9781422283417

Augustus was the first emperor of ancient Rome.

After years of war and quarreling, Caesar’s great-nephew,

Augustus, became emperor of Rome. Many emperors ruled after him, until ad 476. Some were mad (like Caligula, who made his horse a consul), and some were bad (like Nero, suspected of burning down half of Rome). But others were wise and ruled well.

TEXT-DEPENDENT QUESTIONS 1. Who was the last king of Rome? 2. Why was Tarquin the Proud thrown out of power? 3. What happened to Julius Caesar?

RESEARCH PROJECT The government of the United States is modeled after the Roman senate. Conduct some research to discover what other countries follow such a model. What’s similar? What’s different? Write a two- to three-page report. Ask your teacher if you can present this to your class.

Chapter 2: WHO WANTS TO RULE THE WORLD? 13