5/16/11

Roman Empire

• Octavian-AKA Caesar Augustus
• Begins Pax Roma-pd of peace and prosperity
• Built roads, aqueducts
• set up civil service to take care of roads, grain supple and postal service
• Augustus dies age 76 AD 14, and passes power to Tiberius
• emperor when Jesus was born 
• Jesus was a roman citizen, and a practicing Jew 
• at 30, he began his ministry (AD 31-33)
• preaching to the poor in the empire, and reaching out to outsiders
• Statements like "my kingdom is not of this world" made the Romans nervous, and they began to plan his execution
• governor of the roman province of Judaea, Pontius Pilate sentences Jesus to death by crucifixion
• Paul is instrumental in telling the world about Jesus' life, death, resurrection and message
• he travels far and wide: Cyprus, Anatolia, Athens, Corinth, Macedonia, Rome, Jerusalem, and maybe Spain and Britain
• he writes letters to many of those he spole to, these epistles are a part of the New Testament
• if not for the efforts of Paul, it is likely that Jesus remains an obscure preacher, instead of a central figure of the world's largest religions 
• The 100: A ranking of the most influential persons in History
• Muhammad
• Sir Isaa Newtown
• Jesus
• Buddha
• Confucius
• St. Paul of Tarsus
• As Augustus' stepson and adopted son, Tiberius succeeded Octavian
• although a great general, he was dark, somber, reclusive, and reluctant emperor 
• he referred to the Senate as "men fit to be slaves"
• Germanicus started out as Tiberius ally, asince he quelled a legion mutiny, but when it looked like he would succeed Tiberius, he got paranoid and had Germanicus killed
• died in AD 37 at the age of 77, giving way to....Caligula
• Good start
• in addition to being Germanicus' son, he was Tiberius' adopted grandson and great-nephew putting him next in line for emperor
• he started off well: granting bonuses to those in military, declaring treason trials a thing of the past, made government spending 
• began fighting with senate
• claimed to be a God
• cruelty and insanity, he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it, indulged in too much spending and sex, and even tried to make his horse a consul and a priest
• assassinated by his own aides AD 41 (age 28)
• Cladius
• Ostracized by his family because of his disablilities he was the last adult male in his family when Caligula was killed
• he rose to the occasion: he conquered Britain; he built roads, canals, and aqueducts; he renovated the Circus Maximus
• Had an awful marriage with Messalina, who was quite often unfaithful to him, even plotting to seize power for her lover Silius through a coup so Claudius killed both 
• Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
• Romans had many gos, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
• AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down 
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