Notes on the Roman Empire

Here are some of my notes on the Roman Empire. 

• as Rome grew the gap between rich and poor grew
• by 100 BC enslaved persons formed 1/3 of the population
• two brother Tiberius and Gaius tried to help Rome's poor by limiting estate size, & giving land to the poor
• with many enemies, brothers had violent deaths, Tiberius in 133 BC, & Gaius in 121 BC
• Civil war- a conflict between groups in the same country
• eventually, all the poor people became soldiers for pay and they formed a big military
• in 60 BC military leader Julius Caesar joined Pompey and Crassus, they formed a triumvirate
• Triumvirate- a group of three rulers
• Caesar served a year as a consul, became governor of Gaul and conquered it
• Pompey feared Caesar's ambitions, so on Jan. 10, 49 BC, Caesar marched his army to Rome and Pompey fled.
• Caesar was named dictator for life in 44 BC after conquering Pompey armies in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Europe.
• he gave Roman citizenship to many people in other provinces, expanded senate adding friends from Italy and other regions
• also helped the poor by creating jobs, making colonies
• Caesars 18yr old grandnephew and adopted son Octavian joined Mark Antony and Lepidus and made the second triumvirate
• it ended in violence and jealousy, Octavian made Lepidus retire and that made him and Mark Antony rivals
• Mark met Cleopatra, fell in love, and was accused by Octavian that he was trying to rule Rome from Egypt, that leads to another civil war, they lost to Octavian and committed suicide.
• Octavian became Augustus (exalted one), Rome became empire ruled from one man
• Rome was at the peak of its power and was at peace for 207 years
• Pax Romana- "Roman peace", a period of peace and prosperity 27 BC to 180 AD
• Augustus died in 14 AD
• Romans managed to control an empire that by the second century AD reached from Spain to Mesopotamia, & North Africa to Great Britain
• Slaves were conquered people brought back by Roman armies, children who were born to slaves were slaves, they could be bought and sold, they were the property of their owners, they could be set free, punished, rewarded or put to death by their masters.
• worked in the city and farmers, some men would become gladiators who were put in contests that you fight to the death, slaves of wealthy landowners were treated better, none of the slave revolts succeeded
• Romans worshipped and honored the Roman Gods/Goddess to avoid misfortune
• the rich lived extravagantly, they had parties with rare food like parrot tongues pie and boiled ostrich, they bought large homes and gardens, and bought slaves
• most of Rome didn't have the bare necessities of life and were unemployed and were given daily rations of grain to get by
• poor people crowded in rickety, sprawling tenements
• to distract masses of Rome they had free games, races, mock battles, and gladiator contests
• by 250 AD there were 150 holidays and 50,000 rich and poor would gather in a Colosseum
• during Pax Romana, a practice of new religion called Christianity emerged