Burn It to the Ground!

-Nero was the new princeps, so Rome's enemies decided to test him to see what he was made of!
   -The Parthians began to escalate tensions in Armenia, which would eventually result in an all-out-war between Rome and Parthia.
      -Since the time of Augustus, Rome had worked out a deal to where they got to appoint Armenia's king, but the problems started in 51 AD when King Mithridates was usurped by his nephew Rhadamistus. 
         -However, Rhadamistus was a lousy ruler and the Armenians hated him, so the Parthian king Vologases I decided to use this opportunity to take Armenia away from Rome by using the oppression of the Armenian people as an excuse to invade.
            -The Parthians successfully invaded Armenia, and Vologases I installed his brother, Tiridates I, on the throne.  After a few years of back-and-forth fighting between Rhadamistus and Tiridates I, the latter finally secured support from the Armenian public, and the Parthians ended up dominating Armenia.
               -This all happened around the time of the death of Claudius and the succession of Nero, so Nero saw this as a major test for him to see if he could handle the pressure of global politics.
            -To take on the Parthians, Nero selected a Roman general named Gnaeus Domitius Corbulo, an en experienced military leader who had spent much time fighting Germanic tribes under Caligula and Claudius.
               -Nero appointed him to be governor of both Cappadocia (modern-day eastern Turkey) and Galatia (modern-day central Turkey), as well as eventually consul (and proconsul after that).
                  -Corbulo began to raise and train an army while he was governor of these provinces.
-58 AD- Corbulo divided his army into a bunch of small detachments and began to attack the Armenian/Parthian forces along the Armenian border.
                     -Tridates I agreed to finally sue for peace with Rome, but secretly planned on ambushing the Roman army with a large army of his own.  However, he was outnumbered, so instead he opted for trying to fuck with the Roman supply lines instead (which, after all, had worked in the past (e.g. when the Parthians were fighting against Marc Antony).  Unfortunately for the Parthians, Corbulo had studied history enough to prepare for this kind of strategy, and Tiridates I's plan didn't work.
                        -Finally, Corbulo gathered his forces and made a hard push into Armenia, driving Tiridates I out of the Armenian capital of Artashat and razing the city!  Corbulo then pushed south to Tigranocerta, Armenia's second capital city (where Tiridates I had fled)
                           -According to legend, when Corbulo besieged Tigranocerta, he had the head of an Armenian assassin (who had attempted to kill him) launched into the city, showing the Armenians what happened when you fucked with Rome!  Thus, the city quickly surrendered. 
                         -Tiridates I ended up fleeing again, and since he didn't really have much power in the kingdom anymore the Romans crowned Tigranes VI the new king of Armenia.
                            -Corbulo was then hailed as a hero back home and was appointed governorship of Syria as a reward for his victories.
                         -61 AD- Corbulo had easily achieved victory in Armenia because the Parthians had been completely distracted due to internal conflicts and other shit, but had finally gotten their shit together and were now prepared to truly take Rome on.
                            -Rome got really pissed off when they found out that Tigranes VI had started to take advantage of Rome's backing by invading some Parthian territory.
                               -Obviously, the Parthians had accepted the situation in Armenia, but Armenians invading into Parthian territory was unacceptable, and they immediately announced that Tiridates I was still the rightful king of Armenia and that Tigranes VI was an illegitimate usurper.  The Parthians then invaded Armenia but ultimately reached a stalemate because they couldn't break through the Roman garrisons. 
                               -Corbulo eventually met with Vologases I (king of Parthia) to work out some sort of a deal, but they ended up not being able to work anything out.
                          -62 AD- Nero had Corbulo return to defend Syria from Parthia, and appointed Lucius Caessennius Paetus as the new commander of the Roman legions there. 
                             -Paetus took two legions and marched on Tigranocerta, but stalled due to technical problems involving winter and supply lines.  On the way, however, Paetus had won some minor victories, which lulled him into a false sense of security.
                           -63 AD- seeing what was happening, Vologases I decided to abandon his plans for invading Syria and instead concentrated on defending Armenia.  However, due to incompetence, Paetus was spread very thin, so when the Parthians attacked the Roman-occupied territory in Armenia, Paetus panicked and called in Corbulo for help.  Unfortunately, for Paetus, Corbulo hated him, so Corbulo wasn't exactly speedy when he sent reinforcements to Armenia.  When Corbulo's forces did arrive, however, Paetus had already surrendered and agreed to embarassing terms for Rome!  Paetus then wanted Corbulo to continue fighting, but Corbulo refused and marched back to Syria. 
                               -Humiliated, Rome recalled Paetus and appointed Corbulo as commander of all of Rome's eastern forces, determined this time to put the Parthians in their place once and for all! 
                                  -Fearing to fuck around with Corbulo, Vologases I immediately sued for peace with Rome.  Rome agreed, and a new deal was worked out- the Parthians got to appoint the Armenian king, but the Romans had veto power.
                                      -66 AD- Tiridates I traveled to Rome to be crowned by Nero in a symbolic act that would show good will towards the Romans from the Parthians.  However, critics felt that this was embarrassing for Rome because it conceded power to the Parthians, but supporters believed that it was smart because it avoided all out war with the Parthians, which would have probably been an absolute disaster. 
   -Meanwhile in Britannia, a revolt against the Romans started up, led by Queen Boudica of the Iceni tribe.
      -60/61 AD- King Prasutagus of the Iceni tribe in Britannia died and was replaced by his wife, Queen Boudica, as ruler of the tribe.
         -The Iceni were a Celtic tribe who lived in what is now modern-day Norfolk, England.  They were either one of the 11 Celtic tribes in Britannia that had surrendered to the Romans, or they had somehow worked out a deal to remain independent (but peaceful).
         -When King Prasutagus died, he left his inheritance to his wife and family, and specifically had noted that his wife, Queen Boudica, was to rule the tribe after he was gone (with Rome as their overlords, of course).
            -Unfortunately, Rome didn't recognize Boudica's legitimacy, so they decided just to annex the Iceni lands into the empire.
               -Expecting resistance, the Roman army came in to occupy the land.  To show their dominance, they had Boudica flogged while her daughters were gang-raped by Roman soldiers.
                  -Boudica, naturally, was obviously extremely fucking pissed off after this. 
                     -During this time the Romans, led by General Gaius Suetonius Paulinus, were busy fighting Celtic hordes in Wales, so Boudica decided to strike while they were distracted and divided.  She first attacked the Romans at Camulodunum (modern-day Colchester, Essex), the original HQ of Rome's forces in Britannia. 
                        -A battle ensued, and Boudica's forces ended up destroying the city and killing all of the Romans stationed there.
                           -The 9th Legion showed up just in time to find Boudica's forces finishing up, and a battle was fought- the Romans were completely slaughtered by the furious Britannic horde.  Because of this, Suetonius immediately recalled his forces from Wales to defend Londinium (modern-day London) but found the city to be poorly fortified and decided to try and find another place to hunker down in.
                              -However, eventually Boudica and her forces arrived and they smashed the city!  After Londinium, her army went on to destroy Verulamium (modern-day St. Albans).  After her string of victories, other Britannic tribes began to flock to her horde.  It was looking pretty grim for the Romans...
                                  -In a last ditch attempt to salvage the situation, Suetonius gathered about 10,000 men (which included legions and other random troops).  Against them was Boudica and her horde, which possibly included hundreds of thousands of warriors!
                                      -Suetonius was holed up in the West Midlands, trying to find the best place to defend.  Thus ensued what is today known as the Battle of Watling Street, which took place somewhere in the West Midlands.  It was a huge battle between the small Roman force and the enormous Britannic horde. 
                                         -Surprisingly, the Romans won!!  Allegedly, they slaughtered tens of thousands of Britannic barbarians with only a few hundred men themselves.  Boudica's rebellion was crushed.
   -Meanwhile...trouble was stirring the province of Judea...

Smite My Womb!

-54 AD- Claudius was dead, so Nero was immediately pronounced princeps.
   -Unfortunately for the empire, he was only 16 years old and, unlike the others, had had literally zero experience in any kind of government administration (even Caligula had been an honorary quaestor before he became princeps). 
   -Many immediately suspected Agrippina of killing Claudius, as she had sent Narcissus out of Rome at the time.  Also, the speed at which Nero was enthroned was suspicious as well.
   -However, it wasn't like Nero was completely illegitimate, as he was the grandson of Germanicus and a direct descendant of Augustus.
   -Agrippina then had Claudius' status raised to divinity, with her as the cult's new high priestess.
      -Because of her power, she was also allowed to attend meetings at the Senate (as long as she was behind a curtain, for whatever reason).
-Soon after Nero was enthroned, Narcissus was imprisoned and executed on orders by Agrippina (unclear as to how exactly she pulled this off).
-Other important players during this time:
   -Pallas- still super rich and living the dream, even more powerful than before (and still banging Agrippina).
   -Lucius Annaeus Seneca (Seneca the Younger)- Tutor and adviser to Nero, also a major Roman philosopher.
   -Sextus Afranius Burrus- Praetorian prefect and adviser to Nero.
-Eventually, those around Nero split into two rival groups- Agrippina and Pallas vs. Burrus and Seneca.
   -It was becoming clear that Agrippina was becoming increasingly overbearing with her fantasy of ruling the empire through Nero.
-55 AD- Nero was married to his stepsister (Claudius' biological daughter) Claudia Octavia, but of course he also had a mistress- the ex-slave Claudia Acte.
   -Of course, this pissed off Agrippina, and she forbid Nero from seeing her. 
      -Nero, a teenager, obviously began to rebel by seeing her in secret.
      -Seneca and Burrus realized this rift between Nero and Agrippina, so of course they encouraged Nero to continue to secretly see Claudia Acte.
         -They tried to keep this a secret from some because it was important for Nero to maintain his marriage for political reasons. 
            -However, they also leaked the secret to others because they wanted to squash the rumors that Nero was actually banging his mom!
-Because Agrippina was shut out of Nero's inner circle due to the drama with Claudia Acte, she decided to start cozying up with Britannicus instead (!) to get back at Nero!
   -The tension grew worse when Nero fired Pallas as secretary of treasury.
      -This royally pissed off Agrippina, so she told Nero that if he continued to shut her out, she would go to the Praetorian Guard and tell them about her role in Claudius' death.  This would make Nero an usurper and cause him to be ousted and replaced by Britannicus!
   -The problem with Agrippina's plan was that Britannicus wasn't quite yet of age to rule as princeps!  This allowed for Nero to plan...
      -55 AD- The day before Britannicus came of age (14), he was poisoned at a party and died!  Damn!!
         -Nero then forced Agrippina to leave the imperial palace in 57 AD, and she retired to a countryside villa in Mesenum (modern-day Bacoli, Campania), where she lived out the rest of her days, although she still continued to remain popular and influential among the general public. 
            -However, Nero ultimately had her killed in 59 AD, although it's unclear as to why exactly he did this.
               -Some of the theories involve her opposition to him divorcing Claudia Octavia in order to marry Poppea Sabina, who was at that time the wife of the courtier Marcus Salvius Otho (although of course she had been secretly banging Nero).  However, other theories involve her being killed by Nero due to her support of Nero's cousin, Gaius Rubellius Plautus.
               -The official story, under Nero's supervision of course, was that Agrippina had killed herself.
               -According to legend, Agrippina said "Smite my womb!" before being killed, apparently meaning that she wanted to first destroy the part of her body that had produced Nero.
                  -Additionally, Nero allegedly felt so guilty later about having Agrippina murdered that he believed he was haunted by her ghost!
-Anyway, so after Agrippina was killed Nero continued to consolidate his power, showing his advisers that he was, in fact, the one in power, not them.
   -So how was his reign?
      -It seemed like all he cared about was being popular.
         -He had no vision of how to rule or what things should be like, so he just did what he thoguht the people wanted, and of course this meant that his reign was all over the place- a complete mixed bag.
            -Thus, he actually succeeded in being popular, but he certainly wasn't the best princeps in the world, as a lot of his policies were stupid because they were sometimes based on the stupid public opinion of the masses. 
               -Therefore, the people never considered him to be a shitty ruler, unlike, say, Caligula.
                 -Unfortunately for him, the upper classes absolutely hated Nero!  This was in large part due to Nero's obsession with entertainment.  In the Roman world, entertainers were the bottom of the barrel in terms of social status, and were also usually dirt poor on top of that.  Of course, this didn't stop the elite from seeking out entertainers for entertainment and sex :/
                  -Nero also had no political, intellectual, or military experience.  He also didn't write his own speeches, which is something even Caligula did FFS! 
                     -Nero loved to play the lyre, which was very unusual.  He also dreamed of participating as a gladiator. 
                      -As a response to the elites hating him, Nero in turn hated the elites right back.  In fact, he could be quite cruel sometimes- if he thought you were against him, he would just straight up have you executed!
-65 AD- a huge conspiracy to kill Nero was uncovered, and Nero had a massive purge (which included even Seneca!).
-Overall ruling the empire would be difficult for Nero, as there were soon revolts in Judea, Britannia, and invasions by the Parthians. 
   -This doesn't even include the Great Fire of Rome in 64 AD...

A Farewell to Claudius

-48 AD- Claudius had expanded the empire significantly during this time.
   -Addition of multiple provinces:
      -Noricum (modern-day Austria and Slovenia)- a tributary kingdom of Celtic hordes that was annexed by Claudius without resistance.
      -Pamphylia (southern Asia Minor)- annexed in 43 AD without resistance.
      -Lycia (southwest Asia Minor)- also annexed in 43 AD without resistance (and later merged with Pamphylia into the single province of Pamphylia et Lycia by Emperor Vespasian).
      -Thrace- (modern-day southeast Bulgaria / northeast Greece / northwest Turkey)- annexed in 46 AD with little resistance.
      -Mauretania Tingitana (modern day Morocco)- Mauretania was a client kingdom, but after the death of King Ptolemy (assassinated in Rome under orders by Caligula!) the Mauretanians became incredibly hostile to Rome (understandably so) so the region ended up being annexed by Rome and split into two provinces by Claudius (Mauretania Tingitana and Mauretania Caesariensis) in order to pacify the region.
      -Mauretania Caesariensis- (see above).
-Meanwhile, in the province of Judea, the Jews were becoming increasingly hostile towards Rome (especially with all of the drama with Caligula), and this would actually lead to an all-out rebellion against the empire in 66 AD.
-There were constant assassination attempts on Claudius' life, so he re-introduced the office of censor, whose role it was to be the moral police of the Senate, and was able to choose who was "moral enough" to be in the Senate. 
   -The censor was also in charge of the census of the citizens of the empire.
      -Claudius actually took the position for himself when he created it.
         -Those whom Claudius disliked or were too degenerate, Claudius would kick out of the Senate and replace with men loyal to him.
-Claudius also began to include non-Italians into the Senate as well, which pissed off conservative Italian elites.
   -This was smart because it made the empire as a whole more stable.
   -Claudius also appointed a dude named Lucius Vitellius Veteris as co-censor.
      -His son, Aulus Vitellius, would eventually become emperor (princeps?) during the chaotic Year of the Four Emperors in 69 AD.
-Claudius also tried to drain the Fucine Lake (or Fucinus Lacus; located in modern-day central Italy), which would have provided a bunch of arable land and shit for the peninsula. 
   -The Fucine Lake was also annoying because it was a huge source of flooding and malaria as well.
   -However, this project was a failure, and Agrippina used this as an excuse to try and fuck over Narcissus, whom she disliked and blamed for incompetence and even embezzlement (involving his co-management of the lake-draining operation).
      -Narcissus was also an ally of Claudius' son, Brittanicus, whom Agrippina most certainly did not want to see on the throne, instead plotting for her own son, Nero, to be emperor instead.
         -More info about Agrippina the Younger (AKA Agrippina Minor):
            -Daughter of Agrippina the Elder and Germanicus; sister of Caligula.
            -After Germanicus died, Agrippina had to live with her mom and then her grandmother (Livia).
            -In 28 AD- forced to marry her relative Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus (grandson of Octavia (Augustus' sister) and Marc Antony), who was apparently a major asshole.
               -Their son was Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (AKA future emperor Nero!).
            -39 AD- Agrippina the Younger (and others) was found guilty of plotting against Caligula, so she was exiled to the tiny island of Ponza (approximately 110 km west of Naples).
               -Her son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus (AKA Emperor Nero), was sent to live with his father's aunt (Domitia Lepida (the Younger), mother of Valeria Messalina) during this time.
               -In 41 AD, Caligula was finally assassinated, so she was freed and reunited with her son.
                  -She ended up marrying the prominent politician Gaius Sallustius Crispus Passienus, a witty, intelligent, humble man (he was allegedly the dude behind the phrase "The world never knew a better slave, nor a worse master" in reference to Caligula and Tiberius). 
                     -He died in 47 AD, and because Agrippina emerged filthy rich by inheriting his wealth, many believed that she had poisoned him.
                     -She was pushed by Pallas (Secretary of Treasury), whom she was also banging on the side, to go after her uncle, Claudius, for marriage (gross).
                        -Pallas also thought that if Agrippina was wife of Claudius, then he (Pallas) would be even more powerful!
                           -Surprisingly, Claudius was convinced to marry Agrippina, even though he knew it was fucked up!  Apparently, he believed that it would bring the family together and was for the good of the empire, even if it was incestuous and weird. 
                              -The Senate reluctantly agreed, but the Roman people were disgusted by this; Claudius' reputation was significantly damaged.
-49 AD- Claudius and Agrippina marry.
   -Agrippina had gone through many image makeovers- sad victim, whore of the Roman elite, daughter of the loved Germanicus, etc.
   -Finally, as empress we see her come into her own as a true Julio-Claudian woman- an evil matriarch!
-Agrippina's plans seemed to be to have her son Lucius (Nero) marry Claudius' daughter, Claudia Octavia, so her son would have a shot at being princeps.  She also convinced Claudius to adopt Lucius (Nero) as his son!
   -50 AD-  Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus is officially adopted by Claudius, and his name changed is Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus, or "Nero" for short.
      -Agrippina worked hard to subtly purge those around Claudius and his personal council/advisers with her own allies instead.
         -She even had Britannicus' tutor killed because he was outraged that Claudius had adopted Nero and chosen him to be co-successor with Britannicus (instead of just Britannicus as his sole heir).
-51 AD- Nero turned 14; by Roman standards, he was a man (and thus old enough to rule as princeps).
   -Claudius' idea was that Nero would rule as princeps until Britannicus came of age, and then they were to rule the empire together (somehow).
      -Agrippina knew that if Claudius were to die before Britannicus came of age, Nero would be able to seize power for himself and cut out Britannicus altogether. 
-53 AD- Nero marries Claudia Octavia (now his step-sister).
   -At this point, Claudius finally started to realize how much power he had given Nero instead of his own son, and also started to favor Britannicus as his rightful heir. 
      -However, it seems like at this point that it was simply too little, too late.
-54 AD- Claudius finally kicked the bucket.  He was 63 years old; he had ruled the empire for 13 years.
   -Of course, most historians believe that it's highly likely that he was poisoned by Agrippina!
 

                       

     

Take My Wife...Please!

-Contrary to what everyone expected, Claudius was a pretty good ruler!
   -Quick note: the Romans during this time still didn't refer to the princeps as "imperator" ("emperor"), instead still calling him "Caesar", "Augustus", or, of course, "Princeps". During this time imperator still had martial connotations, as it essentially meant "commander" in the Roman military.
-Roman conquest of Britain- started in 43 AD by Claudius (see last chapter).
   -Usually when the Romans invaded, they set up a client state in the conquered territory with a puppet king that gave the people living there a thin veneer of independence, but this was not the case with Britannia; when the Romans invaded they immediately began direct administration.
   -Claudius would die before seeing Roman Britain fully pacified, as it would take until the end of the first century BC for the province to become truly conquered. 
      -They ultimately had to give up on conquering Caledonia (essentially modern-day Scotland), however, which is one reason why the future emperor Hadrian ended up having the fortification known as Hadrian's Wall built in 122 AD.
-During the conquest, some of the Britannic hordes fled west (into modern-day Wales) to fortify a position there and use guerrilla warfare against the Romans.
   -Caratacus, chieftain of the Catuvellauni tribe and leader of the Britannic resistance against Rome, tried his best to cause as much trouble as possible against the Romans, but he was ultimately defeated in battle.
      -He was captured and sent back to Rome to live as a prisoner. 
         -He actually ended up giving a powerful speech in front of the Senate.  Impressed, Caludius allowed him to live in Rome as a free man.
-As for Claudius' personal life, he had horrible luck with women.
  -He had been forced to be betrothed to his cousin, Aemilia Lepida, but this marriage was called off by Augustus when her parents fell out of favor due to political strife.
   -After this he was betrothed to Livia Medullina (daughter of a former consul), but she died on their wedding day!
  -After this he was married to Plautia Urgulanilla, but they eventually divorced due to her adultery and other sketchy behavior (also, their son, Claudius Drusus, had died in his teens by choking on a pear or something, but this sounds really fishy).
   -His second wife was Aelia Paetina, another former consul's daughter and sister of Sejanus (via adoption).  However, he ended up divorcing her when all the shit hit the fan with Tiberius and Sejanus.
   -His third wife was Valeria Messalina, an ambitious woman who seemed to be excited about marrying the uncle of Caligula.  She fit in well with Caligula's debauched court, but needed Claudius to stay alive in order to keep her hold on power.
      -When it was proposed that Claudius be executed during Caligula's madness, Messalina always fought hard to have Claudius not be killed.
         -After Caligula's death, however, Messalina became much more powerful as wife of the princeps!  
     -She and Claudius had two kids- Claudia Octavia and Britannicus (named after Claudius' successes in Britannia).
      -She was fully involved in all the politics and intrigue of the Roman government, and apparently worked quite closely with Narcissus.  Oh, and she was also banging EVERYONE.
         -All historical sources point to Messalina being vain, cruel, and a nymphomaniac. 
            -Claudius seemed to be oblivious to all of this, unfortunately.
   -Messalina's downfall occurred when Claudius' niece, Agrippina (the Younger; sister of Caligula), arrived in Rome.  She was quite popular with the Roman public and received a warm welcome, showing up Messalina.
      -Agrippina the Younger was also a direct descendant of Augustus; Messalina didn't have that kind of familial lineage.
      -Agrippina was also quite ruthless herself, and it was obvious that she was laying the groundwork for her son, Lucius Domitius Ahenobarbus, to somehow cut in line to be the next princeps. 
   -Instead of getting it together and shoring up her own support (in addition to support for Britannicus), she instead stupidly plotted to dispose of Claudius.  This was a really dumb plan.
      -She got busted when she made the great decision to get married (even though she was already married to Claudius) to a consul in a giant wedding that was a huge party and drew a ton of attention.
         -Narcissus decided that this was going too far and it was incredibly obvious what Messalina's intentions were, so he went to Claudius and ratted on her.
      -Some shit went down, there was a bunch of drama, but Claudius apparently couldn't bring himself to give the order to have Messalina executed, so Narcissus used the seal of the princeps to send the order instead.  Thus, Messalina was executed in 48 AD.
   -Claudius' fourth wife was his cousin, Agrippina!  Why?!
      -All of Claudius' advisers had nominated different women for him to marry after Messalina's execution (based on their own political alliances and loyalties).
      -Pallas' recommendation (Agrippina) is what Claudius ended up choosing because he wanted to unite family lines.  However, because Claudius and Agrippina were so closely related (cousins), this was quite controversial, even for the incestuous Julio-Claudian dynasty!

What, Me, Claudius?

-Tiberius Claudius Drusus was born in 10 BC in Lugdunum (modern-day Lyon, France), Gallia Lugdunensis. 
   -Son of Drusus the Elder (brother of Tiberius) and Antonia Minor (daughter of Marc Antony and Octavia), making him the grandson of Livia (father's side) and Marc Antony (mother's side) and brother of Germanicus and Livilla (lover of Sejanus). 
   -Considered an idiot by his family due to some sort of nervous tick and/or speech impediment that made his family see him as a joke (at best) and an annoyance (at worst).
   -We don't actually know what his deal was, as he could have had cerebral palsy, Tourette syndrome, polio, or even some combo of the above (or none and it was something else!).
   -Even Claudius' mom referred to him as a monster! :(
      -She dumped him off on his grandmother, Livia, who in turn dumped him off onto a "tutor" who was actually a former mule driver who used harsh physical discipline to try and get Claudius to control himself (he also believed that Claudius was lazy and lacking in "strong moral fiber").
   -When Claudius grew into his teens, it became clear that he wasn't mentally retarded, he just had trouble communicating. Surprisingly, Claudius turned out to be a great orator!  He just had trouble communicating privately.
      -He really loved history, so Augustus hired the historian Livy to tutor him.
         -He tried to write a history of the Roman civil wars, but Livia rejected his interpretation of the events and the rise of Augustus.  This resulted in the family believing that Claudius couldn't be trusted with family secrets.
            -Claudius also did manage to put out some respected scholarly works, however, including both a history of the Etruscans and the Carthaginians, respectively.
    -After Augustus died, Claudius requested to be appointed to the government position of cursus honorum, but this was rejected by Tiberius.
   -In his 20s, Claudius decided to lay low since the times were so tumultuous- when Sejanus took power everyone who was deemed an enemy was being killed off, and this was followed by Tiberius' killing off of anyone HE deemed to be an enemy.
      -During this time he was also forced to marry Plautia Urgulanilla (adopted sister of Sejanus) in order to cement family ties.
         -Claudius divorced Plautia after Sejanus lost power, however.
-Eventually became quite popular with the equestrians and common folk just because he seemed to the be the only one who wasn't lusting after power, in addition to never "rocking the boat" or creating any controversy.
   -However, Claudius was thrust into the spotlight when Caligula (his nephew) named him as co-consul (along with Caligula himself).
      -This was not out of respect- it seemed that Caligula just wanted to have someone serving as consul who was related to the well-respected Germanicus (in addition to someone who also wasn't powerful or ambitious).  Caligula actually treated Claudius like a court jester (except much more cruel), and unfortunately caused Claudius to be deeply in debt by randomly charging him insane amounts of money for bullshit.
         -The legend of Claudius being found scared and behind a curtain by the Praetorian Guard is possible, but other sources say that he was just instead doing whatever (like chilling at home) before the Praetorian Guard visited him to escort him back to their camp to declare him princeps.
            -At this point it is interesting to note that the role of princeps was so entrenched in the government that with the death of Caligula, the senators began to argue over who was to be princeps rather than how the Republic could finally be restored to its former power.
               -Of course, none could argue when the Praetorian Guard named Claudius as Caligula's successor.
-41 AD- Claudius is officially declared princeps of the Roman Empire!
   -Of course, Claudius had to agree not to go after or prosecute the conspirators behind the assassination of Caligula, although the lead conspirator, the senator Cassius Chaerea, was prosecuted and executed (most likely so as to not set a precedent for those who wished to dare to try and assassinate a princeps because they didn't like the way shit was going).
      -This didn't deter everyone, however, because in 42 AD a plot was discovered (and foiled) between Senator Vinicianus and Scribonianus, the governor of the province of Dalmatia. 
         -Ultimately, the troops in Dalmatia decided this was a dumb idea, and so the rebellion fizzled out and the conspirators killed themselves.
-So, how was Claudius as princeps?
   -He was actually one of the greatest Roman emperors of all time!  He also changed his name in order to reflect Augustus, so his new name as princeps was "Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus".
      -Unlike Tiberius or Caligula, Claudiu took an active interest in governing.  He made government bureaucracy stronger, introduced legal reforms, and issued lots of edicts aimed at improving Roman life.
         -However, many Romans still saw him as an idiot and attributed his executive prowess to his advisers. 
            -This group of advisers was actually a cabinet (all freedmen, too) that Claudius himself had set up, which included:
               -Secretary of Correspondence- Narcissus (Claudius' closest adviser)
               -Secretary of Justice- Callistus (one of the conspirators behind Caligula's assassination)
               -Secretary of Treasury- Pallas (super rich dude)
               -Secretary of Miscellany- Polybius (eventually executed for treason)
         -Claudius knew, however, that his legal reforms and shit wouldn't quite be enough to garner widespread public support- he needed military victories! 
            -Unfortunately, Augustus had decreed that the empire was big enough as it is, so what was he to do?
               -Claudius eyed Britannia.  While he wanted to follow Augustus' example of rule, it was true that Julius Caesar had fucked around with the island, so why not finish the job?
                  -Additionally, Britannia seemed to be rich in mineral deposits, as well as being a safe haven for Gallic rebels who were a constant nuisance for the Romans.
-43 AD- Rome finally found an excuse for a full-on invasion of Britannia when a Roman-allied Briton chief fell in a power struggle within his own tribe.
   -For the invasion, Rome summoned four legions (along with 20,000 auxiliary troops).
      -The exact details of the beginning of the invasion are murky due to conflicting historical records and theories, so all we DO know is that the Romans invaded from Gaul into Britannia.
         -Upon landing, the Romans immediately started kicking ass.  Other tribes immediately began to surrender. 
            -Southeast Britannia was now successfully occupied by Rome, and Britannia was declared to be a new imperial province. 
               -Because of his victories, Claudius headed back to Rome, where he held a triumph.

No Better Slave, No Worse Master

-Caligula was now , so how was he doing?
-There are a ton of fucked up rumors and stories about Caligula, and we don't know exactly what's true and what isn't, but...let's dish!
   -He allegedly was banging his sisters- Julia Livilla, Agrippina, and Drusilla.  Is this true?
      -Maybe.  They were probably closer than usual due to the insanity they went through as a family.  He also had four (!) wives over the course of his short life:
         -Junia Claudilla- dies while giving birth to a child that also didn't survive :(
         -Livia Orestilla (AKA Cornelia Orestilla; her exact name is unclear)- married to Caligula for one day (!).
         -Lollia Paulina- married to Caligula for 6 months; they divorced because she was allegedly infertile.
         -Milonia Caesonia- married Caligula and the two actually seemed to be really into each other!  They stayed married until they were both executed in 41 AD.
      -Caligula was allegedly especially into Drusilla, whom he always had host his dinner parties (even though this was typically the role of the man's wife).
         -He also had the legionaries include her name when they swore their oaths of fealty to the princeps.
         -One theory is that if this was true, then perhaps Caligula was living the fantasy of the "sister-wife" which is commonly found in mythologies (which would make kind of sense since Caligula inevitably ended up thinking he was a god).
-Anyway, Drusilla died in 38 AD of illness, which really fucked up Caligula. 
   -He had her canonized as an official Roman goddess.
   -It was after this that Caligula really became unhinged.
      -He started making senators do humiliating and goofy tasks, and if they if they didn't do these things they'd be further humiliated (or just executed!).
      -He would also invite senators to his parties and then fuck their wives.  Afterwards he would come back and discuss in detail what exactly they had done.
         -His second wife (see above) was actually stolen on her wedding night from the senator Gaius Calpurnius Piso, who will be important later on in the narrative.
      -Caligula also made a good-looking dude fight as a gladiator because he had made Caligula jealous.  Surprisingly, the good-looking dude actually survived, so Caligula just had him executed!
      -He would also sometimes want a particular estate, so he would confiscate it as government property and have the owner and his family executed.
      -He would force parents to watch the executions of their kids.
      -Caligula also delighted in having the executions be long, drawn-out, and feature lots of torture and cruelty.
      -He somehow spent the entire savings Augustus and Tiberius had amassed in two years, bankrupting the empire and getting into massive debt.
-It's important to note that Caligula, did, however, do some good things too!
   -He expanded the aqueduct system, improved Rome's grain supply importation system, and finished the Temple of Divus Augustus.
      -Mainly, however, he just spent a shitload of money on himself.
-He also claimed that he was going to have his horse made consul because he said it was smarter than the rest of the Senate!
-By 39 AD, it was obvious that the Senate hated Caligula and had begun to plot to get rid of him.
   -Caligula knew this, so he announced that treason investigations were now to be resumed!  However, this just proved that the senators were correct, of course.
      -Meanwhile, Caligula declared that he was a god and began dressing up as Roman gods and shit.  He also ordered that his statue be placed in every temple throughout the empire!
         -This, of course, caused a significant amount of trouble in Judea because the Jewish temples were also required to have a statue of Caligula inside.  Forcing these temples to have a statue of Caligula inside obviously caused riots throughout the province.
            -The puppet king of Judea at the time, Herod Agrippa (who had been raised in Rome), was luckily able to temporarily calm shit down by convincing Caligula not to go through with this order in Judea.  Ultimately, however, he failed, and a statue of Caligula was indeed installed in at least one of the major temples in Jerusalem, which was then converted to become a temple to Caligula (how the Hebrews then reacted to this exactly is unclear).
-Caligula also decided that it was time for some military campaigns!  He then attempted to conquer Germania.
   -This wasn't a serious attempt, however.  He even staged combat situations in which he himself fought so that he could claim that he had fought bravely in battle.
      -This "invasion" seems to have been interrupted when at the same time it was revealed that there was indeed a legit conspiracy against Caligula involving his two remaining sisters and Drusilla's widower, Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (a possible great-grandson of Augustus).
         -In response to this, Caligula had Lepidus executed and his sisters exiled.
-40 AD- Caligula turned his attention to invading Britannia, the mysterious island on the edge of the world that Julius Caesar had failed to conquer...
   -According to legend, Caligula had the troops pick up all of the seashells on the beach in Gaul and then had them bring them back to Rome as "spoils of war".  He then held a dual-triumph in Rome because of his "victories" in Germania and Britannia. 
-After this, Caligula went back to Rome and married Milonia Caesonia,who gave birth to his daughter, Julia Drusilla. 
   -Caesonia was also apparently really nutty, cold-hearted, and decadent. 
-41 AD- a conspiracy to assassinate Caligula (led by the Praetorian Cassius Chaerea, who had often been humiliated by Caligula) finally succeeded. 
   -Caligula was stabbed to death (unclear as to where exactly this went down) by Chaerea and some other dudes.  After this, Caesonia and Julia Drusilla were both executed as well.

To the Tiber with Tiberius

-31 AD- it was around this time that Tiberius seriously withdrew from trying to actually be a good ruler and just became withdrawn, paranoid, and decadent. 
   -Time for another purge!  However, Tiberius' purge was especially ruthless, and was responsible for the butchering of entire families of his "enemies" and turning Rome into essentially into a brutal dictatorship (once again).
      -Where were the legions during this time?  Why didn't they do something?
         -This is because they were mostly concerned with just obeying their commanders, who themselves were trying to (usually) just obey their orders from the Praetorian Guard, where the real power was at.  Additionally, it was the Praetorian Guard who were willingly committing all of the violence in the first place!
         -First to go were allies of Sejanus; they were either exiled or executed and their property was then seized by the state.  After that, anyone caught speaking out against the state or criticizing the regime would get whacked- seniors, children, ANYONE.
            -Bodies were just left to rot in the streets or thrown in the river because it was a crime to bury, cremate, or otherwise dispose of the bodies.
-Tiberius conducted and approved of the slaughter from his residence in Capri.  So, what was he doing there to occupy his free time?
   -We don't actually know for sure, but he was allegedly having huge orgies and sex parties with both men and women.  He also had a giant erotic library, a bunch of obscene art and sculptures, and he would also have little boys lick him underwater while he was swimming around in his pool or the ocean or whatever.  He would apparently also make newborn babies give him oral sex (WTF).  Of course, he'd also go around raping people and beating or murdering them.  In general, just being a complete psychopath. 
      -Regardless of if any of this was true or not, it was clear that everyone back in Rome hated his guts.
-Because it was clear that Tiberius was getting on in age, all eyes were on the possible heirs to the throne- it was down to either Caligula (son of Germanicus (who had been adopted by Tiberius)) or Tiberius Gemellus (Tiberius' grandson).
   -So, who exactly was Caligula?
      -Raised in military camps by his father.
      -Nickname came from the word for "little soldier's boot" because he would be dressed up like a little soldier, which was cute. 
      -During this time, however, he went by the name Gaius (his full name was Gaius Julius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) and his nickname was only brought back later on.
      -Caligula's upbringing was kind of fucked up, especially after his dad died.  Tiberius had had his mom and older siblings killed (among other family members) after the death of Germanicus, and Caligula had been forced to live with his grandmother, Antonia (daughter of Marc Antony and Octavia).  Before that he had been living with Livia Drusilla.
      -After the death of Sejanus, Tiberius ordered for Caligula to come live with him in Capri (uh-oh...).
         -Caligula was apparently a great actor and hid his hatred of Tiberius well.
-33 AD- Caligula was promoted to quaestor and married Junia Claudilla, but she died giving birth later that year.
-35 AD- Caligula and Tiberius Gemellus were named as joint heirs.
-37 AD- Tiberius finally croaks.
   -How did he die?
      -He was definitely old (78!), but the more sexy version is that he was sick, was reported dead, then reported alive and recovering, and then reported dead again (this was possibly because he was murdered by the Praetorian prefect Naevius Sutorius Macro... OR maybe even Caligula!).
         -Regardless, Tiberius was dead and everyone was happy!
   -Immediately, probably with the backing of the Praetorian Guard due to a secret deal, Gemellus was denied his inheritance, kept under house arrest, and then executed under charges of treason!  Gangster shit!
      -Caligula meanwhile was welcomed into Rome by throngs of people.  In fact, it was reported that 150,000 animals were sacrificed across the empire in celebration of the new princeps.
-Caligula began his reign by declaring an end to the treason charges.  He then burned all of the records and charges, much to everyone's happiness, and then allowed those who had been exiled to be pardoned and returned.
   -He then cancelled a shitty tax that no one liked, and after this he raised the salaries of the soldiers!
   -He also restored power to several various client monarchs, giving them more administrative power within their own kingdoms.
   -He then kicked off a big celebration with public spectacles and gladiator events. 
-However, Caligula was just a spoiled, fucked up kid inside, and inevitably began to indulge in booze, sluts, feasts, etc. 
   -6 months after becoming princeps, Caligula grew mysteriously ill and almost died!  It was around this time that Caligula began to get seriously fucked up in the head...

Partner of My Labors

-Tiberius actually wasn't that bad of a ruler from an administrative perspective.  He didn't get involved in foreign wars and usually resolved border disputes peacefully.
   -Also spent lots of money on improving the infrastructure of the empire.
   -It's possible that he never actually wanted to become emperor to begin with, or had become quickly disenchanted with it.
      -It's also possible that Livia, his mother, had pushed him into the role.
-It is at this point in the story that Lucius Sejanus becomes important.
   -Sejanus was a member of the Praetorian Guard.
      -Who were the Praetorian Guard?
         -Had more or less existed around 200 BC.
         -Understood usually to just mean an elite group of soldiers who served as bodyguards to a general.  The praetorium was the name of the tent of a Roman general in a camp.
         -The actual Praetorian Guard as an official organization emerged when Augustus assumed control of the empire.
            -Acted as a police force, gestapo, and bodyguards for the ruler and his family.
         -Organized into five cohorts including 500 (later 1000) men each.
            -Scattered in lodgings throughout the Italian peninsula in order to make them more hidden.
            -Only three cohorts on active duty at any given time in the city of Rome.
         -Were tightly controlled by Augustus, but once he died they began to grow in power.
            -This was probably exacerbated when Tiberius decided to have all of the Praetorians lodged in a single giant barracks just outside of Rome (in addition to adding three cohorts to their ranks!).
         -Additionally, the Praetorian Guard were controlled by two prefects under Augustus, but Tiberius changed this to just one.
            -Lucius Sejanus was the first sole prefect to preside over this new order of the Praetorian Guard, and he was a man of Machiavellian principles, secretly transforming the Guard into a more political organization.
               -Under this growth in power, Roman emperors would always kind of be at the mercy of the Praetorians.
   -So who was Sejanus?
      -Born into the equestrian class.  His father was a Praetorian prefect under Augustus.
         -Approved as the sole prefect of the new order of the Praetorian Guard by Tiberius in 15 AD.
      -What did Sejanus want?
         -Some sources say that he himself wanted to be princeps, but more likely is that he just wanted to be regent for the next princeps, presumably one of Tiberius' heirs.
         -However, his obstacle was Drusus, Tiberius' son.  Drusus was the heir, but too old to require a regent.  Also, Drusus hated Sejanus, and the feeling was mutual.
-Once he became prefect, Sejanus came up with a plan...
   -Drusus was married to Livilla ("Little Livia" AKA Claudia Livia Julia).  If Drusus died and Sejanus married Livilla, then with Drusus out of the way he could ascend his equestrian status and enter into the true elite.
      -Surprisingly, his plan kind of worked!  He successfully seduced Livilla, and after they started having an affair Sejanus convinced Livilla that Drusus simply had to go.
         -The plan worked, and in 23 AD Livilla had Drusus poisoned, resulting in his death :(
-Drusus' death was arguably when Tiberius really jumped the shark.
   -Tiberius had invested heavily in Drusus as an heir, believing that Drusus was the key to getting the Senate and the people to warm up to his reign and legacy.
      -It is unclear as to how much Tiberius actually loved his son, however... there are conflicting reports.
-Tiberius, unsuspecting of Sejanus' involvement, turned to him for support, trusting in him to do a bunch of administrative shit which Tiberius hated doing anyway.  This allowed for Sejanus to amass more and more power.
   -However, Tiberius forbade Sejanus from marrying Livilla due to his equestrian status.
      -In response, Sejanus just decided to instead accumulate as much power as possible while simultaneously isolating Tiberius.
      -Sejanus also began issuing treason charges against various members of Agrippina's family, who were still convinced that Tiberius had had Germanicus killed; this further fanned the flames of anger between the two parties.
         -This caused Tiberius to become even more paranoid and withdrawn, taking longer and more frequent vacations into the countryside.
            -Finally, in 26 AD, Tiberius decided to permanently leave Rome, and moved to the tiny island of Capri (off the coast of Campania).  He would never return.
-What role did Livia (Tiberius' mom) play in all of this?
   -Many rumored that she was truly controlling everything, and was omnipresent in his life.  Also, they had a complicated relationship (in addition to a lot of disagreements).
      -To be fair, Livia also didn't do much to try and refute this either.
      -Did Tiberius leave Rome to get away from her?  When she died in 29 AD, he claimed he was too busy to come to the funeral.
      -Also, it was Livia (AKA "the Augusta") who also kept Sejanus from getting TOO powerful.  Obviously, Sejanus was thrilled when she finally kicked the bucket.
-Sejanus also had to worry about Agrippina, as she also began claiming that her sons were the true heirs to the empire after Tiberius croaked (or were the rightful heirs to begin with and not Tiberius!).
   -This began to cause tension within the family.
   -Once Livia died, Sejanus immediately went after Agrippina, possibly on the orders of Tiberius, arresting her and other immediate members of her family on charges of treason.
      -Drusus Caesar starved to death in prison (he was so hungry that he had eaten the stuffing from his bed!).
      -Nero Caesar was exiled to island of Ponza (about 110 km west of modern-day Naples).  He was later murdered (or perhaps just starved to death, it's unclear).
      -Agrippina was exiled to the island of Pandataria (modern-day Ventotene; same place where Julia the Elder (Agrippina's mother) had been exiled).  She eventually starved to death or perhaps was murdered.
   -The only survivor of this purge was Agrippina's youngest son, Gaius (AKA Caligula!).
-After Agrippina and Livia were out of the way, Sejnaus, using Tiberius' paranoia, began to persecute people daily under treason charges, basically turning Rome into Nazi Germany.
   -Of course, those persecuted were almost always personal enemies of Sejanus.
-31 AD- Sejanus finally attained the position of consul.
   -Unfortunately, the records for this part of Roman history (via Tacitus) are lost, so it's kind of unclear what exactly happened, but we know that somehow Tiberius became aware of Sejanus' manipulations and power games, and began to believe that Sejanus was going to overthrow the regime.
      -Sejanus was lured to the Senate, then arrested and convicted of treason.
         -Naevius Sutorius Macro was then appointed prefect of the Praetorian Guard, and Sejanus was executed.
-Everyone in the city had hated Sejanus, so there were mobs who tore his body to shreds and then went on a rampage, killing anyone who had been friendly to him.
   -Livilla was also arrested and executed.
-Around this time too, a dude named Yeshua of Nazareth was allegedly tried and executed by the Roman government in the province of Judea.
   -This is of no significance to the major events going on at this point in the timeline of the empire, but of course it will be extremely important later on!

Germanicus

-Augustus was dead, and Tiberius had taken his place as Princeps of Rome.
-Immediately, the legions began grumbling because they wanted to get paid and wanted money or something.
      -Began to actually mutiny in 14 AD!
         -Many believed that Tiberius wouldn't be able to fill Augustus' shoes and that the regime would collapse, so this was his trial by fire!  However, it seemed like this idea was mainly held by the older generation who believed that Rome would ultimately return to being a republic.  However, the younger generation had experienced 44 years of Augustan rule.  Living under an absolutist regime was normal to them, and life had been good.
            -Furthermore, Tiberius actually tried to stay out of the limelight and political games and showmanship, and actually wanted to give some of the power back to the Senate.  He even refused the title of "princeps" which had been given to Augustus.
            -He actually expected the Senate to do some shit on their own, but they kept on deferring to him, to his annoyance.  He felt that the Senate had just turned into a social club for rich old men, nothing more.
         -The rebellion began in the province of Pannonia and had begun to run amok in the countryside.
            -Tiberius sent his son Drusus to go and deal with it (along with the Praetorian Lucius Aelius Seianus (or just simply "Sejanus").
               -Drusus tried to reason with them, and finally convinced them to chill the fuck out.
-After the Pannonian mutiny calmed down, another military rebellion broke out along the Lower Rhine.
   -This time, Tiberius sent his adopted son and nephew, Germanicus (originally born .
      -Germanicus was the fucking man!  He was popular, a chill bro, a natural leader, and a badass soldier.
         -Germanicus' family:
            -Agrippina (the Elder), his wife
            -Gaius (Caligula), his son
            -Agrippina
      -The rebellious soldiers tried to get Germanicus to join them, promising to topple Tiberius and enthroning Germanicus in Tiberius' place, but Germanicus refused.
         -Instead, he promised that Rome would pay them, treat them better, etc.  However, when delegates from the Senate arrived to check out the situation, the rebels attacked them!
            -This pissed off Germanicus, but he was able to calm down the rebels again by paying them their salaries out of his own pocket.  He then also allowed those who had served for more than 16 years to be honorably discharged and retire.
               -He also held inspections/investigations for EACH soldier, and expelled any who were deemed to be troublesome or unworthy of service.
-All of this stuff kind of pissed off Tiberius because Germanicus was acting without consulting him, but also maybe he was just jealous because Germanicus was more popular :D
-15 AD- Germanicus decided to have the troops do something to keep them busy, so he sent them on patrols across the Rhine.
   -He promised them that that any plunder would be theirs to keep, since the bonuses they had been promised became nullified when Augustus died.
      -The excuse for the attack, of course, was for the Romans to take revenge for the slaughter they had experienced in Teutoburg Forest.
   -At this time, this particular area of Germania was divided between random tribes friendly to Rome, neutral Bohemian tribes, and the hostile Cherusci and their allies in the center, led by Arminius.
      -The Germans typically would fight until overpowered and then disappear back into the forest.
         -The Romans eventually got sick of this shit and retreated back across the Rhine for the winter after almost being defeated!
-16 AD- the Romans once again tried to have a go at Arminius, and after a couple of battles they actually managed to injure Arminius, but still couldn't capture/kill him.
   -Frustrated, Germanicus ordered the return of his troops back across the Rhine for the winter.  However, this time around he decided to take a different route, sailing the river into the North Sea and then using the North Sea to sail back to Gaul.
-All of Germanicus' actions pissed off Tiberius, but also frightened him.  Germanicus had become too OP and was also disrupting his vision of having the empire's territory end at the west bank of the Rhine.
   -Of course, he was also jealous of Germanicus' popularity with the troops and the general public.
   -Tiberius formed a plan- he would recall Germanicus, promote him, and them keep him close to monitor him.
      -So, Germanicus returned home to a triumph arranged by Tiberius, including a display of 2/3 Roman eagle standards that had been lost during the previous Roman wars with the Germanic hordes.
   -Tiberius then told Germanicus that he was to be promoted to proconsul and would be in charge of overseeing the Eastern provinces.
      -Surprised, Germanicus accepted this promotion.
-Tiberius then appointed an asshole dude named Gnaeus Calpurnius Piso, a former consul, as governor of Syria, and gave him four legions (possibly to counterbalance Germanicus and his growing power).
   -Some sources even speculate that it was Piso who eventually would have Germanicus assassinated, but there is no proof of this.
   -It is true though that Piso undermined Germanicus at every turn.
-It's around this time that Tiberius seems to have finally blown a fuse. 
   -He found out that Germanicus had taken a trip to Egypt, which was considered personal property of the Roman princeps and required the princep's approval for a Roman senator to enter (a rule established by Augustus).
      -When Germanicus arrived in Antioch in 19 AD, he suddenly became sick.  There was also alleged evidence of Roman black magic found!
         -Before Germanicus died, he told his family not to pursue justice for his death because Tiberius was dangerous and would probably just have them all killed if they did so. 
            -After dying, Germanicus' body was cremated.
-Agrippina then brought the ashes of Germanicus back to Rome and immediately began to raise hell about the conspiracy theory surrounding her husband's death.
   -Tiberius responded by denying everything and allowing for there to be an investigation. 
      -Piso returned from Syria and was tried before the Senate.  Although he was suspected of being guilty, Piso "committed suicide" before he could confess.
         -Agrippina's conspiracy theory was widely believed by the Roman public, and this was the beginning of public disdain for Tiberius.
       

The King is Dead, Long Live the King

-9 AD- Augustus was now getting pretty old.  Because of all the bad luck and his old age, he was starting to grow more cautious and paranoid.
   -More and more responsibility was being given to Tiberius as well.
-Over the course of his reign, Augustus had really done a lot to improve the infrastructure of the empire.
   -Due to corruption and property rights, there were a lot of works and shit that could have been improved or torn down and then rebuilt anew, but weren't.
      -Augustus worked long and hard to untangle the mess and get shit running smoothly (with the help of Agrippa, too).
   -Augustus also introduced a police/fire department (the vigiles), something that hadn't existed before!
      -Because of this, Augustus had finally put a stop to obnoxious shit like Crassus extorting property owners as their buildings burned.
   -Augustus also put an end to tax farming out in the provinces.
      -What was tax farming?
         -A private agency would bid to collect taxes in a certain area.  The winning bid paid to the Senate was the money that the government received as the "tax revenue".  The business model was then for the tax agency to go out and raise extra taxes from the populace to cover the price the agency had already paid in addition to a profit for themselves.
            -Obviously, this grew to be extremely corrupt and fucked up, and resulted in constant revolts and problems.
   -Augustus also set up a central treasury solely dedicated to the payment of Rome's military.
      -This took the power out of the hands of the generals, who were paying for a lot of the armies themselves.  This would help prevent future problems with generals who would want to seize power for themselves.
-Augustus also was quite tolerant of freedom of speech and criticism of the state, as his advisers had wisely advised him to allow people to openly speak about their grievances, as censorship would just cause shit to go underground.
   -Tiberius, on the other hand, was insecure and would crack down on freedom speech; criticism of the regime was treason.
-Before dying, Augustus wrote an autobiography that portrayed himself in a very flattering light (of course)- "The Deeds of the Divine Augustus".
   -Augustus also wrote documents recording how he wanted his funeral instruction, for Tiberius on how to rule, and his will.
-13/14 AD- Augustus travels to the tiny island where Agrippa Postumus had been exiled to.
   -Why did Augustus do this?
      -There are many theories, but it's actually unclear.  It's entirely possible that Augustus also wanted this trip to be kept secret. 
         -One theory suggests that maybe Augustus wanted to see if Agrippa Postumus was ready to come back to society.
         -Another theory suggests that maybe Augustus wanted to see if Agrippa Postumus would try and seize power once Augustus had died.
         -Others have suggested that maybe Augustus wanted to see if Agrippa Postumus had changed and would actually be a better heir than Tiberius.
   -Regardless, Augustus had decided that Postumus Agrippa was too dangerous to return to society (for a variety of reasons, possibly), and so he mysteriously ended up dead later that year... did Augustus order his death?  Did Livia?  Maybe even Tiberius?  No one knows!
-14 AD- Tiberius set out to govern in Illyrium, and Augustus went to his private villa in Nola (outside of modern-day Naples, Campania) to recuperate from a serious illness. 
   -Everyone knew that his time was getting close :(
   -With Livia by his side, Augustus finally died on August 19, 14 AD, at the age of 75.  Bro had ruled Rome for over 40 years!
   -His alleged last words were something like, ""Have I played the part well? Then applaud as I exit".
   -Of course, there are many conspiracy theories about what REALLY happened regarding Augustus' death, typically involving Livia, but who knows? 
-Tiberius returned to Rome after Augustus' death. Everyone knew that Augustus had died, and Tiberius was to control.
   -According to Augustus' will, 2/3 of his property was given to Tiberius.  The remaining 1/3 went to Livia. 
      -Surprisingly, Augustus had posthumously adopted Livia as his daughter (!) as well! 
         -This allowed Livia to continue enjoying power as an official daughter of Augustus (as opposed to just being his widow).
-Augustus was also deified as an official Roman god- "the Divine Augustus".
-So, what about Augustus' legacy?
   -It's actually complicated... was he a tyrant?  A puppet of Livia?  A benevolent dictator?
      -Maybe he was all of these things.  Or maybe none!  Either way, he's usually considered to be Rome's greatest emperor, in addition to being one of the most important and influential people in all of Western civilization!

Teutoburg Nightmares

-2 BC- Augustus finally learn about how Julia (the Elder) was (not-so-secretly) banging everyone, and at this point now not just elites but pretty much anyone, even slaves!
   -Against everyone's advice, Augustus decided to exile Julia to the tiny island of Pandateria (modern-day Ventotene, roughly 70 km west of Naples) and then he exiled or executed her various alleged lovers (as long as there was reasonable evidence or proof and that they could be properly identified).
      -Even though Julia had been so promiscuous, everyone still loved her, and the commoners had begged Augustus to not exile her.  After she was exiled, they begged for Augustus to let her come back.
-Meanwhile, Gaius and Lucius (Julia's sons and Augustus' grandsons) were growing up fast under the supervision of Augustus.  However, they began to also grow spoiled, clever, and arrogant.
   -Augustus' plan was to make Gaius a consul when he turned 20, and then Lucius would be made consul after that when he turned 20.
-1 BC- Gaius was sent to the Greek island of Samos to set up a base of operations there as a commander of Rome's eastern provinces.
-Meanwhile, Tiberius was still chilling in Rhodes but had grown up unhappy with his self-imposed exile.
   -Contrary to what he expected, he had proven himself to be dispensable, especially since his marriage to Julia had been nullified once Augustus found out about her sluttery.  So, Tiberius announced that he was going to return to Rome, but Augustus actually told him that he couldn't!
      -Maybe he just didn't want any more drama or power struggles, but regardless Tiberius was forced to remain in Rhodes, this time though not by choice.
-2 AD- Lucius died from a mysterious illness while traveling through Gaul to Spain on some assignment ...
   -Augustus was devastated and realized that it was all up to Gaius now to carry the Augustus' legacy!
-4 AD- Gaius dies!  He was wounded while returning from Armenia back to Rome and died of infection.
   -Augustus, once again, was devastated.  It looked like now his only hope was...Tiberius (sad trombone).
-So, the question needs to be asked: was Livia behind the deaths of Lucius and Gaius??
   -Later events (e.g. mysterious deaths, exiles, etc.) seem to draw further suspicion of a vast conspiracy. 
      -However, there's simply no proof :/
-Tiberius returned to Rome and was officially adopted by Augustus, making him Augustus' official heir.
   -Tiberius also had his old powers restored by the Senate.
      -In exchange for this, Tiberius agreed to adopt Germanicus (who was now 20) as his own son, as Germanicus was seen as a promising, developing natural leader.  His original name was most likely Nero Claudius Drusus, but he received the agnomen "Germanicus" when his father (Drusus (the Elder)) received the same agnomen for his campaigns in Germania.  Of course, Drusus' other kids received this agnomen as well, but for whatever reason it stuck as a nickname for Germanicus and not his other siblings. Germanicus was also married to Augustus' granddaughter, Agrippina (the Elder).
         -What about Augustus' other grandchildren?
            -Gaius- dead.
            -Lucius- dead.
            -Agrippa Postumus- the only potential male heir left of this group, last surviving son of Agrippa and Julia.  However, he was violent and cruel, or at least just a cunt, and so he was exiled to a super tiny island of Pianosa off the west coast of Italy (about 14km southwest of Elba).
            -Livilla- would eventually either be executed or forced to commit suicide after being found guilty of involvement in the murder of Drusus the Younger (son of Tiberius).
            -Claudius- thought to be a stammering idiot, but would actually end up being a future emperor!
-7 AD- the Roman campaign in Germania seems to be going rather well, as the Romans were moving forward and securing alliances with various Germanic tribes.
   -However, overall the Germanic hordes still hated Rome with a burning passion.
   -The Roman governor assigned to the task of conquering Germania was Publius Quintillius Varus.
   -The key German horde leader was a dude named Arminius (possibly a Latinized version of the old German name Hermann).
      -The Romans thought Arminius was their friend and ally, but really he hated Rome and was planning on betraying them when the time was right.
-9 AD- Arminius' plan had come to fruition.
   -In September, Arminius told the Romans that some local Germanic villages nearby their encampment had decided to rebel, so the Romans decided to bring three legions (the 17th, 18th, and 19th) to go fuck them up.
      -Of course, it was an ambush.  To make matters worse, Varus was probably a shitty commander and didn't take the proper precautions.
         -The troops marched sloppily, Varus allowed for camp followers to come along with their slow-moving supply wagons, etc.
         -The path was a narrow strip of land between a marsh and a hill (near modern-day Osnabrück, Lower Saxony).
            -As Varus and the legions passed through this area, Arminius attacked!
               -The Romans were completely surprised, cut in half, and completely fucking slaughtered!  Those who survived were able to make a fortified camp nearby, but they still had to fiht their way out of the forest.
                  -Realizing that the situation was hopeless, Varus and the others committed suicide in the camp.
               -All in all, about 22,000 Roman troops died in the battle.
-The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest was devestating news for Rome, and its memory haunted Augustus.  It's possible that it's also the reason why the Romans decided to cool off on Germania for awhile.
   -In the 19th century, German nationalists would recognize Arminius as a national folk hero!
      -However, in the aftermath of the battle Augustus hadn't quite given up yet, as he did send Tiberius to Germania to make another attempt at conquering the Germanic hordes.
         -This time, the Romans tried everything- marauding, raids, enslavement, establishing permanent outposts, etc.
            -Eventually, the Romans realized that the best way to fight the Germanic barbarians was to simply not give them a reason to unify.  Also, as long as the Romans stayed west of the Rhine River, the Germanic tribes kept themselves busy fighting each other.
-To prevent the Germans from attacking Roman territory, the Romans stationed eight legions along the Rhine (this would last for hundreds of years!).

All in the Family

-Tiberius and Drusus, stepsons of Augustus and biological sons of Livia Drusilla (Augustus' wife) and Tiberius Claudius Nero (her first husband) were put in charge of pacifying the barbarian hordes of the Alps, allegedly due to their harassment of traveling Romans.
   -Augustus did this to put these dudes into the public spotlight so that they would be considered worthy successors should he die soon.
      -They had been adopted by Augustus when they were infants.
      -However, there was a problem that threatened to make Tiberius and Drusus obsolete- Agrippa had married Augustus' daughter, Julia, and she was proving to be quite fertile (especially in producing sons) ;)  Uh-oh! 
         -While this made Augustus happy because they would be suitable heirs, they were too young at this point if Augustus were to suddenly drop dead; plus, this would obviously cause drama later on the longer he lived. 
            -Augustus also had Tiberius marry Vipsania, Agrippa's daughter, and Drusus married Antonia, the daughter of Marc Antony! 
-17 BC- the Romans lose a minor battle with a Germanic tribe in Gaul, and so Augustus uses this as an excuse to try and invade the region of Germania between the Rhine and Elbe Rivers.  Augustus remained in Gaul for three years during these wars.
   -Meanwhile, two other major wars were being fought elsewhere:  the Alps and Illyricum.
      -For the wars in the Alps, Tiberius and Drusus invaded the Alps in order to pacify the mountain hordes living there.
         -Tiberius and Drusus decided that it would be too difficult to simply beat the hordes into submission, so instead they focused on mass deportations instead via enslavement and/or relocation.  However, women, children, and the elderly were allowed to remain in their homes.
      -For the wars in Illyricum (known as the Pannonian War), Agrippa was sent to pacify the barbarian hordes living there who had never truly been conquered.
         -Unfortunately, he got pretty sick while he was there and had to return to Rome in March of 12 BC. However, he didn't make it and died somewhere in Campania :(
-13 BC- Tiberius becomes consul for the first time, which was crazy at the time because he was so young (the age restrictions had been lifted under Augustus).
   -Lepidus also died during this time, having been allowed to hold the office of Pontifex Maximus and live in relative peace by Augustus. 
      -Augustus, as princeps, was now in charge of all three facets of Roman rule- religion, government, and military.
 -Anyway, so the death of Agrippa was a really big deal, and the news of his passing hit Augustus especially hard.
   -Agrippa wasn't just a friend, but he was also a fiercely loyal, powerful ally.  Augustus could give him military power and not have to worry about him fucking it up.
      -Now, any up-and-coming commander could pose a threat to Augustus' grip on absolute power.
         -Also, what to do with Julia (Augustus' daughter and Agrippa's widow (second time she was a widow now!))?  Well, in order to keep things "in the family", Augustus married her to Tiberius! 
            -Tiberius also inherited Agrippa's mission to pacify Illyricum.
            -Unfortunately for Tiberius, he wanted to stay married to Vipsania, whom he loved!  Also, Julia was his step-sister, which was weird. 
               -This one-two punch of forced divorce from Vipsania and marriage to Julia caused Tiberius to grow bitter and even straight-up rageful; he had really loved Vipsania and was completely incompatible with Julia.
                  -Tiberius became kind of like Stannis Baratheon- cold, humorless, and possessing of zero charisma; however, he was also quite talented and clever as well.
                  -Julia, on the other hand, had been raised as a princess and was used to being completely pampered, but now she was probably just jaded and burned out since she had constantly been used as a pawn in so many of Augustus' schemes.   So, she began to act out sexually and started fucking a bunch of the wealthy and powerful elites of Rome in order to get back at her super-moral and fidelity-obsessed father.  She also absolutely hated Tiberius, and their only child, Tiberillus, died in infancy.
-Meanwhile, Drusus remained happily married to Antonia, and they had three children.
   -He was also placed in charge of the campaign in Germania.
   -Drusus and Antonia's three children:
      -Germanicus (Nero Claudius Tiberius)
      -Livilla (Julia Livilla)
      -Claudius (Tiberius Claudius Nero)
   -Everyone liked Drusus; he was very charismatic, as was Antonia, who was universally loved.
-11-9 BC- Roman wars of expansion into Illyricum (to pacify) and Germania (to conquer).
   -Tiberius had a much easier time in Illyricum this time around, as the hordes there had become too fractured to put up a strong resistance.
   -Germania was a lot more wild... initially, Drusus was actually able to push all the way up to the Elbe River, but he kept on being pushed back every winter.
-9 BC- Drusus accidentally fell off a horse and succumbed to an infection :(
   -Antonia never remarried.
-8 BC- Gaius Maecenas (Augustus' closest adviser) died in October, which was a huge blow to Augustus since Maecenas had been so influential in shaping Augustus' public perception (in addition to being a key member of Augustus' inner circle).
-7 BC- A pro-Parthian king was enthroned in Armenia; Augustus commanded Tiberius to go and take him out.  Tiberius, however, refused- he was retiring from politics!
   -Why did Tiberius do this?
      -One theory is that he knew he was just a pawn, so why bother since his importance was soon to expire in the face of younger, more capable heirs (such as Gaius and Lucius, his younger step-brothers).
      -Another theory is that Tiberius wanted to step aside in order to not have to compete with his step-brothers for power, and also perhaps to get away from Julia as well haha.
   -Tiberius' refusal to get involved with Armenia really pissed off Augustus, but Tiberius didn't care and set sail for the island of Rhodes, where he wanted to retire.
   -One clue to his true motives, however, was that he didn't ever relinquish his legal powers that had been given to him by the Senate.  Perhaps he just wanted to emphasize how important was after all, and wasn't just one of Augustus' many pawns.
      -This put Augustus in a bind, as it was true that Tiberius was important, but also Gaius and Lucius were still too young to be heirs and manage the power of princeps should Augustus die.  What to do?
         -Augustus decided that he had no choice but to try and live until his grandsons reached maturity (both in age and political influence).

Reigning Supreme

-Augustus was no longer preoccupied with consolidating power- he was finally the supreme ruler of the Roman Empire!
-Surprisingly, one of the fist crises of his rule was actually a grain shortage, but this ultimately ended up working in his favor.
   -The masses were sick and tired of the corrupt oligarchy running the show and wanted Augustus to kick some ass and get shit running smoothly again...
      -No more "consul-at-large" or "princeps" nonsense- they wanted Augustus as dictator-for-life!
         -However, Augustus turned down the position, pointing out that the ban on any dictators (set up after the assassination of Julius Caesar) was still in effect.
-22 BC- Augustus now wanted to focus on foreign affairs- Agrippa was sent west to Spain to make sure shit stayed under control there while Augustus himself traveled east (maybe to Alexandria?).
   -It was time to figure out how to deal with the Parthians.  It was obvious that the Romans probably wouldn't be able to conquer them, but at the same time the Parthians still had Roman war trophies on display in their court, a huge embarrassment to Rome. 
   -Anyway, Augustus felt that the key to gaining leverage with the Parthians was through Armenia, which at this time were a Parthian ally.
      -Augustus sent his legions to invade Armenia, with his stepson Tiberius (Livia's son from her previous marriage) leading the troops!
         -However, when Tiberius arrived, he found Armenia in the middle of a revolt and civil war!  The monarch, Artaxias II, had been placed on the throne by the Parthians after they invaded the kingdom (which at that time had been dominated by Rome).  However, Artaxias II proved to be a very unpopular ruler for whatever reason(s), so they sent envoys begging Augustus to come in and remove Artaxias II from the throne and install his much more popular brother, Tigranes III, on the throne in his place.
            -So, when Tiberius arrived he crowned Tigranes III as the new king of Armenia, and Armenia was back under Roman domination.
      -Augustus and the Parthian king, Phraates IV, then worked out a peace treaty which said that the Romans wouldn't invade or fuck with the Parthians in exchange for the Parthians returning the Roman war trophies and POWs.
         -Augustus considered this to be a major highlight of his international relations career.
-Also, it was at this point that Augustus made it so that he had his own private military for his princeps position in the name of national security. 
   -This private military was known as the Praetorian Guard. 
      -Augustus set up the Praetorian Guard because it was illegal for him to command the legions of the Italian peninsula from his position, so that's how he got around that.
-Augustus then focused on trimming the immensely bloated Senate numbers from 1000 down to 300.     -He made it so that you had to have a lot of money to be in the Senate, but due to corruption this changed very little. 
      -So, finally he made an inner circle of senators, quaestors, and other officials (about 30 members in total). Then, once they worked out their plans/objectives, the plans/objectives would be hashed out in the Senate to vote on.  It wasn't perfect, but it did make shit more efficient.
         -He also began to pass anti-corruption laws and a civil service sector that offered government jobs across the empire to all- even slaves and freemen!  Surprisingly, this kept everyone happy; the rich got nice jobs and the common folk finally had a hand in government administration.
-Augustus was also super-wealthy at this point. 
   -In fact, he was the richest dude in the empire, which gave him a ton of leverage and the ability to really get shit done. 
      -This made the public love him even more.
-Augustus also wanted to bring back traditional Roman morals and values since society had become so decadent and debauched.
   -He wanted to focus on building a society based on strong familiar structures to set up a stable culture steeped in morality.
      -Men were to be the workers and warriors, and the women were to keep the home nice and be baby factories.
         -Due to the shrinking birth rates, Augustus implemented incentives to encourage larger families and marriage, and cheating on your spouse became a capital offense!
            -Of course, this was really silly and poorly enforced, especially because Augustus was banging random chicks all the time outside of his own marriage haha.
-Among other points of interest in the empire, Augustus really wanted to secure the Alps, since they were infested with barbarian hordes that had still yet to be conquered.
   -So, he put Tiberius in charge of this, along with Tiberius' younger brother, Drusus, as co-general.

Caesar Augustus

-So now what?  Everything was up in the air, and all eyes were on Octavian.
   -First, he went and deleted Marc Antony's name from all records, histories, texts, statues, monuments, etc.
   -Second, he declared that no one from the Antonia family (or "gens") could be named "Marcus" again (haha)!
      -Also, many anti-Octavian allies and conspirators were either executed or exiled.  However, some former enemies were shown mercy or incorporated into Octavian's administration, so it wasn't all just a brutal purge.
-29 BC- Octavian (and Gaius Maecenas, one of his closest political advisors) commissioned a bunch of poets to begin writing epic poems and shit glorifying Octavian and Rome, the ultimate work from this being Virgil's "The Aeneid", finally published c. 19 BC.
   -"The Aeneid" attempted to link the Julii clan with the famed Aeneas (hero of the Trojan War) and how Octavian's rise to power was planned by the gods.
-When Octavian threw the inevitable triumph(s) upon his return to Rome, because Marc Antony's name had been erased from everything, only Cleopatra was referenced; this made it seem like it was only a war against a demonic foreign queen upstart.
   -Octavian also forced Cleopatra and Antony's kids to join the parade in chains- absent was Caesarian, who had been executed back in Alexandria.
     -After this, the children were raised by Octavia (the Younger, Octavian's sister), who later married off Cleopatra Selene to King Juba II of Numidia.
      -Also seen at the triumphs were Marcus Claudius Marcellus (Octavian's nephew, son of Octavia) and Tiberius Claudius Nero (Octavian's stepson from Livia's first marriage and the future Emperor Tiberius).
         -Octavian had begun to groom Marcellus to replace him as ruler.  Of course, Tiberius was a back-up plan, but Livia pushed heavily for him to be the first choice.  Unfortunately for her, Octavian DGAF and Marcellus remained his first choice.
-28 BC- Now both Octavian and Agrippa were consuls.
   -One of the first things they did was annul all the laws made under the Second Triumvirate.
   -Meanwhile, 60 legions were still mobilized...what to do with them all?
      -Octavian decided to keep 28 legions on, and the rest were FINALLY able to retire.
         -These 28 were posted mainly in Gaul, Hispania, and Syria.
         -Octavian was able to finally pay for the legions to retire because he now had Egypt formally annexed as an official part of the Roman Empire, which meant lots of money coming in :D
   -Octavian and Agrippa then reduced the size of the Senate from 1000 to 800 and brought in rich supporters from across the empire, although this kind of backfired and Octavian ended up allowing anyone who wanted to stay in the Senate to do so.
   -During this time, two great temples were also built- the Temple of Apollo (that Octavian had vowed he would build if he were to defeat Sextus Pompey), where Octavian ordered the Sibylline Books (sacred texts that dated back to the time of the Roman kings!) transferred from the Temple of Jupiter in order to give it more legitimacy, and the Pantheon, a great temple dedicated to all the gods (commissioned by Agrippa).
      -However, the Pantheon built at this time was destroyed in a fire in 80 AD, and so the Pantheon we know today is actually a remodel/remake commissioned by Emperor Hadrian around 126 AD.  This remake included the dome, which was not included with the original Pantheon.
-27 BC- Octavian says he's going to step down and retire, but the Senate begs for him to stay.  Why?  Because Octavian at this point had stacked the Senate in his favor and he knew that they would continue to benefit from his rule.  So, Octavian "realizes" that they want him to stay, so he appoints himself as proconsul of Hispania, Gaul, Cilicia, Syria, Cyprus, and Egypt.
   -He wanted the provinces that had all the military stationed there, so after this 20 out of the 28 legions were now directly under his control.
   -Also, because he was no longer a triumvirate butstill obviously a special and powerful dude, he was awarded a new title by the Senate for which he most well-known as today- "Augustus" ("Revered One").  However, Octavian (or Augustus, as we'll now refer to him as!) insisted that he be referred to simply as "Princeps" ("First Citizen"), which was much more humble.
-After establishing the terms with the Senate, he left Rome to go tour the empire, but also to give the Senate a breather and a (false) sense of independence.
   -Augustus first went to Gaul, where he was able to calm down the local barbarian tribes that had been pissed off at the way Rome had been administering the region (which was bordering on anarchy and chaos).
      -Then he traveled to Hispania, which was in a similar situation.  However, the barbarian hordes there never really accepted Roman rule, so Augustus decided to put an end to any rebellious attitudes once and for all.
         -It took him a few years of fighting guerrilla barbarian armies, but he finally got them to submit.
-During this time, Augustus also was frequently sick, so he often thought of his own death and succession- he still planned on Marcellus to succeed him, and he wanted to solidify Marcellus' legitimacy by having him marry Julia (the Elder, Augustus' own daughter, gross!).
    -In order to kick off Marcellus' political career Augustus ordered a bunch of epic games to be held in Marcellus' name so that the people would like him.
-24 BC- Augustus returned to Rome, but immediately had a falling out with Maecenas.
   -There had been an alleged plot to assassinate Augustus that may or may not have involved Maecenas' brother-in-law (on his sister's side), Lucius Lucinius Varro Murena. 
      -Because Maecenas didn't immediately go to Augustus first when he (Maecenas) learned of this plot and instead had talked to his wife about what was going on with her brother, Augustus was really pissed off.
-23 BC- just as Marcellus was about to take office (as an aedile) and kick off his political career for real, Augustus got super sick (probably typhoid fever).
   -However, Augustus miraculously survived!  Being sick had given him a lot of perspective, too (since it was expected that he was going to die), so he decided to step down as proconsul. 
      -He then appointed himself a special version of tribune as well as a "consul-at-large" or something, which granted him the power of having final say over everything.
         -This helped give the illusion of control more to the Senate.  He also held back more in meddling in a lot of the minor internal affairs, as well as avoiding public displays of power.
   -Agrippa was also really popular with the Senate, especially more than Augustus.
      -During this time, Agrippa relocated his home and office to the Greek island of Samos, off the coast of Asia Minor. 
         -Why he did this is kind of a mystery...
            -Some have theorized that he was exiled by Augustus for getting too powerful, while others have proposed that he was sent by Augustus to look after the East.
   -Anyway, by the end of 23 BC, Marcellus suddenly became sick and died!
      -Octavia went into mourning for the rest of her life.
-Augustus needed a new heir, and quickly!
   -Maybe Agrippa?