His attempt to revive the Roman Empire was a successful one, both in terms of power and longevity. Justinian’s legacy would be that of the most successful Emperor of the Byzantine Empire. The empire expanded under Justinian because of his ability to pick exceptional advisors. The men that he gave power to owed this to him, and were very loyal. Despite many periods of financial and military crisis where the empire faced threats from all sides, it always managed to come through, often due to the Emperor’s advisors.
Han China and Imperial Rome Han China (206 B.C.E – 220 C.E) and Imperial Rome (31 B.C.E – 476 C.E) were the two premier and powerful civilizations of their time. As the two great civilizations of their time, Imperial Rome and Han China shared many similarities such as their powerful military machines and the advanced architecture they utilized to support their society. They had just as many differences however in how the government was structured and how they each viewed religion. One aspect of Han China and Imperial Rome were we can see a stark contrast between the two civilizations in in the government. Although Han China and Imperial Rome's method of political control was alike in their use of a centralized government, they were different in the sense of the roles of citizens in the government and the techniques for keeping the lower classes happy.
Roman strategies allowed Rome to control their towns with ease. The Roman imperial army was undefeated in any major campaigns. Records have even shown Roman feats when they were outnumbered. The soldiers’ desire for recognition and promotion played a big factor in this of course. The soldiers would charge off to fight by enemy forts afraid of what the other men would think of them.
Kaiser Wilhem II was an unpredictable, intelligent man with a poor judgement, hardly the kind of person you would give almost unchallenged political powers. The Kaiser's constitutional powers showed that he certainly had enough potential powers to be a authoritarian leader and i believe he fulfilled all his potential by using his power to 'ensure the constitution preserves the power of the elite' which was Bismarks main aim as the chancellor. The Kaiser could appoint and dismiss the Chancellor, dissolve the Reichstag with the consent of the Bundesrat, control Germany's foreign policy and serves as the commander of chief of the armed forces. The plethora of consitutional powers the Kaiser held clearly supports the
The military strength and wealth he gained through his conquests in Gaul would pave his way to a successful career. He was so successful in his campaign that he became famous for his phrase “I came, I saw, I conquered” and the modern historian H.H Scullard even describes him as a man with “outstanding abilities”. Thus the Gallic Wars played a significant role in Julius Caesar’s Career, both politically and militarily. Caesar’s reputation as a General, who is considered to be more prominent than Pompey the great, was not comprehended until the Gallic Wars. Instead he was known to be one of the ablest orators and “most adroit politicians of the day”[F.B Marsh] and his military skills were most likely not rated very highly.
The late Byzantine empire had a flurry of great and powerful empires, one of which was named Basil the second. In contrast, Romanus the third proved to be a weak emperor, both of whom were written about by a middle aged man born in 1018 named Michael Psellos. Michael Psellos wrote about many Byzantine emperors, strong or weak, not only to document the incredible and unbelievable history unfolding before his eyes but to inform the people of the community he loved dearly about the strengths and weaknesses of their autocratic style of government which relied so harshly on the character of the ruling emperor. He was a great philosopher and statesman whose power was high among the people giving him unquestionable reliability in his early years.
One of the most influential people in Rome was Marcus Cicero, a great philopsoper as we say and exam most of his work today we see a story of a honored and respected man as well as loyal, but his loyalty would prove to be his greatest downfall and which would lead to his exicution. (pg. 149) Rome was built of lawyers, judges, and philosophers. (pg. 149) The romans were more practical thinkers and philosophers.
Throughout many centuries of dominance, the auspicious Roman Empire accomplished great achievements. These achievements both on, and off the battlefield required the dedication and faith of the whole Roman society to the Emperors. Acquiring such commitment was completed through the notion of numen. Numen is defined as a spirit believed to inhabit an object or preside over a place. The idea of numen enabled the Emperors to maintain their power over the public.
The Conquest of Gaul Gaius Julius Caesar was born 100 B.C. in Rome to the impoverished patrician Julian Clan, and know knew controversy early age. Through this conflicts he slowly but surely throughout his lifetime worked his way up the political ladder, becoming Consul and finally Dictator Perpeteus, or Dictator for life. He is deemed as one of the most influential political and military leaders of all time, a highly intelligent man and an exceptional orator. Acquiring this absolute power however, was no easy feat, and Caesar had well equipped himself through previous expeditions of Europe and the ancient world with all the resources necessary to gain power in Ancient Rome.
With the gift of hindsight, even the staunchest of revisionists can acknowledge that the reign of Augustus was a clear turning point in European History – whether or not this change was a steady evolutionary measure or a rapid revolutionary one is subject to much scrutiny. Certainly when looking at the Senate, the sheer tact of Augustus made the transition from oligarchy to autocracy seem almost seamless to his political contemporaries. [[2]] This was not to say that senators were none the wiser; the position of Augustus during the early principate developed much more organically than one could have expected. Consider the situation as thus: after the war against Antony came to a close, Augustus (or as he was known then, Octavian) was at the head of Rome’s empire: he had, at his disposal, over five hundred thousand legionaries [[3]] (many of whom defected from Antony to Octavian after Actium) as well as a recently seized Ptolemaic treasury – as Tacitus puts it, ‘Opposition did not exist’. [[4]] With this in mind, it seems strange that Octavian developed his power base