Transcript Ancient Civilizations: Greece and Rome

Ancient Civilizations:
Greece and Rome
Ch. 13
Early Greeks
• Settled around the Balkan Peninsula and
the Aegean Sea around 2000 BC
• Geography and Greek Civilizations
– Rugged country separated by narrow waters
– Development of separate communities (citystates) rather than one large united kingdom.
– Traveled by sea because of rugged terrain
Minoans
• Earliest Greek Civilization
• Island of Crete
• Had running water, developed a system of
writing
• Sailors and fishermen
Mycenaeans
• Controlled Greek mainland from about
1600 BC – 1200 BC
• Warlike people who lived in tribes
• Conquered Minoans and adopted many
aspects from their culture. E.g. system of
writing
• Homer – Wrote the Iliad – historical
events, folk tales, and legends. Trojan
War.
Greek City-States
• City-State – City or town that had its own
government and laws and controlled the land
surrounding it.
• Sparta
– Loyal
– Little Personal Freedom
– Powerful Army
• Boys left home to train at age 7
– Girls received intense training at home
– Boys and girls were educated and encouraged to
study music but left little time for the development of
the arts, literature, philosophy and science.
Greek City-States
• Athens
– Developed form of government called a Direct
Democracy – citizens take part in making ALL
decisions.
– Juries
– More freedoms than Spartans but women could not
participate in government
– Slavery was permitted
– Made great contributions to the arts, literature,
philosophy and science
– First people to write drama (plays)
– Scientists developed new laws of mathematics and a
way to classify plants and animals
Alexander the Great
• Son of King Phillip II – King of Macedonia
• Conquered much of the known world –
including Greek city-states
• Built great centers for learning
• After Alexander died, his kingdom was
split into smaller kingdoms and eventually
conquered by the Romans
Early Romans
• Around 750 BC, people called Latins
started settling around the Tiber River in
Italy – eventually formed the city of Rome.
• Later conquered by the Etruscans who
brought written language to Rome
• Culture was strongly influenced by Greeks
who settled in Rome.
• Roman religion was also partly based on
Greek beliefs
Geography and Roman Civilization
Geography
– Alps: Located north of Italy
– Mediterranean Sea: Located west of Italy
– Adriatic Sea: Located east of Italy
**Seas helped trade and travel, but left Italy
open to attack
**Passages through Alps left open to
invasion
How did the geography of Italy help the Roman
Civilization grow?
The Roman Republic
• Etruscan rule overthrown by wealthy
Romans and replaced with a Republic.
– Republic: a government in which voters elect
leaders to run the state.
• Growing
– Wars
– Building bridges and roads
Started to become a problem…How??
Pax Romana
• Roads “all Roads lead
to Rome”
• The Romans built
roads throughout
Europe which made
traveling, trade, and
conquering, easier.
Pax Romana (Peace Rome)
Pax Romana
Roads
People,
Goods,
Ideas,
Travel
Army/Navy
Secure Peace
&
Stability and Security
Boats
Economy
Prospers
War and Conquest
Trade
Julius Caesar
• Popular speaker won support among poor
• Became a general and conquered more
and more territory for the republic
• Was made “Ruler for Life” by Roman
officials
• Many leaders feared his power and he
was assassinated March 15, 44 B.C.
The Roman Empire
• Octavian Augustus (honored one)
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Grandnephew of Julius Caesar
Became ruler after Caesar’s death
Helped empire grow even more
His reign started Pax Romana
• Pax Romana – Roman Peace
• Pax Romana
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Stable and peaceful empire
Laws became more fair
Strong economy due to widespread trade
Built many roads and bridges to help trade
Roman army kept peace by defending boarders
Rome’s Achievements
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Temples
Palaces
Arenas
Bridges
Roads
Aqueduct: sloped bridge-like structure that
carries water
• Buildings with domes and arches
• Language: Latin
• Writers
Rise of Christianity
• Jews were driven out of the city of Jerusalem, but
continued to practice their faith in communities outside
the city.
• The teachings of Jesus
– One true God
– Love others as themselves
– Defended the poor
• Romans thought Jesus would lead an uprising so they
arrested him and sentenced him to death
• Romans outlawed Christianity but the religion still spread
• After 300 years, Constantine, the Roman Emperor,
declared his support of Christianity and it became the
official religion of Rome.
Decline of Roman Empire
• Army generals started to go against the
Empire to try and win power for
themselves
• Army lost loyalty to Rome
• Dishonest leaders
• Civil Wars
• Taxes and cost of goods rose
Empire Splits
• Roman Empire was too big to be ruled by
one person
• Diocletian (emperor of Rome) selected a
co-emperor – Constantine – to take over
the eastern part of the empire
• Empire in the east faired much better than
the empire in the west
Fall of Rome
• Over several years, groups began to invade the
empire from the north and set up tribal kingdoms
– Vandals
– Visigoths
– Huns
• In 476 the last emperor in the west was
overthrown by invaders
• Empire in the east was able to fight off invaders
and became known as the Byzantine Empire
and lasted until 1453 until it fell to the Ottoman
Turks
How did weak leadership lead to the fall of
Rome?