Near East (45 BCE–99 CE): Transition and Turmoil under Roman Dominance

This era in the Near East witnesses dramatic shifts in political control, religious movements, and cultural integration under increasing Roman influence. Following Julius Caesar’s assassination in 44 BCE, Mark Antony and Octavian (later Augustus) emerge victorious in the subsequent Liberators' civil war against Caesar’s assassins, reasserting Roman dominance over eastern territories. Antony’s campaigns, notably his ill-fated Parthian expedition, significantly shape local power dynamics.

Antony allies with Egypt’s Cleopatra VII, ultimately challenging Roman authority. Their defeat by Octavian at the Battle of Actium (31 BCE) leads to Egypt’s annexation into the Roman Empire, concluding Cleopatra’s independent reign. Cleopatra’s suicide symbolizes the definitive end of Egypt’s Hellenistic era and initiates over six centuries of direct Roman control. Egypt, a vital grain supplier to Rome, becomes a strategically crucial province governed directly by the emperor.

Herod the Great, appointed by Rome as king of Judah in 37 BCE, stabilizes Roman rule in Palestine. Upon Herod’s death in 4 BCE, his kingdom fragments among heirs, eventually absorbed by Rome as Syria Palestina. Though under Roman sovereignty, the Jews retain religious autonomy via the Sanhedrin, the authoritative Jewish council overseeing religious, legal, and political matters.

Tensions culminate in the First Jewish-Roman War (66–73 CE), ignited by religious disputes, oppressive taxation, and Roman insensitivity to Jewish traditions. Roman generals Vespasian and Titus decisively destroy Jerusalem and the Second Temple in 70 CE, ending independent Jewish statehood and intensifying the Jewish Diaspora. The final tragic stand occurs at Masada in 73 CE.

Rabbinic leadership significantly shifts post-Jerusalem's fall. Rabbi Johanan ben Zakkai establishes an academic and religious center at Yavneh (Jabneh), creating a new focal point for Judaism recognized throughout the Diaspora. His successors, notably Gamaliel of Jabneh, formalize Jewish religious practices, standardize the calendar, and mediate with Roman authorities, exemplified by Gamaliel’s appeal to Emperor Domitian in 95 CE to rescind Jewish expulsions.

Meanwhile, Christianity prominently emerges, marked by doctrinal debates, notably the rise of Docetism, a Gnostic-influenced teaching claiming Christ only appeared physically, challenging foundational Christian doctrines. Early Christian texts, especially the Johannine Epistles (95–110 CE) from western Anatolia, counter these beliefs by emphasizing the incarnation and communal orthodoxy.

Relations between Meroë and Egypt fluctuate, notably with a Roman punitive expedition in 23 BCE responding to incursions into Upper Egypt. Despite this conflict, continued interactions with Mediterranean, Arab, and Indian traders enrich Meroë’s society, leaving significant architectural and linguistic legacies. Meroë maintains cultural vibrancy, even as northern Kush faces pressure from nomadic Blemmyes, but continues its prominence through trade and cultural integration.

In Cyprus, the missionary activities of Paul and Barnabas lead to the conversion of the Roman proconsul Sergius Paulus, marking Cyprus as the first Roman territory governed by a Christian. Elsewhere, the Lydian language persists among descendants of Lydian colonists at Kibyra in southwest Anatolia, despite becoming extinct in Lydia proper around this period.

Legacy of the Era

From 45 BCE to 99 CE, the Near East experiences profound transformations under Roman hegemony. The definitive incorporation of Egypt into Rome, the violent suppression and subsequent restructuring of Jewish society, and the theological crystallization within early Christianity define this critical juncture. These events lay lasting foundations for regional identities, religious developments, and socio-political dynamics in subsequent centuries.

The Second Triumvirate, to avenge Julius Caesar's murder, initiates the Liberator’s civil war, fought by the forces of Mark Antony and Octavian (who, with Lepidus, form the Second Triumvirate) against the forces of Caesar's assassins Brutus and Cassius in 42 BCE.

The result is death for Brutus and Cassius and victory for the triumvirs at the battle of Philippi; the Roman Republic, under the leadership of the triumvirs, reinstates control over the eastern provinces.

Mediterranean Southwest Europe (45–34 BCE): Caesar's Consolidation and the End of the Republic

The era 45–34 BCE is pivotal in Roman history, characterized by the consolidation of Julius Caesar’s power and the definitive end of the Roman Republic. This period witnesses Caesar's establishment of unprecedented authority, his assassination, and the subsequent turmoil marking Rome’s transition to imperial governance.

Caesar’s Final Triumphs and Dictatorship for Life

By 45 BCE, Julius Caesar has decisively defeated the remaining senatorial opposition at the Battle of Munda in Hispania, effectively ending the lingering civil war. Caesar’s victory at Munda is notably challenging, and upon his return to Rome, he further solidifies his power by assuming the title dictator perpetuo (dictator for life) in early 44 BCE. This unprecedented move symbolizes the irreversible shift away from the traditional republican model toward autocratic rule.

Caesar undertakes significant administrative reforms, including the recalibration of the Roman calendar—the introduction of the Julian calendar—a major legacy that persists through millennia. He initiates extensive public works, urban renewal in Rome, and large-scale colonization projects, settling veterans and the urban poor in new provincial colonies.

Caesar's Assassination and the Ides of March

Caesar's increasing dominance, however, fuels resentment among senators who view his power as monarchical and antithetical to republican ideals. On the Ides of March (March 15), 44 BCE, Caesar is assassinated by a group of senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. The conspirators’ attempt to restore the Republic ironically plunges Rome into further civil war and political instability.

Aftermath and Power Struggle

Following Caesar's assassination, Rome quickly descends into chaos. Initially, public opinion in Rome turns against the conspirators, partly influenced by a stirring funeral oration by Caesar’s ally, Mark Antony, who skillfully sways public sentiment to outrage against the assassins. The conspirators flee Rome as Antony takes control.

Yet Antony’s dominance is quickly challenged. Caesar's adopted heir, the eighteen-year-old Octavian (later Augustus), arrives in Rome to claim his inheritance and political legacy. Despite initial cooperation against Caesar's assassins, Antony and Octavian soon become rivals, each vying for dominance.

Formation of the Second Triumvirate

By 43 BCE, political necessity drives Octavian and Antony, along with Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, to form the Second Triumvirate—a legally sanctioned political alliance. Unlike Caesar’s earlier informal First Triumvirate with Pompey and Crassus, the Second Triumvirate holds official constitutional status, explicitly empowered to rule Rome and reorganize the state.

The triumvirs swiftly proceed with a brutal proscription—a sanctioned purge against their political opponents, resulting in thousands of deaths, including that of the famed orator Marcus Tullius Cicero, whose opposition to Antony proves fatal.

Battle of Philippi and Defeat of the Conspirators

In 42 BCE, Antony and Octavian decisively confront Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi in Macedonia. The victory over the conspirators solidifies the triumvirate’s rule, effectively ending the republican cause. Brutus and Cassius both commit suicide following their defeat, symbolically marking the death of the republican ideal they had hoped to restore.

Division of Roman Territories and Rising Tensions

The triumvirs subsequently divide Roman territories among themselves. Antony takes control of the East, including Egypt, where he establishes a significant personal and political alliance with Cleopatra VII—an echo of Caesar’s earlier involvement. Octavian governs the western provinces, while Lepidus administers Africa. Despite this arrangement, mutual distrust and ambition sow seeds for future conflicts.

Legacy of the Era

The era 45–34 BCE definitively concludes the Roman Republic’s existence, initiating a complex and violent transition toward imperial rule. Caesar's death does not revive republican governance but instead plunges Rome into further civil war and political reconfiguration. The power struggles and political rearrangements following his assassination inexorably move Rome toward the establishment of imperial authority under Octavian, who will later emerge as Augustus, Rome's first emperor.

Publius Cornelius Dolabella at Caesar's death in 44 BCE had seized the insignia of the consulship (which had already been conditionally promised him) and, by making friends with Marcus Junius Brutus and the other assassins, had been confirmed in his office.

When, however, Mark Antony had offered him the command of the expedition against the Parthians and the province of Syria, he had changed sides at once.

His journey to the province is marked by plundering, extortion, and the murder of Gaius Trebonius, proconsul of Asia, who had refused to allow him to enter Smyrna.

Dolabella is thereupon declared a public enemy and superseded by Gaius Cassius Longinus, who had been a principal among Casear’s forty-odd assassins.

Cassius attacks Dolabella in Laodicea.

Strabo mentions that Dolabella, when he fled to Laodicea before Cassius, had distressed Laodicea greatly, and that, being besieged there until his death, he had destroyed many parts of the city with him.

When Cassius's troops capture the place, Dolabella orders one of his soldiers to kill him.

Cassius is now secure enough to march on Egypt, but Brutus requests his assistance upon the formation of the new triumvirate of Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, Mark Antony, and Octavian,.

Cassius quickly joins Brutus in Smyrna with most of his army, leaving his nephew behind to govern Syria.

The conspirators decide to attack the triumvir’s allies in Asia.

Brutus ravages Lycia.

Appian, Dio Cassius, and Plutarch each report that the city of Xanthos is once again destroyed. (Appian will note that it was rebuilt under Mark Antony).

Patara, captured also, is spared the massacres inflicted on nearby Xanthos.

Both cities, together with Pinara, Tlos, Olympos, and Phaselis, are members of the Lycian League, of which …

…Myra is the largest member, although Patara serves as the league’s capital.

Antipater the Idumaean had been a high ranked official of Judea under the later Hasmonean kings and subsequently became a client of Pompey the Great when the Roman general conquered Judea in the name of Roman Republic.

The power of Antipater and his family had greatly increased after the death of Pompey.

Hyrcanus II had become a figurehead of no importance, and Antipater himself, in return for services to Julius Caesar, had received Roman citizenship and been awarded the title of “procurator of Judaea.” Hyrcanus, who is to be the last of the Hasmonean kings, had been restored to his position as High Priest but not to the Kingship.

Political authority rests with the Romans whose interests are represented by Antipater, who primarily promoted the interests of his own house.

Julius Caesar in 47 BCE had restored some political authority to Hyrcanus by appointing him ethnarch.

This however has had little practical effect, since Hyrcanus yields to Antipater in everything.

Antipater had appointed Phasael and Herod, his two sons by Cypros, a Nabatean princess, as governors, respectively, of Jerusalem and Galilee.

Herod has enjoyed the backing of Rome but his excessive brutality has been condemned by the Sanhedrin, the assembly of Jewish judges who constitute the supreme court and legislative body.

When summoned to be tried by the Sanhedrin, Herod meant to come to Jerusalem with an army and make war; however, Antipater and Phasael had managed to persuade him to be satisfied with making threats of force.

Antipater after the assassination of Caesar had been forced to side with Gaius Cassius Longinus against Mark Antony.

Antipater's pro-Roman politics lead to his increasing unpopularity among the devout, non-Hellenized Jews, and he is poisoned.

Herod, backed by the Roman Army, executes his father's murderer.

Rhodes, having signed a treaty with Rome in 164 BCE, has become a major schooling center for Roman noble families, and is especially noted for its teachers of rhetoric, such as Hermagoras of Temnos and the author of the Rhetorica ad Herennium.

At first the state had been an important ally of Rome and enjoyed numerous privileges, but these have gradually been lost in various machinations of Roman politics.

After Caesar's murder, Gaius Cassius, one of the assassins, had joined the party of Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus (the more famous Cassius and prime mover of the assassination).

Commanding the fleet that engaged Dolabella off the coast of Asia, Cassius plunders Rhodes for refusal to support him. (Rhodes will continue for another century as a free city, but it will never recover its former prosperity.)

The reputation of Cassius in the East has made it easy to amass an army from other governors in the area, and by 43 BCE he is ready to take on Dolabella with twelve legions.

The Senate by this point has split with Antony and cast its lot with Cassius, confirming him as governor of the province.

Brutus, disappointed by the events after Caesar’s assassination, has also come to Greece and, in addressing the Romans in Athens, stumps for his aristocratic version of a free republic.