Transcript Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome
Section 2
From Republic to Empire
Background
In the early days of the roman Republic,
farmers fulfilled their duty to Rome by
serving in the army
 As Rome grew, the aristocracy became
more powerful
 As Rome became a more powerful force in
the Mediterranean, problems arose in
Rome itself
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Growing Unrest
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Senate and political offices controlled by small
circle of wealthy and powerful families
Wealthy landowners bought out small farmers
Eventually these farmers drifted to the cities and
formed a large class of landless poor
Large gap between rich and poor created
tension
Two Brothers
Two brothers named Tiberius and Gaius tried to
pass land reform bills
These bills included:
 Limits to the size of big estates
 Gave land to the poor
Brothers were murdered by the members of the
Senate who were part of the wealthy landowners
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Civil War
82-31 BC
 Ambitious men competed for power and
money
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1st Triumvirate
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Three men emerged as victors in the civil wars
Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey
Formed a triumvirate – a government by three
people of equal power
Crassus dies, and Caesar defeats Pompey for
power
Caesar eventually becomes the single ruler
Julius Caesar
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Became dictator in 45 BC
Gave land to the poor
Created jobs
Increased senate to 900 members
Granted citizenship to his supports
Introduced the solar calendar
Murdered in 44 BC because he was getting too
powerful
2nd Triumvirate
Octavian (Caesar’s nephew)
Anthony (Caesar’s right hand man)
Lepidus (Caesar’s army commander)
 After a few years only Octavian remained
 Octavian became supreme ruler and
became known as Augustus
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Age of Augustus
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Became the first Roman emperor
Kept a large army
Agricultural and trade economy
Stabilized frontiers of the Roman empire
Conquered many new lands
Built public buildings
Set up a civil service
Died in AD 14
Divided Rome into east and west
Pax Romana
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Early Rome under Augustus started the Pax
Romana meaning “Roman Peace”
A 200 year time of peace and prosperity
Emperors during this time created new social
reforms
State funded programs to help educate the poor
Building of aqueducts, bridges, roads, and
harbors
Expansion of the Empire
Roman empire coverd 3 ½ million square
miles in its height
 50 million population
 Citizenship granted to every free person
 Spread of Roman culture
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Economy and Society
Still great gap between rich and poor
 Wealthy had lives of leisure and lived in
luxury villas on large estates
 Poor worked in shops and markets,
depended on the emperor’s handouts of
grain to survive
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Activity #3
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Get a book
Get a white piece of paper from Mrs. Murray
Turn to page 158
You will draw and label map titled Roman Empire: Trade
and Expansion
Must include:
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Roman Empire (colored in)
Trade routes
6 of the 13 goods traded (your choice) with symbols for each of
the 6
A key telling me what is what