especially alarmed by the easy virtues, extreme displays of extravagance, as well as commonplace things like "no-fault divorce" and widespread adultery, all of which had arisen during the dying days of the Republic. - Augustus, who sees that the numbers of the old traditional families are falling and native Italians aren't having as many kids (this doesn't look good considering he wants to portray "the Republic Restored"), decides to pass a series of laws to get people having children and acting properly again. - Under these laws, adultery became a capital crime, and men whose wives slept around were required to divorce them without question (they would be considered by the state to be a pimp if they did not). Children who committed adultery were to be either killed or exiled by their fathers. - Members of the senatorial class were not to marry people of lower status. While prizes would be given for people to get married and have children, tax penalties would be inflicted on bachelors, widowers who would not remarry, and couples who failed to have more than three children (sex with slaves is still fine, of course!). - Needless to say, a lot of these laws are not popular with either the aristocratic establishment at Rome, nor ordinary Romans themselves. Indeed, Augustus isn't very good at following them himself (he cheats on his wife, Livia, regularly). Lack of Clear Succession - Augustus' main problem is that in the entirety of his 41 year reign, he never created a clear system of succession. Indeed, he preferred to choose from a pool of successors who were related to him, in the hopes that at least one of them would be a suitable enough choice to succeed him. His wife, Livia, hoped that Augustus would choose her son Tiberius (a child from a previous marriage), but Augustus had other ideas. - Unlike Mark Antony (who I wouldn't be surprised if some of you were distantly related to him!), Augustus only had one child named Julia, who he helicoptered as a child, was pretty much ordered to marry whomever he wanted. She was married to Marcellus, and later Marcus Agrippa (with whom she had four sons and one daughter). - After an unsuccessful marriage to Tiberius, she rebels and proceeds to sleep with anything at Rome with a Y chromosome. This goes on for a few years until Livia finds out and tells Augustus! Augustus finds that Julia has been sleeping with members of her entourage, who included the last descendant of the Gracchi, as well as a son of Mark Antony (you can guess the emperor's reaction...). With Julia gone, Augustus hoped that he could at least depend on her children to succeed. - The problem was, Augustus' relatives had a strange way of all dying or getting exiled. Ancient historians (especially the Senator Tacitus) have implied that this may have been instigated in one way or another by Augustus' wife Livia, who wanted her son Tiberius to succeed him. Such theories are highly questionable, as it would have meant that Livia would have had to engineer several plots and murders over the entire empire (which would have been kind of cool, as it would have made her arguably the greatest "super-villainess ever). - Augustus' succession consequently has to take whatever it can get thanks to his desire for a dynastic succession. - In any case, by AD/CE 13, Augustus has no adult choice to look to, save for one... Livia's son, Tiberius

The struggle of orders

- (494-287) At first, the nobles ruled on behalf of all the people , and the people of Rome are divided into two groups: Patrician- The aristocratic stock that can make claim to being one of the founding families of Rome (or at least having been around a long time). Plebians- Everyone else. The Patricians tended to do three things that angered the Plebians: 1)Monopolize political/religious offices 2)Give little to no representation to the plebs 3)Not let the plebs know the law - The Patricians justified their monopoly on power in that, under the census of Servius Tullius, the army was arranged via the phalanx formation, meaning that the soldiers who made up the army had to be able to afford a full kit of military gear. This meant that the richest were the ones fighting in most of Rome's conflicts at the time. - However, this arrangement was also part of the voting system embodied in Servius' CenturiateAssembly (comitia centuriata). This means that whenever there was a vote a law, there would be six classes voting (the first five make up the richest classes, while the sixth makes up the poorest, and probably largest, class). The first five classes get to vote on policies first, meaning that legislation can pass before the poorest class even has a say in the matter. - This changes when Rome has fought a lot of wars with its neighbors, and there is a manpower shortage in the army amongst the Patricians. - The Patricians go to the Plebians to ask them to serve, and the Plebians demand more rights, representation, and knowledge of the law. The Patricians refuse so the plebians say "Screw you guys, we're going home," and go on strike until they get what they want (secessio). - This happens a total of five times between 494 and 287 BC/E, until the Patricians relent, give more representation and publish the Twelve Tables of the Law.

Praetor

- 1 Year term. Age requirement in the mid-30s. - Praetors traditionally served as the judges of the Roman Republic - At first there was only one praetor per year in the Roman Republic, but as Rome's land empire grew, praetors assumed the right to govern provinces not already governed by proconsuls. - Leading officials in Rome if both consuls are away on campaign. Can command armies if both consuls die in battle. If on campaign, can receive the title of pro-praetor. - Elected by the Centuriate Assembly.

Polybius of Megalopolis

- 200-118 BC/E - Born to an aristocratic family in Megalopolis, Achaean League. - Served in the political sphere of the city, and advocated independence of his polis. - When his father supported neutrality in the Third Macedonian War, this arose the suspicion of Rome and Polybius at war's conclusion was sent as one of the 1000 hostages to Rome. - Lived at the house of Aemilius Paullus, where he served as tutor and later advisor to Scipio Aemilanus. - Was present with Scipio at Carthage and Numantia. Returned to Greece after the fall of Corinth to help reorganize the governments there. Wrote his histories for the Greeks to explain Roman success.

Dictator/ Master of the Horse

- Appointed by the consuls in a time of GRAVE EMERGENCY (Invasion, Plague, Zombie Apocalypse, etc.). - Has supreme power over the government to resolve the crisis at hand. Can appoint a second in command, a Master of the Horse, to help him resolve the crisis. - Can only serve six months, or the duration of the crisis, whichever is shorter as no one wants the dictator to get too comfortable in his position. - Cinncinatus is the ideal of a dictator. When there was a crisis, he was called from his farm to be dictator. After swiftly resolving this emergency, he went back to his farm to return to his humble life of agriculture.

L. Sergius Catilina (Catiline)

- As with Verres, the sources are not kind to Catiline, and we really only get one side of the story. He was supposedly charismatic to some, and villainous to others. Many Roman sources use topoi, stock literary devices that writers use to signify a good or bad individual in the account. - Comes from a very old, prestigious Roman family that hasn't held offices for decades/centuries. - According to sources, he profiteered from the Sullan proscriptions (beheading his own brother-in-law in the process). Put on trial for an affair with a Vestal Virgin (who was his sister-in-law), but acquitted. Accused of killing his wife and son in order to enter into an incestuous relationship with his daughter. - Served as Praetor of Africa Province in 68, tried to run for consul for 66 but was accused by the Africans of misconduct/embezzlement, but acquitted at his trial. - Put on trial numerous times (including by Cato in 64), but is exceptionally good at bribing juries. Catiline REALLY wants to be consul, and runs in for the year 63, when his main rival is Cicero. - Catiline campaigned against Cicero mainly as a man who, by right of his nobility and the prestige of his family, should be elected consul. He contrasted himself to Cicero, a New Man who Catiline referred to as "Rome's Resident Alien." Cicero, however (with advice from his brother, Quintus), is much better at campaigning/electioneering, and (along with his record), appears to the Romans as if he works harder to get elected and wants it more. Cicero is elected Senior Consul for 63, while Catiline (to add insult to injury) isn't even elected Junior Consul! - Catiline runs the next year (as consul for 62), this time changing his tune and making as the main part of his campaign a promise to cancel all debts at Rome. This is not only popular with the poor, but also with more well-to-do Romans who have gotten themselves into debt via running for office but then losing elections (indeed, Julius Caesar initially gives muted support to Catiline as he wouldn't mind his own debts being cancelled). - Cicero, however, campaigns on behalf of Catiline's opponents for that year, mainly because he (and many of the more fiscally minded members of the Senate) realizes that cancelling all debts unconditionally would be an economic disaster. Catiline narrowly loses the election. Later in 63, Cicero gets wind of a conspiracy from a senator's worried wife. - It seems that Catiline, who is fed up with losing elections, is conspiring with several disgruntled office seeking senators to seize control of the Republic and set themselves up in the plum offices. Cicero is careful, and makes sure to find evidence before denouncing Catiline in the Senate. - Cicero, using his oratorical skills, isolates Catiline in the Senate and demands that he leave Rome. Catiline does so (partly because his creditors are also after him), and Cicero attempts to shadow his movements. When the Senate finds that Catiline has fled to Etruria to join an armed force of 10,000. - It is then found out that 5 Senators at Rome (including one serving as Praetor), were conspiring with Catiline to recruit forces outside of Rome to help in his cause (Gauls mostly). Moreover, these senators were to set fire to the city in order to cause confusion, kill a lot of senators in the process (Cicero included), and cause general chaos so that Catiline had an excuse to march in and restore "order. - Cicero has these men arrested and there is debate as to what to do. - While some (such as Cato the Younger) want these men executed without trial as they are an immediate threat to the state, others (such as Caesar) stated that to do so would be illegal. - Caesar shows Cato the letter, which ends up being not from Catiline but rather a nigh-on pornographic love letter from Cato's half-sister Servilia to Caesar, cataloging all of the things that she wanted him to do to her... After extreme laughter in the Senate at Cato's expense, Cicero calls for order, then takes a command decision as consul - As Cicero believes that this is a major emergency in which the safety of the state is threatened, he issues a Senatus Consultum Ultimum(SCU), and uses this to execute the five senators without trial. - News gets to Catiline at Pistoriae of the deaths of these men, and his army shrinks by 2/3. With his diminished army, he is defeated in battle by government forces and commits suicide. - Cicero is proclaimed a hero and given the title "Father of the Country" (parens patriae). This decision to execute men without a trial will come back to haunt him, however. - The Catilinarian Conspiracy not only displays how men were driven by the timocratic culture to attain high office, but also highlighted how debt cancellation emerged as a major issue of the day, not just for the poor, but also the rich, whose financial well-being was threatened whenever an election was lost.

Divining the Future

- Augurs- priests who have the job of watching the skies for the flight of birds or anything out of the ordinary to interpret divine messages. These guys are also called in for when lightning strikes something. Can use their powers as well to even manipulate political proceedings. - Haruspices- Priests who predict the future via the examination of the organs of sacrificial animals. - Sibylline Books- Prophecies written by the various Sibyls of Cumae which the Senate consulted during a crisis in the hopes of finding a solution to their problem.

Pompey the Great

- Born in 106, son of Pompey Strabo. Strabo was a New Man from Picenum, but was able to get into politics thanks to Patronage from the Scipiones. Consul for 89, fights in Social War with his son Pompey serving as a junior officer. Known for playing sides against each other. - When Strabo dies in 87, his son Pompey takes control of his father's legions, lays low while the Marians are running Italy. - When Sulla returns to Italy, Pompey campaigns against the Marians in Sicily and Africa, and after Sulla's death is responsible for putting down the revolt of Lepidus the Elder in 78. - The Senate, as it has no real military leaders at this time, depends increasingly on Pompey, who is a private citizen! - Pompey demanded a triumph in 81 from Sulla. However, Sulla decides to teach Pompey a lesson in humility, and states that Pompey could celebrate his triumph ONLY AFTER Sulla celebrated his own triumph, as well as another colleague celebrating his triumph. - Triumphs are multi-day celebrations, kind of like having Mardi Gras/St. Patrick's Day over a period of three or four days.So by the time that Sulla and his colleague have celebrated THEIR triumphs, the people of Rome are too partied out/hungover to come out with the enthusiasmfor Pompey's triumph.This is not helped by the fact that one of the elephants leading Pompey's chariot gets stuck in an arch Third Mithridatic War - With Lucullus gone and Mithridates and Tigranes still running around, Pompey (fresh off his clearing the entire Mediterranean sea of pirates), has his political allies get him a command for this war in 66. - Pompey moves quickly, and defeats Mithridates in battle in 65. Mithridates tries to flee to Armenia, but is refused by Tigranes and flees to the Crimea. Pompey attacks Tigranes, who quickly sues for peace and gives major concessions to Pompey. - Mithridates tries to raise another army, but by 63 the Pontic people are tired of war, and launch a revolt led by his own son. Mithridates tries to commit suicide by poison, but fails and has one of his men run him through. - Pompey, after making peace with Tigranes, proceeds to invade Syria and depose its weak king Antiochus XIII, making that land a Roman province. - While there, Pompey hears that there is infighting in the Hasamonean Kingdom of Judaea (Israel) between the Pharisee and Saducee factions of the Jewish leadership. As the land is an ally of Rome, both sides try to bribe Pompey to rule in their favor. After initial negotiation, Pompey decides to intrigue with other local elites to remove the dynasty altogether, and besieges and captures Jerusalem in 63 BC/E. - Pompey organizes a series of provinces and client kingdoms in the East on his own initiative, believing that if he doesn't, another power vacuum will emerge and all of his conquests will be cancelled out. Pompey is the Rock Star of the 60s...BC/E! - Pompey has rid the Mediterranean Sea of Piracy, defeated the 30 nemesis Mithridates, and completely reorganized the East, only in about 7 years time. - That being said, he's accused of taking credit for the works of others (i.e. Lucullus), and this makes him some enemies of the Optimates at Rome, who fear his status will lead him to try to sieze power. - Amongst the people, however, he is like a rock star would be to us, a "Golden God" like Robert Plant to the right, if you will. Pompey is hoping that this popularity will allow him to formalize his Eastern arrangements... Pompey returns to Italy in 62 in victory... - Many, especially Crassus, fear that Pompey will return to pull a Sulla. - Pompey, however, disbands his army as soon as he returns. He's got no ambition to be king, but rather wants to bask in the glory, celebrate a triumph, get land for his veterans and (most importantly) get the arrangements he made in the East with new kingdoms and provinces approved and ratified by the Senate. - Unfortunately for Pompey, he's not the talk of the town because... -At the time when Pompey needs the most public attention for his agenda, there is a scandal that took place on the women-only Bona Dea festival involving Publius Claudius Pulcherand Caesar's wife Pompeia. - Publius Claudius was a Quaestor at Rome during the time and has a shady reputation (he fomented the mutiny against Lucullus in the East, and he's said to have had carnal knowledge of his sisters). He's an impulsive party guy, hard drinking, a hell-raiser who founds the Clodius Club. - He may or may not be carrying on an affair with Caesar's wife Pompeia, but in any case found that Pompeia was officiating over the Bona Dea rites and saw this as a chance to seduce her.

Licinius Crassus

- Born in 115 to a wealthy and influential family. - From the 80s onwards, his family is decimated by war. His brother dies in the Social War, and his father and another brother are killed in the purges by Marius in 87. Flees to Spain and Africa before meeting up with Sulla and joining his cause. Helps Sulla at the battle of Colline Gate. - Uses the proscriptions to get rich, as well as settle old scores against enemies. - Richest man in Rome, has business in slaves, silver mines, real estate, and having the only fire brigade at Rome! - After defeating Sertorius, Pompey is recalled from Spain to aid Crassus against Spartacus and his slave army. Crassus chases Spartacus' army south to Bruttium (in the toe of Italy). Spartacus tries to meet up with the pirates, who just steal his money then sail off. - Spartacus tries to negotiate with Crassus, who refuses, and the two meet in battle. Crassus' army is far superior to the ill-trained slaves, and he effectively defeats Spartacus, who either dies or disappears in battle. Pompey shows up at the last minute and manages to destroy about 5,000 of the fleeing forces, then attempts to claim that he was the true victor!

The Cult of Bacchus

- Dedicated to Bacchus, god of Wine, who promised a lovely afterlife as long as you remained in communion with him. This order tended to proselytize to young women (and to a lesser extent, young men). - In order to remain in communion with him, you need to get blind drunk and into a frenzy. - Rituals were led by a male priest, and attended to by half naked women called the Bacchae. - Conservative Romans think "Wait a second...male priest...frenzied half-naked females...WTF????"

Things flare up again by the end of the 90s, when the Optimate M. Livius Drusus the Younger becomes Tribune in 91.

- Despite Marius' efforts to better the situation, the problems that existed in previous years are still around. - In an effort to have the Optimates be able to take credit for solving all of Rome's problems, Marcus Livius Drusus, Tribune for 91, proceeds to propose a series of laws: - Return control of juries to the Senate, but in return elevate 300 Equestrians to the Senate - Proposes the founding of new colonies to solve the Land Crisis Citizenship should be given to ALL Latins and Italians

Aedile

- Four Aediles. Two Plebian (elected by the People's Assembly), Two Curule (elected by the Tribal Assembly). - Responsible for maintaining Public Works (streets, roads, temples, courts, aqueducts, etc.). Also responsible for inspecting merchants on market days to make sure there are no shenanigans or shortchanging going on. - Later in the Republic, they are responsible for putting on races and gladiatorial games which are free to Rome's citizenry. - As a result of being responsible for public entertainment, aediles view this office as a stepping stoneto higher offices, and make sure that the games they put on will cause them to be remembered by Rome's citizens (and thus get them votes for future elections). See, for example, Julius Caesar's time as aedile.

The Vestal Virgins of Rome

- Girls picked around 6 or 7, usually from well-to-do families to serve at the Temple of Vesta. - Had to take a vow of chastity for their term of service. - Kept the flame of Vesta always lit, as this flame was tied up in Rome's fortunes. If this flame goes out, ROME IS SCREWED! - If either of these vows are broken, the Vestal is put on trial and, if found guilty, buried alive. - Vestals serve until the age of 30, when they can retire with a state pension, get married, and have kids of their own. - Can pardon condemned criminals.

Censor

- Held for 18 months, elected every five years. - At first, responsible for taking the census,. - Later, they gain enough influence in politics, finance, and social duties. Although they are entitled to great respect from the other members of government, they have no political imperium like the consuls and praetors do. - That being said, they have the ability to check the behavior of senators, and can expel badly behaved senators from that office for conduct that they do not approve of. This gives us the modern definitions of "censor" or "censorship."

Consul

- Highest Annually Elected Political Office - 1 Year Terms. Cannot run consecutively, must wait 10 years. 2 Consuls (Senior Consul and a Junior Consul). - Age requirement of roughly 37-42 years old. - Generals of the Roman Republic. Has absolute power while on campaign, but once he is in the sacred boundary of Rome (pomerium) his power is greatly limited. - If a campaign is not finished by the end of the consul's term, he can have his authority extended by being made a proconsul, and here they can serve as governors of overseas provinces either during a campaign or at the end of their term as consul. - Both consuls have veto power. - Each is garded by twelve bodyguards called Lictors. - Elected by the Centuriate Assembly.

Quaestor

- Lowest administrative office of the Roman Republic. The age requirement for this office is roughly mid-20s. After serving as quaestor, one can enter the Senate and become a Senator. - Overseers of Public Funds. Supervise the Treasury as well as funding for the campaigns of Roman generals. May serve as supply officers in the Roman Army. - Can serve as assistants or advisors to Praetors when the latter are governing provinces, oversee funds in provinces. - Basically the accountants of the Roman Government. - Elected by the Tribal Assembly.

Marius' Victory against German Hordes

- Marius from the years 107 to 100 is elected SIX CONSECUTIVE TIMES AS CONSUL to basically organize the Roman Army not only against Jugurtha, but also to prepare a counterattack against the Teutones and the Cimbri, who number in the hundreds of thousands but have made the mistake of splitting their troops while advancing on Italy. - At the Battle of Aquae Sextiae in 102, Marius defeats the Teutone horde, killing 100,000 Germans in the process. - In summer of 101, Marius meets the Cimbri in the battle of Vercellae and annihilates another 100,000. - MARIUS SAVES THE REPUBLIC! TWICE!!!!!

Marius' Reforms

- Marius is given the command against Jugurtha, and in order to increase the military recruitment pool, he gets the land requirement for service in the Roman army lifted. In doing so, he opens upmilitary service to the landless citizens, promising them land as a retirement pension in return for military service. - The landless citizens join in droves, and army numbers are so large that Marius has to reform the army to create new military units, the cohorts of the legion, to accommodate these larger numbers. Larger numbers will come in handy, esp. against the German Hordes. - This, however, sets a bad precedent, as these new soldiers look more to Marius as being their main allegiance than the Republic (and later generals will take advantage of such a tactic in the future).

Marius and the Julii

- Marius nevertheless gets elected Urban Praetor in 115, and given a pro-Praetorship to govern Further Spain, where he gains further military experience (esp. against guerillas), and makes more money. - By this time, he's nervous that since he's in his late 40s, he'll never be Consul. At this time, however, he is offered the hand of Julia of the Julii Caesares family, who will give him political influence in exchange for him financing the political careers of the Julii men (seems the Julii have the name, but not the wealth to advance themselves). - This brings him back in the good graces of the Metelli, and Metellus makes him second-in-command against Jugurtha.

In the war with Jugurtha, Marius and Metelluscome into conflict.

- Marius serves well under Metellus (109-108), but when he asks Metellus to support him for consul in the upcoming elections, Metellus, who still sees Marius as a bit of an upstart hick, refuses, saying he will support Marius when his own son comes of age for Consul (i.e. in twenty years). He refuses Marius' request to leave Metellus and run for election in Rome for 107. - Marius starts a gossip campaign against Metellus, cultivating Metellus' men and getting their support, as well as spreading rumors of Metellus' alleged incompetence to the publicani of Africa province, who then send the rumors back to Rome. - Metellus, enraged at this, grudgingly grants Marius' request to return to Rome. Marius runs for election as consul, on a platform of his being a political "outsider" who can stamp out the corruption at Rome and defeat foreign threats. He gets elected as junior consul for the year 107.

Victory against Jugurtha

- Marius' campaigns against Jugurtha and has him on the run, so much so that Jugurtha flees to neighboring Mauretania in the West. - Sulla hatches a plan to almost single-handedly capture Jugurtha. In return for allowing Numidian land to be given to the Roman allied king Bocchus of Maretania, Sulla is able to go in and take Jugurtha prisoner without any trouble from Bocchus. Sulla uses this victory, which effectively ends the war, to make himself famous at Rome. - Jugurtha is then paraded in Marius' triumph, and given over to Sulla, who throws him into the Tullanium to starve to death.

The Rebellion of Quintus Sertorius

- Marius' old subordinate, Quintus Sertorius, is proscribed by Sulla and flees to Spain, where he sets up a popularesgovernment there in 78. He is brave, noble (he won the Grass Crown in earlier years), and eloquent, and is known for defeating the forces of four of Sulla's generals sent against him. - Sertorius' army is made up of a mixed Roman/Celtiberian/Lusitanian force (the natives of Hispania like the fact that he beats up on the generals of Sulla, who were big on plundering their towns). He also has a white doe as a pet, which the natives consider to be holy. - Pompey is sent against Sertorius in the mid-70s and runs into initial reversals. Indeed, Sertorius' fall is because of a subordinate losing to Pompey's colleague Pius in battle, and one of his generals, Perperna, assassinates him in 72. With Sertorius dead Pompey declares victory and returns home.

Polybius' Roman History

- Not all of it survives (originally 40 books). - The history itself goes from the years 264 (the beginning of the First Punic War) down to 146 (the year that both Carthage and Corinth were destroyed). This history discusses Greece, Egypt, Near East as well, but Rome is the dominant player. - Is one of the major authorities on the Second Punic War and the campaigns of Hannibal and Scipio Africanus (as he was living in the houses of those who had first-hand knowledge of Scipio and the war, he is considered to be fairly reliable). Despite the fact that he may be getting a lot of his information from a biased source, he nevertheless comes across as objective in his writings. - Polybius digresses from his historical narrative in Book VI to explain why the Romans have been so successful.Here he discusses the Roman Army as well as the mixed constitution

Tribune of the Plebs

- One of the biggest concessions given to the Plebians after the Struggle of the Orders. 10 elected officials who represent the interests of the plebians in the Roman government. - Can summon citizens to vote on legislation. In later years, the legislation they propose does not need approval from the Senate. - Can enact laws that are binding on the whole community (not just plebs). - Although there are other assemblies (Tribal, Centuriate), the Tribunes of Plebs ensure over time that the Plebian Assembly has the most power. - Have power of veto.

Why does Rome succeed where the Greeks fail

- Polybius concludes the Romans are the pre-eminent power because they maintain customs and traditions which promote a desire for noble acts, virtue, piety towards parents and elders, and a fear of the gods. - As well as this, the are successful in that their armies are set up with the maniples that are superior to the traditional Greek phalanxes. The armies maintain discipline via actions such as decimation. - Governmentally, Polybius states that Rome is more successful because its Republican structure has never allowed it to fall into the problem of Anacyclosis (the cycle of eternal revolution). In describing Roman success, Polybius does so in a way that the Greeks can understand, using historical examples of Greek city-states to show how anacyclosis works.

By 60 BC/E, Pompey, Caesar and Crassus, all of whom are being blocked by Cato the Younger and the Optimates.

- Pompey has had his efforts to ratify his Eastern arrangements blocked by Cato, due to Pompey acting on his own initiative. Moreover, Pompey, still officially holding his command as a general, wants to postpone elections so that he can celebrate his triumph then run for consul. Cato makes him choose only one or the other. - Crassus wants to help out his friends amongst the publicani, who have over-bid on a contract to collect taxes from Asia Province, hoping to have the Senate cancel the contract (Cato blocks this). - Caesar, after a successful governorship of Spain, is eligible for a military triumph as well as a consulship, and pretty much asks for the same thing that Pompey did (i.e. the chance to celebrate a triumph and to run for consul). Cato filibusters day and night to keep this from happening, and Caesar opts for the consulship. - Cato runs his son-in-law Bibulus (who also doesn't like Caesar) as consul, to either defeat Caesar or at least frustrate any plans he has for the consulship. When Caesar wins, Bibulus does too, so it seems that Caesar's plans might be frustrated. - As Caesar knows that he is going to have a tough time in his year as consul without political allies, he approaches Pompey and Crassus. - Caesar suggests that they form an alliance to further their goals, with Pompey as the senior member of this alliance. With this alliance: - Pompey can get his Eastern arrangements ratified, as well as land for his veterans (and Caesar's daughter's hand in marriage!). - Crassus can get his publicani friends off the hook for the overbid on Asia Province's tax collection contract. - Caesar could get a successful, unobstructed consulship as well as a chance to set himself up in a province and possible military glory once his consulship is over with. - Pompey and Crassus agree to join Caesar, and so begins...

Orders of Priests

- Pontifex Maximus- Chief Priest of Rome. (elected position, but the emperors of Rome later assumed this title). - Flamines- The priests of Jupiter. - Fetiales- Priests of diplomacy and war. They determined fetial law, and whether or notRome had a justifiable excuse to go to war. - Salii- The 'leaping' priests of Mars who blessed the Roman army holding the shields of Numa, doing a war dance.

Pompey and Pirates

- Rome has tried to deal with piracy in 102 (under Mark Antony's grandfather Marcus Antonius), the early 70s, and 74 (under Mark Antony's father). In the early 60s, another Roman commander captures the pirate stronghold of Crete and annexes the island to Rome. - A young Julius Caesar, while away on a diplomatic mission to the East, was kidnapped by pirates, who held him to ransom. Caesar is insulted by this, as the pirates asked for less money than he felt he was worth. He nevertheless was cordial with them, telling them that despite his courtesy, the first thing he would do is come back with a military force and crucify them all (which is exactly what he did!). - The main problem of piracy is that when you defeat one band, another five or so pop up somewhere else! Pompey launches operations in 67-66... - Pompey is an organizational genius. What he does, once voted a command to rid the sea of Pirates, is to divide the Sea into several zones of operation, giving command to subordinates (legates) with military forces of each zone. - Then, after giving a signal, Pompey and all of the subordinate commanders attack the various pirate strongholds in the Mediterranean simultaneously so that the pirates don't have anywhere to run to. - Within 3 months, Piracy is gone from the Mediterranean. Pompey takes the survivors and forces them into a life of farming.

The "Wolf Priests of Rome": The Luperci

- Rome was big on family (indeed, one of the things you honored in your home was the genius, or procreative essence of your family). Therefore being able to bear children was a big concern. - The Lupercalia (to honor the wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus) was a feast in which women who hoped to have children would line up along the bottom of the Palatine Hill, where the Wolf Priests would run passed them, making anyone they touched extremely fertile! - Mark Antony (played excellently by James Purefoy in Rome), was the most famous of all the Luperci, known to be a prodigious lover (and a very fertile one!).

How does Rome govern provinces

- Rome's "empire of provinces" has been gained either opportunistically or reluctantly. Either way, expansion has been haphazard. Administration in the provinces is not uniform, and the Romans sometimes keep previous systems in place if they are seen to work. - Communities in the provinces enjoy, for the most part, local autonomy, in return for having no foreign policy and not falling into internal strife. Contributions to the army aren't necessary, as the Romans use these forces to defend local areas so that the Romans don't have to send their own men (this depends where you are, though). - Lex Provinciae (Law of the Province) defines each community's form of constitution, boundaries, relationship to Rome, and usually tax obligations. The Law of the Province can be amended, but only by SPQR. - Lex Provinciae is the Roman governor's main point of reference when administrating the province. The governor communicates with provincials via the issuing of edicts. - The Senate usually assigns a quaestor to accompany the governor, as well as scribes, lictors, etc. Governors also choose legates to accompany them (which have to be approved by the Senate). Governors can bring along friends to bounce ideas off of (amici), but are advised against bringing their wives (although this is not an ironclad rule). - Governors are supreme in their provinces, EVERYONE has to obey them. Governors are the only ones who can hear capital court cases. Governors can order instant executions if they believe that the threat is clear and present. - Usually, the routine the governor follows is to go from community to community in the province, checking on their welfare, judging court cases, answering petitions, etc. - Governors don't really have a major impact on their provinces, for the most part, due to a lack of time (during the Republic, unless there was a war on, governors are only allowed to be in their province for one year). Problems - Governors might have no knowledge whatsoever of the politics, customs or culture of the province he comes to (indeed, he might not have any previous experience governing). - He may come to a place where people aren't the biggest fans of Rome, and where people do not necessarily speak Latin (the administrative language of the West) or Greek (the administrative language of the East). Roman governors, for example, might come to a province where an obscure form of Celtic is spoken, and has to rely on interpreters to communicate. - Governors might run into problems in the Greek East, where local customs might conflict with administration. One such custom is the giving and receiving of gifts when interacting with communities, which can be interpreted as a bribe! But if the governor refuses such a gift, he can risk offending the local population. - Less scrupulous governors might see this as an opportunity. After all, political campaigns at Rome might cost money, and accept such "gifts" to accrue resources that can mitigate the debt they built up when running in the previous year's political campaign. - Moreover, while the Senate gives a monetary amount for "expenses," the governor receives no official salary. So to pay off their debts, governors can act shady.

In trying to please everyone, Drusus pleases no one.

- Senate doesn't like the idea of citizenship for Latins and Italians, nor the fact that their body would be "tainted" by Equestrian upstarts. - The equestrians are wary of not only losing control of juries, but also having the cream of their class being sent over to the Senate. - The Italian allies and Latins like the idea of citizenship, but aren't too happy when Drusus starts talking about distribution of public lands (i.e. THEIR lands). - Drusus ends up getting assassinated with a cobblers knife, which is a pretty painful way to go...

Pubicani

- Some more fair-minded governors might run into trouble with the publicani of the province. These are the tax collecting syndicates that bid on contracts to collect taxes on behalf of the Roman government. - These syndicates who win the bids to collect taxes HAVE to make a profit to stay in business (they have hundreds of employees, probably several branches in the Mediterranean and have to maintain ships). - Sometimes the publicani, in order to make a profit, might state to the local population of the province that they are contracted to collect more taxes than what was agreed upon. - Provincial governors might even conspire with the publicani to fleece the province, and even loan them military forces (for example, in the 70s on the island of Sicily, the governor Verres worked with the publicani to rob the island blind). - The publicani are RUTHLESS in their collection of taxes. How ruthless? Well, their unofficial slogan seems to be like that of the main mafia boss in the film Goodfellas... - A more scrupulous governor might not be able to correct publicani abuses if petitioned by the people, as these are the guys that are collecting Rome's taxes. The Senate can't do anything either, as to set up a government run apparatus (i.e. an IRS type of agency) would be VERY costly. - There are special courts for corrupt governors (quaestio de repetundis), but these courts only try a few cases of misconduct very irregularly. Corrupt governors are only tried at the end of their term (meaning they have time to cover their tracks if they committed crimes at the beginning of their term). - Moreover, the people of the province not only have to petition this court to hear a case, they are also responsible for making the journey to Rome at their own expense, providing their own evidence, lawyers and witnesses, and need to know Latin as that's the language of the hearing. - These courts have juries made up of upper class Romans who might be more sympathetic to the governor than the people bringing the case (they might even be friends with the governor!). - Even if the governor is found guilty, tradition allows him "time to depart," meaning that he can go into exile with his ill-gotten gains! - Legislation, as has been noted, was proposed over the years with the intention of making sure governors conducted themselves properly and held them accountable, first by Gaius Gracchus in the 120s, by Saturninus in 100, by Sulla when he was dictator in 82-81, and by Julius Caesar in his first consulship in 59. - The thing is, while such legislation sounded nice and made it look as if the Romans were trying to do something about such abuses, the legislation couldn't really be enforced once a governor was on the ground in the province and circumstances did not allow for the luxury of such righteousness. Cicero, when he was governing a province (Cilicia in the 50s BC), did his best to keep the publicani at bay, but could only do so much. Caesar, when first governing Spain and then when he was conquering Gaul, found that he sometimes had to ignore his own legislation when circumstances required him to act less than principled. - Even if a governor chooses to be scrupulous, it is necessary to note that, upon arriving in the province, he might avoid getting too deeply involved in local matters to avoid getting into trouble. After all, provinces are chosen by lot, and the governor probably doesn't know a lot about the area, and is not willing to mess up his political career for a province that he's only going to govern for a year. So what a lot of governors end up doing is essentially identifying the most powerful interest groups in the province (be they publicani, local elites, etc.) and then simply following their guidelines when governing. Indeed, even when the Romans are governing provinces, administration in the area is much more reliant on something representing indirect rule. - Indirect rule is better in some cases, as it's cheaper and "puts a local face to foreign rule."

Sulla

- Sulla has been patient over the years, living in Marius' shadow and slowly rising up via the political ladder. - While he and Marius were still friends, they have become increasingly annoyed with one another over the years, and this is especially the case when Marius, who was given command of the Social War, fell ill and the overall command went to Sulla. - Sulla also has command in the war of revenge against Mithridates VI, who tried to aid the rebels in the Social War. Marius isn't exactly pleased with this, as he is afraid Sulla will eclipse his success. - No surprise then, when Sulla turns against Sulpicius regarding the citizenship issue, as he wants no trouble at home while he is away campaigning in the East. Sulla on Campaign - We'll save the larger discussion of Mithridates for another talk, but suffice to say Sulla is busy while in the East: 1) He massacres the population of Athens for siding with Mithridates in his invasion plans. 2) Defeats Pontic forces at Chaeronaea, killing 110,000 (disputed) while losing only 12 men himself (confirmed) 3) Kills 15,000 of the Pontic force at Orchomenus, forcing them to sue for peace (Mithridates escapes in the process) 4) Extorts the elites of Asia Province for siding with the enemy... 5) Allows Mithridates to escape so that he can get back to Rome to assert power. Proscription of Enemies - In order to get complete control of Rome (and other people's money), Sulla and his associates drew up a list of names and nailed that list to the doors of the Senate (as well as other prominent places in the city). - If your name is on this list, it means that you are fair game and anyone can kill you for a reward without fear of prosecution. Your entire wealth then goes to the state (i.e. Sulla and his associates). If you manage to kill yourself before someone else can, only half your wealth is confiscated. - 9,000 people die in Sulla's proscriptions in a six month period in 81. From 82-79, Sulla is Dictator of the Roman Republic - After ridding himself of his enemies, whoever is leftover in the Senate is usually a lackey of Sulla. Now that he has complete control, Sulla wishes to reform the Republic. - Sulla believes the reason the Republic is in tatters isn't necessarily because of him, but rather problems which go back to the Gracchi. Tribunes of Plebs have too much power, consecutive consulships have subverted the mechanisms of the Republic, and this has led to chaos. - Sulla believes that the only way to properly reform the Republic is to bestow the Senate with greater power. Sulla's Reforms of the Republic - Increase the number of Senate members from 300 to 600 (the Senate was down to 150 members thanks to the civil war). Many senators are drawn from the equestrian class as a way to drain that class's talent pool. - Number of Quaestorships increased to 20, Praetorships 6 to 8. - No consecutive holding of offices, age requirements for offices reintroduced (30 for Quaestor, 39 for Praetor, 42 for Consul). - Only Senators can sit on juries. - Tribunes of Plebs are barred from serving in any higher office, their legislation must first have Senate approval. - Provincial governors must have Senatorial approval before leaving their province/making war. - Subsidized grain distribution is abolished. - Mass land confiscation in Italy to give farms to Sulla's veterans. Sulla Steps Down - It is clear that Sulla saw that the only stabilizing force at Rome was the Senate, and this seems to been the main motive for his reforms. While the Senate could overstep its bounds, Sulla seemed most concerned about how offices such as the Tribunes of the Plebs could lead to demagoguery and urban disorder (i.e. Gracchi, Saturninus, Drusus the Younger, Sulpicius, etc.). - After three years Sulla, feeling his reforms are complete, steps down and relies on the Senate to enforce his reforms. He retired to his estates, partying out his retirement before dying in 78 from a cerebral hemorrhage after a drinking/sex party session. - But the thing is, Sulla put WAAAAY too much faith in this newly empowered Senate to enforce his reforms and get the Republic back to functioning properly. There were just not enough men of competence or drive at this point in time to allow the Senate to exercise this new power. Moreover, everyone (including his allies) hated his guts, and begin the process to dismantle his reforms only a few years after his death. - The Republic, in order to function, will rely more and more on talented individuals to achieve their goals for them, effectively embracing a Timocratic form of government. This only works as long as these individuals are working for the good of the Republic as well as their own glory. When such individuals clash with one another, however, there are going to be problems...LOTS of problems.

Marius in exile

- Sulla heads East to fight Mithridates. Marius, however, has fled to Africa with his son and decides to form an army of veterans and slaves there. He is OBSESSED with returning to Rome getting that 7thconsulship. - When he hears that the men Sulla left in charge were basically toadies and that one Lucius Cinna is conspiring to take over and wants Marius' help, Marius agrees to launch his own invasion of Rome. - And here is where Marius becomes the bad guy. He sails back to Italy to meet up with a force of anti-Sullans (including his old comrade Quintus Sertorius), and besieges Rome in 87.

Marius and Sulpicius move against Sulla

- Sulpicius doesn't water down this legislation, and rioting ensues (with Marius' veterans being used as Sulpicius' muscle). - When Sulla comes out to the forum to restore order and institute a suspension of public business, more street fighting breaks out in which Sulla is nearly killed. He escapes and, without thinking, finds that the nearest house he can hide in is that of Marius, who blackmails Sulla into lifting the suspension in return for Marius not letting the rioters kill him. - Sulla grudgingly accepts, lifts it, and then goes off with an army to do some mopping up of rebels as at this time (88) the Social War is still winding down. - Once Sulla is gone, Sulpicius has the other consul removed and gets Sulla's command against Mithridates VI reassigned to Marius, getting his citizenship legislation supported in return. - When Sulla hears that he's lost his command to Marius, he's righteously indignant. However, righteous indignation turns quickly into unreasonable RAGE!! - Sulla is in the right here, but up to a point. He is rightful consul and should get first dibs on the war against Mithridates, but he decides to take matters into his own hands, having the new commander sent by Marius to replace him stoned to death. - He then convinces his soldiers that they are being robbed of their glory...and must march on Rome to exact vengeance against Marius and restore the command to Sulla. - Sulla loses the plot here, because, let's face it. Consuls are NOT SUPPOSED TO INVADE ROME WITH AN ARMY! IT'S LIKE THE PRESIDENT DECLARING MARTIAL LAW TO INVADE A STATE BECAUSE THE GOVERNOR MADE FUN OF HIS EARS! - While completely illegal, Sulla doesn't care, he wants what he believes is his. In invading Rome in 87, he takes Marius completely by surprise. Marius, however, will not go quietly, and personally leads an army made up of raw recruits, gladiators, and slaves to fight Sulla to a standstill. Sulla's men nearly run, but they're more afraid of Sulla than Marius' force, and a COMPLETE bloodbath ensues in Rome. - Marius flees the city to Africa. Sulla takes complete control, revokes ALL of Sulpicius' legislation (including citizenship for the Italians), gets back his command, and installs two consuls for the following year to uphold his legislation on pain of EXTREME PAIN! - Sulpicius is killed by one of his slaves, who goes to Sulla in hopes of a reward. Sulla then rewards the slave, but then kills him personally for slaying his former master...

The Senate

- The Advisory body to the Consul, Praetor and (later) Tribune of the Plebs. - Senators meet in the presence of one or both consuls. If consuls are on campaign, the Senate can travel to meet the consul at the pomerium. - To be a senator, one must have served 10 years in the Roman Army, have at least held the office of quaestor, and have at least 1 million sesterces (HS) in assets. Senators can wear a white toga with a purple stripe, red shoes, and an iron ring to denote their office. Usually hold office for life. - Over time, the Senate oversees diplomatic affairs, receives embassies, can make military assignments for consuls or praetors, supervise public finances, make decisions on religious matters, and hold influence with the Tribunes of Plebs.

The Cult of Isis

- The Cult of Isis originated from the worship of the Egyptian goddess of Love, Mercy, and Compassion. - Isis appealed to many as it promised salvation and a good afterlife for those who acted righteously. - However, this religion was subject to suppression, especially during the war between Octavian (later Augustus Caesar) and Cleopatra. This was not because of anything having to do with the religion per se, Octavian merely thought that there may be Cleopatran sympathizers amongst the priesthood and so banned it from Rome.

What stops Rome from falling into anaycyclosis

- The Roman "constitution" is a mixed one in which Rome employs all of the good governments of which Polybius speaks, but has a system of checks and balances in which powers of players are checked and terms of office are limited. This way no one group ends up getting that sense of entitlement and starts screwing things up. - The thing is, this system only works if everyone is operating in good faith. As you can see with the video on Tiberius Gracchus, the Senate finds that it can dominate the system to their own ends, leading to the Land Crisis... - This will start a trend in which, instead of having anacyclosis, you'll have a system in which all forms of bad government are operating simultaneously. Ergo: - Monarchy --> Tyranny Aristocracy --> Oligarchy Democracy --> Olchocracy And I haven't even come to TIMOCRACY, which will be discussed later...

The Senate resists Marius

- The Senate fears Marius' power, and so when he tries to get land for his men, they resist - Basically, the Senate doesn't LIKE the fact that some inbred hick from the sticks doled out 12 kinds of awesome and made them all look bad in the process. - By 103, Marius succeeded in getting land for his veterans in return for their service against Jugurtha. By 101-100, he wants to do the same with his veterans who defeated the German Hordes. - The Senate block this, afraid that Marius is never going to step down as consul, and that he'll do something stupid like make himself King! - Marius, however, tries to bypass them by allying with two-term Tribune of the Plebs L. Appuleius Saturninus, a populares politician.

The Tribal Assembly

- The Tribal Assembly represented all of the tribes at Rome (31 rural tribes, and 4 urban tribes). - People are members of this tribe if they had a Gens, that is a name representing their membership in a tribe. A gens is made up of: ¨Praenomen- one's first name (Gaius) ¨Nomen- indicates which family one is a member of (Julius) ¨Cognomen- Some families are large, so this indicates to what branch of the family you belong to (Caesar) - That being said, in the early Republic, both the Tribal Assembly and the CenturiateAssembly have little power on their own, and constantly guided by the nobles who make up the Senate.

Magic and Superstition

- There were also some practices that were seen as dangerous to Rome. Witchcraft was largely viewed in a negative light. Practicing Black Magic was considered to be a capital offence punishable by death. - During the empire, some emperors made it a capital offence to consult fortune tellers on the subject of the emperor's future/time he would die. - People would wear amulets (bulla) to ward off the Evil Eye and protect themselves from people trying to curse them. - Curses were common at Rome, and people would call upon the dark goddesses to smite their targets...

The Cut of Magna Mater

- Usually, the Romans had no problems accepting a new religion into their society. Indeed, with the Cult of Magna Mater (Great Mother), they did so to try to resolve the military crisis of Hannibal. - Only thing is, they don't vet it properly: -Frenzied Ceremonies, Shrill Music. -Self-mutilation, including castration. -To predict the future, they do the following with a bull... As you can imagine, while the diplomats who brought over Magna Mater might have had a better idea of the religion itself, the Romans themselves thought this was...eccentric to say the least (see The Fresh Prince's reaction to the left). Therefore, while Magna Mater was allowed to remain at Rome, it was nevertheless regulated (Roman citizens could not become priests and the rituals concerned were monitored by Roman state priests to make sure that this wasn't followed up by something even more messed up...

Gaius Verres' Career

- Verres started out his career as a supporter of Marius then switched sides to Sulla, who had him cleared of charges of embezzlement during the civil war of 88-84. - In 80, as legate to the governor of Cilicia, with whom he works to plunder the province. - Bribes his way into the position of Urban Praetor in 74, where he serves as a political hack to abuse his authority in order to further party interests. He is rewarded with governorship of Sicily. - Verres, as governor, is known for being a complete a—hole. He levies arbitrary taxes against wheat growers there, and while first working with the publicani, tries to shake them down as well. An avid art collector, he plunders both temples and private homes of their works of art. During the Spartacan Revolt, Verres seizes the slaves of wealthy landowners on the pretense that they sympathize with Spartacus, then tells the owners that if he does not receive ransom for these slaves, they will be crucified. When the landowner had no slaves, Verreswould accuse him of hiding slaves and throw him into prison until he was paid a huge bribe. - Verres evidently accused of drinking and whoring around Sicily while there was a pirate problem. When he did deal with piracy, he evidently worked with the pirates to appear to fight them, then have them freed so that he could keep part of their stolen plunder. When this issue was raised, Verres then took some Spanish refugees, dressed them up as pirates, and then had them executed to look like he was doing something about the problem. - When one notable accuses Verres of these crimes, Verres has him beaten to death. Trial Against Verres - Many of these accusations may be false or character assassination (we only have a record of Cicero's speeches during trial proceedings), but in any case Verresmust have been guilty of something as he hired Rome's best lawyer of the time, Hortensius, who tried to get the trials delayed twice. - While the jury seemed sympathetic at first to Verres, he was up against an honest judge as well as Cicero. These delays that Hortensius tries for are done in order to have the honest judge serve up his term so that a more corrupt, sympathetic judge can be found for Verres. With only a few days for the trial to happen before the judge's term is up, Cicero surprises Hortensius by short circuiting his plan. He makes a short but effectively incendiary speech ennumerating Verres' alleged crimes, then quickly brings forth witnesses to verify this. - Even the jury is disgusted at Verres' behavior, and Hortensius doesn't even give a response to Cicero's case. He advises Verres to flee Rome before the trial ends, and Verres runs with his ill-gotten goods to Massilia in Gaul, where he lives until 43 BC/E when he is murdered on the orders of Mark Antony. - Cicero can at least celebrate a symbolic victory, and this case highlights provincial corruption.

The rise of the Tribune Sulpicius

- When citizenship is given to the Latins and Italians, the Senate tries to state that 8 new tribes will be created out of these Latins/Italians. Only thing is, these 8 new tribes get to vote on legislation only AFTER the other 35 existing Roman tribes vote. This effectively makes the new citizenry's votes useless. - Sulpicius Rufus serves as Tribune of Plebs in 88 and proposes that the new citizens get incorporated into the 35 existing tribes. The Senate, however, doesn't like this idea as it will give too much influence to new citizens. - Sulpicius depends on the two consuls for that year to get his legislation passed. One is a good friend of his, and the other (whom he helped to win the election) is Lucius Cornelius Sulla...

Pompey and Crassus

- While Pompey gets a triumph (his second one) for his defeat of Sertorius in Spain (and is able to build up a HUGE client base there as a result), Crassus only gets an ovatio, a lesser honor, from the Senate. He's also angry that Pompey not only tried to steal credit for defeating Spartacus, but also has largely been the favored one by the Senate ever since Sulla despite having held almost no public office! - Crassus has held every major political office, but in order to have what could be considered a truly successful political career, Crassus needs to have a successful military campaign that results in a triumph (i.e. kill at least 5,000 enemy soldiers in battle. Slaves do not count, they have to be part of a foreign army). He wants a triumph, and this will be his obsession for years to come. - Pompey and Crassus are elected consuls in the year 70 (which is rich, as Pompey's only 36, and has never held political office before in his life). Despite hating each other, they work to repeal Sulla's reforms. They pass a law fully restoring the traditional powers of a tribune, and also ensure that 2/3 of the juries are filled by equestrians. - Neither man chooses to govern a province as proconsul following this year, as there are no wars on, but rather decide to defer their governances for another time. With the beginning of the 60s, the problem of Pirates and Mithridates arises...

Timocracy

- Why does Marius screw Sulla over. Well, by this time, war and chances at glory come fairly frequently, so the leading men in government have come to rule what Plato calls a timocracy. That is, a government by the elites who are obsessed with obtaining honors and glory. - Remember that Roman culture is dominated by family. So, among the elites, to win glory and honor is to do so not just for yourself but also your family, which will become more powerful via your accomplishments (offices, military victories, laws, treaties, etc.). - Sulla finally has his chance to win glory for his family in his own right, but Marius, who WANTS that 7th consulship as well as a chance to go out in a blaze of glory, has become obsessed with doing so at his erstwhile ally's expense. Timocracy becomes the norm for many between the 90s and the 50s BC/E.

New Men in Roman Politics

- With respect to politics and elections by the late 100s, many are looking to Equestrians (the business class allowed to engage in trade) as an alternative to aristocratic Senatorial leadership - A novus homo (New Man) is an individual who begins his political career at Rome with almost no connections to the wealthy and influential. - New Men find themselves having to embrace a patron/client relationship, in which they find a wealthy, influential, politically connected Roman and offer their services to them as a client. - The patron will help the client by supporting them/giving testimonials of them in elections, loan them money in political campaigns, etc. - The client would support the patron politically, keep his ear to the ground in Rome to hear of any threats/opportunities for the patron. A good example of a successful client is Cato the Elder. - Patron/Client fallings out were NOT PRETTY, as we can see by:

Judaism and Christianity

- You would think Judaism would not be tolerated because of its monotheistic nature. However, the Romans tolerated (albeit reluctantly) Judaism based on the fact that it was an ancestral religion. (religio licita). - Christianity, on the other hand, was seen as a new-fangled cult (especially after the Jews disavowed any association with Christians). - Christians were seen as "atheists" who threatened the Pax Deorum as they refused to sacrifice to the gods, and during the empire refused to venerate the emperors as divine. Religio illicita.

L. Appuleius Saturninus

- died 100 BC/E - Saturninus is like the Gracchi on an eight-ball of cocaine. He's an in-your-face popularis who is not afraid to play dirty in order to get what he wants. - Saturninus not only got the land for Marius' African veterans, he seems to extended the grain subsidy set up by Gaius Gracchus. - Saturninus also wants to get land for Marius' other veterans, and found colonies all over the place, giving Marius sole authority to award citizenship in those areas. - Saturninus also gets Metellus exiled from Italy. - Uses Marius' veterans to intimidate the opposition come voting time. 99 BC/E: Saturninus overplays his hand... - Saturninus' behavior in 100 causes Marius to leave his sixth consulship under a cloud. Saturninus, however, is tribune for the third time in 99, and tries to get Marius to support one of his lackeys for consul. Marius refuses, and Saturninus has one of the opposing consular candidates beat him to death and have the lackey stand as a replacement. - Saturninus' actions cause gang warfare and rioting at Rome, and the Senate passes an SCU to get rid of him. Marius is asked to intervene, and he demands Saturninus' surrender, which the latter does in return for a fair trial. Saturninus' other enemies get to him, though, and he is killed in a rather grisly manner. - The fact is that Marius didn't support Saturninus because Marius doesn't WANT to be king, and he LOVES the Republic. What Marius REALLY wants is the aristocratic senators to accept him as one of their own.

Gaius Julius Caesar

100-44 - Born in 100 to a Patrician family, NOT born via Caesarean section, it's the family name. - Son of Aurelia and Gaius Julius Caesar, had two sisters. Nephew of Gaius Marius (with whom he evidently spent time in his youth). After Marius' death, becomes a flamen (Priest of Jupiter) and marries the daughter of Cinna, Cornelia. By 85, Caesar's father is dead and he is head of the family at 15. - When Sulla returns to Rome and launches proscriptions, Caesar (as nephew of Marius and husband to Cinna's daughter) is targeted. Sulla strips Caesar of his priesthood, his wife's dowry, and his inheritance, then orders Caesar to divorce Cornelia. Caesar, however, loves Cornelia, and stands up to Sulla, apparently standing his ground when Sulla flies into a rage. He nevertheless goes into hiding until Sulla calms down, having been convinced to leave Caesar at the behest of Caesar's mother Aurelia as well as the Vestal Virgins (he keeps Caesar's money, though). - Caesar decides to leave Rome lest Sulla change his mind, and goes East to join the Roman Army. - Sulla was unwittingly doing Caesar a favor when he stripped him of his flamen priesthood, as Caesar could now join the army. In 81, Caesar serves in Cilicia, winning the Civic Crown as a result of saving the lives of fellow soldiers in battle. Then goes to the court of King Nicomedes IV of Bithynia, where he gets along so well with the king that it is believed that the monarch left his kingdom to Roe upon his death. - Caesar returns to Rome after Sulla's death, living in the poor area of Rome called the Subura. Becomes a lawyer where, like Cicero and Cato, he was known for prosecuting corrupt governors. Becomes friends with Cicero, who admires Caesar's oratorical ability. - While traveling to Rhodes to go to rhetoric school, Caesar is kidnapped by pirates but upon being ransomed captures and crucifies them. While he's in the general neighborhood, he hears of a Pontic invasion and puts together a ragtag band of auxiliaries to repulse the invasion! - Elected military tribune in late 70s, may have served with Crassus in putting down the Spartacan revolt. - When his aunt Julia (wife of Marius) dies in 69, Caesar makes a political statement at her funeral by effectively rehabilitating Marius' memory by displaying statues and funerary masks of he and his family (this was forbidden by Sulla). - Quaestor in 69 in the Spanish Provinces, and enjoys enough success there to request an early return to Rome. His wife Cornelia having died around this time, he marries Sulla's granddaughter Pompeia. Takes out loans to personally pay for the repair of the Appian Way, making him popular with Romans/Italians. Took out even more loans as Aedile in 65 to pay for public works and lavish games (displaying Marius' trophies). This earns him the enmity of Bibulus, his colleague. - Like Cato, during this time he prosecutes former Sullans for crimes committed during Sulla's dictatorship. - Elected Pontifex Maximus, 63 BC/E. Character - Tall, blond haired, dark blue eyes. Usually in excellent health, save for the fact that he may have had epilepsy. - Intelligent (shows appreciation for literature, music and philosophy), charismatic, gregarious, very charming. Enjoyed the company of intelligent people, imaginative. Fairly open-minded. - Ambitious, not afraid to break rules to get ahead. Opportunistic, sometimes manipulative. - Popular when commanding troops, known for leading them personally in battle and convincing those who try to run away to get back to fighting. - Despite being extremely loyal to his friends and forgiving (sometimes to a fault) of some of his political enemies, Caesar is obsessed with his own image and achievement, and tries to be seen as the perfect Roman. This ties in not only with his desire for glory, but also his vanity. - Despite being a popularis politician, he ultimately tries to be a political moderate (although he received criticism from Cicero for bypassing the rules for his own ends when it suited him). - Abstemious, didn't drink much, but was very much the ladies man and, when accused of being homosexual by one of his enemies, would make a point of sleeping with that man's wife, sister, closest female relative, etc. to show that he was very much heterosexual! With Caesar's victories in the Civil Wars, he is made dictator first for 10 years then for life in Feb. 44 - We don't have a complete picture of Caesar's time as dictator, just the letters of Cicero which refer to it, as well as the secondhand accounts of it in sources such as Suetonius, Plutarch, and Appian. - Held dictatorship for a few days in 49 to preside over elections in which he's made consul for 48. - Dictator in 47 to preside over elections, in which he becomes consul for 46. - After the Battle of Thapsus in 46, he's made dictator for 10 years, and is given the right to nominate candidates of his choice in some offices. - Dictator and sole consul in 45. - Consul in 44, made dictator for LIFE! Caesar reasons that a one-year consulship isn't enough to get things done, especially with Rome's problems... - Debt cancellation/money shortage - Land "Crisis" - Citizenship - Unemployment - Grain Supply - Corruption of publicani in the provinces - Calendar is completely out of whack Debt cancellation/money shortage - Many are calling for the cancellation of debts, especially since the Civil War has caused interest rates to go through the roof. As a result of this financial panic, everyone is hoarding money and there's a shortage of coin. - Caesar negotiates with creditors to have unsuccessful rich office seekers mortgage their estates, but at pre-war interest rates (this way these landowners won't lose their shirts when paying their debts, and creditors will at least get something back). - To alleviate the debts of the poor, Caesar decrees that all poor citizens of Rome will live rent free for a year. The money they save can go to their debts. - To solve the money shortage, Caesar as dictator decrees that anyone with more than HS 60,000 in cash must spend the excess money so that coin can come back into circulation. Land Distribution - Caesar wants land for his veterans as well as the poor at Rome, butdoes not want to pull a Sulla and proscribe in order to get it, nor does he want to confiscate land left and right. - Caesar convinces many to settle in areas outside Italy such as Spain and Gaul. When land confiscation does take place, it's from the provincial communities that opposed Caesar in the Civil War. - Caesar also wants to found colonies at the site of Carthage as well as Corinth as a way of finding land for poor Romans. - We don't know if Caesar had a grand plan for founding colonies, as he didn't live long enough to display a coherent policy. Provincial citizenship and the problem of the publicani - Caesar is generous with granting citizenship. He gives it to those Italians who don't already have it, as well as to the Gallic tribes who remained loyal to him during Vercingetorix's revolt (he even makes some Gallic chieftans Roman senators). - Caesar gives Latin Rights to Sicily. - In order to prevent corruption (and consequent revolt) of the publicani in the province of Asia, Caesar decrees that the elites of the communities in that province would be responsible for collecting taxes and delivering them to the governor (thus cutting the publicani middleman). This may have been a test case to see if such a solution would work, as Caesar didn't do it for all provinces. This solution becomes the norm during the Empire. Grain Supply and the Clodian Welfare State - Publius Clodius' "free grain for all," has been constantly threatening to bankrupt the Roman treasury. Caesar needs to resolve this, butdoesn't want to take free grain away from everyone. - Caesar overhauls the grain supply system, building a new harbor at Ostia, as well as canals at Tarracina, in order to make grain easier to deliver to Rome. Caesar's efforts to found colonies in Africa (as well as his relationship with Cleopatra of Egypt, a big grain producing land) were probably part of sending more grain to Rome and driving down the price. - Once grain becomes so cheap that all but the poorest of poor Romans can afford it, Caesar limits the amount of free grain given from 320,000 citizens to 150,000. Caesar thus initiates the first successful welfare reform! Unemployment at Rome - Rome (and Italy) has big unemployment problems, mainly because the slaves have taken all of the jobs. - Caesar's plans previously mentioned (building colonies, facilities for grain storage, etc.) may have related to unemployment, as the jobs created here would be reserved for free Romans, who now had paying jobs. - Caesar has planned building projects at Rome as well, which create jobs for free Romans in the short term. He builds the Forum Iulium, the marble based Saepta Iulia, as well as housing on the Tiber. He has plans to build a "Great Library of Rome," a new Senate House, a Temple to Mars, and a Theatre of Caesar that would rival that of Pompey. The Roman Calendar - The Romans originally had a year that was only 355 days, with a provision for an extra month to be inserted from time to time to match the solar year. - Thanks to the disruption of the late 50s as well as the Civil War, no one was paying attention to the calendar, so by Caesar's dictatorship the Roman year and the Solar Year are three months apart (so when it's a Roman summer, it's actually fall, when it's a Roman winter, it's actually spring, etc.). This can become an administrative nightmare, esp. when collecting taxes in crop form. - In 46, thanks to the possible advice of Cleopatra (as well as the re-assertion of an old law that had never been enforced), Caesar lengthens the year to 445 days so that the Roman calendar can catch up with the solar year, and decrees that the year will be 365 days long, with a leap year every 4 years (the 23 ½ of February). - The Julian calendar (despite changes by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582), is still pretty much used today. Caesar, despite being Dictator, is fairly popular with the general population... - Caesar's reforms don't necessarily please everyone (there are many who complain that he doesn't cancel ALL debts, and his workaholic nature causes him to read during races). But by virtue of his military exploits, relatively approachable nature, and seeming dedication to at least attempt to solve Rome's problems, Caesar is quite popular with the common people. - Had plans to codify Roman law so that all people would have a better reference to their rights. - Dedicated his villa and gardens on the Tiber (along with its art collection and library) as a public park open to all. - In his will, he left about 300 sesterces (the equivalent of about $50 more or less) to every citizen of Rome. But many in the Senate have problems with Caesar's dictatorship... - To get approval of the Senate, Caesar enlarges that body from 600 to 900, and the new members are either ex-army officers of his, Italians whose communities have only had citizenship for a relatively short time, as well as Spanish senators and even Gallic ones. Many conservative Senators believe this cheapens the body. - Caesar doubles the number of quaestorships from 20 to 40, as well as the number of praetorships from eight to sixteen, so that more people have a chance of holding office. Again, many see this as cheapening these offices. - Caesar not only reserves the right to nominate consular candidates, he also shortens the term of the consulship so that more people can hold it in a given year (and even gives the consulship to an associate, who holds it for a day!). This "everyone's a winner" approach angers many. Caesar's enemies believe he has set up a personality cult to make himself king! - From 46 to 44, Cleopatra is in Rome (with baby son Caesarion in tow) to have Caesar recognize him as his legitimate heir. He doesn't do so (making his grandnephew Octavian co-heir and Marcus Brutus his executor of his estate). Nevertheless, he keeps her as his mistress, which is considered to be a public insult to his wife Calpurnia. Moreover, people are hailing him as King in the streets (rumors he tries to dispel, possibly with the help of Mark Antony). - Caesar also acts rather arrogantly towards some Senators. He misses senatorial functions (claiming epilepsy as his absence) and doesn't think to rise when consuls come to his office (he claims explosive diarrhea). Yet the Senate is acting passive-aggressively, heaping honors upon him (which probably inflates his ego), yet talking stuff about him behind his back. So when Caesar plans to leave at the end of March 44 to fight the Parthians, many Senators (some of whom are Caesar's allies) decide to get rid of him, calling themselves Liberators. - Over thirty senators decide to take part in assassinating Caesar. Among them: - Cassius Longinus (despite serving as a Foreign office Praetor, Cassius has always been a "Pompey Man." Was to serve as governor of Syria). - Decimus Brutus (also a Foreign office Praetor, was to serve as governor of Cisalpine Gaul). - Marcus Brutus (Urban Praetor, as well as being close to Caesar). - Gaius Trebonius (served in several offices thanks to Caesar, was one of the consuls that Caesar did not stand to greet, was to serve as proconsul for Asia). - Tillius Cimber (close to Caesar, helped Cicero out via this connection, served as Praetor and was to serve as governor of Bithynia et Pontus). Caesar's assassination comes as a shock to all of Rome... - Caesar, despite trying to stab back with the stylus he was holding, was stabbed 23 times (only one of the wounds, the second, was fatal). He was 56 years old. He may have had information that an attempt on his life was in the making, but nevertheless did not want to be seen as a paranoid coward. He fell at a statue of Pompey before dying. When asked during his dictatorship of how he would like to meet his end, Caesar supposedly said "That which is unexpected." - The assassins try to portray themselves as liberating the Republic from Caesar, who was an aspiring tyrant. They do get vocal support from men like Cicero, who was not involved in the assassination, and despite being friends with Caesar, could never reconcile himself to such high-handed behavior. -The assassins still have opposition, though.

Marcus Tullius Cicero

106-43 BC/E - Born in 106 BC/E, Cicero was a lawyer, politician, political theorist, statesman, philosopher, and orator. - Like Pompey, a New Man from Arpinum ("Cicero" means "chickpea"). Cicero has no connections, so he studies and studies, going to law school at Rome while working on the side as a translator of Greek philosophical works into Latin for a wide audience. - When he was 16, he began his public career by fighting for Rome in the Social War in Sulla's army. There, he meets Pompey and they become friends for the rest of their lives (as Cicero is not a military man, this is convenient!). Cicero's First Big Legal Case: The Sextus Roscius trial (80 BC/E) - At only age 26, Cicero represents Sextus Roscius, who was on trial for murdering his father. The evidence weighs heavily against Roscius, and no one will defend him but Cicero. - Cicero investigates and digging deeper, manages to see that Roscius' father owned an estate that would have gone to Sextus upon the death of Roscius. - This case happened during the dictatorship of Sulla, when Sulla relied upon many favorites to help him run things. One favorite, a Greek Freedman Chrysogonus, was suspected by Cicero of having something to do with this murder, for if Roscius were found guilty, the estate in question would be seized by the state and open to purchase at a rock bottom price. - Upon investigating further, Cicero finds that Chrysogonus paid off members of Roscius' father's staff to frame Roscius. Throughout the trial Cicero asks "Cui Bono?" ("who benefits?"), arguing that Roscius had no motive to murder his father, as his father was already in bad health and he was the main beneficiary in his will. - Roscius is acquitted. This is a major embarrassment for the Sullan regime, and Chrysogonus "disappears" from the records after this. Cicero decides to flee east rather than face Sulla, who is probably less than pleased with the trial's outcome. Cicero's Next Big Legal Case: The Trial of Gaius Verres (70 BC). - Cicero was known after his Roscius case to be fair, open-minded, approachable, honest, and hard-working. - It is because of this reputation that he was approached by several citizens of Sicily for his next major case.It seems that a previous governor of the island, GaiusVerres, was being sued by the inhabitants for misgovernment.As Cicero served as quaestor of Sicily in 75 beforeVerres' arrival, the Sicilians trust him to represent their case Political Career and Ideology - Quaestor in 75, Aedile in 69, Praetor (of extortion courts) in 66. Elected Consul in 63. - Cicero has a couple of political problems. He's a New Man, and is looked down upon by the Optimate elites. At the same time, he is no Popularis politician, believing that reforming the Republic to correct its abuses is better than relying on popular politicians, whom he believes will wreck the Republic with radical legislation. - Cicero is therefore a political moderate. He sympathizes with both groups but refuses to align with either due to their past excesses. This ALWAYS puts Cicero, one of the most respected men in Rome, in a tight spot.

Lucius Cornelius Sulla

138-78 - Born to a well respected Patrician family. Sulla has the opposite problem of Marius. He's got the prestigious name, but not the money to start a political career. Well-educated, superficially charming. - Spends much of his youth partying, drinking, getting stoned, sleeping with everything that moves. To make money, Sulla evidently played the part of gigolo to rich, older women. - When his stepmother (with whom he may or may not have had an intimate relationship) dies, he is left a sum of money. When a older woman with whom he has a relationship also dies (mysteriously), he is left money on top of that and can begin his political career. - He gets elected quaestor in 107 and becomes Marius' aide-de-camp while on campaign against Jugurtha in Numidia.

Tiberius

14-37 AD With Augustus' death in AD/CE 14, he created a formula for success... - Keep the Senate happy. To keep the Senate happy means to try to make yourself accessible, give them the utmost respect, ensure that they are rewarded properly, and make sure that they feel like they have a say in government (although not too much responsibility). - Keep the army happy. The army ensures that you can be protected, and ensures defense of the empire as well as control of the people. Pay them, reward them, and make sure not to neglect them lest one of their generals causes trouble! - The Julio-Claudian emperors who followed these rules were successful, unlike the ones who didn't! Early Life - Born in 42 BC/E to Livia and Tiberius Claudius Nero, Tiberius (along with his younger brother Drusus) were adopted by Augustus when he forced their father to divorce Livia so that Augustus could marry her. - Despite having affection for Drusus, Augustus and Tiberius didn't really get along. - Quaestor at 17, later serves as a lawyer advocating for disaster relief for people of the provinces. Develops interest in Greek thought and rhetoric. - Accompanies Agrippa in 20 BC on a peace mission to Parthia, which is successful. (by this time he is made Praetor) Agrippa and Tiberius get on well, so much so that Tiberius marries Agrippa's daughter Vipsania with his blessing, and the marriage is a very happy one! Militarily, Tiberius stands as one of the greatest generals Rome ever produced, conquering Switzerland and expanding Roman borders to the Danube River... Despite this success, Tiberius has setbacks. - Made consul in 13 BC/E, and is elevated in the succession when Agrippa dies in 12 BC/E. - After Agrippa dies, Tiberius is forced by his mother Livia into an unhappy marriage to Augustus' daughter Julia in 11. Tiberius is heartbroken that he had to leave Vipsania, and matters are not helped when his brother Drusus died in 9. - By 6 BC/E, Tiberius is one step away from being Augustus' successor, but doesn't want to succeed Augustus (that's more Livia than anything else). So, instead of accepting a command in the East and accepting Tribunician Power, he decides to retire to the island of Rhodes. Tiberius' "retirement" may have been motivated by a couple of things. - Tiberius, while being deeply in love with Vipsania (he even tried to see her repeatedly but was later forbidden from doing so), hated Julia. - Tiberius probably knew about Julia's serial adultery, and probably retired as a way of highlighting her behavior. - Tiberius had always felt like "throne insurance," as Augustus actually wanted Julia's children to be possible successors (and usually let Tiberius know this). - Unfortunately, as soon as getting to Rhodes, Tiberius found that it was the most boring place on Earth and almost immediately begged Augustus (usually via Livia) to come back, which Augustus repeatedly refused. - When Lucius dies in 2, and Gaius dies in 4, Augustus has to call Tiberius back to Rome to make him a possible successor (this is secured when Postumus Agrippa, Augustus' grandson, is banished in 7). By 13, Tiberius is the heir apparent. - Once back in public life, Tiberius serves an important role in stabilizing the Rhine frontier after the Teutoburg Forest disaster in 9. - When Augustus dies in 14, Tiberius is his sole heir and is made emperor at the age of 56, becoming the second emperor of Rome. - Tiberius, who has had an accomplished public career up to this point, doesn't really want to be emperor (as he's in his mid-fifties, he was thinking more of a proper retirement by this time). Indeed, he's sympathetic to the "old days" of the Republic. - Tiberius is also not temperamentally suited to be emperor. He's not a people person, and isn't used to dealing with his peers. He could be secretive, suspicious, introspective, reticent and cautious. This causes him to appear aloof to the Senate, who are uneasy around him (and he's known for putting his foot in his mouth with them on some occasions, being uncomfortably awkward on others). Despite quelling the revolt, Germanicus' actions are not always pleasing to Tiberius. - Tiberius, while at first assenting to Germanicus' request to campaign on the Rhine, has second thoughts when Germanicus' campaigns are decidedly mixed. While the campaigns do deal a lot of destruction to the Germans and destroys any rebellious resistance, it has no strategic value, and later in the campaign Germanicus is acting rather independently of Tiberius' wishes. Tiberius, a believer in Augustus' policy of maintaining the borders of the Empire rather than expanding them, recalls Germanicus to Rome in 17, allowing him to celebrate a triumph and become hugely popular at Rome. - As a way of separating him from his troops, Tiberius sends Germanicus on a mission to the East, where Germanicus violates several imperial prerogatives (such as visiting Egypt without Tiberius' permission). Tiberius evidently has the governor of Syria, Calpurnius Piso, try to keep an eye on Germanicus during his stay in that province, which Pisomisinterprets as "start a feud with Germanicus." During this feud, Germanicus dies in Antioch in 19 under very mysterious circumstances. When Tiberius does rule, he does so harshly (or at least appears to be the cranky sort!). - Two separate scandals break out in Rome around the time of Germanicus' death, one involving the cult of Isis and the other involving the Jews of Rome, Tiberius has the priests of Isis crucified and 4,000 Roman Jews deported to Sardinia. - Under Tiberius, only senators are allowed to participate in elections of consuls and praetors, while the people can no longer vote. - When he is criticized in public by actors who have a problem with his rule, Tiberius banishes all actors from Italy. He is also one to cut back on spending for the games. - No new building activity (although Augustus built A LOT). - Tiberius evidently is sick of ruling by 26 and goes into semi-retirement at his villa on the island of Capri, off the west coast of Italy. This causes many sources to accuse him of abandoning his rule and responsibilities. Tiberius, however, did do some good things in his reign... Tiberius does get some bad press, as he did do many things that were beneficial to Rome: - He entrusted many senators to military commands (one suppresses a rebellion in Africa, another in Gaul, another in Thrace), allowing them a chance to shine militarily. - Tiberius is good at showing liberality when it comes to a crisis. When a fire breaks out on the Aventine Hill (the poor part of Rome) and destroys much of the housing there, Tiberius personally pays for the rebuilding of housing. - Provides debt relief to the poor of Rome and tried to keep the price of grain artificially low. - Conscientious of how governors in the provinces behave, and rewards those who do a good job. - When the cities of Asia province are hit by an earthquake, Tiberius rebuilds their cities with his own money and remits their taxes for several years. Tiberius, however, depends too much on his Prefect, L. Aelius Sejanus... - For the first decade of his reign, Tiberius had hoped to have his son, Drusus, succeed him as emperor. When Drusus died in 23, Tiberius was beside himself with grief and was running into succession troubles of his own. - While he is away at Capri, Tiberius finds himself depending more and more on his Praetorian Prefect, the Equestrian Sejanus, to run Rome in his absence. While Sejanus was certainly of help to Tiberius, he had his own agenda. - Sejanus centralizes the Praetorian Guard, giving himself command of 6000-9000 men at Rome. This effectively gives him control of the city. He also controls any correspondence or communication between Rome and the emperor at Capri, in an effort to make himself indispensable. - When Sejanus, however, tries to request that he marry into the imperial family (he wants to marry Drusus' widow Livilla), Tiberius denies his request. Thwarted, Sejanus attempts to isolate Tiberius, and engineers the deaths of several imperial family members. - While Tiberius was away at Capri, Sejanus' power seems to have been checked by Augustus' wife Livia, who used her influence/network of spies to make sure that Sejanus wasn't misbehaving. This changes with her death in 29. - After the death of Drusus, Tiberius hoped that successors could be found in the children of Germanicus (Drusus, Nero, and Gaius "Caligula"). Sejanus, after Livia's death, exploits Tiberius' bad relations with Germanicus' widow, Agrippina, feeding him stories of plots against the emperors life. Tiberius, by this time an old man and willing to believe Sejanus, imprisons Agrippina, Drusus, and Nero (who all die in exile), and forces Gaius "Caligula" to live with him at Capri. - Sejanus is also setting up "treason trials" against his political enemies at Rome, hiring informers to make accusations against them (for crimes that not only included plotting to kill the emperor, but even slandering or making jokes about him), which means that before too long many are allying with Sejanus to avoid suffering his ire. Sejanus becomes the most powerful man in the empire by 31, but quickly falls... - Sejanus becomes the second man in the Empire, but not for long. Tiberius soon finds that, behind the scenes, Sejanus conspired with his son Drusus' wife Livilla to kill Drusus so that Sejanus could marry Livilla and become heir to Tiberius. This, along with Sejanus' misinformation about Agrippina and her family, as well as the getting rid of political enemies and his consolidation of power at Rome, make Tiberius finally realize that Sejanus needed to go. - Tiberius organized a meeting of the Senate, in which he had Sejanus' rival in the Praetorian Guard deliver a message to the consuls, to be read in the Senate. Sejanus' rival tells him that it's a letter from Tiberius, who wants to give him tribunician power and make Sejanus his heir. Sejanus travels to the Senate. - When the letter is read, it becomes clear that Tiberius has denounced Sejanus, and he, along with his family, are arrested and killed. Moreover, those who supported Sejanus (even those who supported him out of fear) are to be executed as well. A minor purge of the Senate accompanies Sejanus' death. Sejanus has gone from heir to dead man in the space of a few hours. Sejanus' death and the purge of the Senate leaves a bad taste in the mouths of the Senate and People of Rome, and no one mourns Tiberius when he dies in 37. - With Tiberius' death, many at Rome are crying for him to be thrown into the Tiber. The Senate makes a point of not deifying him as they did Augustus. - Senatorial historians tend to get the last laugh. Suetonius, a historian writing about 70 years after Tiberius reign (Life of Tiberius) tends to give a rather fair account of Tiberius' early life, but delves into sensationalist rumor and gossip about Tiberius' behavior on Capri, while focusing on a lot of the more negative aspects of his reign. - Tacitus (another senator), who wrote the longest account of Tiberius' reign, treated his rule as "criminal," and that Tiberius' virtues were mere hypocrisies meant to hide his dark side. Cassius Dio (yet another senator, who is rather unoriginal in that he copies Tacitus and Suetonius, is pretty much the same. - The only complimentary source is Velleius Paterculus, whose patron was first Tiberius, then Sejanus (the history cuts off around the year 31, when Velleius was executed for his association with Sejanus). While Tiberius is viewed in a negative light, he nevertheless kept control of the army and the Senate, and managed to keep the idea of an emperor going (pretty important if you're the second one to hold the position!).

Gaius Marius

157-86 - From the municipia of Arpinum, roughly 60 miles from Rome. A member of the equestrian class. - Has no connections when starting his political career, and is seen as a bit of a hayseed redneck by the Roman elites. - Serves with distinction in Spain under Scipio Aemilianus, where he later works as a publicanus and amasses great wealth. This attracts the attention of the Optimate Metelli family, who takes him on as a client in the 120s. - Marius serves as quaestor in the 120s and Tribune of Plebs in 119. His popularis line, however, annoys his Optimate patron, Metellus, who then sabotages Marius' election for aedile in the 1-teens.

The Second Settlement of Augustus

23 BC/E - Augustus resigns from the consulship and never holds it again (except in cases of extreme emergency), but retains proconsular authority over the provinces he controls. Moreover, the Senate still gives him sway over the entire gov't. - Abolishes the office of Tribune of the Plebs, giving himself "Tribunician Power." This not only makes his body sacrosanct, but also gives him veto power and allows him to call the Senate to meeting. - Instead of an office of Ten Tribunes of the Plebs, Augustus is the only tribune, and plays up his willingness to answer petitions/redress the grievances of the people. How do the common people feel about losing a whole lot of their rights? Absolutely wonderful! (no...really, I'm not joking). - After years of civil war, many at Rome don't know what a functioning, healthy Republic looks like (it's been Marius vs. Sulla, Pompey vs. Caesar, constant rioting, food shortages, unemployment, etc. for the past 100 years). - Augustus, to keep people happy, regularly provides free bread and entertainment to the population to keep them docile ("Bread and Circuses."). - The people love it. Indeed, when Augustus renounces any claims to the consulship, they riot, stating that only Augustus should be consul! Augustus pacifies them by wearing consular clothes in public. - Isn't it amazing how people give up their freedom for "free stuff?"

The Julio-Claudian Dynasty

27 BC/E-AD/CE 68 - Augustus (27 BC-AD/CE 14). - Tiberius (AD/CE 14-37). - Gaius Caesar (AKA Caligula, 37-41). - Claudius (41-54). - Nero (54-68). Despite Augustus being the first emperor, all of his familial successors are more closely related to either his wife Livia or....Mark Antony!

The Battle of Actium

31 BC/E - Antony and Octavian's armies meet in Actium, Greece, in 31BC/E. Octavian, who is spectacularly bad at commanding armies, gives command to his best friend Marcus Agrippa (who's actually a pretty honorable and nice guy). - Everyone thought that this would be the biggest sea battle in history (with Antony's larger ships fighting Agrippa's smaller, but faster ships). Agrippa manages to outmaneuver Antony, but cannot get a clear opportunity of victory, as Antony is holding him at bay. - The battle is still being decided when Cleopatra freaks out and flees the battle. Antony, taking this to mean something's happened (and being whipped!) flees with Cleopatra, causing his fleet to collapse. With his support dwindling and trapped in Alexandria, Antony commits suicide in 30... - Agrippa and Octavian invade Egypt and besiege Antony and Cleo in Alexandria. However, according to some stories (and this is VERY disputed), Cleo was negotiating behind Antony's back with Octavian to have her children and herself spared. To sweeten the deal, she fed false stories of her death to Antony (who was on the other side of the palace). In complete despair, Antony stabbed himself. Cleopatra, having an actual attack of conscience, rushed to him and he dies in her arms (after finishing a glass of wine, of course!). - Antony's progeny, however, creates a line of descendants, who don't die out until about 400 years later in the 360s AD/CE. All of Cleopatra's children by Antony are spared and made client kings/queens, but Caesarion, by virtue of being the True Caesar's son, is murdered as Octavian sees him as a threat. - Knowing that Octavian will humiliate and kill her, she takes a poisonous asp to her breast, and dies from the bite. Octavian is enraged, but his enemies are all dead.

The Perusine War

41-40 BC/E - Fulvia has been behind the scenes while married to Clodius and Curio, but decided to promote her husband Antony to the point of launching a revolt with L. Antonius against Octavian. Using the land confiscations as a reason, Fulvia and Lucius march on Rome and drive out Lepidus, then declare that the Triumvirate should be abolished and Antony should take control. - When Octavian's armies arrive near the city, Lucius and Fulvia withdraw to Perusia, where they are besieged before surrendering. Lucius gets sent away to Spain, Fulvia dies in exile, and Octavian massacres the population of Perusia. Antony had nothing to do with this, but should have supported the rebels...

The Second Triumvirate

43-33 BC/E Octavian, Antony, Lepidus In order to get money, as well as political enemies, the three initiate proscriptions in which over 2,300 are killed... Famous victims include: - Marcus Favonius (a follower of Cato the Younger). - Gaius Verres (Antony wanted his art collection). - Lucius Julius Caesar (THE Caesar's cousin, Antony's uncle!). - Lucius Aemilius Lepidus (Lepidus' brother!). - Quintus Tullius Cicero (Caesar's former legate). - Marcus Tullius Cicero (well, you saw that one coming!) Depending on which histories you read, all try to exonerate Octavian as much as possible, while others state that Octavian was just as bloodthirsty as Antony and Lepidus. Indeed, there seem to have been negotiations between the three on who should live/die, so all three have blood on their hands... Now that their enemies have been taken care of at home, it was time to go after Brutus and Cassius... - Perhaps in retaliation for the Perusine War, Octavian takes control of Gaul from Antony's supporters. By this time, Antony contacts Octavian for a sit-down to settle their differences. Lepidus is there, and overtures have been made to Sextus Pompey. - At the talks, it is agreed that, to strengthen their alliance, Antony should marry Octavian's sister Octavia (Antony promptly gives her two daughters), and that Octavian be given administrative control of the West, while Antony is given control of the East. Lepidus, aka "Lord Also-Ran," gets the leftovers and ends up with Africa.

Publius Clodius Tribunate

58 - Clodius gets legislation passed rather easily during his year as Plebian Tribune. - The grain system is overhauled, and Clodius passes a law giving free grain to all Roman citizens. Clodius has effectively created the first welfare state! - Clodius lifts the ban on the collegia (guilds), which were banned in 64 due to their propensity to launch organized riots whenever they were unhappy about something. Clodius probably wants to use the newly re-instated collegia as a recruiting ground for gangs, setting himself up as a political boss. - When Cyprus is annexed, Clodius has a law passed which has Cato sent away to organize that island as a Roman Province. - Cicero is banished to Macedonia from Rome for executing those Catilinarian Senators.

Caesar and Bibulus' consulship

59 BC/E - Caesar tries to be conciliatory by including safeguards in a law regarding land distribution (esp. for Pompey's veterans), but Bibulus and Cato are having none of it. Caesar then takes his case to the Assemblies, but is blocked by Bibulus's augury tricks. - Fighting breaks out in the Forum when Caesar tries to bring the assembly to a vote on these issues, but both Cato and Bibulus are ejected, in part thanks to Pompey's veterans. - With this, Bibulus goes home and effectively refuses to serve out his consulship on religious grounds, in the hopes of invalidating Caesar. Caesar, however, continues his consulship alone. - Pompey gets his Eastern arrangements ratified. - Laws are passed regulating gubernatorial behavior in the provinces. - Crassus' publicani are bailed out and their overbid is cancelled. - Caesar gets a 5 year, three-province command of Cis. Gaul, Trans. Gaul, and Illyria for the year 58. - Cicero, however, is criticizing this unofficial alliance of bypassing the Republic's checks and balances, and turning Rome into an oligarchy of three. Caesar (who initially asked Cicero to be part of the alliance), warns Cicero to keep quiet. Cicero refuses. - Realizing they cannot convince Cicero, the alliance proceeds to get Publius Clodius elected Tribune of the Plebs!

The First Triumvirate

59-53 BC/E Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar

Sextus Pompeius

67-35 BC/E - Antony and Octavian have to deal with Sextus Pompey. Sextus, in short, felt hard done by. His brother and father were killed in the Civil Wars, and most of his inheritance was confiscated by Caesar. While the Triumvirate was dealing with Brutus and Cassius, Pompey had built up a navy that took control of Sicily and Sardinia. He clearly wanted a place at the table with the Triumvirate and a political career. - Antony and Octavian meet Sextus at Misenum in 39. In return for peace with them, Sextus will get an augurship, administrative control of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica, and the Peloponnesus for five years, and be made consul for 33. To solidify these peace terms, Octavian takes Sextus' sister Scribonia as his wife (having his only child, Julia, with her).F

The Second MIthridatic War

83-81 - This war is essentially a hangover from the first, when an associate of Sulla on his own initiative believing that the Pontic King was re-arming attacked Mithridates' kingdom. After the associate is dealt a minor defeat, Sulla as dictator ordered him to make peace. - This war was followed by a "cold war" of sorts during the years 81-73. It seems that during this time Mithridates was in contact with many other anti-Roman parties to try and frustrate Roman ambitions in the Mediterranean. Mithridates, for example, was in touch with Quintus Sertorius when he was running Spain and promised aid to him in return for tying the Romans down there (Sertorius also sent advisers to train Pontic soldiers in the Roman way of fighting). Mithridates also may have been aiding several pirate groups, which were at war with the Romans in Cilicia. Mithridates also allies himself with Tigranes, king of Armenia. - Evidently, Mithridates feared that the Romans are trying to surround his borders, and when Nicomedes IV of Bithynia died without heirs and left his kingdom to Rome, Mithridates declared war on Rome in 73.

Marcus Antonius (Mark Antony)

83?-30 BC/E - Not sure if he was born in 87 or 83, Antony was known to lie about his age. A distant relative of Julius Caesar from a plebian aristocratic family (although I've heard that some have argued that he might have been a nephew). - Much of his family was killed during the purges of Marius . His own father died in the 70s while fighting pirates. His step-father was implicated in the Catilinarian Conspiracy and executed. With the lack of a father figure, Antony falls in with Publius Clodius and was part of his drinking club. - Antony had a misspent youth, drinking, whoring, drugging, gambling, etc. By the time he was twenty years old, he was 250 talents of silver in debt ($5 million), and fled Rome to escape his creditors. - Antony first flees to Greece to study rhetoric and philosophy, then joins the Army on the staff of Aulus Gabinius in Syria, where he helps put down a revolt in Judaea, and shows real military skill. Under Caesar's Tutelage (54-44 BC/E) - Publius Clodius helps Antony get assigned to Caesar's staff in Gaul, where Antony develops his military skills, and becomes good friends with Caesar. - Elected Quaestor in 52 as a populares, rejoins Caesar in Gaul, commands cavalry at Battle of Alesia. Given the position as legate of Caesar, and commanded two of his legions. - Returns to Rome in 50, becomes an augur as well as a priest of the Luperci, and Tribune of the Plebs for 49. - Nearly got Pompey to agree to Caesar's negotiations, but was blocked by Cato. - After Pharsalus, was made governor of Italy as well as Caesar's Master of the Horse, where he shows himself as his own man at times. Antony has good characteristics, but also can act a bit of a libertine. - Antony is known to be brave, loyal, intelligent, an excellent military commander, a good speaker, handsome, and virile (he had 14 children that he knew of). - Antony, however, also is known for his partying behavior, and some think that he would be more successful if he only grew up! Cicero, who hated Antony, constantly accused him of bad behavior. For example, while he was running Rome in Caesar's absence, Antony allegedly would judge court cases, flanked by scantily clad female beauties, either drunk, stoned, or hungover. - Caesar constantly has to take Antony aside and tell him to stop doing things like riding around in chariots led by lions, and some believe that Antony's lack of political activity for about a year in 46 was punishment for this behavior (although others argue that Antony was behind the scenes liquidating Pompey's estates for Caesar so that the latter could have funds for programs during his dictatorship). Although Cicero accuses Antony at times of trying to kill Caesar, there is no proof of this... - Caesar was Antony's patron and very good (if not best) friend, Antony probably wouldn't be big on killing Caesar. - On March 15th, According to some sources, Antony was detained by one of the conspirators to prevent the murder of Caesar from going through. In another account, Antony got wind of the plot against Caesar and evidently rushed to the Senate to try and stop it, but was too late. - After Caesar's death, he flees Rome for two days in case the conspirators want a bloodbath. With the help of Lepidus, a deputy of Caesar, he organizes a meeting of the Senate to try and compromise with the assassins, who haven't fully thought their plan through. - With the help of Cicero of all people, Antony comes to the following arrangement. Antony proposes a show of unity between he and Brutus at Caesar's funeral. - Brutus is allowed to speak first, making his case that, while Caesar did good things and was a hero to the Republic, he needed to die before he could become a tyrant. The speech is a bit cerebral, butseems to have some supporters. - When Mark Antony rises, he claims to only want to bury Caesar (this is the "Friends, Romans, Countrymen" speech in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar which was inspired by Plutarch). But as his speech goes on, it becomes clear that he is portraying the assassins as treacherous and ungrateful, and that they have killed Caesar so that they can continue to have their influence over everyday people. The people turn from mourning to baying for the blood of the assassins, who have to flee Rome. Antony is now in charge, but there is a new player on the scene... Gaius Octavian By late 44-early 43 BC/E, conflict breaks out in Cisalpine Gaul... - While the leaders of the assassins, Brutus and Cassius, fled first to Cyrene and then to Greece to raise armies to eventually come back to Rome, Decimus Brutus took his governorship of Cisalpine Gaul. Antony, however, maneuvers the Senate to give rule of this province over to him. Decimus refuses, and war breaks out in the city of Mutina, which Decimus occupied and Antony beseiged (Antony is hoping this victory will give him some PR, as well as control of the Gallic Provinces). - However, Cicero is back in Rome hoping to sabotage Antony's ambitions... Cicero's plan to destroy Antony - Cicero had problems with Caesar's dictatorship, giving it muted criticism, and viewed (rather reluctantly) Caesar's death as a necessity. Nevertheless, he still liked and respected Caesar. The same was not true for Antony, whom he saw as a drunken bully-boy (he wished that Antony was killed also!). - Cicero approaches Octavian , flattering him and offering to lend his support to him if he would help (along with the consuls for that year) to take out Antony at Mutina (he even ensures that the 19 year old Octavian is raised to rank of Pro-praetor). - During all of this time, Cicero is trying to turn public opinion against Antony, called the 14 Phillippics, which are a complete assassination of Antony's character, speeches that Antony will NOT forget... - Octavian then is elected consul for 43 along with a relative as co-consul. He gets a law passed declaring the assassins of Caesar as murderers, and thus fair game. Cicero by this time has been completely outmaneuvered, and is of course kicking himself over this! - Decimus Brutus tries to flee to Greece, but ends up running into a Gallic chieftan who was loyal to Antony, and gets killed. - Antony, meanwhile, flees to Gaul, where his old co-worker, Lepidus, is commanding several legions. Antony, being the charmer he is, convinces those legions to overthrow Lepidus as commander in favor of him, and forces Lepidus into an alliance. - A meeting at Bologna in 43 BC between Antony, Octavian and Lepidus leads to a political alliance... Antony leaves Rome for the final time and gravitates towards Cleopatra in the East. - With Sextus and Lepidus out of the way, Antony departs East, hoping to begin a campaign against the Parthian Empire. In the meantime, he punishes several client kings who worked with Brutus and Cassius, and replaced them with client kings friendly to Rome. - It is at this point that Antony met Cleopatra . He may have met her briefly while Caesar was in Egypt, but now he is the target of her attentions. As Egypt was the last independent kingdom in the Mediterranean, Cleopatra needs the protection of Antony, who can also promoter her son's interests as the true Caesar's heir. Like Caesar, Antony falls victim to Cleopatra's charms... - Antony had visited Cleopatra in 41-40, when they became lovers around the same time that Antony married Octavia (Antony even executed Cleo's sister Arsinoe to please her). When Antony goes to Syria in 36, Cleopatra meets him with twins in two (a boy and a girl) that he acknowledges are his, then proceeds to get her pregnant again with a son! - Antony was spending more and more time at Alexandria, living in a sort of bizarre unofficial marriage to Cleopatra, who fed his ego and expressed a willingness to fund his ambitious campaign against the Parthian Empire. Octavian takes advantage of this relationship to denounce Antony at Rome, saying he's fallen victim to Cleo's spell. Antony's Parthian War starts out well, but thanks to the idiot King of Armenia withdrawing cavalry support, the campaign turns into a disaster. However, Antony's heroism saves 2/3 of his force. Antony's failure leads to insecurity which Cleopatra takes advantage of. Antony conquers Armenia and at his "Triumph" in Alexandria, he makes a political statement giving support to Cleopatra's children. Antony hopes that the Senate will approve his arrangements with Cleopatra's children as client rulers of these lands. - Octavian, however, is freaking out, mainly because Antony recognized Caesarion as Caesar's heir (this means that all of his support would disappear). He begins a hate campaign against Antony, stating that he has dishonored Octavian's sister Octavia and become bewitched by the "Egyptian Wh**e." - The Triumvirate expires in 33 BC/E, and Octavian forces the Senate to take an oath of loyalty to him (many senators flee to Antony). Octavian maneuvers the Senate into declaring war on Cleopatra (he can't declare war on Antony because he doesn't want to be seen to start a civil war...).

First Mithridatic War

89-84 - Mithridates is initially successful, but is defeated handily by Sulla. The lenient peace treaty, however, only gives him a chance to rebuild.

The social war

91-87 BC/E - Drusus' death causes many Italian allies to lose all hope of possible citizenship. So they rise up in rebellion under the leadership of Quintus Silo in 91, raising an army of 100,000 men , ruling from Corfinium (Italica). - While this is surprising for the Romans and there is much violence, many of the allies don't join in the rebellion or get cold feet mid-way through and stop fighting. The rebels still at war try to get help from the Eastern King Mithridates VI of Pontus. - Under Sulla and Pompey Strabo, the Romans ransack the rebel cities, killing Silo. Once Rome offers citizenship to those who surrender, the rebellion fizzles out. Various Italian cultures end up Romanized, but this war didn't need to happen...

Publius Clodius (Claudius) Pulcher

93-52 BC/E - At the time when Pompey needs the most public attention for his agenda, there is a scandal that took place on the women-only Bona Dea festival involving Publius Claudius Pulcherand Caesar's wife Pompeia. - Publius Claudius was a Quaestor at Rome during the time and has a shady reputation (he fomented the mutiny against Lucullus in the East, and he's said to have had carnal knowledge of his sisters). He's an impulsive party guy, hard drinking, a hell-raiser who founds the Clodius Club. - He may or may not be carrying on an affair with Caesar's wife Pompeia, but in any case found that Pompeia was officiating over the Bona Dea rites and saw this as a chance to seduce her. - In order to meet with Pompeia, Publius Clodius does what any person with a lack of competent planning skills would do... Publius Clodius is put on trial for blasphemy, but his alibi is challenged... - by Cicero, who 1) Doesn't like Clodius or his family 2) Was skeptical of his alibi that he was 70 miles north of Rome at the time when Cicero saw him running down the street trying to keep his wig on and looking like he'd just got his a** kicked by a bunch of women. - Clodius is acquitted thanks to bribery of the jury by Crassus and Caesar, but Pompey's spotlight has been stolen...

Marcus Porcius Cato The Younger

95-46 - Born to an aristocratic Optimate Plebian family, Cato had a HARD LIFE when he was young. Both his parents died young, so he lives for a short time with his brother and half-sisters in the house of Drusus the Younger, who is killed in 91, forcing Cato and his siblings from family to family, effectively turning them into foster children before ending up in the house of one of his uncles. - Possibly as a result, Cato feels the need to take charge and always be responsible. Has an extremely unbendable sense of right and wrong, and can be stubborn as a result. - Cato HATES bullies, and as a child beat up on a larger group of children who were picking on a smaller kid. Also when a child asked his tutor for a sword so that he could kill Sulla! Public Career - When beginning of his political career, Cato decides to model himself after his ancestor Cato the Elder and has an EXTREME LOVE for the Old Days of the Republic. He lives modestly, learns to endure cold, snow and rain with a minimum of clothes, and subjects himself to an almost masochistic regime of exercise. - When he does come out of his house, he gives great speeches in the Forum, condemning political corruption and rallying for the old days of the Republic when everyone didn't act like such *********s. - Fights in the Spartacan war in 72, distinguishes himself as commander of a legion in Macedonia in 67. As a general, he gets a reputation for being a hard***, but one who doesn't play favorites and is consistently fair in all of his decisions, which gains him the respect of his soldiers. - While in Macedonia, Cato's beloved brother falls ill in Thrace, and Cato travels there to be with him at his deathbed. While he takes this hard, he finds solace in Stoic philosophy. - Elected Quaestor in 65, where he uses his knowledge of tax laws to prosecute former provincial governors who were corrupt in their administration, and gets many convicted. - Prosecutes former supporters of Sulla for crimes committed during the dictatorship. Attends the Senate regularly, and when not in office is a whistleblower for bad behavior. Despite despising the Optimates, Cato is an extreme conservative who uneasily allies with them. Elected Plebian Tribune in 63. - Sensitive soul regarding women. Wants to marry Aemilia Lepida, writing love poetry to her, but when she marries another proceeds to write poetry about what a heartless b***h she is! Marries and has two children with Atilia, but the marriage doesn't last because of...

The Pannonian and Rhine Revolts

AD/CE 14 - The first major challenge that Tiberius faced during his reign were army revolts on both the Rhine and Danube (Pannonian) frontiers. - The soldiers in revolt have a list of demands, which include higher pay, more humane treatment, fixed terms of service (evidently some of the soldiers in revolt were in their sixties and hadn't yet been decommissioned from their time in the civil wars), as well as no recalls to service (as had been done via military emergencies). - Tiberius elects to stay in Rome, and sends his son Drusus to put down the Pannonian revolt, and his nephew Germanicus to put down the Rhine revolt. Drusus manages to put down the Pannonian revolt without much trouble. The Rhine Revolt is more serious to Tiberius' rule... - The Rhine armies have similar grievances with those of the Pannonians, but their morale is especially low as they experienced firsthand the disastrous defeat at Teutoburger Forest in 9. Tiberius' caution when commanding these armies, as well as a lack of action thereafter, leads to idleness which had a hand in also causing this revolt. - Germanicus arrives and tries to deal with the mutineers, but some among those numbers petition Germanicus to declare himself emperor. In a tight spot, Germanicus presents his family before the mutineers and states that he is considering suicide for them even suggesting the idea. With this appeal, support for the revolt melts away, and the mutineers are purged. The appeal to the soldiers sense of shame seems to have worked, and Germanicus decides to keep them busy by campaigning beyond the Rhine in a series of punitive expeditions from 14-16. Despite quelling the revolt, Germanicus' actions are not always pleasing to Tiberius. - Tiberius, while at first assenting to Germanicus' request to campaign on the Rhine, has second thoughts when Germanicus' campaigns are decidedly mixed. While the campaigns do deal a lot of destruction to the Germans and destroys any rebellious resistance, it has no strategic value, and later in the campaign Germanicus is acting rather independently of Tiberius' wishes. Tiberius, a believer in Augustus' policy of maintaining the borders of the Empire rather than expanding them, recalls Germanicus to Rome in 17, allowing him to celebrate a triumph and become hugely popular at Rome. - As a way of separating him from his troops, Tiberius sends Germanicus on a mission to the East, where Germanicus violates several imperial prerogatives (such as visiting Egypt without Tiberius' permission). Tiberius evidently has the governor of Syria, Calpurnius Piso, try to keep an eye on Germanicus during his stay in that province, which Pisomisinterprets as "start a feud with Germanicus." During this feud, Germanicus dies in Antioch in 19 under very mysterious circumstances.

The Great Fire of Rome

AD/CE 64

The Pisonian Conspiracy

AD/CE 65 - By 65, there are several in the Senate (as well as in the Praetorian Guard), who are becoming disaffected by Nero. Some are imperialists who believe that the emperor isn't doing his job, others are of republican sentiment who dislike the fact that their powers are being siphoned away. - In a conspiracy led by Gaius Calpurnius Piso (a leading senator and statesman), the plan was to have a group of senators and equestrians work with one of the Praetorian Prefects (Faenius Rufus), would engineer the proclamation of Piso as emperor by the Praetorian Guard. - The conspiracy was said to have 19 senators, 7 Equestrians, 11 soldiers, and 4 women. - When the conspiracy is found out by a freedman of Nero, it is reported to the emperor, and 19 people are executed or forced to commit suicide (including Piso, Seneca, and the poet Lucan), 17 are exiled or "denigrated," and only 5 are acquitted. - This purge extends to people who had no connection with the conspiracy. This includes the poet Petronius, as well as the famous general Corbulo, whose popularity Nero feared.

Nero

As the elder heir, Nero becomes emperor... - Nero was born Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus in December 37 AD/CE. He also has good pedigree to be emperor (he can claim relation to pretty much anyone in the Late Republic/Early Empire), and is popular with the people. - When Claudius dies (it is honestly not known if he had anything to do with his murder), Nero is Rome's 5th emperor at age 17. - Nero's early reign is done mainly by his mother, Agrippina, as well as his main advisors (the Praetorian Prefect, Burrus, as well as the philosopher Seneca). - Despite Agrippina's power, many (Nero included) find her interference in gov't troublesome (there are rumors that Agrippina sexually manipulates Nero as a way of controlling him, although these allegations come up more than a few generations after everyone in question was dead!). Nero's early reign (54-60) is very successful, probably because his mother and advisors are ruling for him while he visits taverns and brothels. - Nero is obsessed with personal popularity, and tries to make everyone happy. He accords more power to the Senate in making decisions. - He limits the amount of money that can be levied in criminal bail and fines, and limits the amount that lawyers can charge their clients. He defends the rights of freedmen in the Senate. - He gives tax relief to the poor, having corrupt officials arrested and prosecuted, lowered taxes from 4.5 to 2.5 percent, and made merchant vessels tax exempt to keep food cheaper. - Nero also builds theatres and gymnasiums for the public's use, and establishes the Neronian Games which focused on Arts, Athletics and Entertainment. - Nero has a foreign policy success in the East when there is a succession struggle with Parthia over Armenia. When the Parthians invade Armenia in 58, Nero's general Corbulo handily defeats them, and installs a pro-Roman king on the Armenian Throne. Nevertheless, in the early part of his reign, Nero feels that his rule is insecure. - He is increasingly tired of being dominated by his mother, and is told by his friend to beware of her. - He is increasingly tired of his wife Octavia, whom he only married for political reasons, and has taken up a mistress, much to his wife and mother's chagrin. Nero uses Seneca to run interference. - Agrippina, to control Nero, begins to plot to have Britannicus made emperor, but Nero has him poisoned in 55. - Nero by 55 is also removing many of Agrippina's allies from the palace. He also curbs the influences of Seneca and Burrus on his rule (he trumps up a charge of them plotting against him, but Seneca gets them acquitted). - With Agrippina's continued plotting to neutralize Nero (by 59, she seems to have plotted to have another candidate put on the throne), Nero has her killed via a staged shipwreck (when she swims back to shore, there are two Praetorians waiting for her, and stab her to death). Nero hopes to leave his own stamp on the empire, and cleans house of his inner circle - As well as getting rid of his mother, Nero causes Burrus to resign his post (he dies a few years later in 62), and forces Seneca into retirement after more charges of embezzlement are brought up. He divorces his wife Octavia on the grounds that she is infertile in 62, so he can marry the Roman noblewoman Poppaea Sabina. - Nero didn't so much want to be an emperor as he wanted to be a performer, an actor, a singer, a patron of the arts (all of which he thought brought more immortality than any sort of political activity). In doing so, he tends to focus more on public performances than dealing with the responsibilities of ruling, and this certainly causes his foreign policy to suffer. This can be seen with the revolt of Boudicca (60) - In 60, while the Roman governor Paulinus is out conquering the island of Anglesey off the coast of Britain, a serious uprising eropts, led by a queen of the Iceni, Boudicca. Without Paulinus' knowledge, a couple of Roman financiers come in and try to annex the kingdom on their own initiative. Boudicca was flogged, her daughters raped. - Boudicca causes an uprising that destroys three Roman cities before Paulinus can come in and defeat her in 61. Nero, upon hearing of the revolt, initially wants to abandon the island completely. When Paulinus wins his victory for him, he gets recalled from Britain and replaced with a more conciliatory governor. Nero's generals doing the fighting for him seemed to be a trend - In 62, war with Parthia erupts again, over Armenia. Once again, Corbulo defeats the Parthians in battle. - It looks as if Parthia is going to build up for a strike against Syria, where Corbulo is governing, and he wants to continue the war. Nero, however, disagrees, saying that war would be too expensive (there was also concern about grain supplies from the East being cut off from Rome). - Nero instead opts for peace, allowing a Parthian prince to sit on the Armenian throne as long as the Romans approve of him first and then crown him. This gives Nero political popularity with the people, the Eastern provinces, as well as the Parthians, but not entirely with the army. The public perception of Nero is that, instead of ruling, he seems more concerned with giving public performances of his poetry, his instrumental skill, and his singing. His performances, however, go on for HOURS... Nero, however, reserves one third of the city's land for himself, so that he can build the Golden House (domus aurea) The entrance to the Golden House was marked by a Colossal Statue of Nero... Nero's decision to build this palace, however, brings him great unpopularity. - People aren't happy with the fact that Nero built this huge palace for himself, and are starting to make accusations that it was Nero who started the fire so that he could build this palace. - Nero, afraid that the people will rise up in revolt, decides to persecute the Christians at Rome, who are seen as a "cannibalistic sex cult" of incendiaries (this is not true, in case you were wondering). Nero rounds up the Christians and proceeds to execute them for public entertainment, stating that they caused the fire. He throws them to the lions, has them burnt (the Torches of Nero), as well as crucified (at this time, SS Peter and Paul are martyred). - The thing is, the Christians are so dignified in going to their deaths, that the populace begins to pity the Christians (and be ashamed of themselves for watching the executions) that Nero becomes seen as bloodthirsty. Nero's violence applies not only to the Christians, but continues to apply to the nobility. - Nero allows his wife Octavia back from exile in 62, simply so that he could murder her and leave the way free to marry Poppaea Sabina. - Poppaea is extremely supportive of Nero's artistic policies, and regularly encourages him. However (according to one source), when she mildly criticizes one part of his performance, Nero starts beating on her and kicks her to death (she was pregnant at the time). He then pretends as if nothing had happened, and marries a slave that looks like Poppaea, calling the slave by that name (NOTE: the slave was initially a guy, so he had to "operate" on the slave. - It is during this time that Nero begins to execute a number of his rivals (including one whose crime was to speak ill of him), and he was beginning to be a bit more confrontational of the Senate, who find that their powers are being siphoned off by Nero, who (according to Suetonius) "killed anyone whom he pleased." The Pisonian Conspiracy Nero continues to enjoy popularity with the people despite all of this. - Nero remarries (an actual woman this time), and continues to rebuild Rome. - He begins singing in public (first at Neapolis) in 64, as a way of improving his popularity. He holds the second Neronian Games in 65, in which he continues his singing performances, and participates in the Olympic Games in Greece in 67. While he loses both of the events in which he participates (singing, as well as chariot racing, where he is thrown from his chariot and doesn't finish), he is nevertheless proclaimed the winner and shows off his trophies in Rome. - Nero also launches plans for a canal to be built across the Isthmus of Corinth, as well as an expedition to discover the source of the Nile. Neither of the projects are successful. A lot of Nero's building projects are a drain on the treasury. - Rebuilding Rome, extravagant holdings of games, tours in Greece, putting down of rebellions, and exploratory expeditions all take a toll on the Imperial treasury. - The Roman economy is facing deflation. What Nero does is devalue the coinage in order to create more of a money supply (he puts a little less gold/silver into the coins to decrease its purity, or makes the coins smaller so he has more precious metal left over to make more coins). - Nero also begins to tax the provinces more in order to pay for these projects, as well as the rebuilding of Rome. This is not popular in some areas, especially in Judaea in the East, which has been having problems with Roman rule for awhile. By his later reign, Nero's lack of leadership creates opportunities for corrupt governors. - Up until about the reigns of Caligula and Claudius, Judaea had been under the administration of procurators who collected taxes on behalf of the governor of Syria. At first these procurators were professional and did their jobs well, allowing Jews to practice their beliefs without molestation and collecting taxes without much problem. - This changes when the procurator during the year 66, Gessius Florus, favors the Greek population over that of the Jews, and allows the Greeks to mess with/denigrate the Jews. When the Jews complain, they have to bribe Florus with money just so he'll hear their case. - Florus then makes the mistake of trying to get extra money (ostensibly for the emperor) by going into the Temple and taking 17 talents from it (gold or silver is not specified, but it's a lot of money in either case and very insulting to the Jews). The Jews respond by ridiculing Florus, who arrests many Jews and has them whipped and/or crucified, despite many of them being Roman citizens. This begins a major war that lasts from 66-70, with the last pockets of resistance defeated in 73. Nero's unwillingness to participate in any matters military prove to be his undoing. - Nero rarely visited the army during his reign, and had no record whatsoever of accompanying them on campaign (this was expected of every emperor at least once or twice, and all four previous emperors—even Caligula!—had done so). - Nero's lack of moral support for the military (esp. during Boudicca's revolt as well as the Jewish War) has made him unpopular with the army. - When Nero orders the death of one of his generals in Spain (Servius Sulpicius Galba), that general automatically moves to support the revolt of another general (Vindex) in Gaul, who was revolting over Nero's tax policies. - Nero was expected by the Senate to respond, and did so in the following way... he sings By this time, many of Nero's allies abandon him. - It was becoming clear that Nero was losing touch with reality. While Galba in Spain was still a public enemy, he was nevertheless declaring himself emperor and was marching towards Rome. - Nero's praetorian prefects desert him in favor of Galba, and the Praetorian Guards leave the palace, leaving Nero defenseless. - When Nero tries to go to Ostia (ostensibly to get to a friendly province and/or raise loyal forces), the ships won't take him. - The Senate, for its part, wants to somehow continue the dynasty (although out of loyalty to people like Augustus and Claudius, rather than Nero), and are trying to get Nero back to Rome, while at the same time come to some sort of agreement with the rebellious governors. Nero flees to a farmhouse, and when he receives a false report that the Senate has declared him a public enemy, has one of his slaves help him commit suicide. He dies on 9th of June, AD/CE 68 at the age of 31. The Julio-Claudian Dynasty falls with him. Despite his fall, Nero was still popular with many in the empire (esp. the Greek speaking parts). - Despite his increasing violence, mental instability, and mismanagement, many still liked Nero, and mourned his passing. - In later years, there were reported spottings of Nero, as well as the rise of "false Neros" who appeared in the Eastern provinces. Some even said that Nero faked his death so that he could re-invent himself as a musician. This "Nero will return" legend persisted until the 400s AD/CE - Christians, who were persecuted by Nero, saw his return, however, as the coming of the Antichrist who would begin the Apocalypse, and the code for Nero Caesar in Apocalyptic numerology is "666." - Incidentally, according to some sources the actual code for the Antichrist isn't 666, but rather 616, so be on the lookout for both numbers! ;)

Cinna

By 84, Cinna has been consul since 84 . Electoral rules have been a bit lax lately, especially considering that Sulla and Marius thinned out the political herd with their respective invasions of Rome. When he hears that Sulla is returning to take control of Rome after his victory, Cinna knows that unless he does something he'll be number 1 on the list of things Sulla does the day he gets back. He tries to organize a force to sail over to Greece to fight Sulla, but cannot control his troops, and is killed in a mutiny.

The Roman Empire

If you thought that princeps sounds like "Prince," and imperatorsounds like "emperor" you'd be correct! The Republic is gone, it's now the ROMAN EMPIRE (27BC/E-AD/CE 476 or thereabouts).

First Battle of Philippi

October 3rd, 42 BC/E - Long story short, Antony charges Cassius' camp, while Brutus charges Octavian's camp. Brutus kicks Octavian's posterior (Octavian flees to a nearby swamp having an asthma attack at the stress of it all and is later rescued by Antony). - Antony, however, manages to successfully storm Cassius' camp, causing Cassius to withdraw to a hill. Unfortunately, there was a lot of dust thrown up in the battle, making it hard to see from this hill. Upon top of this, Cassius had bad eyesight and thought that Brutus had been defeated when he in fact was victorious against Octavian. Cassius, misinterpreting things, commits suicide!

The Pax Deorum

Peace of the Gods - State=Religion (no separation of Church and State, you dirty, dirty, gods-hating Marxist hippy!). - If everyone honors the gods by performing sacrifices, rituals, prayers, expiations, then the gods will be happy and give favor to the state and, by extension, favor to you. - Roman State religion is for the most part a public religion, you don't really have the pagan equivalent of a Catholic Rosary or Islamic prayer beads. It's about the state. - If even ONE little self-important, snivelling "free thinker," if one little "atheist" doesn't sacrifice, the gods will be angry. Jupiter will strike your house with lightning, Neptune will flood your city, and Venus will turn your daughters into pole-dancing, clear heel-wearing, ladies of negotiable affection! RESPECT THE GODS!!!!!!!!

The Third Mithridatic War

Phase One: Lucullus - The Romans at this time are led by a talented Optimate general and former associate of Sulla, Lucius Licinius Lucullus. Lucullus takes advantage of the fact that Mithridates' attacks get bogged down due to lack of supplies, and counterattacks. - Lucullus is able to penetrate deep into Pontic territory, effectively overrunning the kingdom. Mithridates, however, flees Pontus with his forces and is hiding out in Armenia, under protection from his son-in-law and ally, Tigranes. - Despite the fact that it's WAAY out of Roman orbit, Lucullus decides to attack Armenia after Tigranes refuses to hand over Mithridates and declares war. - This attack on Armenia is risky, as when Lucullus invades his forces are far from home and outnumbered nearly 3 to 1 by Tigranes army then the two powers meet at the battle of Tigranocerta. Tigranes army is noted for its heavily armored cataphracts (the guy on the right who looks like he's in Game of Thrones). - Battle of Tigranocerta, October 6th, 69 BC/E. While besieging the city of Tigranocerta, Lucullus has his cavalry engage the cataphracts while at the same time having his infantry march around counterclockwise and attack from the rear. - While Lucullus celebrates a great victory, he's perhaps TOO honorable a guy, and doesn't like it when his soldiers do things like rapine plunder. Moreover, his troops have been a world away from their homes for years. Also, while Tigranes met with defeat at Tigranocerta, he merely escaped along with Mithridates to parts unknown, causing the war to drag on, with Lucullus suffering a reversal at the battle of Artaxata in 68. A combination of these factors causes his army to revolt, and Lucullus is recalled to Rome. - Mithridates takes advantage of this revolt to sneak back into Pontus with his army, and defeats Roman forces at Zela in 67. - With Lucullus gone and Mithridates and Tigranes still running around, Pompey (fresh off his clearing the entire Mediterranean sea of pirates), has his political allies get him a command for this war in 66. - Pompey moves quickly, and defeats Mithridates in battle in 65. Mithridates tries to flee to Armenia, but is refused by Tigranes and flees to the Crimea. Pompey attacks Tigranes, who quickly sues for peace and gives major concessions to Pompey. - Mithridates tries to raise another army, but by 63 the Pontic people are tired of war, and launch a revolt led by his own son. Mithridates tries to commit suicide by poison, but fails and has one of his men run him through. - Pompey, after making peace with Tigranes, proceeds to invade Syria and depose its weak king Antiochus XIII, making that land a Roman province. - While there, Pompey hears that there is infighting in the Hasamonean Kingdom of Judaea (Israel) between the Pharisee and Saducee factions of the Jewish leadership. As the land is an ally of Rome, both sides try to bribe Pompey to rule in their favor. After initial negotiation, Pompey decides to intrigue with other local elites to remove the dynasty altogether, and besieges and captures Jerusalem in 63 BC/E. - Pompey organizes a series of provinces and client kingdoms in the East on his own initiative, believing that if he doesn't, another power vacuum will emerge and all of his conquests will be cancelled out.

Roman Religion

Smaller Gods (Animism) is also a big part of religion at Rome. - As well as paying respects, performing rituals, prayers, etc. to the major gods and goddesses, you also pay respects to smaller localized gods (gods of rivers, mountains, forests, etc.). - This belief system is called Animism and embraces many cultures, not just Roman culture. All of this expands to the Roman Home - To ensure warmth to your home, you would throw salt cake into the fireplace as a sacrifice to Vesta. - A relative has died in your home. In order to prevent him from coming back to haunt you Ring style, you carry him out feet first in the hopes that he can't find his way back. - Lares- spirits of your field/home - Penates- spirits guarding your cupboard. - To prevent the spirits from attacking your new wife who has come to live with you, smear the door posts with wolf's fat before bringing her over the threshold! Not only small gods of places but also processes. - At Rome, they have a god for just about everything! - The god of grain cutting. - The god of taking goods to the market. - The goddess of Proper Roman Thinking - Robigus (right) , is the god of grain rust prevention. - There is even Sterculius, who is the god of... feces So you basically have a whole lot of gods, which is not helped in that the Romans like introducing as many gods into their religion as possible as a way of keeping all of them happy. The African Saint Augustine of Hippo, one of the most famous Fathers of the Church, once joked that the problem with Roman paganism is that "It isn't a Pantheon of gods, it's a bureaucracy!"

Founding of the republic

The Republic was established when the last king of Rome was overthrown, and the nobles of the Roman Senate, led by Lucius Junius Brutus, established a new government in which the aristocracy would rule on behalf of the Senate and People of Rome (Senatus Popluesque Romanorum, or SPQR). Republic is derived from the Latin "res publica" roughly translated as "the public's affairs," or "the people's matters." The Republic lasted nearly 500 years, from its foundation in 509 BC/E to the proclamation of Augustus as Emperor in 27 BC/E

The Rebellion of Spartacus

The Third Servile War 73-71 - Spartacus is a Thracian gladiator who, along with his friend Crixus, escapes from a fighting school in Capua after inciting a riot there in 74. In almost no time, he establishes a base of operations on Mt. Vesuvius, and attracts runaway slaves and poor peasants. Before long, he has an army of 70,000 (and their families). Their aim is to get out of Italy, and despite attacks against him, manages to defeat a number of Roman forces. - The Senate choose Crassus (who is insanely rich) to put together an army to go fight Spartacus. Crixus is defeated in South Italy, but Spartacus is still hoping to get the money together necessary to pay off Cilician Pirates for safe passage out of Italy.