The Roman Empire

1. The Roman Empire

2. Review
 How did the Roman Republic expand and gain territory?
 What were some of the major problems facing the Roman Republic?

3. Review, continued
 How did Caesar gain power? Why did people support him or not support him?
Why was he assassinated?
 What did Augustus have to do to gain power after the death of Caesar?
 How did Augustus govern?

5. Augustus, the first emperor
 By the time Augustus died after 45 years of rule, a tradition of rule by
emperors was established which would last for the next 400 years (the next
1,400 years in the East)
 Augustus set the borders of the empire (only Britain and Romania would be
conquered by later emperors
 The Roman Empire was incredibly large, both in terms of geography and
population
 Challenge of governing vastly different cultures across the empire

6. Hadrian’s Wall

7. Timgad, Algeria

8. Jerash, Jordan

9. Pont du Gard, France

10. Emperors after Augustus
 The Julio-Claudian Dynasty—14 to 69 A.D.
 Chosen from the extended family of Augustus
 Some were capable rulers, like Tiberius and Claudius
 Others were unstable
 Caligula
 Nero
 After the Army rose up against Nero, the general Vespasian
became emperor, followed by his sons

11. The “Five Good Emperors” (96 to 180
A.D.)
 Domitian was an arrogant ruler—assassinated by a group of nobles and officers
 An elderly senator named Nerva was chosen as emperor
 No heir—chose a capable man named Trajan as successor
 Started trend—these competent rulers chose and adopted their successors, so
they could know that the empire would be in good hands
 Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius
 Remembered as wise rulers—viewed good administration and benefitting
subjects as their duty
 Philosophy of Stoicism

12. The Meditations Activity
The Oregonian is struggling. They have reached out to you, a
high school freshman, to write for them a new advice
column for their readers. However, there’s a catch. An old
philosophy is sweeping through self-help circles: Stoicism.
First outlined by Marcus Aurelius then later adapted by guys
like Tony Robbins, Stoicism is the hot new self-help
philosophy. After reading through an excerpt from The
Meditations, write a one page self-help column for the
paper. If you do not finish today in class, it will be due
tomorrow.

13. The Pax Romana
 Under the “Good Emperors,” Roman Empire prospered economically and was
free of major wars
 Roman roads and shipping linked many regions
 Cities, aqueducts
 Roman culture appealed to many of the conquered peoples of the empire
 Roman Empire was still an unequal and violent place—life difficult for
ordinary people