Rome Rulers

Rome RulersRulers of the World:The Good and the VERY BAD

1The GoodJulius Caesar - Set the standard for which all other rulers will be judgedAll others take the title of Caesar as an embodiment of total powerTried to eliminate dishonest practices in the governmentCorrected the Roman calendarDiluted the power of the corrupt SenateImpressive military general - greatly expanded Roman Territory

2Good Rulers Cont.Augustus - Reformed Romes Army - paid them out of the Imperial treasury and making the Legions swear alliance to himReformed the Roman economy, ordered a census, and set up a postal service

3Good Emperors Cont.Hadrian put his armies to work building roads and walls that marked the boundaries of the empireWorked very hard to improve the life of the average RomanCreated the Wall of Hadrian which marked the Northern border in EnglandDesigned to keep barbarians out - designed like the Great Wall of China - Used for over 300 years

4Good Rulers Cont.Marcus Aurelius - Very close to Platos idea of a philosopher king - dedicated himself to the idea of improving RomeExpanded the boundaries of the empire

5The Very BadCommodus - Bread and circusesHe neglected his office by spending most of his time at games and shows.He even fought in the arenaMurdered in his sleep

6The Very BadNero - Selfish RulerWanted to rebuild his palace - he is told that there is no money in the treasury to do soNot long after there was a fire which burnt most of the city of Rome to the groundThere is some evidence which points to Nero as the man behind the fire, legend says that Nero played the violin while the city burnedWhether Nero started the fire or not he got to rebuild his palace and blamed a weird new religious cult for starting the fire, the ChristiansThis began several hundred years of religious persecution against Christians in RomeChristians were crucified, forced to fight, and feed to beasts in the arena by the hundreds

7The Very Bad Cont.Caligula is the most famous bad ruler of them allCaligula started out as a good ruler but after suffering from a fever that almost killed him, Caligula recovered physically but was most probably criminally insaneCaligula delighted in dinner parties during which people were tortured to death for entertainmentCaligula forced the Senate to place their wives in a public brothel or be horribly murderedCaligula even made his horse a Senator and forced the Senate to address his horse as such

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