Download Rome Republic to Empire

Rome
Republic to Empire
Ital
y
Geography &
peoples of Italy
Gree
ce
• Geography
– Peninsula divided
by mountain range.
» Resembles a
boot
» Apennine
Mountains backbone
– Large fertile plains
in north & west.
» Not as rugged
as Greece
Early Romans shared the peninsula
with colonists who migrated from
Greece and the Etruscans, who ruled
much of Italy.
The Roman Republic
Republic – government in which officials are
chosen by the people.
In 509 BC, the Romans drive out the Etruscans
and form a republican government.
Power lies in the Senate
Roman
Republic
Class conflicts lead to unrest
PATRICIANS
PLEBEIANS
vs
Land holding upper class
Lower class commoner:
farmer, merchant, trader
Punic Wars
264-146 BC
Rome
Carthage
Two powers (Rome and Carthage) began to become more powerful within
Southern Europe and Northern Africa. They fought a series of wars
competing for power in the Mediterranean. Each won decisive victories, but
Carthage was never able to capture Rome.
Rome defeats Carthage
In the third and final war, Rome
completely destroyed Carthage. To
prevent them from ever causing
Rome more problems, survivors were
killed or sold into slavery and legend
has it that salt was poured onto the
fertile fields so that no crops would
grow.
Gracchus Reforms
Tiberius and Gaius
Gracchus were
brothers and
consuls who tried to
use the power of the
Senate to give land
and food to the
poor.
Reforms threatened wealthy patricians in the
Senate, so they had the Gracchus brothers killed.
Marius
Allowed nonlandowning men to
fight in army and
promises land for
service (107 BC)
The result is that now
men will be more
loyal to their generals
than their country
Sulla
Marius becomes too powerful, and thus, the
senate is weakened. Sulla gathers an
army to challenge Marius and eventually
defeats him.
Though Sulla defeats Marius and restores
power to the senate, a dangerous
precedent has been set.
Now, men will put together armies to gain
power and establish their rule upon Rome
Julius Caesar was a brilliant
general whose power had become
great and concerned the Senate.
Caesar refused an order to
disband his army and marched
his army on Rome itself and
forced the Senate to make him
dictator of Rome.
Julius Caesar
Caesar passes
reforms, expands
Rome’s borders,
and has a love
affair with
Cleopatra, the
queen of Egypt.
Fearing Caesar was taking all power away from
the senate and destroying the Roman Republic,
several senators assassinated him during a
senate meeting.
After Julius Caesar’s death, Marc Antony
(Caesar’s trusted general) and Octavian
(Caesar’s grand nephew) joined
together to hunt down his killers. But
they soon began to compete for power.
Octa
vian
Mark
Antony
Mark Antony Cleopatra
Mark Antony
forms an
alliance with
Egypt and
soon begins
love affair with
Cleopatra
Battle of Actium
Octavian’s forces defeat the combined forces of
Mark Antony and Cleopatra
• Antony commits suicide
• Cleopatra commits suicide
• Octavian returns to Rome as sole ruler –
he given title of emperor and renamed
Augustus.
• The Roman Republic has now officially
been dismantled
Age of Augustus
Octavian takes on the
name Augustus Caesar
and becomes the first
emperor of Rome. With the
Senate’s power gone,
Rome ceases to be a
republic and becomes an
empire, which will last for
nearly 500 years.
31 B.C. – 14 A.D.
Roman Empire
It is during the reign of Augustus Caesar, in a small
area of the Roman Empire along the eastern
edge of the Mediterranean Sea, that a baby is
born who will have a profound impact on the
Roman Empire and the world.
Birth of Jesus Christ
Julio-Claudian Emperors
Tiberius
Caligula
Probably murdered Tiberius.
It was the worst time for all
Romans as Caligula was
quite mad. He thought he
was a living God, he married
his sister, he murdered
without restraint.
He was to rule for
22 years, most of
them in selfimposed exile on
the island of Capri.
Nero
Claudius
Probably the best
of the worst.
Came to throne at 16.
Murdered his mother and
brother. Started huge fire
that destroyed forum and
blamed it on Christians
whom he would use as
human torches to light his
parties.
Colosseum
Are you not entertained?!
Built in 72-80 AD, the Colosseum appeased the
people of Rome by hosting spectacles of
entertainment, most notably the gladiator games.
Holding up to 50,000 people, it also served as a
venue for dramas and executions, and could even
be flooded to put on live mock sea battles.
“Five Good Emperors”
96 – 180 AD
After a century of bad emperors, five good emperors would
start to make positive changes in Rome and create the
Pax Romana : Roman Peace.
At its height, the Roman Empire covered
3.5 million square miles and had a
population of over 50 million people.
Realizing the Empire had
grown too big for one
person to govern, Diocletian
split it in half, keeping the
eastern half for himself.
The Roman Empire grew too large to
govern effectively and the inclusion of so
many different people and customs
caused Roman influence to shrink. Also,
the empire began to be attacked by
Germanic peoples in the 300s. In 476 AD,
the western Roman Empire collapsed.
The
End