Roman Empire
What did Augustus Caesar Achieve?
Augustus created a permanent professional army made of about 150,000 men. He then created the Praetorian guard that were his lead 9000 soldiers that were guarding Augustus. Augustus conquered new territory that included all of Spain, Gaul, and land from what is today Austria, Bulgaria, Hungary, and Romania. Augustus imported grain from Africa to feed the poor. He devoted most of energy to making the government better. More than 50 million people lived in the empire. To be able to withstand power over so many people, he created the role of being a Proconsul. The proconsuls were basically governors for every province that was under his rule. These officials replaced the politicians that were elected from the senate. Augustus would travel to these provinces regularly to check on them. Augustus also made tax collecting a governmental job that would pay them. Before this they would just take extra money from the citizens to get their profit. He then created a set of laws for the non citizens living under his rule. This made a fair legal system for all.
Who lead Rome After Augustus?
After ruling for almost 40 years, Augustus died in the year 14 A.D. He happened to be training one of his relatives called Tiberius. After Tiberius, Caligula came to rule. Caligula actually had a mental illness. He was cruel and had many people murdered. He even gave is favorite horse the position of Consul. Eventually the Praetorian guard killed him. They then gave Claudius the role of emperor. After Claudius died a man named Nero became emperor. Nero was a madman who killed his mother and two of his wives. According to legend, he was playing music miles away from Rome while a fire destroyed most of the city in the year 64. Most of Rome happened to be made of wood. He eventually committed suicide.
What emperors were considered "good emperors"?
After Nero died, Rome passed through a period of disorder. Vespasian, a general and one of Nero's pro consuls, took the throne. He restored peace and order. He put down several rebellions including one led by jews. Vespasian's son, Titus, defeated the jews and destroyed their temple. Vespasian then started to build the colosseum. After he died, Titus took control. He then faced two tragic disasters. One was when the volcano Mt. Vesuvius erupted. It erupted right above the town of Pompeii. Then an awful fire damaged Rome. At 100 A.D. a series of new rulers came to power. Their names are Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antonius Pius, and the most famous, Marcus Aurelius. They led Rome to prosperity for almost a century. From 96 A.D. to 200 A.D. During this time the senate started to whither away. They did not abuse their power though. They had many achievements. Trajan started to give money to help poor parents to raise and educate their children. Hadrian made Roman law easier to understand. Antonius Pius passed laws to help orphans. They also built arches, monuments, bridges, roads, and aqueducts.
What unified the Empire?
Trajan |
The empire reached it's largest size under Trajan's rule. His successors realized that the empire was too big though. One was a man named Hadrian. Hadrian began to pull it back. He removed most troops in Mesopotamia and in Europe he set up natural boundaries at the Rhine and Danube rivers. He then built what is called Hadrian's wall. In the 100s, the Roman Empire was one of the greatest empires and all of history. It contained almost 3.5 million miles of land. The people in the roman empire spoke either Latin or Greek.Since the empire was so vast, different places had different cultures.Roman's laws unified the people and roman culture was spread throughout the land due to the soldiers. So every provence had at least a little bit of Roman culture. In 212 A.D., every free person was made a free person.
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Hadrian |
Why was the Empire's economy booming?
Most people in the empire made a living out of farming. They grew grapes, olives, and grain. Egypt was rich in grain. Agriculture was the most important part of the economy but industry was as well. Potters, weavers, and jewelry makers were popular. In cities producers made glass, bronze, and brass products. All over the Eastern world, they traded these goods. The Tiber was a popular port. Spices, silk, and other luxury items flooded in from far away places. Even spices from India were traded. Raw materials like Iron from Gaul, British tin, and Spanish led went into the Roman workshops. This led to an economic boom.
How were roads and money helpful?
Good transportation was ideal for trade. Rome's system of roads reached a total length of about 50000 miles. On the seas, the Roman navy helped to rid the Mediterranean of pirates. This made it safer for goods to be shipped from and to Rome's ports. Rome's trade was helped by a common currency in a system of money. By the year 100, Roman coins were accepted throughout the Mediterranean region. They also created a standard system of weights and measures. This made it easier to price goods all over the empire.
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What inequality remained?
The roman empire's prosperity did not reach everyone. Shopkeepers, merchants, and skilled workers benefited. Rich Romans built great fortunes and lived in luxury. Most city dwellers remained poor, some even remained slaves.
Pompeii Paragraphs
Mt. Vesuvius erupted on the 24th of August. It was the worst natural disaster to happen in the ancient world. At least 5000 people died. A young man wrote of what he was seeing on that day. Vesuvius was dormant for over 1500 years. They didn't even know it was a volcano. None of the 20000 people understood what was happening. Clothes would be washed in pee because the acid would remove grease stains. The slaves would do the dirty work. Around 1 P.M. on the 24th of August, Vesuvius erupts. The molten rock was not turned into lava, but into foam. It erupted at supersonic speed. They had never seen anything like it. There is no word in Latin for volcano. Many who could have fled stayed where they were. It rose to 15 kilometers into the sky. The wind drove the ash straight at Pompeii. It looked as if it had snuffed out the light. The boiling rocks that were propelled into the atmosphere mixed with the air and solidified. It than began to fall. It takes almost half an hour for the rock to fall back down. 200 km/ hour rocks shot down into Pompeii. Slaves were expected to protect their masters lives. As fear and panic spread, they fled even knowing they would be put to death. By mid afternoon the volcano had thrown over 1000000 tons of ash and rock on the city. Their houses were built to withstand rain, not rocks. The houses would collapse with everyone that was inside. From surviving records we found out that a general from the Roman army was close by and set out for a rescue mission. This mission began around 5 P.M. Most of the people who had fled were on the beach of Thailand hoping that a ship would save them. The general did not stop for these people. The rocks that were falling from the sky were now trapping the people inside buildings.
A burning avalanche (now called a pyroclastic surge) headed straight towards the people on the beach and Herculaneum (a city near Pompeii) It was 5x hotter than boiling water and gas that could incinerate anything on the spot. The people did not just burn, they turned to charcoal. People that were inside boathouses though died from thermal shock. Their brains boiled and exploded; their teeth and bones shattered like glass. Herculaneum and everyone in it was buried under 25 meters of volcanic debri. At the heart of the volcano the magma chamber collapsed in the wee hours of the morning. This triggers yet another pyroclastic surge. This time it headed straight towards Pompeii. Luckily the cloud runs out of energy just outside the northern cities wall. But still a cloud of toxic gas carried by the surge spread throughout the city. Carbon Dioxide suffocated them while hydrogen chloride burned their eyes and throats. Then a wave of ash and rock exploded, scorching and smashing everything in its way. It traveled at 100 kilometers/hr and reached Pompeii in only 20 minutes. The people's death was not instant. First they breathed in hot gas and ash that caused the lungs to fill with fluid. Then the fluid and the ash mixed to form a wet cement in the lungs and windpipe. The cement thickens with every breath. Soon they suffocated. Mt. Vesuvius had one last horror to unleash. After 18 hours of eruption, the bottom column of the volcano collapsed. The gas from the collapse caused the Roman navy general to suffocate. This last wave traveled right across the bay of Naples. It killed thousands that had fled into the countryside. In only 18 hours, Mt. Vesuvian had spewed more than 10 billion tons of ash and rock. A rescue attempt was launched from Rome but the disaster was simply too great. For more than 15 years the city laid buried. In 1594 it was rediscovered by chance. Excavations have been going on for centuries. The ash miraculously had preserved the buildings and streets. Now around 3.5 million people live under the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius.
A burning avalanche (now called a pyroclastic surge) headed straight towards the people on the beach and Herculaneum (a city near Pompeii) It was 5x hotter than boiling water and gas that could incinerate anything on the spot. The people did not just burn, they turned to charcoal. People that were inside boathouses though died from thermal shock. Their brains boiled and exploded; their teeth and bones shattered like glass. Herculaneum and everyone in it was buried under 25 meters of volcanic debri. At the heart of the volcano the magma chamber collapsed in the wee hours of the morning. This triggers yet another pyroclastic surge. This time it headed straight towards Pompeii. Luckily the cloud runs out of energy just outside the northern cities wall. But still a cloud of toxic gas carried by the surge spread throughout the city. Carbon Dioxide suffocated them while hydrogen chloride burned their eyes and throats. Then a wave of ash and rock exploded, scorching and smashing everything in its way. It traveled at 100 kilometers/hr and reached Pompeii in only 20 minutes. The people's death was not instant. First they breathed in hot gas and ash that caused the lungs to fill with fluid. Then the fluid and the ash mixed to form a wet cement in the lungs and windpipe. The cement thickens with every breath. Soon they suffocated. Mt. Vesuvius had one last horror to unleash. After 18 hours of eruption, the bottom column of the volcano collapsed. The gas from the collapse caused the Roman navy general to suffocate. This last wave traveled right across the bay of Naples. It killed thousands that had fled into the countryside. In only 18 hours, Mt. Vesuvian had spewed more than 10 billion tons of ash and rock. A rescue attempt was launched from Rome but the disaster was simply too great. For more than 15 years the city laid buried. In 1594 it was rediscovered by chance. Excavations have been going on for centuries. The ash miraculously had preserved the buildings and streets. Now around 3.5 million people live under the shadow of Mt. Vesuvius.