Notes
Rome:
Geography- built on 7 rolling hills, around Tiber river, near center of Italian peninsula, midway point between the Alps and Italy’s southern tip.
First Romans- 1000 to 500 BC, three groups inhabited and fought for control, Latins Greeks and Etruscans, Latins built original settlement at Rome, cluster of wooden huts on top of one of the seven hills.
Greek Influence- 750 and 600 BC, Greeks established colonies southern part of Italy and sicily, cities were prosperous and commercially active, brought all of Italy including rome, into closer contact with greek civilization.
Etruscans- native to northern Italy, skilled metal workers and engineers, very influential in development of roman civilization, romans adopted their alphabet they also adopted some of their architecture, especially the arch.
Republic- 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 male landowners.
Patricians and Plebeians- in early republic, different groups of romans struggled for power. Patricians- wealthy landowners who held most of the power. Plebeians- the common person, but could still vote. Usually farmers and merchants.
Patricians- inherited their power and social status, claimed that they had the right to rule due to their ancestry, barred the plebeians from holding high offices in the government, in time the leaders of rome, allowed the plebeians to form their own assembly and elect their own representatives to protect their rights from the patrician officials, they called this their tribunes.
Executive branch- two consuls vs one president, 1 year term vs. 4 year term
Legislative branch- senate, high social and economic status, serve for life, advises consuls. Centuriate assembly, soldiers only, choose consuls, serve for life. Tribal assembly, ordinary citizens, serve for life, makes laws
Judicial branch- 8 judges, 1 year by the centuriate assembly, two oversee civil and criminal courts, the others govern provinces
Legal Code- twelve tables- list of rules that was the supreme law of the land in rome, in America it’s equal to the constitution
Roman Army- romans took great pride in the government and also the military, men who owned land were required to serve in the army, some of the hight public office positions required 10 years of military service
Legions- roman soldiers were organized into large military units called legions, legions were made up of 5,000 foot soldiers, group of cavalry would support each legion, military organization and fighting skill of the roman army were key factors in Rome’s rise to greatness
Expansion- by 4th century BC, the romans dominated central Italy, they 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 Rome, the conquered people were citizens as well but didn’t have voting power, the remaining people became “allies” of Rome.
Punic Wars- series of 3 wars, Rome vs. carthage, 1st war was over control of Sicily, 2nd war Hannibal became general of Carthage wanted to avenge first defeat attempted a sneak attack through the alps to attack and capture Rome, 3rd war Scipio attacked Carthage Hannibal retreated and fought back at native city.
Rome defeated carthage in all 3 of the wars, each was harder for the romans to win, wars 1 and 2 Rome was on the defensive, aggressor in the last war, key players Hannibal(carthage), Scipio(Rome), Cincinnatus(Rome)
Lasting effects- showed the civilizations in the Mediterranean that Rome was a dominant force, by 70 BC Rome had conquered a lot of land around the Mediterranean coast
Roman Republic- after their victories in the Punic Wars, quick and rapid expansion began to hurt the empire, land was going to large estate and the small farmers were not making any money and were out of jobs, one of the reasons leading to a civil war
Julius Caesar-(look at debate info) another civil war broke out because of Caesar’s death. Octavian, Mark Antony, Lepidus avenged Caesar and became the 2nd triumvirate(group of 3 people), jealousy here, Octavian forced Lepidus to retire his power, Mark Antony fell in love with Cleopatra and followed her to Egypt, leaving Octavian to be the sole leader
Augustus- term given to Octavian meaning “exalted one”, Rome was at the peak of its power and at peace throughout Augustus’s rule and even to 180 AD, Pax Romana- “Roman Peace”
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 one of the major achievements of the second punic war, took 16 days to cross, many of their elephants did not survive the journey (only about 2 or 3 out of 60 survived)
Why crossed?- thought that it 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
Roman trade- vital to Roman empire, common trade was beef corn glass iron lead leather marble silk silver spices timber tin and wine. Trading partners, spain france middle east and north Africa, made trade very simple by only using 1 form of currency
Trade- used Tiber river, Mediterranean sea, black sea for trade routes, manufacturing of goods increased in the empires cities, many opportunities for commerce existed, rome became one of the empires greatest commercial centers, two way trade routes extended to other commercial centers in lands as far away as Egypt Germany and china, empires location around the Mediterranean sea helped make all this commercial activity possible
Ag- crop rotation, had to import food because of mountains sometimes, after conquering Egypt, able to import lots of wheat, most of crops raised on large estates called latifundias, cicero considered farming the best of all roman occupations, main crop was wheat, and bread was present during almost every meal, majority of work done on the farm was by slaves and servants
Farming- 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 farm owner lent farm out
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 slaves were forced to become gladiators, saturnalia- a Christmas for slaves where the owner switched places with the slaves, the master performed all of the tasks the slaves 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 merch, public buildings- worked on aqueduct systems built roads and bridges and arenas
Gladiator- gladiator games were games fought between an armed man and a criminal, wild animal or other soldier, fought in the coliseum in from of large crowds, many people who fought the criminals and animals risked their social standing and their lives for the glory, costumes were worn and scenery was put up, thumbs up-gladiator allowed to live, thumbs down-death, animal hunts with a scene, The Bestiarii- gladiators trained to fight tigers and lions, criminals- sentenced to fight wild beasts at eh games but without any skills, weapons or armor
Emporers- 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 years 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 had 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.
Comments