Transcript File

Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Good afternoon!!!!!
• Pick up the GREEN piece of paper
from the front stool
• Sit down quietly in your NEW
assigned seat (if I gave you one
yesterday)
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Warm-up them minds
1. Which group of people held more power
in the Roman republic, patricians or
plebeians?
2. How was the Roman Republic different
from a Monarchy?
3. Who were the Punic Wars fought
between?
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
From Republic to Empire
Main Idea
Governmental and social problems led to the end of the Roman
Republic and the creation of a new form of government.
Reading Focus
• What problems did leaders face in the late Roman Republic?
• How did Rome become an empire?
• What helped tie the Roman empire together during the Pax
Romana?
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Problems in the Late Republic
By the mid-100s BC, Rome had NO outside rival…but it will be
internal conflicts that bring the Republic down.
Public Land
Social Unrest
• Tensions grew
between social
classes
• Slave revolts
Soldier-Farmers
• mistreatment of
soldier-farmers
• Many reduced to
poverty
• Land conquered by
army was given to
generals and
government officials
• Tiberius Gracchi tried
to give back public
land to farmers
• Had public
support, but
Senate feared
this and killed him
• Why would senate
fear him???
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Summarize
**And write this down**
What challenges did Rome face in the late
Republic?
Answer(s): slave revolts, social unrest, the Social
War, and a civil war
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Rome Becomes an Empire
The end of the Republic resulted from the ambitions of a few
individuals.
The First Triumvirate
• Julius Caesar, Pompey,
and Crassus helped bring
end to Republic
• Caesar, Pompey successful
military commanders
• Crassus one of wealthiest
people in Rome
• 60 BC, the three took over
Roman state, ruled as First
Triumvirate
End of Triumvirate
• Crassus died; Pompey, Caesar
fought civil war
• Caesar defeated Pompey,
took full control of Rome,
became dictator for life, 44 BC
• Caesar brought many popular
changes to Rome
• Caesar went on to add new
conquests to Rome
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Rome and Early Christianity
Caesar named Dictator!
• In Rome, the Senate elected • Most Roman’s believed
Caesar’s rule was better
Caesar dictator, consul,
than the chaos that had
tribune, sole commander of
gone before, even though
the army, and chief of the
it violated the Republic’s
city’s treasury.
constitution.
• He built new temples,
libraries, and buildings.
• But not everyone was
pleased with Caesar’s
accomplishments…
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Rome and Early Christianity
Et tu Brute?!
• Other Romans, especially
the Senators hated
Caesar and plotted to get
rid of him.
– When Caesar brought
Cleopatra to Rome and
had a statue of her placed
in a temple, his opponents
were outraged
• A group of disgruntled
Senators made a plan to
kill him, on March 15 44
B.C.
• Pretending they wanted
to question him about a
petition, they gathered
around him in the Senate
chambers.
– They had daggers hidden
in their togas.
• Caesar saw his “friend”
Brutus with a dagger, his
last words were “et tu
Brute” (you too Brutus?)
– https://www.youtube.com/w
atch?v=7FvgP5hO99o
– Horrible Histories video
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
The Second Triumvirate
• Caesar’s murder did not save the Republic
• 43 BC, Second Triumvirate took power—Caesar’s adopted son,
Octavian; loyal officer Marc Antony; priest Lepidus
• Lepidus pushed aside; Antony, Octavian agreed to govern half the
empire each, Octavian in west, Antony in East
Civil War
• Civil war between Octavian, Antony broke out
• Octavian defeated Antony and his ally, Egypt’s Queen Cleopatra
• Cleopatra, Antony committed suicide; Octavian alone controlled
Rome
• Republic effectively dead; new period in Roman history
beginning
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Check…1…2…
1. What challenges did Rome face in the LATE
REPUBLIC?
2. What happened to all of the land that the
Roman military conquered…who was it
given to?
3. What was the First Triumvirate?
4. What happened when the First Triumvirate
ended?
Section 2
Rome and Early Christianity
Rome Has a New Leader
Octavian Takes Power
• Octavian faced task of restoring
order in empire
New Political Order
• Octavian decided it impossible
to return Rome to republican
form of government
• Created new political
system—the empire
Principate
• Octavian careful to avoid title of
king or emperor
• Called himself princeps, “first
citizen”
• Government called Principate
New Title
• 27 BC, Senate gave
Octavian title Augustus,
“exalted one”
• Title a religious honor; able to
wear laurel and oak leaf crown
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Accomplishments of Augustus
• Encouraged trade
• Common coinage
• Civil Service jobs—grain supply, postal system,
tax collection
– Done by plebeians and former slaves
• Buildings and monuments
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
The Good Emperors
Empire grew tremendously under Good
Emperors
• Reached limits of expansion under Trajan
• Added what are now Romania, Armenia, Mesopotamia,
and the Sinai Peninsula
• Successor Hadrian thought empire too large
– Withdrew from almost all eastern additions
– Built defensive fortifications to guard against invasions
– Built wall 73 miles long in northern Britain (called Hadrian’s Wall)
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Explain
**And write this down**
What aspects of Roman society remained
similar from Republic to Empire?
Answer(s): wide inequality and gap from Rich
and poor,
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Rome and Early Christianity
The Pax Romana
The period from the beginning of August’s reign in 27 BC until the death
of the last of the Good Emperors in AD 180 is often called the Pax
Romana—the Roman Peace—time of stable government,
a strong legal system, increased trade, and peace.
Government
Provinces
• Roman government strongest
unifying force in empire
• Empire divided into provinces ruled
by governors appointed from Rome
• Maintained order, enforced laws,
defended frontiers
• Aristocracy participated, but
emperors made all important
decisions
• Government in Rome kept close
check on governors
• Any citizen could appeal unfair
treatment directly to emperor
Empire brought uniformity to the cities of the Mediterranean world,
which were governed in imitation of Rome.
Rome and Early Christianity
Section 2
Teenage Life in Rome
Analyze
How did government, law, and trade tie the
Roman people together?
Answer(s): The Roman government unified the people
enforcing the laws, and defending the frontiers. Roman law
provided stability and, with few exceptions, the same laws
applied to everyone in the empire. Trade provided
opportunities for business between people in different
parts of the empire.