Homework 3.10.10

Julius Caesar

Often times, the crown and the altar travel together. This basically means that sometimes the role of king is also played by the role of the priest. Julius Caesar was one example of this. He was not only in place of their king but also of their priest. He was the Roman religion. He became a Praetor and eventually a consul in 59 at a relatively "young" age. He was 42 years old when this happened.

He was sharing power with Pompeii but soon they became in conflict with one another. They were together for political alliances but both still had differences. Their struggle was the struggle for the future of Rome. It turned into a Civil War. Caesar traveled to the West and gained an army which he brought to the edge of Gaul. He knew, if he crossed the river Rubicon (located in northern Italy), that there was not turning back. It was a commitment that would bring about either total glory or total disaster.

In 49 BC, he decided to make that decision and he crossed the Rubicon river and marched to Rome. Absolute glory began. They conquered Rome and Pompeii fled to Illyrica. In 48-46, Caesar chased Pompeii and conquered at last.

"He always found a way to the back door of success" -- said of Caesar. This was because no matter how many times he was defeated or pushed back, he always got back up and tried again until he won. Eventually, in 47 BC, he did defeat Pompeii in a battle that was extremely against him. He was given a 10 year term of dictatorship. One year later, he was asked to take over the crown, but he turned down that offer.

He did however, continue his dictatorship and made some wonderful changes. He reorganized the Providences, rebuilt the docks, refurbished homes etc. He took the legions of Rome and sent them out of the city to stay in the Providences. To the people, it looked like the government wasn't so tyrannical or overpowering. They felt free. Caesar was hailed as a god. This was considered blaspheming of the gods to the patricians and the Senate. But the downside to this great title is that he gained many enemies. Then the people pressed upon him to take the title of Julius Caesar and be their king. He took the name, but not the title.

There was a conspiracy against Julius Caesar. On what would have been March 15, 44 BC, Caesar was killed in an assassination led by his best friend, Brutus. His last words were these, "You have not killed Caesar, for Caesar will live on. Today, you have killed the Republic."

Because of his death, Civil War broke out for the next few years.

There were some really good qualities that Caesar had though:
1) He had real humility; he was a modest man. Now, we must consider that a man with his kind of ranking and degree could not be completely modest. He may have been modest comparatively, but not entirely modest.

2) He was overly generous. Is it possible, though, to be *overly* generous? Maybe he was just very generous. He forgave easily and gave away most of his belongings so that eventually, his heir, Octavius, really didn't inherit anything.

3) He was obviously courageous. This was shown as he stood up to the government. He loved his army very much. It was said that he would risk their love for him to do the right thing.

4) He had a clear vision for the future of Rome. He wanted to remake Rome so that it could be the best.

Caesar had built such a strong empire, that even after several malicious leaders, it only became stronger. It survived for 1,000 years. This shows how much of a tipping point Caesar really was.

Augustus and Pax Romana

Pax Romana means "Rome makes the peace."

Octavius lived from 63 BC - 14 AD. He was born into a powerful and influential family and was the grand-nephew of Julius Caesar. Octavius was in the East in the military when he became aware that Julius had died and had adopted him as his son in his will. Mark Anthony was the expected one to gain the throne. Octavius was not even 19 when he was crowned.

At age 18, he was married for principle, not for political alliance as was common. He was looked at as rather attractive. He was also a brilliant military strategist and was not so concerned with his comfort.

Octavius was with Julius Caesar when he crossed the Rubicon. He would have been very young at that time. Probably around 15; but he was one of Julius Caesar's commanders at that time. Julius saw certain things that he liked in Octavius. Mark Anthony tended to be a hot-shot and a ladies-man...just a little over the top. Whereas Octavius was more simple and "plain"...nothing fancy. What you heard is what you got. Because of these things, Julius Caesar preferred Octavius above Mark Anthony.

When he gained the crown, Octavius was given the name: Augustus Caesar. Augustus was very open and close to the people. He was constantly in physical danger, because he went straight to the people. He raised a rabble in his support. And was "convinced" to begin a trumate (a ruling of three people). One of the rulers was Mark Anthony. He was trying to gain the crown by having the upper hand in this trio. Slowly, and without anyone noticing, Augustus got the upper hand and held on to it tightly before anyone could find out. This way, he got complete control by going under cover and was not the most powerful.

Mark Anthony left for the East and began an alliance with Cleopatra (also an affair). He ultimately helped launch a Civil War by taking Cleopatra and her troops and marching them to wipe out Augustus. He was in for a surprise, because Augustus completely wiped him out. Mark Anthony and Cleopatra escape only to commit suicide.

Octavius began to try to restore the Roman Republic. He gave money to the Senate and other classes. He was in absolute authority.

In 27 BC, he resigned from all power. He gave the power to the Republic. But there were no strong leaders in the Republic and he knew that. It was all a pretense on Augustus's part. Everything was already dependant on him, so he couldn't leave. He had instilled loyalty in the people.

"He knows everything and can do anything, therefore we must yield everything and anything for they have been won." -- said of Augustus.

Several titles given to Augustus: "He who gives the word", "Chief consul for life", and "The Proseph".

There was now an empire with an emperor.

In 31 BC, it really began although he never declared the empire or claimed the emperor role.

In 12 BC, was the Pontifix Maximus. We will explain more of this next week.