4.+100+BCE+to+1+BCE


 * 73 BC - Spartacus leads the revolt of the gladiators**

Spartacus was born in Thrace where he became a soldier and was captured by Romans. He was sold as a slave to be made into a gladiator. He later became a famous slave and gladiator who led a rebellion against Rome. He took 70 comrades and escaped to Mount Vesuvius and hid. He raised a large army of rebel slaves and with his army he defeated two Roman legions. These legions were part of the legionary cohorts. Now that these two legions were no longer there the Alps were open to all rebels.

He led slaves over the Alps and was going to go to Italy. As he went there he raised an army of about 70,000 men which was mainly made up of rural people. At Picenum in Italy, Spartacus defeated two more legions. These were the consular armies and then the other was the proconsul of Cisalpine Gaul at Mutina. In autumn the revolt began to peak and Spartacus alone had 120,000 people who were following him. Marcus Licinius Crassus was now the leader of the Rome. He was the richest man throughout all of the Roman territory. He was given six new legions plus the four consular legions. He took two of these and set out an attack on Spartacus. Spartacus easily defeated them in triumph.

After this had happened, Crassus combines all of his forces into one. He did this in thinking he would hit Spartacus with everything he had a once. He finally almost defeated Spartacus and his men after a long and gruesome battle. After the horrific set back, Spartacus returned perhaps intending to ship to Sicily. He was stopped by a group of pirates and was betrayed by them. Pompey came back over to Rome and was led by Marcus Licinius Lucullus. As Spartacus got to the southern tip if Italy he was finally defeated for good with the help and the aid of Pompey.

63 B.C. The Siege of Jerusalem
A conflict between two Jewish princes ended up in Pompeus capturing Jerusalem. Aristobulus had accused the other prince, Aemilius, of extorting him of 8,000 kg of silver. For this conflict, the Pharisees sided with Hyrcanus and the Sadducees with Aristobulus. Aristobulus and Sadducees were surrounded by Hyrcanus and his ally in the Temple of Jerusalem on the festival of Passover.

When Pompey arrived on the scene, he received an even larger present, Aristobulus had sent an 800kg golden vine. The Roman commander then forwarded it straight to the Temple of Jupiter in Rome. Aristobulus now had Pompey’s favor and thought he was totally safe but he was wrong.

Aristobulus thinking he was safe and could do anything sent his army to Pompey. He wanted him to go punish Aemilius, because according to Aristobulus, he had extorted him from 8,000 kg of silver. Pompey decided he would come to Jerusalem to see if he was telling the truth or not. When he got there he then sided with Hyrcanus and had Aristobulus arrested.

**52 BC – Battle of Alesia**
Julius Caesar attacks the Gallic Base of Alesia. The Gauls were no more than a bunch of tribes that only fought together against a common enemy. The Gauls have finally found a commander to unite all of the tribes, Vercingetorix. He was once one of Caesar’s captains, so he knew Caesar’s battle tactics. The Romans were always a little nervous about invading Gaul because there were so many tribes that hid in the woods.

In the time of the Gallic wars Vercongetorix convinces all of the tribe leaders to attack Caesar and his army. They use hit and run tactics to cripple Caesar’s armies. The start to use a policy that is still used today, the “Scorched Earth Campaign.” He would chase Caesar’s forces through the woods and then burn the farms and woods behind them so Caesar’s forces could not use them. They also kill all Roman civilians to send a message to Caesar. Caesar provokes Vercongetorix to battle and looses. But Vercongetorix chases him back to Rome. This would be a huge mistake as Caesar fakes him out and heads right for Alesia. He allows Vercongetorix to pass him and wants him to go into Alesia and trap. Vercongetorix has just made the worst decision of his life, Caesar’s Siege of Alesia has begun.

In order to trap the Gallic army in Alesia Caesar constructs a wall 10 miles wide in circumference. He also builds trenches and moats with spikes in front of the wall to make sure no one can leave. The siege works created by Julius Caesar were ingenius for its time. He revolutionized warfare for the next 1,500 years.

By building the wall, he makes the Gauls starve themselves in their own city. Caesar quickly realized that their might be reinforcements so he builds another wall about 500 yards from the first to keep his troops in and Gallic tribes out. Vercongetorix didn’t want his women and children to die of starvation in the city. So he sent the women and children inside Alesia to give to the Romans either to be sold as slaves or to be let free. Caesar didn’t want them either so he left them in between the walls. The women and children went back to Alesia but Vercongetorix didn’t let them in. Eventually they starved to death.

After the Gaullic reinforcements failed, Vercongetorix had no choice but to surrender. Him and Caesar came to terms but Vercongetorix drew his sword and was knocked out by Caesar and he was later crucified in Rome. Rome now had an empire that stretched from Greece to North Africa to modern day France. media type="youtube" key="OLY_RCMSYjM" height="385" width="480"

**44 B.C. - Julian Calendar **
In the year 44 B.C., Julius Caesar after becoming the Roman emperor and defeating the Gauls, Greeks, and Pontus, decided to make a calendar more fitting in his mind to the people. He got some of the best astronomers to create a 12 month 30 day calendar. The calendar itself was created on the spring Equinox 44 B.C. and officially made the official calendar of western civilization. Later that year Caesar’s dictatorship of the empire was done. The senate had him murdered in Mensis Julius, 44 B.C. That is we name the month July after Julius Caesar.

Over the course of the next 2000 years the calendar was remade 4 times.

Original Calendar- 44 B.C.- 325 A.D. Old Style Calendar- 325-1582 A.D. New Style Calendar- 1582-1923 A.D. Revised Calendar- 1923- Present day

Even with the revisions each time, the calendar has remained the same over the last 2,000 years. The only revisions were because astronomers were confused about the month of February. Astronomers finally in 1923 came up with the leap year to make up for the days that February missed.

23 BC – Pax Romana
This time period is the time when the empire of Roman was glorified. This is a period of peace known as the Pax Romana. The years that came with this time period there were no large battles between the large powers of the west. The Romans patrolled the borders or Rome with ease due to the fact that no one was in dispute. Augustus laid the foundation for this period of concord. The empire protected and governed individual provinces, permitting each to make and administer its own laws while accepting Roman taxation and military control.

Pax Romana was a time period from 27 BC to 180 AD. This time period is also known as the Romanization of the western world. Cities throughout the Roman Empire have water and sewage systems, theaters, and public baths and as well as this, Provincial government improves. The Roman alphabet became the basis for the western world alphabet. Latin, the Roman language, became the basis for French, Italian, and Spanish languages as well.

During this time Rome turned back into a Dictatorship. The system was based on a network of mutually interdependent areas. If one fell, it could hurt the whole Empire. It provided a material and political base of cultural achievement that rivaled the Greeks under Pericles.


 * 4 BC - The Birth of Jesus**

In the year 4 B.C. Jesus was born. The traditional birth date was on December 25. His parents Mary and Joseph had to make a trip to Bethlehem. They had to register for a census. When they arrived there were no places available in Bethlehem so they had to stay in a farmers stable.

They had no beds or blankets in the stable so they had to use fresh hay for their beds and blankets. That night that they spent in the stable Jesus was born. When he was born they had no crib or anything to lay him in so he was laid in a feeding trough with fresh hay that was used for the animals. Some sheep farmers that were not far off were watching over their sheep when angels appeared and told them that “A Savior, the Messiah” was born. After they saw Baby Jesus they were surprised and they went to town and told everyone about who had been born.

After Jesus was born many “magi’s’” saw a star in the sky that showed them that a new king had been born. Many came from eastern countries just to worship the new king that had been born. All the wise men that came to find Jesus followed the bright star in the sky that led them directly to where Mary and Jesus were sitting in the stable. All the wise men that had come all brought Jesus and Mary gifts. A king named Herod had sent some of the Wise Men to go and find Jesus so he himself could go and worship Jesus. When he told them he wanted to worship him too, he was lying to them. He was worried that when Jesus grew up he would become the new King and he would lose his place. Fearing this Herod sent his soldiers to Bethlehem to kill all kids under the age of two, thinking for sure that Jesus would be killed. But Jesus’ dad Joseph had been told in a dream by God to get out of Bethlehem, which he did along with Mary and Jesus.