- On the Ides of March (March 15), Caesar appeared in the Senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers.
- The main contender were Mark Antony, onve a commander under Caesar and now a consul; the leading assissins, Brutus and Cadssius; and Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, the youthful Octavian Caesar
- Then however, they joined forces against Caesar's assassins; formed another triumvirate together with a lesser warlord, Marcus Lepidus; eliminated opponents in a new reign of terror in Rome; and defeated Cassius and Brutus in battle in Greece.
- Octavian based in Rome, Lepidus in North Africa, and Mark Antony in Alexandria
- Antony's passionate love affair with Queen Cleopatra made him unpopular in Rome, and his efforts to win presige by making conquests on the eastern frontier ended in failure
- Octavian pushed Lepidus out of power and successfully began expanding Rome's frontiers northward toward the Danube
- Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra near the western coast of Greece and they returned to Egypt and committed suicide
Chapter 7
- East Roman literature and art, philosophy and law, architecture and engineering were often inspired by Greek models, but Roman achievements in these fields eventually equaled or surpassed those of the Greeks and became just as much an inspiration and model for future Western development
- In the west, the native languages of conquered European barbarian peoples began to be replaced by Latin
- In the east, Egyptian hieroglyphic writing fell out of use
LO1 The rule of the emperors
- Soon after Octavian's triumph at Actium, the Senate conferred on him a new title, Augustus ("Revered One")
- He refused the offer of a long-term dictatorship and referred to himself simply as princeps ("first citizen")
- Augustus was confirmed as commander in chief of the armed forces and permitted the Senate to supervuse Italy and the city of Rome, as well as provinces where no soldiers were stationed
- He replaced Senate with his friends and allies
- Greek cities in Antolia began building shrines and sacrificing to "Rome and Augustus"- worshiping Rome itself as divine, and Augustus as a god-sent human being who embodied Rome's beneficent rule
- When he died the Senate declared him a Divine Being like Julius Caesar
- Augustus also acquired the tile of Father of the Fatherland
- He had laws passed against adultery by women and against both men and women who failed to marry; and another law exempted mothers of more than three children from the requirement of guardianship
- Poets and artists depicted him and his wife Livia as models of Roman family life, with Livia in the role of Chaste and strong-minded "matron" of the Fatherland
- A later ruler, Vespasian, who was known for his cynical sense of humor, is supposed to have said on his deathbed
No comments:
Post a Comment