History of Augustus and the Roman Empire Flashcards
Chief Magistrates
2 consuls elected annually
Senate
advisory body made up of roman aristocrats
Popular assemblies
voted on laws
Praetors
2nd most important magistrate; could hold military command and govern province
Consuls
chief executive magistrate; governed provinces
Struggle of Orders
plebians(lower class) revolt against patricians in effort to equal political rights & obtained plebeian assembly and the right to become members of the senate, get military commands and enter state priesthoods
Optimates vs Populares
optimates sought support from the senatorial elite while populares sought support among the people
nobiles
men from senatorial families
novi homines
“new men”- first in their family to become consul
Sulla
represented optimates; became dictator 82-79 BC; cruel proscriptions
Members of the 1st Triumverate
Julius Caesar, Pompey & Crassus
first triumvirate
secret alliance to thwart the senate; was formed in 60 BC
1st Triumvirate falls apart
Crassus dies in Parthia 53BC–> major military defeat lost 3 legions & Julia dies: wife of Pompey & daughter of Caesar
Pompey vs Caesar
Pompey flees to the Greece & is defeated by Caesar in the Battle of Pharsalus in 48 BC & goes to egypt where he is killed
Julius Caesar
crosses Rubicon in 49 BC; voted dictator for life in 44 BC & killed in senatorial conspiracy led by Brutus and Cassius in 44 BC-known as the Ides of March
Aftermath of Assasination
Caesar will is read and he names Octavian as his principal heir and adopted son