A Brief History of Humanity: From Ancient Times to the 21st Century
Chapter 10 The Gains and Losses of the Roman Republic
Chapter 10 The Gains and Losses of the Roman Republic
[-]. Invasion of western Carthage
All roads lead to Rome, showing the power of Rome.It stands to reason that in such a powerful country, citizens should work harder to build their own homes, but Roman farmers and soldiers don't seem to have such an idea.
Greed and Fear Rome invaded Carthage because of its greed and fear.What is greedy is Carthage's property and land, and what is fearful is that the increasingly powerful Carthage will surpass its own national strength and eventually annex itself one day.Carthage is the pride of the Punics and the largest colony of Phoenicia (Punicia is the Latin name of the Phoenicians). Its history is older than Rome, and its national power is also richer.Purple, the famous hue of Tyre, was gradually overshadowed by the red hues of Carthage.The red color of Carthage is actually red silk fabrics, which are exported overseas, but this is only one of the many commodities in Carthage.There are merchant ships and warships parked in the harbor every day on the seashore, and a large number of commodities are sold overseas in this way.The huge Mediterranean Sea borders Sicily on the west and the Strait of Gibraltar on the east, but it is only the inner lake of Carthage.According to legend, a captain of Carthage once proudly said: "Without our permission, the Romans cannot wash their hands in the Mediterranean." Carthage's huge wealth and growing national power were actually the root causes of the Punic War.
In the First Punic War in 275 BC, Pyrrhus was defeated and forced to leave Sicily.He consoled himself melancholy that it was not that he was too weak, but that the combination of Rome and Carthage was too strong.Thinking of this, he suddenly thought that he was forced to leave Sicily, so how would the two parties in Sicily distribute the results of the battle?After careful analysis, he predicted that the Romans and the Carthaginians would definitely go to war and kill each other.For Sicily, the two parties will never compromise and make concessions, which will become a bone in their mutual struggle.As Pyrrhus had imagined, Sicily, with its fertile fields and rich cities, became the primary target of contention between Rome and Carthage. This was also the beginning of the first Punic War.The Punic Wars began in 264 BC and lasted until 146 BC. This was a tragic war that both Rome and Carthage suffered greatly.
During the First Punic War, the Romans built a fleet to deal with the Carthaginians.With the fleet, Rome could fight the Carthaginians in Sicily as well as at sea.In 260 BC, the two sides fought in the Mira Sea.The Battle of Mira was a turning point in history.At the Battle of Myra, Rome showed that it would be both a land power and a sea power.But it also came at a huge cost.According to ancient writers, in the 24 years of the First Punic War, Rome lost 20 ships and 241 soldiers.In [-] BC, Carthage was overwhelmed and forced to negotiate a peace on Roman terms.After paying a large amount of gold as indemnity and giving up all its possessions in western Sicily, Carthage finally obtained a short-lived peace.
Sicily, an island of wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards, was thus ruthlessly conquered by Rome.In terms of the management of Sicily, Rome followed Carthage's tax scheme, levying a 5.00% crop harvest tax and export goods tax.The taxation of Sicily alone increased Rome's treasury revenue by about 100 million yuan a year.
In the following years, Rome continued to build a new navy, and captured Corsica and Sardinia from Carthage. Even so, it was not satisfied, and even crossed the Adriatic Sea and invaded Illyria. established a stronghold.
The Second Punic War In 218 BC, the Second Punic War began, a war that lasted until 201 BC and was a true contest of giants.The giants of Carthage were Hasdrubal and Hannibal, while those of Rome were Fabian and Scipio.In the First Punic War, Carthage's general was Hamilcar, nicknamed Barca ("Lightning").His son's name is Hannibal, which means "the grace of God Baal".When Hannibal was nine years old, Hamilcar took him into a temple, and Hannibal swore an oath: he would always be hostile to Rome.It was also this oath that Hannibal and his brother Hasdrubal launched the Second Punic War.Obviously, Hannibal is the most outstanding figure in this war.
As the commander-in-chief, Hannibal was very aware of the entanglement of interests between Rome and Carthage. It was impossible for Carthage to compromise on the control of the western Mediterranean like this. Sooner or later, Rome and Carthage would go to war again.Bearing the responsibility of avenging his father's failure and fulfilling his lifelong oath, he deliberately provoked Rome and provoked the Second Punic War.In 219 BC he captured the Spanish city of Sagunto.At that time, Spain was an ally of Rome.Rome demanded the surrender of Hannibal, but Carthage vehemently refused.So Rome planned to divide its troops into two groups, one to fight Hannibal in Spain and defeat this guy who dared to challenge the authority of the empire, and the other to attack Carthage and give Carthage a color.But Hannibal knew the intentions of the Romans in advance, and vowed to burn the flames of war to the Italian mainland.He led his soldiers from Spain, through southern France and Switzerland, and entered Italy from north to south.But due to the severe cold, half of the warriors and all the elephants died in the Alps.When he reached the valley of the Po River, only 28 infantry and 4 cavalry were left with him.However, Hannibal did not compromise and give up.Because he knows that although Rome has [-] citizens who can go to the battlefield, and it can recruit more soldiers from the Italian allies, but due to Rome's practice, it usually only sends [-] people to the battle at a time, and Many of them have been largely crippled by years of peace.Not only that, but he will have other reinforcements.As Hannibal had expected, the Gauls south of the Alps agreed to cooperate with him.Because they are being invaded by Rome and have suffered greatly from Rome, they want to fight back against Rome.A few months later, Hannibal got [-] tall Gaul warriors, who had the strength to challenge Rome, and he led these soldiers to start the campaign.
In the next 15 years, Hannibal fought in Italy and conquered Rome again and again, but he still failed to conquer Rome. He knew that if he wanted to conquer Rome, he needed to capture their capital, Rome, so that It was possible to conquer Rome.It is a pity that he has no siege equipment, and the soldiers' bodies cannot touch the city wall head-on, which will only lead him to failure.
In 216 BC Hannibal won his crowning victory at Cannae.At this time, the commander-in-chief of Rome was the famous general Fabian nicknamed "The Procrastinator". He wanted to use his good side attack tactics to drag down Hannibal and achieve victory.But the Romans were in dire need of a victory, so Fabian's tactic would not work.So Varo took command of Fabian, and he decided to attack Cannae.As a result, Rome was defeated.According to ancient books, when Hannibal collected the spoils, he collected as many as one dou of gold rings from the fingers of the fallen Roman knights, and some books say three dou.Corresponding to Hannibal's great victory was Rome's disastrous defeat, which was also the darkest day in Rome.But for the Romans, they have a valuable quality, that is, they will never give up even if they are defeated in a battle, and they will never give up until they win.
Year after year, under the tenacious resistance of the Romans, Hannibal's road to resistance became more and more bleak.Due to fighting all the year round, his team has been continuously reduced, without support from his hometown, and no new force to join, his team is getting smaller and smaller.In this predicament his brother Hasdrubal attempted to aid him with an army from Spain, but was killed on the way to the Alps and the army broke up.After that, the young Roman genius Cornelius Scipio emerged and became a famous Roman general.He led the Roman army to occupy New Carthage in Spain, and then sailed from Rome to attack Old Carthage in Africa.Carthage was forced to sue again, and Hannibal was recalled from Italy.
Although he failed again, Hannibal's influence was still significant.Soon after his return to Carthage, he raised a new army and persuaded his people to continue their struggle against Rome.But the ending seems to be doomed.In 202 BC, he and Scipio met in Zama behind Carthage, and the invincible Hannibal experienced his first defeat in his life. His defeat marked another defeat for Carthage.Scipio's defeat of Hannibal was undoubtedly a bloodbath for the Romans, so the grand occasion of his triumph is unprecedented in the world.Since the battle of Zama, Hannibal has also been called "Scipio of Africa", which is undoubtedly a great irony.Carthage, which was defeated again, was forced to pay a large sum of gold as compensation, and only ten of its warships could be kept, and the rest had to be surrendered. In addition, Spain, including its rich silver, had to be ceded. In the end, he accepted the most shameful constraint: no more wars unless Rome agreed.
Several years passed peacefully after the Third Punic War.Although it was calm, the Carthaginians and Romans were not at ease.The great humiliation and injustice annoyed the Carthaginians.The Romans, on the other hand, were afraid and afraid all day long. Now they are not afraid of being conquered, but they are afraid of someone competing with them in commerce and agriculture.Therefore, farmers and merchants in Carthage must be treated with caution in their view. Once they are surpassed in this respect, there may be great disasters.In Rome, there was an organization that hated Carthage extremely. The leader was an old farmer named Cato.The character of this old farmer is very narrow.He often gave speeches in the Senate or other places, and each time he ended with the words "Carthage must be destroyed".
In the end, the old farmer got his wish.In 149 BC, Carthage had conflicts with its neighbor Numidia, so Carthage sent troops to punish the king of Numidia.It was this incident that gave Rome the excuse by which the Roman legions marched into Carthage.Under the threat of Rome, the Carthaginians succumbed again and were forced to surrender their weapons. At the same time, they also surrendered more than 300 nobles as hostages.But this was far from over, and then a Roman consul announced to them coldly that their city must be destroyed.Homeland was to be destroyed, and the Carthaginians could no longer submit.In order to defend their homeland, the Carthaginians did their best to prepare for the war of resistance, using every piece of scrap iron they could find to make weapons, and women cut off their beautiful long hair to make bowstrings.In the next two years, they closed the city gates, guarded the city walls, and resisted tenaciously.Two years later, the city of Carthage fell and was destroyed.Those who resisted stubbornly were mostly killed, and those who did not were sold into slavery.In order to avoid future troubles, the Romans used plows to turn over the ruins and declared that the city would never be rebuilt.
In this way, the largest colony of the Phoenicians went to barrenness.As the spoils of the Third Punic War, Rome acquired part of North Africa once occupied by Carthage - "Africa".At this point, the 110-year Punic War finally came to an end.
Results of the Punic Wars (1) The Punic Wars transmitted the culture of the ancient Mediterranean world through Europe rather than through Africa. (2) Rome appeared on the stage of history as a sea and land power and overlord. (3) Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, Spain and Northwest Africa are all under the rule of Rome, and it is a veritable overlord in the western Mediterranean. (4) Advocating the Greek spirit shows the love of many Romans for Greek culture. (5) There were conflicts between different classes in Rome, that is, the poor opposed the rich, the small peasants opposed the big farmers, and the masses of the lower classes opposed the government, and the contradictions were quite serious.
[-]. Conquering the Hellenistic Eastern World
Conquest of the Hellenistic East When Rome captured the Western countries, it also eyed the Eastern world.The relationship between Rome and Egypt is quite friendly. When Hannibal invaded Rome, Rome suffered a great famine, and Egypt sent grain to Rome in time.Rome admired Greek culture very much, and their enthusiasm and desire to admire the Greek spirit grew day by day.In addition, Rome was very afraid of Macedonia, because the Macedonian king once supported Hannibal to attack Rome. He was ambitious and wanted to become the second Alexander.
Advocating the Greek spirit After the first Punic War, the Romans admired the Greek spirit even more, and this trend became stronger and stronger.The Roman Legion saw the Greek civilization in Sicily, which made them marvel. Those marble temples and beautiful statues, as well as paintings and theaters, are full of Greek urban flavor.Soon, Greek plays were translated into Latin and performed in Rome one after another.During the Second Punic War, Rome punished the cities of Syracuse, Capua, and Taranto for assisting Hannibal in the war.Rome plundered them wantonly, looting many treasures and top Greek works of art.Since then, Greek luxury goods were all the rage in Rome's upper class, and people fanatically pursued Greek literature and art. Cato sneered at this situation. He and many conservatives rebuked the Romans who worshiped Greek civilization, but in the end, Cato himself began to study Greek.
The Hellenistic Eastern States As described in the second part, after the death of Alexander, his empire was divided into three parts, that is, three kingdoms: the first was Egypt, ruled by Ptolemy; the second was Macedonia, ruled by Antigonus ruled; the third was Syria in Western Asia, ruled by Seleucus.These three kingdoms are located in the Eastern Mediterranean, between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century BC, and they were the world's powerful countries at that time.The monarchs of these three kingdoms all admired and admired Greek literature, art and academic thought, and supported the development of Greek culture in their own country. Therefore, Greek businessmen and Greek teachers can be seen everywhere in the three kingdoms.
In the Mediterranean region, in addition to the three kingdoms of Egypt, Macedonia, and Syria, there were also some smaller Greek city-states. Although Athens declined at that time, its economic strength and commercial development declined, and it lost its former leadership. But Athens is still very developed in terms of art and philosophy, and is known as the hometown of philosophy and the holy land of art.The Greek island city-state of Rhodes gradually rose and became an important center of Greece in terms of commerce, culture, and diplomacy.In addition, Pergamon in the west of Asia Minor also developed and quickly overtook Athens, becoming a place where Greek art flourished and the capital of a superpower.At that time, many Greek cities around the Aegean Sea had already belonged to Egypt, although most of the Greek city-states on the Peloponnese peninsula had formed an alliance and became part of the Achaean League, while those in northern and central Greece The city-states also formed an alliance called the Aetorian League.However, the old tradition of independence of the Greeks remained unchanged, and these city-states maintained their independence to a certain extent.
The celebration of Corinth In 196 BC, the Isthmian Games was held. Many Greek city-states sent athletes and spectators, and the scene was extremely lively.At this point, the Roman consul stood before a large audience and announced that Corinth and the other Greek city-states had escaped Macedonian control and were now free again.The audience immediately burst into thunderous cheers.Not long ago, in order to realize his dream of becoming Alexander, the king of Macedon led the phalanx of the legion in an attempt to conquer the Greek world.Macedonia's expedition shocked Egypt, Lot, Pergamum, Athens, and members of the Aetorian League. They had no choice but to turn to Rome for help.The Romans, on the other hand, had an extremely strong interest in Greek culture, and they had a keen interest in all the Greek city-states.After discussion, the politicians in Rome believed that they should come forward to stop the aggression of the Macedonian king.Therefore, Rome raised high the military flag painted with a golden flying eagle, and the powerful legion was waiting.Finally, the Roman legion defeated the Macedonian army at Kunos Kefale Mountain, commonly known as "Dog's Head Mountain".
Rome was victorious, but the Romans appeared to be very generous and merciful.Four years ago, in the war against Carthage, Rome robbed a lot of land and asked Carthage to pay a huge amount of gold as compensation.But this time Rome didn't want anything. Instead, it protected the Greek city-states and gave them more freedom and rights.In this way, Rome successfully played the role of big sister. At the same time, the Romans entered Corinth and became the supporters and protectors of Greece.
Antioch At that time, Antiochus, king of Syria, invaded Greece, and Rome used the same method and means to deal with him.The Roman legions fought a famous battle, defeating Antioch on the battlefield of Thermopylae.In 190 BC, the second year of the war, Scipio of Africa led the Roman legion to pursue Antioch all the way, driving him to Asia Minor, and finally completely destroying Antioch's army in Magnesia.Antiochus' ambitions were in fact inspired by Hannibal, who was still considered an enemy by Rome, even though he had been exiled by then.To make matters worse, the Aetorian League had promised to help Antioch conquer other Greek city-states, but after the war started, all of Antioch's "alliance partners" betrayed him.Disputes of this kind among the Greeks were very common, and they were hostile to each other, and they were against each other, and they were endless, and this is bound to happen again in the future.
There is one more thing which is very significant and should also be noted.After Rome defeated Antioch, although it did not annex his land, it looted a lot of items, and the Roman army brought back countless spoils from the battlefield.This incident shows that Rome will continue to attack again and again in the future. It can be expected that they will definitely do this and attack other city-states again.Cato was obsessed with spoils, and other Romans fought for profit.Because they believed that since Roman citizens paid taxes for the war, their army should gain benefits in the Eastern campaign and snatch territory.To achieve this goal, in 168 BC, Rome defeated another ambitious king of Macedon.This time Rome took a new approach, which was a decisive step towards the control of Macedonia. Rome divided Macedonia into four republics, and they had to pay Rome a tax and tribute every year.Through Huairou's silk gloves, countries can still feel the oppression of Rome's hard iron palm.
Corinth's sad day In 146 BC, the Roman legions completely looted and burned Corinth's happy scene 50 years ago.There is a strong contrast with the ruins at this time, and for Collins, this is a sad contrast.At this time, the once generous and benevolent protector has become a cruel and tyrannical conqueror.
Both sides in the war were at fault, and the Romans vowed to give the Greek city-states freedom and autonomy.At the same time, Rome also hoped that the Greek city-states would respect its dominance, and required the city-states to obey Rome's wishes to the greatest extent.In addition, the autonomy granted by Rome often favored the nobles of the Greek city-states, and those democrats who did not get actual benefits would naturally unite against Rome.Obviously, the Greek aristocrats and democrats are opposed to each other, and the Greek city-states are also hostile and jealous of each other.During the third Punic War, Rome was exhausted, and the Greek city-states were also in turmoil. Corinth and members of the Achaean League saw the opportunity and seized this golden opportunity to invade Sparta.They misjudged, however, and the Roman legions crushed their allies, with a fatal end.In 146 BC, Corinth was burned in a fire, which was a shocking warning to all Greeks: everyone must respect the authoritative rule of Rome.
We can see that Corinth and Carthage were destroyed by Rome in the same year (146 BC).Economic motives probably played a big part in this, as the two cities were extremely commercially developed and rivaled Rome.
A year or two earlier than this, Macedonia had been conquered, became a vassal province of Rome, and survived under the rule of the Roman governor.Macedonia was captured because its king was so ambitious that he defied the authority of Rome.
The kings in the east of Mithridat were all ambitious, just as we already know how the Antioch of Syria and the Macedonian kings once angered Rome, they provoked the bottom line of Rome to a large extent, and they From protector to conqueror.Their role in promoting this matter is no less than that of quarrelsome democrats.Also, Mithridat of Pontus pushed the situation further, although he may have been unintentional and unwilling to end up that way.Pontus is a small kingdom located in the Black Sea region, near the southern shore.In 89 BC, Rome and its allies fought fiercely on the Italian peninsula. Mithridates took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and attacked some of Rome's allies in Asia Minor.When Rome had settled the dispute in Italy, it turned to Mithridates and punished it severely.Athens and Mithridates were on the same side, and the alliance and some other Greek cities were all severely punished by Rome.These city-states were forced to pay huge sums of money to Rome, and at the same time they had to pay tribute and cede land to compensate Rome.Within a few years, the kingdom of Mithridates became a province under Roman rule.In the war against Mithridates, Rome sent two of its most outstanding generals, Sulla and Pompey.
Soon thereafter, Syria could not escape the fate of being conquered by Rome, and became one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire.In this way, many city-states in Asia Minor lost their land and sovereignty, and were brought into the rule of Rome one after another. They either became Roman provinces or became vassal states paying tribute to Rome.
[-]. Economic and social changes
Class Conflict The Punic Wars exacerbated conflict among the Roman classes, which was one of the worst outcomes of war.In times of war, the Senate had great power, administering foreign and military affairs, at the expense of the Citizens' Assembly and the Tribunes of the People.In economic life, the rapid growth of the wealth of the rich and the revival of aristocracy occurred almost at the same time.During the war, cunning contractors often seize the opportunity to amass a fortune, resulting in a growing gap between the rich and the poor between the merchants and farmers.While peasants participated in the war on behalf of Rome, many of them lost their farmland, and the fruits of victory in the war were also taken away by others.
The Roman conquests of the patriarchs greatly increased the wealth of a few noble families.Members of these families obtained a majority of seats in the Senate or important political and military positions.The nobles also liked to invest their newly acquired wealth in large-scale agricultural production to maximize their profits.
After the Second Punic War, on the one hand, Rome acquired a lot of land in the newly conquered provinces; on the other hand, there was also a lot of land belonging to Rome in Italy.These lands are divided by the standard of [-] to [-] acres and leased to farmers one by one, but most of the land is occupied by wealthy ranchers.These large ranchers had no legal basis for acquiring land and were not required to pay land rent.The pastures were tended by slaves, while the owners lived a life of luxury in Rome.Sometimes the owners also went to their ranches and lived for a season in the luxurious country mansions they called villas.These villas had many rooms with inlaid floors and columns of marble, beautiful gardens, bathrooms, swimming pools and fountains.
Greek philosophy is being accepted and disseminated by people, and luxury goods are gradually loved by more people.At that time, the strong sense of justice that Roman residents had for ancient Rome, as well as their respect for ancient gods and traditional customs, were weakening.The number of divorces is on the rise, and the number of immorals remains high.Along with the spread of the essence of Greek culture, various forces that damaged the foundation of the Roman Republic are slowly infiltrating.And these evil forces mainly affect the elder class who control the government.
The bourgeoisie Punic wars also greatly increased the power of the bourgeoisie in Rome.These property owners were not patrician landowners of the senatorial class, but wealthy city merchants.The bourgeois, the Roman capitalists, were upstarts, also known as knights.They have not yet entered the patrician aristocracy.These property owners were not all Roman natives, some were merchants from various provinces, and many were freedmen (former slaves) of Greek or Syrian origin.Many of them are tax contractors, which refer to people who contract various public works approved by the government or collect taxes in a certain area.The tax-payers also had their own supporters. General Pompey supported a tax-payer, and another supporter was the eloquent orator—Cicero.
Peasants While the wealth and influence of the senators and knights continued to increase, life became increasingly difficult for Italian peasants.Farmers are people who work on their small farms and were once a major force in armies and states.Farmers are not only food suppliers and fighters, but also citizens who support democracy.But the number of farmers was greatly reduced by the mass casualties of soldiers during the war, and their farms were also destroyed by the war.As a result, the peasants could only gather scatteredly in the city of Rome, and many people were plagued by debts.But free people still account for a large proportion. Some of these free people are self-cultivating farmers, and others are tenant farmers of big landlords.The most important significance of these farmers entering the city of Rome is that Italy has more large estates, marble villas, land lords and non-native-born slaves. It is no longer a country mainly composed of small farms and strong farmers. A place where people are citizens.
Slaves Those who were captured in war ended up as slaves.Thousands of people were captured by pirates and sold in the slave market on Rhodes Island, the center of the slave trade.Most slaves were brought to Italy to work on farms, olive groves, vineyards, ranches, or factories.Many of the slaves were Greeks, and those who were particularly educated Greeks mainly copied books, taught children homework, or served as advisors and servants to Roman gentlemen.A millionaire like General Pompey could even raise an army out of his slaves and tenant farmers.As he said, all he had to do was stomp his feet on the ground and he could muster thousands of soldiers.
The army of soldiers is gradually becoming more professional.It is no longer made up of peasants ad hoc.Farmers spend most of their time in the fields, only sometimes serving as soldiers in short, sudden wars.Soldiers will only become peasants in the first place when one has to travel away from home for years to fight in Asia or France.Participating in the war for the country is a lifelong career for soldiers and their generals. They must work hard to build meritorious service in the war to obtain honor and corresponding rewards.
Proletarians Those classes that do not own property, including slaves, are called proletarians.Most of them rely on manual labor or selling small commodities to make a living.However, there are many people who do not have normal jobs or earning a living. Once they are unemployed, they can only run around, no matter what jobs they receive, in order to survive.Under the tall and splendid buildings of the city of Rome, there are countless poor settlements hidden.Many poor people live in squalid and overcrowded housing.The houses are facing narrow streets and winding alleys, and the living environment is not optimistic.These slums gradually became a security risk that threatened the stability of Roman society.
The role played by the proletarian in Roman politics was significant.If a candidate is very rich and can spend a lot of money to bribe the proletarians, or if he is smart enough to make beautiful promises such as land occupation at will, bread without money, and debts without repayment, he can win the support and support of some proletarians.
[-]. Incitement and dictatorship
The proletarian class in Rome can use land, grain, and power to fight for it, and they are easily tempted by money and bribed.Rome's knightly class was wealthy, but desperate for more attention in the government.The Roman aristocracy, being senators, took pains to preserve its ancient privileges.There are also some arrogant generals in Rome. They often make great achievements in wars, but they still want new victories, and they are intoxicated all day long and cannot extricate themselves.If things go on like this, it will definitely become more and more difficult to establish a fair and peaceful government, and it will become more and more easy for those ambitious and talented people to become demagogues and dictators.
The ambitious politicians of the Gracchus were not all bad, most politicians wanted to do something good.Although they sometimes make some unwise moves, the goals are often good.Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Guyo Gracchus are a typical example.They were from Africa, of noble birth, grandsons of Scipio.Yet they supported the proletarians and spoke out for them.
In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune because of his platform for land reform.His proposal: the wealthy occupy communal lands for pastures, no larger than 1000 Ugra (666 acres) per piece of land.Then the rest of the public land should be subdivided into small farms, which should be distributed to landless citizens, and the government should provide loans for the citizens to buy farm implements and livestock.
However, one wave is not flat, and another wave rises again.That advice was overturned shortly after.For the rich landed senators, with the advice of another tribune, overruled this proposal.Tiberius did not give up and fought back.He urged the General Assembly to remove the tribune, and his bills for agrarian reform were passed.But later, a senator and his associates led their armed slaves against him and killed him.The reason was that he had disregarded the Senate and the Constitution, and that he wanted to be re-elected and participated in the re-election of the tribunes.Therefore, the elders regarded him as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, which led to his death.
Ten years later, Guyo Gracchus was elected tribune.He is Tiberius' younger brother.He urged the General Assembly to re-enact the land laws that enforced his brother.Then many of the measures he proposed in favor of the proletarians were passed.He suggested that the roads be repaired, so that the transport roads were improved, making it easier to transport agricultural products into Rome from outside.At the same time, he advised the landless Romans to establish new colonies and sent them to Carthage, Capua, Taranto and other places.He also introduced a new measure, an apparently radical one, by selling grain to the poor Romans at half the market price.
These radical reforms resulted in severe underfunding.Guyo proposed to pass a law to find ways to increase the taxation of Rome's provinces in Asia, the main purpose is to obtain the funds needed for the reform.Taxes in Asia will be collected by taxpayers and contractors, who are all capitalists, so this proposal has won unanimous praise from the bourgeoisie, and they all applaud.In addition, he proposed to expand the geographical scope of Roman citizenship to include Latin and Italian allies, that is, all Italian people.This suggestion greatly improved Guyo Gracchi's reputation, although it was not actually implemented in the end.
His political efforts made him all the rage and became the idol of countless proletarians.He was then re-elected tribune and became the political "leader" of Rome.But he also made enemies for himself, especially in the Senate, which was of course inevitable.During his campaign for the third tribune, he left Rome to establish a colony in Carthage.At this time, his opponent took the opportunity to launch a riot in the election and defeat his campaign plan.When he returned to Rome, just in time for the riots in the city, the senators and their slaves took advantage of the chaos and killed him (121 BC).A few years later, the Gracourt Land Law was amended and the allocation of small farms ceased.The pastures and plantations owned by the senators have remained untouched.
Marius and the army Gracchus failed to maintain their political power, because they had only the votes and support of the proletarians, and they were weak.To be a successful statesman, to be a Roman dictator, one must have an army.Caius Mario is a classic example.Caius Mallor was just a knight who got rich from contracting projects.Although he was not a nobleman, he was elected consul in 107 BC.As a consul, Marius made repeated military exploits, so his political and military status rose step by step, and he became famous for a while.He defeated Jugurtha, king of Numidia, and at the same time defeated the fierce Germanic tribes in Italy.The Germanic tribes were the Cimbri and Teutons who invaded from the north.Gaius Gracchus had only been in power for two years, but Marius had been consul for six years.There is a clear difference between them, Gaius Gracchus did not have an army, while Marius had an army for him, and many friends and followers, followed him until he retired from politics.
Social War After Mario left office, the Italian people were locked in a conflict for their civil rights.This conflict is often called the Social War, but it is perhaps more accurate to call it the Italian Civil War.The civil war lasted from 90 BC to 88 BC as Rome refused to extend citizenship to the rest of Italy.After three years of fighting, Rome did not win by force. It relied on peaceful diplomatic means to suppress, suppressing both the republics that had been established and those that were hostile to it.Rome won by granting civil rights to all who surrendered.Henceforth, Italy is Rome, and all Italians are Romans.
Sulla and his Enemy Declaration The nobleman Cornelius Sulla had studied military affairs with Marius.Later, he commanded the army in the Italian Civil War and won a lot of fame, while Marius' reputation declined a lot.When Rome planned to send troops to the east to conquer Mithridat, both he and Marius especially hoped to lead the army.But at this time, Sulla and his legion had just returned from fighting the Italians, and they were in full swing. Marius and his supporters lost their chance and had to give up.So Su La, with the blessing of the Senate, led his troops to march eastward.
When Sulla returned to Rome, it was already four years later.He had successive victories in Greece and Asia Minor (87-83 BC).However, he found that his political opponents, namely Mario's friends, had confiscated his property and deprived him of his citizenship rights, and his friends and supporters were also brutally murdered.So Sulla began a horrific revenge. Day after day he announced the list in the Roman Forum and declared the people on the list as public enemies.And "declared as public enemies" means that their citizenship rights will be deprived, their property will be confiscated, and their lives will be killed.Thousands of political opponents were persecuted to death by him in this way.In addition, Sulla rewarded his soldiers and supporters with land and villas from the political opponents he overthrew, many of whom were wealthy knights.
Sulla became dictator from 82-79 BC.The biggest reason is that he has the army and nobles as his backing.Although he could be called king or emperor, he remained in the unadorned style of the Cato-esque tradition.He instituted a policy of reform, slightly modified to suit the needs of the world empire, and his aim was to restore the aristocratic rule of the Senate.Believing, no doubt, that he had put the Roman government on firm foundations, he retired to his beautiful villa to spend his last years in peace, and died in peace the following year.However, the laws he made were soon forgotten, for others were expected to be demagogues and dictators.But people remember the good example he set to the world.
Crassus and Pompey Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey both served under Sulla and both had political ambitions to surpass Sulla.They had both opposed Marius and the democrats like Sulla, but both made deals with the proletarians and ended up as consuls in 70 BC.The reason was that they had the support of the proletarians, knights, and victorious legions, and they had terrorized the Senate.After Pompey's term of office expired, he gained the prestige of a famous general.Because he destroyed the pirates in the eastern Mediterranean, and he defeated Mithradat again, and annexed Syria.And Crassus participated in slave trade, silver mines and Roman real estate affairs many times, and continued to speculate, becoming richer and richer.Both of them hoped to gain more honor in politics, and watched the changes in the political situation with keen eyes.
[-]. The Dictatorship of Julius Caesar
Pompey's alliance with Crassus was successful.However, Pompey realized that he and Crassus were too weak. If another person helped them, they would be more successful. He believed that there was no doubt about it.Sure enough, soon after, the third person, Julius Caesar, appeared, and the three of them joined forces. However, neither Pompey nor Crassus thought that this young Caesar would be so successful and be remembered by history.But when Pompey really understood this, he could only be very frustrated and helpless.
The first triumvirate The joint rule of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar is called the triumvirate, that is, a political group of three people.Pompey was an outstanding talent in military affairs, Crassus was very rich in property, and Caesar was outstanding in ability. He was not only a shrewd politician, very good at handling political affairs, but also a talented orator.Sulla called himself a "lucky man" back then, and Pompey was also awarded the title of "great man" by him.And Crassus is called "Monopoly".At that time, no one had given Caesar any title.But it was not long before Caesar made a great title for himself.If Pompey is a famous military strategist and Crassus is a wealthy man, then Caesar is a politician with wisdom and ambition.He was about 40 years old at this time, but he was already a fairly influential figure in politics. He had lectured everywhere and was an accomplished orator. He was also very proficient in the law and was called a legal expert.In addition, he is an officer with rich combat experience.He was born in Julius, a famous family at that time, but he was different from his clan in politics, and he chose to support the democrats.Caesar's aunt had been the wife of Marius, and he was also close to a prominent democrat leader, marrying his daughter as his wife, while his own daughter Julia later became Pompey's wife.
Caesar was in Gaul in 59 BC, and his companions who worked with Caesar tried every means to have him elected as one of the two consuls.As a consul, Caesar used his power during his tenure to successfully manipulate some bills.For example, distribute some public lands to the veterans under Pompey, and approve Pompey to carry out all activities in Asia; for those taxpayers who are friendly with Crassus, he also made the main promise to reduce their payment of Asian tax privilege fees, They are allowed to pay one-third less to the public treasury, and there are many other things like this.
Furthermore, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar divided up the Roman world.Caesar received lands in the west, Crassus received lands in the east, and Pompey received lands in the center and south.During this period, Caesar served as governor of Gaul for five years and also served as governor of other places.Crassus led his troops to Persia, while Pompey led the Italian army and the Mediterranean fleet, waiting for an opportunity in Rome.
Caesar's achievements in Gaul are famous.One tribe after another was conquered and "pacified" by him; in order to hold off the Germanic attack, he built a bridge across the Rhine.He also led his troops across the strait twice to march to Britain.Caesar recorded his great deeds in fluent Latin, and this book is still a book that middle school students like to read very much.Caesar served as governor of Gaul, and his term of office was extended from five years to ten years, and his legions continued to expand, and his strength increased accordingly.Rome's borders expanded accordingly, from the Rhine in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.He also won a huge territory for Rome, called the Alps North Gaul province.Caesar was an outstanding Roman politician. He was the first to publicly admit that the Gauls were very good fighters in the Roman legions, and that the Gauls were also qualified Roman citizens.
Due to the efforts of Caesar and other political and military strategists, Rome occupied a pivotal position in the Mediterranean world, but the powerful militarism forces gradually became stronger and gradually affected the fate of Rome.Marius and Sulla set an example for the Romans, and their achievements cannot be erased.Not long after, Caesar gave a practical example to ambitious warriors.
Across the Rubicon River, subtle changes took place in the relationship between Caesar and Pompey, and the relationship between the two gradually became estranged.Today, the only consul in Rome is Pompey, who is trying to remove Caesar's military power and crush Caesar's huge power in Gaul.Their contradictions intensified, from a struggle for power to a hostility between the two legions. For the political situation in Rome, this is undoubtedly distressing.Caesar returned to Rome angrily with his legions. The two sides were at war with each other, and the situation was very serious.When Caesar reached the Rubicon, he saw the former northern frontier of Rome, and stopped there, hesitating.He knew very well in his heart that if he crossed the Rubicon River with a huge army and then headed towards Rome, people would definitely misunderstand that he was going to declare war on Pompey, and the two would inevitably fight to the end.But Caesar didn't know that Pompey and the Senate had already made preparations at this time, and they joined forces to deal with him.And where is Crassus?In fact, Crassus had passed away.Not long ago, Crassus fought against the Persians, but suffered a disastrous defeat and was captured alive by the enemy.The Persians knew that Crassus was rich, and they heard that he loved gold, so they devised a vicious plan to melt the gold into gold water and pour it down his throat, so that they could vent their anger by this cruel jest. inner hatred.In this way, the world of Rome was no longer owned by three persons, and the dominion of Rome was transferred from three persons to two persons, namely Caesar and Pompey.
Caesar has always acted swiftly and decisively, so he immediately decided to fight back, which is his character.He stepped on his horse and shouted: "The dice have been thrown! The outcome depends on it!" His horse leaped across the Rubicon River, and Caesar led the army to drive straight into Rome.And behind him, closely followed his supporters - the powerful Roman legion.
This day was January 49, 1 BC.Caesar rushed into the city of Rome and immediately declared himself the new consul of Rome, he was the new master of Rome.Seeing that the situation was over, Pompey could only flee to Italy.The senate, too, was submissive, and they dared not resist Caesar and his mighty and terrible legions, for they were so powerful in fighting, and had conquered and pacified the ferocious Gauls and Germans.In the second year, Caesar personally led an army to attack Thrace eastward, and severely attacked Pompey in the battle of Farsala, completely defeating Pompey.Pompey had nowhere to go, so he had to flee to Egypt, but he did not expect that Caesar sent someone to assassinate him as soon as he arrived in Egypt.In the following three years, many people in Egypt and Asia Minor opposed Caesar, and riots continued to occur, and Caesar sent troops to suppress it many times.In addition, a year before the Battle of Farsala, Caesar sent troops quickly into Spain, carried out a complete siege of Pompey's allies and supporters, and forced them to submit to him.The result was just as he wanted, and many people followed him.
Caesar's power and title Caesar controlled all the real power in Rome in his own hands, but he adopted the Senate to continue holding citizen meetings, but he managed to control the power of the Senate.There were still two consuls in Rome, and Caesar was the one who held power.In other words, wherever the sphere of power of the Roman consul reached, what Caesar said was equivalent to the law.In addition, Caesar also continued to set up the post of tribune, but the main powers of the tribune had been deprived by Caesar.Treasurers, sub-consuls and other departments are different, their number is doubled, because these people are Caesar's confidantes and supporters.Caesar has supreme power in Rome, he has the right to declare war, mediate, command the army, control finances, transfer the treasury and appoint and dismiss officials.In fact, he has become the dictator of Rome, and he is also a lifelong dictatorship. Except for the title of "King", Caesar has almost won all other titles of rulers.Some people even think that Caesar also wanted to be awarded the title of "King", but later he got a title that he was more proud of than the King. He was called "Father of the Nation" by the Romans.
Caesar's reforms Although Caesar's ambitions were due to his own autocratic ambitions, he was indeed generous, a man of great ambition and vision.He won many military victories and gained political power through military influence.Things are two-sided. Although he used force, he used force to maintain peace and create a good environment and conditions for business travel and trade, thus ensuring and stimulating business development.In addition, the city management of the once chaotic Italy has also undergone tremendous changes. Since Caesar promulgated various municipal laws, the government management has a unified standard, and the market has thus gotten rid of the chaotic situation.In the provinces of Asia, reforms were everywhere. Many people had previously been forced to suffer unlimited extortion from tax collectors, but Caesar established regular taxes to eliminate the former abuses.In addition, there was no racial discrimination in his legions, and people outside of Italy could also join the legions. He increased the political rights of each class and strengthened the rights of local governments accordingly. In order to motivate the people to abide by Roman laws, Caesar Taking citizenship as a reward; he established Roman colonies in the Italian peninsula and various provinces, among which the more famous colonies such as Carthage and Corinth.As the population increased, so did the number of idlers in Rome, and Caesar took measures to curb this unhealthy trend by reducing the distribution of relief food.Throughout Caesar's life, he did many things for Rome, and the most enduring of all his careers is the new calendar, which is a calendar formulated by Caesar. To commemorate him, people call it the Caesar calendar. .
Caesar's death, but Caesar's power expansion and political reform, not only made his enemies angry, but even his friends could not stand it.Because of his ambition, his growing power has threatened the interests of many people.One day in March 44 BC, in the synagogue of the Roman Senate, everyone was gathering to discuss a bill about whether to allow Caesar to enjoy the title of king outside Italy.On this day, two friends of Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius, led other friends of Caesar, and stabbed Caesar to death.They believe that it is for the benefit of the general public that they choose to "sacrifice" Caesar.Shakespeare once wrote a play about Caesar's death. These assassins declared: "We love Caesar very much, but we love Rome more!" Caesar was stabbed 3 times, blood flowed from the wound, and the cloak covered Holding his face, he fell slowly at the feet of Pompey's statue.
[-]. The Monarchy of the Augustan Empire
Caesar, like Pompey, was an uncrowned king of ancient Rome.But they also have differences, Caesar made a great contribution to the real establishment of the monarchy.From this point of view, Pompey cannot be compared with Caesar.Although Caesar was later assassinated by assassins, it turned out that this incident did not affect Caesar's reputation at all, nor did it change his lofty status in the hearts of the Romans.Cicero's sophistry did not succeed.
Marco Antony, the second triumvirate of politicians, once fanatically pursued the highest power.In Gaul, he was Caesar's subordinate.During Caesar's dictatorship, he served as consul.Antony did his best to remind people of the exploits of the dead Caesar.First, he mobilized Caesar's old subordinates against the assassins who assassinated Caesar.He then published Caesar's will to the citizens of Rome.It was written in the will that Caesar was willing to turn his garden into a Roman park for Roman citizens to enjoy.Also, Caesar promised a grant to every citizen of Rome.All that Antony did was to succeed Caesar in a clever way and become the supreme ruler of Rome.
However, he did not expect that he would have a strong competitor, Octavian.In his will, Caesar clearly stated that he wanted to adopt Octavian as his adopted son, and transferred his huge property to Octavian's name.Although Octavian was the child of Caesar's sister, Antony did not regard him as a threat.Because at that time Octavian only had, and he had neither the right to rule the army, nor was he interested in politics.
However, to his surprise, Octavian became another Caesar.He returned to Rome, inherited Caesar's estate, and then changed his name to Caius Julius Caesar Octavian.He joined the Republicans in the Senate against Antony.He was thus made a general by the Senate and awarded an army.Cicero originally wanted to use Octavian as a pawn and discard him when he was done using him.Unexpectedly, like Caesar, he led his army to approach Rome and forced the Senate and the People's Assembly to declare him consul.
Octavian followed the precedent left by Caesar. In 43 BC, he formed a three-headed alliance with his opponent Anthony and Caesar's former subordinate Lepidus, the current cavalry leader. A political group ruled by three people.Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus would take turns serving as consuls of the triumvirate for a five-year term.
The decisive battle was in the group of these three men, Octavian, although he inherited Caesar's property, was still the least famous of the three.In fact, he imitated Caesar's method and formed the second three-headed political alliance in history, which also had other intentions.His real purpose was to overthrow the Republicans in the Senate and defeat the Republican army led by Brutus and Cassius through the alliance with Anthony.This just proves that wealth and fame are far less influential than genius.
Including Cicero, more than 300 elders were killed by the triumvirate.Octavian, Antony, Lepidus and their soldiers divided up the land of these senators.In 42 BC, the famous Battle of Philippi was launched in Macedonia. This battle was of decisive significance for defeating the Republican army led by Brutus and Cassius.Cassius and Bulutu assembled a total of [-] troops, but they were eventually defeated by the Big Three.Cassius and Bulutu finally chose to commit suicide to end their lives.The three victors divided the Roman Empire.Antony got the largest piece of land (Gaul and the eastern provinces), Lepidus got only one province of Africa, and Octavian got Spain and Italy.Not long after, Lepidus resigned from his position.As a result, Africa became Octavian's pocket, and Octavian has since become the owner of the largest territory, the master of the West in the actual sense.
Antony in the east had tried to conquer Persia, and he had tried his best to govern for a time.However, in the end he was defeated by wit and beauty.The sword of ingenuity comes from Octavian, while the temptation of beauty comes from the young queen Cleopatra of Egypt.Like his former boss, Julius Caesar, he fell in love with the "Witch of the Nile".However, the two are different. Anthony is too deep to extricate himself.Cleopatra's beauty haunted Antony, and he behaved badly.Octavian's sister, Octavia, was Antony's wife.Antony only left her alone in Italy, while he spent all day with Cleopatra.Thus, he broke not only with Octavian over his wife, but with Rome as a whole.
Anthony dreams of being another Alexander, living a life of luxury all day long.In order to conquer Persia, Antony asked Octavian for an army, but Octavian refused.So, he led Cleopatra's warships and his huge army to point the finger at Octavian.In 31 BC, a naval battle at Aktion on the west coast of Greece determined the outcome of the entire war.Octavian won the war and became the master of the entire empire.Anthony committed suicide, and the seductive Cleopatra wanted to seduce Octavian, but Octavian flatly refused.Desperate, she finally chose to commit suicide.
Two years later, in 29 BC, Octavian celebrated his victory in Rome.As he said, he is the Lord of all things.Indeed, in both name and fact, he deserves to be called a second Caesar.
The pretended dictatorship Octavian's reign lasted 43 years (29 BC to 14 AD) instead of only four years like Caesar's; Instead of being assassinated like Caesar.This is largely due to his deep understanding of the characteristics of monarchy and the need for camouflage.Octavian was superior to Julius in that he succeeded in putting the veil of republican government on the absolute monarchy.He was consul and high priest, like Julius, and had the powers of a tribune.He was called Imperator (General) and Pater (Father of the Nation).However, he is smart, he did not implement lifelong consul tenure, let alone implement dictatorship.True, he accepted the title of Augustus, and he did not deny applying the word Princes to him.Although this noun is the source of the English word "prince", in Octavian, this word only means "the chief citizen of Rome".In terms of titles, he completely abandoned those pomp and etiquette.His life was like that of a patrician, rather than those of the oriental tyrants.
Power Rome maintains the form of a republic on the surface, but in fact it is not the case. Augustus has almost absolute supremacy in Rome and power over everything.Not only did he have the highest authority over key matters such as diplomacy, declaring war, making peace, and supplying food and grass for the city, but he also held the most important powers in commanding the army and governing the provinces.Although these powers were conferred at intervals of five or ten years, he always received these privileges in succession without any hindrance.
So where did his supreme power come from?Is it just from a special position and title?of course not.Using his personal wealth to build temples, public buildings, aqueducts, streets, and highways, he accumulated a reputation and built himself a prestige ahead of him, and the power he acquired through his office was based precisely on his growing prestige.In addition, his personal wit and actual control of military power are also an important part of power.He also has a lot of wealth, and the combination of various positions and powers gives him supreme power.
Peace Rome's peace cannot be separated from the efforts of Augustus.The Roman people were very tired of wars, especially wars within Rome.So when, two centuries later, in 29 BC, the gates of the temple of Janus, which had been opened only during wartime, closed, there was a roar of joy and excitement among the crowd.It turns out that Augustus brought peace to the Romans.So people set up an altar on the Matthias Square (Parade Square), called "Augustus' Peace", the altar is extremely beautifully carved, as a memorial to Augustus by the Romans.
This peace lasted almost 200 years in Rome, with only a few brief and unfortunate conflicts.However, far away from the mainland of the empire, the Roman army continued to expand its territory.
Augustus pushed the boundaries of the empire to more easily defensible places, such as oceans and rivers, so frontier wars continued.He led the legion to add some new provinces through conquest and occupation.By the time of his death, the frontiers of the Roman Empire had reached the Black Sea, the Euphrates, and the Arabian Desert in the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Sahara in the south, and the Danube and Rhine in the north.
Prosperity and peace meant to some extent the prosperity of commerce and the rise of culture.Even though a few Roman legions still fought intermittently on the frontier, the area around the Mediterranean enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity.The Mediterranean is equivalent to an inner lake of the Roman Empire. It is at the center of a peaceful world and maintains a good peace and order.Naturally, the development of commerce was also thriving. Thousands of sailboats sailed across the Mediterranean Sea, carrying wheat, red wine, olive oil, cloth, wool, dishes and metal utensils on board.Needless to say, this was a time of prosperity, as evidenced by the splendor displayed by Pompeii and other ancient ruined cities.Augustus once said proudly: "When I saw Rome, it was a city of bricks. When I left, it became a city of marble." If these words only refer to the construction of temples and public buildings , then it is true.But if you look behind the towering buildings and the dilapidated slums where the lower classes live, you will know that it is exaggerated.
Literature In literature, the age of Augustus can be called the "golden age" of Rome.The poet Virgil wrote the great epic poem "Aeneid".The hero of the epic, Aeneas, is a prince of Troy who wanders around after the city of Troy falls and is destroyed.The content is very similar to the ups and downs of the protagonist Osed in Homer's epic poem "Ossed".Virgil's works have obvious characteristics of the times. In form, it is similar to Homer's epic in Greece, but in Latin; in content, it further develops Greek mythology and connects Roman culture and the Aegean world more closely. connected together.In addition, this work also praises Rome and sings the praises of the Roman rulers, whose family is said to be descended from Aeneas.
There is also a famous poet of this era, that is Horace.He became famous because of a beautiful lyric poem called "Ode".There is also a poet, Ovid, who is good at expressing love themes. He often writes the love of the gods and other stories into beautiful and moving poems based on Greek legends and Latin myths.Another is the famous essayist Li Wei, who published a long and concise history of Rome in the form of serial articles.
In addition, most writers at that time were writing books on more than ten disciplines related to Stoicism and Epicureanism, such as philosophy, rhetoric, and architecture.Augustus also hired tutors to compile an encyclopedia.In terms of art and literature, Mechenus was a famous critic, and at the same time, he was also a courtier around the emperor, and a close friend who had certain influence on the emperor.Mechenus generously sponsored many poets in his life, which made him more famous.
The prosperity of literature was not only in Rome, but also gradually spread to all parts of the world, especially the East influenced by Greek civilization. A large number of artists, scholars, and writers added luster to the civilization of the Augustan era.There was also one of the greatest geographers of this period named Strabo, who was from Asia Minor and lived in Alexandria for many years, concentrating on the study of geography.At the same time, Athens attracted countless Roman scholars, and its fascination never ceased or disappeared.In poetry and prose, in painting and sculpture, this prosperous age and this great ruler deserve to be celebrated.
Religion In this era, the gods of Rome and the gods of Greek mythology have merged.But with the development of the economy, people's belief in them is weakening day by day.They forgot Larry, they forgot Jupiter and Mars.Either they diverted their goals and became interested in the study of Hellenistic philosophy, or they indulged in material pleasures of the flesh.This was true of most Romans, especially the upper class nobility, and the atmosphere of Roman society became increasingly frivolous and lewd.This kind of worldly trend spread in Rome and became more and more rampant.Augustus took steps to restore the traditional virtues of the past and advocated the maintenance of the solid old Roman family structure.To this end, he made a series of efforts: he passed legislation to ensure that married men enjoy fixed rights; he exiled Ovid because he wrote indulgent, luxurious and lustful poems; Her love affairs are very disgraceful, and the influence is extremely bad.However, despite his great efforts, the results were not obvious.The god-worship and traditional Roman virtues of yesteryear were still dying, irreversibly.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Augustus.We will describe the development of Christianity and other religions in later chapters.
Dark Shadows In AD 9, five years before the death of Augustus, a Roman army clashed with the Germans. The two sides fought in the German forests, and the Romans were defeated and routed.This is like a tragic warning, which means that the dark age of Rome has come, and Rome needs the support of old virtue and heroism at this time.Marius had kept the Germans in the Alps, Caesar had kept them out of the Rhine; evidently the Germans were waiting for an opportunity, and when the time came they would cross the Rhine and the Danube, cross the Alps, and split Disintegrate this once prosperous and huge empire.
(End of this chapter)
[-]. Invasion of western Carthage
All roads lead to Rome, showing the power of Rome.It stands to reason that in such a powerful country, citizens should work harder to build their own homes, but Roman farmers and soldiers don't seem to have such an idea.
Greed and Fear Rome invaded Carthage because of its greed and fear.What is greedy is Carthage's property and land, and what is fearful is that the increasingly powerful Carthage will surpass its own national strength and eventually annex itself one day.Carthage is the pride of the Punics and the largest colony of Phoenicia (Punicia is the Latin name of the Phoenicians). Its history is older than Rome, and its national power is also richer.Purple, the famous hue of Tyre, was gradually overshadowed by the red hues of Carthage.The red color of Carthage is actually red silk fabrics, which are exported overseas, but this is only one of the many commodities in Carthage.There are merchant ships and warships parked in the harbor every day on the seashore, and a large number of commodities are sold overseas in this way.The huge Mediterranean Sea borders Sicily on the west and the Strait of Gibraltar on the east, but it is only the inner lake of Carthage.According to legend, a captain of Carthage once proudly said: "Without our permission, the Romans cannot wash their hands in the Mediterranean." Carthage's huge wealth and growing national power were actually the root causes of the Punic War.
In the First Punic War in 275 BC, Pyrrhus was defeated and forced to leave Sicily.He consoled himself melancholy that it was not that he was too weak, but that the combination of Rome and Carthage was too strong.Thinking of this, he suddenly thought that he was forced to leave Sicily, so how would the two parties in Sicily distribute the results of the battle?After careful analysis, he predicted that the Romans and the Carthaginians would definitely go to war and kill each other.For Sicily, the two parties will never compromise and make concessions, which will become a bone in their mutual struggle.As Pyrrhus had imagined, Sicily, with its fertile fields and rich cities, became the primary target of contention between Rome and Carthage. This was also the beginning of the first Punic War.The Punic Wars began in 264 BC and lasted until 146 BC. This was a tragic war that both Rome and Carthage suffered greatly.
During the First Punic War, the Romans built a fleet to deal with the Carthaginians.With the fleet, Rome could fight the Carthaginians in Sicily as well as at sea.In 260 BC, the two sides fought in the Mira Sea.The Battle of Mira was a turning point in history.At the Battle of Myra, Rome showed that it would be both a land power and a sea power.But it also came at a huge cost.According to ancient writers, in the 24 years of the First Punic War, Rome lost 20 ships and 241 soldiers.In [-] BC, Carthage was overwhelmed and forced to negotiate a peace on Roman terms.After paying a large amount of gold as indemnity and giving up all its possessions in western Sicily, Carthage finally obtained a short-lived peace.
Sicily, an island of wheat fields, olive groves and vineyards, was thus ruthlessly conquered by Rome.In terms of the management of Sicily, Rome followed Carthage's tax scheme, levying a 5.00% crop harvest tax and export goods tax.The taxation of Sicily alone increased Rome's treasury revenue by about 100 million yuan a year.
In the following years, Rome continued to build a new navy, and captured Corsica and Sardinia from Carthage. Even so, it was not satisfied, and even crossed the Adriatic Sea and invaded Illyria. established a stronghold.
The Second Punic War In 218 BC, the Second Punic War began, a war that lasted until 201 BC and was a true contest of giants.The giants of Carthage were Hasdrubal and Hannibal, while those of Rome were Fabian and Scipio.In the First Punic War, Carthage's general was Hamilcar, nicknamed Barca ("Lightning").His son's name is Hannibal, which means "the grace of God Baal".When Hannibal was nine years old, Hamilcar took him into a temple, and Hannibal swore an oath: he would always be hostile to Rome.It was also this oath that Hannibal and his brother Hasdrubal launched the Second Punic War.Obviously, Hannibal is the most outstanding figure in this war.
As the commander-in-chief, Hannibal was very aware of the entanglement of interests between Rome and Carthage. It was impossible for Carthage to compromise on the control of the western Mediterranean like this. Sooner or later, Rome and Carthage would go to war again.Bearing the responsibility of avenging his father's failure and fulfilling his lifelong oath, he deliberately provoked Rome and provoked the Second Punic War.In 219 BC he captured the Spanish city of Sagunto.At that time, Spain was an ally of Rome.Rome demanded the surrender of Hannibal, but Carthage vehemently refused.So Rome planned to divide its troops into two groups, one to fight Hannibal in Spain and defeat this guy who dared to challenge the authority of the empire, and the other to attack Carthage and give Carthage a color.But Hannibal knew the intentions of the Romans in advance, and vowed to burn the flames of war to the Italian mainland.He led his soldiers from Spain, through southern France and Switzerland, and entered Italy from north to south.But due to the severe cold, half of the warriors and all the elephants died in the Alps.When he reached the valley of the Po River, only 28 infantry and 4 cavalry were left with him.However, Hannibal did not compromise and give up.Because he knows that although Rome has [-] citizens who can go to the battlefield, and it can recruit more soldiers from the Italian allies, but due to Rome's practice, it usually only sends [-] people to the battle at a time, and Many of them have been largely crippled by years of peace.Not only that, but he will have other reinforcements.As Hannibal had expected, the Gauls south of the Alps agreed to cooperate with him.Because they are being invaded by Rome and have suffered greatly from Rome, they want to fight back against Rome.A few months later, Hannibal got [-] tall Gaul warriors, who had the strength to challenge Rome, and he led these soldiers to start the campaign.
In the next 15 years, Hannibal fought in Italy and conquered Rome again and again, but he still failed to conquer Rome. He knew that if he wanted to conquer Rome, he needed to capture their capital, Rome, so that It was possible to conquer Rome.It is a pity that he has no siege equipment, and the soldiers' bodies cannot touch the city wall head-on, which will only lead him to failure.
In 216 BC Hannibal won his crowning victory at Cannae.At this time, the commander-in-chief of Rome was the famous general Fabian nicknamed "The Procrastinator". He wanted to use his good side attack tactics to drag down Hannibal and achieve victory.But the Romans were in dire need of a victory, so Fabian's tactic would not work.So Varo took command of Fabian, and he decided to attack Cannae.As a result, Rome was defeated.According to ancient books, when Hannibal collected the spoils, he collected as many as one dou of gold rings from the fingers of the fallen Roman knights, and some books say three dou.Corresponding to Hannibal's great victory was Rome's disastrous defeat, which was also the darkest day in Rome.But for the Romans, they have a valuable quality, that is, they will never give up even if they are defeated in a battle, and they will never give up until they win.
Year after year, under the tenacious resistance of the Romans, Hannibal's road to resistance became more and more bleak.Due to fighting all the year round, his team has been continuously reduced, without support from his hometown, and no new force to join, his team is getting smaller and smaller.In this predicament his brother Hasdrubal attempted to aid him with an army from Spain, but was killed on the way to the Alps and the army broke up.After that, the young Roman genius Cornelius Scipio emerged and became a famous Roman general.He led the Roman army to occupy New Carthage in Spain, and then sailed from Rome to attack Old Carthage in Africa.Carthage was forced to sue again, and Hannibal was recalled from Italy.
Although he failed again, Hannibal's influence was still significant.Soon after his return to Carthage, he raised a new army and persuaded his people to continue their struggle against Rome.But the ending seems to be doomed.In 202 BC, he and Scipio met in Zama behind Carthage, and the invincible Hannibal experienced his first defeat in his life. His defeat marked another defeat for Carthage.Scipio's defeat of Hannibal was undoubtedly a bloodbath for the Romans, so the grand occasion of his triumph is unprecedented in the world.Since the battle of Zama, Hannibal has also been called "Scipio of Africa", which is undoubtedly a great irony.Carthage, which was defeated again, was forced to pay a large sum of gold as compensation, and only ten of its warships could be kept, and the rest had to be surrendered. In addition, Spain, including its rich silver, had to be ceded. In the end, he accepted the most shameful constraint: no more wars unless Rome agreed.
Several years passed peacefully after the Third Punic War.Although it was calm, the Carthaginians and Romans were not at ease.The great humiliation and injustice annoyed the Carthaginians.The Romans, on the other hand, were afraid and afraid all day long. Now they are not afraid of being conquered, but they are afraid of someone competing with them in commerce and agriculture.Therefore, farmers and merchants in Carthage must be treated with caution in their view. Once they are surpassed in this respect, there may be great disasters.In Rome, there was an organization that hated Carthage extremely. The leader was an old farmer named Cato.The character of this old farmer is very narrow.He often gave speeches in the Senate or other places, and each time he ended with the words "Carthage must be destroyed".
In the end, the old farmer got his wish.In 149 BC, Carthage had conflicts with its neighbor Numidia, so Carthage sent troops to punish the king of Numidia.It was this incident that gave Rome the excuse by which the Roman legions marched into Carthage.Under the threat of Rome, the Carthaginians succumbed again and were forced to surrender their weapons. At the same time, they also surrendered more than 300 nobles as hostages.But this was far from over, and then a Roman consul announced to them coldly that their city must be destroyed.Homeland was to be destroyed, and the Carthaginians could no longer submit.In order to defend their homeland, the Carthaginians did their best to prepare for the war of resistance, using every piece of scrap iron they could find to make weapons, and women cut off their beautiful long hair to make bowstrings.In the next two years, they closed the city gates, guarded the city walls, and resisted tenaciously.Two years later, the city of Carthage fell and was destroyed.Those who resisted stubbornly were mostly killed, and those who did not were sold into slavery.In order to avoid future troubles, the Romans used plows to turn over the ruins and declared that the city would never be rebuilt.
In this way, the largest colony of the Phoenicians went to barrenness.As the spoils of the Third Punic War, Rome acquired part of North Africa once occupied by Carthage - "Africa".At this point, the 110-year Punic War finally came to an end.
Results of the Punic Wars (1) The Punic Wars transmitted the culture of the ancient Mediterranean world through Europe rather than through Africa. (2) Rome appeared on the stage of history as a sea and land power and overlord. (3) Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia, Spain and Northwest Africa are all under the rule of Rome, and it is a veritable overlord in the western Mediterranean. (4) Advocating the Greek spirit shows the love of many Romans for Greek culture. (5) There were conflicts between different classes in Rome, that is, the poor opposed the rich, the small peasants opposed the big farmers, and the masses of the lower classes opposed the government, and the contradictions were quite serious.
[-]. Conquering the Hellenistic Eastern World
Conquest of the Hellenistic East When Rome captured the Western countries, it also eyed the Eastern world.The relationship between Rome and Egypt is quite friendly. When Hannibal invaded Rome, Rome suffered a great famine, and Egypt sent grain to Rome in time.Rome admired Greek culture very much, and their enthusiasm and desire to admire the Greek spirit grew day by day.In addition, Rome was very afraid of Macedonia, because the Macedonian king once supported Hannibal to attack Rome. He was ambitious and wanted to become the second Alexander.
Advocating the Greek spirit After the first Punic War, the Romans admired the Greek spirit even more, and this trend became stronger and stronger.The Roman Legion saw the Greek civilization in Sicily, which made them marvel. Those marble temples and beautiful statues, as well as paintings and theaters, are full of Greek urban flavor.Soon, Greek plays were translated into Latin and performed in Rome one after another.During the Second Punic War, Rome punished the cities of Syracuse, Capua, and Taranto for assisting Hannibal in the war.Rome plundered them wantonly, looting many treasures and top Greek works of art.Since then, Greek luxury goods were all the rage in Rome's upper class, and people fanatically pursued Greek literature and art. Cato sneered at this situation. He and many conservatives rebuked the Romans who worshiped Greek civilization, but in the end, Cato himself began to study Greek.
The Hellenistic Eastern States As described in the second part, after the death of Alexander, his empire was divided into three parts, that is, three kingdoms: the first was Egypt, ruled by Ptolemy; the second was Macedonia, ruled by Antigonus ruled; the third was Syria in Western Asia, ruled by Seleucus.These three kingdoms are located in the Eastern Mediterranean, between the 3rd century BC and the 2nd century BC, and they were the world's powerful countries at that time.The monarchs of these three kingdoms all admired and admired Greek literature, art and academic thought, and supported the development of Greek culture in their own country. Therefore, Greek businessmen and Greek teachers can be seen everywhere in the three kingdoms.
In the Mediterranean region, in addition to the three kingdoms of Egypt, Macedonia, and Syria, there were also some smaller Greek city-states. Although Athens declined at that time, its economic strength and commercial development declined, and it lost its former leadership. But Athens is still very developed in terms of art and philosophy, and is known as the hometown of philosophy and the holy land of art.The Greek island city-state of Rhodes gradually rose and became an important center of Greece in terms of commerce, culture, and diplomacy.In addition, Pergamon in the west of Asia Minor also developed and quickly overtook Athens, becoming a place where Greek art flourished and the capital of a superpower.At that time, many Greek cities around the Aegean Sea had already belonged to Egypt, although most of the Greek city-states on the Peloponnese peninsula had formed an alliance and became part of the Achaean League, while those in northern and central Greece The city-states also formed an alliance called the Aetorian League.However, the old tradition of independence of the Greeks remained unchanged, and these city-states maintained their independence to a certain extent.
The celebration of Corinth In 196 BC, the Isthmian Games was held. Many Greek city-states sent athletes and spectators, and the scene was extremely lively.At this point, the Roman consul stood before a large audience and announced that Corinth and the other Greek city-states had escaped Macedonian control and were now free again.The audience immediately burst into thunderous cheers.Not long ago, in order to realize his dream of becoming Alexander, the king of Macedon led the phalanx of the legion in an attempt to conquer the Greek world.Macedonia's expedition shocked Egypt, Lot, Pergamum, Athens, and members of the Aetorian League. They had no choice but to turn to Rome for help.The Romans, on the other hand, had an extremely strong interest in Greek culture, and they had a keen interest in all the Greek city-states.After discussion, the politicians in Rome believed that they should come forward to stop the aggression of the Macedonian king.Therefore, Rome raised high the military flag painted with a golden flying eagle, and the powerful legion was waiting.Finally, the Roman legion defeated the Macedonian army at Kunos Kefale Mountain, commonly known as "Dog's Head Mountain".
Rome was victorious, but the Romans appeared to be very generous and merciful.Four years ago, in the war against Carthage, Rome robbed a lot of land and asked Carthage to pay a huge amount of gold as compensation.But this time Rome didn't want anything. Instead, it protected the Greek city-states and gave them more freedom and rights.In this way, Rome successfully played the role of big sister. At the same time, the Romans entered Corinth and became the supporters and protectors of Greece.
Antioch At that time, Antiochus, king of Syria, invaded Greece, and Rome used the same method and means to deal with him.The Roman legions fought a famous battle, defeating Antioch on the battlefield of Thermopylae.In 190 BC, the second year of the war, Scipio of Africa led the Roman legion to pursue Antioch all the way, driving him to Asia Minor, and finally completely destroying Antioch's army in Magnesia.Antiochus' ambitions were in fact inspired by Hannibal, who was still considered an enemy by Rome, even though he had been exiled by then.To make matters worse, the Aetorian League had promised to help Antioch conquer other Greek city-states, but after the war started, all of Antioch's "alliance partners" betrayed him.Disputes of this kind among the Greeks were very common, and they were hostile to each other, and they were against each other, and they were endless, and this is bound to happen again in the future.
There is one more thing which is very significant and should also be noted.After Rome defeated Antioch, although it did not annex his land, it looted a lot of items, and the Roman army brought back countless spoils from the battlefield.This incident shows that Rome will continue to attack again and again in the future. It can be expected that they will definitely do this and attack other city-states again.Cato was obsessed with spoils, and other Romans fought for profit.Because they believed that since Roman citizens paid taxes for the war, their army should gain benefits in the Eastern campaign and snatch territory.To achieve this goal, in 168 BC, Rome defeated another ambitious king of Macedon.This time Rome took a new approach, which was a decisive step towards the control of Macedonia. Rome divided Macedonia into four republics, and they had to pay Rome a tax and tribute every year.Through Huairou's silk gloves, countries can still feel the oppression of Rome's hard iron palm.
Corinth's sad day In 146 BC, the Roman legions completely looted and burned Corinth's happy scene 50 years ago.There is a strong contrast with the ruins at this time, and for Collins, this is a sad contrast.At this time, the once generous and benevolent protector has become a cruel and tyrannical conqueror.
Both sides in the war were at fault, and the Romans vowed to give the Greek city-states freedom and autonomy.At the same time, Rome also hoped that the Greek city-states would respect its dominance, and required the city-states to obey Rome's wishes to the greatest extent.In addition, the autonomy granted by Rome often favored the nobles of the Greek city-states, and those democrats who did not get actual benefits would naturally unite against Rome.Obviously, the Greek aristocrats and democrats are opposed to each other, and the Greek city-states are also hostile and jealous of each other.During the third Punic War, Rome was exhausted, and the Greek city-states were also in turmoil. Corinth and members of the Achaean League saw the opportunity and seized this golden opportunity to invade Sparta.They misjudged, however, and the Roman legions crushed their allies, with a fatal end.In 146 BC, Corinth was burned in a fire, which was a shocking warning to all Greeks: everyone must respect the authoritative rule of Rome.
We can see that Corinth and Carthage were destroyed by Rome in the same year (146 BC).Economic motives probably played a big part in this, as the two cities were extremely commercially developed and rivaled Rome.
A year or two earlier than this, Macedonia had been conquered, became a vassal province of Rome, and survived under the rule of the Roman governor.Macedonia was captured because its king was so ambitious that he defied the authority of Rome.
The kings in the east of Mithridat were all ambitious, just as we already know how the Antioch of Syria and the Macedonian kings once angered Rome, they provoked the bottom line of Rome to a large extent, and they From protector to conqueror.Their role in promoting this matter is no less than that of quarrelsome democrats.Also, Mithridat of Pontus pushed the situation further, although he may have been unintentional and unwilling to end up that way.Pontus is a small kingdom located in the Black Sea region, near the southern shore.In 89 BC, Rome and its allies fought fiercely on the Italian peninsula. Mithridates took the opportunity to launch a sneak attack and attacked some of Rome's allies in Asia Minor.When Rome had settled the dispute in Italy, it turned to Mithridates and punished it severely.Athens and Mithridates were on the same side, and the alliance and some other Greek cities were all severely punished by Rome.These city-states were forced to pay huge sums of money to Rome, and at the same time they had to pay tribute and cede land to compensate Rome.Within a few years, the kingdom of Mithridates became a province under Roman rule.In the war against Mithridates, Rome sent two of its most outstanding generals, Sulla and Pompey.
Soon thereafter, Syria could not escape the fate of being conquered by Rome, and became one of the most important provinces of the Roman Empire.In this way, many city-states in Asia Minor lost their land and sovereignty, and were brought into the rule of Rome one after another. They either became Roman provinces or became vassal states paying tribute to Rome.
[-]. Economic and social changes
Class Conflict The Punic Wars exacerbated conflict among the Roman classes, which was one of the worst outcomes of war.In times of war, the Senate had great power, administering foreign and military affairs, at the expense of the Citizens' Assembly and the Tribunes of the People.In economic life, the rapid growth of the wealth of the rich and the revival of aristocracy occurred almost at the same time.During the war, cunning contractors often seize the opportunity to amass a fortune, resulting in a growing gap between the rich and the poor between the merchants and farmers.While peasants participated in the war on behalf of Rome, many of them lost their farmland, and the fruits of victory in the war were also taken away by others.
The Roman conquests of the patriarchs greatly increased the wealth of a few noble families.Members of these families obtained a majority of seats in the Senate or important political and military positions.The nobles also liked to invest their newly acquired wealth in large-scale agricultural production to maximize their profits.
After the Second Punic War, on the one hand, Rome acquired a lot of land in the newly conquered provinces; on the other hand, there was also a lot of land belonging to Rome in Italy.These lands are divided by the standard of [-] to [-] acres and leased to farmers one by one, but most of the land is occupied by wealthy ranchers.These large ranchers had no legal basis for acquiring land and were not required to pay land rent.The pastures were tended by slaves, while the owners lived a life of luxury in Rome.Sometimes the owners also went to their ranches and lived for a season in the luxurious country mansions they called villas.These villas had many rooms with inlaid floors and columns of marble, beautiful gardens, bathrooms, swimming pools and fountains.
Greek philosophy is being accepted and disseminated by people, and luxury goods are gradually loved by more people.At that time, the strong sense of justice that Roman residents had for ancient Rome, as well as their respect for ancient gods and traditional customs, were weakening.The number of divorces is on the rise, and the number of immorals remains high.Along with the spread of the essence of Greek culture, various forces that damaged the foundation of the Roman Republic are slowly infiltrating.And these evil forces mainly affect the elder class who control the government.
The bourgeoisie Punic wars also greatly increased the power of the bourgeoisie in Rome.These property owners were not patrician landowners of the senatorial class, but wealthy city merchants.The bourgeois, the Roman capitalists, were upstarts, also known as knights.They have not yet entered the patrician aristocracy.These property owners were not all Roman natives, some were merchants from various provinces, and many were freedmen (former slaves) of Greek or Syrian origin.Many of them are tax contractors, which refer to people who contract various public works approved by the government or collect taxes in a certain area.The tax-payers also had their own supporters. General Pompey supported a tax-payer, and another supporter was the eloquent orator—Cicero.
Peasants While the wealth and influence of the senators and knights continued to increase, life became increasingly difficult for Italian peasants.Farmers are people who work on their small farms and were once a major force in armies and states.Farmers are not only food suppliers and fighters, but also citizens who support democracy.But the number of farmers was greatly reduced by the mass casualties of soldiers during the war, and their farms were also destroyed by the war.As a result, the peasants could only gather scatteredly in the city of Rome, and many people were plagued by debts.But free people still account for a large proportion. Some of these free people are self-cultivating farmers, and others are tenant farmers of big landlords.The most important significance of these farmers entering the city of Rome is that Italy has more large estates, marble villas, land lords and non-native-born slaves. It is no longer a country mainly composed of small farms and strong farmers. A place where people are citizens.
Slaves Those who were captured in war ended up as slaves.Thousands of people were captured by pirates and sold in the slave market on Rhodes Island, the center of the slave trade.Most slaves were brought to Italy to work on farms, olive groves, vineyards, ranches, or factories.Many of the slaves were Greeks, and those who were particularly educated Greeks mainly copied books, taught children homework, or served as advisors and servants to Roman gentlemen.A millionaire like General Pompey could even raise an army out of his slaves and tenant farmers.As he said, all he had to do was stomp his feet on the ground and he could muster thousands of soldiers.
The army of soldiers is gradually becoming more professional.It is no longer made up of peasants ad hoc.Farmers spend most of their time in the fields, only sometimes serving as soldiers in short, sudden wars.Soldiers will only become peasants in the first place when one has to travel away from home for years to fight in Asia or France.Participating in the war for the country is a lifelong career for soldiers and their generals. They must work hard to build meritorious service in the war to obtain honor and corresponding rewards.
Proletarians Those classes that do not own property, including slaves, are called proletarians.Most of them rely on manual labor or selling small commodities to make a living.However, there are many people who do not have normal jobs or earning a living. Once they are unemployed, they can only run around, no matter what jobs they receive, in order to survive.Under the tall and splendid buildings of the city of Rome, there are countless poor settlements hidden.Many poor people live in squalid and overcrowded housing.The houses are facing narrow streets and winding alleys, and the living environment is not optimistic.These slums gradually became a security risk that threatened the stability of Roman society.
The role played by the proletarian in Roman politics was significant.If a candidate is very rich and can spend a lot of money to bribe the proletarians, or if he is smart enough to make beautiful promises such as land occupation at will, bread without money, and debts without repayment, he can win the support and support of some proletarians.
[-]. Incitement and dictatorship
The proletarian class in Rome can use land, grain, and power to fight for it, and they are easily tempted by money and bribed.Rome's knightly class was wealthy, but desperate for more attention in the government.The Roman aristocracy, being senators, took pains to preserve its ancient privileges.There are also some arrogant generals in Rome. They often make great achievements in wars, but they still want new victories, and they are intoxicated all day long and cannot extricate themselves.If things go on like this, it will definitely become more and more difficult to establish a fair and peaceful government, and it will become more and more easy for those ambitious and talented people to become demagogues and dictators.
The ambitious politicians of the Gracchus were not all bad, most politicians wanted to do something good.Although they sometimes make some unwise moves, the goals are often good.Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Guyo Gracchus are a typical example.They were from Africa, of noble birth, grandsons of Scipio.Yet they supported the proletarians and spoke out for them.
In 133 BC, Tiberius Gracchus was elected tribune because of his platform for land reform.His proposal: the wealthy occupy communal lands for pastures, no larger than 1000 Ugra (666 acres) per piece of land.Then the rest of the public land should be subdivided into small farms, which should be distributed to landless citizens, and the government should provide loans for the citizens to buy farm implements and livestock.
However, one wave is not flat, and another wave rises again.That advice was overturned shortly after.For the rich landed senators, with the advice of another tribune, overruled this proposal.Tiberius did not give up and fought back.He urged the General Assembly to remove the tribune, and his bills for agrarian reform were passed.But later, a senator and his associates led their armed slaves against him and killed him.The reason was that he had disregarded the Senate and the Constitution, and that he wanted to be re-elected and participated in the re-election of the tribunes.Therefore, the elders regarded him as a thorn in the side and a thorn in the flesh, which led to his death.
Ten years later, Guyo Gracchus was elected tribune.He is Tiberius' younger brother.He urged the General Assembly to re-enact the land laws that enforced his brother.Then many of the measures he proposed in favor of the proletarians were passed.He suggested that the roads be repaired, so that the transport roads were improved, making it easier to transport agricultural products into Rome from outside.At the same time, he advised the landless Romans to establish new colonies and sent them to Carthage, Capua, Taranto and other places.He also introduced a new measure, an apparently radical one, by selling grain to the poor Romans at half the market price.
These radical reforms resulted in severe underfunding.Guyo proposed to pass a law to find ways to increase the taxation of Rome's provinces in Asia, the main purpose is to obtain the funds needed for the reform.Taxes in Asia will be collected by taxpayers and contractors, who are all capitalists, so this proposal has won unanimous praise from the bourgeoisie, and they all applaud.In addition, he proposed to expand the geographical scope of Roman citizenship to include Latin and Italian allies, that is, all Italian people.This suggestion greatly improved Guyo Gracchi's reputation, although it was not actually implemented in the end.
His political efforts made him all the rage and became the idol of countless proletarians.He was then re-elected tribune and became the political "leader" of Rome.But he also made enemies for himself, especially in the Senate, which was of course inevitable.During his campaign for the third tribune, he left Rome to establish a colony in Carthage.At this time, his opponent took the opportunity to launch a riot in the election and defeat his campaign plan.When he returned to Rome, just in time for the riots in the city, the senators and their slaves took advantage of the chaos and killed him (121 BC).A few years later, the Gracourt Land Law was amended and the allocation of small farms ceased.The pastures and plantations owned by the senators have remained untouched.
Marius and the army Gracchus failed to maintain their political power, because they had only the votes and support of the proletarians, and they were weak.To be a successful statesman, to be a Roman dictator, one must have an army.Caius Mario is a classic example.Caius Mallor was just a knight who got rich from contracting projects.Although he was not a nobleman, he was elected consul in 107 BC.As a consul, Marius made repeated military exploits, so his political and military status rose step by step, and he became famous for a while.He defeated Jugurtha, king of Numidia, and at the same time defeated the fierce Germanic tribes in Italy.The Germanic tribes were the Cimbri and Teutons who invaded from the north.Gaius Gracchus had only been in power for two years, but Marius had been consul for six years.There is a clear difference between them, Gaius Gracchus did not have an army, while Marius had an army for him, and many friends and followers, followed him until he retired from politics.
Social War After Mario left office, the Italian people were locked in a conflict for their civil rights.This conflict is often called the Social War, but it is perhaps more accurate to call it the Italian Civil War.The civil war lasted from 90 BC to 88 BC as Rome refused to extend citizenship to the rest of Italy.After three years of fighting, Rome did not win by force. It relied on peaceful diplomatic means to suppress, suppressing both the republics that had been established and those that were hostile to it.Rome won by granting civil rights to all who surrendered.Henceforth, Italy is Rome, and all Italians are Romans.
Sulla and his Enemy Declaration The nobleman Cornelius Sulla had studied military affairs with Marius.Later, he commanded the army in the Italian Civil War and won a lot of fame, while Marius' reputation declined a lot.When Rome planned to send troops to the east to conquer Mithridat, both he and Marius especially hoped to lead the army.But at this time, Sulla and his legion had just returned from fighting the Italians, and they were in full swing. Marius and his supporters lost their chance and had to give up.So Su La, with the blessing of the Senate, led his troops to march eastward.
When Sulla returned to Rome, it was already four years later.He had successive victories in Greece and Asia Minor (87-83 BC).However, he found that his political opponents, namely Mario's friends, had confiscated his property and deprived him of his citizenship rights, and his friends and supporters were also brutally murdered.So Sulla began a horrific revenge. Day after day he announced the list in the Roman Forum and declared the people on the list as public enemies.And "declared as public enemies" means that their citizenship rights will be deprived, their property will be confiscated, and their lives will be killed.Thousands of political opponents were persecuted to death by him in this way.In addition, Sulla rewarded his soldiers and supporters with land and villas from the political opponents he overthrew, many of whom were wealthy knights.
Sulla became dictator from 82-79 BC.The biggest reason is that he has the army and nobles as his backing.Although he could be called king or emperor, he remained in the unadorned style of the Cato-esque tradition.He instituted a policy of reform, slightly modified to suit the needs of the world empire, and his aim was to restore the aristocratic rule of the Senate.Believing, no doubt, that he had put the Roman government on firm foundations, he retired to his beautiful villa to spend his last years in peace, and died in peace the following year.However, the laws he made were soon forgotten, for others were expected to be demagogues and dictators.But people remember the good example he set to the world.
Crassus and Pompey Licinius Crassus and Gnaeus Pompey both served under Sulla and both had political ambitions to surpass Sulla.They had both opposed Marius and the democrats like Sulla, but both made deals with the proletarians and ended up as consuls in 70 BC.The reason was that they had the support of the proletarians, knights, and victorious legions, and they had terrorized the Senate.After Pompey's term of office expired, he gained the prestige of a famous general.Because he destroyed the pirates in the eastern Mediterranean, and he defeated Mithradat again, and annexed Syria.And Crassus participated in slave trade, silver mines and Roman real estate affairs many times, and continued to speculate, becoming richer and richer.Both of them hoped to gain more honor in politics, and watched the changes in the political situation with keen eyes.
[-]. The Dictatorship of Julius Caesar
Pompey's alliance with Crassus was successful.However, Pompey realized that he and Crassus were too weak. If another person helped them, they would be more successful. He believed that there was no doubt about it.Sure enough, soon after, the third person, Julius Caesar, appeared, and the three of them joined forces. However, neither Pompey nor Crassus thought that this young Caesar would be so successful and be remembered by history.But when Pompey really understood this, he could only be very frustrated and helpless.
The first triumvirate The joint rule of Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar is called the triumvirate, that is, a political group of three people.Pompey was an outstanding talent in military affairs, Crassus was very rich in property, and Caesar was outstanding in ability. He was not only a shrewd politician, very good at handling political affairs, but also a talented orator.Sulla called himself a "lucky man" back then, and Pompey was also awarded the title of "great man" by him.And Crassus is called "Monopoly".At that time, no one had given Caesar any title.But it was not long before Caesar made a great title for himself.If Pompey is a famous military strategist and Crassus is a wealthy man, then Caesar is a politician with wisdom and ambition.He was about 40 years old at this time, but he was already a fairly influential figure in politics. He had lectured everywhere and was an accomplished orator. He was also very proficient in the law and was called a legal expert.In addition, he is an officer with rich combat experience.He was born in Julius, a famous family at that time, but he was different from his clan in politics, and he chose to support the democrats.Caesar's aunt had been the wife of Marius, and he was also close to a prominent democrat leader, marrying his daughter as his wife, while his own daughter Julia later became Pompey's wife.
Caesar was in Gaul in 59 BC, and his companions who worked with Caesar tried every means to have him elected as one of the two consuls.As a consul, Caesar used his power during his tenure to successfully manipulate some bills.For example, distribute some public lands to the veterans under Pompey, and approve Pompey to carry out all activities in Asia; for those taxpayers who are friendly with Crassus, he also made the main promise to reduce their payment of Asian tax privilege fees, They are allowed to pay one-third less to the public treasury, and there are many other things like this.
Furthermore, Pompey, Crassus, and Caesar divided up the Roman world.Caesar received lands in the west, Crassus received lands in the east, and Pompey received lands in the center and south.During this period, Caesar served as governor of Gaul for five years and also served as governor of other places.Crassus led his troops to Persia, while Pompey led the Italian army and the Mediterranean fleet, waiting for an opportunity in Rome.
Caesar's achievements in Gaul are famous.One tribe after another was conquered and "pacified" by him; in order to hold off the Germanic attack, he built a bridge across the Rhine.He also led his troops across the strait twice to march to Britain.Caesar recorded his great deeds in fluent Latin, and this book is still a book that middle school students like to read very much.Caesar served as governor of Gaul, and his term of office was extended from five years to ten years, and his legions continued to expand, and his strength increased accordingly.Rome's borders expanded accordingly, from the Rhine in the north to the Atlantic Ocean in the west.He also won a huge territory for Rome, called the Alps North Gaul province.Caesar was an outstanding Roman politician. He was the first to publicly admit that the Gauls were very good fighters in the Roman legions, and that the Gauls were also qualified Roman citizens.
Due to the efforts of Caesar and other political and military strategists, Rome occupied a pivotal position in the Mediterranean world, but the powerful militarism forces gradually became stronger and gradually affected the fate of Rome.Marius and Sulla set an example for the Romans, and their achievements cannot be erased.Not long after, Caesar gave a practical example to ambitious warriors.
Across the Rubicon River, subtle changes took place in the relationship between Caesar and Pompey, and the relationship between the two gradually became estranged.Today, the only consul in Rome is Pompey, who is trying to remove Caesar's military power and crush Caesar's huge power in Gaul.Their contradictions intensified, from a struggle for power to a hostility between the two legions. For the political situation in Rome, this is undoubtedly distressing.Caesar returned to Rome angrily with his legions. The two sides were at war with each other, and the situation was very serious.When Caesar reached the Rubicon, he saw the former northern frontier of Rome, and stopped there, hesitating.He knew very well in his heart that if he crossed the Rubicon River with a huge army and then headed towards Rome, people would definitely misunderstand that he was going to declare war on Pompey, and the two would inevitably fight to the end.But Caesar didn't know that Pompey and the Senate had already made preparations at this time, and they joined forces to deal with him.And where is Crassus?In fact, Crassus had passed away.Not long ago, Crassus fought against the Persians, but suffered a disastrous defeat and was captured alive by the enemy.The Persians knew that Crassus was rich, and they heard that he loved gold, so they devised a vicious plan to melt the gold into gold water and pour it down his throat, so that they could vent their anger by this cruel jest. inner hatred.In this way, the world of Rome was no longer owned by three persons, and the dominion of Rome was transferred from three persons to two persons, namely Caesar and Pompey.
Caesar has always acted swiftly and decisively, so he immediately decided to fight back, which is his character.He stepped on his horse and shouted: "The dice have been thrown! The outcome depends on it!" His horse leaped across the Rubicon River, and Caesar led the army to drive straight into Rome.And behind him, closely followed his supporters - the powerful Roman legion.
This day was January 49, 1 BC.Caesar rushed into the city of Rome and immediately declared himself the new consul of Rome, he was the new master of Rome.Seeing that the situation was over, Pompey could only flee to Italy.The senate, too, was submissive, and they dared not resist Caesar and his mighty and terrible legions, for they were so powerful in fighting, and had conquered and pacified the ferocious Gauls and Germans.In the second year, Caesar personally led an army to attack Thrace eastward, and severely attacked Pompey in the battle of Farsala, completely defeating Pompey.Pompey had nowhere to go, so he had to flee to Egypt, but he did not expect that Caesar sent someone to assassinate him as soon as he arrived in Egypt.In the following three years, many people in Egypt and Asia Minor opposed Caesar, and riots continued to occur, and Caesar sent troops to suppress it many times.In addition, a year before the Battle of Farsala, Caesar sent troops quickly into Spain, carried out a complete siege of Pompey's allies and supporters, and forced them to submit to him.The result was just as he wanted, and many people followed him.
Caesar's power and title Caesar controlled all the real power in Rome in his own hands, but he adopted the Senate to continue holding citizen meetings, but he managed to control the power of the Senate.There were still two consuls in Rome, and Caesar was the one who held power.In other words, wherever the sphere of power of the Roman consul reached, what Caesar said was equivalent to the law.In addition, Caesar also continued to set up the post of tribune, but the main powers of the tribune had been deprived by Caesar.Treasurers, sub-consuls and other departments are different, their number is doubled, because these people are Caesar's confidantes and supporters.Caesar has supreme power in Rome, he has the right to declare war, mediate, command the army, control finances, transfer the treasury and appoint and dismiss officials.In fact, he has become the dictator of Rome, and he is also a lifelong dictatorship. Except for the title of "King", Caesar has almost won all other titles of rulers.Some people even think that Caesar also wanted to be awarded the title of "King", but later he got a title that he was more proud of than the King. He was called "Father of the Nation" by the Romans.
Caesar's reforms Although Caesar's ambitions were due to his own autocratic ambitions, he was indeed generous, a man of great ambition and vision.He won many military victories and gained political power through military influence.Things are two-sided. Although he used force, he used force to maintain peace and create a good environment and conditions for business travel and trade, thus ensuring and stimulating business development.In addition, the city management of the once chaotic Italy has also undergone tremendous changes. Since Caesar promulgated various municipal laws, the government management has a unified standard, and the market has thus gotten rid of the chaotic situation.In the provinces of Asia, reforms were everywhere. Many people had previously been forced to suffer unlimited extortion from tax collectors, but Caesar established regular taxes to eliminate the former abuses.In addition, there was no racial discrimination in his legions, and people outside of Italy could also join the legions. He increased the political rights of each class and strengthened the rights of local governments accordingly. In order to motivate the people to abide by Roman laws, Caesar Taking citizenship as a reward; he established Roman colonies in the Italian peninsula and various provinces, among which the more famous colonies such as Carthage and Corinth.As the population increased, so did the number of idlers in Rome, and Caesar took measures to curb this unhealthy trend by reducing the distribution of relief food.Throughout Caesar's life, he did many things for Rome, and the most enduring of all his careers is the new calendar, which is a calendar formulated by Caesar. To commemorate him, people call it the Caesar calendar. .
Caesar's death, but Caesar's power expansion and political reform, not only made his enemies angry, but even his friends could not stand it.Because of his ambition, his growing power has threatened the interests of many people.One day in March 44 BC, in the synagogue of the Roman Senate, everyone was gathering to discuss a bill about whether to allow Caesar to enjoy the title of king outside Italy.On this day, two friends of Caesar, Marcus Brutus and Caius Cassius, led other friends of Caesar, and stabbed Caesar to death.They believe that it is for the benefit of the general public that they choose to "sacrifice" Caesar.Shakespeare once wrote a play about Caesar's death. These assassins declared: "We love Caesar very much, but we love Rome more!" Caesar was stabbed 3 times, blood flowed from the wound, and the cloak covered Holding his face, he fell slowly at the feet of Pompey's statue.
[-]. The Monarchy of the Augustan Empire
Caesar, like Pompey, was an uncrowned king of ancient Rome.But they also have differences, Caesar made a great contribution to the real establishment of the monarchy.From this point of view, Pompey cannot be compared with Caesar.Although Caesar was later assassinated by assassins, it turned out that this incident did not affect Caesar's reputation at all, nor did it change his lofty status in the hearts of the Romans.Cicero's sophistry did not succeed.
Marco Antony, the second triumvirate of politicians, once fanatically pursued the highest power.In Gaul, he was Caesar's subordinate.During Caesar's dictatorship, he served as consul.Antony did his best to remind people of the exploits of the dead Caesar.First, he mobilized Caesar's old subordinates against the assassins who assassinated Caesar.He then published Caesar's will to the citizens of Rome.It was written in the will that Caesar was willing to turn his garden into a Roman park for Roman citizens to enjoy.Also, Caesar promised a grant to every citizen of Rome.All that Antony did was to succeed Caesar in a clever way and become the supreme ruler of Rome.
However, he did not expect that he would have a strong competitor, Octavian.In his will, Caesar clearly stated that he wanted to adopt Octavian as his adopted son, and transferred his huge property to Octavian's name.Although Octavian was the child of Caesar's sister, Antony did not regard him as a threat.Because at that time Octavian only had, and he had neither the right to rule the army, nor was he interested in politics.
However, to his surprise, Octavian became another Caesar.He returned to Rome, inherited Caesar's estate, and then changed his name to Caius Julius Caesar Octavian.He joined the Republicans in the Senate against Antony.He was thus made a general by the Senate and awarded an army.Cicero originally wanted to use Octavian as a pawn and discard him when he was done using him.Unexpectedly, like Caesar, he led his army to approach Rome and forced the Senate and the People's Assembly to declare him consul.
Octavian followed the precedent left by Caesar. In 43 BC, he formed a three-headed alliance with his opponent Anthony and Caesar's former subordinate Lepidus, the current cavalry leader. A political group ruled by three people.Octavian, Antony, and Lepidus would take turns serving as consuls of the triumvirate for a five-year term.
The decisive battle was in the group of these three men, Octavian, although he inherited Caesar's property, was still the least famous of the three.In fact, he imitated Caesar's method and formed the second three-headed political alliance in history, which also had other intentions.His real purpose was to overthrow the Republicans in the Senate and defeat the Republican army led by Brutus and Cassius through the alliance with Anthony.This just proves that wealth and fame are far less influential than genius.
Including Cicero, more than 300 elders were killed by the triumvirate.Octavian, Antony, Lepidus and their soldiers divided up the land of these senators.In 42 BC, the famous Battle of Philippi was launched in Macedonia. This battle was of decisive significance for defeating the Republican army led by Brutus and Cassius.Cassius and Bulutu assembled a total of [-] troops, but they were eventually defeated by the Big Three.Cassius and Bulutu finally chose to commit suicide to end their lives.The three victors divided the Roman Empire.Antony got the largest piece of land (Gaul and the eastern provinces), Lepidus got only one province of Africa, and Octavian got Spain and Italy.Not long after, Lepidus resigned from his position.As a result, Africa became Octavian's pocket, and Octavian has since become the owner of the largest territory, the master of the West in the actual sense.
Antony in the east had tried to conquer Persia, and he had tried his best to govern for a time.However, in the end he was defeated by wit and beauty.The sword of ingenuity comes from Octavian, while the temptation of beauty comes from the young queen Cleopatra of Egypt.Like his former boss, Julius Caesar, he fell in love with the "Witch of the Nile".However, the two are different. Anthony is too deep to extricate himself.Cleopatra's beauty haunted Antony, and he behaved badly.Octavian's sister, Octavia, was Antony's wife.Antony only left her alone in Italy, while he spent all day with Cleopatra.Thus, he broke not only with Octavian over his wife, but with Rome as a whole.
Anthony dreams of being another Alexander, living a life of luxury all day long.In order to conquer Persia, Antony asked Octavian for an army, but Octavian refused.So, he led Cleopatra's warships and his huge army to point the finger at Octavian.In 31 BC, a naval battle at Aktion on the west coast of Greece determined the outcome of the entire war.Octavian won the war and became the master of the entire empire.Anthony committed suicide, and the seductive Cleopatra wanted to seduce Octavian, but Octavian flatly refused.Desperate, she finally chose to commit suicide.
Two years later, in 29 BC, Octavian celebrated his victory in Rome.As he said, he is the Lord of all things.Indeed, in both name and fact, he deserves to be called a second Caesar.
The pretended dictatorship Octavian's reign lasted 43 years (29 BC to 14 AD) instead of only four years like Caesar's; Instead of being assassinated like Caesar.This is largely due to his deep understanding of the characteristics of monarchy and the need for camouflage.Octavian was superior to Julius in that he succeeded in putting the veil of republican government on the absolute monarchy.He was consul and high priest, like Julius, and had the powers of a tribune.He was called Imperator (General) and Pater (Father of the Nation).However, he is smart, he did not implement lifelong consul tenure, let alone implement dictatorship.True, he accepted the title of Augustus, and he did not deny applying the word Princes to him.Although this noun is the source of the English word "prince", in Octavian, this word only means "the chief citizen of Rome".In terms of titles, he completely abandoned those pomp and etiquette.His life was like that of a patrician, rather than those of the oriental tyrants.
Power Rome maintains the form of a republic on the surface, but in fact it is not the case. Augustus has almost absolute supremacy in Rome and power over everything.Not only did he have the highest authority over key matters such as diplomacy, declaring war, making peace, and supplying food and grass for the city, but he also held the most important powers in commanding the army and governing the provinces.Although these powers were conferred at intervals of five or ten years, he always received these privileges in succession without any hindrance.
So where did his supreme power come from?Is it just from a special position and title?of course not.Using his personal wealth to build temples, public buildings, aqueducts, streets, and highways, he accumulated a reputation and built himself a prestige ahead of him, and the power he acquired through his office was based precisely on his growing prestige.In addition, his personal wit and actual control of military power are also an important part of power.He also has a lot of wealth, and the combination of various positions and powers gives him supreme power.
Peace Rome's peace cannot be separated from the efforts of Augustus.The Roman people were very tired of wars, especially wars within Rome.So when, two centuries later, in 29 BC, the gates of the temple of Janus, which had been opened only during wartime, closed, there was a roar of joy and excitement among the crowd.It turns out that Augustus brought peace to the Romans.So people set up an altar on the Matthias Square (Parade Square), called "Augustus' Peace", the altar is extremely beautifully carved, as a memorial to Augustus by the Romans.
This peace lasted almost 200 years in Rome, with only a few brief and unfortunate conflicts.However, far away from the mainland of the empire, the Roman army continued to expand its territory.
Augustus pushed the boundaries of the empire to more easily defensible places, such as oceans and rivers, so frontier wars continued.He led the legion to add some new provinces through conquest and occupation.By the time of his death, the frontiers of the Roman Empire had reached the Black Sea, the Euphrates, and the Arabian Desert in the east, the Atlantic Ocean in the west, the Sahara in the south, and the Danube and Rhine in the north.
Prosperity and peace meant to some extent the prosperity of commerce and the rise of culture.Even though a few Roman legions still fought intermittently on the frontier, the area around the Mediterranean enjoyed unprecedented peace and prosperity.The Mediterranean is equivalent to an inner lake of the Roman Empire. It is at the center of a peaceful world and maintains a good peace and order.Naturally, the development of commerce was also thriving. Thousands of sailboats sailed across the Mediterranean Sea, carrying wheat, red wine, olive oil, cloth, wool, dishes and metal utensils on board.Needless to say, this was a time of prosperity, as evidenced by the splendor displayed by Pompeii and other ancient ruined cities.Augustus once said proudly: "When I saw Rome, it was a city of bricks. When I left, it became a city of marble." If these words only refer to the construction of temples and public buildings , then it is true.But if you look behind the towering buildings and the dilapidated slums where the lower classes live, you will know that it is exaggerated.
Literature In literature, the age of Augustus can be called the "golden age" of Rome.The poet Virgil wrote the great epic poem "Aeneid".The hero of the epic, Aeneas, is a prince of Troy who wanders around after the city of Troy falls and is destroyed.The content is very similar to the ups and downs of the protagonist Osed in Homer's epic poem "Ossed".Virgil's works have obvious characteristics of the times. In form, it is similar to Homer's epic in Greece, but in Latin; in content, it further develops Greek mythology and connects Roman culture and the Aegean world more closely. connected together.In addition, this work also praises Rome and sings the praises of the Roman rulers, whose family is said to be descended from Aeneas.
There is also a famous poet of this era, that is Horace.He became famous because of a beautiful lyric poem called "Ode".There is also a poet, Ovid, who is good at expressing love themes. He often writes the love of the gods and other stories into beautiful and moving poems based on Greek legends and Latin myths.Another is the famous essayist Li Wei, who published a long and concise history of Rome in the form of serial articles.
In addition, most writers at that time were writing books on more than ten disciplines related to Stoicism and Epicureanism, such as philosophy, rhetoric, and architecture.Augustus also hired tutors to compile an encyclopedia.In terms of art and literature, Mechenus was a famous critic, and at the same time, he was also a courtier around the emperor, and a close friend who had certain influence on the emperor.Mechenus generously sponsored many poets in his life, which made him more famous.
The prosperity of literature was not only in Rome, but also gradually spread to all parts of the world, especially the East influenced by Greek civilization. A large number of artists, scholars, and writers added luster to the civilization of the Augustan era.There was also one of the greatest geographers of this period named Strabo, who was from Asia Minor and lived in Alexandria for many years, concentrating on the study of geography.At the same time, Athens attracted countless Roman scholars, and its fascination never ceased or disappeared.In poetry and prose, in painting and sculpture, this prosperous age and this great ruler deserve to be celebrated.
Religion In this era, the gods of Rome and the gods of Greek mythology have merged.But with the development of the economy, people's belief in them is weakening day by day.They forgot Larry, they forgot Jupiter and Mars.Either they diverted their goals and became interested in the study of Hellenistic philosophy, or they indulged in material pleasures of the flesh.This was true of most Romans, especially the upper class nobility, and the atmosphere of Roman society became increasingly frivolous and lewd.This kind of worldly trend spread in Rome and became more and more rampant.Augustus took steps to restore the traditional virtues of the past and advocated the maintenance of the solid old Roman family structure.To this end, he made a series of efforts: he passed legislation to ensure that married men enjoy fixed rights; he exiled Ovid because he wrote indulgent, luxurious and lustful poems; Her love affairs are very disgraceful, and the influence is extremely bad.However, despite his great efforts, the results were not obvious.The god-worship and traditional Roman virtues of yesteryear were still dying, irreversibly.
Jesus was born in Bethlehem during the reign of Augustus.We will describe the development of Christianity and other religions in later chapters.
Dark Shadows In AD 9, five years before the death of Augustus, a Roman army clashed with the Germans. The two sides fought in the German forests, and the Romans were defeated and routed.This is like a tragic warning, which means that the dark age of Rome has come, and Rome needs the support of old virtue and heroism at this time.Marius had kept the Germans in the Alps, Caesar had kept them out of the Rhine; evidently the Germans were waiting for an opportunity, and when the time came they would cross the Rhine and the Danube, cross the Alps, and split Disintegrate this once prosperous and huge empire.
(End of this chapter)
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