Transcript Chapter 6 The World of the Romans

The World of the Romans
Chapter 6
Early History
 Early community built on plain of Latium
(Latins)
 753 BC - Rome founded along Tiber River
 Legend of Romulus and Remus – twins
raised by a wolf
 Romulus slays Remus and builds Rome on
7 hills
Geography
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Peninsula – juts into Mediterranean
Apennine Mountains
Fertile Plains (Po Valley)
Tyrrhenian Sea (W), Adriatic Sea (E)
Geography did NOT divide
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More farmland; food
18 miles from sea (far enough from raiders)
Juts into Mediterranean – trade
Built on hills – easy to defend
Greek & Etruscan Influence
 Latins – earliest Romans
 Greeks – olives, vineyards, alphabet,
architecture, culture, literature
 Etruscans – toga, organization of army,
building projects, arch
Roman Republic
 509 BC – Republic established (last Etruscan
king thrown out)
 Roman Confederation – people could run affairs;
hoped to be citizens; provided soldiers
 Successes
– Good diplomats
– Firm, cruel when necessary; crushed rebellions
– Extended citizenship; allowed to rule own
affairs
– Practical; built colonies, roads, harbors;
efficient
Republic cont.
 2 Consuls elected for 1 year – led armies
 Senate – 300 – could make laws
 Patricians – ruling class, great landowners, could
be consuls
 Plebeians – Craftsmen, merchants, small farmers;
little power
 Struggles between the two resulted in more
power – Council of the plebs; tribunes
 Twelve Tables – 451 BC - Laws written for
plebeians
Punic Wars
 Carthage – founded 800 BC by the
Phoenicians
 Coast of Africa; spread to Sicily, Spain,
Corsica, Sardinia
 Made Romans nervous
 Led to a series of wars called the Punic
Wars
Punic Wars cont.
 1st (264 BC) Rome built its navy and defeated
Carthage in Sicily; made it Rome’s first province
 2nd (218 BC) Hannibal crossed into Spain with
horses, elephants; crossed the Alps (most animals
died)
 Huge toll on Roman Army; Rome invades
Carthage – Carthage loses Spain; becomes
another Roman province
Hannibal’s army crossing the Alps
Punic Wars cont.
 3rd – 50 years later Rome totally destroys
Carthage; 50,000 sold into slavery; became
the province of Africa;
 Later Macedonia, Greece and Asia Minor
made provinces
 Rome is master of the Mediterranean Sea
Section 2 – Fall of the Republic
 Growing inequality and unrest
– Senate controlled by small, wealthy few
– Small farms forced out by large ones; landless
poor, drifting, slave labor
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus wanted land to give
to poor; both Senators killed; more instability and
violence
 Army – power shifts to local generals; loyalty to
general not to the state
Competition for Power
 Crassus – richest man in Rome
 Pompey – military hero in Spain
 Julius Caesar – military hero in Spain also
 Formed First Triumvirate – government by
3 people
– Pompey – Spain
– Crassus – Syria (killed in Syria)
– Caesar – Gaul (France)
1st Triumvirate
 Senators feared Caesar the most; refused to
relinquish his power
 Crossed the Rubicon into Rome, defeated
Pompey
 44 BC made dictator for life
 Reforms
– Land to poor, increased Senate to 900 (weakens
Senate)
– Citizenship to provinces, introduced Egyptian
calendar (365 days); building projects
Caesar cont.
 44 BC – Senate kills Julius Caesar
 Power struggle – Octavian (grandnephew)
and Mark Antony
 Antony allies w/Cleopatra of Egypt
 Battle of Actium – Octavian crushes army
of Cleopatra & Antony (both commit
suicide)
 End of the Roman Republic (27BC)
Roman Empire
 Octavian given title of Augustus by Senate
 First Roman Emperor (imperator)
 Roman legion (military) very powerful
 Civil service, expanded frontier, public
buildings; strong gov’t. that lasted
centuries
 Extends power of Rome into Balkans
 Pushed to Danube; stopped by *Germanic
tribes
Early Empire (27BC - 180AD)
 Pax Romana – 200 years of peace
 Power of emperor grew but:
– Peace, building projects, public works
– Aqueducts, bridges, roads, harbors
– Hadrian’s wall in Britain
The Roman Empire
Tomb of Augustus
The Pantheon
Ceiling of Pantheon
Trajan’s Marketplace
The Appian Way
Hadrian’s Wall
Colosseum Floor
Roman Forum
Segovia Aqueduct
Via de Mecurio
Early Empire cont.
 Difficult to maintain empire
 3.5 million square miles
 50 million people
 Latin and Greek (west and east) mix and
become Greco-Roman culture
 Trade routes all the way to China!
 Farming chief occupation; great gap
between rich and poor
Culture & Society
 Took writings & art of Greece
 Educated Greek slaves were tutors
 Poet – Virgil
 Livy – history of Rome – celebrated
Rome’s greatness; Horace - satire
 *Law – Law of nations; natural law based
on reason; standards of justice for all
(innocent until proven guilty; can defend
oneself, etc.)
Family
 Paterfamilias – male was absolute
authority
 Divorce common
 Some tutors for girls but pushed to marry
 Changed over time – husband became less
powerful
 Women were respected companions
Slavery
 Common practice – most from Italy and were
part of the family
 After conquest of Mediterranean, more slaves
 Greeks in demand as tutors, doctors, musicians,
artists
 Horrible conditions for many; revolts, especially
in Sicily
 73 BC Spartacus (gladiator) leads 70,000; killed
and 6,000 followers executed
Daily Life
 Rome crowded and dangerous at night
 Gap between rich and poor
 Fires a constant threat
 No plumbing, heat
 Magnificent public buildings – temples,
baths, markets, theatres, arches,
amphitheaters
 Poor relied on gov’t. grain; malnutrition
Daily Life cont.
 Public shows were huge spectacles
 Circus Maximus – chariot races
 Theatrical performances
 Gladiators – most popular shows; fought at
the Colosseum
 Gruesome fights; thousands of animals
slaughtered
Coliseum Tunnels
 http://www.history.com/videos/romeengineering-an-empire---coliseum-tunnels
Coliseum Video
 http://www.history.com/videos/romeengineering-an-empire---coliseum
Christianity
 Romans were polytheistic (Jupiter, Juno,
Minerva, Mars, etc.); modeled Greeks
 Tolerant of other religions
 Judea (Jewish kingdom) had been made a
Roman province; led by Procurator, a
Roman official
 Conflicts among Jews about cooperation
with Rome
Christianity
 Jesus of Nazareth began preaching
 Importance of not adhering to the letter of the
law but transforming the inner self; love God
and one another; humility, charity, love
 Basis for western civilization (JudeoChristian)
 Some welcomed him as the messiah; upset
others
Christianity cont.
 To Romans, seen as a revolutionary who
could cause an uprising
 Denounced on all sides, turned over to
Romans
 Pontius Pilate had him crucified (common
method then)
 Followers said he came back as a savior –
Christos (the anointed one - messiah)
Christianity cont.
 Paul preached that Jesus came for our sins,
therefore, by accepting Jesus, could
achieve salvation
 Passed on in writings – New Testament
 Christianity grew through the empire
(structure of Rome actually helped – roads)
 Rome grew nervous, Christians refused to
worship state gods and emperors
Christianity cont.
 Seen as treason; persecuted intermittently
throughout history
 Nero began this
 Strengthened in 2nd and 3rd centuries
 Offered much:
– Salvation
– Gave life meaning beyond daily world
– Jesus as human was easy to relate to
Christianity cont.
– Initiation was easy - baptism
– Fulfilled human need to belong
– Attractive to all classes, especially poor
and powerless
– Spiritual equality
Christianity cont.
 4th Century – Constantine became the first
Christian emperor
 313 – Edict of Milan gave tolerance of
Christianity
 Theodosius the Great (378-395) –
Christianity becomes official religion of
the Roman empire
http://www.history.com/videos/therise-of-christianity-in-the-romanempire
Decline of Rome
 Invasions & attacks by pirates at sea, civil wars, gap
between rich & poor
 Trade declines, farms production declines, plague
 Agriculture suffered due to constant war, drought, etc.
 Decline of traditional values/morals; decadence
– Gladiator fights/death every day
 Financial strain – had to pay armies more, high taxes,
inflation
 Mercenaries (paid soldiers) hired, less loyalty to Rome
 Government handouts of food – welfare state?
Decline cont.
 Failed to advance technologically due to use of slaves
 Christian emphasis on spirituality weakened military
virtues?
 Lead poisoning? (plumber comes from Latin word
plumbum, which means lead)
 Unable to put together a workable political system
 Problems with succession – effective way to go from one
leader to the next
Attempts at Reform
 Diocletian and Constantine tried to make
reforms
 Empire divided; built Constantinople
(Byzantium) new capital (prosperous,
stable)
 But shifts power away from the west
(Rome) to the east (Constantinople)
 Lives on successfully another 1,000 years!
Decline cont.
 After Constantine, west under increasing pressure
from invaders
 Huns from Asia moved into Europe, put pressure
on German Visigoths; moved into Rome as allies,
soon revolted
 410 AD – Vandals sacked Rome (Rome sacked
several times)
 476 AD – Romulus Augustulus last emperor –
considered end of Rome
 East remained free from invasion for 1,000 years
(Byzantine Empire)
Legacy of Rome
 Architecture/Engineering – roads, bridges,
aqueducts, majestic marble buildings, arch,
dome, column; Colosseum
 Language – Latin is root of romance languages
(French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese)
 Preserved intellectual heritage of the Greeks
(known as Greco-Roman)
Law
 Law – codified laws, impartial and humane
 All are equal before the law, guaranteed
legal protection
 Burden of proof on accuser; juries
 Unreasonable or unfair laws can be set
aside (Judicial Review)
 Judeo-Christian values
Fall of Rome 
 http://www.history.com/videos/the-fall-ofrome
Greco Roman Legacy
Greece
 Philosophy – think,
reason, logic, question,
examine
 Arts – theatre, satire,
literature, pottery
 Architecture – columns,
temples (Parthenon)
 Science, math,
astronomy, medicine
 DEMOCRACY
Rome
 Engineering,
practicality, roads,
buildings, aqueducts
 Military – Roman legion
 Practicality
 Christianity
 Republic
(representation) to
Empire
 Latin
 LAW