Gnaeus Agricola

The Roman Empire was extremely large and difficult to maintain, which made it very weak. According to Doc: 2, “Borders became difficult to secure and the amount of gold needed to maintain roads and perform routine maintenance was never enough.” According to TCI chapter 13, section 1, “The huge size of the empire made it difficult to defend.” The empire’s size caused it to weaken, leaving it open to attack by the many enemies surrounding it.

Augustus, formerly known as Octavian, was the adopted son of dictator Julius Caesar and Emperor or Rome. Octavian set out to destroy his father’s murderers and assembled his own army in his quest for power and retribution. At the start, he shared rule with Mark Antony, however, their collaboration proved ineffective leading Augustus to pursue more and more control, culminating in the defeat of Antony in the battle of Actium and assuming rule as Emperor of Rome. Augustus did not inherit rule, his pursuit for power comprised of manipulative actions veiled under his generosity, concern for his people and charismatic tone and tenor. Res Gestae Divi Augusti expresses a sense of self adoration and honor in his quest for power and control, yet the subtext portrays a vastly different undertone, that of use of cajoling and propagandizing messages to benefit his position and accumulation of control of the republic. This Res Gestae is Augustus’ mechanism of self-promotion and adoration for his exceptional leadership qualities, concern and respect gleaned from his citizens and senate, and his military savvy to overpower and gain peace for the Romans, thus proclaiming his reign as one of prestige and importance.

Julius Caesar was a general and a politician of the late Roman Republic. He greatly influenced the size of the Roman Empire before seizing power and making himself dictator of Rome, which paved the way for the Imperial system. (Julius Caesar 100BC-44BC, April 29th, 2014)

Julius Caesar was born into a well-known family that lost most of their money but he still had a good education. Ever since Julius was little, he was combative and a good speaker who took a liking to politics. When he was 18, he married the daughter of a Popular faction member. When Sulla came into power, he commanded Caesar to separate from her or he would lose his

This essay will attempt to explain the motives that have led to the rise and fall of the brothers Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus in the late second century B.C. Although very few sources remain of these accounts, which are based mainly on works of the historians Appian and Plutarch, the Gracchi have been the subject of study by several scholars. If on the one hand earlier historians tend to represent them as heroes and revolutionaries, on the other, more recent ones have regarded them as two controversial figures which were politically motivated by personal gains. They proposed and passed a series of legislations and the most controversial one is the agrarian law about the redistribution of the land. It can be argued that their motives have been certainly and thoroughly selfless for the good of the people of Rome in the specific period of history which spans from 133 B.C to 121 B.C. On the contrary, as it will be explained below, their methods have not always been ‘orthodox’. There could be three main areas that will help this essay to conclude if they were truly heroes of the people or political opportunists; the first is to evaluate what their true motives were, the second is to assess if there was an agrarian crisis and the third to establish who the beneficiaries of their legislations were. Overall, as all political figures, the Gracchi have to be taken in the context of the specific roman society of their time.

The military campaigns of the Caesars made Rome one of the largest empires of the ancient world. Suetonius conveys through his writings that being a good military leader and a good Caesar were synonymous. Augustus, who Suetonius thought an excellent leader, reunited the eastern and western halves of the Roman Empire ( 51) and greatly expanded Romes territory (53). Augustus “showed not only skill as a commander, but courage as a soldier” in the eyes of his contemporaries (47). On the other hand, both Caligula and Nero, considered poor leaders by Suetonius, had very limited military success and aspirations. Only once did Caligula initiate a military exploit, and it was rife with his madness. His campaign into Germany was on a whim and all he accomplished was receiving the surrender of a

Gaius Julius Caesar was regarded as one of the most significant and important person in Roman History. He was born in a Patrician (a rich Roman) family on 12th or 13th of July 100 BCE in Rome. During this time, Rome was a Republic (which meant a “matter of the people”) and was governed by the Senate, the assembly and the two Consuls. Roman citizens were divided in two groups the wealthy Patricians and the working class Plebeians. Plebeians were not happy the way they were treated and governed by the patricians. More over, as the wealth and opportunities increased among the Patricians, the competition also increased for the power. There was lot of trouble and unrest among the society.

54) Despite his success, Agricola never let people’s high opinions of him go to his head. As a result, he treated soldiers under his command fairly and for that, they confided their trust in him. Agricola’s leadership was also great because of his ambitious and passionate nature. Early in his youth, he had a passion for military glory, which Tacitus described as “… thankless in an age in which a sinister construction was put upon distinction and a great reputation was as dangerous as a bad one.” (p.55) Because of his well-disciplined upbringing and humility, however, this passion became motivation to succeed in Roman conquest, not his own. Together, those qualities made Agricola an adept leader who did not accept the glory that leaders traditionally receive. Conversely, Rome had been ruled during and around A.D. 98, when the Agricola was completed, by tyrants who governed for their own benefit. Tacitus’ book shows, however, that Agricola nevertheless served the interests of his legions and the Roman Empire, not its emperor.

Another thing is how many countries were attacking Rome all at the same time. I think that was Rome’s biggest struggle in this time. Everyone was at different points attacking from the ocean and by land. This made it hard for Rome’s army to fight

Tacitus believes that Roman Imperialism has a variety of attributes that include prosperity, cruelty, and jealousy. Imperialism can be a two-edged sword, bringing peace and prosperity during one reign, and fear the next. Tacitus is a great source of the Roman imperialist results as he lived through emperor’s who were thought to be effective and others who were unsatisfactory to say the least. He favored the Trajanic regime that he was serving under while criticized Domitian’s reign undoubtedly. Overall, his opinion on imperial rule was mostly negative since it promoted the corruption of the ruler and the ruled, increased secrecy, paranoia, cruelty and moral downgrades in the emperors, and an increase in greed, hypocrisy, and cowardice in the subjects. While he talks positively of Agricola’s victories over the Britanni, he has mixed opinions on other Roman conquests. He describes his father-in-;aw’s positive effect on integrating conquered peoples into society. Meanwhile, other talks of Roman greed and lust combined with extreme contempt for barbarian culture fills the pages of Agricola. Tacitus includes an enumeration of possible barbarian complaints of Roman rule with a declamation by a renowned Britanni leader, Calagus, that both describe the expansion of Roman influence as destructive rather than the spread of peace.

Written by the Roman historian Tacitus, the Agricola chronicles the life of his father-in-law Gnaeus Julian Agricola while also covering the ethnography and history of ancient Britain and Rome. After the assassination of Domitian in 96 AD, Tacitus used his freedom to publish his work. Tacitus describes the character of his father-in-law, by showing how he grew up in a household that encouraged the study of philosophy and attended to matters of state with honesty and competence. Tacitus explores different themes in the book including the history, ethnography, and eulogy of Agricola.

Two of the more memorable emperors to the Romans were Augustus Caesar (27 BC to 14 AD), and Caligula (37 AD to 41 AD). Although only having ruled the empire by a separation of 23 years and belonging to the same family (through marriage and adoption), their empires couldn’t have been more different. It is possible to determine the impact of an emperor’s rule based on their many vices and virtues, as well as the choices that they make in relation to them. The author Suetonius expressed in his writings the many vices and virtues that put into perspective the kind of leaders that these emperors appeared as to their polis. As we explore the concept of vices and virtues, as well as what kind of ideals these two rulers represented, we will begin to be presented with a clearer picture of what an ideal emperor would have looked like. A vice can be described as an immoral or wicked behavior; while a virtue can be described as a behavior showing high moral standards. Suetonius and the Roman people had a high interpretation of the concept of virtue and vice, as well as their role in the ruler’s life.

From a rather humble beginning Lucius Cornelius Sulla rose to become a great politician and a powerful general in the Roman Republic. As a general, Sulla lead Roman armies to many victories. As a politician he became a powerful dictator and yet was responsible for bringing about many reforms. This essay will prove how he was a great dictator, politician and general, through discussing his background, his military and political career, his dictatorship, and his accomplishments in his later years.

Caligula’s universal condemnation has been seen throughout the writings of ancient historians over time, due to his evil representation and ‘monster’ like behaviour. The impact Caligula had over Rome is not remembered for the better, for his legacy shows the impact that he left behind was the horror and twisted ways of his reign. However he did have little impact that remains beneficial to Rome, for the first six months of his reign was nothing compared to how he left it. Firstly Caligula was considered a welcome breath of fresh air when he took to the throne. In the first six months of his reign people celebrated him, many believed he would take in his father’s footsteps. Secondly after the first six months of his reign Caligula fell seriously

Julius Caesar, a man born in around 12 to 13, 100 BC, was considered the start of a new legacy in the history of Rome. Participating in several wars, becoming dictator after forming multiple military alliances, to being assassinated on the Ides of March, Julius Caesar was a politically-flexible, popular leader of the Roman Empire. (Julius Caesar Biography, April 23, 2014) Although Caesar’s birth was never confirmed on the exact date, he was born and raised by his mother, Aurelia, and by his father, Gaius Julius Caesar. (Julius Caesar: Historical Background, April 23, 2014)