e The Roman Empire is one the worlds great ancient civilization ,and a lot there ideas and ways of thinking are still being use today .Also there where many great leaders however none more famous than Julius Caesar . In February 44BC he declared himself dictator for life , because of this ,and his lust for all the trappings of power , this turned most of the senate members against him. So the question at hand is , was his murder justified under Roman traditions? To answer this question in the best way possible , first we must look at Roman traditions concerning kings , the Roman senate , and final Julius Caesar’s actions and see if it was
Octavian was in total control of Rome after Antony and Cleopatra both committed suicide. The first thing Octavian had to do before being able to make any changes in Rome was to restore order. He called himself, princeps, or first citizen carefully avoiding the title of emperor, so the new government was officially called the Principate. In 27 BC, the Senate gave Octavian the name Augustus as a title of honor. Augustus ruled for about 40 years bringing great change to the empire.
They would lead until Caesar had enough military experience out of France to come in and defeat both their armies to become dictator. This would eventually lead to his death along with civil wars after bringing the Roman Empire down. It seemed to be a step backward for civilization due to the fact when the Roman Empire was at its peak there was free elections, new finding in science, art, literature and other fields of education. Along, with a stable government where people could pick their senators. However during the middle ages this all seemed to come crashing down, due to civil wars and peoples push for power over the entire Empire.
Acacia Jackson 3/2/14 WEB 66244 Journal #3 “The public thing” or the republic was called so because it was an eclectic mix of governing styles that couldn’t be neatly labeled. The republic elected two consuls who acted like monarchs during their tenure but who could veto each other. Any conflict that could not be not settled between the two was deliberated by the Senate or a dictator elected by the Senate. The Senate itself was the aristocratic citizens of Rome. These aristocrats may have had the real power; consuls only stayed in office a year, had to be elected by the majority of aristocrats, and probably had the same agendas and goals of their aristocratic sponsors.
The empires of the “Classical World” evolved techniques that helped control the advancing civilizations. Those techniques helped civilizations become unique and share many similarities and differences. The Roman Empire and Han China were two empires that progressed strongly through the “Classical World” and expanded their empire with the use of a strong administrative structure. The non-hereditary administration in both empires were controlled by emperors (known as a “Consul” in Rome) and a representation of the elite population through the Senate in Rome and the government officials in Han China that were chosen through an exam. Techniques of the both empires also grew through their military that defended the empires and conquered neighboring lands.
There was a withdrawal of financial, cultural, and legal uniformity. The citizens of Rome were governed by law codes before the presence of the barbarians. The soldiers didn’t know who to follow-Roman troops were made and unmade emperors so often that (to exaggerate only slightly) a man might be a general one day, emperor the next, and dead on the third. (Bennett 8) As far as the people on the outskirts of Rome, living under Roman law, were probably not too happy with the decline. I believe people like some type of structure or a feeling of security.
Augustus introduced the principate after ending the civil war in Rome through negotiating the First and Second settlements. At this time it was agreed that the Princeps would receive tribunicia potestas (power of a tribune), the power to propose or veto legislation and also receive maius imperium (the right to control all armies). As such, the initial relationship between the Senate and the Princeps was based on negotiated power sharing where most power was given to the Princeps but respect was still shown to the senate. Augustus maintained good relations with the senate by rejuvenating the Roman elite after the deprivations of the civil war (how so? ), and also gave the senate supplementary powers (such as?)
The chief officials of Rome were called consuls and there were two of them. The consuls governed for a year. If they did not live up to expectations, they could be voted out of office at the next election. The senetor are from very rich and powerful families. They are the full-time policians in the Republic of Rome.
Originally the senate in the republic was a group of men chosen by the consuls to handle Rome’s law making, money, administration, and the details of their foreign policy. The senate had the most control of basically day to day life in ancient Rome. The consuls appointed all new senators, and also had the power to remove individuals from the Senate. Around the year 318 BC, this power was given to another Roman Magistrate, the Roman Censor. (“The Roman Republic”) The Censor held this power until the end of the Roman Republic.
Before judging how vigorously Cicero defended the republic we must establish what he actually did in an attempt to defend the republic. Between 55 BC and 52 BC Cicero was largely out of politics however he was called upon to govern Cilicia in 51 BC to help establish a newly passed law that stated there must be a five-year gap between holding office and taking up a provincial command. Though perhaps the greatest act was his passive opposition to Caesar in order to stay loyal to Pompey and thus the republic as Caesar himself was a reformer. Cicero very rarely liked being out of Rome, even hated being out of Rome at points; he intended to be where the political action was –in Rome. However when he was called upon to govern Cilicia after