Western civ blog 51

Today on our online western civ class we had to read pages 160-165 and take notes like we used to do in your notebooks, but on your blog. The Civil War was a conflict between groups within the same country. Julius Caesar was a military man, strong leader, and a genius at military strategy. He served one year as consul, and joined forces with Crassus. Triumvirate was a group of three rulers. Augustus got the title"exalted one". Pax Romana was the period of peace and prosperity. As Rome grew, the gap between rich and poor grew wider. Landowners lived on large estates. Thousands of enslaved people. Small landowners, former soldiers, couldn't compete so they sold their land to the wealthy landowners and became homeless. Tiberius and Gaius tried to helped Rome's poor by limiting the size of estates and giving it to the poor. Generals started recruiting their own soldiers to gain power for themselves. From 58 BC to 50 BC Caesar led his legions in a campaign all over Gaul, he won his people's loyalty and devotion. Successes in Gaul made him popular with the people of Rome. Caesar's troops defeated Pompey's armies in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt. In 44 B.C. he was appointed dictator for life.Caesar then granted Roman citizenship to many people. He expanded the senate, gave jobs to the poor, and increased pay for soldiers. He feared he was gaining to much power so he was assassinated. The Civil war broke out after his assassination. Octavian, who was the 18 year old grandnephew of Caesar, joined general Mark and took control of Rome for ten years. He had the titles of Augustus and imperator, supreme military commander. Augustus was Rome's ablest emperor, he set up civil service, paid workers to maintain government, glorified Rome, and set up a government that survived for centuries. After he died the government he created maintained the stability of the nation. Agriculture was a big part in Rome, 90% was farmed. Most people in Rome lived in the countryside and worked on farms. The number of slaves reached 1/3 of the population. Roman law then stated that slaves were property of their owners. The government and religion were linked. Dieties were symbols of the state. Social status was how you lived back then. The rich spent lots of money on homes and gardens, etc. Most of the population was poor and the government supported with daily rations of grain.The colosseum held lots of large events. Soon, Christianity started to appear, early followers were met with lots of brutality.