Henry Ford1 Essay -- essays papers

Henry Ford1 Octavian Augustus (63 B.C.E-14 AD) is known as the first, and one of the greatest, Roman Emperors ever. Octavian enabled the long, peaceful time of the Pax Romana by changing Rome from a fragile, crumbling republican government to a mighty empire. Octavian ¹s government was strong enough to withstand weak emperors who mismanaged the Empire. His changes proved to be the cornerstone of the greatest empire the world has ever seen. During the Conflict of Orders, the lower class Romans, or plebeians, forced the upper class Romans, known as patricians, to give them more rights and liberties (Hadas 1969). The Republican government in Rome was established to satisfy the plebeians, while still leaving a majority of the control with the patricians. The government consisted of three main parts: the senate, the assemblies and the magistrates. The Senate was a group of former state officials, usually patricians, who acted as advisors, controlled public finances and handled all diplomatic dealings with other states (Hanes 1997). The assemblies were the various public meetings where citizens voted on laws and public office (Hanes 1997). Magistrates were the elected officials who put the laws into practice. The most important of these magistrates were the consuls. The two consuls each elected for one year acted as the chief executives of the state. Censors were also very important magistrates. Censors were elected every five years to take a census and record the wealth of the people. Censors also had two other very important jobs. The first was to appoint candidates for the Senate and the seco nd was to award contracts for government projects (Hanes 1997). As time passed, the Romans also began to elect other magistrates called praetors. Praetors acted as judges but could also fill in for the Consuls when they were away (Hanes 1997). The Republic first started to lose power in 133 BCE Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Gaius were the leaders of a campaign to help the landowners/soldiers of Rome (Hanes 1997). The brothers tried to redistribute the public land of Rome to small farmers. The Senate, however, feared that the brothers were trying to take power away from the government. They ordered mobs to kill the brothers and hundreds of their supporters. The Gracchi ¹s efforts were the beginning of the Roman Revolution (Hanes 1997). In 107 B.C.E, a popu... ...eum and the comedies performed at the many theatres (Hadas 1969). The Romans are attributed with the development of concrete, which enabled them to build large structures such as aqueducts. As Rome grew into the primary world leader, it ¹s Republican government was falling apart. The Senate was ineffective because it had no control of the vast armies that provided power. Conservative Romans who believed strongly in the Republic would immediately target a strong general who took sole control. Rome was in need of a solitary, powerful leader. Octavian skillfully turned himself into an emperor without suffering the fate of his great-uncle, Caesar. He controlled the army, and managed to please the masses. Once in the position of power, he changed the government not only to benefit himself, but also to benefit the Empire and ultimately the people. This structure was so strong, that it could survive through weak emperors such as Caligula and Nero and major problems like who the next emperor should be. Octavian was so influential that eventually the Romans did not care that they were no longer a Republic. They knew that with Octavian, they could become the greatest empire in the world.