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Study Guide Exploring History-Stu Guide: The Romans Test 1 Luther Burbank Middle School Los Angeles, CA 90042 Ms. Roman Vocabulary Amphitheatre A place where Romans went to watch animals and people fighting Aqueduct A system of pipes and channels which brings clean water into towns Barbarian A person who lived outside the Roman Empire, seen as having a violent nature. Basilica A large building where town business was carried out (like a modern Town Hall) Camouflage An aid designed to hide or disguise something Cavalry Soldiers who fight on horseback Chariot Cart with two wheels pulled by horses. Romans raced chariots, and Celtic 1 warriors rode into battle on them. Election Process where people vote to choose the people they want to be in charge. Elections are often held to decide who will govern a country Forum Open space in the middle of a town for markets and meeting people (like a market square) Gladiator A slave trained to fight other gladiators or animals in amphitheatres. Hypocaust Roman central heating - It works by hot air flowing through gaps between walls and flooring Latin The language spoken and written by the Romans Legend A story made up about people in the past MosaicA pattern made from coloured pieces of stones and pottery. Myth A made up story often about gods and spirits which is told to explain things about the world. Pedagogue A Roman slave who was trained as a teacher. ProfessionalA person trained to do a special job in exchange for payment (wages). Republic A country without a king, queen or emperor. The people who rule it are elected. France, Italy and Germany are countries today which are republics. Roman Governor – The ruler of Roman Britain, who worked for the Roman Emperor. Sacred Something that is believed to be holy and to have a special connection with a god or gods. Senate The Roman government, made up of senators. Senator A person elected to be part of the government. Some countries today, like the U.S.A., still have senators. Sewage The dirty water and worse which is poured down 2 sewers from drains and lavatories. Sewers Pipes or tunnels that carry away sewage Slave Someone sold to another person to work for them for free. They don't have any rights or freedom. Strigil A metal object used in Baths to scrape sweat, dirt and excess oil off. Stylus A metal pen for scratching words into wax on wooden tablets. Tax Money or items given to the government. This payment helped to pay for things like soldiers in the army and building roads. Tribe A group of people who live in one part of a country and are ruled by a chief. Underworld A gloomy place where Romans believed your soul went after you died. Villa A large house in the country. Some villas were farmhouses and some were like palaces. Warrior A trained soldier, someone who has had lots of experience in wars. Wreath A hand made ring of leaves or flowers. Women in the Roman World 3 Life in Roman tim women was quit The father was t important memb family. He had th of life or death o everyone. When baby was born it be laid at its fath - if the father pic baby up it would if he ignored the would be taken a die. Mothers and were never seen important. "Not that I loved Caesar less, but that I loved Rome more". (Act III, Scene II). William Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar From the 1st cen B.C. women beg have more rights could divorce un husbands. But th never seen as re being equal to m Emperors Julius Caesar 44-41 4 The Caesars of the Ancient Rome GAIUS JULIUS CAESAR was born in the year 100 BC into a patrian family who claimed decendancy from the kings of Alba Langa and through them, Aeneas of Troy whose mother was the goddess Venus. Caesar's name Julius comes from Iulius, the family name. This comes from Iulus, the name of Venus' son. At the time of his birth, Rome was still a republic and the empire was only really beginning. The senators ruled, motivated by the greed of power in the hope of becoming either a consul or a praetor, the two senior posts which carried imperium, the legal right to command an army. From these posts it was possible to, with the help of the army at your command, conquer new territories and so gain a triumph and the pleasure of knowing that your name would be remembered forever in statues and inscribed monuments, paid for by the spoils of the war. Caesar made his way to praetorship by 62 BC and many of the senate felt him a dangerous, ambitious man. Because of this, they deprived him of a triumph after his praetorian command in Spain (61-60 BC) and they also did their best to keep him out of consulship. He finally became consul in 59 BC. Much of the thanks for this achievement should be given to Gnaeus Pompeius (Pompey the Great) who had just come back from a campaign which had doubled the income of the Roman treasury and gained three new provinces to the empire. Because of this he had popular support and his voice carried great weight with the public at large. Because of Pompey, however, to become a leading person in Roman politics you had to have more then just an ordinary triumph. It was because of this that Caesar, during his consulship, pushed through a special law giving him a five-year command in Cispine Gaul and Illyricum, both provinces in the empire covering North Italy and the Adriatic coast of Yugoslavia. Caesar saw this as a great opportunity to extend the empire either into Gaul or in the Balkins. While in Gaul, the most important section of the Roman Army, positioned at the German border, was under his control. He was a brilliant military leader and lead many campaigns: 58 BC -The Helvetic Campaign 57 BC -The Belgic Campaign 56 BC -The Venetic Campaign 55 BC -The German Campaign 54 BC -The British Campaign 5 Because the whole point of these campaigns was to get high public and political acclaim, he wrote about all the campaigns and sent the books to Rome so people knew and remembered his name. Caesar had all the acclaim he could hope for and the triumph to back it up, however, to get the position he felt his achievements deserved, he had to take his troops across the River Rubicon and in doing so declare civil war on the state and Pompey. Pompey, the person who had got Caesar to where he was, was sent to stop him but failed. General Pompey fled to Egypt while Caesar entered Rome in triumph as Dictator. The battle for Rome continued for five years of bloody fighting. He was assassinated by a group of senators, possibly in support of Pompey or possibly for some gain of their own, on the Ides of March 44 BC, below a statue of Pompey. Agustus – (27 BC - 14 AD) Agustus' first step was to repair the bitter wounds of civil war. On January 13 of 27 BC, Octavian, in his own words, "transferred the Republic from my own power to the authority of the Senate and the Roman people." This action showed shrewd political planning, as Augustus used it purely for public show. The Senate awarded him the name of Augustus, and mobs demanded that he retain power. Augustus carefully retained the titles of traditional offices to disguise his absolute power. He kept only the offices of consul and proconsul and claimed that he held no more power than his colleagues. Some Romans complained that the loss of liberty was too great a price to pay for peace, but most recognized that under the so-called liberty of the Roman Republic, a few hundred men had divided the spoils of empire while the workers and the provincials suffered. The majority of Romans welcomed the peace and stability of the Augustan Age. The rule of Augustus brought social stability, economic revival, and efficient administration to Rome, but it was unable to ensure the future. Augustus seemingly owed his power to the Senate and Roman people; in fact, his power came from his personal authority, and there was a real possibility his death might trigger a renewed civil war. For decades, Augustus watched his chosen successors die until only his stepson, Tiberius, remained. His selection of an heir outside of his immediate bloodline set the precedent for the future; struggles for power once fought on the battlefield were now waged in the imperial palace. 6 Augustus hoped to retain power within the Julian family, while disguising the fact that he had established a monarchy. He had only one child, a daughter Julia by his first wife, and his 51-year marriage to his third wife, Livia, brought him much personal happiness and a remarkable political partnership, but no further children. Livia had two sons, Tiberius and Drusus, from a Tiberius - 14 - 37 AD previous marriage to Tiberius Claudius Nero. Tiberius and later Drusus's son Claudius became emperors of the Claudian line. Julia's grandson Gaius-Caligula and her great-grandson Nero eventually reached the imperial throne. Together these rulers made up what came to be known as the Julio-Claudian dynasty. Caligula - 37 - 41 Caligula murdered senators for their property and their wives, gave away Rome's provinces to his boyhood playmates, considered making his horse consul, and demanded to be worshipped as Jupiter. Not surprisingly, one of his own guards murdered him. In the confusion following Caligula's assassination, some senators decided they might dispense with emperors and debated the return of the republic. The praetorian soldiers, who had profited under imperial rule, wanted a new emperor. The traditional story is that they found the only plausible candidate, Caligula's uncle, hiding fearfully in the palace and gave him the imperial throne. Polio in childhood had left Claudius I (AD 41-54) with a limp and a stammer, but he ruled well and added Britain to the Roman Empire. He showed both intelligence and compassion in his grants of citizenship, his admission of Gauls to the Senate, and his humanitarian legislation on debt and the treatment of slaves. His fourth wife Agrippina (known as Agrippina the Younger) poisoned him to ensure that her son Nero would inherit the throne. Claudius 41 - 54 Tiberius Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus was born in 41 AD to Nero Claudius Drusus and his wife Antonia. Although he came from a royal blood line, his family had a very low opinion of his abilities and often ignored him. Labeled an invalid from birth because of physical disabilities including partial paralysis, stammering, slobbering, and limping, he was the last person his family thought would inherit the throne and serve as Roman Emperor. An outcast in his home environment, Claudius turned to the 7 study of history to occupy his time. He authored various works about orthographic reform of the Roman alphabet and a work defending Cicero, a republican politician and orator. Claudius also enjoyed playing dice games. Claudius' rise to power came after Emperor Gauis (Caligula), his nephew, was unexpectedly murdered on January 1, AD 41. Claudius became heir to the throne, to many a Roman's dismay. The soldiers, courtiers, freedman, and foreigners were his main support although the senatorial aristocracy also offered to back the new emperor. Many Romans sought to have Claudius assassinated because of his cruel and ruthless discussions and actions with members of the senate and knighthood. It is thought by some that he even executed senators on occasion. Despite this conflict Claudius did respect these agencies and gave new opportunities to them both. Claudius' reign is marked with an expansion of the Roman Empire. He invaded and conquered Britain in AD 43 and captured Camulodunum. There he started a colony of veterans and built client-kingdoms to protect the small populated land. Claudius also took over North Africa and annexed Mauretania, where he established two provinces as well. Around AD 49 he also annexed Iturea and allowed the province of Syria to control it, trying not to come into conflict with the Germans and the Parthians. In the area of civil administration he encouraged urbanization. The judicial system improved under his reign and he favored the modern extension by individual and collective grants in Noricum. Claudius also made many administrative innovations. He increased his control over finances and province administration and gave jurisdiction of fiscal matters to the governors under him in the senatorial provinces. Claudius' personal life was wrought with conflicts that ultimately led to his undoing. He married three times. His first wife, Boudicca, started a revolt, and his second wife had a strong sexual appetite that led her to conspiracy and ultimately, her execution. Claudius' third time was not a charm either. He decided to stay within the family and married his niece, Aggripina. She was very influential over Claudius to the point where he adopted her son Nero. Then she fed Claudius a dinner containing poisonous mushrooms which killed him. Her main motive was that her precious son, Nero, might inherit the throne. Although Claudius was generally thought of as a weak leader and was labeled, even by his own family, as someone not worthy to rule; he made notable contributions to the development of the Roman empire. He conquered and colonized Britain, established provinces in North Africa, and he urbanized and innovated his civil administration. He died an unnecessary and tragic death at the hand of his own wife and was succeeded by his adopted son, Nero. The 15-year-old Nero (AD 54-68) began his reign amid predictions of a new Golden Age for Rome, but fawning courtiers encouraged his despotic tendencies. He murdered both his mother and his wife at the urging of his mistress. In AD 64 a fire Nero 54-68 8 devastated much of Rome. The historian Tacitus suggests in his writings that Nero blamed the fledgling Christian community for the blaze. According to some sources, his persecution of Christians resulted in the deaths of two of Christianity's most influential apostles, Saint Peter and Saint Paul. Nero had a childish need for applause, and he gave vocal concerts at Greek festivals. The spectacle of a singing emperor disgusted the Romans. The neglected legions became restless, and rebellions erupted throughout the empire. All four Julio-Claudian emperors lived in the shadow of Augustus, and none felt secure on his throne. Insecurity brought tyranny, which then provoked conspiracies in the Senate and in the palace. Finally, even the army turned away from the dynasty that had created the empire. Civil war returned to Rome as one person after another claimed the throne and marched on the capital. In AD 69, known as the Year of the Four Emperors, a savage contest for power exploded the myths adopted by Augustus to hide his dictatorship. The secret of the empire was now clear. Augustus had pretended to follow Roman republican tradition by seeking the Senate's confirmation of his actions, but in reality the emperor's authority derived solely from his control of the army. The savage civil war of the Year of the Four Emperors concluded with the triumph of Vespasian (AD 69-79 ),a plainspoken and practical soldier from the Italian middle class whose style contrasted with the eccentricity of the noble Julio-Claudians. As commander of the Roman armies in the East, Vespasian crushed the Jewish rebellion in Palestine. Vespasian 69 - 79 He then returned to Rome and left his son to destroy both the city of Jerusalem and in AD 73 to conquer Masada, the hilltop fortress near the Dead Sea where the Jews made their last stand. Vespasian's thriftiness restored the economy after the lavish expenditures of Nero. He recruited senators from among western provinces and also carefully ensured the loyalty of the military to the new dynasty he created, called the Flavians. 9 The Fall of Rome The Roman Empire of the fourth century A.D. extended entirely around the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, including modern Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and North Africa. Modern France (called Gaul) and modern Spain and Portugal (Iberia) were entirely Roman. Modern England was Roman, but modern Scotland and Ireland were barbarian (non-Roman, or non-civilized). The northern borders of the empire were the Rhine and Danube Rivers. The lands north of these rivers were occupied by a variety of tribes of Scandinavian origin that the Romans called the Germans. Rome was engaged in border skirmishes with the tribes north of the great European rivers. Strong emperors occasionally extended the empire over the rivers while weak emperors tended to lose those lands. The largest organized rival of the Romans was the Persian Empire to the east, occupying modern Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Persians were the political descendants of the Parthians who had revolted away from Greek rule following Alexander's conquests and, thereafter, successfully resisted Roman invasions. The Romans had existed as an important power for over 1000 years. They had brought stability, prosperity, and order to the civilized West. Excellent roads connected the far reaches of the empire with the capital at Rome. These were built originally for military purposes but improved all communications and trade. Roman law kept the internal peace and 20 to 30 Roman legions defended the frontiers. All was not perfect, however. Emperors held absolute authority. This worked well with good emperors, but incompetent ones could do great harm. The rules for succession to the throne were never clear, and debilitating civil wars often resulted. The bureaucracy that managed the empire on a daily basis grew more corrupt, increasing the dissatisfaction of the common citizen. The wealth of the empire gradually concentrated in the hands of a minority while a large slave population did most of the work. The borders of the empire were immense and put a strain on military resources (500,000 soldiers defended a frontier that required 3 million or more to be secured). Roman conquests had ceased in the second century A.D., bringing an end to massive inflows of plunder and slaves. Taxes increased and production fell as the work force declined. A plague may have killed 20 percent of the empire's population in the third and fourth centuries, further reducing trade and production. In the late third century, the Roman Empire was split into eastern and western halves in an attempt to make for easier rule and better control. In 323 Constantine became emperor after a civil war and established his eastern capital at Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. During the next century the eastern and western parts of the empire gradually established separate identities, although nominally the same empire. These identities were partially due to the different pressures brought to bear on them from the outside and the local culture. The Western Empire was predominantly Latin; the Eastern Empire was predominantly Greek (although they referred to themselves as Romans). The Eastern Empire survived the cataclysm of the third and fourth centuries because it had a larger population (70 percent of the empire's total), better emperors, more money, and a far better army and navy. 10 . es/index.shtml tm 11