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Brutus had been a friend of Caesar. After Pompey’s defeat at Pharsalus, Caesar had pardoned him and rewarded him with the governorship of Gaul two years later. Some accounts of the assassination report that when Caesar saw Brutus was among those who had stabbed him, he said in surprise, “You, too, Brutus?” After Caesar After Caesar’s death, two of his supporters took the lead in the struggle against Brutus and Cassius. The first was Mark Antony, a well-known general who had served as consul with Caesar some years earlier. The second was Caesar’s 18-year-old adopted son, Ocatavian. Mark Antony set up a public funeral for Caesar. Prior to this funeral, Brutus had explained that the rebels had killed Caesar because he was ambitious and rep- resented a serious threat to Roman liberties. According to Plutarch, the Roman crowds initially accepted this explanation. During the funeral, however, Caesar’s supporters read parts of Caesar’s will, in which he left a legacy to every Roman citizen. On hearing how Caesar had loved them, the crowds became incensed against the murderers and started a riot. These events are memorably described in Shakespeare’s play Julius Caesar. Antony and Octavian defeated Brutus and Cassius at the battle of Philippi, in northern Greece. Brutus and Cassius both committed suicide when they saw they had been defeated. For many Romans, suicide was seen as a way to maintain honor after a military defeat and was preferred by some to the alternative of cap- ture and possible humiliation. Octavian and Antony divided the vast Roman territories into two parts, with Octavian controlling the western part from a base in Rome and Antony the east- ern part from a base in Egypt, where he followed in Caesar’s footsteps by starting a romance with Cleopatra. However, tensions soon broke out between the co- rulers. As a gesture of political unity, Antony agreed to marry Octavian’s sister, Octavia, but his real love was Cleopatra. Antony eventually left Octavia and went back to Cleopatra. Octavian was angry at Antony for Antony’s treatment of his sister, among other reasons, and he did not want to share the empire. Ultimately, Octavian led an army against Antony and Cleopatra. The decisive battle was a naval battle, fought at Actium along the coast of Greece. During the battle, Cleopatra’s ships turned and fled and Antony followed. Octavian was victorious and pursued the defeated lovers to Egypt. Antony committed suicide and later Cleopatra also com- mitted suicide by applying a poisonous asp to her skin. These twin suicides put an end to one of history’s great romantic affairs and left Octavian in control of the Roman world. The celebrated love affair between Antony and Cleopatra and its tragic ending have been depicted in numerous plays and movies, including Shakespeare’s Antony and Cleopatra. Augustus Caesar After the defeat of Antony and Cleopatra, Octavian became the sole ruler of Rome. Four years later, a grateful Senate awarded him the honorary title of Augustus, meaning sacred. While Octavian, now Augustus Caesar, was careful to retain the structures of the republican government, he was actually given much

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II. Ancient Rome

more power than office-holders in the old republic would have had, and his tenure is considered the beginning of the Roman Empire and of 200 years of peace known as the Pax Romana. Under Augustus, the Senate was continued, but much of its power was assumed by the emperor. It no longer chose who would rule; it only confirmed the reigning emperor’s choice of successor (or the military’s candidate in the years when the army held power). Among the reforms that Augustus Caesar instituted were creation of a civil service, establishment of a postal system, introduction of new coins for money transactions, and reform of the census in order to make the tax system more equi- table. He set up what may have been the world’s first fire department. He also had roads constructed throughout the empire to allow for communication between Rome and the provinces. You may have heard the expression “all roads lead to Rome.” This was literally true of the road system Augustus worked to create. Augustus also worked to revitalize Roman religion. He promoted religious Teaching Idea festivals and encouraged worship of the Roman gods as a way of building loyalty Divide the class into groups and allow to the state. Augustus funded the renovation and construction of ornate religious them to conduct more in-depth temples, as well as civic buildings. Augustus is said to have boasted that he research about one of the famous his- “found Rome brick and left it marble.” torical figures discussed. Give them the Last but not least, Augustus was a great patron of the arts. It was during his opportunity to draw a detailed portrait reign that Virgil wrote the Aeneid, mentioned on p. 125. This epic poem was of the figure and present an oral report meant to glorify Augustus and Rome. Other writers also flourished during the to the class on this famous person. reign of Augustus, including Horace, Livy, and Ovid. Later Emperors, Good and Bad After Augustus, Rome had some outstanding emperors. One of them, Marcus Aurelius (161–180 CE), was even a philosopher. Marcus Aurelius left behind a set of Meditations that are still read today. The Meditations are full of the emperor’s little reminders to himself, such as: Be like the promontory against which the waves continually break; but it stands firm and tames the fury of the water around it. He who loves fame considers another man’s activity to be his own good; and he who loves pleasure, his own sensations; but he who has understanding considers his own acts to be his own good. Wipe out the imagination. Stop the pulling of the strings. Confine thyself to the present. However, not all of the Roman emperors were philosopher-kings like Marcus Aurelius. There is an old saying that “power tends to corrupt,” and many of the Roman emperors were corrupted by power. Some wasted the Roman taxpayers’ money on extravagant palaces and items for personal use. Others were obsessed with themselves, or paranoid about possible enemies. Many had blood on their hands. The emperor who came after Marcus Aurelius, Commodus, was one of the bad emperors. Although trained by Marcus Aurelius, Commodus turned out to be a megalomaniac, a person obsessed with himself. He demanded that the Senate recognize him as the reincarnation of the god Hercules and renamed Rome after

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