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Roman Civilization (1000 BC to AD 476)
I. The Creation of the City of Rome
A. Geography plays a role.
1. The Alps in the north separates it from
2. Large coastal region provides trade
3. Weather is very mild, allowing for
4. Rivers provide
B. Rome creates its “own” culture.
1. All trade routes from north and south cross at
2. Greeks, Latins, and Etruscans battled for
a. Latins migrated around 1000 BC to Italy from the
1.) Romulus built a city wall around Rome.
2.) Borrowed from other cultures.
b. Greeks colonizes parts of the Italian Peninsula.
c. Etruscans were the first culture there.
1.) Came from Asia Minor (Turkey)
2.) Had written language 3.) Had system of
3. Romans combine the best of all.
a. Religious ideas: Greeks _____ & Etruscans ______
b. Romans overthrew the king and set up a
c. Romans value family ties.
1.) ways of fathers - discipline, strength, & loyalty
2.) Paternalism - ruled by
a.) controlled
b.) could sell into slavery or kill any
c.)
d.) chief priest.
3.) Women ran the household, viewed as background
d. Society was divided into classes.
1.) Upper - patrician - original families had the right to
2.) Plebeians - commoner, artisans, merchants 3.) Later huge numbers of slaves.
4. Romans built a mighty army.
a. All males were required to serve for
b. Legion 6,000 fought as century (100), flexible to
c. Phalanx could only move forwards and backwards.
d. Outflank the enemy, and disarm them.
C. The Roman Republic spread its power.
1. Plebeians demanded more rights.
2. 12 Tables
a. Now written down, nobles could not
b. All citizens had the right to
3. Rome achieved a balanced government.
a. 2 Consuls - general/president
1.) power of
2.) term only one year, once every
3.) veto - “I forbid” - ______ other consul’s laws
b. Senate - aristocratic branch
1.) advised consuls
2.) influenced domestic and foreign affairs
3.) membership for life, continuity and power
c. Democratic assembly of all citizen-soldiers, later
d. Dictator - in times of crisis - 6
4. Rome won control of Italy.
a. After sack of Rome in 390 BC, Romans rebuild their
b. They drove the Greeks from the land by _____ BC.
c. Three levels of citizens.
1.) Romans - from the city and area around
2.) ½ citizens were given all rights except _________
3.) Allies of Rome, gave troops, formed alliance with
only Rome, free to self-govern.
d. Citizenship could be granted to a select
5. Rome fought with Carthage, The Punic Wars.
a. Carthage controlled Mediterranean, tariffs/tribute
b. 1st Punic War (264 BC to 241 BC), gangplank with
c. 2nd Punic War (218 BC to 202 BC),
1.) Hannibal’s great invasion, brought in
2.) Cannae 3.) Zama - attack Carthage and Hannibal must
d. Rome Expanded Eastward.
e. 3rd Punic “War” (149-146 BC) - razed
D. The Republic collapsed in Rome
1. As the empire expanded, the gap between rich and
a. rich upper class
1.) Hannibal destroyed many farms
2.) Many conquered people were brought in as
3.) Great spoils of war made the wealthy accustom to
b. Bottom was the slaves brought back from war
c. Proletariat - proletarius "citizen of the lowest class," in
ancient Rome, landless people, exempted from taxes and military
service, which served the state only by having children.
Without farms or jobs they became dangerous discontent mobs.
2. Attempts to reform the political system.
a. Gracchi attempt to reform,
b. Tiberius 133 & Gaius 123 BC were killed by the
c. An army leader, Marius 105 BC, takes political power
d. This army would now fight for its leader, not the
e. 88 BC, Sulla ends the six-month dictator’s
3. Julius Caesar takes power.
a. Bribes Sulla’s soldiers not to kill him.
b. After 20 years of politics, he became governor of
c. With that wealth, and the support of the rich Crassus and
popular general Pompey, they set up the First Triumvirate.
d. The 3 bribed and bullied the senate and assembly into
following them.
h. He attacks Rome to start a
i. Defeats Pompey in Greece, who is later beheaded in
j. Returns to Rome in 46 BC with the support of 2
k. He made several great changes.
1.) Granted citizenship to many outside of
2.) Increased the Senate to 900 and filled it with his
3.) He ordered landowners to substitute at least 1/3 of
4.) To create jobs he set up public works programs 5.) He founded many colonies where
6.) These programs cut in half the # on government
7.) The Julian calendar used until 1582 AD based on
l. He was murdered by a group of senators on March 15, 44
BC, “Ides of March”.
4. The Republic dies after Caesar’s death.
a. A third civil war creates a great leader, Octavian
b. He is part of a 2nd Triumvirate, Octavian (grandson of
Caesar), Lepidus (powerful politician) and Marc Antony (great
general) 43-33 BC.
c. They killed over 2000
d. Triumvirate falls apart in
e. In the Naval Battle of Actium 31 BC, Marc Antony is
f. Octavian returns as triumphant 1st citizen.
g. He later takes the title Augustus h. He was the 1st emperor of the Roman Empire - ruled
i. Romans found it convenient to let the republic die,
e. Julius would go off to conquer
f. 50 BC on return he was ordered to disband his army,
g. He crosses the Ribicon - a decision from
II. The Roman Empire
A. It is a time of Pax Romana.
1. Pax Romana - peace and prosperity in the empire
a. Pax b. 27 BC - AD180
c. No war in empire, size of the US and 90
2. Augustus set up a sound government.
a. He created policies - plans for
b. Encouraged the values of
c. He improved trade and transportation.
1.) A common coinage of a denarius made
2.) Removed transportation taxes to move
3.) Great
4.) Aqueducts - above ground structures carried
d. He created public building programs.
1.) Concrete was used widely for it was
2.) Covered with marble to make them look grander.
3.) Great buildings like temples, assembly houses,
e. Civil service created, removing power from senators.
1.) Free(d) people ran the grain, roads, post, etc.
2.) Since it improved their lives, these men were loyal
3. Peace continued after Augustus.
a. The civil service that Augustus created survived good and
bad Caesars over the next 170 years.
b. Succession was a problem, who chose? Last
c. 5 Good emperors ruled the last 85 years of Pax
B. Romans extended the Greek Culture (Reading Notes)
1. The blend of the two cultures is called
2. New Schools of philosophy arose.
a. Epicuranism
1.) Free the body of _______ and mind of ________
2.) Avoid pain by
3.) Accept death as
4.) Forgot avoiding excesses, wealthy used
b. Stoicism
1.) Encouraged virtue,
2.) Universe was controlled by Universal
3.) Taught virtues of
4.) Pain and pleasure were
5.) Many students would later be in politics and
6.) Marcus Aurelius wrote
7.) Human laws and power should be
8.) Pater familias no longer had power of
9.) Also masters were prohibited in
3. Latin literature took many forms.
a. Livy’s history was bias.
1.) 142 books covering all Roman History up to
2.) He thought that past people were more
3.) Old heroes were men of
4.) They did their duty for
b. Virgil’s epic poem was the story of
c. The Silver Age of
1.) Criticism
2.) Praise replaced by satire 3.) Juvenal wrote about the
4.) Tacitus wrote scorn of the
5.) Rome was so secure at this time that these writers
4. Fine buildings adorn Rome.
a. Rome was the most spectacular
b. 10,000 statues, 700 pools, 500 fountains, 37 gates, 36
c. Often people went home and copied
d. Diocletian (284 - 311 AD) reformed the empire to
d. Romans used architecture to glorify their
1.) Doubled the size of the
e. The crowning achievement of their architecture was
2.) Beat inflation by creating price and wage
f. The Pantheon, great dome on a rotunda 5. Roman law united the
a. Early law (12 Table) dealt with
b. Later the laws were applied to
c. Many of the most important principles were
1.) No person could be judged without
2.) All accused had the right to face their
3.) If there were questions about someone’s guilt,
4.)Any law that seemed unreasonable or grossly
3.) Restored Roman religion by persecuting
4.) Increased emperors prestige by looking more like
5.) To administer empire he divided it into West &
6.) Reforms didn’t work very well, but they did set the
e. Constantine (312 - 337 AD) reformed the empire
1.) Preparing to defeat a rival, he sees a cross of light in
the sky, put the symbol on soldiers’ shields & credits victory to God.
2.) Edict of Milan allows freedom of religion. (In 395
Theodosius makes Christianity official religion of the empire.)
3.) Moved capital to Byzantium, because
a.) trading
d. Long after Rome was gone, its laws
e. They became the basis for many
C. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
1. Crises weakened the empire.
a. Economics decay
1.) Trade was disrupted by
2.) Most trade was import and not export, so money
3.) Prices rose because of devaluation of coins 4.) Farming output dropped off.
b. Military decay.
1.) Military was being defeated on the borders & the
2.) Roman soldiers were fighting for
3.) To keep costs down, the empire hired
c. Political decay
1.) Most people were concerned about
2.) With the loss of income, few wanted to enter
3.) The soldiers were the only
b.) Renamed city Constantinople.
4.) After his death, empire will be split forever.
2. Barbarians overran the empire.
a. Ostrogoths, Visigoths, Franks, Angles, Saxons,
Burgundians, Lombards, Vandals (all Germanic people)
b. Attila the Hun and the nomadic Asians - Huns
c. Final sacking of Rome came in 455 AD by the
D. Legacy of Roman Empire
1. Republic form of government spread through world,
2. Laws spread through much of
3. Language - Latin
a. Latin roots form the foundation of the Romance
Languages of Italian, French, Romanian, Spanish, and Portuguese.
b. Latin roots make up more than 1/3 of English (English is
also a 1/3 Germanic).
c. Alphabet of 23 letters is the basis for many languages
4. Architecture
a. practical - useful - such as roads and aqueducts.
b. grand scale - large to impress.
5. Art was realistic, impressive and beautiful.
Cincinnatus (137)
Pyrrhus’s life lesson (137)
Pyrrhic victory (137)
Mercenaries (138)
Zama (139)
tribune (142)
civil war (145)
Plotted to be king (L146)
gladiator (peace 151)
Caesar (rb 151)
Hadrian’s Wall (154)
extras
Cleopatra
Cicero
toga
Roman Forum
villas