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Rome & The Rise of
Christianity
World History: Week 5
Geography
• Central location, lower
mountains & more
farmland= easy trade,
more food, easier to
travel.
• Rome on plain of
Latium.
Pre-Romans in Italy
• Greeks colonized during their expansion—mostly the southern coasts
• Etruscans conquered Rome and Latium around 650 BC
• After the last Etruscan king is overthrown in 509 BC, Romans set up a
republic.
• 200 years of warfare: Rome expands South (conquers Greek cities) then
North (finishes off Latium and the Etruscans)
• They make alliances with anyone who is willing—offer citizenship and rights, especially
to Latins.
Winning Ways
• Romans are great soldiers—smart, disciplined and tough.
• *Phalanx gets an upgrade
• Roman diplomacy: surrender, be loyal and receive citizenship and some selfrule—or get destroyed.
• Practical as rulers: not interested in perfect government or converting people
to a religion or a way of life. Whatever works and doesn’t cause a problem
for Rome, goes.
Government
• Patricians: wealthy, landowning, ruling class (Senate is made up of 300 of
them)
• Plebian: land-holders, farmers, craftsmen, merchants etc—can vote but can’t
hold office.
• 2 Consuls: (Executive branch)-Lead Army and run government
• 1 Praetor (later 2): (Executive branch) Handles civil law and disputes
Classes and Laws
• Plebians don’t like being excluded from Patrician class. After long struggle,
Romans grant all male Roman citizens the same rights—but it mostly means
that wealthy Plebians can participate with the Patricians.
• Roman Law Codes
• Twelve Tables: early version, very simple—too simple for a large empire
• Law of Nations: developed for the empire, more complex civil law, based on reason,
and the foundation of later systems of law.
Punic Wars
• 1st Punic War, 264 BC: Carthage vs.
Rome (Win)
• Both want Sicily, settled in naval
battle.
• 2nd, 218-201 BC: Hannibal wants
revenge on Rome.
• Invades through the Alps
• Not enough men left to take Rome,
but too many for Romans to beat.
• Rome attacks Spain and then
Carthage instead of facing him
down. At Zama, they defeat
Hannibal.
More Conquering
• 50 years later, 146 BC,
Carthage is utterly
destroyed. Becomes
Roman province of
“Africa”
• Romans expand east
through Greece and into
Pergamum (modern
Turkey.
Unrest and Instability
• Senate runs Rome, and it is only aristocrats
• Generals recruit poor and promise them land—it means they have to be
political and pull strings to come through on their promise.
• Lucius Cornelius Sulla uses his army to seize Rome and kill all opposition to him—a
tempting idea for later generals.
• The Republic is failing.
Triumvirates
• Julius Caesar (General), Crassus (wealthy man) and Pompey (General) form the first
triumvirate.
• When Crassus is killed in battle, the Senate wants only Pompey, but Julius will not step
down.
• Julius Caesar collects his army in Gaul and “crosses the Rubicon” to march on Rome. He
defeats Pompey and becomes a dictator in 45 BC. In 44 BC the Senate assassinates him.
• Octavian, Antony and Lepidus (who drops out)
• Antony has the East and Octavian the West, but they go to war.
• Octavian’s forces smash Antony’s and his ally, Cleopatra VII’s
• Octavian takes the name Caesar Augustus.
Rome as an Empire
• Age of Augustus
• Augustus, the first Emperor (Imperator) of Rome, “restores the Senate”, but with limited
powers
• Huge, powerful army—but not unlimited, as they learned in Germany: “Varus, give me back
my legions!”
• Early Empire
• Emperor chooses his successor; they keep taking more powers from the Senate
• Crazy/Corrupt ones (Nero, Caligula etc.) among the first several.
• Second Century gets five “good emperors” who create the Pax Romana—100 years of
relative peace inside the empire: no more random executions, taking care of the poor, etc.
Early Empire, cont.
• Empire extends under the “good emperors”—almost too big to defend.
• Hadrian’s Wall
• Greco-Roman culture and language in cities all over—Latin spoken in West
and Greek in East.
• Internal peace=easy trade=prosperity
• Huge difference between rich and poor: luxury on one hand and poverty on
the other.
Roman Art & Architecture
• Mostly copies Greek styles
• Architecture takes Greek style a step
further: curved lines, like arches and
domes. Aquaducts, roads and bridges
• Literature:
• Virgil’s Aeneid=Rome’s Odyssey.
• Horace’s Satires: mock human follies
• Livy’s History of Rome: teaches moral
lessons
Roman Society
• Paterfamilias: male head-of-household.
• Children learn to read from their father or a tutor at home
• By the 2nd Century, upper-class women gain more freedom: included in social
life, own and inherit property.
• Romans own huge numbers of slaves. Greeks tend to be well-treated as
skilled workers or tutors. Everyone else has it pretty bad.
• Slave Rebellion led by Spartacus defeats several armies before being put down. 6000 of
the rebels were crucified along the Appian Way to send a message to others.
Daily Life in Rome
• Rich live in Villas; poor live in insulae
(apartment blocks).
• Dangers of disease, fire and crime
• Public buildings and works: free grain and
games (religious) for the poor.
• “Bread and Circuses”=“panem et circenses”
Roman Religion
• Right relationship to the gods=national success and prosperity
• Rituals make the gods happy
• Foreign gods are ok too:
• Conquered nations not required to give up their gods
• Romans adopt some
• Roman Army (especially) experiments with other gods, religions and practices.
“Judah” and “Judea”
• Kingdom of Judah is now a Roman province called, Judea
• Sadducess—Hellenized Jews who favor cooperation with Rome
• Pharisees—nationalistic Jews who want the Romans out
• Four year Jewish revolt ends in the destruction of the temple: 70 AD
• Jesus of Nazareth travels around Judaea and Galilee with new ideas: c. 30-34 AD.
• Simon Peter & Paul take the message of a risen Christ along the Mediterranean
coasts.
Growth of Christianity
• By 60 AD, the Churches have written scriptures (the Gospels), the faith is
growing and the Romans are already annoyed.
• Persecution helps the church:
• Creates the “clergy” (leadership) and “laity” (church members)
• Only the most devoted converts join
• Persecution=attention, so more people know about them.
• Attractive ideas: compassion and equality for poor, life beyond this one
• Diocletian, in the 4th century, is the last great persecutor of the church; it’s
too big to wipe out now.
Upheaval and Decline
• 235-284 AD: wars, rebellions and 22 different emperors
• Wars depleting food and money supplies: can’t pay soldiers any more
• Plague kills workers and recruits for armies
• Diocletian divides empire into 4 pieces for easier management
• Constantine expands army further, builds Constantinople for defense
• Both try to force people to pay for and agree to their economic plans—not
useful long-term
Christianity and Rome
• Constantine issues the Edict of Milan which grants official religious
tolerance for Christianity—313 AD.
• Had a dream and painted crosses on his soldiers’ shields
• Theodosius the Great makes Christianity the official state religion of Rome
• After Constantine, the Roman Empires is split into West and East (Rome &
Constantinople), but they are both Christian now.
The Fall
• Huns (from Asia) pressure Visigoths (from Germany-ish) who come south
and west into Roman land.
•
•
•
•
Visigoths make peace with Rome at first, then revolt.
Visigoths sack Rome in 410 AD.
Vandals, who had invaded Spain and Northern Africa, sack Rome in 455 AD
Romulus Augustus, the last Roman Emperor (of Rome) is deposed by
Germanic warlords in 476. Rome has fallen.