Friday's Blog 5/2/14

    Caesar apperared in the senate house, unarmed and unguarded, according to his custom, and a crowd of senators struck him down with their daggers.  Caesar's murder did not restore the republic; instead, his death produced yet another crop of warlords and yet more bouts of civil war

The main contenders were Mark Antony, once a commander under Caesar and now a consul; the leadinf assassins, Brutus and Cassuis; and Caesar's grandnephew and adopted son, the youthful Octavian Caesar

Mark and Octavian were rival loyalists of Caesar, and each managed to attract some of caesar's legions, which they used to fight a brutal war against eachother in Italy.  The triumvirs declared that they intended to "restore the Republic", but they also had the Senate proclaim Julius Caesar a "Divine Being"- not quite a god like Jupiter, but far above any ordinary mortal.  The partners then divided the Roman world Octavian in rome, Lepidus in North africa, and mark in Alexndria.  Antony was one of the last descendants  to the Greeks for his love affair with Cleopatra.  Finally in 31 B.C. the rulers of the 2 halves of rome went to war, Octavians forces defeated those of Antony and Cleopatra in a decisive naval battle near Actium off the Western Coast.  

 ·        Augustus began a whole series of large-scale reforms 

·        brought the system of government appointments under his personal control

·        avoided breaking with tradition

·        showed respect for local institutions and encouraged provincial leaders to fulfill their responsibilities

·        reorganized the army to ensure the loyalty of the rank-and-file soldiers 

·        gradually brought that all soldiers were volunteers

This caused Augustus and his S uccessors to break with the Roman Tradition of citizen soldiers to create the world's 1st professional army 

 Augustus wanted his successor to come from his family 

- Augustus had no sons so he chose Tiberius 

- Augustus adopted Tiberius to give him hereditary standings

- Augustus dies in 14 A.D.

- Tiberius took over without a challenge

- Caesars last decedent was Nero

- Nero was overthrown after a tyrannical reign 

- No one thought to restore the government to a Republic  

Caeser - The imperial title given to the designated successor of a reigning emperor.

Augustus - The imperial title given to a reigning emperor.

Roman Peace - (Pax Roman) A term used to refer to the relative stability and prosperity that Roman rule brought to the Mediterranean world and much of the western Europe during the first and second centuries A.D.

Most of the earliest Latin literary works no longer exist, but many comedies staged in the third and second centuries B.C. by Platus and Terence are still performed today.  Their works  were based on Greek comedies of the Hellenistic era, adapted to the rough and tumble tastes of Roman Auidiences.