Hannibal crossing the Alps
- One of the greatest military achievements of ancient warfare
- Happened during the 2nd Punic War
- Hannibal crossing the Alps was known to be on of the major achievements of the second Punic War
- Took 16 days to cross
- Many of their elephants did not survive the journey
Why did he cross the Alps?
- He thought that is would give him a better chance against the Romans if he came down with all of his war elephants
- The wars were fought over pure hatred by one side against the other
- **This was a terrible idea because all of his war elephants died. Also, the attack was not as strong as Hannibal wanted the attack to be and the Alps took too long to cross.
Roman Trade
- Very vital to the Roman empire
- Most common trade items: beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, olive oil, perfumes, purple dye, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin and wine
- Main trading partners: Spain, France, the Middle East, an North Africa,
- Made trade very simple by only using 1 form of currency
- Used the Tiber River, Mediterranean Sea, and the Black Sea for a trading route
- Manufacturing of goods increased in the empire’s cities, and many opportunities for commerce existed. Rome became one of the empire’s greatest commercial centers
- Two-way trade routes extended to other commercials centers in lands as far away as Egypt, Germany, and China
- The empire’s location around the Mediterranean Sea helped make all this commercial activity possible
- **Location is important for trade. A country needs easy transportation for trade. For example, water makes transportation easier and mountains make transportation more difficult.
Roman Agriculture
- Used crop rotation
- Sometimes had to import food because of mountains
- After conquering Egypt, able to import lots of wheat
- Most crops raised on large estates called latifundias
- Cicero considered farming the best of all Roman occupations
- The main crop was wheat, and bread was present during almost every meal
- Majority of work done on the farm was by slaves and servants
- Farms created main source of income for Romans
- Certain types of food were given out to the public for free (corn and wheat)
- Since Roman Empire stretched through a lot of land, there were different climates to allow a mixture of crops produced
- Romans had 4 systems of farm management-work done by owner and family, tenant farming and share cropping forced labor (slaves), and other arrangements in which the farm owner lent farm out
- **Pros of a large farm would be more crops produced and more land. Cons of a large would be that you need more workers, more expensive, and takes up more space. Cons of a small farm include less crops produced and less land. And Pros of a small farm include needing less workers, less expensive, and takes up less space
Slavery
- Ancient Rome depended on slaves
- Most slaves were foreigners and unlike most places it did not depend on race
- Not uncommon for desperate Romans to sell their children into slavery
- When freed, they could work the same jobs as the Plebeians
- Debt slavery was common, where a person could work off a debt by becoming a slave for a certain period of time, depending on the debt
- Some slave were forced to become gladiators
- Saturnalia- a Christmas for the slaves in which the slaves and masters switched places
- During this celebration the master performed all the task a slave would
- It was a way that masters would show appreciation and respect for slaves
- Manual labor
- Domestic services
- Could be highly educated and skilled, worked as teachers and physicians
- Slaves task include working on farms-produced the food and materials the cities depended on
- Businesses-managed shops for store owners, in charge of shop keeping, lending of money, and selling of merchandise
- Public buildings-worked on aqueduct systems, and built roads and bridges and arenas, such as the Coliseum.
- **I would rather be a slave and work in a business than be a farmer, and as a slave you get freed eventually.
Gladiator
- The gladiator games were games fought between an armed man and a criminal, wild animal or another soldier. They were fought in the Coliseum in front of large audiences. Many of the people who fought the criminals and wild animals risked their social standing and their lives for glory. They had costumes and scenery which had to be put up as well.
- Thumbs up means save the gladiator that’s down and thumbs down means let him die
- Order of Events at the Gladiator games:
- Animal hunts-They had a scene and the Emperor would use a bow from his box seat and shoot the animals
- The Bestiarii- These were gladiators trained to fight tigers and lions
- Criminals were sentenced to fight wild beasts at the games but without any skills, weapons or armor
- **I would fight for my life and fight animals rather than be in a chair and get electrocuted. If I fought, I would have a chance to live.
Emperors
- Tiberius-adopted son of Augustus-22 years and 6 months-possibly assassinated by Caligula. He was a cruel tyrant who put men to death upon mere suspicion
- Caligula-great nephew of Tiberius-3 years and 10 months-assassinated in conspiracy involving senators and Praetorian guards
- He was insane and once threatened to have his horse made consul, and at another time raised a great army, and marched it hundreds of miles, and then commanded the soldiers to gather the shells on the beach and carry them back to Rome.
- Claudius I-nephew of Tiberius and uncle of Caligula-13 year and 9 months-probably poisoned by his wife Agrippina
- He was a weak and foolish emperor who allowed the cruelest acts to be committed in his name, and then forgot them, and invited the persons to dinner whom he had just put to death
- Nero-13 years and 8 months-stepson and adopted son of Claudius
- He was a monster of vanity and cruelty he was suspected of setting fire to the city and allowing more than two-thirds of it to burn up, in order that he might rebuild it finer than it had been before
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