RomeA Unit in Eight Acts

Act I

Establishing the Glorious Republic

•The story begins in 509 BC when the Romans, led by Junius Brutus, drive out the last of the Etruscan kings.

Quiet Beginnings as a City-State

• Along the Tiber river

• Scattered along seven hills

• Rome created the myth of Romulus and Remus, brothers who were protected by a wolf

7 Hills of Rome, yo

• Quirinal Hill• Viminal Hill• Capitoline Hill • Esquiline Hill• Caelin Hill• Palatine Hill• Aventine Hill

First Two Jobs of the Republic

• Create a government to rule the people

• Create an army to maintain independence

Rome’s Republican Government• Legislature Senate 300 members

• All rich PATRICIANS who were elected by fellow patricians who made up about 10% of the free population

• Rome already had such a large population that direct democracy was impossible

• Rome created instead a republic, an indirect democracy

• Executive - Two Consuls– Served one year terms– Elected by the Patricians– Required to agree on all decisions

• A Dictator could be appointed in an emergency, but was allowed to serve only 6 months

Rome’s Social Structure:Three Classes

•Patricians– Rich– Famous, old families– 10% of the free population

•Plebeians– 90% of the free population– Small farmers, merchants, urban poor

• Slaves– Always growing in number as Rome grew and

prospered- Not based on race.

Plebeians Demand a Larger Role

• 494 BC – first Revolt of the Plebes– Won debt cancellation and end to slavery if in

debt– Won the right to elect TRIBUNES, who had the

power to VETO (reject) laws passed by the Senate

• 450 BC – Law of the Twelve Tables– Rome’s first set of written laws, posted for all to

read in Latin

• Plebeian Rights Expand– Right to hold all government jobs– Right to marry Patricians

Rome’s Army• Citizen soldiers

– Volunteers, 18-45 years old– Must supply all their own equipment

• Organized into LEGIONS– 6000 men

• Organized into Cohorts of 600 men•CENTURIONS commanded units of 100

men

• Superb, harsh discipline

Diagram showing a commanderpositioning his troops before a battle.

Legionnaires usingtheir shields tocreate a safe movingbox, the testudo

Roman soldiers and their weapons Roman Standards identifying their legions

Rome Grows beyond its Seven Hills

• Conquers Latium• Conquers the

Etruscans• Conquers the Greeks

in southern Italy • Drives the Gauls and

Celts out of the Po Valley to the North

Rome is Master of the Italian Peninsula

ACT II: The Challenge from Carthage

• Two powerful countries fight for control of the seas, lands and trade in the western Mediterranean

The Punic Wars

• Carthage and Rome• Three rounds• Rome wins all three• End results

– Carthage is destroyed– Rome is master of the western

Mediterranean

The First Punic War

– 264-241 BC– Rome wins– Sicily is now

part of Rome– Carthage

must pay Rome $, called an indemnity

Second Punic WarCarthage has a daring general; crosses the Alps and wins many early battles.

Rome doesn’tseem able todefeat Carthage

Rome findsa brilliantgeneral

Rome builds a fleet and takesthe war toCarthage

It’s all over in 204, at Zama.

Rome wins again!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0gbPIyCuGTA

The Opposing Generals

Carthage’s Hannibal

Rome’s Scipio Africanus

Hannibal’s Daring Ventures

Crosses the Alps with elephants

Defeats Roman army at Cannae; 55,000 Roman soldiers killed in 1 day

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E1NFrNv0Jis&playnext=1&list=PLFF8C7E6B4EAC6D03&index=7

Results of Second Punic War

• Rome takes Spain from Carthage• Carthage has to pay more money• Carthage gives Rome control of all of its

foreign relations

Third Punic War• Roman Senator Cato desires to destroy Roman Senator Cato desires to destroy

Carthage -Carthage -”Carthago delenda est””Carthago delenda est”– Carthage must be destroyedCarthage must be destroyed

• 146 B.C. Rome destroys and burns Carthage146 B.C. Rome destroys and burns Carthage– Placed salt in soilPlaced salt in soil– Sold remaining people into slaverySold remaining people into slavery

• Rome gains complete control of Western Rome gains complete control of Western MediterraneanMediterranean

Rome Grows Again!All the land in RED has been

added.

Results of the Punic Wars

• Rome is master of the Western Mediterranean

• Enormous stretches of land and large numbers of people have been added.

• Rome has no competition in the west.• Rome is enormously rich because of the

silver mines it develops in Spain.

Act III:Class Conflict and Civil Strife

• Plebes gained more rights• More victories yielded more slaves

– It became harder for plebeian farmers to keep their land

– More landless Plebeians came into Rome, but could not find jobs

• Licinius in 367 BC tried to help the farmer– Farms could not be larger than 300 acres– Landowners had to hire a certain number of

free farm laborers, not use only slaves

Gracchi Brothers• Brothers tried to

reform the land owning system to help the growing number of landless farmers

• The elder Tiberius was killed by angry Patricians, the younger Caius killed himself just before a second group of assassins arrived.

Two approaches to occupying the unemployed

• Marius, elected Consul 7 times, opened up the army to landless men who had no money– Marius had the Roman

Government buy all the equipment for his soldiers

– Rome developed professional soldiers

– Soldiers developed intense loyalty to their generals.

Even the slaves had too much!

• Spartacus leads a massive slave revolt in which more than 70,000 slaves participate.

“Bread and Circuses”• The Roman Senate and the Consuls

adopted this approach to keeping the unemployed masses quiet in Rome– The government bought grain and sold it at

reduced prices to the poor in Rome, so they would not be hungry

– Consuls and generals staged free entertainments – gladiator fights, chariot races – to keep the unemployed off the streets and occupied

Circus Maximus

The Colosseum

Act IV:Julius Caesar’s Rise to Power

• Brilliant general– Soldiers adored him– Conquered all of

Gaul• (Modern day France)

– Made himself and Rome very rich

– First Roman to invade Britain

Julius Caesar• Effective writer

– Wrote Gallic Wars, the story of his conquest of Gaul

– Made sure that all the people in Rome knew of his great accomplishments

Buy the English language version from Amazon today!

Caesar’s Rise, continued

• Powerful politician– Sought to control all power

• Formed the first TRIUMVIRATE (an alliance among three men who ruled Rome) with:– Pompey, the most famous other living

general– Crassus, the richest man in Rome

The First Triumvirate

Crassus dies peacefully

Julius, Pompey and their armies fight it out in Greece. Caesar wins. Pompey flees to Egypt and is killed.

Julius Caesar now rules alone!

• Civic reformer– Added many buildings to Rome– Changed the calendar – we use his calendar

today– Made the government more professional– The people of Rome adored him. So did his

soldiers

Caesar Beautifies the ForumJulian Forum, 2 basilicas, a temple

The many faces of Julius Caesar

The Senate becomes jealous!!

They’re all haters.

• The Senate had declared Julius “Dictator for life” in 45 BC as part of the honors they gave him for sparing lives and defeating Pompey

• Within a year, many in the Senate became jealous and argued that Caesar was trying to become a king

Beware the Ides of March!

E Tu Brute? (And you too,

Brutus?)

Several Senators stab Caesar 23 times as he enters the Senate chamber on March 15, 44 BC

Act V: Rome becomes an EMPIRE

• Three men form a 2nd Triumvirate to govern Rome and hunt down the killers of Julius Caesar:

– Octavius Caesar, Julius’s heir and great nephew

– Marc Antony, Caesar’s assistant commander

– Lepidus, commander of a legion near Rome

2nd Triumvirate

Lepidus

Marc Antony

Octavius Caesar

An Egyptian Queen Makes Allies Rivals

• Enter CLEOPATRA, queen of Egypt

• Her guiding rule was to keep her throne and get the best deal for her country from Rome

• Earlier she had became the lover of Julius Caesar and had a child with him

Cleopatra: Picking lovers to Protect Egypt

She sailed the Nile with Julius Caesar and had a son with him

After Caesar was killed, she and her son fled Rome and went back to Egypt.

Who will protect Egypt now, asked Cleopatra?

• She picked Marc Antony. She paid for his ships and his armies.

• She had three children with him

• She led him to divorce his wife to be with her

Cleopatra, you have created a great

enemy!!!!• Marc Antony’s wife, whom he divorced,

was Octavius’s SISTER!!!! ((Oh, my!)• Octavius turns against Marc Antony • Octavius’s commander, Agrippa, defeats

Marc Antony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC.

• Marc Antony kills himself with his own sword

Maybe she really loved him…

• With her lover dead, and Octavius treating her as a captured enemy, Cleopatra commits suicide by having a snake bite her.

• (you couldn’t make this stuff up)

Octavius Caesar Rules Alone

• Peace throughout the Empire• The Senate and the Roman people are

grateful for the peace and prosperity he brings

• He is a serious and effective ruler, Rome and the Empire prosper.

• He beautifies the city• He improves government

The Senate Honors Octavius• They give him a

new title, Emperor, and name– CAESAR

AUGUSTUS• The Senate

dedicates a new altar to him in

Rome: the Ara Pacis

• This sets the foundation for 200 years of peace, known as the PAX ROMANA

Act VI: Christianity

Jesus of Nazareth, its founder

• Religion founded by Jesus of Nazareth, around 29 AD

• He had been born and raised a Jew in Roman Judea, in what is now Israel

• He gathered around him a group of 12 disciples whom he taught for about three years– The best remembered was

PETER

• His message of love, repentance, compassion, and the coming Kingdom of Heaven, drew large crowds

Crucifixion and Resurrection• Pontius Pilate, the

Roman governor, charged him with unsettling the peace in Jerusalem .

• They killed Jesus by hanging him on a wooden cross to die.

• When several women went to prepare the body for burial after the Sabbath, they found only an empty tomb.

• Christians believe in Jesus’ resurrection

Early Christianity and Judaism

• For nearly 50 years after Jesus’ resurrection, his followers were considered a part of Judaism, which had many different sects, or divisions, at that time. They worshipped in the Temple and observed the Jewish food laws. They were known as “Followers of the Nazarene.”

Paul Takes Christianity to Non-Jews

• Paul, an educated Jew from the Asia Minor city of Tarsus, became a follower of Jesus, and argued that Jesus’ message of salvation and eternal life had to be taught to ALL peoples. He got the leaders of the church in Jerusalem, James and Peter, to agree.

• Paul becomes the new church’s greatest missionary

Paul’s three missionary trips

Paul: the first Christian Writer

• Over the years 50-64, Paul wrote more than 10 letters to the churches he had founded and their leaders, with whom he had worked.

• These letters are the earliest writings in the NEW TESTAMENT, the part Christians added to the Old Testament to make the Bible

Christianity Separates from Judaism

• After 72 AD, when the Romans defeated the Jews in the first revolt and had completely destroyed the Temple, followers of Jesus and Jews grew further apart.

• Jesus’ followers were now called “Christians”, the followers of the Christ, the Greek word for the Messiah. There were more non-Jews than Jews in the church congregations.

• The Jews did not accept Jesus as the Messiah. They continued to want a political/military messiah who would drive out the Romans and obtain political freedom for their country.

Destruction of the Temple

Only the Western Wall of the Temple Mount Still Stands

Rome forces Jews out of Jerusalem

the Diaspora• The

scattering of Jews across the Mediterranean

What did the Romans thinkof this new religion?

• As long as it remained a part of Judaism, which the Romans recognized as a very OLD religion, it was protected by law

• As Christianity separated increasingly from Judaism, Rome turned against it. Why?– It was viewed as “new”, and not Jewish; it lost its

legal protection; it was not now considered a religion, it became instead a “superstition”

– Christians would not worship the Emperor, whom the Senate had legally made a god

– Many Christians would not serve in the Roman Army, an action Romans considered unpatriotic.

Rome kills both Paul and Peter

• Peter is crucified upside down in Rome

• Paul is beheaded, according to tradition

Dangerous to be a Christian!

• Many Christians were captured and killed by the Romans between 60 and 300 AD

How was the church organized?

• It copied the hierarchical structure of the Empire.

• The pope is the top official• Below the pope (in order) are:

– Cardinals– Archbishops– Bishops

• The priest is the lowest official at the village level

The Cardinals vote to elect a new Pope

All the cardinals meet in theSistine Chapel in the Vaticanto vote.

White smoke means that a newPope has been elected.

Constantine converts!• Just before his battle to win

control of the Empire, he sees a vision of a cross

• “In hoc signo vinces.” = In this sign you will conquer.

• He makes a promise to God: if I win tomorrow, I will become a Christian.

• He wins and he converts

Constantine ends the persecutions

• In 313 AD, Constantine publishes the Edict of Milan

• It makes Christianity equal to all other religions in the empire

• It ends the persecution of Christians.• It is now safe to be a Christian

The benefits of safety

• Christian gatherings move out of house churches and into formal church buildings

• They adopt the basilica style from the Empire

• Constantine gives land and money to build churches

Early church buildings in Rome

San Giovanni in Lateran with a dedication to Constantine on the front portico

A fourth century house church in Rome

How does the church make decisions?

• Once Christianity was legalized, and the Emperor converted, Constantine and later emperors hosted 8 gatherings of church leaders from around the Mediterranean to decide which religious teachings were correct

• The first of these CHURCH COUNCILS was the Council of Nicea held in 325 AD

Christianity now REQUIRED

• Emperor Theodosius in 394 made Christianity the REQUIRED and ONLY legal religion throughout the empire

• Jupiter, Diana, Isis – all those earlier gods were now banished

Christian tradition marks the burial places of Peter and Paul

Roman Catholics trace the Papacy back to Peter

The Apostle Peterby Jusepe de Ribera

Pope Benedict XVI

Why was Christianity so attractive?

• Christianity taught that God valued all people equally, rich and poor, slave, and free.

• The messages of eternal life, forgiveness for sins, and a personal, empowering God were very powerful.

• The lives of goodness and compassion which the Christians lived showed their love for others and their strong moral values

New Ways to Serve Christ• Men and women, seeking to give their

whole lives to Christ, found ways to live away from the world, alone or in groups

• Men giving their lives to the church were called MONKS and lived in MONASTERIES

• Women giving their lives to the church were called NUNS and lived in CONVENTS

Saints Basil and Benedict

• Each established an organization called an ORDER of Monks and writes the rules they are to live by

• St. Basil, a Greek, writes the guiding rules for Eastern monasticism

• St. Benedict founds the Benedictines

Christianity’s Beliefs• Jesus is the promised Messiah, the Son of God,

who provided forgiveness for sins through his death.

• That death and resurrection assure believers of eternal life after their own physical death

• Through the grace of God, man receives salvation because of his belief in Jesus and his teachings

• Jesus’ message is for all peoples, not just Jews. The message of salvation is to spread to all the world

• “Love one another as I have loved you.”

Act VII:

• Five Good Emperors take Rome to its largest size and greatest power– Nerva– Trajan– Hadrian– Antoninus Pius– Marcus Aurelius

Trajan• A Spaniard, the 1st

ruler not from Rome• Takes the empire to

its largest size• Builds grand forum, 6

story shopping mall, in Rome

Trajan’s Column

Visual monument to his victorious war against the Dacians.

Right in the center of the Forum

Hadrian• Had a wall

constructed that divided Roman Britain from the Picts to the north

• Codified (organized, updated) all Roman law

• Built the Pantheon.

Antoninus Pius• The empire was at

peace• The arts and teaching

were respected• He got along well with

the Senate

Marcus Aurelius• Stoic Philosopher

– Wrote “the Meditations”– “We live for an instant, only

to be swallowed in complete forgetfulness”

• Ruled as a Philosopher-king– Government is a duty and a

service to be done well and honestly

• Fought wars against the Germans and the Parthians

The Pax Romana

• With the death of Marcus Aurelius, the two hundred years of peace, known as the Pax Romana, the Roman Peace, ended

• Lasted from 31 BC to AD 180• Safe trade and economic prosperity• Higher standard of living

Disaster! Emperors stop adopting good men to rule

after them!• Marcus Aurelius

loved his only surviving son, Commodus, so much that he insisted on turning the empire over to him to rule.

• Commodus was a dictator, a killer; many thought him crazy

Commodus in wolf’s head, pretending to be a gladiator

Enemies from Outside and In

• Germanic tribes pushed west and south– They were being pushed by peoples coming in

from the east: the Huns and the Sarmatians– They wanted the better land in the Empire

Barbarians Attack and Invade!Attackers keep coming for 300

years!

Consequences of Falling Population

• Romans became more self-centered, and families had fewer children; – There were not enough men to fill up the

army’s legions;

• Foreigners were hired and paid to fight for Rome– These were called mercenaries.

Armies fight for Generals, Not Rome

• After the death of Marcus Aurelius, the way to become an emperor was to use your army

• Rome’s generals fought one another to get to be emperor

• From 192-284, there were 28 emperors!!!

• There were NO rules about how to pick a new emperor

Economy Worsens• Taxes high to pay for wars and salaries of

mercenaries• Most poor farmers have lost their land;

they take to working as slaves on large farms

• Empire buys crops in the western parts to feed the armies and people in eastern parts of the empire and leaves little for the people

Two Emperors try to Fix the Problems

• Diocletian:– Divides the empire into two parts: East and West– Appoints a senior and a junior ruling part for each

half– Tries to set prices for all products– Farmers must stay on land– All workers must follow their father’s job

• Works for a while until a war develops among three rivals!

Diocletian’s divided Empire

Constantine• Constantine defeats all his rivals• His approach to problems in Rome is to

move away from the city and build a new city in a better, safer position

• He selects the Greek city of Byzantium– He renames it CONSTANTINOPLE and takes

all of the tax money to make it the most beautiful city in the world

Constantinople• A safer location• A city which will make millions from trade• Temples, palaces, race tracks are built

Invasions do not stop! • Constantine and the emperors in the east

do not worry about the invasions in Italy.

Huns & Visigoths• Visigoths, an important Germanic tribe

– Led by Alaric, they rebel against Rome– AD 410 –capture and sack Rome

• Huns, not European– migrated from central Asia– led by Attila, raided eastern empire– terrorized Italy– retreated to eastern Europe after Attila’s death

It’s Over!

• 455 AD– Vandals raid Rome• 476 AD– Odoacer, a German,

overthrows the last emperor of Rome

ACT VIII: Rome’s Contributions

• Law• Republican government• Architecture• Biography, a new kind of historical

writing

Roman Law• Written in Latin, expected people to

read it

• Organized (CODIFIED)

• Man-made, NOT god-made– Meant that man could change it– Laws changed over time

Map of a Court RoomWhat can you name? Their

jobs?

Everything in a court room: a gift from Rome

• Judge• Jury• Witness• Lawyers for the defense• Lawyer for the Prosecution• Presence of the accuser

Roman Legal Principles

• Innocent until proven guilty• Right to an appeal• Right to the presence of the accuser• Right to a trained lawyer• Right to free speech• Laws for business, laws for crimes,

laws for international dealings

Principles of Roman Government

• Checks and Balances– Counsels had to agree– Tribunes could veto Senate laws– Elections held every year

• Power of Protest– Revolt of the Plebes gain more rights for the

Plebes• Rights of citizenship

Roman Writing• Invented new kind of historical writing:

– BIOGRAPHY

• Powerful essays and speeches• Real-time writings of battles and wars• Political satires• Updated natural encyclopedias• Love poems• Epic describing the founding of Rome• Key book on Stoic Philosophy: Marcus Aurelius’

Meditations

Roman Architecture

• THE ARCH