e rumor andkilled himself by falling on his sword. Upon hearing of his suicide, Cleopatra killed herselfwith an asp, which was a symbol of the eye of Ra, the Egyptian sun god (Gibson). Afterthe war was over, Octavian closed the Roman temple to Janus, the Roman god ofbeginnings of wars. This showed that the world was at peace. In 28 BC, Octavian andAgrippa became consuls. After one year, they turned the state over to "the free decision ofthe Senate and People of Rome" (Adcock 74). The Senate and people of Rome gaveOctavian ten years of complete control. Octavian named himself the princeps, which isLatin for emperor. He ran the Empire as a monarchy, although it was disguised as aRepublic. They still had a senate, but senators only made it into office with Octavian'sapproval. Those citizens who weren't fooled kept quiet, because Octavian kept thingspeaceful and governed fairly. Octavian ended the Roman tradition of conquest, cutting thearmy from seventy five to twenty eight legions. In 23 BC, Octavian gave up the consulate,but the senate forced himto keep power over the provinces. In effect, he ran the Empirefrom the background, while others were elected consul. These consuls had power, butalways did what Octavian said. On his death bed, Octavian was advised to forgive hisenemies. He responded with, "Yes father, but how can I? I have [killed] them all" (Adcock75). Octavian was almost eighty when he died in 14 AD. After Octavian came theEmperor Tiberius. His reign was non-eventful, and he retired after plots against him wereturned up.After Tiberius came Gaius, who was better known as Caligula. During his reign,Caligula went crazy. According to Burrell, anyone disagreeing with him was thrown to thelions in the Arena. He also got the Senate to name his horse consul.(49) Everyone wasthankful when he was assassinated in 41 AD. Caligula was succeeded by several emperorswho did nothing governmentally, including Claudius and Nero. Around the secon...
