Octavian was then granted the title of "Augustus" by the Senate[5] and took the title of Princeps or "first citizen". [3] Augustus (as modern scholars usually refer to him from this point) took the official position that he had saved the Republic, and carefully framed his powers within republican constitutional principles. He thus rejected titles that Romans associated with monarchy, such as rex. The dictatorship, a military office in the early Republic typically lasting only for the six-month military campaigning season, had been resurrected and abused first by Sulla in the late 80s BC and then by Julius Caesar in the mid-40s; the title dictator had been formally abolished thereafter. As the adopted heir of Julius Caesar, Augustus had taken Caesar as a component of his name, and handed down the name to his heirs of the Julio-Claudian dynasty.
In the classical period, Imperial Rome and Han China were both empires, that through many changes, both lasted roughly around 400 years all together before their periods of war and decline had occurred. Both Han China and Imperial Rome shared their ideas of emperors and sole rulers, they also understood the importance of education and technology, yet they differed in their tolerance of religious practices and leadership transitions. The Roman Empire began around 81 B.C.E, as the world’s first true republic. It consisted of a senate, a dictator, and assemblies to represent the plebeian population. However, after the assassination of the first dictator, Julius Caesar, it seemed the republic would not last.
Terentilius Arsa proposed that 5 men would be appointed to create a set of laws that would prevent the magistrates from applying the law arbitrarily. The Patricians did not agree with this, they did agree to have a group of 10 patricians that would create the laws. In 450 B.C the Roman’s created a code of law for the new Republic of Rome. The codes of law for the ancient Roman’s were compiled together into the 12 tables. These 12 tables decreed laws and punishments.
The Law of Twelve Tables was enacted in the year 450 B.C., however it only had ten laws originally. Two statutes were later added. Ten Roman men wrote the laws that were to govern the Romans. These laws formed the foundation of modern law; not only public but private as well. These laws also helped to organize how crimes are punished and built the system where injured persons could seek restitution.
Justinian Code was developed by the king of the Byzantine Empire. He based these laws of the Romans codes and many of the legal maxims from his text are still used today. Magna Carta limited the power of the king and setup the due process legal system that is still used today. It also stated that no freeperson should be imprisoned without the judgment of his or her peers. Statute of Westminster involved everyday citizens in policing and preventing crime.
His essay “Concerning Human Understanding” claims that people are born without ideas and all human knowledge is learned through experience. It is the basis for the English philosophy of empiricism. 4.) First treatise was a refutation off the theory of divine rights of kings and monarchs 5.) Second Treatise set out a theory of politics that found it way to US Law 6.)
Augustus's reforms sought to re-establish Roman government as a monarchy in all but name. How successful were his reforms in stabilizing Roman government? Was Augustus an ideal political leader or a tyrant? After defeating Mark Anthony and Cleopatra in 31 B.C., Octavian was the only individual capable of stabilizing the Roman Republic back to how it had been prior to Caesars death. Although to the public it appeared that he had given back power to the senators, he was still in control how the Republic operated.
Cleopatra: Yoko Ono of Rome or Brilliant Ruler of Egypt? From Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff “Man’s most valuable trait is a judicious sense of what not to believe.” ~ Euripides For ten generations Cleopatra’s family ruled as pharaohs of Egypt. The Ptolemies were actually Greek, “which makes Cleopatra approximately as Egyptian as Elizabeth Taylor” (2). She received a traditional Greek education. At thirteen she would study rhetoric and philosophy, the fine art of persuasion and nine languages.
You can’t forget the Washington conference when the US, Japan, Italy, and France all scraped their battleships and agreed not to build anymore for 10 years. The Kellogg-Briand Pact, sixty-two countries signed this agreement to always settle disputes peacefully. The London Naval Conference placed limits on the building of submarines, cruisers and destroyers. There are many reasons why WWII began. The Japan invaded Manchuria which violated the League of Nations and the Kellogg-Briand Pact.
The new era of America Imagine the time of the free spirited hippies, impeachment of President Richard Nixon, when the allied forces were pulled out of Vietnam after a 10 year war, when The Rolling stones and Led Zeppelin were just small bands trying to make it in the new era of “rock and roll”. Envision a world where drugs were the newest fad and video games, computers, and televisions were only a new experiment that many people didn’t even possess in their homes is a difficult idea to process because it was in fact decades ago. The 1970’s was one of the most creative and monumental decades America has seen. The decade America is currently in is one of no name, some call it the new millennium, other call it the thousands and some simply say it’s the decade between 2000-2009. Whatever decade America is in is vastly different from the decade of the seventies and yet similar in ways most people overlook.