Roman Empire notes

[5th Emily P.]

Rome

Roman Geography

• Rome was built on 7 rolling hills around the Tiber River near the center of the Italian Peninsula
• It is the midway point between the Alps and Italy’s southern tip

First Romans

• From 1000 to 500 BC three groups inhabited the region and fought for control of it.
• They were the Latin’s, Greek’s, and Etruscans
• The Latin’s built the original settlement at Rome. It was a cluster of weeded huts on top of one of the seven hills

Greek influence

• Between 750 and 600 BC the Greek’s established colonies along the southern part of Italy and Sicily
• The cities became very prosperous and commercially active
• They brought all of Italy including Rome into closer contact with Greek civilization

Etruscans

• They were native to northern Italy
• Were skilled metal  workers and engineers
• Were very influential in the development of Roman civilization
• Romans adopted their alphabet
• Also they adopted some of their architecture especially the arch

Republic

• 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 male landowners

Patricians and Plebeians

• In the early republic, different groups of Romans struggled for power
• Patricians- the wealthy landowner who held most of the power
• Plebeians- the common person, but could still vote, Usually farmers and merchants
• The Patricians inherited their power and social status, and claimed that they had the right to rule due to their ancestry
• They barred the Plebeians for holding high offices in the government
• In time the leaders of Rome allowed the Plebeians to form their own assembly and elect their own representative to protected their rights from the Patricians officials, they called this their tribunes.

Executive Branch

• Two consuls vs. on President
• 1 Year term vs. 4 year term

Legislative

• Senate
  • High social and economic status
  • Serve for life
  • Advises consuls
  • Centuriate Assembly
    • Soldiers only
    • Chose 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 Table
• This was a list of rules that was the Supreme law of the land in Rome
• In American this is equal to the Constitution

Army

• Along with their government the Romans also took great pride in their military as well.
• All men who owned land were required to serve in the army
• Some of the high public office positions required ten years of military service.

Legions

• The Roman soldiers were organized in to large military units called Legions
• Legions were made up of  5000 foot soldiers
• A group of cavalry would support each legion
• The military organization and fighting skill of the Roman army were key factors in Rome’s rise to greatness.

Expansion

• By fourth century BC the Romans dominated central Italy
• They had defeated the Etruscans to the north and the Greek city- states to the south

Treatment

• Latin’s on the Tiber became full citizens
• In territory father from Rome, the conquered people were citizens as well but didn’t have voting power
• The remaining people became “allies” of Rome

Research

• Pubic Wars
  • Rome vs. Carthage
  • 1-was over control over Sicily
  • 2-Hannibal became general of Carthage and he wanted to avenge first defeat Hannibal attempted a sneak attack through the alps to attack and captured Rome
  • 3-Scipio attacked Carthage and Hannibal retreated and fought back at native city
  • Hannibal

P.W.

• Rome defeated Carthage in all three of the wars Each war was harder for the Romans to win though
• War one and two was on the defensive Aggressor in the last war
• Key players- Hannibal (Carthage), Scipio (Rome), and Cincinnatus (Rome)

Lasting Effects

• Showed the civilizations in the Mediterranean that Rome was a dominant force
• By seventy BC Rome had conquered a lot of land around the Mediterranean coast

Roman Republic

• Shortly after their victories in the Punic Wars the pick 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 jobs
• One of the reasons leading to a civil war

Julius Caesar

• Debate information
• Another civil war broke out because of Caesars death

Avengers of Caesar

• Octavia, Mark Antony, Lepidus avenged Caesar and became the 2^nd triumvirate
• Even 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

• The term 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”

 

Research

• Trade
• Imports and Exports of Rome
• 100 BC

Hannibal crossing the Alps

• One of the greatest military achievements of ancient warfare
• Happened during the 2^nd 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

Why did Hannibal 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 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
  • Olive oil
  • Perfumes
  • Purple dyes
  • Silk
  • Silver
  • Spices
  • Timber
  • Tin
  • Wine
  • 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, the Black Sea for a trading route
  • Manufacturing of goods increased in the empires cities, and many opportunities for commerce existed. Rome became one of the empires greatest commercial centers
  • Two way trade routes extended to other commercial center
  • Two way trade routes extended to other commercial centers in lands as far away as Egypt Germany and china
  • The empires location around the Mediterranean Sea helped make all this commercial activity possible

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 crap was wheat and bread was present during almost every meal
• Majority of word 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, wheat)
• Since Roman Empire stretched through a lot of land there were different climate to allow a mixture of crops produced
• Romans had 4 systems of farm management
  • Work done by owner and family
  • Tenant farming
  •  share cropping forced labor slaves
  • Other arrangements in which farm owner rented out farm land

Slavery

• Ancient Romans depended on slaves
• Most slaves were foreigners and unlike most places it did not depend on race
• Not uncommon for separate Romans to sell their children in to 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 preformed 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, built roads and bridges and arenas

Gladiator

• Games fought between an armed man and a criminal, wild animal, or another soldier
• 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 the golry
• 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 them
  • THE BESTIARII- these were gladiators trained to fight tigers and lions
  • CRIMINALS- were sentenced to fight wild beats at the games but without any skills, weapons, or armor

Emperors

• Tiberius
  • Adopted son of Augustus
  • 22 years and 6 mouths
  • Possibly assassinated by Caligula
  • 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 Praetorians guards
    • Was insane and once threatened to have his horse made consul
    • 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 weak and foolish emperor who allowed the cruelest acts to be committed in his name, and then forgot them, and invited the persons to diver 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 in finer than it had been before

Christianity: (background info)

• Religion has always played a large role in Roman society
• However, the polytheistic system was very impersonal
• So… as the empire grew so did the new religion called Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth:

• Viewed as the Messiah or savior by Christians
• Born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea.
• Baptized by John the Baptist
• He took up carpentry
• At the age of 30, he then took up ministry
• For the next 3 years, he preached, taught, did good works, and reportedly performed miracles

History of Jesus:

• Historical records of the time mention very little about Jesus
• Main source of information about his main teachings are the Gospels
• These gospels were written by his disciples or pupils, called apostles

Jesus’ Death:

• Jesus was growing in popularity and this concerned Roman and Jewish leaders
• A governor of Rome named Pontius Pilate accused Jesus of defying the authority of Rome
• He then was crucified on a wooden cross

Spreading Christianity:

• 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 influenced the spreading of Christianity
• Was once a Jew, and against Christianity
• He was able to do many of his speeches, and travel throughout the Roman Empire because it was during Pax Romana.

Charts:

• Christian

o   Belief that Jesus is the Messiah

o   Acceptance of Gentiles and Jews alike

• Jewish

o   Belief that Jews are the chosen people

o   Adherence to Jewish law

• Both

o   Belief in one God

o   Belief in the ten commandments

Organization:

   Pope

Bishops            Bishops            Bishops

Priest    Preist    Priest   Priest    Priest

                        The People

Persecution of Christians:

• The main reason was that they refused to worship Roman gods
• As Pax Romana began to crumble, persecution of the Christians increased
• Thousands were crucified, burned, or killed by the wild animals in the circus arenas
• Other Christians and even some non-christians regarded persecuted Christians as martyrs.
• Martyrs- were people willing to sacrifice their lives for the sake of a belief or cause

Popularity:

• became a world religion for multiple reasons

o   Embraced all people

o   Gave hope to the powerless

o   Appealed to those who were repelled by the extravagances of imperial Rome

o   Offered personal relationship with a love God

o   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 the shields
• He was successful in the battle so began to accept Christianity.