BETRAYAL AND ASSASSINATION The ruling body of Rome the Senate did not care for the tactics Caesar used to gain political power with his allies Crassus and Pompey After the death of Pompey in 48 BCE Caesar became the most powerful man in Rome Some senators feared he would use his power to crown himself king They plotted to assassinate Caesar His murder prompted a series of civil wars within Rome The Roman Republic started unraveling The Assassination of Julius Caesar The assassination of Julius Caesar has become legendary inspiring playwright William Shakespeare to recount the man’s life and death in the play Julius Caesar On the Ides of March March 15 according to the Roman calendar in 44 BCE Caesar made his way to the Theatre of Pompey for a meeting of the Senate There conspirators confronted him including Tillius Cimber who presented Caesar with a petition to allow his exiled brother to return to Rome When Caesar declined Cimber grabbed him Another conspirator Casca attacked Caesar with a sharpened writing instrument called a stylus Immediately all the men with Cimber began attacking and stabbing Caesar Brutus a Roman politician and Caesar’s friend was among them which prompted Shakespeare’s famous line uttered by the dying Caesar Et tu Brute which is Latin for You too Brutus 1 With 23 stab wounds Caesar bled to death on the Senate floor The assassins marched to the city’s capitol rejoicing and announcing that the city was once again free The citizens of Rome however remained in their homes and did not join in the revelry The assassination of Caesar brought about years of civil war and unrest 8
In his will Caesar adopted Octavian and made the 19-year-old his sole heir The young man took the name Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus He then began an ascent to power that would usher in a new era in Rome Caesar’s chief lieutenant Mark Antony took control of Rome after Caesar’s murder Octavian raised an army of men who had been loyal to the assassinated Caesar and they defeated Mark Antony in 43 BCE Octavian forced the Roman Senate to elect him to a high-ranking position He then struck an agreement with Mark Antony and the two men along with an ally of Caesar named Lepidus divided the existing provinces among themselves Mark Antony took control of Rome’s eastern provinces Octavian ruled the western provinces Lepidus oversaw Rome’s territory in North Africa The next year in 42 BCE Octavian joined military forces with Mark Antony and the two defeated Caesar’s assassins Octavian had avenged the death of Caesar and had risen to formidable power within Rome THE AGE OF THE ROMAN EMPEROR Octavian did not settle for sharing the rule of Rome In 32 BCE he went to war against Mark Antony The two had earlier removed Lepidus from power leaving only the two of them in control of Rome In the Battle of Actium on September 2 31 BCE Octavian’s general Marcus Agrippa defeated the 9
armies of Mark Antony and his lover Queen Cleopatra of Egypt Antony and Cleopatra killed themselves leaving Octavian to become Rome’s sole leader In 27 BCE the Senate gave Octavian the name Augustus which means revered one 2 Initially he directed Rome’s civil and military affairs With time he gained more and more power He divided the city of Rome into administrative areas and granted the business class the equites influence in decisions about how the city should be run Rome thrived under Augustus’s rule The empire doubled in size as Rome’s armies advanced into Europe Augustus also expanded Rome’s highway system throughout the empire After years of battles and civil N ANCIENT ROME AT ITS GREATEST SIZE 117 CE ROME
unrest he brought a lasting peace to the Roman Empire and set out to restore the city of Rome itself He had monuments and buildings repaired bridges and aqueducts constructed and marble brought from the north to turn Rome from a city of brick into a city of gleaming white marble He established Rome’s first police force and fire department He kept the people of Rome content with grain and money Augustus ushered in the era of the Roman Empire His patience and diplomacy made him a great leader and the Roman citizens believed the gods favored Augustus His rule became known as the Age of Augustus During this time trade art and literature flourished Augustus died of old age in 14 CE marking a 41-year reign The Romans made him a god and worshiped him for his many accomplishments The Roman Empire Augustus helped establish would endure for centuries MODERN AND MEMORABLE Ancient Rome was the first modern city At its peak the empire spanned three continents covering 2 million square miles 5 million sq km and ruling more than 60 million people 3 Rome was the first civilization to unite the Western world under its rule Rome was more than the city on the west coast of the Italian Peninsula The empire stretched west into Britain north into 11
