Download Ancient Rome (Chapter 9)

Census – an official count of people living in a place
Villa – a country estate
Circus – an arena in ancient Rome or the show held there
Gladiator – a person who fought to the death as entertainment
for the Roman public
1 million people lived in Rome
Rome was the center of religion,
culture, and politics
It was a large, crowded, and loud city
Every 5 years Romans registered for a
census claiming their citizenship
Roman men declared their families,
slaves, and wealth to authorities
If Romans did not register they could
lose everything and even be enslaved
As Rome expanded people beyond Romans
were extended citizenship
Society was made up of a small amount of
wealthy people and many poor free and
slaves
The poor were without jobs. They depended
on the government for handouts
The wealthy were known for their feasts
Feasts included meals with ostrich,
flamingo, wild boar or partridge
The celebrations had musicians, performers
and dancers
Roman Villas
The poor lived in rundown, poorly
built, wooden tall apartment
houses
There was no running water,
toilets or kitchens
Food and drink had to be carried
upstairs
Rubbish (garbage) and human
waste had to be carried downstairs
Fires were frequent and fatal
Wheat was the key to survival
If a harvest failed or a shipment from
overseas was late the poor rioted
To keep peace the emperors supplied free
grain
Emperors also held spectacular shows in
the Colosseum called circuses
Rich and poor filled the Colosseum to
watch events that include human fighting
animals, animals fighting humans, and
humans fighting animals.
Highlight fights were between gladiators,
most were slaves who fought to the death.
Non slaves fought for fame and fortune
Before battle gladiators paraded onto the
floor of the arena, stood in front of the
Emperor and shouted:
“Hail Caesar! We who are about to
die salute you”
The fight was over when a gladiator was
dead, dying, or disarmed
The crowd waived handkerchiefs to spare a
loser, a thumbs down by the Emperor
resulted in death
Government supported the upper class. For example,
Julius Caesar gave men with children over three children
land
Slaves with four children or more received privileges
Heads of Roman families were known as paterfamilias
which is Latin for “father of the family” They had
absolute power of household
Paterfamilias could be father, grandfather, or great
grandfather
3 generations usually lived under the same roof
Sons had to be emancipated to start their own businesses
or property
In early times sons and daughters could be sold into
Almost every wealthy family owned a slave
1/3 of Italy’s population were slaves
Many household families took good care of
their slaves
Slaves had no rights
Non household slaves worked on farms and
could be chained together
Some slaves were chained at night while they
slept
Some slaves were trained as rowers for the
navy
Some slaves could buy their freedom if they
made money as a gladiator or chariot racer
Daughters would leave their families to live with their
husband’s family. The new wife would be considered a
daughter under a paterfamilias
Some women kept ties with the family she grew up with
A women's role in her new family was to have children
Women’s freedom depended on the wealth of her husband
Mothers or wives of Emperors gained great political power
Some women trained to be doctors or open their own
business
Lower class women took in work such as cooking,
hairdressing dressmaking
Jesus – founder of Christianity; believed by Christians to be the
Messiah
Messiah – a savior of Judaism and Christianity
Disciple – a follower of a person or belief
Epistle – the Christian Bible, letters written by disciples
Martyr – a person who dies for a cause
Persecution - to treat people in a cruel or unjust way
Romans had conquered the Jewish homeland of Judaea
in 63 B.C.
Jews resented the foreign rule even though Roman
allowed conquered people to follow their own religion
The Jews believed a messiah would come to save them
37 B.C. Romans appointed Herod king of Judaea
Jesus was believed to be born in the Judean town of
Bethlehem
According to the New Testament Jesus grew up in
Nazareth
He was a carpenter and taught when he was 30
He traveled from place to place preaching to the Jews that
there was only 1 God
Jesus taught that God was loving and
forgiving and that people should love
others as they love themselves
Jesus attracted disciples, or followers,
who looked to him as a leader
Jesus began to criticize some of the
powerful people of Judaea for not
doing as God wished
Local leaders feared this challenge of
their powers and had Jesus crucified, to
death
Jesus was nailed to a wooden cross
The teachings of Jesus are at the core of
Christianity
Christians believe in one God
They believe that God is the Father (father of
the Jews), the Son (Jesus) and the Holy Spirit
(God’s messenger)
According to the New Testament, Jesus rose
from the dead, showing God’s forgiveness
because Christians believed Jesus died to take
the punishments for the sins of the people
Jesus promised a life after death for those of
whom accepted Jesus and his teachings
The Greek equivalent to messiah is
christos
Many educated people of Jesus’
followers spoke Greek
As followers started to follow Jesus
they began to call him Christ
Jesus' followers became known as
Christians
After Jesus’ death, his followers
spread the new religion from
Jerusalem across the empire
Saul was one of Jesus devoted
followers
According to the New Testament,
Saul rejected Christ at first until he
had a vision of Jesus speaking to him
After his experience, he changed his
name to Paul and carried Christianity
to the Mediterranean, spreading Jesus’
teachings
Paul’s writings, epistles, became part
of the Christian bible
Groups of Christians gathered to worship
in Alexandria, Corinth, Ephesus,
Thessalonica, and even Rome
This new religion gained many followers
in cities
Poor families welcomed the new message
as good news
Paganus was a Latin word meaning
“country dweller” which is the root word
of the word Pagan
Pagan is used to describe someone who is
not a Christian, a Jew, or a Muslim
Christians organize and borrow from the Jewish
religion
Christians sang and prayed and read from the
scripture
Sunday was put on the side for a day of worship
since that is the day Christians believe Jesus had
risen from the dead
Christians practiced two rites or holy acts
1 – Baptism – when a person is dipped in holy
water. The water washes away your sins and
makes you a member of the church
2- Eucharist or Holy Communion – Christians
share bread and wine which represent Jesus’ body
and blood
Romans persecuted Christians at various times for another 250 years
Romans were losing power and they used the Christians as “scape goats”
In Rome it became a crime to be a Christian
Punishment was death
Despite these harsh penalties Christianity grew
Widows, poor, orphans were drawn to the new religion
Emperors such as Domitian, Marcus, Aurelius, Valerian, Diocletian tried to stamp out
Christianity but failed
Romans started to see the Christians as martyr and admired them
By A.D. 300’s about 1 in every 10 Romans were Christian
The fast growing religion of
Christianity scared the Roman
government
Roman gods were no longer being
worshipped and Romans didn’t
show the same type of respect for
the emperor
Christians started to not fulfill
their Roman duties such as serving
in the military
Roman officials started to see
Christians as enemies to the
empire
After a 9 day fire in Rome, Roman officials
blamed the Christians
Christians were arrested and sent to their deaths
Some were forced to fight wild animals, other
soaked in oil and burned, others were crucified
Paul was imprisoned for 2 years then killed
Constantine – emperor of Rome from A.D. 312 to
337, encouraged the spread of
Christianity
Mercenary – A soldier who serves for pay in a foreign
army
Inflation – an economic situation in which the
government issues more money with lower
value
The Christian church provided
comfort and authority in the times of
the empire collapsing
Marcus Aurelius allowed his
unqualified 18 year old son,
Commodus, to rule in 180 A.D.
He destroyed the Senate and bribed
the military to support them
The choices he made were poor
Commodus was assassinated on New
Year’s Day 192 A.D.
After Commodus, many emperors were
successful generals and not politicians
They often stole money from the treasury
Money was used to bribe the military for
their loyalty
Economy became weak and the senate
lost its power
Rulers gained power through violence
Between A.D. 180 – A.D. 284 Rome had
24 emperors, most were assassinated
Mercenaries serve for pay not for the love of
Rome
Since they were motivated by money and not by
loyalty they often switched sides if the situation
would help them out financially
The Roman empire had grown too large
Many territories regained their independence
Lack of land led to less wealth and resources
The army couldn’t be paid so citizens taxes
increased
Less silver led to inflation and money bought less
and less
Roman coins became worthless
Diocletian tried to stop the decline of Rome by
enlarged the army, built new forts at the borders, and
improved the tax system
Divided the empire into two parts to make it easier to
rule and A co-emperor would run rule the western
part
Diocletian stepped down in 313 A.D.
Seven years generals fought one another for power but
Constantine won in the West
Licinius and Maximinus ruled the East
In 313 Licinius took full control of the east.
Eventually Constantine gained power of the East and
West
Constantine was the Roman Emperor
from A.D. 312 to 337
Legend 1 says:
-As a result of a dream Constantine
marked all of his with Christian
symbols and won an overwhelming
victory
-Legend 2 says:
-- Another legend says that
Constantine say the words “Under his
sign you will Conqueror” and won his
battle
-Either way Constantine strongly
supported the spread of Christianity
Under Constantine Christians could
practice their religion openly and form
churches
Constantine's 25 years as a ruler helped to
strengthen the church
In 325 Constantine settled a dispute
between Christians in eastern and Western
Rome
Constantine helped pay and create the
Christian church in Jerusalem on the spot
where Jesus was crucified, buried, and
said to have risen
Constantine also helped build the church
of St Peter in Rome
In 330 Constantine moved the capital of the
Roman Empire east to the city of Byzantium,
today’s Turkey
Rome had not been the political center for some
time
Byzantine was enlarged and filled with riches
It was named the: New
Rome
Then the capital became known as
Constantinople “The City of Constantine”
The power of the Roman Empire was now
firmly in the east
Constantine struggled to keep the empire together
Invaders swept across Rome’s borders by tribes, which
today we call them Germanic tribes
Romans called them barbarians
The Visigoths captured and looted Rome in 410
The Vandals took Rome in 455
The Roman Empire was powerless
Romes last emperor, 14 year old Romulus Augustulus,
lost power in 476 when a German general captured him
and forced him to work on a farm
The Western part of the empire collapsed
What led to the fall of Rome?
1 – Inexperienced and/or corrupt rulers
2 – Turn over of many rulers through
assassinations
3 – The empire grew to large
4 – The military turned into mercenaries
who fought for money as opposed for the
love of their country