Chinese, Mandarin

Spanish

English

Hindi

Arabic

Portuguese

Bengali

Russian

Japanese

Punjabi

German

Javanese

Malay

Telugu

Vietnamese

Korean

French

Marathi

Tamil

Urdu

Turkish

Italian

Chinese, Yue / Cantonese

Thai

Gujarati

Chinese, Jin

Chinese, Min Nan

Persian, Dari

Persian, Western

Polish

Pashto

Kannada

Chinese, Xiang

Malayalam

Sundanese

Hausa

Odia

Burmese

Chinese, Hakka

Ukrainian

Bihari, Bhojpuri

Tagalog

Yoruba

Bihari, Maithili

Uzbek

Sindhi

Amharic

Fula

Romanian

Oromo

Igbo

Azerbaijani

Chinese, Gan

Dutch

Kurdish, Central

Kurdish, Northern

Kurdish, Southern

Malagasy

Lahnda, Saraiki

Nepali

Sinhalese

Chittagonian

Zhuang

Khmer

Turkmen

Assamese

Madurese

Somali

Marwari

Bihari, Magahi

Haryanvi

Hungarian

Chhattisgarhi

Greek, Modern

Chewa

Dakhini

Akan, Twi

Akan, Fante

Kazakh

Chinese, Min Bei

Sylheti

Zulu

Czech

Kinyarwanda

Marwari, Dhundhari

Haitian Creole

Chinese, Min Dong

Ilocano

Quechua

Kirundi

Swedish

Hmong

Shona

Uyghur

Hiligaynon

Mossi

Xhosa

Belarusian

Balochi

World History 1

<OpenstaxParagraph>
	<OpenstaxTerm>Octavian</OpenstaxTerm> was only eighteen when Caesar was killed, but as Caesar’s adopted son and heir he enjoyed the loyalty and political support of Caesar’s military veterans. In 43 BCE, Octavian joined forces with two seasoned generals and politicians, Marc <OpenstaxTerm>Antony</OpenstaxTerm> and <OpenstaxTerm>Lepidus</OpenstaxTerm>, who both had been loyal supporters of Caesar. Marc Antony had been particularly close to him, as evidenced by the fact that Caesar left his legions under Antony’s command in his will. Together these three shared the power of dictator in Rome in a political arrangement known as the <OpenstaxTerm>Second Triumvirate</OpenstaxTerm>. Unlike the First Triumvirate, which was effectively a conspiracy, the Second Triumvirate was formally recognized by the Senate. In 42 BCE, the army of the Second Triumvirate, under the command of Antony, defeated the forces of Julius Caesar’s assassins Brutus and Cassius at the <OpenstaxTerm>Battle of Philippi</OpenstaxTerm> in northern Greece. The Second Triumvirate also ordered the execution of thousands of their political opponents.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	After crushing the remnants of the <OpenstaxTerm><OpenstaxEm>optimates</OpenstaxEm></OpenstaxTerm>, the three men divided the Roman Empire between them: Octavian took Italy, Hispania, and Gaul; Lepidus Africa; and Antony Macedon, Greece, and Asia Minor. Soon they quarreled, however, and civil war erupted once again. Having greater support from Caesar’s troops than his two opponents, in 36 BCE Octavian forced Lepidus into retirement. Antony countered by forming an alliance with <OpenstaxTerm>Cleopatra VII</OpenstaxTerm>, the Macedonian queen of Egypt, whom he married. Cleopatra was at that time co-ruler with <OpenstaxTerm>Ptolemy XV</OpenstaxTerm>, her son by Julius Caesar. With her financial support, Antony raised an army and fleet. In 31 BCE, in the naval <OpenstaxTerm>Battle of Actium</OpenstaxTerm> off the coast of northern Greece, Octavian defeated the forces of Antony and Cleopatra. When he afterwards invaded Egypt, the pair died by suicide (<a href="#fig-00002">Figure 6.36</a>), and Octavian installed himself as the new Egyptian pharaoh after executing Ptolemy XV. Octavian used the wealth of his kingdom in Egypt to finance his restructuring of the Roman state.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00002" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/298738884103a6ba73bb74d2a9dda0fce1e948bb" alt="An image of a painting is shown on a dark black background. A very pale woman is seen looking up to the top left of the image with glassy eyes. She has reddish hair tied at the base of her neck and hanging over her left shoulder. She wears white drop earrings and a pale red dress with gold trim, opened at the left to reveal her breast. A small black snake weaves around her right arm which is bent at the elbow and held above her chest." mediaType="image/jpg" width="650" height="781" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="650">
	<strong>Figure 6.36</strong> This mid-seventeenth-century painting by the Italian artist Cuido Cagnacci was modeled on one of many ancient accounts about how Cleopatra died. In this version, she allows a poisonous Egyptian snake, an asp, to bite her. If the story is true, she may have been incorporating Egyptian symbolism in her final act, the asp being associated with the Egyptian god Re. (credit: “The Death of Cleopatra” by Purchase, Diane Burke Gift, Gift of J. Pierpont Morgan, by exchange, Friends of European Paintings Gifts, Gwynne Andrews Fund, Lila Acheson Wallace, Charles and Jessie Price, and Álvaro Saieh Bendeck Gifts, Gift and Bequest of George Blumenthal and Fletcher Fund, by exchange, and Michel David-Weill Gift, 2016/Metropolitan Museum of Art, Public Domain)
</OpenstaxFigureText>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	One of Octavian’s primary tasks after 31 BCE was to consolidate his position in order to preserve the peace and stability he had created. To avoid the fate of his adopted father, he successfully maintained a façade that the <OpenstaxTerm>Roman Republic</OpenstaxTerm> was alive and well, assuming titles and powers traditionally associated with it. After stacking the Senate with his supporters, in 27 BCE Octavian officially stepped down as dictator and “restored” the Republic.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	The Senate immediately appointed him proconsul or governor of all Roman frontier provinces, which made him effectively the commander of the entire Roman army. The Senate also recognized him as the <OpenstaxEm>Princeps Senatus</OpenstaxEm>, or “leader of the Senate,” meaning the senator who enjoyed the most prestige and authority due to his service to the Republic. (The name of this political order, the <OpenstaxTerm>principate</OpenstaxTerm>, derives from this title.) Finally, the Senate voted to honor Octavian with the title of <OpenstaxEm>Augustus</OpenstaxEm> or “revered one,” used to describe gods and great heroes of the past. As these honors and titles suggest, Octavian, traditionally referred to as <OpenstaxTerm>Augustus</OpenstaxTerm> after 27 BCE, had assumed enormous power. Despite his claim that he had restored the Republic, he had in fact inaugurated the Empire, with himself as emperor possessing almost godlike authority (<a href="#fig-00003">Figure 6.37</a>).
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxFigure id="fig-00003" src="https://openstax.org/apps/archive/20240226.174525/resources/a30bdc100b03a7e068793e0e2865c6edd98ac99e" alt="An image of a photograph is shown. A large rectangular building is shown in the middle of the photo with tall columns on the outside perimeter. The columns look worn, faded, and are missing chunks. Inside a stone structure can be seen. The roof is peaked with pointy edges and etchings. It is set on a gray and black stone pedestal with a metal fence surrounding it. Modern-day four-story buildings can be seen behind the structure on both sides with windows and chimneys. Three round brown tables are set in the left forefront of the image with green and brown wicker chairs. A man in an orange and white checkered shirt and a woman in a gray shirt are seated at one of the tables and a person looking into a blue stroller can be seen behind them. Green grass is seen behind a short wall on the right." mediaType="image/jpg" width="650" height="627" />
<OpenstaxFigureText width="650">
	<strong>Figure 6.37</strong> The power of Augustus laid the foundation for the emergence of the imperial cult, in which Roman emperors were worshiped during their reigns (largely in the east) and assumed demigod status after their deaths. At temples like this one in Vienne, France, built during Augustus’s lifetime, people demonstrated their loyalty to the Roman Empire through the rituals of this cult. (credit: “Temple of Augustus and Livia in Vienne” by O.Mustafin/Wikimedia Commons, CC0 1.0)
</OpenstaxFigureText>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	After 27 BCE, Augustus held elected office as one of the two consuls, so he could sit in the Senate, oversee the law courts, and introduce legislation to the <OpenstaxTerm>Centuriate Assembly</OpenstaxTerm>, but the senators disliked this arrangement because it closed the opportunity for one of them to hold this prestigious office instead. In 23 BCE, therefore, the Senate gave Augustus several powers of a tribune. He could now veto any action taken by government officials, the Senate, and the assemblies, and he could introduce laws to the <OpenstaxTerm>Plebeian Assembly</OpenstaxTerm>. He could wield political and military power based on the traditional constitution of the Republic.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	As emperor, Augustus successfully tackled problems that had plagued Rome for at least a century. He reduced the standing army from 600,000 to 200,000 and provided land for thousands of discharged veterans in recently conquered areas such as in Gaul and Hispania. He also created new taxes specifically to fund land and cash bonuses for future veterans. To encourage native peoples in the provinces to adopt Roman culture, he granted them citizenship after twenty-five years of service in the army. Indigenous cities built in the Roman style and adopting its political system were designated <OpenstaxEm>municipia</OpenstaxEm>, which gave all elected officials Roman citizenship. Through these “<OpenstaxTerm>Romanization</OpenstaxTerm>” policies, Augustus advanced Roman culture across the empire.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Augustus also finally brought order and prosperity to the city of Rome. He began a vast building program that provided jobs for poor Romans in the city and reportedly boasted that he had transformed Rome from a city of brick to a city of marble. To win over the masses, he also provided free grain (courtesy of his control of fertile Egypt) and free entertainment (gladiator combats and chariot races), making Rome famous for its bounty of “bread and circuses.” He also established a permanent police force in the city, the <OpenstaxTerm>Praetorian Guard</OpenstaxTerm>, which he recruited from the Roman army. He even created a fire department.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Augustus provided wealthy Romans outside the ranks of the Senate with new opportunities for advancement via key positions he reserved for them, such as prefect (commander/governor) of the <OpenstaxTerm>Praetorian Guard</OpenstaxTerm> and prefect of Egypt. These officials could join the Senate and become members of the senatorial elite. Augustus thus created an effective new bureaucracy to govern the Roman Empire. Emperors who followed him continued these practices.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Augustus was keenly aware that the peace and prosperity he had created was largely built upon his image and power, and he feared what might happen when he died. As a result, the last few decades of his life were spent arranging for a political successor. This was a complicated matter since there was neither an official position of emperor nor a republican tradition of hereditary rule. Augustus had no son of his own, and his attempts to groom others to take control were repeatedly frustrated when his proposed successors died before him. Before his own death in 14 CE, Augustus arranged for his stepson <OpenstaxTerm>Tiberius</OpenstaxTerm> to receive from the Senate the power of a proconsul and a tribune. While not his first choice, Tiberius was an accomplished military leader with senatorial support.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Despite the smooth transition to Tiberius in 14 CE, problems with imperial inheritance remained. There were always risks that a hereditary ruler might prove incompetent. Tiberius himself became dangerously paranoid late in his reign. And he was succeeded by his grandnephew and adopted son Gaius, known as <OpenstaxTerm>Caligula</OpenstaxTerm>, who after a severe illness became insane. The prefect of the Praetorian Guard assassinated Caligula in 40 CE, and the guard replaced him with his uncle <OpenstaxTerm>Claudius</OpenstaxTerm> (40–54 CE). The Roman Senate agreed to this step only out of fear of the army. Claudius was an effective emperor, however, and under his reign the province of Britain (modern England and Wales) was added to the empire.
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	The government of Claudius’s successor, his grandnephew <OpenstaxTerm>Nero</OpenstaxTerm> (54–68 CE), was excellent as long as Nero’s mother <OpenstaxTerm>Agrippina</OpenstaxTerm> was the power behind the throne. After ordering her murder, however, Nero proved a vicious despot who used the Praetorian Guard to intimidate and execute his critics in the Senate. By the end of his reign, Roman armies in Gaul and Hispania were mutinying. The Senate declared him an enemy of state, and he died by suicide. During the year after his death, 68–69 CE, four different generals assumed power, thus earning it the name “Year of the Four Emperors.”
</OpenstaxParagraph>
<OpenstaxParagraph>
	Of the four, <OpenstaxTerm>Vespasian</OpenstaxTerm> (69–79 CE) survived the civil war and adopted the name Caesar and the title Augustus, even though he was not related to the family of Augustus or their descendants (the Julio-Claudian dynasty). On Nero’s death, he had been in command of Roman armies suppressing the revolt of Judea (Roman armies eventually crushed this revolt and sacked Jerusalem in 70 CE). In his administration, Vespasian followed the precedents established by Augustus. For example, he ordered the construction of the Colosseum as a venue for the gladiator shows he provided as entertainment for the Roman masses, and he arranged for his two sons, <OpenstaxTerm>Titus</OpenstaxTerm> (79–81 CE) and <OpenstaxTerm>Domitian</OpenstaxTerm> (81–96 CE), to succeed him as emperor. Domitian, like Nero, was an insecure ruler and highly suspicious of the Senate; he employed the Praetorian Guard to arrest and execute his critics in that body. In 96 CE, his wife <OpenstaxTerm>Domitia</OpenstaxTerm> worked with members of the Senate to arrange for his assassination. Thus the flaws of the <OpenstaxTerm>principate</OpenstaxTerm> continued to haunt the Roman state long after its founder was gone.
</OpenstaxParagraph>

6.5.2 From Republic to Principate

1 Understanding the Past

1.1 Developing a Global Perspective

1.1.1 World History as Preparation for Life after College

1.1.2 World History and Global Citizenship

1.1.3 Features of This Textbook

1.2 Primary Sources

1.2.1 Learning to Evaluate Documents and Images

1.2.2 Documentary Sources: Competing Narratives

1.2.3 Textual Sources: The Importance of Language

1.2.4 Hidden in History

1.3 Causation and Interpretation in History

1.3.1 Levels of Causation

1.3.2 Interpretation in History

2 Early Humans

2.1 Early Human Evolution and Migration

2.1.1 Human Evolution

2.1.2 Why Did Humans Move and Where Did They Go?

2.1.3 Early Human Technologies

2.2 People in the Paleolithic Age

2.2.1 Ice, Ice, and More Ice

2.2.2 Life in the Paleolithic Age

2.2.3 Diverse Paleolithic Peoples

2.3 The Neolithic Revolution

2.3.1 The Development of Agriculture

2.3.2 How Farming Changed the Human Experience

2.3.3 Neolithic Peoples

3 Early Civilizations and Urban Societies

3.1 Early Civilizations

3.1.1 Attributes of Early Civilizations

3.1.2 The First Urban Societies

3.2 Ancient Mesopotamia

3.2.1 The Rise and Eclipse of Sumer

3.2.2 The Rise of the World’s First Empire

3.2.3 Later Empires in Mesopotamia

3.2.4 Society and Religion in Ancient Mesopotamia

3.3 Ancient Egypt

3.3.1 The Origins of Ancient Egypt

3.3.2 The Age of Pyramid Building

3.3.3 A Second Age of Egyptian Greatness

3.4 The Indus Valley Civilization

3.4.1 The Origins of the Indus Valley Civilization

3.4.2 Trade, Writing, and Religion

3.4.3 The Era of Decline

4 The Near East

4.1 From Old Babylon to the Medes

4.1.1 Power Politics in the Near East

4.1.2 Foreign Affairs and Trade

4.1.3 Daily Life and the Family in the Near East

4.2 Egypt’s New Kingdom

4.2.1 The Hyksos in Egypt

4.2.2 The Pharaohs of the New Kingdom

4.2.3 Egypt’s Foreign Policy

4.3 The Persian Empire

4.3.1 The Rise of Persia

4.3.2 Darius I and the Reorganization of the Empire

4.3.3 Persian Culture and Daily Life

4.4 The Hebrews

4.4.1 The History of the Hebrews

4.4.2 The Culture of the Hebrews

5 Asia in Ancient Times

5.1 Ancient China

5.1.1 Prehistoric China

5.1.2 Early Dynastic China

5.1.3 The Zhou Dynasty

5.1.4 The Warring States Era and Qin Unification

5.2 The Steppes

5.2.1 The Nomadic Culture of the Steppes

5.2.2 Tribes, Confederations, and Settled Neighbors

5.3 Korea, Japan, and Southeast Asia

5.3.1 Ancient Korea

5.3.2 Ancient Japan

5.4 Vedic India to the Fall of the Maurya Empire

5.4.1 Harappa and Mohenjo-Daro

5.4.2 The Aryans and Brahmanism

5.4.3 Buddhism

5.4.4 The Mauryan Empire

5.4.5 The Gupta Dynasty

6 Mediterranean Peoples

6.1 Early Mediterranean Peoples

6.1.1 The Late Bronze Age World

6.1.2 Phoenicians, Greeks, and Etruscans

6.2 Ancient Greece

6.2.1 Archaic Greece

6.2.2 Sparta and Athens

6.2.3 Classical Greece

6.3 The Hellenistic Era

6.3.1 The Kingdom of Macedon

6.3.2 Hellenistic Culture

6.4 The Roman Republic

6.4.1 The Foundation and Function of the Roman Republic

6.4.2 The Expansion of the Roman Republic

6.5 The Age of Augustus

6.5.1 The First Triumvirate

7 Experiencing the Roman Empire

7.1 The Daily Life of a Roman Family

7.1.1 The Structure of Roman Families

7.1.2 A Day in the Life of a Roman Family

7.1.3 What Family Meant in Rome

7.2 Slavery in the Roman Empire

Question	Answer
politicians who sought the political support of discontented groups in Roman society	populares
the political system established by Augustus Caesar after 27 BCE, which relied on Rome’s traditional institutions and practices to legitimize a military dictatorship	principate