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100
The Roman Republic Falls
Julius Ceasar is assassinated on the Ides of March and civil war erupts throught Rome. The first triumvirate containing Octavian, Mark Antoni, and Lepidus stand victorious and the end of all the fighting. Octavian and Mark Antoni convince Lepidus to stand down leaving Octavian and Mark Antoni in charge of all of Rome. -
100
Betrayal
Mark Antoni falls madly in love with the egyptian queen Cleopatra. Together the two try to win absolute control over Rome. Octavian see the threat and decides to put and end to the uprising. Another civil war breaks out between Octavian and Mark Antoni. At the end of it all Octavian is victorious. He is now the soul ruler of Rome -
100
Octavians Rule
The time when Octavian ruled was called Pax Romana. This means Roman peace. During Pax Romana the Roman Empire began expanding thoughout the Mediteranian area.New bridges, roads, and aqueducts where made making people felt safe traveling. This increased trade thoughout the empire.Romans were selling more than they were buying increasing wealth and art and literature flourished. -
Period: 100 to 500
History of Rome
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120
Pax Romana
For the next 200 years the Roman Empire flourished with five great empreors in charge.The last great emperor was Marcus Aurelius.Marcus Auralius unified the empire econonmically and spent the rest of his time defending his borders along side his armies. when he died MArcus chose his son Commodus as his succesor marking him to be the next emperor after he died.Commoduses riegn officially end pax Romana and leads Rome into a downward spiral. -
240
Empire Crumbles
For the next fifty years, Rome had bad, corrupt, and evil rulers. One of the worst rulers was Nero. At one of his festivals, Rome was set on fire by Nero. Nero chose to blame the followers of the new religion of Christanity for the fire. The size of the empire was difficult to manage so men like Nero hire mercnaries to control the borders. Mercenary fighters were different from Rome's regular army because they were loyal only to money, not Rome. If they weren't paid, they would leave. -
305
Some Who Helped
Along the way of Rome's decline there were emperors who tried to solve the situation. Diocletian's idea was to split the Roman empire in two. Each half had two rulers, an emperor and a co-emperor, forming a tetrararchy. This was an attempt to stop Rome's economic decline. While Diocletian's plan was being used the size of the army doubled and the tax structure was improved. However Diocletian abdicated power in 305 C.E. and claimed no successor; this caused another civil war. -
307
A Sign For Constantine
During the Civil War, Constantine and his troops prepared for battle on the Milvia Bridge. Constantine was looking for a sign of hope to share with his soldiers. When he had a vision of a chrio in the clouds and a voice saying, "Fight under this symbol and you shall be victorious." Constantine believed this was the Christian God telling him to do this. He told his soldiers to paint a chrio on their sheilds. They were victorious. Because he won, he became Christian. -
337
Constantine's Rule
As emperor, Constantine strongly promoted Christianity and moved Rome's capital from Rome to Byzantium. He later renamed Byzantium, Constantinople or the City of Constantine. Because of Constantinople's location on both the Mediteranean and Black Sea, trade flourished and people were exposed to new ideas and cultures. Life was good until Constantine's death in 337 C.E. Constantine left no sucessor and civil war errupted once again. This lead to more weak rulers. -
400
Invasion and Collapse
Throughout 400 C.E. Rome was attacked by barbarians or Germanic tribes. Rome was overwhelmed and couldn't hold off the attackers. First, in 410 C.E., Evisigoths captured and looted the city of Rome. Then in 455 C.E. vandals left Rome powerless. Finally, in 476 C.E. Ostrogoths finished off Rome which led to it's final collapse. After the western part of Rome fell, it was occupied by barbarians. However the eastern half of Rome stayed strong and became the Byzantine empire. -
410
Evisigoths Captures Rome
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455
Vandals leave Rome Powerless
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476
Ostrogoths Finishes Off Rome
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Commodus
For the 12 long years Commodus was in charge, Rome's economy was destroyed. He loved being emperor but not the work and allowed others to help him rule. He wasted money on month long circuses containing gladiator fights and naval battle reenactments. These were attempts to take the people's minds off of how poor they were. When Commodus finally ran out of money, he ordered his troops to murder the rich and take their money.