Background for Hammurabi

Babylon’s blazing rise to power, like a rocket soaring high into the sky, was launched by its brilliant king, Hammurabi (1792-1750 B.C.). Bold and visionary, he conquered various cities, and then created a code of laws to unify and rule the empire.

In 4,000 cuneiform lines, Hammurabi’s massive code features a prologue, 282 laws, and an epilogue. The prologue describes how the gods called Hammurabi their servant and the defender of the weak. The epilogue repeats his mission to provide protection (especially for widows and orphans), worship the gods, and erect this monument so that all may know their rights and have “glad hearts” under Hammurabi’s care.

Hammurabi’s decrees covered all three levels of Babylonian society: the awilum, or upper-class, free man; the mushkenum, a free citizen beneath the awilum, whose position is still not completely understood; and the wardum, or slave. All were entitled to fair court procedures, a fair judge, and an appeal to the king himself. Class, nevertheless, was important and was directly related to provisions in the code: If a surgeon saved an awilum’s eye, he was paid ten shekels; for a mushkenum’s eye, he received five shekels; for a slave’s eye, two shekels. There were similar distinctions in punishments: If an awilum broke another awilum’s bone, his penalty was having his bone broken; if the awilum broke a mushkenum’s bone, he was fined one mina (a unit of currency); if he broke a slave’s bone, he paid one-half the slave’s value.

Most rules dealt with agriculture, property rights, and business. Since growing crops was so important, the code stated the responsibilities of both landowners and tenant farmers (poorer men who worked another’s land for part of the harvest). Some laws clearly protected the poor: If someone was paying off what he owed in crops and bad weather destroyed his grain, that year’s debt payment was cancelled. In addition, a man could serve in slavery no more than three years in payment of a debt.

The code also stated wages for field hands, ox-drivers, shipbuilders, and sailors. It even listed inheritance, adoption, and other family rights.

Amazingly, at a time when men considered both women and slaves to be their personal property, Hammurabi decreed that women could receive inheritances. Slaves could buy their freedom, be adopted as freed people, and marry free women (children whose mothers were free were considered free as well).

Hammurabi’s punishments were harsh. Theft, kidnapping, and hiding a runaway slave meant death. “If a person has put out the eye of a man of the free class, they put out his eye.” “If a person has knocked out the teeth of a free man, they shall knock out some of his teeth.” “If a man’s slave has struck the cheek of a man of the free class, they shall cut off his ear.” This “eye for an eye” was a feature unique to Hammurabi’s code. Although the penalties were severe, fair judgment was stressed: A thief could not be put to death unless stolen goods were found in his possession. False accusers, lying witnesses, and corrupt judges were punished.

Today we associate Hammurabi’s name primarily with the code of law he established. Yet, it is important to remember that his achievements in other areas were no less important to the daily lives of his subjects. Under his rule, for example, Babylon’s economic and political influence grew rapidly, and the city came to control many of its neighbors. Hammurabi guided this expansion, using alliances instead of military force whenever possible.

Although a talented military leader, he knew that attacking a rival city would cause its surviving citizens to resent Babylon and perhaps even hate it deeply. Since Hammurabi wanted loyal subjects, not unhappy ones who might revolt at any time, he tried to convince his neighbors that an alliance with prosperous, attractive Babylon would help both sides.

Again and again this argument succeeded, for there was a great deal of truth in it. Babylon was growing, and growing cities can be great places to live. Throughout his reign, Hammurabi took care to see that walls were in good repair, that taxes were bearable, and that lectures by famous teachers, scientists, and astrologers were open to the (male) public.

Under Hammurabi, the forces of immigration and growth were powerful. A merchant attracted by Babylon’s wealth or by the protection of its massive walls would move to the city. The shop he opened would, in turn, attract both customers and more merchants. Others came to Babylon for the city’s educational opportunities and religious festivals.

Unfortunately, after Hammurabi died, Babylon could not find as good of a leader and revolts popped up everywhere. Yet even though Babylon fell, Hammurabi’s leadership remains an important part of ancient history.

Mighty Babylon

Mighty Babylon!—a magnificent city bordered to the east by the beneficent Euphrates River and to the west by windswept desert sands. Mighty Babylon!—the master of Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization.

Mention Babylon and any reader or listener visualizes a luxurious city bathed by the sun and the fertile waters of the Euphrates.When Hammurabi ascended the Babylonian throne in approximately 1750 B.C., Mesopotamia was divided into various rival city-states, each of which constantly sought to become the center of power. Realizing that this competition could never produce a strong and peaceful solidarity, Hammurabi resolved to unite all his neighbors under his own rule. Not only did he accomplish this task, but in addition, he made Babylon the cultural and political center of Mesopotamia. Under Hammurabi, peace reigned throughout the Tigris-Euphrates valley, trade prospered, and justice prevailed.

Hammurabi sincerely believed in Babylon and wrote in the prologue to his famed Code of Laws that Babylon was “supreme in the world” and that the foundations of his rule were “as firm as those in heaven and earth.”

Unfortunately, Hammurabi's heirs lacked their predecessor's leadership qualities, and soon after he died in the forty-second year of his rule, revolts flared up everywhere. For more than a century, Hammurabi's descendants tried to preserve the great ruler's legacy. But alas, Babylon was destined to fall once more before an invading force. Such had been and would continue to be her history—great successes, peace, and prosperity followed by disaster, total destruction, and foreign domination.

Background for Julius Caesar

Julius Caesar rose to power during the period called the Late Republic, when military commanders used their troops to take control of the government. There was, however, a major difference between Caesar and the generals who preceded him (Sulla, Marius, and Pompey, for example). The difference was the improvements Caesar made in the Rome he loved.

To enhance Rome physically, Caesar embarked on an extensive building and engineering program. His new, colonnaded Forum Iulium (Julian Forum) showcased spectacular buildings. They were set around a new temple dedicated to Venus Genetrix (Venus the Mother), the goddess from whom Caesar’s family claimed descent.

Additionally, great public works were undertaken. Rome was a city of great urban sprawl and unimpressive brick architecture, and desperately needed a renewal. A new Rostra of marble was built, along with courthouses and marketplaces. A public library under the great scholar Marcus Terentius Varro was also under construction. The Senate house, the Curia Hostilia, which had been recently repaired, was abandoned for a new marble project to be called the Curia Julia. The city Pomerium (sacred boundary) was extended, allowing for additional growth.

Caesar also had plans to construct an entire public library system and a new canal near Rome to improve transportation. To ensure that Rome would become a center of learning, Caesar conferred privileges to all teachers of the liberal arts. Although he was unable to complete these projects, they set the stage for the glorious building program of Caesar’s successor, Augustus.

Bolstering the morale of the people was an important aspect of Caesar’s improvements. After decades of Rome’s physical destruction during the civil wars, citizens could now see their city rebuilt and take pride in its beautification. Caesar also made them feel a part of what was happening, because he had Senate and court proceedings published daily.

Determined to help Rome’s economic conditions, Caesar initiated several reforms. He reduced the amount of debt people owed. He also settled his troops on land throughout Italy instead of burdening Rome with a larger population. He even sent 80,000 of Rome’s poor and unemployed to establish colonies throughout the provinces. The modern Spanish cities of Seville, Tarragona, and Cartagena are three of the forty colonies established under Caesar’s plan. He ordered cities like Carthage and Corinth to be rebuilt and founded new towns, such as Arles and Seville. In Asia Minor and Sicily, he introduced a new system of taxation, which protected the subjects from extortion.

Caesar was the first Roman leader to address the feeling of dissatisfaction among the Roman people so extensively. His resettlement helped to relieve Rome of many discontented poor. Under revised rules, ex-slaves could hold office in the colonies. The new settlers — many former welfare recipients — saw hope for a better future. Such programs also resulted in a reduction in the grain handed out to impoverished people. In fact, under Caesar’s settlement plan, the grain dole was cut by more than 50 percent.

To make these changes official and permanent, Caesar needed political support. To achieve this, he increased the number of senators from 600 to 900, adding people who were not politicians—bankers and farmers, for example—to the senatorial rank. Not only did this policy offer Roman citizens the prospect of advancement, but it also created a broader-based Senate, one that was more responsive to the needs of the people. He also increased the number important government officials – praetores from ten to twelve, aediles from four to six, and quaestores from twenty to forty. The last measure granted some justice in provincial taxation, but did not establish a serious professional bureaucracy as yet.

As part of Caesar’s reform agenda he also took on various social ills. He passed a law that prohibited citizens between the ages of 20 and 40 from leaving Italy for more than three years, unless on military assignment. Theoretically, this would help preserve the continued operation of local farms and businesses, and prevent corruption abroad. If a member of the social elite did harm, or killed a member of the lower class, then all the wealth of the perpetrator was to be confiscated. Caesar demonstrated that he still had the best interest of the state at heart, even if he believed that he was the only person capable of running it.

In 63 BC Caesar had been elected Pontifex Maximus, and one of his roles as such was settling the calendar. A complete overhaul of the old Roman calendar proved to be one of his most long lasting and influential reforms. In 46 BC, Caesar established a 365-day year with a leap year every fourth year (this Julian Calendar was subsequently modified by Pope Gregory XIII in 1582 into the modern Gregorian calendar). As a result of this reform, a certain Roman year (mostly equivalent to 46 BC in the modern Calendar) was made 445 days long, to bring the calendar into line with the seasons.

Nine veteran legions were finally disbanded in 45BCE. The soldiers who had been with since the war in Gaul were paid an additional silver talent (21 kg or the equivalent of 26 year's pay). Several legions were constituted as a partial substitute. These moves reduced the potential for civil wars in the future.

Debts were a serious problem, because interest had been sky-high during the Civil War. Caesar disappointed radical reformers (like Marcus Caelius Rufus) who had expected a total cancellation. Caesar decreed, however, that the debtors should satisfy their creditors according to a valuation of their possessions at the price which they had paid for them before the civil war, deducting whatever interest already had been paid. This arrangement wiped out about a fourth part of the debts.

As a legislator, Caesar prepared standard regulations for the municipal constitutions and proposed a law against extravagance. The Jews – who had helped him during the Egyptian campaign – were protected. He even planned a codification of all existent Civil Law (a project not executed until 438 CE).

Caesar's most important policy was his lavish granting of citizenship: those who were subjected by the Romans could receive a set of extra civil rights and a small share in the benefits of empire. During the Social War, the Italian allies had received this Roman Citizenship from Caesar's uncle; Caesar extended the privilege first to the Gauls along the Po, and – later – to some Gauls that he had subdued. The inhabitants of many individual towns received the privilege too. To the dismay of the old aristocracy, Caesar even started to recruit new senators from outside Italy.

Today, Caesar’s best-known project is his revision of the calendar, but many of his endeavors paved the way for future changes. Even though he died before all his reforms were implemented, his plans clearly showed concern for the common citizen. In addition, his was a vision created and directed by one man. This set an inspiring precedent for Augustus and the emperors who ruled the Roman world for the next 1,500 years. Background on Shihuangdi

When Qin Shihuangdi became king of the state of Qin in 246 BCE, he possessed one of the strongest armies in the land. At the age of 21m the king and his trusted advisor, Li Si, developed a plan to conquer Qin’s rivals. Their army consisted of foot soldiers, archers, and soldiers on horseback and in chariots. These armies were as large as 600,000 men. Qin’s rivals usually suffered 20,000 casualties in each ferocious battle. While Shihuangdi probably never engaged in battle himself, he used spies, bribery, and alliances to ensure that rival states did not join against him. He conquered all the rival states by 221 BCE, and declared himself First Emperor of the newly united empire.

Qin Shihuangdi wished to protect his new empire by preventing rebellions and dangerous alliances from being formed. Therefore, he had his rival’s weapons melted down. In addition, he forced more than 120,000 ex-feudal lords and their families to move to the empire’s capital so he could keep a close watch on their activities and connected his empire by building an impressive network of roads linking the capital city to different regions. As a Legalist, Shihuangdi believed that laws were essential to maintaining social order and harmony. Therefore, he and his advisors created a vast system of laws that governed every aspect of Chinese life. The laws were extremely detailed, and outlined various punishments and rewards for good and bad behavior.

Typical punishments were fines-usually payments of suits of armor, shields, or gold-beheadings, forced labor, whippings, and cutting off of body parts were also common. Everyone-rich or poor, noble or peasant, was punished equally under the law.

Shihuangdi especially had it in for Confucian scholars. These scholars followed the teachings of Confucius, a Chinese government official and teacher. He believed that a ruler’s good behavior, (and not laws), would encourage people to act respectful. This belief was directly against Shihuangdi’s Legalist view that people were basically evil and only strict laws and harsh punishments would make them behave properly. He burned Confucian books and stated that any who disobeyed this order would receive a facial tattoo and into forced labor. Any who discussed Confucian teachings in public would also be executed and their bodies put on public display. Shihuangdi even sent his oldest son to work on the Great Wall of China for criticizing him.

This action was nothing new to Shihuangdi, he often sent thousands of his subjects to build roads, water canals, and the Great Wall. The purpose of the Great Wall was to prevent people from Northern Asia from invading and to actually keep his people from leaving the empire. The wall covered 1,500 miles took ten years to build and is often called “the longest graveyard in the world” because of the thousands of workers who died while working on it. Even so, the Great Wall of China is considered one Ancient China’s most awesome achievements.

To avoid the political chaos of the Warring States Period, Qin Shi Huang and his prime minister, Li Si, divided the empire into thirty-six units. Power in each area was in the hands of governors. Civilian and military powers were also separated to avoid too much power falling in the hands of a single civil servant. Thus, each region was run by a civilian governor assisted by a military governor. The civilian governor was superior to the military governor, a constant in Chinese history. The civilian governor was also reassigned to a different unit every few years to prevent him from building up a base of power. (Pretty smart, eh?)

Qin Shi Huang also commanded all the members of the former royal houses of the conquered states to move to Xianyang, the capital of Qin, in modern day Shaanxi province, so they could be kept under tight surveillance for rebellious activities. Qin Shi Huang also ordered most books burned, excepting some medical and agricultural texts held in the palace archives.

Qin Shi Huang and Li Si unified China economically by standardizing the Chinese units of measurements such as weights and measures, the currency, the length of the axles of carts (so every cart could run smoothly in the ruts of the new roads), the legal system, and so on. The emperor also developed an extensive network of roads and canals connecting the provinces to improve trade between them and to speed up military marches to revolting provinces.

Perhaps most importantly, the Chinese script was unified. This newly standardized script was then made official throughout all the conquered regions, thus doing away with all the regional scripts and becoming the official script for all of China. Edicts written in the new script were carved on the walls of sacred mountains around China, such as the famous carved edicts of Mount Taishan, to let Heaven know of the unification of Earth under an emperor.

Qin Shi Huang continued military expansion during his reign, fighting nomadic tribes to the north and northwest. The emperor also ordered the construction of an enormous defensive wall, linking several walls already existing since the time of the Warring States.

This wall, for whose construction hundreds of thousands of men were used, and an unknown number died, was the foundation of the current Great Wall of China. Very little survives today of the great wall built by the First Emperor.

Shihuangdi is also known for his quest for eternal life. Some say he may have died at the young age of 49 from accidentally poisoning himself while trying to find an elixir of life. Work began of his tomb when he became emperor at the age of 13. About 700,000 workers helped construct it, and some were even buried alive since Shihuangdi’s son did not want grave robbers to know about the tomb’s many treasures. The tomb’s grandness reflects the interesting life Shihuangdi led.

Background for Octavian (Augustus)

Julius Caesar was dead, and Marc Antony and Marcus Lepidus, then governor of Spain and parts of Gaul, vied to succeed him. There was also a third candidate, a 19-year-old named Octavian. Without a direct heir, Caesar had adopted his great- nephew Octavian as his heir. Octavian had then changed his name to Gaius Julius Caesar.

News of Caesar’s assassination reached Octavian when he was in Illyricum (present-day western Balkan Peninsula) preparing to head east on a military campaign. Confident of his support among the troops, he reversed direction and headed west, back to Rome. Although Marc Antony and others viewed him as a threat to their ambitions, Octavian demanded the consulship for the year 43 b.c. Unable now to ignore young Octavian’s claims, Antony and Marcus Lepidus allied themselves with him, forming the Second Triumvirate (see page 21). Each sought to keep the others’ ambitions in check.

Their first task was to pursue Cassius and Brutus, the leaders of the conspiracy against Caesar, and to eliminate any other opponents in Rome. The revenge was bloody, with 300 senators and more than 2,000 political enemies killed.

Leaving Lepidus in Rome, Octavian and Marc Antony headed to Greece with 28 legions. After defeating Brutus and Cassius, they returned to Rome, and the three distributed the Roman provinces among themselves. Octavian received the western provinces, including Spain and Sardinia. Antony received the eastern provinces of Greece, Asia Minor, and Egypt. Lepidus took control of the provinces in Africa. But Lepidus decided to challenge Octavian. His efforts met defeat, and he was stripped of his power.

Without Lepidus, the conflict between Octavian and Antony quickly escalated. Because Antony had allied himself with Egypt’s ambitious queen, Cleopatra, he faced accusations that he had abandoned Roman ideals and traditions. The feud for control of Rome led to civil war. On September 2, 31 b.c., the armies of Antony and Octavian met at Actium, a promontory on the west coast of Greece. Octavian achieved a resounding victory, followed by the double suicide of Marc Antony and Cleopatra in 30 b.c.

His Rule and Accomplishments

Octavian was now the most powerful man in Rome. The question was how to rule: establish a dictatorship like his great-uncle, Julius Caesar; revert to a kingship; or establish a new form of governing. Octavian carefully considered the options. Aware that the memory of the civil wars and the bloody power struggles were still foremost in the people’s minds, he initiated programs that would foster stability. Among them were free food distribution, free games, and a comprehensive building program. Octavian also promoted the use of symbols that spoke of peace, prosperity, and security. To spread this message quickly, he saw to it that they appeared on coins, jewelry, and public buildings. Octavian recognized that curbing the Senate’s authority was a key to stability. So, while he allowed the Senate to retain the right to make laws for the state, he had the right to veto any Senate decision. In essence, Octavian was an emperor, but he refused the name. In 27 b.c., the Senate awarded him the title “Augustus,” meaning a noble person. Until his death in a.d. 14, Octavian used Augustus as his official name. Among the other titles he adopted were Pater Patriae (“Father of the Country”) and Princeps (“First Citizen”).

Then, to strengthen his ties to Julius Caesar, Octavian adopted the title Imperator Caesar Augustus (“Commander in Chief Caesar Augustus”). Thus began the mighty Roman Empire, with its first emperor, Augustus.

Augustus concerned himself with every detail and aspect of the empire. He attended to everything with dignity, firmness, and generosity, hoping, as he said himself, that he would be "called the author of the best possible government." He stabilized the boundaries of the empire, provided for the defense of the frontiers, reorganized and reduced the size of the army, and created two fleets to form a Roman navy. His many permanent innovations included also the creation of a large civil service which attended to the general business of administering so vast an empire.

The Emperor was interested in public buildings and especially temple buildings. In 28 B.C. he undertook the repair of all the temples in Rome, 82 by his own count. He also built many new ones. In addition, he constructed a new forum, the Forum of Augustus, begun in 42 B.C. and completed 40 years later. It was with good reason that Augustus could boast that he had "found Rome built of brick and left it in marble."

Repairing the temples was only one aspect of the religious and moral revival which Augustus fostered. There seems to have been a falling away from the old gods of the state, and Augustus encouraged a return to the religious dedication and morality of the early republic. In 17 B.C. he held the Secular Games, an ancient festival which symbolized the restoration of the older religion. The poet Horace commemorated the occasion with his moving Secular Hymn.

Augustus tried to improve morals by passing laws to regulate marriage and family life and to control promiscuity. In A.D. 9, for example, he made adultery a criminal offense, and he encouraged the birthrate by granting privileges to couples with three or more children. His laws did not discourage his daughter Julia and his grand-daughter (also Julia), both of whom he banished for immoral conduct. Suetonius reports that "he bore the death of his kin with far more resignation than their misconduct." Throughout his long reign Augustus encouraged literature, and the Augustan Age is called the Golden Age because Roman writing attained a rare perfection. It was above all an age of poets - Horace, Ovid, and most especially, Virgil. And in Virgil's great epic, the Aeneid, there is expressed for all time the sense of the grandeur of Rome's imperial destiny which culminated in the age of Augustus.

An important revenue reform, the use of Egypt's immense land rents to finance the Empire's operations, resulted from Augustus's conquest of Egypt and the shift to a Roman form of government. As it was effectively considered Augustus's private property rather than a province of the Empire, it became part of each succeeding emperor's patrimonium. The highly productive agricultural land of Egypt yielded enormous revenues that were available to Augustus and his successors to pay for public works and military expeditions, as well as bread and circuses for the population of Rome. The diversion of this land rent to Rome's coffers was probably even beneficial to the Egyptian economy and people, as Rome provided better infrastructure and public administration in return for the money than the pharaohs had ever done.

Augustus suffered many illnesses, and these caused him to designate an heir early in his reign. But he had many deaths to bear and outlived his preferred choices, including his two young grandsons, and was finally forced to designate as his heir Tiberius, his third wife's son by her first marriage. The first emperor died at Nola on Aug. 19, A.D. 14. On his deathbed, according to Suetonius, he quoted a line used by actors at the end of their performance: "Since I've played well, with joy your voices raise/ And from your stage dismiss me with your praise."