Transcript Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome
Italian Geography
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Different than Greece
Not made up of islands or isolated valleys
Much easier to unify
Broad, fertile plains
Plains supported growing population
Roman Government
• Republic- Thing of the
people.
• Government in which
officials are elected by
the people.
• Thought it would keep
any one person from
gaining too much power
• Patrician- Members of
landowning class.
• Senators who served for
life.
• Consuls- Elected by
senators (2 yearly).
• Supervise the business
of government,
command armies.
• Serve only 1 term, also
patrician- created checks
and balances.
• Dictator- Elected in time
of war. Had complete
control of government for
6 months.
• Plebeians- Merchants, farmers, traders
made up bulk of population. Had little
influence.
• 450 BC- laws on 12 tablets placed in
marketplace so public knew the laws,
made it possible for plebeians to appeal
judgment.
• Tribunes- Officials elected by plebeians to
protect their interests. Tribunes could veto
unfair laws.
Roman Conquest
• Punic WarsCarthage, a city-state
on the northern coast
of Africa. Between
264 – 146 BC Rome
fought 3 wars against
Carthage. Rome won
all 3.
• HannibalCarthaginian General
218 BC In Second
Punic war- never able
to capture Rome and
had to return to
Carthage (Africa) to
defend against
Roman invaders.
Roman Conquest
• Rome fought Carthage in west
• Expanding in East: Macedonia, Greece
and parts of Asia Minor
• Egypt allied with Rome
• By 133 bc Roman power extended from
Spain to Egypt
• New class of
landowners emerged
from new trade routes
• Bought huge estates
and used forced labor
• Latifundia- Large
estates worked by
slaves. Hurt small
farmers who could not
produce food as
cheaply.
Gracchus Brothers
• Tiberius and Gaius hoped to improve the
lives of the plebeians with reforms
– Distributing land to poor farmers
– Using public funds to buy grain to feed the
poor
– Senators did not like these reforms
*Brothers along with thousands of their
followers were killed by street violence set off
by senators
Augustus Caesar
• Augustus- Republic
came to an end and
Roman empire dawned.
• Reforms: Kept senate
• created an efficient civil
service charged with law
enforcement
• made tax system more fair
with census
• created postal service
Roman Law
• Two systems:
• 12 Tablets led to civil law (for citizens)
• Law of Nations: suited Roman sense of
justice for new conquered lands and
peoples
– Came from Stoic philosophy and concept
of natural law
Roman Law
• Common principles• 1) People of same status equal before
law
• 2) innocent until proven guilty
• 3) accused shall face accuser
• 4) guilt must be clearer than daylight
• 5) decisions based of fairness allowing
judges to interpret the law
Justinian’s Code
• Ruled from 527 – 565 in east (Byzantine
empire)
• Revised all laws of Rome
• “Body of Civil Law” or Justinian’s Code
• Code reached Western Europe in
1100’s
Greco-Roman Civilization
• Culture- Rome borrowed from Greek.
– Greek art, literature, philosopher and scientific
genius seen as height of cultural achievement
• Philosophy- Hellenistic philosophy of
Stoicism impressed Roman thinkers,
importance of duty
• Christian church, Byzantine empire and
Muslims preserved culture after empire
collapsed
Causes of the Fall of the
Roman Empire
• Military) Germanic invasions weakened Roman empire,
hired disloyal mercenaries, or soldiers for hire.
• Political/economic) Government was increasingly
oppressive, people less supportive of corrupt officials,
heavier taxes, wealth dwindled, population declined with
war and disease.
• Social) Decline in values, upper class devoted to luxury
and self interest.