The Roman Empire began with the mythical founders Romulus and Remus. The Roman Republic had a system of government with a balance of power between the Senate, Consuls, and Assemblies. The Senate, made up of elite families, chose two Consuls each year to serve as chief executives. Julius Caesar, a member of the senatorial class, rose to power and became Consul in 59 BCE. He formed an alliance with Crassus and Pompey, but eventually turned against them and crossed the Rubicon River with his army, sparking a civil war. Caesar was appointed dictator and implemented various reforms, but was assassinated by Senators in 44 BCE. His adopted son Octavian, later known as Augustus, avenged his death and became the first Emperor of Rome.
However, the video also argues that the Roman Republic was already in decline before Caesar's rise to power. The concentration of power in the hands of generals, such as Marius and Sulla, and the expansion of Rome into an empire, created an environment in which the Republic was no longer sustainable. The video suggests that the death of the Republic came long before Caesar's assassination and was likely caused by the shift from a city-state to an empire.
Here are the key facts extracted from the text:
1. The Roman Empire began when Romulus and Remus founded a city on seven hills.
2. SPQR stands for Senātus Populusque Rōmānus, one of the mottos of the Roman Republic.
3. Julius Caesar was born around 100 BCE to one of Rome's leading families.
4. The Roman Republic had a balance of power between the three branches of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and democracy.
5. The Senate was a body of legislators chosen from a group of elite families.
6. The Senators were drawn from the Patricians, a small group of aristocratic families.
7. The Senate was a mixture of legislature and an advisory council.
8. The Senate would choose two co-Consuls to serve as chief executives of Rome each year.
9. The Consuls had a one-year term and were forbidden to serve as consul again for at least 10 years.
10. The Romans also had a position of dictator, a person who would take over in the event the Republic was in imminent danger.
11. Cincinnatus was a general who was a paradigm for this selfless Roman ruler.
12. George Washington was heavily influenced by Cincinnatus when he invented the idea of a two-term president.
13. Julius Caesar rose through the ranks and became consul in 59 BCE.
14. Caesar allied himself with Crassus and Pompey, forming the First Triumvirate.
15. Caesar landed the governorship of Gaul and conquered the rest of Gaul.
16. Caesar continued his conquests, invading Britain and waging another successful war against the Gauls.
17. Caesar was declared dictator again, and the position was later extended for ten years, and then for life.
18. Caesar was elected consul in 46 BCE and then again in 45 BCE, this last time without a co-consul.
19. Caesar pursued reforms that strengthened his own power, including providing land pensions for his soldiers and restructuring the debts of Rome's debtors.
20. Caesar changed the calendar to make it look more like the one we use today.
21. Many Senators decided that Caesar controlled too much of the power in Rome and stabbed him 23 times on the floor of the Roman senate in 44 BCE.
22. The conspirators thought that the death of Caesar would bring about the restoration of the Republic, but they were wrong.
23. Caesar's reforms were really popular with Rome's people, who hailed his adopted son Octavian as well as his second-in-command Mark Antony and a dude named Lepidus as a second triumvirate.
24. The Second Triumvirate was formed, but it degenerated into a second civil war.
25. Octavian and Antony fought it out, and Octavian won, changed his name to Caesar Augustus, and became sole ruler of Rome.
26. Augustus adopted the title Emperor and started printing coins identifying himself as Divini Filius: The Son of God.
27. Rome started out as a city, then a city-state, then a kingdom, and then a Republic, but it was basically comprised of the area around Rome.
28. By the 4th century BCE, Rome started to incorporate its neighbors, like the Latins and the Etruscans, and soon had all of Italy under its control.
29. The Punic Wars were a series of wars between Rome and Carthage that involved Hannibal crossing the Alps with war elephants.
30. Rome won the First Punic War, which made Carthage cranky, and they started the Second Punic War.
31. Hannibal attacked a Roman town and then led an army across Spain and crossed the Alps with elephants.
32. The Romans got Spain after the Second Punic War.
33. The Third Punic War was a formality, and Rome destroyed Carthage so completely that it is now hard to find on a map.
34. The Roman Empire had a unified system of government, continual military expansion, and a diversity of subject peoples.
35. The Roman Empire needed to expand militarily because it always needed new land to give its retired legionnaires.