Download Prologue and Chapter 1

Prologue and Chapter 1
The Pre-Roman World
A Bit of Perspective
Prologue
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 Roman civilization – lasted over 1,000 years. Why?
 Efficient network of government officials and a system of
laws that protects each citizen
 Separation of powers
 System of checks and balances
 Greatly influenced the framework
for the U.S.
Also, the Romans were
masters of diplomacy!

By incorporating the people they conquered
into their culture, they established unity and
loyalty. The citizens lived in peace and
harmony for a long time.
Prologue, continued
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 Romans
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Serious-minded
Industrious
Disciplined
Flexible, compromising
 Allowed conquered people to keep their
traditions
 Made allies with former enemies
 Respected cultural achievements of other
societies
 Adopted and adapted customs they liked
Prologue, continued
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 Technology
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Bridges
Roads
Aqueducts
Amphitheaters
Temples
 Innovation
 First hospitals
 Licensing of physicians
 Food inspection
 Invention
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Glass windowpanes
Milestones
Chemical fertilizer
Theater curtains
Scissors
Ice cream
Scales with weights
Plane, brace, and bit
And many more!
Prologue, continued

 Language
 Latin
 Many languages today have evolved from Latin (French,
Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and Romanian)
 Almost half of the words in English are derived from Latin
 Also inspired our alphabet, months of the year
 History
 We know about Ancient Rome through writings, like plays,
as well as art and ruins
The Geography of Italy

 Not much of Italy is flat
 Land that isn’t mountainous is covered with hills
 People built cities on hills to aid in defense
 Many ancient cities of Italy, including Rome, sat atop hills
 Rome was built on seven hills (Septimonium)
 Also built cities near rivers (gave people a source of fresh
water)
 Rome is on the Tiber River
 Climate – similar to southern California
The Geography of Italy

Places to know!
 Italy
 Rome
 Corsica
 Sardinia
 Adriatic Sea
 Ionian Sea
 Mediterranean Sea
 Tyrrhenian Sea
 Po River
 Arno River
 Tiber River
 Apennine Mountains
 Etruria, Latium,
(regions)
From Village to Empire

 Indo-Europeans migrated to Italy around 1000 B.C.E.
 Farmers and herdsmen
 Rome grew and eventually controlled the entire
peninsula, and then the land around the Mediterranean
Sea
 Included land on Asia, Europe, and Africa
 Roman civilization lasted for more than 1,000 years
Roman History – 3 Eras

 Monarchy
 Ruled by kings
 Republic
 Rule by the people
 Empire
 Age of emperors
 Height of Roman civilization
The Age of Kings
Key Terms

 Palatine Hill
 Pontifex maximus
 Paterfamilias
 Pales
 Virgil
 Livy (Titus Livius)
 Romulus and Remus
 Senate
 Pontifex Maximus
 Ostia
 Etruscans
 Augury
 Haruspicy
 Servian Wall
 century
The Age of Kings

 Palatine Hill
 First of the seven hills to be settled
 Hills offered protection
 How did they build their homes?
Advantages to Rome’s
Location

Rome is 16 miles away from the coast, which
allows people to fish and transport goods.
Rome is far enough inland to be safe from
pirates.
City was built on a hill so they could see
enemies.
The city looked over the place where the
Tiber was most easily crossed.
The Hilltop Villages
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Families
Divided into clans, or gens
Head of the family (oldest male) paterfamilias
Religion
Believed in spirits related to nature
Pales = goddess of shepherds and sheep
Jupiter = sky god, most important
Legends of the
Founding of Rome

 Myths and legends give a more interesting take on the
founding of Rome
 The Aeneid by Virgil
 An epic about the final days
of the Trojan War and the travels
of Aeneas, a prince of Troy who
fled to seek a new home after the
war.
Romulus and Remus
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 Story passed down over generations
 Livy (Titus Livius)
 Roman historian who recorded the story
 Twins born to Rhea Silva and, supposedly, Mars
 Her father is King Numitor of Alba Longa (descendent of
Aeneas)
 Uncle, Amulius, overthrows her father and tries to have the
twins killed…why?
 Servant sends them downstream in a basket, found by a shewolf, who nurses them.
 Later found by a shepherd who raises them.
Romulus and Remus
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 They return to Alba Longa, kill Amulius, and return
power to Numitor
 Return to the place of their discovery, but can’t decide
where to build their city.
 Remus choses Aventine Hill – why?
 Romulus choses Palatine Hill – why?
 Romulus marks his city…what does
Remus do?
Romulus
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 After killing his brother, Romulus continues to build his
city
 Names it after himself – Rome
 Significance of April 21st ?
 Romulus builds an army and expands the territory
 Sabines
 Neighboring tribe
 Women don’t want to see fighting and end the battle
 Sabines become allies of Rome
Rome’s Legendary Origins
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 What epic poem tells the story of Aeneas? Who was its
author?
 The Aeneid; Virgil
 What was remarkable about the childhood of the
legendary Romulus and Remus?
 The twins were thrown into a river in a basket, rescued
and raised by a wolf, and adopted by a shepherd.
 How might a legendary beginning make a country or
empire more stable?
The First Roman Kings

 Most of what we know comes from the writings of Livy.
 How are Livy and Herodotus similar?
 Seven kings ruled Rome (Romulus was the 1st)
 King advised by the Senate (older men, “senex”)
 Comitia Curiata
 Assembly of ordinary townsmen
 Kings duties to:
1.
2.
3.
Lead the army
Judge major disputes
Offer sacrifices to the gods
The First Roman Kings
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 Numa Pompilius (King #2)
 Created special priesthoods for religious
ceremonies
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Pontifices
Pontifex maximus (highest priest)
Flamens (sacred priests)
Vestal Virgins (guarded the sacred flames of the hearth in Rome)
Numa Pompilius
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 Numa built a Temple to Janus – god of beginnings
and transitions
 Revised the lunar calendar
 Organized the workers of Rome into guilds
 Distributed land to the poor
 Numa ruled peacefully for many years.
Tullus Hostilius (#3)
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Total opposite of Numa
Warlike, wanted to expand
 Tullus attacked Alba Longa
Rather then go to war,
they each selected a family
brothers to fight it out.
Ancus Marcius (#4)
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Built Rome’s first:
Prison
Bridge – Pons Sublicious (“bridge on
pilings”)
Took control of the mouth of the Tiber
and founded Ostia – a port city and salt
collection center.
The Etruscans
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 Trade, as we have seen, leads the Romans to the
Etruscans
 Arrived from Asia Minor around 800 B.C.E.
 Settled in Etruria (north of the Tiber)
 Created farmland
 Mined for iron, copper, and tin
Traded their tools and weapons
 Expanded their territory
 Women held high place in culture; heredity traced
through females
Etruscans and Greeks
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Greeks settled on the SE coast of Italy and Sicily
Etruscans and Greeks traded
Trade spreads culture
Etruscans adapted many Greek religious
beliefs
Augury
Haruspicy
Etruscans and Greeks
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Also , the written alphabet – basis
for ours!
Etruscan Way of Life
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 Believed in an afterlife
 Wealthy class buried in stone tombs dug into large
mounds of earth
 Had multiple rooms, decorated with frescoes
The Etruscans Rule Rome
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Etruscan civilization grew to include land
between the Tiber and Arno Rivers
Wealthy Etruscans lured by
the seven hills of Rome
Lucius Tarquinius
Priscus (#5)
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 Wealthy Etruscan nobleman
 Moved to Rome with his wife,
Tanaquil
 She was a prophetess
 Saw the eagle taking his cap, flying away, then
returning the cap, as an omen that he would be king
 He got to know Ancus Marcius (King #4)
 When Ancus died, Tarquinius sent his sons away
and took over the throne
Tarquinius
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 Raised the number of Senators to 300
 Increased the size of the army
 Defeated the Sabines and others
 Expanded the empire into Latium
 Built the:
 Cloaca Maxima (main sewer of the city)
 Circus Maximus (“great circle”)
 A racetrack where chariot races were held
 He started the temple of Jupiter
 (King #7 finished it)
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Etruscans brought new ideas in farming:
Drained the marshes to aid in farming
Crop rotation and fertilization
Crops – olives and grapes
The Later Kings
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 Tarquinius was killed by the sons of Ancus
(What happened when Ancus died?)
 Servius Tullius becomes King #6
 Was not elected by the Senate
 He was popular
 Built first fortification around the seven
hills – the Servian Wall
 Five miles around
 19 gates
Servius Tullius (#6)
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Also built:
 Temple of Diana on Aventine Hill
 Continued work on temple of Jupiter on Capitoline Hill
 Implemented the world’s first census
 Counted all landowners
 Conducted every 5 years
 Divided the people into 5 classes based on wealth
 Each class had to contribute to the army
 He had a daughter named Tullia
The Death of Servius
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 Tullia was married to Lucius Tarquinius
 He was the son of Tarquinius Priscus (King #5)
 Tullia wanted her husband to be king
 He went to the Senate , in royal robes, and proclaimed himself
king.
 Servius hears of this, but is stabbed by assassins hired by
Tarquinius.
 When Tullia was on her way home, her carriage ran over the
body of her father, Servius
 Street renamed “Vicus Sceleratus” – the street of shame
(Lucius) Tarquinius
Superbus (#7)
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 “Tarquin the Proud”
 Tyrant, haughty and cruel
 Expanded army and territory
 Completed the temple of
Jupiter Optimus Maximus and other
projects to show his power
The Etruscans Are Defeated

Romans did not like the Etruscans
They resented their rule – Etruscan leaders
(Kings 5, 6, and 7)
Things go from bad to worse…
A son of Tarquinius attacks Lucretia, the wife of
a well-known Roman
She was known for her beauty and honor
She was so upset by the attack that she took
her own life
The Etruscans Are Defeated
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A rebellion by Brutus and Collatinus
(Lucretia’s husband) drove the
Etruscans out
Senate declared they wanted no more
kings
Leads to the founding of the republic
The Death of Lucretia, Jerome Preudhomme, 1784
Tarquinius Superbus
1.
True or False?
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According to legend, Remus named the city of Rome after
his brother Romulus.
FALSE! Romulus named the city after himself.
2. Roman records show that Rome’s last three kings were
not Romans, but Etruscans.
TRUE!
3. The Roman Republic is said to have been founded by
Rome’s last king, who was known for his visionary
leadership and kindness.
FALSE! The last Roman king was said to have been cruel,
and a group of nobles rose up against him to create a new
government.