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Rome commits to Imperialism
Imperialism
 Rome was committed to Imperialism: Expand or Die
 Establishing control over foreign lands & peoples
 Rome united the Italian peninsula & defeated
Carthage decisively in the West
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This allowed Rome to easily take territories in Spain & North
Africa
 In the East, Rome sought glory by conquering the
lands which once belonged to Alexander the Greats
Hellenistic Empire.
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Their empire spread throughout Greece, Asia Minor, Egypt,
and the Middle East.
 Rome built grand roads connecting their vast empire
Conquests, Riches, & Slavery
 Conquests and control of busy trade routes brought
incredible riches into Rome.
 A new class of wealthy Romans developed comprised
of Generals, Officials, and traders
 This new wealthy class built huge estates, called
latifundias, which they filled with riches from the
east.
 As the Romans conquered more land, they forced
captured people to work as slaves on the latifundia.
Slavery, Unemployment, & the Mob
 The widespread use of slave labor hurt small farmers
 These farmers were also hurt by grain prices were driven
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down by the huge amount of grain coming in from
conquered lands
Many farmers fell into debt and had to sell their lands
and move to the city
In the city they were joined by many other unemployed
who rioted to protest the widening gap between rich and
poor
Old Roman principles such as hard work and devotion to
duty were replaced with greed and self-interest
Do morals and values effect the success of a nation?
Which ones might?
Who is to lead?
 With reform necessary, Rome saw civil wars break
out over whether to keep the Senate as the most
powerful governing body, or to have Rome led by
popular political leaders.
 From the chaos arose slave uprisings and revolts by
the conquered.
 Rome’s citizen army became a professional army
whose first loyalty was to their commanders
 Out of this chaos emerged Julius Caesar
Rise of Julius Caesar
 In 59 BCE, Julius Caesar set out and made new
conquests, resulting in the conquering of Gaul & the
islands of Britain.
 Fearful of Caesar’s rising power, Rome’s next most
powerful General (and Caesar’s co-consul), Pompey,
persuaded the senate to order Caesar to disband his
army and return
 Caesar ignored this order, crossing the Rubicon
River and defeating the armies that stood in his way.
 He forced the senate to declare him dictator of Rome
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He kept the senate, but was, effectively, the absolute ruler of
Rome.
Caesar’s rule & death
 Caesar instituted many reforms, intended to fix the
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problems of Rome.
One of these was the Julian Calendar, which we still
use today.
Caesar’s enemies feared that he would become King
of Rome.
In an effort to save the Roman republic, Caesar was
stabbed to death upon entering the senate one day
Julius Caesar’s death plunged Rome into another
round of civil wars
Rise of Octavian
 Mark Antony, Caesar’s chief general, and Octavian,
Caesar’s nephew joined forces to hunt down the
murderers
 The Roman people, who loved the reforms, of Julius
Caesar, quickly rallied around Antony and Octavian
Caesar
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The two men soon quarreled and Octavian would successfully
defeat Marc Antony and his ally Queen Cleopatra of Egypt
 The senate, then, gave Octavian the title of Augustus
(exalted one) and declared him first citizen
 Augustus would exercise absolute control for the rest
of his life and name his successor, just as a king
would.
Success of Augustus Caesar’s Reign
 Augustus returned stability to the Roman government
 He left the senate intact, but was the absolute ruler
 He opened up jobs to men of talent, regardless of their
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social class
He cemented the allegiance of conquered provinces by
allowing them a measure of self-government and respect
for local customs
Augustus made a census (population count) to make
taxes more fair
He set up a postal service and made new coins to make
trade easier
He got people back to work by building roads and
temples
Pax Romana
 Augustus ushered in a long period of peace to
Rome known as the Pax Romana
 This period lasted from 27 BCE to 395 ACE
 Not all Caesars (the title given to Roman
emperors) would be good during this period
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Caligula & Nero were evil
 Between 96 ACE and 180 ACE a series of
“Good Emperors” reigned culminating with
the rule of Marcus Aurelius
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Aurelius was dedicated to the study of philosophy and
ruling ethically
Video clips
Bread & Circuses
 Throughout Rome, rich and poor both took pleasure in
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the great entertainments Rome offered
The circus maximus, Rome’s largest race course saw
great, dangerous chariot races
Gladiator fights were very popular and were generally
fought between caught and trained slaves
The government also provided free bread for the poor
All this was done to pacify the Roman mob
While this worked during the eras of prosperity it would
not be enough when troubled times came
Roman Technology & Science
 The Romans excelled at engineering
 This is the application of science and mathematics to develop
useful structures and machines
 Engineers built many immense aqueducts, or bridge
like stone structures that brought water from the
hills into Roman cities.
 Almost every city boasted public baths where people
gathered to wash themselves and hear the latest
news and gossip