Augustus: How Caesar's Protégé Founded The Roman Empire

Summary

In this engaging documentary, "Augustus: How Caesar's Protégé Founded The Roman Empire," we delve into the life of Augustus, born Gaius Octavius, who rose to become the first emperor of Rome. The documentary covers his early life influences, his political alliance in the Second Triumvirate, and his decisive battles that led to his rise to power. It frames Augustus as both a strategic statesman and a controversial figure whose reign ended the Roman Republic. Augustus's leadership, reforms, and cultural contributions laid the foundation for the Roman Empire and its ensuing Pax Romana period of stability, yet his legacy remains a subject of historical debate balancing between tyranny and greatness.

Highlights

• Witness the transformation of Gaius Octavius into Augustus, Rome's first emperor. 🏺
• Explore the tumultuous political landscape Augustus navigated to power. ♟️
• Learn about the pivotal battles that secured Augustus's dominance. ⚔️
• Understand how Augustus's rule established the Roman Empire and ended the Republic. 🚨
• Discover Augustus's reform and contributions to Roman society and culture. 🎨
• Engage with the debate over Augustus's legacy as a ruler and statesman. 🏛️

Key Takeaways

• Explore the extraordinary journey of Augustus, from Gaius Octavius to the first Roman emperor! 👑
• Discover how Rome's chaotic republic transitioned into an empire under Augustus's rule. 🏛️
• Understand the political tactics that Augustus employed to consolidate power. 🎭
• Uncover the significance of the Second Triumvirate and its role in Roman politics. ⚔️
• Appreciate Augustus's impact on Roman culture and infrastructure. 🏗️
• Debate Augustus's legacy: Was he a savior of Rome or a tyrant? 🤔

Overview

Augustus, originally known as Gaius Octavius, was born into a notable but not extraordinarily powerful Roman family. His early life was marked by the influential figures around him, such as his great uncle Julius Caesar, who played a crucial role in his ascent. Octavius navigated the complex political landscape following Caesar's assassination, ultimately becoming Caesar Augustus, the first emperor of Rome.

The documentary outlines how Augustus effectively consolidated power through strategic alliances and pivotal battles, notably with the members of the Second Triumvirate. Augustus's military and diplomatic maneuvers allowed him to rise above rival claimants like Mark Antony, end decades of internal conflict, and establish a new era for Rome. His reign is marked by significant administrative and cultural reforms, contributing to the "Pax Romana," a period of relative peace and stability in the Roman Empire.

While Augustus is often praised for his statesmanship and contributions to Roman society, his legacy remains a topic of debate. Was Augustus a savior who ended the chaos of civil wars, or did he transform into a power-hungry tyrant who curbed Rome's republican ideals? The documentary invites viewers to engage with this complex historical figure's dual legacy and the impact he left on the Roman Empire.

Chapters

• 00:00 - 01:30: Introduction to Caesar Augustus Caesar Augustus, originally born on September 23rd, 63 BC, on the Palatine Hill in Rome, became one of history's notable figures. His name, Caesar Augustus, is a constructed title reflecting either his notable deeds or the persona he wished to project.
• 01:30 - 03:00: Early Life of Octavian The chapter titled 'Early Life of Octavian' explores the background and early years of the man who later became the first emperor of Rome. Known initially as Gaius Octavius or Gaius Octavian, he was commonly referred to as Octavian in his youth and early adult years. His father, also named Gaius Octavius, belonged to the Octavia Roman Clan which was part of the equestrian class. Although the Octavia were not members of the senatorial aristocracy, they had managed to ascend to a respectable status within Roman society.
• 03:00 - 04:30: Political Climate of Rome The chapter discusses the political climate of Rome in the first century BC, highlighting the emergence of influential families who rose to prominence due to military and political service to the Republic. It introduces the concept of 'novas homo' or 'new man,' a term used for individuals who achieved wealth and authority in Rome despite originating from socially inferior clans. This status differentiated them from the patrician classes of senatorial families with long-established lineages.
• 04:30 - 06:00: Caesar's Rise to Power The chapter titled 'Caesar's Rise to Power' delves into the historical background and lineage of Octavian, highlighting his noble ancestry. His mother, Atia Balba, was a daughter of Marcus Attius Balbus, a prominent Roman politician who held the office of a praetor, a senior magistrate in Rome. Octavian’s family ties were significant due to his mother's connection to Julia Minor, the sister of the famous Julius Caesar. This noble birthright on both maternal and paternal sides placed Octavian, later known as Augustus, in a prominent position within the Roman political sphere from an early age, suggesting the early foundations of his path to power.
• 06:00 - 07:30: Octavian's Early Political Career The chapter titled 'Octavian's Early Political Career' describes the impact of Rome's growth in population and size during the late 2nd Century BC and early 1st Century BC. As the city became overcrowded, wealthier Roman families, including Octavian's, spent more time at their rural villas. Octavian was sent to his family's ancestral land in Vetr, about 40 km south of Rome, reflecting this trend among the elite.
• 07:30 - 09:00: Formation of the Second Triumvirate The chapter discusses the early life of Octavian, highlighting the significant event of his father's death in 59 BC when Octavian was nearly four years old. His mother remarried Lucius Marius Philippus, a senior member of a Roman aristocratic family. However, Philippus showed little interest in Octavian, leading him to be mostly raised by his grandmother Julia.
• 09:00 - 10:30: Battle for Power: Octavian vs. Mark Antony The chapter delves into the early life of Octavian, emphasizing the significant influence of Julius Caesar, Octavian’s granduncle, on his upbringing and rise to power. A pivotal moment was Octavian’s display of early leadership and oratorical skills, evidenced by delivering a funeral oration for his grandmother at the age of 12. The narrative underscores the importance of understanding the political dynamics of Rome in the 1st Century BC to grasp Octavian’s later life.
• 10:30 - 12:00: Octavian Becomes Augustus The chapter titled 'Octavian Becomes Augustus' discusses a turbulent period in Roman Republic history, marked by the Republic's unprecedented power and expansion beginning in the 3rd Century BC. Initially, Rome expanded from its central Italian base and dominated the Western Mediterranean, specifically after winning two significant wars against its rival, the city-state of Carthage in present-day Tunisia. These victorious conflicts, known as the Punic Wars, led to Rome gaining control by the early 2nd Century BC.
• 12:00 - 13:30: Augustus's Early Reforms and Expansion The chapter discusses the rapid military expansions and conquests by Rome, particularly in all of Italy and much of Spain, followed by Southern Gaul, Carthage, and Greece. Despite these expansions, a significant contradiction arose: the increasing power of the Roman military generals threatened the very structure of the Republic, posing a danger to its sustainability even as its military might grew. This period of growth and conflict set the stage for Augustus's rise.
• 13:30 - 15:00: Governance and Cultural Flourishing under Augustus The chapter opens with a historical backdrop, setting the stage with a civil war in 83 BC between Roman generals Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla. Sulla emerges victorious by 81 BC, taking the role of dictator of Rome. In a surprising move, he resigns in 79 BC to restore the Republic. However, his actions left many wondering when another general might rise to power and challenge the Republic again. This sets the stage for the significant governance and cultural shifts under Augustus.
• 15:00 - 16:30: Succession and Later Years of Augustus's Reign In "Succession and Later Years of Augustus's Reign," the text explores the political dynamics in Rome post-Augustus. It discusses the potential candidates for power following Augustus's period, spotlighting the loose political Alliance formed in 60 BC, shortly after Octavian, who later became Augustus, was born. Among them was Pompus Magnus, noted for his rise as a supporter of Sulla in the 80s BC, who carved out a significant role for himself from 79 BC to the mid-60s BC.
• 16:30 - 18:00: Assessment of Augustus's Legacy The chapter delves into the assessment of Augustus's legacy, beginning with a focus on notable military and political figures who surrounded and sometimes opposed his era. Among these figures are Pompey, who earned fame through his military achievements in the Eastern Mediterranean, specifically by bringing Syria under Roman control. He's noted as 'Pompey the Great'. Another figure, Marcus Licinius Crassus, rose to fame not just for his wealth but also for successfully quelling the Spartacus slave rebellion in Southern Italy during the late 70s BC. The narrative sets the stage for the formation of the First Triumvirate, though it cuts off before detailing on this early political alliance.

Augustus: How Caesar's Protégé Founded The Roman Empire Transcription

• 00:00 - 00:30 [Music] The Man known to history as Caesar Augustus was born on the 23rd of September 63 BC on the Palatine Hill in the city of Rome the capital of the then Roman Republic in Roman times individuals often had many different names some being constructs to acknowledge great Deeds or the manner in which they wanted to depict themselves consequently Caesar Augustus is a constructed name which he
• 00:30 - 01:00 later came to be known by The Man Who Would One Day become the first emperor of Rome was actually born as gas Octavius or gas Octavian and is typically referred to in his Youth and early adult years as Octavian his father also guas Octavius was a member of the Octavia Roman Clan from the equestrian class the Octavia were not part of the senatorial aristocracy but had risen to a position
• 01:00 - 01:30 of considerable significance in Rome by the first century BC as a result of several generations of the family providing military and political service to The Republic as a result gas was considered a novas homo or a new man this was a term which was applied to many individuals who had risen to positions of wealth and Authority in Rome but who came from socially inferior Clans as a way of differentiating them from the patrici classes of the senatorial families who could trace
• 01:30 - 02:00 their lineage back several centuries octavian's mother was AA balba a daughter of Marcus attius balbus a Roman politician who served as a pror of Rome one of the Republic's senior magistrates the year after Octavian was born and his wife Julia Miner the sister of Julius Caesar thus Octavian was born into a notable Roman political family on both his mother's and his father's sides OCT Ian's very first years were
• 02:00 - 02:30 turbulent the city of Rome had increased dramatically in population and size during the late 2 Century BC and early 1st Century BC as it became increasingly overcrowded many richer families of Roman citizens elected to spend more time outside the city at their Villas and Estates around Italy octavian's family were no different and he was quickly sent to the family ancestral lands at vetri approximately 40 km south
• 02:30 - 03:00 of Rome however the more significant development in his early years was the death of his father in 59 BC when octavien was still shy of his fourth birthday his mother quickly remarried to Lucius Marius philippus a member of a senior Roman aristocratic family but this was not an ideal marriage for young Octavian as Marius took little interest in his new stepson as a result Octavian was largely placed in the care of his grandmother Julia in the 50th BC whose
• 03:00 - 03:30 brother guas Julius Caesar would play a major role in octavian's younger years as well as his Ascent to become emperor of Rome Octavian was evidently very close to his grandmother and when she died in 51 BC he gave the funeral ortion despite being only 12 years old it is not possible to understand octavian's subsequent life without examining the politics of Rome in the first half of the 1 Century BC Octavian was born into
• 03:30 - 04:00 a volatile period in the history of the Roman Republic on the one hand Rome had never been more powerful beginning in the 3rd Century BC the Republic had begun expanding from its small base in central Italy first coming to dominate The Western Mediterranean after two major Wars against its rival the city state of carage in what is now Tunisia Rome emerged Victorious from what were known as the Punic Wars and by the early 2nd Century BC when was in control of
• 04:00 - 04:30 all of Italy and much of Spain further rapid conquests occurred in the century that followed effectively bringing Southern Gaul carage itself and Greece under the rule of Rome these conquests would continue unabated in the decades leading up to octavian's birth but there was a contradiction at the heart of Rome's expansion while its military power increased the Republic itself was in Mortal danger as the generals of the Roman Legions became ever more powerful
• 04:30 - 05:00 and in 83 BC a civil war had even broken out between the two foremost Roman generals of the age gas Marius and Lucius Cornelius suah suah emerged Victorious from this in 81 BC and became dictator of Rome and while he did resign that position in 79 BC and restore the Republic a year before his own death many wondered how long it would be before another General merged to seize
• 05:00 - 05:30 power on a more permanent basis the answer to that particular question many at Rome imagined would lie amongst the three individuals who had formed a loose political Alliance in 60 BC just 3 years after Octavian was born the most famous of the three at the time was pompus Magnus he had risen as a supporter of suah in the 80s BC but he had carved out his own path between 79 BC and the mid 60s BC by Leading Roman
• 05:30 - 06:00 armies to several great victories in the Eastern Mediterranean bringing regions like Syria under Roman rule and earning the name pompy the great in the process like pompy Marcus linius crus had been a follower of solers before rising to prominence himself by becoming the richest man in the Republic and crushing the rebellion led by the Gladiator Spartacus in southern Italy in the late 70s BC the third member of what became known known as the first triumvirate was
• 06:00 - 06:30 the only one who had been on the side of Marius in the earlier Civil War despite this gas Julius Caesar had managed to return to prominence in Rome in the 70s and 60s BC after he obtained several senior political offices and then conquered parts of hispania on the Iberian Peninsula in the late 60s BC as noted Caesar was the brother of octavian's Grandmother Julia and in the ' 50s BC as octav Avan was growing up
• 06:30 - 07:00 these three men would V to become the dominant figure in the Roman Republic as Octavian entered his teenage years the political situation was taking another major turn during the 50s BC the three triumvir had experienced varying fortunes crus LED an Army against the paean empire in what is now Iraq in the mid-50s BC and in 53 BC he was killed at the Battle of Kare in what was one of the worst defeat s ever experienced by
• 07:00 - 07:30 Roman forces conversely Caesar had undertaken in the early 50s BC to conquer Gaul the region approximating with modern day France and which was then inhabited by a great number of Celtic tribes he was enormously successful in this Enterprise effectively extending the northern borders of the Roman Republic from the Alps All the Way North to the English Channel and the North Sea in the space of a few years in the ' 50s BC meanwhile as Caesar star was in the descendant in
• 07:30 - 08:00 Gaul pompy floundered in Rome unable to acquire a military command which would raise his status back to what it had been in years gone by but he still had strong support from the Roman senate which viewed Caesar and his Growing Power as a potential mortal threat to the Republic thus a new Civil War was brewing one between Caesar backed by much of the Roman army and pompy backed by the Senate Octavian would soon grow closer to his greater Uncle during the
• 08:00 - 08:30 40s BC at the same time as Caesar was emerging as the suer of his age in 50 BC relations between Pomp's faction in Rome and Caesar in Gul had reached a crisis Point anxious to limit Caesar's power the Roman senate was attempting to prevent him standing for a new term as Consul of Rome the highest political office in the Republic and they were also trying to strip him of his military command pressured by these efforts Caesar brought his armies south from G
• 08:30 - 09:00 towards Italy and on the 10th of January 49 BC crossed the Rubicon River in Northeast Italy this was a boundary Beyond which no Roman general was allowed to bring his troops and in Crossing it Caesar was effectively initiating a civil war in the weeks that followed pompe and his followers evacuated Italy and headed for the Eastern Mediterranean Greece now became the main theater of operations where C initially lost the battle of derium in
• 09:00 - 09:30 July 48 BC but followed it up with a resounding victory over pompy at the Battle of Fales just Weeks Later pompy subsequently fled to Egypt where he was killed by the toic regime the Civil War would drag on for three more years in mopping up operations in parts of North Africa and Spain but the events of 48 BC had effectively left Caesar in command of the Roman Republic the is a popular
• 09:30 - 10:00 misconception that Julius Caesar now became the first emperor of Rome this is not true Caesar held the title of dictator during the' 40s BC this should not be confused with the modern idea of a dictator who holds absolute power and refuses to accept any challenges to their Authority in Rome dictatorial Powers were regularly given by the Roman senate to an individual to hold extensive Authority in civil and Military Affairs during a period of crisis
• 10:00 - 10:30 thus for instance the Roman politician and general quintus Fabius Maximus was granted dictatorial Powers by the senate in 217 BC during the Second Punic War when the carthaginian general Hannibal had invaded Italy by bringing an army over the Alps from carthage's European base in Spain he relinquished these Powers after a short time as had Sola just 2 years after he won the civil war against Marius in the late 80s BC as
• 10:30 - 11:00 such Caesar was operating within a relatively normal constitutional Arrangement when he served as dictator in the' 40s BC but what was at issue was that as the years went by it seemed that he would never relinquish his dictatorial powers however it is important to note that he never made himself emperor of Rome and that constitutional novelty would be an invention of octavian's ascent to power 20 years later during this period of
• 11:00 - 11:30 immense political change young Octavian had been growing closer to his great uncle and also finding his own way in the world of Roman politics following his grandmother's death he had gone back to live with his own mother and stepfather in 47 BC when he was just 15 he was elected to the College of pontiffs a cast of Roman priests while in 46 BC he played a significant role in organizing the version of the Olympic Games which were held at this time he
• 11:30 - 12:00 was also anxious to prove himself militarily and had petitioned his mother from early on in the Civil War to be allowed to join his great uncle on campaigns she initially refused but eventually acquiesced towards the end of the conflict and Octavian saw some of the last actions of the war in hispania in 46 BC where the remnants of Pomp's supporters were making their Last Stand Octavian evidently made a major impression on Caesar who sometime in
• 12:00 - 12:30 late 46 BC or 45 BC altered his will to both adopt Octavian and make him his principal Heir adoptions of this kind were very common amongst the Roman nobility at the time and octavian's position as the primary beneficiary of Caesar's will was relatively uncomplicated by the fact that Caesar did not have any legitimate male Heirs of his own although he had fathered an illegitimate son with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra in 47
• 12:30 - 13:00 BC Caesar's adoption of Octavian and his naming of him as the primary beneficiary of his will were more vital than Caesar could have known at the time that he made that decision for ultimately the Roman dictator was not long for the world as the months rolled by after the end of the Civil War with Caesar giving no indication that he intended to renounce his dictatorial powers a conspiracy was developing amongst the ranks of the Roman senate to assassinate
• 13:00 - 13:30 him although word of the conspiracy slipped out shortly before the assassination was to take place the individual who learned of it one of Caesar's closest commanders from his days in Gaul Marcus Antonius typically known as Mark antthony was prevented from alerting Caesar to the danger he was in accordingly when Caesar entered the Senate on the 15th of March the IDS of March 44 BC One of the Great Festival days in the Roman Calendar he did not know know what was about to occur in the
• 13:30 - 14:00 minutes that followed a group of senators surrounded him and began stabbing him furiously most near contemporary accounts agree that Caesar did not say anything as he was swiftly killed and the idea popularized later in William Shakespeare's Julius Caesar that the great Commander turned to one of his assailants Marcus Brutus a former prot of his and said it to brute meaning and You Brutus is most likely a colorful
• 14:00 - 14:30 invention Octavian was not in Rome at the time of Caesar's assassination but was undertaking military training in Alyria the region of the west of the Adriatic Sea corresponding with modern day Croatia and Albania the later Roman historical biographer suetonius stated that Octavian considered whether he should try to assemble an army from amongst the Roman Legions in order to claim power when he heard of his great uncle's death but this is unlikely given
• 14:30 - 15:00 Octavian was still just 18 years of age at this time he did head straight for Rome though upon learning of Caesar's death and it would only have been at this time that he learned that Caesar had made him the primary beneficiary of his very sizable estate moreover the fact that Caesar had adopted Octavian made him the successor to his great uncle's political power in the eyes of Caesar's many followers thus although he was still a very young man with only limited experience of military
• 15:00 - 15:30 campaigning Octavian had both the financial power and the support network which was needed to begin asserting himself in Rome's politics in the power vacuum which followed his great uncle's assassination in 44 BC to broadcast his role as Caesar's political Heir he adopted his name at this point adding Caesar to his titles experience the past like never before with history hits award-winning original documentaries and adree podcasts with our expert
• 15:30 - 16:00 historians like Dan snow Susanna lipam Lucy Worley Mary beard Tristan Hughes and myself Matt Lewis sign up for an exclusive discount using the link in the description and embark on your historical Journey from the wonders of ancient Egypt and the life of an berin to the rise of Napoleon bonapart and the discovery of shackleton's endurance get history Wherever Whenever exclusively on history it while the click of Roman Senators who
• 16:00 - 16:30 had assassinated Caesar had intended to restore Republican rule they were soon frustrated in their efforts within weeks figures such as Brutus had been forced to flee Rome following an inflammatory eulogy given by Mark Anthony at Caesar's funeral in which he denounced the conspirators in the months that followed they would be condemned as traitors as Caesar's supporters reasserted some control over the government and with individuals such as Brutus out of the way Roman politics once again descended
• 16:30 - 17:00 into a battle between a number of military commanders and interested groups to see who could succeed Caesar as the new dictator of the Republic foremost amongst the possible candidates was Mark Anthony who was serving as Consul at the time and who was in a position of strength yet others were wary of Anthony viewing him as an individual who would simply become the next in a line of over Mighty political generals which included solah and Caesar
• 17:00 - 17:30 in recent times this faction began to give their support to Octavian and others such as Marcus amelus lepidus another one of Caesar's close allies from Gaul and the Civil War the emergence of these opposing factions would ensure that no one individual would succeed Caesar in the immediate aftermath of his assassination despite his Youth and relative inexperience Octavian showed just how astute a politician he could be
• 17:30 - 18:00 within weeks in the months following Caesar's assassination in 44 BC he had acquired vast sums of money in Italy part of this was the war chest of 700 million cies or silver coins which had been accumulated in southern Italy to pay for a massive military campaign which Caesar had been planning at the time of his death against Rome's foremost enemy The parean Empire far to the east in Mesopotamia Octavian had reappropriated a substantial amount of
• 18:00 - 18:30 this money to himself and then had augmented it by effectively stealing the enormous tribute which arrived from Rome's client states in the Eastern Mediterranean later that year now in late 44 BC and early 43 BC he put this money to good use bribing two of Mark Antony's Legions to follow him and also recruiting thousands of Caesars former supporters across Italy to Copper fasten his Swift seizure of Italy Octavian had himself made a senator and in a highly
• 18:30 - 19:00 unusual move was quickly given the right to vote on certain matters which were usually reserved for senators who had previously served as consuls finally in mid 43 BC he marched on Rome with several Legions and demanded to be made Consul himself as both the consuls who had been appointed for the year had died in military campaigns he encountered virtually zero opposition and as a result the 19-year-old became the sole
• 19:00 - 19:30 Consul the most significant political office in the Republic Octavian had clearly emerged as a significant political figure on a par with Mark Anthony and leopardus the emergence of these Rivals for power soon led to a new political arrangement in Rome which mirrored that which had been agreed to by Caesar crus and pompy in 60 BC on the 27th of November 43 BC the Roman senate passed the Lexia a law which formerly divided
• 19:30 - 20:00 power within the Roman Republic between Octavian Mark Anthony and leopardus this second triumverate as it has become known differed in significant ways from the earlier first triumverate the first had effectively been a private and informal agreement between Caesar crus and pompy to cooperate with each other while the second triumverate was a formal agreement which had the backing of the Senate and effectively divided the Republic into three spheres of influence which the three trium would
• 20:00 - 20:30 rule Octavian was given control over the region corresponding to Tunisia and Libya in North Africa as well as Sardinia and Corsica hispania and Southern Gaul were granted to lepidus while Mark Anthony controlled the Alpine region and most of Gaul the Senate would control Rome itself and Italy while much of the Republic's territories in the Eastern Mediterranean had fallen into the hands of others such as Brutus and gas Casas long dinus who had assassinated Caesar as these lands in
• 20:30 - 21:00 the East constituted the Richer parts of the Empire whichever of the trium could seize the region would be best place to emerge Victorious amongst the trium in the years that followed the first years of the second triumvirat saw octavien Mark Anthony and lepidus acting cordially and in conjunction with each other firstly they began strengthening their position by prescribing former opponents of Caesar prescription was a process whereby Roman citizens were
• 21:00 - 21:30 effectively outlawed by the Republic and had their Estates confiscated by prescribing hundreds of wealthy individuals the three trium came into possession of vast Estates and wealth which they used to reward their followers and strengthen their own factions together the three began the work of crushing those who had assassinated Caesar and who had taken control of much of Rome's territories in the Eastern Mediterranean Octavian and Mark Anthony took the lead in this
• 21:30 - 22:00 bringing 28 Legions across the Adriatic Sea to Greece from there they marched North and met with the forces led by Brutus and casassus near Philippi in Macedonia the resulting battle involved upwards of 200,000 men in The Clash casualties were actually relatively limited and no side was the clear Victor in military terms however when casus was given false information that brutus's forces had been defeated he committed suicide and Brutus did the same when he
• 22:00 - 22:30 learned of cis's actual fate thereafter their forces surrendered it was a bizar end to the wars which followed from Caesar's assassination the power dynamics of the second Triumph shifted considerably in the aftermath of the victory at Philippi lepidus who had always been the least powerful of the three trivers was quickly marginalized on the back of a spirous lie invented by Octavian and Mark antthony that he had been secretly
• 22:30 - 23:00 providing Aid to sexus pompus a son of pompy the great who had seized control of Sicily in the aftermath of Caesar's assassination with leopardus removed in this way Octavian and Mark Antony agreed on a new division of power whereby Octavian would effectively control the western parts of the Republic notably Italy Gaul hispania and the North African provinces while Mark Anthony would control the Eastern provinces such as Greece and Syria as well as exercising influence over the many
• 23:00 - 23:30 client Kingdoms in this region such as to Egypt which were not formally part of the Roman Republic but which were effectively vassals who paid tribute to Rome then to cement the new dispensation an agreement was reached whereby Anthony married Octavian sister Octavia in October 40 BC the alliance as uneasy as it was would hold for nearly a decade one of octavian's most PR in problems following the effective division of the
• 23:30 - 24:00 Republic between himself and Anthony was the presence of seus pompus in Sicily pompus had ensconced himself firmly on the island which sat right on the shipping routs between the Western and Eastern Mediterranean and he had even managed to gain a hold of Sardinia and Corsica having built up a formidable Navy by attacking and seizing shipping passing by the islands from the Eastern Mediterranean to Rome pompus was able to interfere in the supplies of grain and
• 24:00 - 24:30 other food stuffs to Rome the Eternal City was heavily reliant on such deliveries from Egypt and other countries to feed its swelling population and provide the famous bread Dole to its citizens consequently something needed to be done to remove pompus from Sicily initially an agreement was brokered in 39 BC the pack of mum whereby seus was acknowledged in his possession of the islands if he would cease attacking Roman shipping
• 24:30 - 25:00 however once his plundering recommenced after a few months octavien determined to act and sent his foremost Commander Marcus Agrippa to crush seus a feat which he eventually accomplished in 36 BC pompus fled to the east where he was captured on the Greek island of mettus and executed the following year the conclusion of the war against pompus in Sicily also led to a first the disintegration of the second triumvirat
• 25:00 - 25:30 lepidus had been sidelined years earlier but the removal of seers from the Italian Islands in 36 BC now saw him trying to reestablish himself by seizing Sicily Octavian made clear his dominants of the Western Mediterranean in the months that followed by sending his army South upon which lepid Us's own Legions defected to Caesar's adopted air Octavian had once again shown his belief that gold was the key key to loyalty here and had made it known to lepidus
• 25:30 - 26:00 Legions that they would receive generous payments if they relinquished their allegiance to their Commander as a result of their defection the third triumvir was stripped of all his political offices by Octavian other than the largely ceremonial position of ponteix Maximus or chief priest of Rome yet lepidus was allowed to retire peacefully to Cape Cersei not far from Rome and he would live for early another quarter of a century once he agreed to
• 26:00 - 26:30 largely stay out of Roman politics but the immediate consequence of his fall in the mid-30s BC was that there were now definitely only two trivers left and the showdown between Octavian and Mark Anthony loomed ever nearer while octavien was enjoying these successes in the west Anthony was experiencing some trouble in the east in the late' 40s BC Anthony had struck up a relationship with cleop a the Queen of toic Egypt who
• 26:30 - 27:00 had previously been the lover of Julius Caesar and had even borne him a son named Cesarion making his base in Egypt in the early 30s BC Anthony had determined to strengthen his position relative to Octavian by undertaking further conquests on the Eastern borders of the Republic in particular he was anxious to rejuvenate Caesar's earlier plans to make war on the parean empire in Mesopotamia thus in 36 BC he invaded
• 27:00 - 27:30 pathia with a massive Force however the invasion soon turned to disaster as Antony's main force was separated from the baggage trains of supplies and Siege equipment when a mobile force of parean Cavalry intercepted and destroyed much of the latter the Roman general was forced to retreat back towards Roman territory in Syria losing further men along the way as his forces were harried by the pathans the campaign had turned into a disaster the embarrassment of which was only partially remedied by his
• 27:30 - 28:00 conquest of the kingdom of Armenia in 34 BC and the installation of his son Alexander Helios as its king this was the context in which Octavian made his major grab for total power over the Republic Anthony's absence from the Eternal City his relationship with clear Patra and seeming preference for the Egyptian capital of Alexandria over Rome and the nepotism showed towards his followers in the East all provided ammunition for
• 28:00 - 28:30 Octavian and his faction to begin claiming that Anthony wish to seize power in the Republic and begin building a new realm of which Egypt and the city of Alexandria would be the Heartland Octavian was particularly bullish in claiming this as he was angered by Anthony's embarrassing of his sister Octavia to whom Anthony was still married through his very public relationship with Cleopatra moreover Octavian was actually able to substantiate his claims that Anthony was
• 28:30 - 29:00 orientalizing in 32 BC he entered the Temple of the Vestal virgins in Rome and removed Antony's will which was housed there with this he was able to demonstrate that Anthony had plans to divide up the Republic's Eastern territories between his family and supporters and that he wished to be inomed at Alexandria following his death this combined with Antony's celebration of his conquest of Armenia by holding a Triumph in Alexandria rather than at
• 29:00 - 29:30 Rome seemed to confirm octavian's argument that Anthony was effectively turning into an Eastern despot who would expel Rome from its eastern territories if left unchecked in late 32 BC following this campaign to undermine Anthony the senate in Rome finally agreed to revoke Antony's powers and declared war on toic Egypt a new Civil War had begun yet Octavian did did not have unequivocal support in the west as much as 40% of
• 29:30 - 30:00 the Roman senate had voted against the war and a large majority of these now left the capital and headed east with their supporters to join Antony's cause in Egypt in the months that followed the largest military buildup that had accompanied any Roman civil war occurred by the summer of 31 BC Octavian had pulled together forces which numbered approximately 200,000 men to put this in perspective Caesar had only commanded roughly 25,000 men at the Battle of
• 30:00 - 30:30 faralis the decisive engagement in his civil war against pompy in the Early Autumn of 48 BC and octavian's massive military buildup was matched by Anthony who was also able to field about 200,000 men just as significantly both quickly assembled large fleets of hundreds of galles as this was a war which would play itself out as much in the Mediterranean as on land by the summer both sides were channeling their armies
• 30:30 - 31:00 towards Greece which like Caesar and pompy's showdown in 48 BC and the end of Brutus and cis's Revolt at Philippi in 42 BC would act as the theater in which yet another civil conflict of the late Roman Republic would play out octavien and Mark Antony's forces would finally Clash at Sea near the Roman colony of actium in Northwestern Greece in 31 BC this was at the mouth of the ambran gulf approximately 50 km
• 31:00 - 31:30 south of the southern tip of the island of Corfu Anthony had began assembling his land and sea forces here in the summer of 31 BC in preparation for a planned strike against Mainland Italy Octavian responded by concentrating his forces on the Greek mainland opposite Corfu to the north of actium here by the late summer Octavian was beginning to gain the upper hand as his strength relative to anon's grew and Anthony
• 31:30 - 32:00 became increasingly surrounded on the mainland then as the days went by desertion and disease began decimating his forces as a result on the 2nd of September 31 BC he attempted to break out from the ambracian Gulf with slightly over 300 ships and perhaps as many as 25,000 infantry and Cavalry on board octavian's forces of roughly 400 galys under the overall command of Mark AG grippa had lined up in the waters
• 32:00 - 32:30 around the exit from the Gulf as Anthony's Fleet sailed past actium to try to break out into the wider Mediterranean the Battle of actium which followed would be the decisive conflict of the Civil War octavian's fleet was numerically superior but his ships of an Italian built were smaller than the larger galys of Antony's Eastern Fleet however even this seeming Advantage for Anthony was diluted by the fact that octavian's ships proved more agile and
• 32:30 - 33:00 could stay out of range of fire from Anthony's vessels in the hours that followed however what possibly sealed his fate at actium was that his ships became caught in dead water while trying to break out of the ambracian gulf a marine phenomenon whereby ships can only move at a fraction of their normal speed due to being caught in highly saline water this or perhaps a run of bad winds stranded many of Antony's ships for long enough that octavian's gys were able to
• 33:00 - 33:30 come close enough to start many fires on the decks of Anthony's own gleys this combined with a breakdown in communication between the different parts of Anthony's Fleet saw his Fleet almost completely destroyed in the hours that followed as nighttime descended near actium Mark Antony's hopes of defeating Octavian were Ablaze across the waters outside the emban gulf in the aftermath of actium Anthony managed to escape back to Egypt Octavian and Marcus
• 33:30 - 34:00 agria pursued him and Anthony eventually committed suicide by falling on his own sword on the 1st of August 30 BC after another defeat at Alexandria this brought the latest Civil War the final Civil War of the Roman Republic to an end Cleopatra followed her Lover's example 9 days later and killed herself by drinking poison not as Legend would have it through the bite of an asp and Octavian was not inclined to show Mercy to those who had survived both cesarian
• 34:00 - 34:30 Cleopatra's Son by Julius Caesar and Marcus Antonius antilus Mark Anthony's son by his earlier wife fulvia were executed the two had been born within weeks of each other in 47 BC and were consequently in their late teens in 30 BC Octavian had not been much older himself when Caesar was assassinated and he began his political and Military Ascent unwilling to take any risks that the pair would one day pose a threat to
• 34:30 - 35:00 him he had them killed Egypt which had been a client state of Rome's up until 30 BC was forly annexed to become the latest province of the Roman Republic like Caesar before him Octavian did not move to immediately establish himself as emperor of Rome although he was now unrivaled in the same way Caesar had been between 48 BC and 44 BC unwilling to make the mistake as great uncle had made of claiming dictatorial powers and never relinquishing them or
• 35:00 - 35:30 asking the Senate's consent he instead began slowly changing his own constitutional position in the months and years following the end of the Civil War in 30 BC firstly after returning to Rome he had himself and Marcus AG Grier made consules for the year and he would hold the title every year down to the late 20s BC in tandem Octavian tightened his grip on the military and also began diverting the Republic's wealth into his
• 35:30 - 36:00 own coffers in ways which allowed him to bestow enormous amounts of financial patronage then he reached an agreement with the Senate that he would divide control over the Republic's provinces between them whereby Octavian and his magistrates administered some and the Senate others and by this means he created the idea that he was ruling with the consent of the Senate and the old aristocracy instead of bludgeoning it into obedience as Caesar had attempted for all that these changes
• 36:00 - 36:30 magnified octavian's position in the aftermath of his victory over Anthony it was not until 27 BC that the real change in the Constitutional status of the Republic and his position within it was transformed in January of that year the Senate granted Octavian two new titles the first of these was that of princeps meaning first or the foremost within a group the new title signified that Octavian was now the first citizen of
• 36:30 - 37:00 Rome the other title which was bestowed was that of Augustus roughly meaning illustrious one as a term of reverence Octavian now took the latter along with his great uncle's cognomen as his new name henceforth he would be known as Caesar Augustus while he styled himself as imperator a term which in Latin effectively means Commander but the meaning of which today is Emperor or ruler based largely on the knowledge
• 37:00 - 37:30 that the imperators who ruled after Augustus were Emperors of a Roman Empire and these developments in January of 27 BC are consequently generally interpreted as the point at which the Roman Republic came to an end and the date from which we can speak of the Roman Empire one which would last for nearly exactly 500 years thereafter having established himself in a position of secure and supreme authority in Rome Augustus soon set
• 37:30 - 38:00 about expanding the Empire's borders Rome was a society whether it was ruled as a republic or as an Empire which viewed expansion as a natural thing for it to do at all times in the early years of augustus's rule this came quite easily Egypt had been annexed as part of the end of the Civil War the kingdom of galatia in central turkey was also converted into a Roman province in in 25 BC when its ruler amintas was killed in
• 38:00 - 38:30 the years that followed that Augustus succeeded in crushing the independent tribes of Northern hispania which had resisted Roman rule for two centuries the final conquest of the Iberian Peninsula by 19 BC was especially beneficial as huge gold deposits were soon discovered there leading to a massive Financial windfall for both Augustus and The Wider Roman aristocracy in tandem Augustus tightened Roman control over the client kingdoms of the
• 38:30 - 39:00 near East such as the herodian kingdom of Judea by the end of the 20s BC finally a diplomatic success was also secured with the parean Empire to return the battle standards of the Roman Legions which had been lost at the Battle of Karai in 53 BC in which cus Julius Caesar's associate in the first trium verit had perished yet it was not all plain sailing during these years in the spring of 23 BC Augustus became seriously ill
• 39:00 - 39:30 and many believed he was on his deathbed therefore he made Provisions at this time for a division of power upon his death whereby Marcus Agrippa would succeed him militarily and his nephew Marcus Claudius marceles would be groomed to succeed him politically in the long run although he recovered from the illness the entire episode made Augustus acutely conscious of the necessity for a clearer constitutional arrangement and during the course of 23 BC he agreed with the Senate that
• 39:30 - 40:00 henceforth he would not appoint himself as conso but would be granted the office of Tribune for life with the powers of a Roman censor combined with this in this way he plated the Senate by giving back the office of conso but retained great control over the magistracy by the creation of an entirely new office under the name of Tribune and while these new Arrangements did incite some unrest most notably a shadowy conspiracy which was launched by one fanas Kio in 21 BC these
• 40:00 - 40:30 threats were easily seen off and Augustus continued to solidify his rule into the 10s BC augustus's Reign saw many Innovations in terms of how Roman society was governed and managed the century or so prior to his seizure of power had seen the Roman State expand dramatically but necessary social reforms had been neglected as the Republic struggled through successive civil wars in particular there were major issues in
• 40:30 - 41:00 the Eternal City itself which was suffering from fires diseases a crime problem and growing poverty Augustus began addressing this imbalance in the city of Rome the population of which had swelled to upwards of a million people by the first century ad he transformed the municipal government instituting the first professional police force and fire service in a city where violent assaults and accidental fires had become rampant these vigiles did much to make Rome a
• 41:00 - 41:30 more hospitable place by the end of his Reign he also drastically reformed the way in which Rome and the Italian Peninsula were administered expanding the personal bodyguard he had established for himself early in his career the petorian guard to become a much larger unit whose loyalty was directly to the emperor and which was charged with the protection of the capital and the Italian peninsula in The Wider Empire Augustus in conjunction with the Senate
• 41:30 - 42:00 established the system of administration which would last for much of the next two centuries this divided the empire into senatorial provinces which the Senate administered and Imperial provinces which were administered by magistrates appointed directly by the emperor there were some exceptions to this rule Egypt which had been conquered following the Battle of actum was one of the richest provinces of the entire Empire and Augustus placed it under the administration of a prefect from the Roman equestrian class who was directly
• 42:00 - 42:30 responsible to him and he also introduced major reforms to the Roman tax base which increased the Imperial revenues that were collected this was a necessity as for decades Rome had relied on extracting resources from conquered territories for much of its wealth in introducing a proper taxation system of land and trade Augustus was creating a more stable and secure source of revenue for the empire finally in order to improve the overall administration of
• 42:30 - 43:00 the Empire Augustus initiated a massive Road building system and a system of relay stations complete with horses to deliver information at maximum speed to and from Rome as a result King Louis I 14th nearly 2,000 years later would not have been able to send a messenger any faster than Augustus could the reign of Augustus is generally perceived as having been a golden age of Roman culture particularly of Latin literature
• 43:00 - 43:30 the poet horis published his ODS between 23 BC and 13 BC while ID composed several renowned works such as the metamorphosis A Narrative of combined helenic Romano mythology and his asss amatoria meaning the art of love and the fasty a volume of the Roman Calendar all towards the latter end of augustus's Reign the historian Livy spent nearly 30 years during augustus's Reign composing
• 43:30 - 44:00 an enormous History of Rome from the foundation of the city down to augustus's Reign entitled abur condita meaning from the founding of the city yet it was Virgil an Italian from near modern day Mana who became the greatest of the Roman poets his magnum opus the anit providing a national epic of Rome's mythical establishment by anas a refugee from the legendary Siege and fall of the city of Troy many of these poets were
• 44:00 - 44:30 supported by guas meus one of augustus's right-hand men who acted as an unofficial minister of culture and the emperor's role in this flowering of Latin literature was considerable although Augustus did exile oid to the city of Thomas beyond the Empire's borders in Romania in 8 ad under mysterious circumstances possibly related to the scandals created by his love poetry the Augustine golden age extended beyond
• 44:30 - 45:00 the written word Rome's first emperor left an indelible mark on the built environment of the city he was responsible for constructing numerous major Monumental buildings in the center of the city notably The Forum of Augustus complete with a temple to Mars Alor and the triumphal arch of Augustus while the mosum of Augustus which he built shortly after the end of the Civil War covered an area area the size of several city streets along the banks of
• 45:00 - 45:30 the river Tyber and became the resting place of the remains of all the Julio claudian Emperors and many members of augustus's extended family other buildings such as the Portico of Octavia which was built in honor of The Emperor's sister and the baths of a gripper the city's first public baths constructed by augustus's most trusted Ally Marcus AG gripper were built either by or on behalf of the emperor's family and friends perhaps unsurprisingly given all this building work the foremost work
• 45:30 - 46:00 on Roman architecture de architectura was written by the engineer and architect Vitruvius during the first decade of augustus's Reign it was still being used as a major work in the field as late as the 18th century and vitus's writings were used in such famous buildings as the dome which filipo brunelli built on top of the Cathedral of Santa Maria Del Fior in Florence in the 15th century throughout his Reign there
• 46:00 - 46:30 continued to be widespread speculation as to who if anyone would succeed Augustus in the unique position he had carved out for himself within the Roman State Augustus had married three times his first two marriages were brief Affairs the first to Claudia between 42 BC and 40 BC was a political marriage designed to shore up alliances during the politically turbulent years following Caesar's assassination the second to scribonia followed immediately
• 46:30 - 47:00 after his divorce from Claudia but similarly it only lasted 2 years down to 38 BC however this particular Union did result in augustus's only biological child a daughter named Julia Augustus who was still Octavian at that time divorced scribonia the very day that she gave birth to Julia the grounds were that she had committed adultery but this may have simply been a convenient excuse as Octavian had met and fallen for Livia
• 47:00 - 47:30 Drusilla at this time Livia was married herself to Tiberius Claudius Nero a Roman Senator with whom she had two children she quickly obtained a divorce herself and she and Octavian were wed in 37 BC they would be happily married for the next 50 years down to augustus's death but the marriage never produced any children though the reasons are unclear as both Olia and Augustus had children from their previous
• 47:30 - 48:00 marriages had augustus's marriage to Livia resulted in a son the issue of the succession might have been clearer though this is by no means certain as Roman succession practices often involved the adoption of an heir who was considered a worthy successor from the 20s BC onwards Augustus considered many possible heirs early on his preference clearly seemed to be for Marcus Agrippa his most trusted General and Ally Agrippa was periodically placed in
• 48:00 - 48:30 charge of Affairs in the east of the Empire and Augustus betrothed his daughter Julia to him a union which resulted in five children however Agrippa had been born in 63 BC the same year as Octavian and he died in 12 BC long before the emperor thereafter Augustus began grooming his two grandchildren from agria and Julia's marriage gas Caesar and Lucius Caesar as potential Hees unfortunately though the
• 48:30 - 49:00 two young men both died under relatively mysterious circumstances within 18 months of each other between the Autumn of 2 ad and the spring of 4 ad suspicions abounded that the empress Livia had them poisoned to ensure the succession of her surviving son from her first marriage Tiberius his roote to the Imperial titles seemed assured from 6 ad onwards when Julia and Marcus agrippa's only living son and augustus's only surviving biological grandson agria
• 49:00 - 49:30 postumus was banished from the empire for his excessively brutal and violent conduct in addition to concerns about the succession the final years of augustus's Reign saw a shifting situation with regard to the Empire's Borders or what we might call its foreign policy as we have seen the earlier years of augustus's Reign saw the consolidation of the Empire's borders in regions such as the Iberian Peninsula the full conquest of which was
• 49:30 - 50:00 finally completed in the early 10s BC the second half of his Reign saw an effort to consolidate the land Corridor between the Western and Eastern parts of the empire in Europe by Conquering the regions then known as panonia Ilia and moesia approximating with Croatia Bosnia and heroa Albania kovo and parts of Serbia today in doing so the Empire's territories were extended into an unbroken chain from the Atlantic coast of Iberia all the way eastwards to thce
• 50:00 - 50:30 in modern day Turkey a final Revolt known as the great yyan Revolt began here in 6 a amongst the native tribes but once this was crushed in 9 ad all of the western Balkans was brought firmly under Roman rule other consolidations involved acquiring greater control over Armenia in the East to shore up the eastern border while the herodian kingdom of Judea which had been a client state for decades was formly annexed and made into the province of Judea in 6 ad
• 50:30 - 51:00 thereafter Augustus began a process of downscaling the military preparedness of the Empire and limiting the amount of future conquests which would be undertaken the one region where Augustus continued to adopt an aggressive foreign policy stance was in Germania his great uncle had conquered the vast expanse of Gaul in less than 10 years in the ' 50s BC and Augustus was determined to emulate him by extending Roman control
• 51:00 - 51:30 Eastward over the tribes of Germania operating out of a major settlement which was being established at Colonia the Roman town which would eventually grow into the modern city of Cologne the Roman Legions led by augustus's great nephew germanicus Julius Caesar began foring beyond the river Ry into Central and Eastern Germany in the late 1st Century BC the advance was so Swift at this time that by 7 BC Roman arms had extended as far as the river Elba in the
• 51:30 - 52:00 east of the region and a new Province called Germania antiqua was established out of these lands however this seemingly comfortable conquest of such a broad expanse of land was too good to be true in secret the Germanic tribes of the region were plotting to expel the Romans from their lands and in 9 ad when the Roman general pablus quintilius varus led three Legions into the region around SA they were betrayed by a Germanic Ally arminius and ambushed virtually the
• 52:00 - 52:30 entire three Legions some 15,000 men were killed at what has become known as the battle of the chob burg Forest henceforth plans to conquer Germania were abandon and the river Ry was established as the northern boundary of the Empire Caesar Augustus died in the year of 14 ad on the 19th of August a month which was named after him after July had been named after his his great uncle Julius Caesar he was nearing his 80th year and was in poor health and we
• 52:30 - 53:00 can probably discount as spirous rumors that Livia poisoned him to speed up the succession of her son Tiberius it was this stepson of the Emperor who would succeed him not because he had shown himself to be a particularly worthy or accomplished individual but because he had simply outlasted all of his Rivals for the position augustus's advice to him prior to his death had been to not expound the Empire any further but instead to secure its existing borders
• 53:00 - 53:30 as these made Geographic sense being bounded on the south by the Sahara desert on the west and North by the Atlantic Ocean and North Sea and on the east by the river Ry and the river danu in Europe although this advice was not precisely followed by augustus' successes it was to a sufficient enough extent that it brought peace to the Empire for much of the next two centuries this is often referred to as the Pax Romana the Roman peace under which Rome's 50 to 70 million subjects
• 53:30 - 54:00 lived through a period of unprecedented stability and prosperity it was a far cry from the chaos which characterized the Roman Republic when Octavian was born into it in the decades which followed it became clear how difficult augustus's job as first emperor of Rome had been his Reign was followed by several much poorer ones his direct successor Tiberius is generally understood to have been an aloof poor ruler who spent years absent from Rome
• 54:00 - 54:30 and who relied on unscrupulous middlemen such as the soldier sanus to rule on his behalf he was succeeded by Caligula in 37 BC a great grandson of Augustus is who is generally deemed to have been a mad Tyrant and a sexual deviant when his short Reign ended in 41 BC another member of the Julio claudian Dynasty tiberious Claudius Caesar became emperor Claudius although he was generally
• 54:30 - 55:00 depicted as a weak ruler by Roman historians Claudius was actually the most successful of augustus's near successes taking an interest in reforming the legal system and initiating a major building program throughout the Empire and the negative depiction of him was most likely on account of his being slightly disabled and having a limp and thus not being seen as a martial figure who could wage war in the Roman tradition the past Julio claudian Emperor Nero is typically understood to have been a borderline
• 55:00 - 55:30 lunatic who burned down Rome and whose Reign eventually ended in Civil War and the end of the Julio claudian Dynasty in 68 BC thus tyberius Caligula and Nero through their failings did much to highlight exactly how great augustus's accomplishment had been in bringing stability to the Roman State Caesar Augustus the man who became first citizen of Rome but who began his
• 55:30 - 56:00 political Ascent as Octavian when he was little more than a boy is a character who has widely divided opinions in the 2,000 years since he ruled as Rome's first emperor it could be argued and has been argued that he brought the Roman Republic to an end and established a system which destroyed the Empire's more democratic institutions such a view was articulated by subsequent generations of Roman historians such as the late 1 century ad Senator and writer tacitus who claimed that Augustus had subverted
• 56:00 - 56:30 the will of the people and made them slaves in this interpretation the man who was granted the title of the illustrious one by the Roman senate was nothing more than a power hungry Tyrant the last man left standing after Decades of Civil War which tore the Republic apart moreover his Reign was dominated by Warfare from the near constant turmoil of the second triumvirate to the Civil war with Mark Anthony through successive wars in the Middle East and
• 56:30 - 57:00 then in Germania tens of thousands and quite possibly hundreds of thousands of people died as a result of the conflicts he engaged in or directly initiated yet there is another completely opposite way of interpreting Augustus after several decades of internal strife within the Roman Republic he finally brought the constant Civil Wars between opposing generals to an end and inaugurated a period of renewed stability this allowed for the initiation of wide- ranging social
• 57:00 - 57:30 reforms and the reorganization of the Empire while the more settled environment in Rome led to the flowering of arguably the greatest period of Roman culture that was seen in its Thousand-Year history moreover his foreign policy was practical in so far as he tried to consolidate Rome's control over the regions it was a major player in already and then created new borders along easily defensible Geographic areas such as the river rine in Germania in doing so he effectively Consolidated the Empire after a century
• 57:30 - 58:00 and a half of somewhat chaotic expansion since the middle of the 2nd Century BC in doing all of this he bequeathed to his successors a much more stable situation than Rome faced in the days of Julius Caesar and when a line of generally competent Emperors arrived in the 2 Century ad the Roman Empire enjoyed a period of unprecedented peace stability and prosperity but perhaps ultimately he was both of these things
• 58:00 - 58:30 simultaneously both the ruthless and power hungry man who ended the Roman Republic and made himself ruler of an Empire and the individual who brought stability to a withered Republic which was dying long before he consigned it to history what do you think of Caesar Augustus was he a great emperor who finally brought peace to Rome after Decades of civil war or was here power hungry Tyrant please let us know in the comment section and in the meantime
• 58:30 - 59:00 thank you very much for [Music] watching e