Augustus Caesar: The First Emperor - Octavian Becomes Augustus, Ruling the Empire Pax Romana, The City of Marble, and The Succession Problem
Octavian Caesar was Julius Caesar’s great-nephew. To begin with, Octavian became Augustus. During the time after Julius died, Octavian seized power and was named Augustus by the Senate. According to the History Alive! The Ancient World textbook, Augustus meant the “honored one”. During his time of rule in Rome, Augustus ruled the empire Pax Romana. Pax Romana means Roman Peace. In fact, the empire Pax Romana lasted 200 years caused by the strong foundations of Augustus. Furthermore, the website, brainyquote.com, states that Augustus said a famous quote: “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.” There is not an exact meaning what he meant. However, I believe that he wanted to say that he changed Rome by strengthening it and making it better. Moreover, Augustus took part in the succession problem. He had two family members executed. Also, four of his family members died due to bad health. Last but not least, Augustus adopted five family members from his other family members.
Below is a wordle. It shows some words that relate to Augustus Caesar. These words also show the personalities and characteristics of Augustus. The shape that this wordle is placed in is like all the words are scattered apart. I chose this shape because it is unique and shows the way empires might have built back then.
The Roman Economy: Commerce, Trade, and a Stable Currency
Roman economy took an important role in Rome. It included commerce, trade, and a stable currency. According to historylearningsite.co.uk, there was an important and major trading port in Ancient Rome called Ostia. Romans imported beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, olive oil, perfumes, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin, and wine. Also, the Romans had slaves as commerce in Ancient Rome. In addition, the website crystalinks.com states that coins in ancient Rome were made from gold, silver, brass, and copper.
Below is a collage. It conveys the Roman economy including commerce, trade, and currency. The ship represents the transportation of trading goods. The people in the streets and marketplaces shows the commerce and businesses of people in Rome. The necklaces/bracelets were a trade product in Ancient Rome. Last but not least, the two pictures of the coins represent the currency of Ancient Rome.
Roman Colonies and Roman Citizenship
According to livius.org, Julius Caesar founded many Roman colonies. They were first ruled by Julius and then ruled by his successors like Augustus Caesar. Some examples of Roman colonies are Capua in Italy, Medellin in Spain, Hippo and Thapsus in Tunisia, Sinope in Turkey, Lyon in France, Augst in Switzerland, Barcelona in Spain, and Syracuse in Sicily. These are only some Roman colonies. There are much more Roman colonies.
The website dl.ket.org/latin1/mores/ states,"Citizens did have responsibilities: they were taxed, and the men needed to complete a term of military service. A complex set of rules determined who was or was not a Roman citizen. One could be a citizen by virtue of one's birth if certain circumstances applied. If both mother and father had conubium(the right to contract a legal marriage), the child was deemed a citizen and held the social class of its father. If a Roman citizen had a child outside of conubium, the child took the status of its mother. If the mother was not a citizen, the child was not a Roman citizen and could even be a slave. Children born to Roman legionaries during their military service were NOT citizens. It was illegal for legionaries to wed while serving their 20-year tour of duty and, thus, there could be no conubium. Since the mothers of legionaries' children generally were not Roman citizens themselves, in the eyes of Roman law the children simply received the status and nationality of the mother." These rules/laws are like the constitution of the U.S.
The website dl.ket.org/latin1/mores/ states,"Citizens did have responsibilities: they were taxed, and the men needed to complete a term of military service. A complex set of rules determined who was or was not a Roman citizen. One could be a citizen by virtue of one's birth if certain circumstances applied. If both mother and father had conubium(the right to contract a legal marriage), the child was deemed a citizen and held the social class of its father. If a Roman citizen had a child outside of conubium, the child took the status of its mother. If the mother was not a citizen, the child was not a Roman citizen and could even be a slave. Children born to Roman legionaries during their military service were NOT citizens. It was illegal for legionaries to wed while serving their 20-year tour of duty and, thus, there could be no conubium. Since the mothers of legionaries' children generally were not Roman citizens themselves, in the eyes of Roman law the children simply received the status and nationality of the mother." These rules/laws are like the constitution of the U.S.
Below is a slideshow about the Roman colonies and Roman citizenship. I hope you will enjoy the slideshow and learn some facts about Roman colonies and Roman citizenship.
Roman Achievements
The Romans had made many accomplishments over the years. The achievements that they made were a great deal. They accomplished a lot, but I will tell you about two important achievements that they made. The Romans were one of the greatest builders in history. They were great at building roads and water systems with aqueducts. According to the History Alive, The Ancient World textbook, roads were built to increase the efficiency of traveling from a place to another place. Aqueducts were engineered to create a useful and efficient water system. To learn more about Roman achievements, go to roman-empire.net/children/achieve.html or history.com/news/history-lists/10-innovations-that-built-ancient-rome.
Below is an infographic that I made. It shows the facts on the Roman achievements. Go ahead and read the infographic. Make sure to pay attention to the numbers, which represent something important.
The Decline and Fall of the Roman empire
The decline and fall of the Roman empire was a not a satisfying event that the Romans experienced. According to the History Alive, the Ancient World textbook, political instability, economic & social issues, and weakening frontiers were the three main reasons that caused the decline and fall of the Roman empire. The textbook states,"The political instability was that Rome never solved the problem of peacefully transferring political power to a new and capable leader. Furthermore, economic & social issues were occurring when citizens had to pay heavy taxes to finance Rome's huge armies. Trade also decreased. Moreover, weakening frontiers were caused by the difficulties of defending the massive empire."
Below are two poems I made that relate to the decline of the Roman empire.
ACROSTIC POEM:
Decline of the Roman empire wasn't a satisfying thing.
Economy & social issues caused the decline.
Collapsed like a stack of cards.
Life before the decline was cultural and successful.
Instability of the politics was another cause.
Never did Rome solve the problem of peacefully transferring political power
Empire falling down and being destroyed.
ACROSTIC POEM:
Decline of the Roman empire wasn't a satisfying thing.
Economy & social issues caused the decline.
Collapsed like a stack of cards.
Life before the decline was cultural and successful.
Instability of the politics was another cause.
Never did Rome solve the problem of peacefully transferring political power
Empire falling down and being destroyed.
ALPHABET POEM:
Ancient Rome had a great empire
But it had a terrible fall
Caused predicaments and problems for Rome
Decline of the empire was unsatisfying
Empire of Rome had finally collapsed