history 4
Gaius Julius Caesar was born on July 13, 100 BC to a prestigious Roman family. His uncle was Gaius Marius, the consul and leader of the agrarian reform movement. In 82 BC, Lucius Cornelius Sulla attacked the city and made himself dictator. Because Sulla was an enemy of Marius, he ordered Caesar to divorce his wife, Cornelia. Caesar refused, and fled the city until Sulla resigned in 78 BC. Caesar started his reign in a triumvirate, with himself, Pompey the Great, and Marcus Licinius Crassus. This was just a dictatorship of three. They ruled the Republic with terror, using the army and their henchmen as muscle. The only person who continually voiced his opposition to the triumvirate was the famous orator, Cicero. The triumvirate chased him into hiding. In 58 BC, Caesar et al.'s term ended, but they kept power. Caesar boosted his popularity by conquering Gaul and Britain. In 53 BC, Crassus died in battle in Asia, leaving a triumvirate of two. While Caesar was away in Britain, the senators tried to pit him against Pompey by naming Caesar a public enemy and Pompey protector of the state. The senators were hoping that the two would get rid of each other. Caesar was ordered to disband his army, but he instead marched on Rome. He was j
resulting in civil wars between the old Caesars and new Augusti. Eventually, Constantine the Great came out. Constantine's troops made him emperor, and he ruled the entire Empire from Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. Constantine was the first Christian ruler of the Empire. Around the second century AD, the Empire began to crumble. Wave after wave of barbarian invaders, especially the Huns, chipped away at the state. Eventually some of the provinces had to be abandoned. At the end of the third century, Emperor Diocletian decided the empire was too big, and split it in two. He ruled the east from Turkey, and commissioned Maximian to rule the west from Milan. He called this form of government the Dominate, from Latin dominus, meaning master. There were two Augusti, who ruled the east and west, and under them there were two Caesars, who were like vice-presidents. The two Caesars of the east and west were Constantine and Galerius, respectively. Diocletian turned his empire into something like a feudal system, where peasants were deprived of personal freedom and tied to the soil. He renamed citizens to subjects. In 305, Diocletian and Maximian stepped down as Augusti, They still had a senate, but senators only made it into office with Octavian's approval. Those citizens who were not fooled kept quiet, because Octavian kept things peaceful and governed fairly. Octavian ended the Roman tradition of conquest, cutting the army from seventy five to twenty eight legions. In 23 BC, Octavian gave up the consulate, but the senate forced him to keep power over the provinces. In effect, he ran the Empire from the background, while others were elected consul. These consuls had power, but always did what Octavian said. Octavian was almost eighty when he died in 14 AD. Alaric of the Visgoths helped the emperor Theodosius crush a rebellion. Unfortunately, Theodosius died before he could reward Alaric. The new emperor, Honorius, cut Alaric off from Rome, which he resented deeply. Alaric took his army to Constantinople, but found i
Some common words found in the essay are:
BC Caesar, Alaric Rome, Rome Octavian, BC Agrippa, Caesar Britain, Licinius Crassus, Constantine Galerius, Brutus Cassius, Emperor Diocletian, BC Octavian, bc caesar, east west, ruled east, senate people rome, mark antony, mean ruler, brutus cassius, ran empire, escaped egypt, pompey escaped, gaius julius caesar, triumvirate mark antony, caesar mean ruler, caesar's death,
Approximate Word count = 1376
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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