-
100
Ides of March
On March 15, 44 BCE Julius Caeser was stabbed to death by angry senates and men he believed were his friends. They killed him in fear he would excel from dictator and become king. -
100
Second Triumvirate
Mark Antony, Octavian, and Lepidus form the second triumvirate. The two younger leaders, (Octavian and Mark Antony) convince Lepidus to retire, so that they might rule together as best friends. -
100
Romeo and Juliette of Sorts
Mark Antony falls in love with the queen of Egypt; Cleopatra. A fight ensuses and Octavian emerged as winner and emperor. Rumors spread that Cleopatra is dead, and Mark Antony tried to commit suicide out of grief, and was brought to Cleopatra, where he died in her arms. Cleopatra then commited suicide as well, by the poisonous bite of the asp. -
100
Roman Republic Ends, Empire Begins
At the fall of Julius Caesar, Mark Antony, and Cleopatra, the Republic crashes to an end. What rises out of that is one of the most powerful empires the world will ever know. With the start of the empire, Pax Romana begins aswell. -
Period: 100 to 500
Rome
-
161
Marcus Aurelius
Marcus Aurelius ruled from 161 to 180, he unified the Roman Empire economically. He spent most of his ruling days, taking down rebels and fighting off invasions. He was more of a hands on emperor than most. He made a huge mistake however, choosing his son Commodus to follow him as leader. -
306
Constantine
Constantine sees a strange symbol in the sky, stating, "under this sign you will conquer.' He believes it was the christian god who sent this, and he puts it on all of his army's sheilds. He won the battle, even though his army was weak and the other army was strong. After that battle, the battle of Milvian Bridge, Constantine converted to christianity, and in the year 313, he signed Edict of Milan, giving freedom of worship. He moved the capitol to Constantiople, on the wealthy Eastern side. -
400
Germanic Tribes
The Western part of Rome suffered greatly for the past few years, which made it very vunerable to attacks. The Germanic Tribes, called "Barbarians" by the Romans, tried and failed to attack the Eastern, and prospering part of the empire, so they moved to the Western part and succeeded. -
410
Visigoths
The Visigoths set in and were the first, of basically everyone to capture the great Roman Empire(Western part). They not only captured it, but they looted it aswell.Taking everything of value they could find in the crumbling city. -
455
Vandals
The vandals came through and tore Rome to shreds, metaphorically. They literally left Rome powerless. Shaking all of what was left of an Empire to a great struggle to stay alive. They were now susceptible to just about anything! -
476
Fall of Rome
The great Roman empire had finally fallen. What use to be an amazing and huge economic acheivment was now gone. But not completely! A lot of the things we do today are from ancient rome. As the saying goes, "All roads lead to Rome.' -
Commodus
Commodus was somewhat of a party animal. He enjoyed being emperor only for the money he recieved. He spent a lot of the money on his own entertainment, circuses, chariot races, and gladiator battles held his attention. He didn't want to have to run the Empire, so he allowed others to help rule. Once the government ran out of money almost competely, he ordered the killing of wealthy citizens for their money. He was assasinated 192 C.E., there were two attempts. One was plotted by his own sister! -
Diocletian
Diocletian tries to stop the fall, and he succeeds only in slowing it down, not stopping it completely. He divided up the empire into a Tetrarchy, which means four people running the government. There was Diocletian ruling the prospering East, and Maxentius in the West. Both East and West had two helpers, or "vice emperors"
