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Ancient Rome and the
Rise of Christianity
The Roman World Takes Shape
Geography and Peoples of Italy
- Story of Horatius: courage, loyalty, and
devotion to duty were pillars on which
Rome would build any empire.
 Geography
 Italian peninsula looks like a boot
 Peninsula centrally located in
Med. Sea; Rome centrally located
in Italy; helped Roman expansion
 Much easier to unify; not broken
into many isolated valleys like
Greece
 Apennine Mtns. run through
center of Italy; less rugged than
Greece
 Broad fertile plains in north below
the Alps and in the west where the
Romans settled
Geography and Peoples of Italy
 Peoples
 Latins – ancestors of Romans settled along Tiber river around 800
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B.C.
 Small villages scattered on 7 hills; grow into Rome, “City on seven
hills”
Greeks - settled in S Italy
Etruscans – ruled central Italy including Rome
Romans learned alphabet from Etruscans and Greeks; learned to
build using arches and how to irrigate marshy lands
Shared gods and goddesses with Etruscans
The Roman Republic
509 B.C. – drove out Etruscan ruler; date
considered to mark founding of Roman
state; set up new government, republic -
 The Government Takes Shape
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Most powerful governing body was the senate;
300 members; were all patricians -
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Senators elected 2 consuls –
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Senators made laws and served for life
Serve only one term; served as system of checks and
balances
Dictator –
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Granted power for 6 months
 Plebians –
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at first had no involvement in government
450 B.C. – Laws of the Twelve Tablets made it
possible for plebians to appeal a judgement
Gained right to elect own officials, tribunes Veto –
Could eventually be elected to senate
Republic Cont.
 A Lasting Legacy
 Common people had access to power and won
safeguards for rights without resorting to conflict
 US Constitution adopted ideas of senate, veto, and
checks and balances
Roman Society
 Family is the basic unit of Roman society
 Male had absolute power in the family
 strict discipline and demand respect authority
 Woman was loving, dutiful, dignified, and strong
Roman Society Cont.
 Changing Role of Women
 Larger role than Greek women; ran variety of businesses, most women worked at
home
 Patrician women went to public baths, dined out, attended theater
 Some had political influence
 Education
 Girls and boys learned to read and write, even lower class
 Hired Greeks to tutor wealthy kids
 Rhetoric was very important
Roman Society
 Religion
 Gods and goddesses resembled Etruscans and Greeks
 Jupiter = Greek Zeus; ruled sky and other gods
 Juno = Greek Hera; wife of Jupiter, protected marriage
 Neptune = Greek Poseidon; god of the sea
 Mars = Greek Ares; god of war
 Held feasts and festivals to honor gods; sense of
community
Expansion of Italy
270 B.C. – Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula
 Citizen-Soldiers
 Success due to diplomacy and loyal, well-trained army
 Legion –
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Fought without pay and supplied own weapons
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Good soldiers; valued loyalty, courage, and respect for authoity
 Gave rewards and punishments to ensure success
 Conquered Lands
 Conquered people had to acknowledge Roman leadership, pay taxes, and supply
soldiers for army
 Rome let them keep customs, money, and local government
 Gave full citizenship to privileged; allowed to marry and trade with Romans
 Result of generous policies, most remained loyal to Rome
Expansion Cont.
 Protection and Unification
 Posted soldiers throughout the land
 Built network of all-weather roads
 Local peoples adopted Latin into languages and customs
and beliefs
 Italy slowly began to unite
From Republic to Empire
Winning an Empire
 Wars with Carthage
 Carthage was a city-state settled by N Africans and Phoenicians
 Empire stretched across N Africa and W Mediterranean
 Punic Wars – 264-146 B.C.
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First Punic War
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Second Punic War
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Rome defeats Carthage and gains Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia
Hannibal, Carthage general, led army through France and into Italy winning many battles
Never captured Rome, Carthage was attacked and defeated by Rome
Carthage gave up all land except N Africa
Third Punic War
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Rome completely destroyed Carthage
Any survivors were killed or sold into slavery
Poured salt over the land so that nothing would ever grow there again
Winning an Empire
 Other Conquests
 Imperialism –
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Took Carthaginian lands then expanded into E Med. Sea
 Started wars to defend Roman interests, for plunder
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Macedonia, Greece, Asia Minor
 Provinces –
 Others allied with Rome: Egypt
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Land extended from Spain to Egypt
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Romans called Med. Sea, Mare Nostrem, “Our Sea”
 Social and Economic Effects
 Economy grew from conquest and trade
 Latifundia –
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A new class of wealthy Romans emerged; used people captured in war to work as slaves on land
 Slave labor hurt small farmers; fell into debt and had to sell land
 Moved to Rome to find jobs and joined unemployed class; began to riot over
corruption, greed, and self-interest
Winning an Empire
 Attempts at Reform
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
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Brothers, patricians; first to attempt reform
Elected tribune and called on state to distribute land to poor
farmers
Used public lands to buy grain to feed the poor
Angered the senate, looked at as too powerful; killed the
brothers including thousands of followers
Decline of the Republic
 Went through series of civil wars
 Senate wanted power
 Single leaders wanted to weaken the senate and enact
reforms
 Soldiers fought for commanders instead of Rome
(think of the movie Gladiator)
Decline of the Republic
 Julius Caesar’s Rise to
Power
 Ambitious military commander;
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conquered all of Gaul (France)
Senate ordered his army to disband
and return to Rome
Defied the order and marched on to
Rome to crush his enemies
Swept through Mediterranean
region suppressing rebellions
“veni, vedi, vici” – “I came, I saw, I
conquered”
Kept the senate and other features of
the republic
Decline of the Republic
 Caesar’s Reforms
Program of public works to employ the
jobless and gave public land to the poor
 Reorganized the government of provinces
and granted Roman citizenship to more
people
 Introduction of Julian calendar; based on
Egyptian knowledge
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 Assassination and Civil Wars
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Enemies thought he would make himself
king
Members of the senate killed him in
March 44 B.C.
Plunged Rome into new civil war
Marc Antony and Octavian killed the
murderers but fought each other for
power
31 B.C. – Octavian defeats Antony and
Cleopatra
Roman Empire and Roman Piece
 Octavian assumed title of
Augustus, or “Exalted
One”
 Senate declared him
princeps, or first citizen
 did not want a king
 Augustus still had absolute
power, ruled 31 B.C. – AD
14
Roman Empire and Roman Piece
 A Stable Government
 Moderate policies laid foundation for stable government
Left senate in place; created efficient, well-trained civil service to enforce
laws
 High-level jobs open to men of talent, regardless of class
 Cemented allegiance of cities and provinces in Rome through selfgovernment
 Economic reforms
 Made tax system more fair; ordered census –
 Postal service, new coins for easier trade
 Gave unemployed jobs building roads and temples, farming
 This form of government lasted 200 years
 Death of the emperor led to intrigue and violence
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Roman Empire and Roman Piece
 Bad Emperors and Good
Emperors
 Some were weak and
incompetent
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Caligula and Nero
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Both evil and perhaps
insane
Nero persecuted Christians,
destroyed Rome with fire
AD96- 180: “good emperors”
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Hadrian: codified Roman
law, built wall in Britain
Marcus Aurelius – showed
Stoic philosophy and
commitment to duty
closest to Plato’s example of
philosopher-king
Roman Empire and Roman Piece
 Pax Romana
 200 year span that began with Augustus ended with Marcus Aurelius; known as Pax
Romana, “Roman Peace”
 Brought peace, order, unity, and prosperity in lands from Fertile Crescent to Britain
(roughly the size of the continental US)
 Armies and Navy kept the peace
 Trade flowed freely to and from Africa and Asia
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Grain from Egypt
Gold, ivory, and exotic animals from other parts of Africa
Spices, cotton, and jewels from India
Silk from China
 Culture and ideas spread throughout empire as well
Roman Empire and Roman Piece
 Breads and Circuses
 Circus Maximus
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Rome’s largest racecourse; gladiators
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Held 150,000 – 250,000 people
 Entertainment pacified city’s restless
mobs
 Provided free grain to feed the poor
 Led to future problems; were not
meeting social and economic
problems correctly
Roman Empire and Roman Piece
The Roman Achievement
Greco-Roman Civilization
 Blended Greek, Roman, and Hellenistic achievements
 Trade and travel during Pax Romana helped spread
new civilization
 Early on absorbed ideas from Greek colonists in
southern Italy
Literature, Philosophy, and History
 Often imitated Greek styles
 Great ones used Latin to create own literature
 Poetry
 Aeneid –
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Great Roman epic written by Virgil
Wanted to show Rome’s past was just as heroic as Greece; hoped it would arouse patriotism and help unite
Rome
 Satire –
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Horace – gentle and playful
Juvenal and Martial – more harsh and hurtful to others
 History
 Used own theme; rise and fall of Rome
 Livy – historian who sought to rouse patriotism and restore traditional Roman virtuous
through the past; tales of Horatius and Cincinnatus
 Tacitus – wrote bitterly about Augustus; felt he destroyed Roman liberty
 Philosophy
 Borrowed much from the Greeks
 Stoicism accepted widely
Art and Literature
 Based on Greek and
Etruscan models
 Art
 Stressed realism; revealed
an individuals character
 Some were more idealistic
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Transformed an ugly and
unimposing figure like
Augustus into a symbol of
power and leadership
 Mosaic -
Technology and Science
 Engineering –
 Built roads, bridges, harbors
 Aqueducts –
 Wealthy had water piped in
 Left scientific research up
to the Greeks
 Ptolemy –
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Astronomer-mathematician who proposed
Earth-centered universe
Accepted by western world for 1500 years
 Galen –
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Doctor who compiled medical encyclopedia
that remained standard text for 1000 years
 Pliny the Elder
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Roman scientist who compiled volumes on
geography, zoology, botany, and other
topics, all based on other people’s works
Recognized earthquake warnings, foreshock,
turbidity in wells, frightened birds
Roman Law
 Greatest legacy may have been its commitment to the rule of law and to
justice
 Law fostered unity and stability; basis for legal systems in Europe and
Latin America
 Two Systems
 Civil Law – during Republic; applied to citizens, then later to those who
were conquered
 Law of Nations – applied to all people under Roman rule
 Common Principles
 Innocent until proven guilty
 Accused to face accuser and offer a defense
 Guilt had to be established “clearer than daylight” through evidence
 Judges interpret laws and make fair decisions
The Rise of Christianity
 A new religion sprang up during the Pax Romana
 Was declared the official religion of the Roman Empire
by AD 395
 Reshaped Roman beliefs
 The Church became the central institution of western
civilization after the fall of the Roman empire for the
next 1000 years
Religious Diversity in the Early Empire
 Variety of religious beliefs and
practices coexisted
Traditional Roman gods (Jupiter, Mars,
etc)
 Others looked elsewhere for spiritual
fulfilled
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 Mystery Religions
Emphasized secret rituals and promised
special rewards
 Most popular was cult of Isis (Egypt),
offered women equal status with men
 Persian god Mithras – championed good
over evil and offered life after death;
favored by Roman soldiers
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 Religious Toleration
As long as citizens shoed loyalty to
Roman gods and divine spirit of the
emperor, allowed to worship others
 Most people were polytheistic and did not
mind worshipping others
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Religious Diversity in the Early Empire
 Divisions in Judea
 Where Jews lived; were monotheistic and excused from worshipping Roman gods
 During Hellenistic Age many Jews absorbed Greek customs and ideas
 Jewish conservatives rejected this and called for strict obedience to Jewish laws and
traditions
 Most Jews were willing to live under Roman rule
 Zealots were those people who were not; they called on Jews to revolt against Rome
and reestablish an independent state.
 Messiah –
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Thought this person would lead the Jewish people to freedom
 Jewish Revolt
 Roman forces crushed rebellions and destroyed Jerusalem
 Many Jews left Judea and scattered throughout the Mediterranean
 Their traditions and Jewish survived over centuries
Jesus and His Message
 Christianity founded by a Jew named Jesus; much of
its history is found in first 4 books of New Testament
(called the Gospels, “good news”)
 Life of Jesus
 Born 4 B.C. in Bethlehem; born of a virgin; son of God
 Grew up in Nazareth as a carpenter
 Age 30 began preaching near Sea of Galilee; had twelve followers to help Him spread
the Gospel
 Apostle –
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Chief apostle named Peter
 Performed miracles of healing; used parables to communicate message
 After 3 years He took message to Jerusalem
Jesus and His Message
 The Message
 Firmly rooted in Jewish tradition
 Proclaimed himself the son of God; believed by some to be the messiah they were
looking for
 Mission was to bring spiritual salvation and eternal life to anyone who would believe
in Him; emphasized God’s love and taught the need for justice, morality, and service
to others; importance of forgiveness
 Death on the Cross
 Some Jews welcomed Jesus but others regarded Him as a troublemaker
 Jewish priests felt he was undermining their authority; to Romans he was a
revolutionary to lead Jews against Roman rule
 Betrayed by Judas (disciple) and arrested by Romans and condemned to be crucified
 Was resurrected three days later; told disciples to spread the Gospel; ascended to
Heaven
Spread of Christianity
 Apostles spread the message and established Christian
communications
 Called Jesus, Christ or “the anointed One” in Greek; at
first only Jews in Judea called Him this
 Gradually taught others throughout the empire
 Peter established Christianity in Rome
Spread of Christianity
 Work of Paul
 Never saw Jesus; he himself supervised the persecution of Christians under the name
Saul
 Had a vision on the way to persecute Christians in Damascus; became a believer and
spread Gospel to the gentiles –
 Missionary work helped contribute to make Christianity a world religion
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Journeyed throughout Mediterranean and set up churches from Mesopotamia to Rome
Wrote letters to churches explaining doctrines and Christian teachings
 Emphasized how Jesus sacrificed His life out of love for humankind
 Belief that Jesus is son of God and followed His teachings you can achieve salvation,
or eternal life
Spread of Christianity
 Persecution
 Rome’s tolerant attitude did
not extend to Christianity
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Suspected them of disloyalty
Christians had to meet in
secret to avoid persecution
 Emperor’s like Nero blamed
Christians for social and
economic failures
 Those that were killed
became martyrs –
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Peter and Paul were both killed
under Nero
Spread of Christianity
 Reasons for Christianity’s Appeal
 Jesus welcomed all people (humble, poor, oppressed); equality, human dignity, and
promise of a better life after death were attractive.
 Educated Romans were attracted by incorporation of discipline and moderation of
Greek philosophy
 Unity of empire made spread easier
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Missionaries used roads and the Med. Sea which were protected by Roman soldiers and fleets
Books of the Bible written in Latin or Greek
 People impressed by willingness of Christians to die for their beliefs
 Triumph
 Persecution of Christians ended in AD 313
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Emperor Constantine granted freedom to worship to all citizens of the Roman empire
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Influenced by his mother, a devout Christian
 80 years later Theodosius made Christianity official religion of Roman empire
The Early Christian Church
 Patterns of Life and Worship
 Fully joined Christian community by renouncing evil in rite of baptism
 Sins were forgiven by the grace of God
 Christians addressed each other as “brother” or “sister”; observed the Eucharist (Lord’s
Supper)
 Role of Women
 Served as teachers and administrators; barred from any official role in the Church but still
worked to win converts
 Structure of the Church
 Only men could become priests
 Bishop  Diocese –
 Bishops in important cities (Rome, Antioch, Alexandria, Jerusalem, Constantinople)
gained greater authority; patriarch –
 Except in Rome, all patriarchs lived in eastern part of the empire; Church developed into a
hierarchy
The Early Christian Church
 Divisions in the Church
 Rivalry among patriarchs
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Latin-speaking bishops of the west came to be called popes –
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In Greek-speaking east, patriarchs shared spiritual authority
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Heresies  Councils of Christian leaders met to decide official Christian teachings
 Theology and Scholarship
 Theology – “talk or discourse about God”
 Clement and Origen
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Lived and worked as teachers in Alexander; wrote in Greek
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Origen accepted the Gospels, but believed that he could reach deeper understanding of Jesus’
teachings through reflection; wrote On Prayer and On First Principles
 Augustine
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Bishop of Hippo in N Africa
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Combined Greco-Roman learning with Christian doctrine
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Wrote The City of God which taught that the community of those who loved God would one day live
with Him in Heaven; those who lived worldly lived outside City of God
The Long Decline
Crisis and Reforms
 After the death of Marcus Aurelius in AD180, the golden age of
Pax Romana ended; the next 100 years political and economic
turmoil
 Struggles for Power
 Disruptive political pattern

Emperors were overthrown by political intriguers or generals who seized
power with support from troops
 These rulers usually didn’t last long until they were overthrown or
assassinated; 26 emperors in 50 year period
 Economic and Social Problems
 High taxes to support army and bureaucracy placed heavy burden
on businesses and farmers; farms were being over cultivated
 Famers left land and began working for landowners; technically free
but not allowed to leave land
Crisis and Reforms
 Emperor Decline
 AD 284 – Diocletian divided empire into 2 parts to make it easier to govern
 He controlled wealthier eastern empire and appointed co-emperor to rule western; kept
absolute control for himself
 Diocletian tried to increase prestige; many ceremonies, people had to kiss his robe when in
his presence
 Inflation –

Forced farmers to remain on land; sons required to follow fathers’ occupations; kept steady
production of food and goods
 Emperor Constantine
 Became emperor in AD 312; granted toleration to Christians and encouraged its growth
 Built a new capital, Constantinople; this made the eastern part of the empire the center
of the empire
 While the western empire declined, the eastern would prosper for many more centuries
 Mixed Results
 Diocletian and Constantine revived economy and increased power of govt
 Failed to stop long-term decline
 Internal problems combined with outside attacks brought empire down
Foreign Invasions
 Impact of the Huns
 AD 200 – wars in E Asia were setting up for the Huns to come into
the Roman empire
 The Huns were a nomadic people migrating across C Asia
 Were skilled riders and fighters; defeated German tribes on their
way (Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and others)
 Romans surrendered Britain, France, and Spain and eventually
Rome
 Rome Defeated
 Visigoths and Vandals defeated Roman forces throughout Italy
 AD 434 – Attila the Hun set out to conquer all of Europe

His invasion sparked many more invasions by Germanic tribes for years
to come
 AD 476 – Odoacer, Germanic leader, got rid of Roman emperor
and Roman power ended in the west
Causes of the Fall in Rome
 Military Causes
 Germanic invasions

Roman legions of the late empire lacked discipline and training of past armies
 Hired mercenaries –
 Many were German warriors who felt little loyalty to Rome
 Political Causes
 Government became more oppressive and authoritarian; lost support of the
people
 Growing numbers of corrupt officials
 Frequent civil wars over succession to throne
 Dividing empire weakened west
 Social Causes
 Decline in values like patriotism, discipline, and devotion to duty
 The need to replace citizen soldiers with mercenaries
 Upper class more interested in luxury than leadership; “bread and circuses”
Did Rome Fall?
 An emperor still ruled eastern empire which later
became known as the Byzantine empire that lasted
another 1000 years
 Roman civilization survived after AD 467 and lived
pretty much the same lifestyle just another ruler
 Still spoke Latin and obeyed Roman laws
 Over the centuries German customs and language
replaced those of the Romans
 Christian Church preserved elements of Roman
civilization