During the reign of Augustus Caesar from 14-180 AD, there was little turmoil and general peace, earning his rule the name “Pax Romana” or Roman peace. Augustus created a large standing army at all times, a different approach from earlier eras when there was only a standing army during times of war. Conquering Egypt with 60 legions, Augustus still kept 28 in service. The plan was to instantly obliterate anyone who decided to attack Rome. Following the reign of Augustus, there was stability at some times, with there being some good emperors but also some horrible emperors who took the throne during the second century. 

Augustus had complete power over Rome and was feared. However, he was not known as especially brutal and was still generally considered to be a great emperor. He managed to acquire massive amounts of troops because of conscription. Augustus died towards the end of the first century with no male heir, so his wife’s son Tiberius, was named emperor. 

Tiberius had a mostly uneventful reign (14-37) yet power became even more centralized to the emperor under his leadership. From 37-41 AD, Caligula ruled over the Roman Empire. He was insane, cruel, and believed himself to be a god. This theme of the emperor being divine would continue with later emperors. The people of Rome hated this and such emperors would usually end up getting assassinated. For instance, Caligula even made a temple to himself and was murdered by the Praetorian guard because of this. 

After Caligula’s reign, Claudius took the throne and inherited an awful situation, with Rome being in massive debt and rebellion breaking out across the empire. Claudius turned out to be a competent emperor and saved Rome from these troubles. One of the most infamous Roman rulers ever, Nero, ruled from 54-68 and was apparently said to have been sane and sensible during his first five years as emperor. In the second half of his reign, Nero was known for tyranny and especially mass killings of Christains. His most heinous crimes include murdering his own mother for annoying him, burning the bodies of Christains to light his garden, and lighting the city of Rome on fire for an unknown reason. Obviously, Nero was despised by the people who caused a rebellion, leading Nero to commit suicide. The rule from Tiberus to Nero is known as the Julio-Claudian Dynasty. 

A large power gap was left after Nero’s death and in 69 AD is remembered as “The Year of the Four Emperors.” Eventually Vespasian took power ruling for 10 years and his sons continued what is known as the Flavian Dynasty. Under Vespasian, Rome stabilized, continuing the cycle of the situation getting out of control under an incompetent emperor and then being saved by a good emperor. Some notable events during the Flavian Dynasty include: the sacking of Jerusalem in 70 AD under Vespasian and the Colosseum in Rome being constructed in 80 AD under Vespasian’s son Titus. Roman art and engineering flourished during this time as impressive aqueducts were built and many works of art were made, being almost completely copied off of Greek art. 

The Greek poet and playwright Aeschylus wrote “The Libation Bearers” as a sequel to “Agamemnon”. Its name comes from the ancient Greek religious practice of Libation, which is a basic showing of piety that you do often to appease the gods and dead humans. In the story, the dead were not being appeased because libations were not offered. Differing from “Agamemnon”, the chorus is made up of captured Trojan slaves who converted to Greek religion. 

In this play Zeus is once again in charge, yet seems to always be in the background instead of making every decision. Still, everyone praises Zeus since this was basic to Greek thought. The god Apollo is the most important of the Olympians in this play. Orestes, Agamemnon’s son, promises Apollo that he will kill his father’s murderers, but Apollo has to validate the legitimacy of this oath. He eventually does at the conclusion. There is another set of gods called the “furies” or “hounds.” They are gods of retribution and avenge people who have been murdered. Described as being relentless in their revenge, they are feared by the characters. 

One of the other vital Olympian gods in “The Libation Bearers” is Hermes who is a messenger of Zeus to the underground gods. He is known as a trickster and will sometimes change Zeus’ message to get what he wants. There are gods of the “hearth” who provide the well-being and success of each individual family, and they are the ones that must be offered Libations. Fate, time, fear, and justice are described as invisible forces or gods themselves. Like in “Agamemnon”, bloodshed is dealt with by more bloodshed; justice is constant and merciless. Fate is a large part of the story; the outcome of men’s actions depend on it. The succession of Agamemnon’s family is unclear and we don’t know if Orestes becomes the ruler, but in the end, Orestes kills his father’s murderers fulfilling the oath. 

By 70 BC, Rome was gravitating toward an Empire instead of a Republic like how they had been traditionally for hundreds of years. Many influential Romans still wanted to preserve the Republic, including Sulla who implemented various reforms around 50-60 BC. After Sulla’s death, three prominent Roman men gained immense power. They were Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar and are known as the First Triumvirate.

Both Crassus and Popmpey became consuls, at that time one of the highest positions in Rome. The First Triumvirate started to get rid of Sulla’s laws and tried to undermine the power of the Senate and consolidate power in favor of an imperial system. Eventually, Caesar also took the office of consul, but more importantly he got large military commands. Crassus died in 53 BC, now leaving only Pompey and Julius Caesar in a power struggle for the most influential man in all of Rome. While Pompey was back home in Rome, Caesar continued to win countless military victories in Gaul and northern Europe, but key senators decided to support Pompey over Caesar, believing Caesar to be power hungry. 

The Senate boldly commanded that Julius Caesar disarm his army. Obviously, he refused as he had control of the most numerous soldiers. Caesar led his legions of men in a march on Rome. After a brief civil war between Caesar and Pompey and his supporters, Julius Caesar was victorious. Throughout a three-to-four-year period, he consolidated power, becoming dictator in 48 BC and dictator for life in 44 BC. In fear, the Senate honored Caesar and was promptly filled completely with his supporters. Not a brutal dictator, Julius Caesar was fair, had mercy on his enemies, and was generally beloved by the people. Some of his accomplishments include: creating a new calendar, granting citizenship to many people, and establishing colonies for veterans. 

There were some former Senators that resented Julius Caesar and even some of his associates and supporters that thought he had gained too much power. So in 44 BC, they assassinated Caesar who was  stabbed and was famously killed by his close friend Brutus. After Caesar’s death, the biggest question in Rome was the problem of the power gap that was left open. Two men would emerge into yet another power struggle: Marc Antony, a close associate of Julius Caesar and who was furious at the men responsible for killing him, and Octavian, a young ambitious man who was named heir to the throne by the Senate.