Lesson 3: The Early Roman Empire Page 139 in your textbook.

Lesson 3: The Early Roman Empire

Page 139 in your textbook

Emperors of the Early Empire

• Timeframe : 14 AD until 180 AD• Augustus’s new political system allowed the

emperor to select his successor from his natural or adopted family.

• The first four emperors after Augustus came from his family

• Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero

Nero

• Nero was the Roman emperor from 54 to 68 AD. • He is remembered most for his perverse mind

and his persecution of Christians.

• He experienced a very unstable childhood. • The Emperor Caligula banished his family around

39 AD, seizing the entire family's fortune, and his father died when he was only three years old.

• He was raised by his mother and they were poor, but that changed when Agrippina married her uncle, the emperor Claudius.

• Agrippina convinced Claudius to adopt Nero and in 50 AD he became the probable heir to the throne, even ahead of Claudius's own son!

• In 54 AD Agrippina murdered Claudius and Nero became ruler at the age of 17.

• At first Nero's mother had a great deal of authority within his reign.

• However, Nero grew resentful of her power and Agrippina was removed from the palace in 55.

• until 59 Nero was known for his generosity and mildness.

• During this period he forbade capital punishment and contests involving bloodshed in the circus.

• He even reduced taxes. • This side of the emperor disappeared when he

ordered the murder of his mother, who was accused of treason in 59 AD.

• One of the most famous events of his reign was the fire of Rome in 64 AD

• Nero was in Antium when the fire started in the Circus Maximus.

• The fire spread and raged furiously over Rome for nine days.

The Great Fire

• When Nero returned he started to rebuild the city, which caused some to suspect Nero of planning the fire in order to make room for a new city built in his honor.

• Nero, needing a scapegoat for the fire, chose to put the blame on the Christians.

• His brutality was exhibited through the persecution of these early Christians.

• This persecution took on different forms for the Christians, as some were torn to death by dogs while others were used as torches to light Nero's gardens and parties.

• Nero was obsessed with Greece and Greek culture, frequently traveling there and participating in poetry, singing, and games as well as parties.

Downfall

• In 68, after an extensive time there, a food shortage and unrest brought him back to Rome

• There were many uprisings against him.• After his return, Nero's reign finally came to an

end in 68 AD when he committed suicide with the help of his secretary, Epaphroditus.

• He is said to have muttered before his death, "What an artist dies in me!"

Civil War

• After Nero’s death, a civil war broke out in 69 AD.

• It became obvious that the Empire had a major flaw

• No system for selecting a new emperor. • Emperor at the mercy of Roman legions. • Weak Emperors could easily be killed and

replaced.

Vespasian

• The suicide of emperor Nero, in 68, was followed by eighteen months of civil war, the first Roman civil war since Mark Antony’s death in 30 BC.

• During this period, Rome witnessed the successive rise and fall of three emperors until the rise of Vespasian

• The first task of the new Emperor Vespasian was to rebuild Rome after the civil war, to stamp his own identity on the city and to wipe away the memory of Nero.

• The Roman Colosseum was to become the showpiece of the new Flavian dynasty of Vespasian and his sons Titus and Domitian.

• The location chosen for the new amphitheater was most significant. It was built on the site of the infamous Golden House of Nero.

• This palace, complete with its own lake and parkland setting, had been built in the very heart of Rome. The lake was filled in and the land reused as the location for the new colisseum.

• Vespasian’s decision to build the Colosseum on the site of Nero’s lake can be seen as a gesture of returning a part of the city to the people which emperor Nero had for his own use.

• Vespasian did not live to see his amphitheater completed. After he died in 79, his oldest son Titus continued construction on the Colosseum. Titus opened it to the public in AD 80.

• During the dedication of the Flavian Amphitheater 9,000 animals and hundreds of gladiators were participating in a hundred days of games on an unparalleled scale.

• After Titus’s death the following year, Domitian, Vespasian’s youngest son and Titus’s young brother, built the underground caverns and finished the decorative work.

Size of the Empire

• In its height, the Roman empire covered 9.1 million square kilometers

• Population estimated at more than 50 million people.

• At the height of the empire, there was one slave for every three Roman citizens.

Slavery in Rome

• Slavery became an important part of Roman life. • As nobles became richer and lazier they began

using slaves as gladiators for entertainment.• Gladiators were trained slaves who were forced

to fight wild animals and other slaves in huge arenas in front of thousands of people.

• It was a brutal and ugly sport and it was becoming very popular.

• Gladiators were usually recruited from criminals, slaves, and prisoners of war.

• Criminals, having lost their citizen rights and slaves and prisoners of war having none, had no choice about becoming a gladiator, if they had the physical and emotional make-up necessary for the profession.

Spartacus

• Spartacus was born in Thrace (an ancient country, now part of Greece and Turkey.)

• When he was young he worked in the fields of his homeland.

• He served as a Roman auxiliary in the legions. • Believed that he deserted the Roman army

and as a result of that was sold into slavery.

• While being enrolled in a training school in Capua in 73 AD., Spartacus led a group of several other gladiators and fled the gladiatorial college capturing Mount Vesuvius.

• When other slaves heard about Spartacus they were motivated by his courage and readily joined him in the fight against the Roman nobility.  

Gladiatorial School where Spartacus was Trained

The Revolt

•In 73 BC a group of 78 gladiators escaped from the gladiatorial school in Capua. They started traveling and picking up runaway slaves. The leaders of this group were Spartacus, Oenomaus, and Crixus.

The Battle at Vesuvius•The newly formed slave army had traveled to Mount Vesuvius in search of a safe and easily dependable place.

•Instead of finding it, they were trapped on the mountain by the praetor Gaius Claudius Glaber. 

The Outcome

•Miraculously, the slaves defeated the Romans. •They rappelled down the mountain and attacked the Romans from all sides. •This resulted in an increase of weapons and supplies for the slaves and an increase of fear for the Romans.

• Spartacus hoped that in search for freedom his soldiers would attempt to cross the Alps, after which they could seek their own homelands.

• However, his plan didn't materialize as they preferred to attack the rich Italian countryside.

• Within the space of two years they defeated no fewer than four Roman armies.

• With his huge army of 70,000 Spartacus' force overran much of Campania and Lucania defeating all the Roman opposition.

• Inside, however, Spartacus knew that if Romans really decided to make an effort his army stood no chance

• By 72 B.C.E., the Senate realized that Spartacus and his army were an internal threat to security and ordered the consuls to crush the slave revolt.

• It turned out to be harder than they thought. • Surprisingly the Roman army was defeated

three times. • On numerous occasions Spartacus tried to

persuade his men to leave Italy and move northward towards Gaul but they refused.

• Eventually, he decided to turn southward and go to Sicily.

• However, that was a turning point of the slave war.

• The Senate placed Crassus, an able and competent general, in command of six legions.

• his initial attempt to crush the revolt failed, in 7 3 AD, his army defeated the slaves and gladiators.

Attempted Escape

• Meanwhile, Spartacus turned around and headed towards Sicily, planning to escape on pirate ships, which he had hired, not knowing that the pirates had already sailed away.

• Crassus built a wall to block Spartacus' escape. • When the slaves tried to break through, the

Romans fought back, killing about 12,000 of the slaves, while losing only 7 of their own.

Revolt Crushed

• Spartacus was killed in the battle and 6,000 captured slaves were crucified along the Appian Way.

• Appia teritur regina longarum viarum "the Appian way is the queen of the long roads"• That was the end of the last of the series of

slave wars extending back to the previous century.

End of the Revolt

Pax Romana

• Beginning of 2nd century (the 100’s AD) a series of five “good” emperors came to power

• These emperors created a period of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (the Roman peace)

• Nerva• Trajan• Hadrian• Antoninus Pius• Marcus Aurelius

• The Pax Romana lasted for almost 200 years• The rulers treated the ruling classes with

respect, maintained peace in the empire. • Powers of the emperor expanded during this

period, at the expense of the senate• All were extremely active in building public

works – aqueducts, bridges roads, harbor facilities.

Living Conditions in Rome

• Rome had the largest population of any city in any empire – 1 million by the time of Augustus

• Rome had public buildings unlike anywhere in the empire

• Temples, markets, baths, theaters, government buildings, and amphitheaters gave parts of the city a magnificent appearance.

Downside

• On the other hand, Rome was overcrowded and noisy

• Because of congestion, cart an wagon traffic was banned during the day