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THE ROMANS
1. Explain the origins of the Roman Empire, considering the
Latins, the Etruscans, the Greek and the Phoenicians.
2. Describe the main characteristics of the period known
as the Republic, considering political organization and social life.
3. Analyze the consequences of the Punic Wars. Josephus.
4. Describe the period in Roman history known as Empire,
considering the ascent to power and the main achievements
of Julius Caesar and Augustus.
Roman’s origins
Tribes of the Iron Age called Latins
Influences of different Mediterranean people
1. Etruscans:
• Sophisticated Hellenized people
• Experts in the art of metallurgy, town building and city planning
• Chariot racing
• The arch: ingenious structural principle of Mesopotamian
architecture
2. The Greeks:
• Masters of philosophy and the arts
• Pantheon of gods and goddesses
• Linguistic and literary principles
• The aesthetics of the Classical style
3. The Phoenicians
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Alphabet
Commercial and maritime skills
QUICK COMPARISON
The ancient Romans were very different from the ancient Greeks.
The ancient Romans were realists, not idealists. You can see
this in their statues. The Greeks made statues of perfect people.
The Romans created real life statues.
The ancient Greeks would never have done this!
The Romans built roads all over the empire, and all roads led
to Rome. The ancient Greeks had roads, but they were not built
nearly as well, and the Greek's roads did not connect in any
particular order. Connect to what? Each Greek city-state was its
own unit. In ancient Rome, Rome was the heart of the empire!
THE KINGDOM (800 – 500 BCE)
• Etruscan kings ruled the Latin population
• Interest in authority and stability (not so much in liberty or
democracy)
• However, monarchy slowly gave way to a government
“of the people” (res publica).
• The Romans were a proud and progressive people with a
rapidly growing population.
THE ROMAN REPUBLIC (509 – 133 BCE)
Roman population: powerful class of large landowner, the aristocracy
(patricians) and a more populous class of farmers and small landowners
(the plebeians)The patricians monopolized the seats in the Senate and the offices of
magistracy.
The grievances of the plebeians were numerous:
• compelled to pay heavy taxes,
• forced to serve in the army in time of war,
• were excluded from all part in the government except membership in
the assembly,
• Discriminatory decisions in judicial trials (laws were unwritten),
• Sold for debt
HOWEVER… Step by step they gained increasing political influence
Laws were codified and about a generation later they
won eligibility to positions as lesser magistrates
PUNIC WARS
By 256 bCe, Rome had conquered and annexed the whole of Italy (not Sicily yet).
Carthage: Phoenicia’s commercial stronghold in Africa
Causes:
• Jealousy over Phoenician expansion in Sicily
• Threat to the Roman Empire
First Punic War: 23 years of fighting brought victory to
Roman generals
Second Punic War: Arrogance and greed. Romans
interpreted the Phoenician attempt to rebuild their
empire as a threat to their interests and responded
with a declaration of war. Phoenicia was more
completely humbled than before
Third Punic War: Carthage had recovered some of its
prosperity: enough to the envy and fear of their
conquerors: Seldom has this world witness a more
desperate and barbarous struggle.
Carthage was destroyed.
Momentous consequences:
1.Virtually the entire Mediterranean area had
been brought under Roman dominion.
Conquest of the Hellenistic East
2. Social and economic revolution:
a. A marked increase in slavery
b. the appearance of a middle class
c. Comprising merchants,
d. an increase in luxury
• The Romans proved to be efficient administrators.
• Demanded from their foreign provinces taxes, soldiers to
serve, tribute and slaves.
• Unmodified local government
• Latin language and Roman law.
• Backbone of the Empire: Rome’s highly disciplined army.
Book page 140
THE COLLAPSE OF THE REPUBLIC (133 – 30 BCE)
Roman imperialism changed the Republic itself.
The Senate
The army
VERY POWERFUL
CORRUPTION
Latifundia: large-scale plantations
Small farmers
Economic advantages to landowners
Forced to sell their farms to neighbouring patricians
Move to the city to join a growing unemployed population
Rome’s rich people were richer and its poor citizens poorer
Patricians resisted efforts to redistribute wealth more equally
Rome fell victim to the ambitions of army generals
As bloody confrontations replaces reasoned compromises, the Republic crumbled.
In 46 BCE Julius Caesar
dictatorship
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Took strong measures to revitalize Rome:
he codified the laws,
regulated taxation,
reduced debts,
inaugurated public work projects
Reformed the western calendar to to comprise 365 days and 12 mon
Threatened by his populist reforms, a group of senators assassinated him