After winning a violent civil war, Augustus came to power and transformed the Roman government into a new system, the principate, which itself was also transformed as succeeding emperors struggled to meet the challenges of governing of an empire.

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Chapter 5

• After winning a violent civil war, Augustus came
  to power and transformed the Roman government
  into a new system, the principate, which itself
  was also transformed as succeeding emperors
  struggled to meet the challenges of governing of
  an empire.

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The Pax Romana, 27 B.C. A.D. 192

• Augustus Takes Power
• Civil War
• Octavian and Antony battled over who would rule
  all of Rome
• Antony committed suicide, and Octavian stood as
  sole ruler of Rome
• A New Form of Governing
• The Principate
• The governmental system of the Roman Empire
  founded by Octavian (also known as Caesar
  Augustus)
• Governmental Structure
• The vast extent of the empire and the increased
  complication of public affairs required a special
  magistrate, the princeps, to coordinate the
  whole, and to control the army

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The Pax Romana, 27 B.C. A.D. 192

• Administering an empire
• Augustus ran the empire as one would run a
  household
• Virgils Aeneid
• A mythological tale of the wandering of the
  Trojan hero Aeneas, who founded the city of Rome
• Livys Historia
• The History of Rome emphasized Roman religion and
  morality
• Challenges to the Principate, A.D. 69-193
• Augustuss Successors
• Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero

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The Pax Romana, 27 B.C. A.D. 192

• A New Dynasty
• Vespasian took power in A.D. 69 and restored some
  order to the empire
• Provincial Defense
• A Vibrant, Far-Flung Empire
• Colonies
• For military veterans in the provinces
• Provincial Administration
• Roads and Transportation
• Fifty thousand miles of roads

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Chapter 5

• Imperial Diversity
• Multiethnic and multicultural population
• Three languages Greek, Latin, and a local
  dialect
• Included an array of climates and geological
  features
• The wealth pouring in from the provinces brought
  new problems to Roman society, which Roman rulers
  tried to solve with laws and new civic activites.

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Life During the Peace of Rome

• A New Decadence
• The Problem with Population
• Birthrates
• Sexual and Medical Misunderstandings
• Galen
• Used some modern scientific techniques
• Embraced moderation
• The Games
• From Forum to Arena
• The Roman Colosseum was used to hunt exotic
  animals, for public executions, and for gladiator
  contests

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Chapter 5

• Gladiators
• Condemned criminals armed with weapons were
  paired to fight until one was killed, and the
  winner won the right to live until his next fight
• With the end of the Roman peace, rulers like
  Diocletian and Constantine sought to resolve
  economic and political problems with reforms.

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Crisis and Transformation, A.D. 192 ca. 400

• The Military Monarchy
• Threats to Empire
• The armys power contributed to some instability
• Generals became rival claimants to the throne
• Economic Recession
• Luxury spending damaged on already weakening
  economy
• Inflation
• The price of grain climbed so much that a measure
  that cost two coins in A.D. 200 cost 300 coins
  just a century later
• The Reforms of Diocletian, A.D. 284-305
• Tetrarchy - Rule by four men
• Diocletian ruled in the eastern region, and
  Maximian ruled in the west

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Crisis and Transformation, A.D. 192 ca. 400

• Military Reforms
• Diocletian separated civil and military offices
• Economic Reforms
• Freezing prices and wages, and raised taxes on
  payment in goods
• The Capital Moves East
• Constantinople
• Constantine built a new urban center on the site
  of the old Greek city of Byzantium
• Twilight of the Empire
• By 410 the western region had disintigrated
• Romes Fall
• Peoples from the north invaded the empire
• Caused the breakup of the huge empire that had
  dominated the Mediterranean

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Chapter 5

• Although religion continued to play an important
  role in Roman life, many suffered from a
  spiritual dissatisfaction, which led to the
  popularity of new philosophic and religious
  movements.

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The Longing for Religious Fulfillment

• Stoicism and Platonism
• Neo-Platonism
• Each person contained a spark of divinity that
  longed to join the divinity that had created it
• Mystery Cults
• Cult of Dionysus
• Celebrated the mysteries of the god of wine and
  rebirth by drinking, engaging in sex acts, and
  ritually eating the raw flesh of beasts
• Cult of Isis
• Egyptian goddess of fertility
• The Four Faces of Judaism

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The Longing for Religious Fulfillment

• Sadducees and Pharisees
• Sadducees largely comprised members of priestly
  families, and they were religious conservatives
  who rejected any new ideas that they did not find
  in the Torah
• Pharisees emphasized Jewish purity laws, and
  accepted new ideas of the resurrection of the
  just and the existence of angels
• Essenes
• Withdrew from the social world and moved to
  separate communities and attempted to live pure
  lives
• The Messiah
• Many Jews believed that a savior would come to
  liberate them
• The Jesus Movement

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The Longing for Religious Fulfillment

• Jesus Ideas
• For about three years, Jesus preached in Judea
  and Galilee, drawing huge crowds to listen to his
  message of peace, love, and care for the poor and
  suffering
• Apostles
• Appealed to other Jews by preaching and praying
  at the Temple and at small gatherings of the
  Jewish faithful
• Paul of Tarsus
• Took up the mission of bringing the Christian
  message beyond the particularity of the Jewish
  communities to the wider world of the Roman
  Empire and beyond

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The Longing for Religious Fulfillment

• Destruction of the Temple
• The Roman armies proceeded against Jerusalem,
  they burned the city, and destroyed the Second
  Temple
• Dispersion of Jews
• Many Jews were scattered from Judea all over the
  Mediterranean and recentered on synagogue worship
• Early Christian Communities

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Chapter 5

• Christians were misunderstood and even persecuted
  until Constantines support of Christianity
  transformed both the status of the religion and
  Christianity itself.
• Looking for Christian Scapegoats

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From Christian Persecution to the City of God,
A.D. 64-410

• Constantine The Tolerant Emperor
• Constantine Supports Church
• He returned property to Christians who had been
  persecuted, gave tax advantages to Christian
  priests, and let Christian advisors play a role
  in his courts inner circle.
• The Empire Adopts Christianity
• Christianity Changes
• Instead of gathering secretly in homes,
  Christians met in churches
• Christian Organization
• Bishops were in charge of all aspects of church
  life, from finances to spiritual guidance

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From Christian Persecution to the City of God,
A.D. 64-410

• Religious Disagreements
• The Council of Nicaea was assembled to dispute
  over the nature of Christ
• The Nicene Creed stated that Christ had always
  existed
• City of God
• In City of God Augustine tried to address other
  religious quarrelsw
• The New Roman
• Christian Sexuality
• Some Christian leaders strongly advocated celibacy

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Chapter 5

• Fleeing Christians sought refuge and spiritual
  fulfillment in asceticism and communal
  monasticism, while saints became an important
  part of the Christian faith.

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The Holy Life

• Flight to the Desert
• Escape persecutions and chaos
• They objected to the union of church and state
  that developed after Constantines rule
• Monastic Communities
• Some people wanted simply to withdraw from the
  distractions of the world so as to worship God
  without enduring the rigors of the desert hermits
• The Influence of Holy People
• Saints Cults
• Ascetic Influence
• The luxuries of the Roman world seemed shameful
  when compared with the purity of the monasteries