Post by Christopher Martin on Nov 26, 2016 18:24:46 GMT
THE END OF THE REPUBLIC (60-30BC), PT II
THE END OF THE TRIUMVIRATE
In 58BC, Caesar went north to take up his proconsular command and begin the lengthy conquest of Gaul, gaining for Rome of of its most important provinces. Meanwhile, the other two triumvirs (Pompey and Crassus) were supposedly guarding his interests in Rome. the triumvirate was formally renewed in 56BC at Lucca. Crassus too up command in the East, keen for military glory to rival that of his fellow triumvirs. Disaster followed at Carrhae in 53BC. Crassus' legions were destroyed by the Parthians in the desert, and Crassus died with them. This left Pompey and Caesar in open and deepening rivalry, with the Senate backing Pompey as a lesser evil. In 49BC Caesar started civil war by crossing the Rubicon into Italy. Moving swiftly, he seized Rome, was appointed dictator by the people - in theory an emergency post - and followed Pompey and his other enemies to Greece, where he defeated them at Pharsalus in 48BC. Pompey, fleeing to Egypt, a nomincally independent kingdom, was murdered upon arrival. Caesar, after encountering and being seduced by Cleopatra, then pursued and defeated the Republicans in Africa and Spain, celebrating a grand triumph in Rome while passing through.
CAESAR'S DICTATORSHIP
Once back in Rome, Julius Caesar embarked on a series of reforms including a general cancellation of debt and the founding of new colonies in Spain, Gaul, Greece and Africa - for his soldiers and the city's unemployed. He also reformed the calendar, began building the huge Basilica Julia, brought citizens from outside Italy into the Senate, started draining the Pontine marshes and reformed the currency - all this in a just a few months.
Early in 44BC Jlius Caesar assumed perpetual dictatorship, revealing that his monopoly of power was not temporary, but permanent, like a king's. Like a king, too, was the way his image appeared on the coins and statues. But this was anathema to all true Republicans. On the Ides (15th) of March 44BC, just before he left Rome for an eastern campaign, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by a group led by Brutus, reputedly a descendant of the man who had driven out the last king in 509BC.
THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE
Caesar's assassin's, about 60 senators, had nothing realistic to put in his place, except more civil war. In the complex manoeuvrings the followed, Caesar's fellow consul, Mark Antony, formed the Second Triumvirate with young Octavian Caesar, the dictator's adopted son, and Lepidus, another Caesarean. Savagely proscribing many Republicans in Rome, they pursued the conspirators to Greece and defeated them at Philippi in 42BC. There followed a division of the empire, with Octavian ultimately taking control of all the west, and Antony controlling the east. Antony soon became enamoured of Cleopatra, the beutiful, intelligent queen of Egypt and the last Ptolemy ruler. Although officially married to Octavia, sister of his co=triumvir, Antony soon shunned her in favour of Cleopatra, and Octavia returned to Rome, humiliated.
Antony's military fame was tarnished by his failed campaign against the Parthians in 36BC. Meanwhile, Octavian was completing the basilica of the now deified Julies and establishing his own reputation as a patriotic Roman. The final showdown at the naval battle of Actium in north-west Greece in 31BC was an anticlimax, with many of Antony's supporters deserting. Pursued to Egypt, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, depriving Octavian of the joy of exhibiting them in his triumph, but not of the kingdom of Egypt, which he annexed personally. Two years later, Octavian returned to Rome to begin the immense task of the restoration of the Roman world after almost a century of civil war.
You can find the text HERE. As always, refer to your syllabus for the sections that you are assigned to read and discuss.
THE END OF THE TRIUMVIRATE
In 58BC, Caesar went north to take up his proconsular command and begin the lengthy conquest of Gaul, gaining for Rome of of its most important provinces. Meanwhile, the other two triumvirs (Pompey and Crassus) were supposedly guarding his interests in Rome. the triumvirate was formally renewed in 56BC at Lucca. Crassus too up command in the East, keen for military glory to rival that of his fellow triumvirs. Disaster followed at Carrhae in 53BC. Crassus' legions were destroyed by the Parthians in the desert, and Crassus died with them. This left Pompey and Caesar in open and deepening rivalry, with the Senate backing Pompey as a lesser evil. In 49BC Caesar started civil war by crossing the Rubicon into Italy. Moving swiftly, he seized Rome, was appointed dictator by the people - in theory an emergency post - and followed Pompey and his other enemies to Greece, where he defeated them at Pharsalus in 48BC. Pompey, fleeing to Egypt, a nomincally independent kingdom, was murdered upon arrival. Caesar, after encountering and being seduced by Cleopatra, then pursued and defeated the Republicans in Africa and Spain, celebrating a grand triumph in Rome while passing through.
CAESAR'S DICTATORSHIP
Once back in Rome, Julius Caesar embarked on a series of reforms including a general cancellation of debt and the founding of new colonies in Spain, Gaul, Greece and Africa - for his soldiers and the city's unemployed. He also reformed the calendar, began building the huge Basilica Julia, brought citizens from outside Italy into the Senate, started draining the Pontine marshes and reformed the currency - all this in a just a few months.
Early in 44BC Jlius Caesar assumed perpetual dictatorship, revealing that his monopoly of power was not temporary, but permanent, like a king's. Like a king, too, was the way his image appeared on the coins and statues. But this was anathema to all true Republicans. On the Ides (15th) of March 44BC, just before he left Rome for an eastern campaign, Julius Caesar was stabbed to death by a group led by Brutus, reputedly a descendant of the man who had driven out the last king in 509BC.
THE SECOND TRIUMVIRATE
Caesar's assassin's, about 60 senators, had nothing realistic to put in his place, except more civil war. In the complex manoeuvrings the followed, Caesar's fellow consul, Mark Antony, formed the Second Triumvirate with young Octavian Caesar, the dictator's adopted son, and Lepidus, another Caesarean. Savagely proscribing many Republicans in Rome, they pursued the conspirators to Greece and defeated them at Philippi in 42BC. There followed a division of the empire, with Octavian ultimately taking control of all the west, and Antony controlling the east. Antony soon became enamoured of Cleopatra, the beutiful, intelligent queen of Egypt and the last Ptolemy ruler. Although officially married to Octavia, sister of his co=triumvir, Antony soon shunned her in favour of Cleopatra, and Octavia returned to Rome, humiliated.
Antony's military fame was tarnished by his failed campaign against the Parthians in 36BC. Meanwhile, Octavian was completing the basilica of the now deified Julies and establishing his own reputation as a patriotic Roman. The final showdown at the naval battle of Actium in north-west Greece in 31BC was an anticlimax, with many of Antony's supporters deserting. Pursued to Egypt, Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide, depriving Octavian of the joy of exhibiting them in his triumph, but not of the kingdom of Egypt, which he annexed personally. Two years later, Octavian returned to Rome to begin the immense task of the restoration of the Roman world after almost a century of civil war.
You can find the text HERE. As always, refer to your syllabus for the sections that you are assigned to read and discuss.