Monday October 8th

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 2nd 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 it would give him a better chance against the Romans if he came down with all of his war elephants
  • The war were fought over pure hatred by one side against the other

It was a bad idea because was just causing more trouble by crossing by the Alps. 

Roman Trade

  • Very vital to the Roman Empire
  • Most common trade items: beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble
  • Main trading partners: 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
  • Two-way trade routes extended to other commercial centers in lands as far away as Egypt, Germany, and China
  • The empire's location around the Mediterranean Sea helped make all the commercial activity possible

Yes, mountains are difficult for trade. It's easier if you have water surrounding you.

I would rather have a city by water for easier trade.

Roman Ag

  • Used crop rotation
  • Sometimes had to import food because of mountains
  • 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
  • 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
  • Since Roman Empire stretched through a lot of land, there were different climates to allow a mixture of crops produced

I would rather be a small farmer.

Slavery General Info

  • Ancient Rome depended on slaves
  • Most slaves were foreigners and unlike most places it did not depend on race
  • Not uncommon for Romans to sell their children into slavery
  • When freed, they could work the same jobs are 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 the slaves in which the slaves and masters switched places
    • During the celebration the master performed all the task a slave would
    • It was a way that masters would show appreciation and respect the 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 material the cities depended on
  • Businesses- managed shops for store owners, in charge of shop keeping, lending money and selling of merchandise
  • Public buildings- worked on aqueduct systems, built roads and bridges and arenas.

Be the slave because it is like being a middle class person and you would be taken care of better.

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 and risked their lives and social standings for glory

Games

  • Thumbs up means save the gladiator that's down and thumbs down means 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 them
    • 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

Wild animals because you get a chance to live.

Emperors

  • Tiberius- Adopted a 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- 3 years and 10 months- assassinated in conspiracy involving senators and Praetorian guards. He was INSANE!!
  • Claudius I- Nephew of Tiberius and uncle of Caligula- 13 years and 9 months- poisoned by his wife
  • He was weak and foolish emperor who allowed the cruelest acts to be committed in his name, and the forgot them, and invited the persons to dinner whom 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

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