Marcus tullius cicero, BC 106- 43 BC. Roman politician, orator, jurist and philosopher.
Born into a knight family of slave owners, he became a prominent figure in Roman politics because of his outstanding eloquence. At first, he tended to be a populist, and later he became an optimizer. He was elected consul in 63 BC, and was killed by Marcus Antonius (82-30 BC), one of the three leaders, after the last three political alliances were established.
Representative works in political and legal thought include the National Seal and the Law Seal. It is believed that the country is a matter for the people and a collective formed by the people under the principle of justice and the cooperation between seeking * * * and seeking welfare; Monarchy, aristocracy and democracy are all single regimes, and the ideal regime should be a "mixed regime", that is, slave owners, nobles and countries headed by the Roman Senate at that time.
As early as before the rise of jurists in the early Roman Empire, he systematically demonstrated the relationship between natural law and positive law, and believed that natural law represented rationality, justice and the will of God, which was universally applicable and eternal and existed long before the country came into being. Positive law must conform to natural law, otherwise it is not worthy of being called law at all.
Anthony
Chinese name: Anthony
Date of birth and death: 82 ~ 30 BC
Country: Roman Empire
biography
Roman commander in chief. In 54 BC, he served as a financial officer under Caesar. In the battle against Pompeii, he followed Caesar and took part in the battle of Fasaro. In 44 BC, he served as consul. In the same year, after Caesar's assassination, there was a power struggle with Augustus (that is, G. Octavian), and they quickly made peace, and joined M.A. Libida to form a "post-triad alliance" to clean up the * * * peace faction. In 42 BC, Antony and Octavian led troops into Greece, pursued and killed * * * and faction leaders who tried to assassinate Caesar, M.J. Brutu and G.Cassio Longina. Two armies met at the gates of Filipi in southeastern Macedonia. Both sides invested in dozens of legions, Anthony and Octavian commanded properly, while Kathy Olongina and Brutu were in trouble and committed suicide one after another. In 40 BC, Anthony gained the right to rule the eastern provinces. In 36 BC, the war against Parthia failed. Octavian sat in Rome, ruled the western regions (lifted the military power of Libida in 36 BC), and confronted Anthony. Anthony married Cleopatra VII, the queen of Egypt, lived in the court of Alexandria, pretended to be the emperor, and claimed to give some territories in eastern Rome to her children. This aroused the strong dissatisfaction of the Roman Senate, and also gave Octavian a good opportunity to oppose Anthony. In 32 BC, the relationship between the two sides broke down. The Senate and the Civil Assembly declared Anthony an "enemy of the motherland" and declared war on Cleopatra VII for embezzling the property of the Roman people. In September of 3 1 BC, Anthony and the queen were defeated by Octavian in the naval battle of Akron and fled back to Egypt in a mess. The following year Anthony was defeated by Octavian again, and he died in poverty.
gaius julius caesar
65438 BC+000 BC ~ 44 BC
Gaius julius caesar, a famous military and political leader in Rome, was born in a period of great political turmoil.
In the second century BC, the Romans established a huge empire after defeating Carthage for the second time. This victory made many Romans rich, but the continuous wars disrupted Rome's social system and economic system, and many farmers were robbed of their property. The original Roman Senate was only the Senate of a small city. Practice has proved that it can no longer reasonably govern such a huge empire. Political corruption, corruption and bribery are prevalent everywhere, and all the places around the Mediterranean are under the fatuous rule of the Romans. From about 133 BC, Rome experienced long-term turmoil. Politicians, military generals and people's leaders are intrigued for power and interests. Guerrillas (such as those in Liu Ma in 87 BC and Sola in 82 BC) often haunt Rome, attacking the east and disrupting the west. Although the fact of fatuous rule is well known, most Roman citizens want to continue to maintain the political system. Julius Caesar may be the first important political leader: he clearly realized that this kind of democracy is not worth saving, because it is hopeless.
Caesar was born in a noble family with a long history and received a good education. He entered politics when he was young. His various positions, alliances, and details of political rise are complicated, and I don't intend to describe them here. But it is worth mentioning that in 58 BC, at the age of 42, he was appointed as the governor of three provinces under the jurisdiction of Rome. These three provinces are Gaul (located in northern Italy) on the south side of the Alps, Iliricon (located in the coastal area of modern Yugoslavia) and Bognis Gaul (located in the coastal area of southern France). At that time, he commanded four Roman legions, with about 20 thousand soldiers.
During the period from 58 BC to 5 1 BC, Caesar led these four legions and invaded and conquered all other parts of Gaul, including France and Belgium today and parts of Switzerland, Germany and the Netherlands. Although his troops were not as good as their opponents in number, they defeated the tribes of Gaul and incorporated all the territory north of the Rhine into the territory of Rome. He also sent two troops across the sea to England, but it didn't achieve permanent results.
Caesar, who had become an important political figure at that time, won the hearts of the people because he conquered Gaul and returned to Rome to become a world-loved hero. He is very powerful, but his political opponents are jealous of him. When he finished his military command, the Roman Senate ordered him to return to Rome as an ordinary citizen. Caesar was afraid that if he returned to Rome without troops, his political opponents would take this opportunity to kill him. His idea is not unreasonable. So on the night of 65438+ 10 to 10 in 49 BC, Caesar led his troops across the Rubicon River in northern Italy and went straight to Rome to show his contempt for the Senate. This obvious illegal act triggered a civil war, with Caesar's legion on one side and troops loyal to the Senate on the other. The civil war lasted for four years and ended in Caesar's complete victory. The last battle was held in Manda, Spain on March 7, 45 BC.
Caesar concluded that he was best suited to establish the effective and enlightened autocracy that Rome needed. He returned to Rome in 10 BC and soon became a lifelong dictator. In February 44 BC, someone tried to crown him, but he refused. But because he was a military dictator, this did not reassure the opposition who supported the political system. On March 15, 44 BC (the famous March 15), Caesar was assassinated by a group of conspirators at the Senate meeting.
In his later years, Caesar began to plan a vigorous reform movement. He planned to relocate the army elders throughout the Roman Empire and let the poor in Rome move to new communities. He extended Roman citizenship to several newly conquered peoples. He planned to establish a unified municipal system in Italian cities, planned huge construction projects and the compilation of Roman code, and implemented many other reforms. But he failed to establish a satisfactory constitutional government for Rome, which may be the main reason for his early death.
Because there was only one year between Caesar's victory in Manda and his assassination in Rome, many of his plans were never implemented, so it is hard to say how enlightened and effective his government would have been if he had not been assassinated. Among all his reforms, the most lasting one is the implementation of the calendar. The calendar he practiced has been used to this day, with only a few modifications.
Julius Caesar is one of the smartest political figures in history and has many talents. He is a successful politician, an outstanding general, an excellent speaker and writer. His book The Battle of Gaul describes the conquest of Gaul, which has long been regarded as a first-class literary work, and many students think it is the most popular and touching of all Latin literary works. Caesar is decisive, brave, handsome and handsome. He was a playboy, and even by the standards of the time, he was a womanizer (his most famous affair was with Cleopatra).
People often criticize Caesar's personality. He was desperate for power, and of course he made a fortune by taking advantage of his position. But unlike most ambitious politicians, he is usually neither pious nor hypocritical. In the war with Gaul, Caesar was cruel, but he was especially generous to his defeated opponent.
Caesar in Germany and the czar in Russia both come from the word "Caesar", which is the prestige enjoyed by his name. His reputation is always much more prominent than that of his nephew Augustus Caesar, the real founder of the Roman Empire. But Julius Caesar's influence on history is not equal to his great reputation. Undoubtedly, he played an important role in the process of overthrowing Rome and China, but his importance in this respect cannot be exaggerated, because Rome and the regime are already on the verge of collapse.
Caesar's most important contribution is that he conquered Gaul, and the territory he conquered was ruled by Rome for almost five centuries. During this period, these areas were completely romanized, and Roman laws, customs and languages were practiced, and later Roman Christianity was practiced. Today's French basically comes from spoken Latin.
Caesar's conquest of Gaul also had an important influence on Rome itself, ensuring that Italy was not invaded by the north for centuries. In fact, the conquest of Gaul was also a factor to ensure the security of the entire Roman Empire.
Without Caesar, would the Romans have conquered Gaul sooner or later? The Romans were not superior to the Gaul tribe in number and technology. But Rome expanded rapidly before and after Caesar conquered Gaul. Due to the strong fighting capacity of Roman army at that time, the distance between Rome and Gaul was close, and the discord among Gaul tribes, Gaul seemed to have no possibility of maintaining independence. But in any case, Caesar was a general who defeated the huge Celtic army and conquered Gaul. The main reason why he entered this book lies in this achievement.
Precautions:
(1) refers to julian calendar, which is the predecessor of the solar calendar commonly used in most countries today. In 46 BC, Julius Caesar decided to adopt it, hence the name. The average length is 365.25 days per year, 365 days per calendar year, 4 years 1 in leap year and 366 days in leap year. Every year is 65438+February, 3 1 day in a single month, 30 days in two months, only 29 days in a normal year and 30 days in a leap year. His successor, Augustus, subtracted 1 day from February and added it to August (named Augustus because of its name in August), and changed it to September, where 1 1 month was an abortion and 10 month was a big month. Julian calendar was larger than Uni-President 1 1 min 14 seconds, and accumulated to 1 the end of the 6th century, and the vernal equinox was advanced from March 2 1 to March1. Later, Pope Gregory XIII ordered it to be revised in 1582, and it became the current Gregorian calendar.
Caesar's death
In 44 BC, Caesar was elected dictator for life. Although the Senate, citizens' assembly and various officials were formally retained, in fact everything was subordinate to Caesar. His birth was deified and he became the supreme ruler of the Roman world.
During Caesar's dictatorship, a series of reform measures were taken to strengthen centralization of authority and consolidate the ruling foundation. Through these reform measures, Caesar strengthened the alliance between the Roman Empire and other empires on the one hand, and enhanced the status of the provinces on the other hand, weakening the power of elders and nobles. Therefore, Caesar's dictatorship and reform were resolutely opposed by some elders and nobles, whose representatives were Brutu and Gaius Gaius Cassius Longinus Langjinus. Brutu was a subordinate of Pompeii, Caesar's main political enemy. Now he was forgiven by Caesar and continued to trust and reuse him.
Caesar and Pompeii both served as consuls in their early years. When Caesar fought in the western part of the Roman Empire, Pompeii also made many achievements in the eastern part of the Empire (part of Turkey and Syria today). Although Pompey was a close friend of Caesar, he was very jealous of Caesar. More and more places were conquered by Caesar, and his prestige among soldiers was increasing day by day, which made Pompeii deeply uneasy. In 49 BC, he urged the Senate to remove Caesar's military power and ordered him to return to Rome from Gaul immediately.
Caesar was ordered to know that this was a conspiracy of Pompeii. After careful consideration, he decided to return to Rome with his army and take this opportunity to establish a dictatorship in Rome.
Caesar led the army to a small river called Rubicon. According to Roman law, a general cannot lead his troops across the river without receiving an order. Otherwise, it will be punished as treason. Caesar made a decisive decision and shouted to his men, "The dice have been thrown!" " "He mounted his horse and jumped into the river, followed by the army, and soon crossed the Rubicon River.
Pompey didn't expect Caesar to March into Rome so decisively, but he couldn't be satisfied and had to flee to Greece with 25 thousand people. After Caesar entered Rome, he forced the Senate to agree that he would become the "dictator" of Rome, and then he gained the power to rule the whole Italian peninsula. When the situation in Rome stabilized a little, Caesar immediately marched into Greece and crusaded against Pompeii. Pompeii was defeated and fled to Egypt. Caesar followed him to Egypt. In order to please Caesar, the king of Egypt sent someone to assassinate Pompeii and gave his bloody head to Caesar. Look, Caesar's face fell and he turned away. The arrogant dictator didn't want to see his political opponents killed by others. He ordered the execution of those who killed Pompeii.
At this time, the Ptolemy dynasty in Egypt was fighting for the throne. Caesar embraced Cleopatra, the queen famous for her beauty, and lived in her deep palace for half a year.
Then, his army once again entered Asia Minor, and it took only five days to quell the rebellion of Pompeii's subordinate Prince Bendu. He wrote a good news in the simplest Latin and sent it back to the Senate, which read: "Veni, vidi, vici" (meaning "I came, I saw it, I won"). This battle report fully shows the characteristics of Caesar's rapid use of troops. Two years later, Caesar marched westward from North Africa and put out the resistance of Pompeii's two sons in Spain. But he forgave Pompeii's generals and regarded them as his subordinates. The most important thing is Brutu.
Caesar's victory was warmly welcomed by the Romans. Some people want to support him as emperor. There has been no emperor in Rome since Tacvin was driven away in 509 BC. The Romans hated the emperor and opposed his restoration. Although Caesar wanted to be emperor very much, he dared not make a move. On a festival, Consul Anthony suddenly put a crown on Caesar's head. But only a few people applauded and most people sighed. Seeing this situation, Caesar decided that it was not the right time to be the emperor, so he took off his crown and threw it on the ground. Anthony quickly picked up the crown and put it on him. He threw it away again. When Caesar repeatedly refused to wear the crown, people cheered and paid tribute to him.
Although Caesar didn't become emperor, he already had many honorable titles: "lifelong protector", "father of the motherland" and so on. The law stipulates that he sits on a throne of gold and ivory to handle official business, and his portrait is placed with the gods. He gained the power of dictatorship indefinitely.
Some people see that Caesar's power is getting bigger and bigger, and he will wear the crown one day. Therefore, they organized a cabal and decided to get rid of him. One of these conspirators was Brutu, whom Caesar trusted.
On March 15, 44 BC, the Senate held a meeting. Caesar came to the conference hall alone. Although he was warned in advance that someone would try to assassinate him on this day, he still refused to accept the guard. He said, "It is cowardly to ask the guards to protect you." Caesar strode into the hall, sat down in Huang Jinbao's seat and said with a smile, "Isn't this March 15?" At this time, the conspirators all hid daggers and surrounded him like friends. One of them ran to him and grabbed his purple robe, as if he had something to ask him. So this is the signal to start working. The crowd swarmed and stabbed Caesar with daggers. Caesar was unarmed. He struggled to get the purple robe and resisted. He was stabbed in the waist. Then, a sword plunged into his thigh again. Seeing that this sword was stabbed by Brutu, his most trusted, he couldn't help exclaiming, "Ah, and you, Brutu!" He gave up his resistance and fell down, covering his face with a purple robe and letting the enemy stab him. He was stabbed 23 times. Three of them were fatal and died at the foot of the statue of Pompeii.
On the day before attending the Senate meeting, Caesar was having dinner with his cavalry commander, Lei Bida, when he suddenly asked a question, "What is the best way to die?" Everyone expressed their views one after another. Finally Caesar said that he was willing to die suddenly. Unexpectedly, his prediction came true the next day.
After Caesar was killed, brutus said, "I love Caesar, but I love Rome more!" " "But no one in Rome was happy about Caesar's death. When the murderers walked out of the Senate with bloody daggers in their hands, contrary to the cheers they had expected, they only saw the crowd with cold expressions and suspicious eyes.
Octavian
An outstanding politician in Rome and the founder of the Roman Empire. Born into a knight's family, his father is a veteran of the Senate. Octavian, Caesar's nephew, was adopted by Caesar and inherited most of his property. After Caesar's assassination in 44 BC, it was followed by a three-person alliance of archon Anthony, cavalry leader Rebida and Octavian, known as the "last three heads" in history. The three men kept fighting for power and profit, and soon the heat ratio lost power. By 30 BC, Octavian defeated Anthony and won the final victory, becoming the military dictator of Rome. Octavian kept the cloak of national system and harmony, and did not restore open military dictatorship. He calls himself "the first citizen", which means the head of state. The Fuehrer's politics began in 27 BC, 65438+ 10 and 65438+March. Considering Octavian's ability to suppress slaves and defend the interests of slave owners, the Senate awarded him the title of "Augustus", which means sacred, solemn and great. Under the head of state system, the Senate is actually controlled by the head of state. Octavian himself is the head of state, commander-in-chief, lifelong consul, chief elder and high priest, monopolizing military power, judicial power, administrative power and religious power, and is actually an emperor. Therefore, the head of state established by Octavian is essentially a hidden monarchy, and Octavian's rule over Rome is the beginning of the Roman Empire.
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In BC 1 century, bronze statues of many famous political figures appeared in ancient Rome. Among them, there is a full-length portrait of a tall and burly man, dressed in gorgeous armor, holding a scepter in his left hand, raising his right hand upward, and pointing his index finger forward, as if commanding thousands of troops to March forward bravely. The overall image is powerful, both in form and spirit, and lifelike. He is a statue of Octavian, the nephew and adopted son of the military dictator Caesar.
Octavian's grandmother is Caesar's sister. Caesar adopted Octavian as his adopted son shortly before his death, and made him his heir in his will. When Caesar was assassinated, he was training in the city of Apollonia on the Adriatic Sea. At that time, archon Anthony and cavalry leader Lei Bida had the strongest military strength. They are all Caesar's priests. At first Anthony didn't care about Octavian, who was 0/9 years old. He not only owns Octavian's legacy, but also opposes Octavian's election as tribune. These practices of Anthony have aroused many people's opposition. Even the Senate is skeptical and unwilling to support Anthony.
After Octavian returned to Rome, relying on his inheritance and the support of rich relatives and friends, and with the support of the Senate, he quickly set out and defeated Anthony in Mutina, Gaul. After the threat of the army was lifted, the Senate took a contemptuous and hostile attitude towards Octavian. At this time, Octavian and Anthony's soldiers didn't want to kill each other, because they were both Caesar's veterans, and they wanted to unite to avenge Caesar. In this situation, Octavian openly allied himself with Anthony and Rebida, and gained the power to rule the country for five years. In order to distinguish the "first three-headed alliance" between Caesar and crassus and Pompeii, this "three-headed alliance" is called the "last three-headed alliance".
Then, under the slogan of revenge for Caesar, Octavian and others issued a public enemy declaration and carried out a massacre. On the list of public enemies, there are killers of Caesar, as well as three personal vendettas and ordinary rich people. At that time, anyone who killed a public enemy could get a head reward, and slaves could also get freedom and citizenship. For a time, there was a terrible sight inside and outside Rome, 300 elders and 2000 knights were executed and their property was confiscated. Many enemies fled to Spain and Greece. Octavian and Antony led the army in hot pursuit and defeated the armed forces in Philippi, Greece. Brutu and Cassio, the masterminds of Caesar's assassination, were forced to commit suicide in despair.
These three heads are not monolithic. At this time, Anthony's wife and brother launched an anti-Octavian movement in Italy, which was quickly quelled by Octavian. Octavian had 40 legions of superior troops at this time, but the situation at home and abroad was not completely stable. So we can't abandon the other "two heads" for the time being. In view of the new contradiction between them, they renegotiated in 40 BC and divided their respective spheres of influence. Anthony ruled eastern Italy, Octavian ruled western Italy, and Rabida ruled Africa in Africa. Temporarily repaired the rift between them.
Soon, Octavian defeated Pompeii's son, Little Pompeii, defeated Rebida's covet of Sicily within his sphere of influence, and restored the long-damaged peace in Italy and most parts of the Mediterranean. Octavian is full of wings. With Rebida deprived of military power, Octavian's opponent is only Anthony.
Anthony and Octavian originally defeated the public enemy of Greece and went to Asia Minor to criticize some cities there for supporting the public enemy, including Queen Cleopatra of Egypt. Unexpectedly, he was fascinated by the beauty of the queen and went to Egypt with her. Later, I simply abandoned the original match, married the queen, and promised to give the eastern provinces of Rome to the queen and her children. The news spread to Rome, causing widespread dissatisfaction among people from all walks of life. Octavian seized the opportunity to oppose Anthony and drove away nearly 300 senators who supported Anthony. Octavian declared Anthony "the enemy of the motherland" and declared war on the Queen of Egypt in the name of the Senate and the General Assembly.
On September 2, 3 1 BC, Octavian led the navy and army to wage war in Akexin, northwest Greece. At first, the battle was close. But at the height of the fighting, the queen suddenly retreated to Egypt. Anthony followed the queen when he saw her leave. The rest of the army was wiped out by Octavian. Later Octavian rushed to Egypt and defeated Anthony in Alexandria. Anthony wanted to fight Octavian alone, but Octavian felt it was unnecessary and advised Anthony to end his life in other ways. Anthony was forced to commit suicide.
Octavian, like Caesar, became the winner of the "three heads". Octavian received all the honors awarded to Caesar by the Senate. Following Caesar's footsteps, he established a personal military dictatorship and monopolized the state's administrative, military, judicial and religious powers. But he did not use the titles of dictatorship and monarch, but called himself the first citizen or chief elder. This form of rule is called Fuehrer Politics. Since 27 BC, Octavian has been regarded as a sacred object by the Senate and was awarded the title of "Augustus". Augustus means sacred, solemn and great. Later, it became a title of western emperors.
The head of state system initiated by Octavian is a hidden monarchy, and the monarch is hidden under the cloak of * * * and the country. He was the first emperor of the de facto Roman Empire, but he did not adopt the title of emperor. It was not until Diocletian came to power more than 300 years later that absolute monarchy was openly adopted.
Octavian ruled Rome for more than 40 years, which was the richest era in ancient Rome's economy and the "golden age" in ancient Roman literature, so the word "Augustus era" later became synonymous with the golden age.
Scipio da (about 235 BC ~ BC 183) was the commander-in-chief of ancient Rome. Scipio's translation. Born into a noble family, he showed his military talent when he was young.
2 18 years ago, he served as the father of the Roman consul and participated in the battle against the Carthaginian army on the Ticino River. Before 2 16, he participated in the Battle of Carney as a military forum. Before 2 10, he was ordered to command the Roman army in Spain. The following year, he captured the main base of Carthage, Spain, New Carthage, seized a lot of equipment and food, and joined hands with the indigenous Spaniards against Carthage. Beat Hannibal's brother Haas Druba in Bakula 208 years ago. The occupation of southwest Spain in the first 206 years basically ended Carthage's rule over Spain, cut off Hannibal's back road, and created conditions for the Romans to turn to strategic attack. He returned to Rome in the same year and was elected consul the following year. He advocated an alliance with the Numidians, the west neighbor of Carthage, and put forward a plan to attack Carthage. With the limited consent of the Senate, he went to Sicily to prepare for sending troops. In the first 204 years, he led an army of about 35,000 people to land near Utica in North Africa. Carthage made peace with Scipio and recalled Hannibal from Italy. In the battle of Zama in the first 202 years, Hannibal was defeated with the cooperation of Numidian cavalry, ending the second Punic War. In 20 1 year, he won the title of "Scipio of Africa". Former 199 was elected as Ombudsman. 194 former consul. 190 years ago (or 189), he and his younger brother L.C. Scipio invaded Asia Minor and won the West Asia War in Magney, ending the Antioch War. Because of his outstanding military achievements, he was suspicious and was accused by the opposition of accepting bribes from Antioch, and he was frustrated from then on. In his later years, he lived in seclusion in the manor.