Roman Empire (Führer system)
29 BC - 284 AD
Augustus 29 BC - 14 AD
The Era of the Heads of State: In 29 BC, Octavian, who defeated Antony and the Queen of Egypt, returned to Rome for three days and three nights of triumphal celebration, at which time he had become de facto the only ruler of Rome. Then, through a very clever operation, he secretly concentrated the important military power of the country in himself. At the same time, the senate, the army and the people showed undiminished support for him, and soon after he was awarded the title of "Augustus" (meaning the place of holiness and prestige), becoming the Roman Empire (the Claudius Dynasty). ) the first founding emperor. However, the Roman Empire during this period was not a monarchical dictatorship, but an empire of heads of state. The owner of Rome is still all the citizens of Rome, and the emperor of Rome is the lifelong head of state elected by the citizens to govern the country, and does not have the supreme status.
Imperial Peace under Augustus: If Caesar was the greatest era-maker in Roman history, then Augustus was the best CEO of the Roman era. After becoming the first person in Rome, he first gradually reduced the number of Roman legions of 500,000 to 200,000, controlled general expenditures at a reasonable level of government finance, reorganized the country's borders, stopped military expansion and turned to defense policy. Although Rome moved towards monarchy, it was not a war of blood and fire, but a long-awaited peace. Then he set up the head of state's cabinet and improved the provincial system to ensure that the central government can effectively manage the huge empire. The highly political Augustus, on the surface, respected the republic system and the members of the Senate, and at the same time, he used the dark-box method to promote the national system to the imperial government step by step. The reform of the national system, which would have caused great turmoil, passed through in a very stable state, winning the approval of the Roman people and nobles. It can be said that Augustus almost perfectly realized Caesar's national plan, successfully leading Rome out of turmoil and into an era of peaceful development.
august's companion
Agrippa: Augustus's lifelong close comrade-in-arms and partner, an excellent Roman general, since the emperor himself was not good at commanding the army, Agrippa was the actual army commander. In addition to fighting, Agrippa was also responsible for the construction of a large number of buildings and infrastructure, and after his death handed over his entire inheritance to Augustus.
Mecenas: Augustus' most reliant counselor and foreign affairs officer, in order to assist Augustus' cause, he never served as a public official in Rome, so he did not leave any statues to pass on to the world. At the same time, he vigorously sponsored cultural undertakings throughout his life, which is why modern times call cultural sponsorship activities "Maecenas".
young Augustus
Roman Empire (Führer system)
29 BC - 284 AD
The Age of "Tyrants" - Claudius Dynasty (AD 14-AD 68)
As the founding emperor of the Roman Empire and the Julius-Claudius Dynasty, Augustus, who had been in power for more than 40 years, always hoped that his direct descendants would inherit the throne. leave the world. He was eventually succeeded by his adopted son Tiberius (by his wife and ex-husband). However, the next four emperors were given the title of "tyrant" for different reasons. This may be the "bottleneck period" that the early Roman Empire had to face.
Tiberius (14 AD-37 AD): A direct descendant of the Claudius family and adopted son of Augustus, at the age of 54, Tiberius became the second emperor of the Roman Empire. Tiberius was quiet and withdrawn, and did not like extravagance. He once served as the commander of the Roman legion stationed in the Germanic region for a long time, with excellent records. After succeeding to the throne, Tiberius managed the country with all his might and continued to maintain the stability and prosperity of the Roman Empire. But perhaps due to his character, background and unfortunate family background, Tiberius lived a reclusive life for a long time, and even left the capital for the last 10 years and moved to the island of Kabuqi. While becoming more and more alienated from the Senate and the Roman people, his cronies in Rome and the commander of the Guards have long played the role of the secret police, making palace intrigues and political struggles continue to occur, and making the Guards play a role in the abolition of the future emperor. Also getting bigger. In the later period of Tiberius' reign, many senators were sentenced to death for "treason", which made the aristocratic elites angry. Very dissatisfied. A large number of "evil acts" rumors about Tiberius' addiction to alcohol and invention of perverted games to destroy boys and girls have intensified in the streets and alleys. When the 77-year-old Tiberius died, the citizens of the Roman city who did not want to see him even celebrated. But in the evaluation of many historians, they all highly affirmed Tiberius' contribution to the Roman Empire, and praised him as "one of the best emperors of Rome".
Caligula (AD 37-AD 41): Augustus's great-grandson, the 25-year-old Caligula was embraced by all the people, ascended the throne in a jubilant atmosphere and successfully inherited all the powers of Tiberius. But not long after taking the throne, Caligula let the Romans disappointed. He imitated the appearance of the god Zeus to participate in the meeting of the Senate, calling himself a "god". In order to please the citizens of Rome, they continued to distribute welfare and organize various entertainment activities. In just three years, they squandered the savings of the royal family and the treasury. Then, in order to solve the financial crisis, they introduced many "creative" tax and fee measures, and even gave their beloved horse a seal. Official position, which made everyone extremely disappointed with Caligula. Soon after, the young emperor and his wife and daughter were assassinated by two captains of the guards at the same time. This was the first time the guards assassinated the emperor in Roman history. case. After the successful assassination, the Guards embraced his uncle Claudius as his successor to the throne.
Claudius (AD 41-AD 54): After the Guards assassinated Caligula, he immediately embraced his uncle, and the 50-year-old Claudius ascended the throne. This historian-turned-emperor is undoubtedly more competent than his predecessor. After Claudius took the throne, he was diligent in political affairs every day. He re-established a harmonious relationship with the Senate, paid attention to protecting the legal rights of citizens, and opened the Senate. Qualified to the Gallic nobles, one by one cleaned up the chaos of the country's borders, successfully expedition to Britain, brought England into the empire's rule, and added the provinces of North Africa and Asia. Although so many achievements have been made, the two shortcomings of Claudius' congenital deficiencies are becoming more and more serious:
First, due to the lack of cronies, Claudius could only use a large number of "emancipated slaves" from the original family as personal members of the head of state. In addition, he had a weak personality. As a result, cronies from humble backgrounds used their power to accumulate money wantonly, and the influence was bad.
The second is the extravagance of the young queen Mesalina. In order to achieve his goal, he repeatedly blackmailed his emperor's husband to frame other people's crimes, and he seemed powerless to defend his strong wife Claudius, which led to the death of many innocent people. There are even rumors that the queen would go to the brothel every night to pretend to be a prostitute to meet her sexual desires. Now the Italian "Mesalina" means a woman who has no control over the relationship between men and women, which shows how deeply the Romans hated her at that time. . The queen was eventually sentenced to death for adultery.
Soon after, the new queen Agrippina poisoned 63-year-old Claudius in order to let her own son Nero ascend to the throne as soon as possible and realize her political ambitions. The same bad reputation passed away.
Nero (AD 54-AD 68): Nero was only 16 years old when he ascended the throne. He was born intelligent, shrewd, and a playful young man of literature and art. A few years before he succeeded to the throne, Nero had a fierce conflict with his ambitious mother, and finally ended with Nero personally ordering to kill his mother. He held large-scale games in Rome and Athens in succession and participated in the competition in person. Nero also performed very well in solving the British rebellion and dealing with the relationship with Parthia, a great power in the east. Unfortunately, he is not praiseworthy in other aspects. The art of music, many times to attend music concerts in person regardless of the status of the emperor. In 64 AD, a fire broke out in the city of Rome, and only 4 of the 14 districts in the city survived. Nero took the opportunity to build his own "Golden Palace" while directing the disaster relief. This led to rumors in Rome that Nero was the mastermind of the arson, watching the fire and singing poems in the disaster. To get rid of the rumors, Nero arrested Christians as scapegoats and publicly and brutally persecuted them. But the results backfired. Nero's various evil deeds led to constant conspiracies and uprisings to try to overthrow his throne. In the end, even the Guards rebelled against him, and the Senate declared Nero a public enemy. Desperate, Nero finally committed suicide on the outskirts of Rome, leaving his last words: "The poor artist is about to die"
Tiberius
Caligula
Claudius
Teenage Nero
The bottleneck period of the empire
AD 68 - AD 97
Flavian Dynasty: The death of Nero heralds the end of the Claudius dynasty. The absence of the emperor's legal system caused chaos and crisis in Rome for a while. In just over a year, four emperors appeared in a row, and the country fell into a civil war again. Vespasian, who was finally proclaimed emperor in the eastern provinces, became the final victor and established the short-lived Flavian dynasty.
Pompeii ruins
Vespasian (AD 69-AD 79): The founder of the Flavian dynasty was the first non-aristocratic Roman emperor, best known in world history for his suppression of the Jewish Revolt and the capture of Jerusalem . In addition, he launched the "Emperor's Law" with a strong autocratic color to strengthen the power of the head of state, and at the same time, he flattered the senate and successfully maintained the balance of power. At the same time, he vigorously promoted outstanding talents from other provinces and awarded titles of nobility, including the father of the future Ares Emperor Trajan. Vespasian died at the age of 70 after completing a series of tasks to reorganize the empire. The eldest son Titus succeeded him.
Titus (79 AD - 81 AD): As the commander-in-chief of the fall of Jerusalem, although his reign was short, Titus was a beloved emperor by all walks of life in Rome. At the beginning of his accession, Mount Vesuvius erupted, and the famous ancient city of Pompeii was buried by volcanic ash. A plague broke out in Rome soon after. Titus threw himself into all disaster relief efforts. In just two years, he became ill from overwork and died at the age of 40. Because of his love affair with the Jewish princess, he was opposed by the Roman people, so Titus was unmarried and had no descendants, and his younger brother Domitian took over the throne.
Titus captures Jerusalem
Domitian (81-96 AD): When he took over the throne of his elder brother, Domitian was not fully prepared, but he continued his father and brother's policy of governing the country very well. However, due to his lack of military experience, Domitian's poor performance on the battlefield caused the Romans who paid attention to military exploits to treat him with cold eyes. In addition, he set up a surveillance agency against the senators, and sentenced or exiled many aristocratic elders. Perhaps due to internal conflicts within the family, Domitian was assassinated by his own freed slaves. After the assassination, the resentful Senate quickly elected Nerva, a highly respected elder aristocrat at the time, as his successor to the throne. And implemented "record erasure" on Domitian. Only 27 years after the Flavian dynasty came to an end, the Roman Empire was about to usher in its "golden age".
Anthony Dynasty 96 BC - 192 AD
The Golden Age of Rome under the "Five Sages"
Nerva (AD 96-AD 98): As the first "virtuous emperor", Nerva was 70 years old when he succeeded to the throne. During his short term of office, he mainly did two things: 1. Stabilized the country at that time situation and people. 2. It was announced that Trajan, who was born in Spain, would succeed the future throne as his adopted son. After breaking the throne succession model based on the blood of the native Roman nobility, the subsequent facts also proved how correct this choice was for Rome. Nerva succeeded to the throne for less than 2 years when he died, but since his accession, the Roman Empire began a period of most glorious and glorious era.
Trajan (AD 98-AD 117): As the first emperor from a province, Trajan spent almost his entire life struggling for the prosperity of the Roman Empire. At the age of 22, he became deputy commander of the army, and at 39 he assumed the most important and dangerous position in the empire, the commander of the Germanic army. At the age of 45, he became the "first citizen" of Rome. Trajan was diligent and thrifty, and the celebratory banquets held after his accession surprised many members of his modest specifications. To others, Trajan was just and honest, and in the 20 years he ruled, he never sentenced any senator for "treason". Trajan also inherited and expanded the scope of the "Education Fund", so that poor Roman boys and girls were subsidized, and urged the senators to increase investment in Italy to ensure the economic development of the core area of Rome.
In terms of foreign policy, Trajan actively expanded, attacking Dacia (now Romania) twice to the north, and finally included it as an imperial province and seized a lot of booty. Expedition eastward to northern Arabia and establish Arabian provinces. In his later years, Trajan once again led an army to expedition to Parthia (the Parthian Empire), a powerful country in West Asia, and once captured its capital, and reached the Persian Gulf. Trajan, who was over 60 years old, said this when he went to visit the ancient capital of Babylon: "If I were younger, perhaps the army would have entered India." The illustrious martial arts of the Roman Empire reached its peak in Trajan's time. However, Trajan, who was very old, was almost at the end of his life at this time. Due to the Mesopotamian uprising and the Jewish riots, Trajan was forced to stop his march. Due to the sudden aggravation of his illness, he was returning to Rome. Died on the way. The Roman emperor, who expanded the empire to the extreme, worked hard to perform his duties earnestly all his life until the last moment of his life. His heir and adopted son Hadrian immediately succeeded to the throne.
Trajan
Trajan's Pillar of Merit
Hadrian (AD 117-AD 138): As Trajan's adopted son and right-hand man, Hadrian took over as head of the empire when Rome had never been more expansive. Maintaining the stability and development of the country became the emperor's lifelong work. At the beginning of his ascension, Hadrian not only distributed bounties to Roman soldiers and citizens to win high support, but also continued to strengthen the central cabinet structure, giving the provinces and the Roman mainland a more equal political status. He himself was fond of hunting and obsessed with Greek art, but he has always maintained restraint for his own image and responsibilities after he ascended the throne. After securing the throne, Hadrian began a long-distance field trip to the borders of the empire. On the way, he also presided over the construction of a famous building in what is now Britain - "Hadrian's Wall". Then Hadrian organized and compiled the "Compendium of Roman Law", which was a collection of major decrees, and perfected and built famous Roman buildings such as the Temple of Venus, the Pantheon and Hadrian's Villa, all of which perfectly matched the peak era. of the Roman Empire. At the same time, the sensual emperor also fell in love with a beautiful boy, Antinous. This same-sex love made the Romans who valued tradition extremely dissatisfied. The last relationship was named after Antinous. It ended in an accidental death, for which Hadrian is said to cry like a woman. In his later years, Hader's relationship became more and more complicated and absurd, more and more alienated from the people and the Senate, and even attempted suicide at one point after falling ill. When the hard-working emperor died, many senators also proposed to erase his historical records. Fortunately, under the insistence of the new emperor Antony, Hadrian's great achievements were preserved and affirmed.
Hadrian
Antonine Pius (138 AD - 161 AD): As an emperor who succeeded only at the age of 52, Antonine Pius' reign is considered by historians to be the most peaceful and peaceful era in Rome. The highly educated emperor was already the richest man in Rome and a senior senator before he came to the throne. Antonine insisted that the use of private property for public purposes is the duty of the rich, and he set an example to invest heavily in national construction and national welfare. Because of his good care for the needs of all classes, Antonius was well received by all Romans and was called "the Merciful Antonius". After 23 happy years, Anthony Pilgrimage passed away peacefully. The last word he left to his successor, Mark Oller, before his death was: "Don't make the state funeral too grand."
Anthony Asylum
Mark Aurelius (AD 161-AD 180): This is the last emperor of the "Five Sages" and the only "Philosopher Emperor" in Roman history, author of "Meditations". Although the same responsible and diligent as several predecessors. But at this time various crises in and out of Rome began to manifest. Due to the long-term national peace and the layered social welfare, individual hedonism gradually replaced the original civic spirit, and the social atmosphere gradually deteriorated. At the same time, the borders of the empire were in flames, the Parthian war and the Syrian rebellion in the east, and the continuous invasion of several Germanic tribes in the north. Emperor Aurelius had to lead the army everywhere, adding legions to defend the frontier and finally allowing some barbarians to move to the north of the empire. In the end, the emperor, who had profound thoughts on philosophy and human nature, died of illness in the army while fighting against the Germans. Although he exhausted his own efforts, the golden age of the empire still passed away with Marc Aurelius.
