Survey
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
* Your assessment is very important for improving the workof artificial intelligence, which forms the content of this project
Education in ancient Rome wikipedia , lookup
Travel in Classical antiquity wikipedia , lookup
Promagistrate wikipedia , lookup
Food and dining in the Roman Empire wikipedia , lookup
Constitutional reforms of Sulla wikipedia , lookup
Roman Kingdom wikipedia , lookup
Roman economy wikipedia , lookup
Roman historiography wikipedia , lookup
Constitutional reforms of Augustus wikipedia , lookup
Roman agriculture wikipedia , lookup
Culture of ancient Rome wikipedia , lookup
From Romulus to Romulus The Rise and Fall of Rome Romulus and Remus Founding of Rome • The earliest known civilization on the Italian peninsula was the Etruscan. • The Etruscan civilization flourished c. 1000-505 BC. • The Etruscans probably came from the Balkan area between the Black sea and the Caspian sea. • They displaced an early culture known as the "Latins" which were still neolithic. • According the legend the 1st kings were the twins Romulus and Remus who were raised by a she-wolf. • By 600 BC the Etruscan civilization was at its height. • Seven Kings • Tarquinius Superbus deposed • Republic founded 509 BCE The Pre-Roman World Rome Expands Rome Expands Many-Front War Rome Expands The Republic Crumbles • Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus try but fail to implement social reforms (land reform)130-122 BCE • Social War 91–88 BCE: Rest of Italy tries to secede from Rome • Civil War 87-81 BCE, followed by purge by Lucius Sulla • Catilina 63-62 BCE: Failed coup • First Triumvirate 60-53 BCE: Caesar, Pompey, Crassus Julius Caesar • Born 100 BCE • Consul 60 BCE • First Triumvirate 60-53 BCE: Caesar, Pompey, Crassus • Conquest of Gaul 58-49 BCE • Attempted invasion of Britain 55 BCE • 50 BCE: Caesar-Pompey alliance breaks up • 50-45 BCE: Civil War; Caesar wins • 44 BCE: Assassinated Rome Expands Empire! • Civil War – Antony against Brutus and Cassius – Antony and Octavian against Brutus and Cassius – Octavian against Antony and Cleopatra • Octavian declared Emperor 27 BCE as Caesar Augustus • Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero • 69 CE: Year of the Four Emperors Rome Expands Rome Expands Rome Expands Roman Science and Technology Little theoretical science or innovation (Lucretius-atoms) Encyclopedists (Pliny) Architectural virtuosity City planning--water, lead pipes, sewage, fire protection Bridges and aqueducts Law and administration Roman Science and Technology Concrete (if a society can only introduce one invention, it could do no better than this.) Codex form of books Water mills (late in Empire) Near Collapse 235-284 • • • • • • 20-25 emperors and many claimants Internal dissension weakens frontiers Dacia (modern Romania) lost Empire fractures into three parts 258-275 Economic stagnation and hyperinflation Two tough general-emperors, Claudius Gothicus and Aurelian, stabilized Empire • Diocletian (284-305) created autocracy, reformed military, bought another two centuries for the Empire Final Decline • Constantine the Great (306-337) – Legalized Christianity 313 • Theodosius I (379-395) – The last ruler of the whole empire – Made Christianity official 391 – Empire divided East-West 395 • Eastern Invasions • Romulus Augustulus deposed 476 • Eastern half endures as Byzantine Empire to 1453 Roman Empire Splits, 395 A.D. Fall of Rome Fall of Rome Fall of Rome Did Anyone Try to Stop It? • Majorianus 457-461 • “The successor of Avitus presents the welcome discovery of a great and heroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, to vindicate the honor of the human species.” (Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. 36) Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1782 Edward Gibbon suggested four reasons for fall of Rome: • “Immoderate greatness”--growth of bureaucracy and military • Wealth and luxury • Barbarian invasions (cause or symptom?) • Spread of Christianity Persecution of Christians • Rome was generally tolerant of other religions – Tended to incorporate other religions – Tolerated Jews, who refused assimilation • Roman religion was utilitarian – Means of maintaining unity and order (pietas) – Securing favor for Rome • Christianity threatened both aims – Blamed for decline of Rome Persecution of Christians • Other Issues – Secrecy bred suspicion – Organized among lower classes – Competition with other sects – Some early Christians were extremists • Freedom of conscience was not on anyone’s radar until about 1700 Persecution of Christians • Sometimes scapegoats for disaster (Nero) • Most persecutions local and spotty • Imperial persecutions tended to happen under two types of emperor – Conscientious (Domitian, Diocletian, Julian) – Oppressive (Nero) – Mediocre emperors were apathetic or too busy surviving Reality Check: Rome was a stagnant, corrupt, brutal and petty society Two suggested antidotes to the romantic view of Rome: Robert Graves' I, Claudius H.G. Wells Outline of History Not once did the local populace ever rise up to oppose the barbarian invaders. A Bit of Perspective