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Ancient World History
Study Guide
Mr. Knutsen
The Meadows School
CHAPTER 5
The World of Rome
INSTRUCTIONAL OBJECTIVES
After reading and studying this chapter, you should be able to discuss the reasons Rome rose to
prominence, and describe the impact of conquest on the Romans themselves. You should also be able to
talk about how Rome was governed and how its culture was spread beyond Italy. You should also be
able to discuss the growth of Christianity, and discuss Roman responses to barbarian invasion and
economic decline.
CHAPTER OUTLINE
I.
The Land and the Sea
A. Crossroads of the Mediterranean
1. Italy has an almost subtropical climate.
2. The Apennine Mountains helped protect the Italians from invasion at the same time as
they encourged them to look west for expansion and trade.
3. Latium and Campania are two of Italy’s most fertile areas.
4. The Romans built their city on seven hills along the Tiber River.
II. Early Rome (753–290 B.C.E.)
A. The Founding of Rome.
1. According to legend, Romulus and Remus founded Rome in 753 B.C.E. and from then
until 509 B.C.E. the Romans lived under Etruscan rule.
2. According to tradition, in 509 B.C.E. the Romans overthrew the Etruscan king and
established the republic.
3. Over the following two centuries the Romans carried out the conquest of Italy.
4. Between 390 and 290 B.C.E. the Romans consolidated their gains and reorganized their
army.
5. The Romans gave their Latin allies considerable local autonomy and, for some, the
possibility of full Roman citizenship.
III. The Roman Republic
A. The Roman State and Social Conflict
1. The Roman constitution was an ever-changing mix of traditional beliefs, customs and
laws.
2. In the early republic, social divisions determined the shape of politics.
a) Political power was in the hands of wealthy landowners called patricians.
b) The common people were called the plebeians.
3. The most important political institution of the republic was the senate.
4. The republic also had several assemblies that elected magistrates and passed
legislation.
5. In 471 B.C.E. the plebeians won the right to their own assembly, the concilium plebis.
6. Contact with foreigners lead to the development of a theory of “natural law,” law that
applied to all societies.
7. The Struggle of the Orders was the attempt by the plebeians to win political
representation and to protect their rights from patrician domination.
8. Rome’s need for plebeian soldiers led to early reforms.
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9. The lex Canuleia made it legal for patricians and plebeians to marry.
10. The Law of the Twelve Tables was codified as a result of plebeian agitation.
11. The struggle ended in 287 B.C.E. with the passage of the lex Hortensia.
B. The Age of Overseas Conquest (282–146 B.C.E.)
1. The Roman conquest of the Mediterranean world was not the result of a long-term plan
for world domination, but the result of Roman efforts to eliminate all perceived threats
to their society.
2. The struggle with Carthage for Sicily resulted in the First Punic War (264–241 B.C.E.).
3. During the Second Punic War Carthage expanded its power into Spain.
a) Carthage’s greatest general, Hannibal, lead an army all the way to the gates of
Rome.
b) He was ultimately defeated by the Roman general Scipio Africanus.
4. The Third Punic War ended in 146 B.C.E. with the destruction of Carthage itself.
5. At the same time as the Punic wars, Roman armies conquered much of the eastern
Mediterranean.
C. Old Values and Greek Culture
1. Political disturbances in the last centuries of the Republic stemmed from the
acquisition of empire.
2. Many people responded to the events of the second century B.C.E. by reasserting
traditional Roman values.
3. The paterfamilias was the most powerful force in the Roman family in the traditional
scheme of things.
4. In the traditional Roman family, the wife was the matron of the family.
5. Slavery was common in Roman society, but it was not based on race or ethnicity.
6. Religion played a significant role in Roman life.
7. On the other hand, many people embraced Greek urban culture.
8. Roman military victories brought the bounty of the East back to Rome.
9. Hellenism had a great impact on Roman art, literature, and leisure activities.
D. The Late Republic (133–31 B.C.E.)
1. Factional politics and civil wars resulted from Rome’s acquisition of empire.
2. A growing number of urban poor led to further problems for the Roman state.
3. The Gracchi Brothers sought land reform for the Roman poor and full citizenship for
Rome’s Italian allies.
4. The reforms of powerful leaders such as Marius had dangerous implications for the
republican constitution.
5. Political leaders such as Marius, Sulla, Pompey, and Julius Caesar acquired enormous
power.
6. Powerful generals jeopardized republican government.
7. Two political alliances, called the First and Second Triumvirates, undermined the
power of the republican constitution.
8. In 44 B.C.E. a group of conspirators assassinated Caesar and set off another round of
civil wars.
9. Order was restored by Caesar’s grand-nephew Octavian (later Augustus) in 31 B.C.E.
10. Octavian defeated his last rival, Marc Antony, at the Battle of Actium in 31 B.C.E.
IV. The Pax Romana
A. Augustus’ Settlement (31 B.C.E.–14 C.E.)
1. Under the guise of restoring the republic, Augustus created a constitutional monarchy.
2. He called himself princeps civitatis (“First Citizen of the State”).
3. Augustus assumed most of the important civil and religious offices of Rome.
4. Much of his power resided in his role as commander of the army.
5. In effect, Augustus created the office of emperor.
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6.
Augustus was unable to institutionalize the relationship between the emperor and the
army.
B. Administration and Expansion Under Augustus
1. Augustus organized provincial administration at the same time encouraging local selfgovernment.
2. In order to create a spiritual bond between Rome and its provinces, Augustus promoted
the cult of Roma.
3. Rome expanded into northern and western Europe.
a) Roman expansion encompassed the region of modern Germany, Spain, and
France.
b) The Roman legions maintained the new frontiers.
V. The Coming of Christianity
A. Early Christianity
1. Roman rule caused resentment among the Jews of Judea.
a) The Jewish belief in the coming of the Messiah gained in popularity.
b) Many believed that the Messiah would overthrow the Romans and bring peace
and prosperity to the Jews.
2. Jesus’ life should be understood in this context.
a) Jesus’ teachings were Jewish.
b) Jesus did not intend to challenge Roman rule.
c) Nonetheless, Roman authorities viewed him as a threat to public order.
d) The earliest Christians considered themselves orthodox Jews.
3. Paul of Tarsus played a pivotal role in the spread of Jesus’ teachings and the creation
of the Christian church.
a) In Paul’s view, Christianity was meant for human beings, Jews and non-Jews
alike.
b) Eventually, Paul began to make decisive breaks with Judaism.
4. Christianity gave its followers a cause and a sense of community.
VI. The Golden Age
A. After Augustus
1. The Julio-Claudian emperors were a diverse lot.
2. Caligula and Nero were poor leaders who used their power foolishly.
3. Tiberius and Claudius were effective rulers.
a) Claudius created an imperial bureaucracy staffed with professional
administrators.
b) In the year following Nero’s death (68 C.E.) four men claimed the position of
emperor.
c) Vespasian was the eventual winner.
4. Vespasian’s Flavian dynasty paved the way for the era of the “five good emperors.”
5. Under the Flavians Rome became a full-blown monarchy.
6. Under the five good emperors increasing power was concentrated in the hands of the
emperor.
a) Hadrian reformed the bureaucracy Claudius created.
7. During this period new conquests ceased and Rome concentrated on strengthening
existing borders.
a) Although officers in the Roman army continued to be drawn from Italy and the
more Romanized provinces, common soldiers were increasingly from “less
civilized” provinces.
VII. Life in the Golden Age: Imperial Rome and the Provinces
A. Peace, Progress, and Prosperity
1. Rome grew to a population between 500,000 and 750,000.
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2.
Rome was so big that the surrounding countryside could not provide adequate food for
its citizens.
a) The emperors provided the population with free grain, oil, wine, and
entertainment.
3. The era of the five good emperors brought prosperity to the whole empire, especially
western Europe.
4. In continental Europe the army was responsible for much of the economic growth.
5. In the east, the Roman navy ended the threat of piracy, clearing the way for greater
maritime trade.
6. Trade between the provinces increased.
a) Industry developed in the provinces, providing goods for trade with the rest of the
empire.
VIII. Rome and the East
A. Romans Versus Iranians
1. The creation of the empire brought the Romans into contact with a larger world.
2. When Roman armies moved into Mesopotamia in 92 B.C.E. they encountered the
Parthians, a people who had entered the Iranian Plateau from central Asia around the
time of the Persian kings.
3. Beginning with Nero, Roman emperors sought to conquer Parthian territory.
4. After the fall of the Parthians in 226, the Sasanids rose to prominence in Iran.
5. The Romans and Sasanids fought a series of bitter wars that did not come to an end
until the reigns of Diocletian and Constantine.
B. Trade and Contact
1. Iran was the crossroads between East and West and the Parthians were the middlemen.
a) The Parthians tried to prevent direct contact between the Romans and the
Chinese.
2. Roman ships sailed from Egypt to India.
3. Direct trade between China and the West began in the second century C.E.
IX. The Empire in Crisis
A. Civil Wars and the Invasions of the Third Century
1. The Pax Romana gave way to civil wars and invasion in the third century C.E.
2. Commodus’s reign was the harbinger of evil things to come.
3. Between 235 and 284 more than twenty emperors ascended the throne.
4. The army played a dangerously large role in political affairs.
5. Rome was wracked by instability in politics and government.
6. Migrating barbarians penetrated gaps in the frontier defenses.
7. The Goths marched into Europe in 258 C.E.
8. The Franks, Saxons, Alamanni, and other tribes invaded the empire and created serious
problems.
9. The collapse of order led to crime and corruption.
B. Reconstruction Under Diocletian and Constantine (284–337 C.E.)
1. The reforms of Diocletian and Constantine attempted to reverse the decline of Rome.
2. Diocletian divided the empire into two halves.
3. Diocletian fixed prices and wages.
4. In order to facilitate the collection of payments in kind, the emperors locked all people
involved in the growing and distribution of food into their occupations.
5. Small farmers lost status, moving toward serf-like positions.
C. The Acceptance of Christianity
1. Constantine recognized Christianity as a legitimate religion.
2. Constantine’s action put an end to the persecution of Christians.
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D.
E.
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Chapter 5: The World of Rome
The Construction of Constantinople
1. Constantine also built a new capital, called Constantinople (on the site of the Greek
city of Byzantium).
Late Antiquity
1. By 500 C.E. clear political, geographical, and cultural divisions existed between the
eastern and western portions of the Roman Empire.
2. Christianity grew both in numbers of followers and in mainstream acceptance.
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