The Chinese census shows nearly one million…

The population China's of China in its first known nationwide census, taken in 2 CE, is registered as having 57,671,400 individuals in 12,366,470 households.

Wang Mang, an official of China’s Han dynasty, had been born in a distinguished family, but his father had died when he was young and he had held minor posts until being made a marquess in 16 BCE.

His father's half sister is the powerful Grand Empress Dowager Wang Zhengjun, who had been the consort of Emperor Yuan and mother of Emperor Cheng.

Wang Zhengjun (71 BCE–13 CE) was first empress, then empress dowager, and finally grand empress dowager during the reigns of the Emperors Yuan (r. 49–33 BCE), Cheng (r. 33–7 BCE), and Ai (r. 7–1 BCE), respectively.

During this time, a succession of her male relatives have held the title of regent.

In 8 BCE, Wang Mang had been appointed regent for Emperor Cheng, but Cheng had died in 7 BC or 6 BCE and been succeeded by Emperor Ai, who is not related to Empress Dowager Wang.

Wang Mang thus resigned.

After Ai died childless in the year 1 BCE, the throne had been passed to his cousin Emperor Ping - then a child of 9 years old.

Wang Mang had been appointed regent by the Grand Empress Dowager Wang.

Dissatisfied with his father's dictatorial regency, in 3, Wang's son Wang Yu conspires with Emperor Ping's maternal uncles of the Wei clan against Wang, but after they are discovered, Wang has not only Wang Yu and the Weis (except Consort Wei) put to death, but also uses this opportunity to accuse many actual or potential political enemies as being part of the conspiracy and to execute or exile them.

From this time forward, the Han Dynasty exists only in name.

Furthermore, Wang Mang also designates his daughter as the empress consort to Emperor Ping to codify his legitimacy to power.

Archelaus of Cappadocia had remarried in 8 BCE, this time to the widowed Greek Client Monarch Pythodorida of Pontus, who has two sons and a daughter from her first husband Polemon I of Pontus.

When Archelaus married Pythodorida, she moved her and her family from the Black Sea to Elaiussa Sebaste.

Pythodorida is to remain with Archelaus until he dies; they will produce no offspirng.

Archelaus’ marriage to Pythodorida links their kingdoms together; thus, both monarchs have indirect control of their spouses’ realms.

Their marriage arrangement, like that of Archelaus’ daughter Glaphyra to Alexander of Judea, was doubtless orchestrated by Augustus, thereby to bind together the royal houses of Anatolia as surrogates for Roman suzerainty Although Archelaus is liked by the Romans, he experiences less success with his subjects.

On one occasion during the reign of Augustus, some Cappadocian citizens had lodged an accusation against Archelaus in Rome.

Future Roman Emperor Tiberius, beginning his civil career, had defended Archelaus from these accusations, which had ended to no avail.

Archelaus gives greater attention to Gaius Caesar, one of Augustus’ grandsons, than to Tiberius, who is one of Augustus’ stepsons.

This has caused Tiberius to become jealous, in time leading to his hatred of him.

Between 6 BCE – and CE 2, Tiberius has lived in self-imposed on the Greek island of Rhodes, while Gaius Caesar is in the Eastern Mediterranean performing various political and military duties on behalf of Augustus.

Gaius is seriously wounded in CE 2 while attempting to suppress an uprising in the area of Armenia.

The much admired Roman temple later known as the Maison Carrée in Nîmes, built around 19-16 BCE by Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa, who had also been the original patron of the Pantheon in Rome, is rededicated in CE 1 or 2 to Gaius and Lucius Caesar, the grandsons of Augustus.

As the two brothers are the heirs to Augustus, they have promising legal and military careers.

In the year 2, Gaius is sent to the east and Lucius to the west.

Lucius dies at the age of nineteen of an illness on August 20 of the same year, in Massilia (Marseille) on his way to Spain, leaving Gaius as the emperor’s sole heir.

Tiberius has been seeking permission to return to Rome from Rhodes for some time.

Augustus withholds his permission until the year 2, only allowing Tiberius to return on the condition that he withdraw completely from public life.

Lucius’ mother Julia, daughter of the Augustus and estranged wife of Tiberius, is arrested for adultery and treason; Augustus sends her a letter in Tiberius' name declaring the marriage null and void.

Several of her supposed accomplices are exiled (including Sempronius Gracchus), or put to death (especially Iullus Antonius, son of Mark Antony and Fulvia).

It is hard to reconstruct what actually happened, but it was proved in court that she had taken part in nightly drinking parties on the Roman Forum and that Iullus Antonius was certainly her lover.

Many other men are also reported to have enjoyed her favors, but this may have been gossip.

Hesitating whether or not to execute her, Augustus decides on Julia's exile, in harsh conditions.

She is confined on an island named Pandateria (modern Ventotene), with no men in sight, forbidden even to drink wine (Dio Cassius 55.10, Suetonius, Vita Augusti 65).

The island itself measures less than 1¾ kms.

She is to be allowed no visitor unless her father has given permission and has been informed of the stature, complexion, and even of any marks or scars upon his body" Suet.

ibid.).

Scribonia, Julia's biological mother, accompanies her into exile.

Juba II travels with Gaius Caesar (a grandson of Augustus), as a member of his advisory staff to the troubled Eastern Mediterranean between 2 BCE and CE 2.

During this trip, the Mauretanian king meets Glaphyra, the widow of Alexander of Judea.

They fall in love, and are married prior to 6 CE.

A discovered hoard of coins of Cleopatra Selene II, dated to CE 17, supports the notion that Cleopatra had been alive to mint them.

However, this would mean that Juba had married the Cappadocian Princess, Glaphyra during Cleopatra's lifetime.

To explain this strange marital problem, historians have supposed some sort of rift between Cleopatra and Juba that was eventually mended after Juba's divorce from Glaphyra.

Modern historians dispute the idea that Juba, a thoroughly Romanized King, would have taken a second wife.

The argument goes that if Juba married Glaphyra before 4 BCE, then his first wife Cleopatra, must have already been dead.

(The counterargument can be made that even contemporary client kings with Roman citizenship, like Herod the Great, took multiple wives and that Juba's father had more than one.)

Glaphyra thus becomes Queen of Mauretania.

Her marriage to Juba II is apparently brief: there is no trace of her name in North African inscriptions.

However, an honorific inscription to her is made in Athens: “The Boule and Demos honors Queen Glaphyra daughter of King Archelaus and wife of King Juba on the account of her virtue.”

Wang Mang bases his sweeping reforms, intended to remedy the economic crisis into which the Han dynasty has fallen, on his revival of Zhou dynasty classics concerning the ideal Confucian state.

He institutes such radical measures as abolition of slavery, imposition of an income tax, currency debasement, nationalization of the land, and state loans to peasants at moderate interest rates.

A descendant of the Han rulers, Liu Xiu, effects a restoration of the old dynasty.

Wang Mang’s brief rule thus separates the Han Dynasty into two periods: that of the Former, or Earlier, Han, and that of the Later Han.

Augustus’ Reforms and the Foundations of the Roman Empire

After restoring peace and stability following years of civil war, Augustus implemented sweeping reforms that shaped the Roman Empire for centuries. His policies strengthened governance, economy, infrastructure, and culture, ensuring Rome's long-term prosperity.

Major Reforms Under Augustus

• Restructuring the Senate – Reduced its size, making it more efficient while maintaining aristocratic influence.

• Taxation Reform – Created a more equitable tax system, reducing corruption and provincial exploitation.

• Revival of the Census – Allowed for better tax assessment, military recruitment, and social organization.

• Urban Development in Rome – Launched an ambitious rebuilding program, famously declaring:

  "I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble."

• Moral and Religious Revival – Promoted traditional Roman values, religious customs, and family life through laws reinforcing marriage, childbirth, and morality.

• Patronage of the Arts – Supported Virgil, Horace, and Ovid, fostering a Golden Age of Latin literature.

Unifying the Empire: Roads, Trade, and Communication

• Augustus oversaw the construction of a vast network of roads, facilitating military movement, commerce, and communication.
• The establishment of an efficient postal system helped administrative control and information flow.
• Trade flourished across Rome’s far-reaching provinces, strengthening economic integration.

The Augustan Principate and Rome’s Expanding Frontiers

The governmental system Augustus established, later known as the principate, was built upon:

1. The loyalty of the army and people to the emperor.
2. Collaboration between the emperor, the Senate, and the equestrian class.

Under Augustus, Rome’s territorial expansion secured its dominance:

• Western Frontiers – Rome extended its borders to the Danube and the Rhine, stabilizing Central and Western Europe.
• Eastern Frontiers – Rome reached the Euphrates River, establishing buffer states and securing trade routes to the East.

Augustus' reign laid the foundation for a regime that would endure in some form for nearly fifteen hundred years, influencing the Byzantine Empire and later European governance.

The Cult of Divus Augustus and His Lasting Legacy

• After his death in 14 CE, Augustus was deified as Divus Augustus, making his cult a central element of Roman state religion.
• His worship continued until Emperor Theodosius I officially adopted Christianity in 391 CE.
• Numerous statues, busts, and inscriptions of Augustus survive, commemorating his enduring influence on Roman history and governance.

Augustus’ reign transformed Rome from a fragile Republic into a stable Empire, ensuring its political, economic, and cultural supremacy for centuries.