Weekly #5- Video

Required Daily #32

View Structures built by Augustus in a larger map

Daily #31

I think that Rome was better off as an empire than a republic for many different reasons. First of all, the Empire of Rome controlled a lot of land and they learned a lot about the other countries they were ruling. These other countries influenced Rome a lot because Rome learned about their cultures and they developed many beneficial ideas while being an Empire. The Empire was very secure and protective because of the border controls and even when the empire continued to grow, it also became safer. This made the people feel safe inside the borders of the Empire. The army of the Roman Empire was very strong and they made many achievements in military conflicts. The government was also very organized with a Roman emperor along with the Senate. This gave a lot of freedom to the plebeians, or lower-class citizens of Rome. The emperors of Rome after the Empire was established made good decisions for the Roman Empire and did things that would benefit all people of Rome, so they were not selfish. Architecture and the arts flourished under the Empire and many new ideas were introduced that benefitted society, including cement. There were many things wrong with the Roman Republic, especially how the government worked. The patricians made up almost the whole Senate and since they were so rich, they were allowed to have all these government positions. The plebeians did not have nearly as much power or freedom as they did as in the Empire and there were not many opportunities for them to prosper in society. The two groups often argued and got into fights because the plebeians were not treated fairly so there was a lot of chaos as a republic. The Roman Republic even went through civil wars when Caesar was dictator so many things went wrong. The Empire gave the people a lot more freedom and Rome prospered under an Empire for hundreds of years.

Daily #30

I honestly do not think in any way that Julius Caesar’s killers were justified in their actions. At the time of Caesar’s assassination, Caesar was becoming more of a dictator and the Senate even declared that he was the dictator of the Roman Republic. The Senate saw that Caesar was beginning to gain a lot of power and they did not like how he was stealing their power. This made the Senate angry and they were afraid he would overthrow the Senate with his power and possibly become a king. These were the main reasons why the Roman Senate decided that Julius Caesar needed to go. So a group of Roman Senators called the Liberatores devised a plan to kill Julius Caesar so they could regain power in the republic. On the day of March 15, or the Ides of March, 44 BC, Caesar went to the Theatre of Pompey to see a gladiator shoe. After it was over, Caesar’s loyal friend, Mark Antony, knew something was wrong and tried to alert Caesar, but he barely missed him. Caesar was led into a back room at the theatre and he was approached by about forty Roman Senators. Caesar knew something was wrong at this point, but he could not escape because he was surrounded on all sides, and he was stabbed about 23 times. Caesar was officially dead at the scene and the Roman Republic would fall a little bit because the government was in total chaos. I do not think killing Julius Caesar was an option that the Senate should have used and it was a terrible act that should have not been taken. There were other alternatives the Senate could have taken to get Caesar out of office. Killing a person can usually never be justified unless it is in self-defense and the assassination of Caesar was completely inappropriate. Caesar was an emperor that many Romans respected and his death would hurt Rome and its government.

Daily #29

There are many reasons why historians consider Hadrian the “best emperor”. First of all, Hadrian succeeded the former Roman emperor Trajan and he had good plans during his reign as Roman emperor. During his reign, he tried not to focus on military conflicts and wars but rather on peace, which the people of Rome really liked about Hadrian. He developed a peace policy where he negotiated peace with other countries and made sure his empire was secure as possible by building forts and strong structure along the empire’s borders. One of the most important structures Hadrian built was called Hadrian’s Wall, which was located on the northern border in Great Britain. Hadrian loved to learn about different cultures in his empire so he traveled a lot to other countries to understand their cultures. These countries developed strong relationships with Hadrian and the rest of Rome so many people came to like and enjoy Hadrian as emperor. Hadrian had a love for the arts and architecture so when he traveled to other countries, he liked to build artistic structures to commemorate his journey to these countries. For example, Hadrian loved the culture of the Greeks so he built many temples there, including the Temple of the Olympian Zeus. He even helped Rome in many ways, including rebuilding the once destroyed Pantheon, which was a very important accomplishment for Hadrian. Hadrian had knowledge of all the cultures in the Roman Empire and became familiar with all the countries he ruled. He was even named one of the Five Good Emperors. Many people of the Roman Empire gave respect to Hadrian for all of his accomplishments because he really understood them. This is why many historians agree that Hadrian might have been the “best emperor”.

Daily #28

Hannibal was born in 247 B.C.E in Carthage, which was suffering from the rule of the ancient Romans. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was the main leader of the Carthaginian army during the First Punic War. Living in such disagreement with Rome, he developed a deep hatred for Rome during his early years and wanted to get revenge on them somehow. Hannibal saw the terrible results of the first Punic War when Carthage lost badly and they were in a poor sate. After the death of his father and the death of his brother Hasdrubal, Hannibal finally became commander of the Carthaginian army in 221 BCE. His main goal was to somehow destroy Rome so his country could be powerful again. He started on his lifelong journey to Italy by first going through Spain and cutting through the Pyrenees Mountains in Northern Spain. He then got through the Alps and finally reached northern Italy. While in Italy, he destroyed and sacked many towns and cities and got into many significant battles that he managed to fight through. Hannibal led his troops to within 50 miles of Rome and the strongest Roman army ever assembled met them there. This would be the decisive battle called the Battle of Cannae and it favored Rome because they greatly outnumbered the Carthaginian army. Hannibal let the Romans break through his line of infantry and he knew that was what they would do. He hid his cavalry so the Romans could not see them and when the time was right, the cavalry invaded and trapped the Romans on three sides. The Romans were stuck and could not do anything, and they were absolutely crushed at that point. Carthage had defeated the strongest army that Rome ever had and Hannibal had finally gotten revenge on the one area he hated most. Due to the victory for the Carthaginians in the Battle of Cannae, I definitely think the Romans saw Hannibal as a monster for all he did to them because he single handedly reached Italy and defeated Rome when he was outnumbered. Even when Rome showed Carthage their greatest army, Carthage somehow came out with an important victory. The Romans became worried about one single guy because of all the terrible things he did to them and they saw him as a major obstacle.

Daily #27

There are many elements of the Roman Republic that appear present in our modern democracies. First of all, the Roman republic had a very strict constitution that they followed and any violation of it could result in a major punishment. Modern democracies, especially in the United States, have a very similar way of doing this. We have a constitution that we must follow and abide by and when people violate these laws or amendments, they could go to prison or even worse. The Senate in Rome is very similar to Congress in the United States because they enforced laws and managed them in the cities and towns. Checks and balances was also very important in Rome because each branch in the Roman Republic system could oversee each other branch and make sure that nothing bad was going to happen. They also had separation of powers where no branch in the republic could gain enough power over the others. This made the Roman Republic very organized and very efficient for many years. The United States and other countries have governments with the ideas of checks and balances and separation of powers and they probably adopted these ideas form the Roman Republic. Another major event that changed Roman politics forever was the Struggle of the Orders. This event finally gave power to the plebeians, or common people of Rome, and they elected one person to represent them, called the Tribune of the Plebs. This idea is similar in the United States because we the people have the power in society and everybody under law has rights. The Tribune of the Plebs is very similar to the President of the US because that person had the power to veto and could had the final say for the laws that passes through the Senate, just like our President. Rome had a system of capital punishment for people who violated the constitution wrongly and were condemned to die. Modern democracies have this system also and it is used in the United States, but not as much as it used to. In all of these ways, it is clear to see all of the similarities between the Roman Republic and modern democracies.