7 Hills

• The city of Rome was founded on 7 hills along the Tiber River in Italy

• The citizens farmed at the base of the hills and lived at the top– This made Rome easier to

defend

1- Tiber River• Rome was located about 15 miles from the

coast along the Tiber River– The city was built inland so it would be easier to

defend• The river provided fresh water and

transportation

2- Italian Peninsula

• Living on a peninsula was a great advantage to Rome– They had a strong navy and this helped

them conquer new territories– They were able to develop trade routes

across the Mediterranean Sea

• The peninsula had large plains that were excellent for farming– They grew beans, veggies, fruits, grapes,

olives

3- Mediterranean Sea

• The Mediterranean Sea links 3 continents:– Europe, Africa, and Asia

• Connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar

4- Adriatic Sea

• In between the Italian Peninsula and the Balkan Peninsula – Part of the Mediterranean Sea

• Located to the east of the Italian Peninsula

5- Tyrrhenian Sea• The Tyrrhenian Sea is a part

of the Mediterranean Sea– Like the Aegean Sea and

Ionian Sea

• Located to the west of the Italian Peninsula

6- Alps• The tallest mountain range

in Europe (about 13,000 feet tall)

• Formed by the collision of the Eurasian and African tectonic plates

• Protected Rome to the north

7- Apennines• A mountain range that runs

north/south through the Italian Peninsula

• These mountains are not nearly as tall as the Alps (about 6,000 feet tall)

• Also helped to protect Rome

8- Sicily

• The largest island of the Mediterranean Sea

• Separated from the Italian Peninsula by the Strait of Messina

9- Mt. Etna

• Located in Sicily

• Europe’s largest and most active volcano– Last erupted in 2013

• News Report (2002)• Time Lapse (2013)

10- Corsica

• Corsica is a French Territory• About 300,000 people live

on the island– About half as many people as

Charlotte

11- Sardinia

• The second largest island in the Mediterranean Sea

• Located to the west of the Italian Peninsula in the Tyrrhenian Sea

Advantages

1) Located in an area with a mild and humid climate– Didn’t get too cold and got

plenty of rain

2) Good farmland3) Geographic barriers protected Rome, but did not stop trade

The Legend of Rome

• The founding of Rome is described in a poem called The Aeneid by the poet Virgil

• Aeneas, a hero of the Trojan war, moved to Italy to escape the fighting in Greece

The Legend of Rome

• Romulus and Remus were descendants of Aeneas. They were twins that were abandoned along the Tiber River

• Legend says a she-wolf found the infant and raised them

The Legend of Rome

• Once they grew older, they decided to build a city at the spot along the Tiber River where they were raised by their wolf mother

• The named the city Rome, coming from the name Romulus in 753 BC

In Reality

• Rome was first settled by Italic people who migrated to the region looking for good land to grow crops and for cattle grazing

• They first built wooden huts at the top of the 7 Hills of Rome along the Tiber River

The Greeks

• Between 750 BCE-600 BCE, Greek settlers established colonies on the coast of Italy

• They brought Greek culture to the Italy and also taught the Romans how to grow grapes and olives

Roman Republic

• Lasted from 509 BCE – 49 BCE– Almost 500 years

Brainpop- The Roman Republic

Roman Republic

• The Republic had 3 branches of governments, very similar to what we have today– Senate: Noble and wealthy people– Consul: Judges and military commanders – Assembly: Common people (elected)

Brainpop- The Roman Republic

Roman Republic

• The United States uses a system called “checks and balances” so that no one branch of government becomes too powerful– Legislative: Make laws– Executive: Enforce laws– Judicial: Decided if laws are fair, if someone broke

a law

Brainpop- The Roman Republic

Civil War

• A civil war is a war between groups of the same country– The United States lasted from 1860-1865– The Union (North) defeated the

Confederacy (South)

• In Rome, a civil war broke out between the people– The working class felt that they did not

have as many rights as the wealthy

Roman Republic

• Many generals and other nobles from Rome didn’t approve of Julius Caesar

• They ordered Julius Caesar to come back to Rome without his army

• Caesar came back to Rome with his army and fought the generals and nobles in a civil war

Roman Republic shifts to the Roman EmpireBrainpop- Rise of the Roman Empire

• Caesar won the civil war and declared himself dictator (Rome was no longer a republic)– He was allied with Cleopatra from Egypt– She provided him with money and

supplies

Roman Empire

• After Caesar’s death, there was a lot of fighting for control of Rome

• Octavian was crowned emperor after all of the fighting

• Octavian was also known as Augustus– Julius Caesar was his great-uncle

Roman Empire• Augustus changed the government so that the

wealthy citizens and normal citizens were equally represented

– However, Augustus still maintained the power of an emperor

Pax RomanaBrainpop- The Pax Romana

• Under Augustus, Rome began the Pax Romana

• For the next 200 years, Rome entered a stage of peace and cultural achievement– Lasted from 27 BC to 180 AD

• For the first time in many years, the Romans were not fighting any wars

• Arts and architecture flourished

Pax Romana

• During the Pax Romana, Rome became wealthy

• They began to export crops like grapes and olives

• Rome became the center of trading in the Mediterranean Sea

Roman Empire Splits• In 284, the Roman Empire was split into East and West

• Constantinople became the capital of the Eastern Empire

• Rome remained the capital of the Western Empire

Reasons for the split

• Leadership had become ineffective

• Many leaders were quickly assassinated by rival groups once they became emperor

• The border was not well protected and the Roman army was not as strong

• Inflation- Money lost its value because too much money was being printed by the government

Rome is too big…

• The emperor of Rome, Diocletian decided that the empire had become too large and the government was not working

• He became emperor of the Eastern empire and appointed Maximian as emperor of the Western empire

Christianity

• Many of those in the Eastern empire converted to Christianity– Including Constantine, the first Christian Roman emperor in

325 C.E.

• This new religion clashed with the beliefs of the traditional Roman religion– Monotheism vs. Polytheism

• The East and West had different belief systems and were not united

Fall of the Western Empire• The Western empire was invaded by

Germanic tribes

• Eventually, most of the Western Empire was conquered by other groups– These groups are the foundations of the countries

that would eventually make Europe

Fall of the Western Empire

• Rome shrunk to a smaller size and took the shape of modern Italy

The Eastern Roman Empire

• The Eastern Roman Empire would become known as the Byzantine Empire

• They established a capitol at Constantinople in modern-day Turkey

• This empire would last for the next 1,000 years and became a major power in Europe

Leads to Feudalism

• In our next unit, we will discuss what happened to Europe after the fall of the Roman Empire