Transcript 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
 Peninsula
 Apennine Mountains
 Fertile Plains (Po Valley)
 Tyrrhenian Sea (W), Adriatic Sea (E)
 Geography did NOT divide
– More farmland
– 18 miles from sea (far enough from raiders)
– Juts into Mediterranean - trade
Greek & Etruscan Influence
 Greeks – olives, vineyards, alphabet,
architecture, culture, literature
 Etruscans – toga, organization of army
Roman Republic
 509 BC – Last Etruscan king defeated
 Established the Republic
 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; efficient &
effective
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
 Twelve Tables – Laws written for plebeians
Conquest
 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
 1st (264 BC) Rome built its navy and defeated
Carthage; made it Rome’s first province
 2nd (218 BC) Hannibal crossed into Spain
w/horses, elephants; crossed the Alps (most
animals died)
 Huge toll on Roman Army; Rome invades
Carthage – Carthage loses Spain; became another
Roman province
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
Hannibal’s army crossing the Alps
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 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 cont.
 Senators fear Caesar the most; refused to
relinquish his power
 Crossed the Rubicon into Rome, defeated
Pompey
 47 BC made dictator
 Reforms
– Land to poor, increased Senate to 900 (weakens
Senate)
– Citizenship to provinces, introduced Egyptian
calendar (365 days)
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!
The Roman Empire
Roman Empire
 Octavian given title of Augustus by Senate
 First Roman Emperor (imperator)
 Roman legion
 Praetorian guard to guard emperor
 Extends power of Rome into Balkans
 Pushed to Danube; stopped by Germanic
tribes
Tomb of Augustus
Early Empire (14BC – 180AD)
 Period of “good emperors” (Nerva, Trajan,
Hadrian, Pius, Marcus Aurelius)
 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 Pantheon
Ceiling of Pantheon
Trajan’s Marketplace
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
Section 3 – Culture & Society
 Took writings & art of Greece
 Educated Greek slaves were tutors
 Poet – Virgil, Aenid
 Livy – history of Rome – celebrated
Rome’s greatness
 Law – 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 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,
amphitheatres
 Poor relied on gov’t. grain; malnutrition
Daily Life cont.
 Public shows huge spectacle
 Circus Maximus – chariot races
 Theatrical performances
 Gladiators – most popular shows; fought at
the Coliseum
 Gruesome fights; thousands of animals
slaughtered
Section 4 - Christianity
 Romans were polytheistic (Jupiter, Juno,
Minerva, Mars, etc.)
 Had household gods also - Vesta
 Tolerant of other religions
 Judaea (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
 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 –
Christus (the anointed one)
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 baptism, not painful or
expensive
– 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
Section 5 – Decline of Rome
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Invasions, civil wars
Trade declines, farms decline, plague
Financial strain – had to pay armies more
Diocletian and Constantine tried to make reforms
Divided into 4 regions
Enlarged army; mobile units including Germans
Built Constantinople (Byzantium) new capital
More $ needed to pay for civil service, army
Bureaucracy
Constantine’s Arch
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 – Vandals sacked Rome (Rome sacked
several times)
 476 – Romulus Augustus deposed by German
army; considered end of Rome
Reasons for Decline
 Christian emphasis on spirituality weakened
military virtues
 Traditional Roman values declined
 Lead poisoning (pipes)
 Plague
 Failed to advance technologically due to slavery
 Unable to put together a workable political
system
 East remained free from invasion for 1,000 years
(Byzantine Empire)
Legacy of Rome
 Law – codified laws, impartial and humane (all
are equal before the law, guaranteed legal
protection)
 Architecture – roads, bridges, aqueducts, majestic
marble buildings, arch, dome, column; Coliseum
 Language – Latin is root of romance languages
(French, Italian, Spanish, Portuguese)
 Preserved intellectual heritage of the Greeks
 Greco-Roman