Rome/ Caesar test

Who was the first emperor? Caesar Augustus

• began the period of peace and prosperity called Pax Romana
• after Augustus died (at age 76), they went to his grand-nephew OCTAVIAN in A.D. 14 to pass on the power to him 

CALIGULA

• he was Germanicus' son (28 years old when started being "in charge"
• he was Tiberius' adopted grand son and great-nephew 
• he started off well: granting bonuses to those in the military 
• he began to fight with the senate
• he claimed to be a god 
• when you start to claim yourself as a god as a very young age...it is starting to show your crazy
• he had many statues of him everywhere
• sacrilegious
• he was cruel and insane:
• he slept with other men's wives and bragged about it
• spent a lot of money (the empires money) 
• he tried to make his horse a consul and priest (that is what critics said)
• he was assassinated by his own government officials AD 41 (28 years old)

CLAUDIUS 

• a very miserable leader (but a great one)
• expanded the empire somewhat into Britain 
• conquered Britain; he built roads, canals and aqueducts; renovated the Circus Maximus 
• critics thought he had cerebral palsy or polio
• his own family used to make fun of him because of this 
• ostracized by his own family 
• married to a women named Messalina (who "messed" around a lot)
• she had a lover named Silius 
• she thought when Claudius died her lover could become emperor 
• Claudius heard about this and got Messalina and her lover (Silius) killed

RELIGIOUS TROUBLES

• Christianity and Judaism: monotheistic
• romans had many gods, plus at times the emperor was viewed as a god
• AD 66: a group of Jews called the Zealots tried to rebel, but Roman troops put them down and burned their temple (except for one wall)
• the western wall today is the holiest of all Jewish shrines
• half a million Jews died in the rebellion 

PERSECUTION OF CHRISTIANS

• Romans were harsh towards those who would not worship the emperor
• especially Christians, who were viewed as followers of a new, upstart religion (cult)
• often used for "entertainment" purposes in the Colosseum (thrown to the lions ect.)
• despite the oppression, Christianity grew quickly- by AD 200, around 10% of the people in the Roman empire were Christians