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ROMAN CIVILIZATION
In addition to Greece, a
significant classical civilization
was ancient Rome
Its history from 500 B.C.- 600 A.D
is known as the Classical Era.
Impact of Geography on Rome:
Identify 1 geographic feature & propose
how it might impact the culture of Rome
The Geography of Rome
Rome was located on the Italian peninsula
along the Mediterranean Sea
The Romans were influenced by the
Greeks & neighboring Etruscans
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Roman religion was polytheistic
& based on the Greek gods
(usually only the names changed)
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Roman writing
was called
Latin & was
based on
Greek writing
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Roman architecture
borrowed heavily
from Greek styles
Like Greek agoras,
Roman cities had a
forum for markets
& public gatherings
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Society was divided among 3 major groups:
At the top were the nobles, called patricians,
who controlled most of the land & held key
military & gov’t positions
(made up 5% of
Roman citizens)
The Life of the Patricians
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Society was divided among 3 major groups:
Most people were commoners, called
plebeians, who were farmers, shopkeepers,
or peasants;
Plebeians paid
the majority of
taxes (made up
95% of Roman
citizens)
The Life of the Plebeians
The Culture of Ancient Rome
Society was divided among 3 major groups:
At the bottom of society
were slaves & other
non-Roman citizens
Based upon
this image,
what was
Roman
government
like?
The Government of Ancient Rome
Rome was originally
ruled by kings, but in
509 B.C. the Romans
created a republic
A republic is a form
of government in which
citizens have the power
to elect representatives
who make laws for
them.
The most important feature of the republic
was the Senate, whose 300 members were
elected by citizens to make laws & taxes
The Government of Ancient Rome
In 451 B.C., government
officials wrote down
Rome’s laws onto the
Twelve Tables which
were hung in the forum
for all citizens to see
The Twelve Tables were
based on the idea that
all citizens had a right to
the protection of the law
The Roman Military
Rome was protected
by an advanced army
that was divided into
groups of 5,000
soldiers called legions
Each legion was
divided into smaller
groups of 80 men
called a century
By the 3rd century B.C., the
Romans conquered the Italian
peninsula & began to exert power
in the Mediterranean world
But, the growth of
Rome threatened
Carthage, the
superpower of the
Mediterranean world
Expansion/growth was necessary
because As Roman population
continued to grow, Rome needed
more land
In a series of battles known as the Punic Wars,
Rome defeated Carthage & began the dominant
power in the Mediterranean
After the Punic Wars, Rome conquered
new territories in Northern Europe &
gained great wealth
One of the generals who led
Rome’s expansion was a
politician named Julius Caesa
Problems for the Roman Republic
• Rome’s expansion brought wealth,
but also created problems:
• The addition of new lands & sources
of slave labor increased the gap between
the rich & poor
• Generals who controlled the armies
became more powerful than the
politicians in the Senate
• Struggles for power led to a series
of civil wars in Rome
The Rise & Fall of Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar took
advantage of the chaos
in Rome & was named
dictator in 46 B.C.
A dictator is
ruler who
He initiated a series of
heads the
reforms that offered Roman military and
citizenship to conquered controls with
people & created new jobs total authority
Many Senators
feared Caesar’s
popularity &
power as
dictator of
Rome
In 44 B.C., Senators assassinated Julius Caesar
The assassination led to another civil war
led by Caesar’s adopted nephew Octavian &
his best general, Marc Antony
End of the Republic & Rise of the Empire
• Caesar’s death changed Rome:
• People no longer trusted the Senate
to rule Rome & the Roman Republic came to an end & the empire began
The Rise of the Roman Empire
Octavian emerged as the
unchallenged leader of Rome,
was given the title Augustus
(“Exalted One”), & became
Rome’s first emperor
Under Augustus, Rome was
ruled as an empire; the Senate
still met but the emperor had
all the real power
The Pax Romana
Augustus’ 41 year reign marked the beginning
of a 207-year era of peace, wealth, & expansion
known as the Pax Romana (“the Roman Peace”)
from 27 B.C. to 180 A.D.
Pax Romana
During the Pax Romana, the
empire expanded to its height &
brought great wealth to Rome
The Pax Romana became the “golden age” of
Rome as emperors like Augustus built roads &
a merit-based bureaucracy to rule the empire
Roman aqueducts brought water to cities
Roman architects used new styles like
domes & concrete to beautify cities
Emperors built arenas & used chariot races,
gladiator events, & theater to entertain the poor
The Roman Coliseum
Conclusions
• Rome expanded from a city,
to a republic, to an empire
• The era of the Roman
Republic introduced
representative democracy
• The era of the Roman
Empire sparked the Pax
Romana & the “golden age”
of Roman innovation &
culture
THE RISE AND FALL OF
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Rome built great stuff
• Rome built great roads to travel on and aqueducts to
bring water into the city.
• Rome also built great stadiums and amphitheaters for the
entertainment of the people.
• Romans also developed the use of the arch.
Rome was a Republic
• A republic is a form of government where people elect
representatives.
• The United States has a representative government. We
learned about this form of government from the Romans.
The Senate
• The Senate led the
Roman Empire.
• They made the laws
for the republic.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
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Rome’s women got shafted
• Rome might have had representative government, but not
all people were represented.
• Roman women were not allowed to vote.
Roman Citizenship
• Romans had a strong sense of citizenship.
• Roman citizens were protected by Rome, but had a duty
to participate in society and to make it better.
• The philosophy that preached good citizenship was called
Stoicism.
• Stoicism stressed the importance of being a good citizen.
Roman Law and Rights
• Roman laws stressed fairness and common sense.
• There was equal treatment under the law in Rome and
people were considered innocent until proved guilty when
accused of a crime.
• We took much of our system of government from the
Romans.
Roman Art
• Mosaics were popular in Rome. A mosaic is a picture
made out of small, colored tiles or pieces of glass.
• The Romans also made great statues that looked like the
real thing, even though they were made from stone.
Rome’s first emperor
• Octavian is Rome’s
first emperor.
• He took the name
Augustus Caesar.
• Under his rule, Rome
expanded and enjoyed a
period of peace.
Pax Romana
• Rome lived in peace for 200 years.
• It was called the Pax Romana, the Peace of Rome.
Unfortunately for Rome, the peace would not last.
Rome grew weak
• Rome grew weak because it had grown too large.
• Another reason Rome grew weak is that they had
tax problems and couldn’t raise enough money to
keep the roads from crumbling.
• Slavery was also a problem in the empire. With
so many slaves, the people did not need to work.
• Internal problems that helped Rome’s downfall were
corrupt generals, civil wars, and economic problems.
Barbarians at the gates
• Romans called the people who destroyed
Rome Barbarians.
• Romans called anyone who didn’t speak
Greek, even though the word barbarian
actually means uncivilized, lacking in culture
and violent.
• The Roman Empire fell in 476 AD.
• The eastern part of the empire would survive.
Byzantium
• The eastern part of the Roman Empire
became known as the Byzantine Empire or
Byzantium.
Constantinople
• Constantinople was named
for emperor Constantine.
• Constantine was important
because he legalized
Christianity in the empire.
• Under Constantine’s rule,
Christianity spread greatly.
• He moved the capital of the
empire from Rome to
Constantinople.
Constantinople grows
• Constantinople
became a leading
center of trade.
• Trade helped the
Byzantine Empire
grow rich.
Justinian
• Justinian was the
greatest of the
Byzantine emperors.
• Justinian made many
changes in the laws.
• His laws were called
The Code of
Justinian.
• Justinian also built
many churches
throughout the
empire.
Disagreements between east and
west
• Most of the people in the Byzantine Empire were
Christian, but the people in the west and the
people in the east disagreed about how to
worship God.
• This led to a split in the Catholic Church. It was
called a schism.
• A schism is a split. The Roman Catholic Church
had a schism, splitting in half.
Two churches
• The church in the east was called Eastern Orthodox.
• The church in the west was called Roman Catholic.
Patriarch
• The leader of the
church in
Constantinople was
called the Patriarch.
QuickTime™ and a
TIFF (Uncompressed) decompressor
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Pope
• The leader of the
church in Rome was
called the Pope.
Constantinople is captured
• The split in the church weakened the Byzantine Empire.
• In 1453, the Ottoman Turks captured Constantinople and
the Byzantine Empire came to an end.
The Byzantine Empire preserves
great stuff
• The Byzantine Empire preserved the art and literature of
the Greeks and Romans.
• Without the Byzantine, the world may have lost great
treasures of the past.