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1.1A.Rome's
Beginnings:
Romulus
andRemus
How many peopledo you seein this slide? Do you seeany
other life-forms? What is 6(unusualt'about
the slide?
Is this a crealistic" scene? What terms do we useto describe
storiesthat arc fictional?
tr tn this slide we seean artist'sconceptionof the RomulusandRemusmyth .
. Thereare two versionsof how earlyRomewasfounded.The mythicalversiontells that
afterthe fall of froy, the godsordereda TrojanprincecalledAeneasto leadhis peopleto
a promisedland in the west. WhenAeneas'groupreachedItaly, theyjoined forceswith a
peopleknown as l-atin. About 800 B.C. a Latin princessgavebirth to twin sonsfathered
by the god Mars. The princesshadtakenan oathneverto havechildren. Becauseshe
brokeher word, shewaspunished.Her sons,RomulusandRemus,weretakenfrom her
andleft to die on the bank of theTiber River. RomulusandRemuswerefoundbv a shewolf, which fed andcaredfor them.
. Oneday a shepherdkilled the she-wolfanddiscoveredthe babies.The shepherdand his
wife took the babieshomeandraisedthemastheir own sons.Whenthe boysgrew older,
they decidedto build a city on the Tiber. But the brotherscouldnot agreewhich one
shouldiule the city. They decidedto let the godschoosebefweenthem. Eachbrother
climbedto the top of a dififerenthill to watchfor a signfrom the gods. When 12 vultures
flew over the Palatine,the brotherstookit to be thesigntheysought.SinceRomulus
stoodatopthe Palatine,he claimedto be king. He andRemusfought,andRemuswas
killed. Romulusbecameking of the city, which wasnamedRome.
. The historicalversion of the foundingof Romeis basedon archaeologists'
findings.
Archaeologistslearnedthat around1200B.C. groupsof peoplewith iron weaponsbegan
invadingthe landsaroundthe Meditenanean.
Onegroup,calledthe tatins, settledon the
Palatine.The areawherethe l^atinssettledhada pleasantclimateandfertile soil. Nearby
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wereswampsand denseforeststhat suppliedthe Latinswith timber. The l-atinsbuilt
gavel roadsto bring salt andotheritemsfrom the coast.By 776 B.C. the sefflementon
thePalatinehadbecomea village of about1,000farmersliving in woodenhuts.
. Around 800 B.C. a peoplecalledEtruscanssettledin Etruria, therolling hill country
northof the Latin village on the Palatine.The Etruscansusedan alphabetborrowedfrom
the Greeks.They spokea languagedifferentfrom any otherin the ancientworld. Tothis
day,no oneknowsfor certainfrom wherethey came. The Etruscanswereknown asa
"peopleof the sea." As pirates,they werefearedandenviedthroughoutthe
Mediterranean.
As traders,theywereadmiredandrespected.By 600 B.C. theEtruscans
dominatedall of northernltaly, includingthe Intin village on the Palatine.
. The Etruscanswere moreculturally advancedthanthe l-atins. Theymademany
contributionsto Romancivilization. For example,the Etruscanstaughtthe latins how to
usethe archin buildingbridges.The laid the foundationsof Rome'sfirst sewersystem.
The Romansborrowedthe Etruscanalphabet.The slavefights heldat Etruscanfunerals
werethe modelfor gladiatorialgameswith which the Romansamusedthemselves.The
triumph,or parade-likewelcomegiven a Romanheroreturningfrom baftle,wasan
Etruscancustombeforeit becamea Romanone. The Etruscansalsointroducedthe
Romansto soothsayers
andto godswith humanforms. The Romansevenfoundedtheir
citiesaccordingto a ritual borrowedfrom the Etruscans.
'
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. Etruscankings ruled Rome for morethan200.years,but mostof themwerecrueltyrants.
They saidthe Latins hadno rightsbecausethey werea conqueredpeople.In 509 B.C.
Romanfarmer-soldiersoverthrewthe Etruscanking, Thrquin. Theyabolishedthe
monarchyand setup a republic,or form of governmentin which thepeoplechoosetheir
rulers.
. Oncethe Romanshadestablisheda republic,they setout to protectit. Theywereafraid
that the Etruscanswould try to regaincontrolof Rome. To preventthis, the Romans
crossedtheTiber River andconqueredseveralEtruscancities. Romanterritorynow
borderedthat of otherItalian people. To protecttheir newboundaries,the Romanseither
conquered
their neighborsor madeallianceswith them. By 275B.C. Romeruledthe
entirepeninsula.
WH-7-1,Activity l.l, Page5
1.18.TheExpansion
of the RomanRepublic:
The Battleof Zama
What is happeningin this slide? How might elephantshelp
an army in battle? Where would theseelephantshavecome
from? If you weneanAfrican mititary leader,how would
you get theseelephantsto the ltalian peninsula?
,l
tr In this slide we seethe Battleof Zama. This fanciful modernwoodcutdepictsthe useof
war elephantsin ScipioAfricanus'sdefeatof the Carthaginians
underHannibalatZama
'n202B.C.
By ?54 B.C. the RomanshadconqueredsomeGreekcity statesin southernItaly. This
broughttheminto contactwith the Phoeniciancity of Carthage. Carthagecontrolledall
of NorthAfrica, most of what is now Spain,andsomeislandsoff the coastof Italy. It
alsoruledthe westernhalf of Sicily, a largeislandat the toe of the Itatian"boot." The
Carthaginians
boastedthat no man darewashhis handsin the westernMediterranean
unlessthey werewilling he do so.
The Romansfelt threatenedby the Carthaginians.
Theyalsowantedthegranariesthat were
in Sicily. Sowhen Carthagesentan army againstone of the citiesin Sicily,Romedecided
to helpthe Siciliancity. That actstartedthe Punic$hrs. Theylastedabout120years.
The military strengthof Carthagelay in its navy. Romehadno navy. The Romansbuilt
their first fleet to fight the Carthaginians.Theymodeledtheir shipsaftera Carthaginian
warshipthey found abandoned
on a beach.The Romansmadeoneimprovementon the
Carthaginianmodel. They addeda corvus,or boardingbridge,to eachship. The Romans
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knewthey couldnot outsailthe Carthaginians,
but they believedthey could outfightthem.
Thecorvusallowedsoldiersto boardan enemyship andfight hand-to-handon its decks.
In this way, it changeda seawar into a land war. The Romanslost many shipsand
soldiersin stormsduringthe First PunicWar. Yet in the endthey defeatedthe
Qrthaginians. In V+l B.C. the Carthaginiansagreedto makepeaceandleaveSicily.
Ia2L8 B.C. the Carthaginians,
led by GeneralHannibalBarca,attackedthe Romansby
landfrom the north. Hannibalandhis troopssurprisedthe Romansby crossingthe AIps
into Italy. They cameby way of SpainthroughsouthernGauI. They broughtelephants
with them actossthe mountainsto help breakthroughthe Romanlines. Hannibal'sattack
wasthe startof the SecondPunicWar. Hannibal'sarmy fought its way to the very gates
of Rome,winning victory aftervictory. But when it got to the city, it did not havethe
heavyequipmentneededto batterdown the city's walls. It was shorton suppliesand
soldiers,andcould not get morebecausethe Romannavy controlledthe sea. Unableto
captureRome,Hannibalandhis troopsroamedthe countrysidein southernItaly for 15
years. Then,the RomansattackedCarthageandHannibalreturnedto defendit. Hannibal
lost his first battle-and the war-atZama. In20L B.C. Carthageagreedto pay Romea
hugesum of moneyand to give up all its tenitoriesincludingSpain.
Following the SecondPunicWar,therewas peacefor about50 years. Then Carthage
bgg* to showsignsof regainingpower. To preventthis, the Romansattackedn I49
B.C. Within threeyearsthey won the Third Punic War. They burned Carthageand
plowedsalt in its fields so nothingwould grow. They killed the Carthaginiansor sold
them into slavery.
Thatsameyea41468.C., the Greekcity-stateof Corinth andsomeof its alliesrefusedto
obeya Romanorder.The RomansattackedCorinthandburnedit to the ground.The
RomansalreadycontrolledMacedonia and Syria. Now they addedGreeceto the areas
undertheir rule. Romebecamethe ruling powerof the Meditenaneanregion.
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1.1C.TheFinalYearsof theRomanRepublic:
JuliusCaesar
What crime is about to take placehere? DoeseverXonein
this picture want the man dead? Is the victim an important
man? What is the location of this crime? Why would
goyernmentofficials want to kill their own leader?
It is saidthat
tr In this slide we seean artist'sinterpretationof JuliusCaesar'sassassination.
a soothsayerstoppedCaesaron the way to the Senateandwarned,"Caesarbewarethe
Idesof March!"; undaunted,Caesarcontinuedon his way.Whenthe first blow struck,
Caesarrosefrom his chair in surpriseandanger,but diedat the foot of Pompey's
(Caesar'senemy)statue.
,)
The conquestsandthe wealththey broughtwith themhada lastingeffecton the Roman
economyand government.As a resultof its conquests,Rome'ssmallfarmswerereplaced
by largeestatesandmostfarmershadto leavethelandandmoveto thecrty. By 135B.C.
Romewasfacing seriouspolitical andeconomicproblems.The gapbetweenrich andpoor
grew greater.The Gracchibrotherstried to improveconditionsin Romeby giving land to
the Roman
the poor andproviding freewheatfor thehungry. Fearfulof their suggestions,
Senatehadthe Gracchibrotherskilled. GeneralGaiusMariustried to solveRome's
problemsby giving powerto the army. But Mariuswasopposedby GeneralLucius
C-ornelius
Sullawho tried to solveRome'sproblemsby givingmorepowerto the Senate.
WhenSulla retiredin79 B.C. a new groupof generalsfoughtfor controlof Rome.TWo
of them-Pompey andJuliusCaesar-had differentideasabouthow Romeshouldbe
ruled. Pompeybelievedstronglyin a republicthat was ruledby aristocratsenators.
Caesarfelt that Romecouldnot continueto be a greatcity unlessit hada strongleader.
In 58 B.C. Caesarwas appointedgovernorof Gaul. Therehe built up a large,strongarmy
that was loyal to him. Within sevenyearshe conqueredwhatis now northernFranceand
Belgium andinvadedBritain. The Senatebeganto fearhe wasgrowingtoo strong. So
in 50 B.C. it orderedCaesarto disbandhis legionsandreturnto Rome. Pornpeyboasted
that by merelystampinghis foot he couldcreatean armyto fight Caesar.But when
Caesarboldly crossedthe Rubicon River andenteredRome,Pompeydecidedthat it
would be easierto raisean army if he andthe Senatewithdrewto Greece.Caesar
followed Pompeyto Greeceanddefeatedhis army,forcingPompeyto flee to Egrpt,
wherehe was later killed by the Pharaoh.Caesarthencrushedrevoltsin Libya,
Cyrenaica,Numidia, Syria, andAsia Minor, andin 45 B.C. returnedtriumphantlyto
Rome. By 46 B.C. he wasdictatorof Rome.
C-aesar
did a greatdealfor Romeandits people.Still, someRomanswereafraidthat Caesar
workedout a plan to
plannedto makehimselfking.About 60 men,mostof themsenators,
wasstabbedto death.
kill him.As he enteredtheSenateon March15,4 8.C., C-aesar
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1.1D.TheRomanEmpire:Cleopatra's
Death
Ii
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What is happeninghere? What are the variousemotional
responses
of the people? What do you think happenedto the
womanon the bed? Who might the soldiersbe? What are
their emotions?How arrctheir emotionsdifferentfrom
everyone
else's? What aretheylookingfor?
depictionof the deathof CleopatraMI, Queen
O In this slide we seea romantic,westernized
of Egypt (51-30B.C.). Herewe seeOctavianandhis victorioussoldierscomingto claim
Cleopaffa,but finding the queenon her deathbed.Accordingto legend,shetook an asp(a
small,venomousEgyptiansnake)to her breaston learningthat MarcAntony hadcommitted
suicideand that Octavianplannedto exhibit her in his triumph in Rome. Ironically,Antony
killed himselfbecausehe hadbeenmisinformedthatCleopatrawas dead.
' Angeredby Caesar'sdeath,the Romanpeopleturnedagainstthosewho hadkilled him.
Politicalpowerpassedto a triumvirate.MarkAntony,Caesar'sclosestfollower anda
populargeneral,took commandof Rome'sterritoriesin the east. Octavian,Caesar'sgrandnephewand adoptedson,took chargeof the west. MarcusAemilius kpidus, oneof
Caesar'stop officerstook over the rule of Africa. All threesharedcontrol of the Italian
homeland.For a while the triumvirateworked. Thenfights brokeout amongthe three
leaders.
his 1-8year-oldadoptedson Octavianashis
' Underthe termsof his will Caesardesignated
successor.However,MarcAntony,populargeneralandclosefriend of Caesarwantedto
be Rome'ssoleleader.Togetherwith Octavian,he seizedcontrolof Romeandexecuted
thousands
of Caesar'senemies.Thetwo mensharedthe Empire,Octavianrulingthe
westernprovincesandAntony ruling the east.
EasternEmpirethat he would rulejointly with the
' Antony hopedto createan independent
EgyptianQueenCleopatra.On the otherhand,Octavianwas ambitiousto unitethe
Empireunderhis own rule. As a result,war brokeout betweenthem andresultedin a
greatnavalvictory for OctavianatActium in 31-B.C. AfterAntony was defeatedat
Alexandria, OctavianmadeEgypt anotherprovinceof Rome.Late4Antony and
Cleopatracommiffedsuicideto avoidthe disgraceof beingparadedinto Romeas
Octavian'scaptives.
'
Octavianwas soonthe absoluteheadof the RomanEmpirebut knew that the Roman
peoplewould only accepthis leadershipif he concealedhis powerunderthe traditional
republicanform of government.Thus,he madeno attemptto havehimselfcrownedking.
Instead,he quietly arrangedto havethe Senateappointhim headof statefor life. Finally,
the SenatehonoredOctavianwith the title Augustus,which meanshonored,althoughhe
preferredto be knownas First Citizen. Throughouthis reign,Octavianmadea greatshow
of increasingthe importanceof the Senate.Actually,he controlledRomeascompletely
as he could havehadhe beenemperorandis oftencalledthe frst Romanemperor,
WH-7-1,Activily 1.1,Page10
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justice,andunityto theRomanworld. Thisperiodwascalled
Augustus
broughtpeace,
wiselyput a stopto theexpansion
tle "PaxRomana."Augustus
of Rome,contenting
himselfwith roundingouttheEmpireuntil it reached
defensible
boundaries:
theEnglish
Channel,theRhineRiver,andtheDanubeRiver in Europe,theEuphratesRiverin
Asia,andtheSaharaDesertinAfrica. To protectthefrontiers,heutilizednotonly
legionscomposed
of Romancitizens,butof auxiliaryforcescomposed
of menfromthe
provincrs.He especially
fortifiedthefrontierson theRhineandtheDanube,where
pressure
tribeswasgreatest.
frombarbarian
1.1E.TheRomanEmpire:Gladiatorial
Games
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What is happeningin this slide? Is this a battle or a sporting
event? Describethe typesof peoplein the cruwd? Why is
one gladiator looking to the crowd? What sign arc they giving
him? What Hnds of peopledo you think becamegladiators?
\ilhy would peoplewant to watch somethingas brutal these
gladiatorial matches?
D In this slide we see50,000Romansjammedinto the Colosseumto watchgladiatorial
games.Theseconquestswerevery violent. By pointingtheir thumbsdown,the excited
spectatorshavesignaledthe victoriousgladiatorto kill his opponent.During the 200
yearsthat followed Caesar'sdeath,the Romangovernmentstagedfreepublic gameslike
theseto entertainpeople.
. Augusfus'ssuccessors,
anddefensiveforeign
for the mostpart, acceptedhis conservative
poticy. ,Claudius,to be sure,conqueredsouthernBritain andannexedit as a province.
Vespasianandhis sonspushedforwardinto the tenitory betweenthe Rhineandthe
Danubeto shortenthe ftontier andto easecommunicationsbetweenthe armieson the two
rivers. Ttajanwas the last emperorto be a gteatconqueror.BetweenAD. 101and L06he
crossedthe Danubeand,afterhardfighting, established
the newprovinceof Dacia
betweenthe Danubeandthe Carpathian Mountains. Tlajanalsoexperienced
successin
the eastwhen he establishedthreenew provincesin Armenia,Assyria, and
Mesopotamia. His successwasshort-lived,however,andTrajanwasforcedto retreat,
duringwhich he died beforegettingbackto Rome.At this point,inA.D. LIT,Trajan
madethe RomanEmpirelargerthanit hadeverbeenbeforeor wouldbe again.
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Thefive emperorswho ruled RomebetweenA.D.96 andA.D. 186 wereso ableand
'conscientious
that they areknown asthe Five GoodEmperors.Threeof the five, Tlajan,
Hadrian,andMarcusAurelius,wereoutstanding.Trajanpursuedmany enlightenedsocial
andeconomicprogramsandinauguratedmanypublic works that addedto both the beaufy
andprosperityof Romeandthe provinces.For instance,althoughit was institutedby
anotheremperor,Trajanstronglypromoteda relief programcalledthe alimentato bolster
thepopulationof Itaty by supportingpoor children. Hadrianspentmuchof his time
visiting Romanofficials in the provincesto insuretheir efficiencyandhonesty.Hadrian
alsopursuedhis own socialreforms,includinga declarationthat madeit illegal for a
masterto kill, torture,or castrateslaves,or sell themasgladiators,or for any lewd or
immoralpulposes.
MarcusAurelius, the last of the Five GoodEmperors,regardedhimself as the servantof
the Romanpeople. Believingthat war wasevil, he would havemuchpreferredto spend
his life studyingphilosophy.However,it is oneof the ironiesof historythat so
peace-lovinga man had to spendthe greaterpart of his reign defendingthe Empire's
bordersfrom GermanandParthianonslaughts.A famouscollectionof his writings, called
Meditations,revealsMarcusAureliusto be a manof greatpffsdal integrity andselfless
devotionto his people.
'WhenMarcusAurelius
diedinA.D. 186,the army legionsin the provincesrevolted
againstthe new emperor.The civil war that followedkeptthe RomanEmpirein turmoil
for 50 years.Legionsfrom the Danube,Africa, and Spainfought one anotherto install the
emperorof their choice. In a 5O-yearspan,Romehad26 differentemperors;25 ofthem
wereremovedfrom office by assassination.
Thus,in the centuryfollowing the deathof
MarcusAurelius, the emperorsof Romebecamelittle morethanpuppetsof the army.
In A.D. ?S4,DiocletianbecameEmperorof Rome. In orderto restorestabilityin the
RomanEmpire,he issueda declarationprovidingfor choiceof his succ€ssor,
andthen had
himselfproclaimeda god. By doingthis Diocletianestablished
thatthe emperor'spowers
and right to rule camenot from the peoplebut from the gods.Thoughhe increasedthe size
of the Romanarmy,Diocletianrealizedthatthe RomanEmpirecoveredtoo muchtenitory
for onepersonto rule well. So he dividedtheEmpirein two. He allowedsomeoneelseto
governthe westernprovinceswhile he kept controlof the largereasternprovinces.
Unfortunately,when Diocletianretiredto privatelife, civil war brokeout again.
Constantine
emergedasRome'sleaderinA.D. 3t2. He soonmovedthe capitalof the
Empirefrom Rometo a city in the east-the former Greekseaportof Byzantium- and
namedit Constantinople.In the yearA.D. 313 Constantineissuedan orderallowing
religiousfreedomandlaterconvertedto Christianityhimself.
Although emperorslike DiocletianandConstantine
workedhardto salvagethe Roman
Empire,neitherwas successful.Barbarianraids,especiallyin westernEurope,increased
andcontinuedto weakenthe Empirethroughoutthe fourth century.
WH-7-t, Activity 1.1,Page13