Transcript The Roman Empire

The Roman Empire
27 BCE to 476 CE
Building the Empire
Building the Empire
► Home
to more than 1 million people
► Territory surrounded the Mediterranean Sea
► Became a Republic run by elected leaders
Rome’s Emperors
►Augustus
First Emperor of
Rome
Established new
governing
powers
Emperor Powers
Raise Taxes
Declare War
Nominate
Public
Officials
Punish Lawbreakers
Laws and Citizenship
Roman laws were written down
and kept on public display.
 Laws protected the rights of the
city’s citizens
 Only citizens could vote or hold
office
 Citizenship was very valued and
desired
 People who were conquered
were allowed to become citizens
thus creating loyalty to the
empire
Innocent until proven guilty
Engineering
Aqueduct: Man-made channel that carried water
from distant mountains into Rome or other cities
Architecture
► Used
Greek ideas to
make buildings
larger and stronger
► Columns and open
spaces
► Design style still
copied today.
Philosophy
► Focuses
on improving lives
 Stoic philosophy –
emphasizing people’s civic
duty
 How they could improve
everyday life
 Not to be concerned with
possessions
Art
►Realistic Art
They wanted their
statues and
paintings to look
like they could
come alive
Christianity Spreads
► Spread
quickly through Rome
► Officials initially tried to stop the spread by
persecuting Christian followers
► By the 300s, most of Rome’s population was
Christian
► Influence of church leaders helped unify Rome
as a single Christian society