Rome was built on 7 rolling hills around the Tiber River, near the center of the Itailian peninsula. It is the midway point between the Alps and Italys southern tip.
from 1000 to 500 Bc three groups inhabited the region. they were latins greeks and etruscans. The latins built the orginal settlement at Rome. It was a cluster of wooden huts on top of one of the seven hills.
Between 750 and 600 the greeks established colonies along the southern part of Italy and Sicily. the cities became prosperous and commercially active.
Etruscans they were native to northern Italy. were skilled workers and engineers. they were very influential in the development of Roman civilization.
Republic- is a form of government in which the power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders.
In rome, citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free born adult mal landowners.
Patricians- the wealthy landowners who held most of the power.
Pleneians- the common person, but could still vote. Usually farmers and merchants.
The patricians inherited their power and social status and claimed they had the right to rule due to their ancestory. they barred the plebeians from holding high offices in the government. the leaders of rome allowed the plebeians to form their own assembly and elect their own representatives to protect theri rights from teh Patrician officials they called this their tribunes.
Executive branch- two counsuls vs. one President
1 year term vs. 4 year term
Legislative Branch-
Senate- high social and economic status, serve for life, advises counsuls
Centuriate Assembly- soldiers only, chose counsuls, serve for life
Tribal Assembly- ordinary citizens, serve for life, makes laws.
Judicial Branch- had 8 judges, 1 year by the centuriate assembly; two oversee civil and criminal courts.
Legal Code- twelve tables. This was a list of rules that was the supreme law of the land in Rome. In America this is equal to the constitution.
Army- they took great pride in their military. All men who owned land were required to serve in the army. Some of the high public office positions required 10 years of military service.
Legions- the roman soldiers were organized into large military units called legions. They were made up of 5,000 foot soldiers. A group of cavalry would support each legion. The fighting skills of rome was a key factor in its rise to greatness.
Expansion- by fourth century BC they had dominated central Italy. They had defeated the Etruscans to the north and the Greek city-states to the south.
Treatment- latins on the Tiber became full citizens, in territory farther from form the conquered people were citizens but didnt have voting power. The remaining people became "alies" of Rome
Research the Punic wars and Hannibal, Who fought, key players, who won, lasting effects of the war.
Punic wars-series of three wars. Rome vs. Carthage. from 264 to 146 BC. The first war was fought in Sicily and Africa. it was 264 to 241BC. key players- hannibal, hamilcar barca a general and father of hannibal.Hannibal surprised the Romans in 218 BC by leading the iberians and three dozen elephants through the Alps. Although Hannibal surprised the Romans and thoroughly beat them on the battlefields of Italy. Rome won all three wars taking new lands of the Carthage empire each time. Rome gained control of sp
Punic Wars- series of 3 wars rome vs carthage. 1st war was over control of Sicily. 2nd War- when hannibal became general of carthage and he wanted to avenge first defeat. Hannibal attempted a sneak attack through the alps to attack and capture Rome. he lost half of his men and elephants. 3rd War- Scipio attacked carthage and hannibal retreated and fought back at native city.
Rome defeated Carthage in all three wars. each war was harder for the romans to win though. Wars 1 and 2- rome was on the defensive and was an agressor in the last.
Key Players- Hanniabal(C) Scipio(R) Cincinnatus(R)
Lasting effects- showed the civilizations in the Mediterranean that rome was a dominat force. By 70BC rome had conquered a lot of land around the mediterranean coast.
Roman republic- shortly after their victories in the Punic wars the quick and rapid expansion began to hurt the empire. The land was going to large estate and the small farmers were not making any money and were out of a job. One of the reasons leading to a civil war. another civil war broke out because of the death of julius caesar.
Avengers of Caesar. Octavian, Antony, Lepidus avenged caesar and became the second triuvirate. Even jealousy here. octavian forced lepidus to reitre his power. Antony fell in love with cleopatra and followed her to egypt. Leaving octavian to be the sole leader.
Agustus- the term given to octavian meaning exalted one. Rome was at the peak of its power and at peace to 180AD.Pax Romana- roman peace
Research slavery- played an important role in society and the economy. Besides manual labor, slaves performed many domestic services, and might be employed at highly skilled jobs and professions. Teachers, accountants, and physicians were often slaves. Greek slaves in particular might be highly educated. Unskilled slaves, or those condemned to slavery as punishment, worked on farms, in mines, and at mills. Their living conditions were brutal, and their lives short. They were considered property of the roman law. a slaves testimony in court could not be excepted unless he was tortured.skilled or educated slaves were allowed to earn their own money, and might hope to save enough to buy their freedom. In certain periods, a great number of slaves for the Roman market were acquired through warfare. The Roman military brought back captives
Hannibal crossed 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 one of the major achievments 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 it would give them a bettere chance agianst 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.
Roman trade- very vital to the roman empire. Most common trade items, beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble, spices, timber, and many others. Traded with spain, france, the middle east, and north africa. made trade very simple by only using 1 form of currency. They used the Tiber river, mediterranean sea and the black sea for a trading route. Manufacturing of goods increased in the empires cities and many oppurtunities for commerce existed. Rome became on of the empires greatest commercial centers. two way routes extended to other centers in lands as far as egypt germany and china.
Roman ag. used crop rotation. sometimes had to import food because of the mountains. After conquering egypt they could import lots of wheat. Most crops were raised on large estates called latifundias. farming was the best of all occupations. the main crop was wheat.most work was done by slaves. farms created main source of income for romans. Certain types of food were given out to the public for free. Since the empire stretched through a lot of land there were different climates to allow a mixture of crops produced. had 4 systems of farm management. done by owner, tenant farming and share cropping forced labor by slaves.
Slavery- they depended heavily 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. debt slavery was common where a person could work off a debt by becoming a slave for a certain period of time. Some slaves were forced to become gladiators. Saturnalia was a christmans for slaves where they traded place with their owners. It showed the masters appreciation. they did manual labor. could be highly educated and skilled worked as teachers and physicians. worked on farms and in managed shops, built roads and buildings.
Gladiators. the gladiators were games fought between an armed man and a criminal, wild animal or another soldier. they were fought in the coliseum in from of large crowds. many people who fought the criminals and wild animals risked their social standing and their lives for glory. Thumbs up meant save the gladiator thats down and thumbs down meant let him die. Order of events- Animal hunts- they had a scene and the emperor would use a bow from his box seat and shoot them. The bestarii, these were gladiators trained to fight tigers and lions. Criminals were sentenced to fight the wild beasts at the games but had no weapons or armor.
Emperors- tiberius- adopted son of augustus 22 years and 6 months. possibly assassinated by caligula. He was cruel tyrant who put men to death upon mere suspicion. Caligula great nephew of tiberius. served 3 months . assassinated in consperiacy involing senators and guards. He was insane he once threatened to have his horse made consul. he raised a great army and made them march hundreds of miles to get shells on the beach and carry them back. Claudius 1 nephew of tiberius and uncle of Caligula. served 13 years and 9 months probably poisoned by his wife. he invited people to diner that he had sentenced to death. Nero- stepson and adopted so of Claudius. served 13 years and 8 months. he burned 2/3 of the city to build it better than it was.
The roman empire collapsed in 476A.D. One of the reasons for the fall is they spilt into and eastern and western empire. They were governed by seperate emperors. The eastern half became the Byzantine Empire with the capital at Constantinople. The western half remained centered in Italy.
Fast expansion was another key reason for the fall. The rapid growth in the lands conquered by the Empire led to the need to defend the borders and territories of Rome. The people of the conquered lands, most of whom were referred to as Barbarians, hated the Romans. Taxes on the non-Romans were high and constantly increased. Frequent rebellions arose.
The last reason was frequent wars and heavy military spending. Constant warfare required heavy military spending. The Roman army became over-stretched and needed more and more soldiers. The barbarians, who had been conquered, and other foreign mercenaries were allowed to join the Roman army. This caused high inflation which was anthor reason for the collapse.
Christianity- Religion has always played a large role in Roman society. As the empire grew so did the new religion called chritianity.
Jesus- Born in teh town of Bethlehem in Judea. Batized by John the Baptist. At the age of 30 he took up ministry. He performed miricles. Historical records of the time mention very little about him. Main source of info about his main teachings are the Gospels. These gospels were written by his disciples or pupils called apostles. Jesus was growing in popularity and this concerned roman and jewish leaders. A governor of rome name pontius pilate accused jesus of defying the authority of rome. Jesus then was crucified on a wooden cross. After jesus' death the followers of Jesus continued to spread his ideas. Despite the large amount of political and religious opposition, the new religion of Christianity began to spread.
Paul- a man who really infuenced the spreading of christianity. was once a jew and against it. He was able to do many of his speeches and travel throughout the Roman empire because it was during pax romana.
Christians- belief that jesus is the messiah. Acceptance of gentiles and jews alike.
Jewish- Belief that Jews are the chosen people. Adherence to Jewish law.
Both- belief in one god, belief in the then commandments
Persecution of Christians.The main reasons was that they refused to worship roman gods. As pax romana began to crumble persecution increased. Thousands were crucified, burned, killed or killed by wild animals in circus arenas. Martyrs- people willing to sacrifice their lives for what they believe.
Popularity- became a world religion for multiple reasons- embraced all people, gave hope to the powerless, appealed to those who were repelled by the extravagances of imperial rome. Offered personal relationship with a loving god. promised eternal life after death.
Constantine accepting Christianity- Constantine was fighting over the leadership of Rome. He then prayed to the Christian god and saw a cross. He then ordered the artisans to paint the Christian symbol on their shields. He was successful in battle so began to accept Christianity.
ain and north africa.
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