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Furthering his impressive resume, Augustus played a significant role in religion during the Roman Empire, being appointed The High Priest of The Ancient Roman College of Priests. He was held in such prestigious regard, for trying to reconstruct the priesthoods. This made Augustus the leader of the Roman Empire, as well a religious leader. He worried about the decline in of gods in Rome and the decline of the Roman Family and Virtue. With that being said, he reintroduced past ceremonies and festivals, including the Lustrum ceremony and Lupercalia festival. Then retried the Ludi Secular (Secular Games), a religious celebration in which sacrifices and theater performance were held. Finally, he established the Imperial Cult for worship of the …show more content…
Emperor as a god and was spread throughout the Empire in a few decades, and was considered to be a significant part of Roman religion (Augustus' Political, Social, and Moral Reforms). Furthering his impressive resume, Augustus played a significant role towards religion during his reign and was appointed The High Priest of The Ancient Roman College of Priests for trying to reconstruct the priesthoods.
This made Augustus the temporal head of the Roman Empire and the religious leader. He worried about the decline in the belief of gods in Rome and the decline of the Roman Family and Virtue. With that being said he reintroduced past ceremonies and festivals, including the Lustrum ceremony and Lupercalia festival. Then retried the Ludi Secular (Secular Games), a religious celebration in which sacrifices and theater performance were held. Finally, he established the Imperial Cult for worship of the Emperor as a god and was spread throughout the Empire in a few decades, and was considered to be a significant part of Roman religion (Augustus' Political, Social, and Moral …show more content…
Reforms). After Augustus’s impressive rule, the next fascinating ruler of the Roman Republic is Nero. Nero came to power whenever he was a teenager, when Claudius died. Nero was often classified a madman, allegedly killed his step-brother, mother, and wife (history book 168). After he came into power, Nero made laws that pleased the lower class. Being criticized for being too obsessed with his popularity, he began his reign by giving the Senate autonomy. Nero was known for his first year being hands off and spending time in taverns and brothels (prostitute’s house). During his next year, he took a more active approach as an administrator. He was appointed counsel for four years. During his reign he made restrictions on bail and fines. In the Senate there was discussion about the misconduct of the freedmen class, and that the patrons should be given the right to repeal freedom. Nero did support the freedmen class and did rule that patrons did not have that right to repeal freedom. Nero vetoed a law that if one slave was found guilty of a crime, than all slaves would be found guilty of that particular crime. “Nero transferred the collection authority to the lower commissioners of capability”. Also, Nero prohibited magistrates, a civil officer or lay judge who administers the law or procurator, agent representing others in a court retaining to Roman civil law, from displaying public entertainment for fear that the venue was used as a method of persuasion of the citizens. During Nero’s era, he made a lot of impeachments and removed government officials and arrested people for extortion, practice of obtaining money through the force of threat and corruption. To help the poor, after numerous complaints that their taxes were too high, so he reduced the poor taxes. The Senate did not like this claiming this was too extreme. Additionally, the secret government tax records were ordered to be publicized. As well to lower the cost of food production, merchant ships were tax exempted (Roman Emperor Nero). After Nero’s effective law codes, he had incorporated economic reforms. During the duration of his economic reforms, he caused the currency to reduce. He reduced the weight of denarius from 84 Roman pounds to 96. Nero also, reduced the silver worth from 95% to 93.5%, the silver weight dropped from 3.83 grams to 3.4 grams. Additionally, he reduced the weight of areus from 40 per Roman pound to 45 (8 grams to 7.5). After the reduction of money, Nero then ventured out on an expedition to discover the natural resources of the Nile River. Nero’s economic policy was based on the construction projects and the large numbers of spending (Nero - Crystalinks). Following Nero’s ideas of what the law code should be and the various economic reforms he is an advocate for art. Following his mother’s death, he turned to his passion of art. During private events, he sang and played the lyre and encouraged the members of the upper class to take dance lessons. He ordered public games to be held every five years. His most lasting artistic legacy came in reconstructing Rome following the fire that decimated the rest of the city. After his artistic passion, there was a Great Fire that changed the religion in Rome. Nero was out of town when the fire occurred. Whenever he heard about the outbreak of the fire, he came back to Rome. Once returned, the citizens wanted Nero to support them since the fire demolished their homes but he did not. So the rumors were made that Nero started the fire to clear the land to expand the palace complex on the Palatine Hill. To escape the blame, he blamed the responsibility for the disaster on the Christians. By now people have learned that Christians were not like the Jews. They hated them mainly because they were different. So Nero placed them in jail, where he came up with brutal and creative repercussions, like being clothed in animal skins that was ripped to shreds by vicious dogs, while others were burned to death. Nero exhausted the Roman treasury to reconstruct the city around his Domus Aurea (“Golden House”) palace complex. At the center he ordered a 100-foot tall bronze statue of himself, the Colossus Neronis (Nero and Nero and The Great Fire). After the follow up of Nero’s era, the final fascinating emperor during the Roman Empire is Justinian.
Justinian came to power by being the nephew of Justin (history book pg 202). Justinian was a famous coder and a legislator. He set up commission to produce a new law code of imperial enactments or constitutions that were enacted. Then set up another commission codifying the works of a Roman jurist named Digest. Then later a handbook was published for law students and the institutes. The second edition of the Codex of Justiniaus contained only his laws that were established. Later legislative work of Justinian was best known as the Novellae Constitutiones. In most of his work he was assisted by Tribonian. Justinian prohibited the sale of provincial governorship, governorship concerning a province of a country or empire, the high cost led to the persecution and corruption to recoup the cost. The provincial system was reorganized for efficiency and economy, and some provinces were reshaped by economic factors. The ministers of Justinian ran an efficient system of tax collection, imperial audits, inspection of an individual’s or organization's accounts, and trimming the public expenses (The Emperor
Justinian). Following his impressive partake in the various law codes, the economic reforms during Justinian's reign was focused on agriculture. In addition foreign trade flourished. Convoys from Alexandria provided Constantinople with wheat and grain. To make traffic more efficient he built a large granary on the island of Tenedos for storage and further transportation to Constantinople. Silk was the luxury item of Justinian time. So in order to protect the silk he put monopoly to imperial factories (History 303: Finances under Justinian). Under Justinian leadership after the law codes and the economic reforms, the arts flourished in the Byzantine Empire. He encouraged art, music, and drama. Not only he encouraged the arts, he was a master builder. Justinian's building program expressed the idea of royal responsibility (Justinian Encourages the Arts - World History for Kids - By KidsPast.com). He reconstructs the city after a devastating earthquake that demolished the city. He built waterways, bridges, defense fortifications, monasteries, orphanages, and magnificent churches (The Emperor Justinian). One of his greatest building projects was a church in the heart of Constantinople, which was named Hagia Sophia. Also, creating a gargantuan cathedral that still stands today as one of the largest churches in the world (Justinian Encourages the Arts - World History for Kids - By KidsPast.com). Following the law codes, economic reforms, and with the arts flourishing, Religion during Justinian’s Byzantine civilization was strengthened and emphasized during his reign. Throughout the empire there was a significant amount of theories discussed. Everywhere the citizens go, there were debates happening about the topics of Christianity. The citizens followed the Orthodox Church traditions. With the Roman Catholic’s Christianity spreading in Western Europe there were different emphasis on what was their Christianity and the two Christian Schools that practiced Christianity separated during the eleventh century (history book pg 204). During the era of Augustus, Nero, and Justinian, strangely they had similarities. Augustus, Nero, and Justinian came to power during the Roman Empire and Early Middle Ages is that they inherited power from a deceased loved one. For example, Augustus came to power by being the adopted son of his great uncle Julius Caesar. Secondly, Nero came to power whenever he was a teenager, when Claudius died. Finally, Justinian came to power by being the nephew of Justin. From all coming to power from inheritance, they did pave the way for the arts. During the reign of each of these fascinating rulers, art did flourish. Not only that each of their building reforms helped out Rome and the Early Middle Ages after a natural occurrence demolishes the different cities. Indeed The Roman Empire and Early Middle Ages had countless rulers that captivated the interest of many historians. The top three fascinating rulers that further captivated the historian's interests was no other than Augustus, Nero, and Justinian. These compelling leaders did lead the way with new building reforms and art that is still acknowledged today. Each one of the emperor’s era, did contrast in the variety of law codes, economic reforms, art, and the various religions during each era. Oddly, each emperor had similarities in how they came to power and how art flourished and how the building reforms assisted in renovating the city. Definitely all three of these fantastic leader’s did amazing things and not so amazing things, but did an exceptional job in making the Roman Empire and Early Middle East successful.
The Res Gestae Divi Augustus (‘The Deeds of the Divine Augustus’), also known simply as the Res Gestae was a catalogue of the achievements Augustus had made during his life, specifically those that had an obvious positive impact on the Roman people. It was written in 13-14AD (E.S. Ramage, 1987) and presented to the Vestal Virgins alongside Augustus’ will upon his death in 14AD (M.C. Howatson, 1937). The biography, which was carved into bronze pillars outside of Augustus’ mausoleum (M.C. Howatson, 1937), is split into 35 sections; each recognizing a separate part of Augustus’ excellence. The fifteenth, which will be discussed in this commentary, describes the notable largesses donated to the Roman people by Augustus throughout his
Rome was the greatest empire of all times and it impacted the society in many ways. It impacted society by the creation of laws, government practices, language, literature, and art.
Main Functions of the Games in Ancient Rome The 2 main kinds of games that took place in ancient Rome were those of ludi scaenici (theatre and plays) and those of ludi circenses (sports). This evaluation of Roman games will concentrate on the sports side of Roman entertainment due to their much higher popularity i.e. chariot racing and the gladiators. Chariot racing is one of the oldest spectator sports in Rome dating back to at least 6BC. The races started to celebrate religious festivals, the very first recorded one was the festival of to consus, this festival known as the Consualia was celebrated on the 21st August in Rome, which happened to be the local Derby Day, the main event of the racing calendar. The underground granary where the shrine to
Augustus was born in Rome on September 23, 63 B.C. He was originally named Gaius Octavianus, but when his great-uncle, Julius Caesar, was murdered, he took his name. Augustus’ real father died when his son was only four. Augustus was adopted in Julius Caesar’s will and was left to be his heir at the age of eighteen. Caesar was very fond of his grand-nephew and he sent him to the College of Pontifices at the age of sixteen. When Caesar was assassinated, Augustus was in Illyria, where he was sent to serve. It was only when he returned to Italy that he learned he was his great-uncle’s heir.
Some of the buildings that was built under his command was the Curia, the temple of Apollo and the Lupercal. He also ordered the construction of a highway that connected Rome to its empire. Augustus was very motivated by art. He loved art so much that he even finished building the incomplete projects left by his father such as the Forum Julium and the Basilica.
Augustus has a deep concern for his people but an underlying selfishness that is easily seen in much of what he discusses in his first hand account of his own life story.
In the Empire, the Emperor had complete jurisdiction over all policies and decisions. In the beginnings of the empire, h...
30 BC ~ Octavian was given the title of Imperator, which was used in the Eastern provinces. Imperium suggests unlimited imperium (or power) (Antiquity 2 Interpreting The Past) This was the first of many titles that were to be given to Octavian after his defeat of Mark Antony in 31 BC at the Battle of Actium. It indicates that the provinces thought Octavian was worthy of being honoured, and that the power he possessed at the time should remain his. Therefore this was the first factor that initiated the rise of Octavian.
Within the Ancient world, political leaders manipulated the balance between religion and politics to further their own power. In particular, Gaius Octavius (63 BC – 14 AD) later known as Imperator Caesar Divi Filius Augustus, exploited the ‘imperial cult’ as a political tool within the Roman Empire. Termed by modern historians, the imperial cult was a combination of local religious cults where people worshipped the emperor as a deity who received divine honours exceeding all other living entities. By directly allowing the imperial cult in the Roman provinces, this achieved much required unity and stability throughout the Empire. Consequently, this enabled Augustus to indirectly incorporate the cult into Rome’s ritualistic polytheism practices.
who took over the Roman government and established himself as the emperor of the state. He
Adopted by his great uncle Julius Caesar, Augustus became a ruler along with Mark Anthony and after death of Caesar, where together the two paved a way for a superior Roman empire. During his leadership Augustus accomplished many things; one such example is his rebuilding and vast construction throughout the Roman empire of both temples and public baths. Augustus also held the Roman people to the law very strictly. “This is shown through the banishment of his own daughter after she broke her marriage vows in an act of adultery, which was decreed illegal under his rule”. Augustus was able to strengthen and expand Rome through these construction projects and laws, benefiting the empire both during and after his reign. As he once said himself “I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble.
Throughout the history of Rome, from the monarchy to the late empire, religion had played a great role in it's society and was involved in almost every aspect of the life of the Roman citizen. It was common for each house to have it's own patron god/gods and ,on special occasions, the head of the house would make a sacrifice to the personal gods of the family. Also, great festivals were usually held in honor of certain gods and would include spectacles like chariot races and Gladiatorial fights.
Octavian, or Caesar Augustus, was an effective ruler, implementing reforms that positively affected virtually all areas of life throughout the Empire. Social, economic, and political tensions that had led to so much violence in earlier years were calmed by Augustus's policies. Corruption and abuses of the people were also given attention by the Emperor. The borders of the Roman Empire grew dramatically under Augustus's rule, adding material wealth and manpower to Rome's already significant resources.
The state religion was the official name of formal religion where people of Rome worship gods and goddesses which were created by the romans family for honor to their family. State religion was focused more controlled and guide the attitude of romans, and the gods of it was more power than the domestic religion. Also, state religion made available the temples, priest and sacrifices. In addition, the major gods in the state religion were Jupiter, Neptune, Pluto, and Juno. For instance, Zeus who was the most important in Rome because “he was the king of goods; the sky god (the great protector) – controlling the weather and forces of nature, using thunderbolts to give warning to the people of Rome” (Wasson, 2013). Zeus was the god who had his own temple on Capitoline Hill where became Imperator, supreme general, unconquered, and Optimus Maximus. Zeus wanted to take out the religion of Rome and put the Syrian god Elagabal. Although people of Rome reverence their gods, they could pray and make
Ancient Roman mythology consisted of a combination of rituals, beliefs, and observances of supernatural occurrences. They were based heavily on the idea of Greek mythology. As legend has it, the gods resembled human figures but they were bigger stronger and much more beautiful than that of the ancient roman gods. Even though the Roman gods were not depicted to be as beautiful they still were thought of with high admiration by roman citizens. The roman’s paid homage to the gods, in doing so they expected protection, fertility, prosperity, and good health in return for their allegiance.