1. Pax Romana

2.  Roman Peace  A long period of peace in Rome.  Not entirely peaceful: Rome went to war with other countries during this time period. No Civil Wars

4.  After the death of Julius Caesar there was a great position of power that needed to be filled.  Rome went through a series of rulers known as the “12 Caesars”.  After each Caesar died Rome would plunge into a civil war between two people struggling to become Emperor of Rome

5.  The power struggle in Rome continued till the 5 “Good” Emperors.  Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus, and Marcus Aurelius.  During the reign of the 5 “Good” Emperors power was handed from one Emperor to the next peacefully.

6.  Inherited Power: Before power was passed on to an Emperor’s son, regardless  Adoptive Succession: each emperor adopted a person that they thought would be a good ruler.  Adopted were chosen based on merit. This allowed for qualified individuals to run Rome during this time period.

8.  1 st of the 5 “Good” Emperors.  Started adoptive succession.  Gave a lot of power to the Senate:  Promised never to execute Senators  No military experience = no Roman expansion  Instituted Social Welfare programs  Gave food and money to the poor to help them.  These programs continued through the 5 Emperors.  Very well liked by the Senate

9.  Adopted into the Imperial Cult.  Deified: celebrated with the Roman Gods

10.  Strong military background; Served as a great General for Nerva.  Was Adopted by Nerva to become the next Emperor.  Ran the gov’t similar to the way a military is run.  Delegated smaller responsibilities to officials  Only made the big important decisions  Favored by the Senate  Considered the model Emperor: expansion and ruled justly.

12.  Gave up a lot of Trajan’s conquered territory.  Made him very unpopular  Felt that it would be too expensive to keep.  Wanderlust: felt a great need to travel the empire.  Inspected borders and used natural geographic defenses to maintain Roman territory  Hadrian’s Wall in Britain.  Patron of the arts and architecture.

18.  Time of economic prosperity and military strength  Unlike Hadrian, focused most of his work in the City of Rome.  Rebuilt the city finishing most of the works the previous Emperors had started.  This made him very popular.  Gave out of his own pocket in times of crisis to help the poor.

21.  Philosopher- King  Stoic: dedication to logic; believed that emotion clouded judgment.  Faced many challenges during his reign  Plague, famine, wars, and usurpations: uprisings against him.  Was very popular