Download Western Roman Empire By: Marta Jonson, Sarah Klostermeyer

Western Roman Empire
By: Marta Jonson, Sarah Klostermeyer, Hayley Bell, Chandler Haefele
Trade
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Brought in money
Empire cost a lot
Sea routes covered Mediterranean and black seas
Lots of lands using roads built by Romans
Ostia most important because nearest to Rome
a. This way could travel it to Rome fast
b. Was captured in 409 AD causing Rome to starve
Only one currency so it was easier
Imported: beef, corn, glassware, iron, lead, leather, marble , olive oil,
perfumes, dyes, silk, silver, spices, timber, tin, and wine
Traded with Spain, France, and Middle East and North Africa
Wars in Western Roman Empire
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Punic War
o Between 264-146 BC
o With the Carthaginians
o Started from economic competition
o Romans siege them and burned their city to the ground and
forced survivors into slavery
 Collapse
o Germanic empire, Odoacer, took over emperor, Romulus
Augustus
o Diseases weakened the empire
o 476 CE
Civil Wars
o Crisis of the 3rd century
o 50 years
o Started with assassination of emperor
o Rise of Sassanid dynasty
Technology
War technology
 used sophisticated armor and steel weapons
 blades (daggers, axes, swords)
 pole arms (spears, pikes, javelins)
 Slings and bows provided long range support fire
Aqueducts
 Built to supple water
 Provided city with over 1 million cubic meter of water every day
 Water from aqueducts went to tanks then fed through pipes to fountains,
toilets
Bridges
 Roman Bridges first large bridges to be built
 Built of stone, and had an arch as a basic structure
 Roman architecture greatly influenced by Etruscans( columns, arches)
Dams
 Also built for water collection
 Built 72 of them just in Spain and some dams still in use
Roads
 First built for military use
 Most advanced roads at the time
 Roads could still be used for more than 1,000 years after fall of empire
Plumbing
 First to invent indoor plumbing
 Had public baths
Religion
Judaism and Early Christianity:
 Relations between Jews and imperial authorities became tense as the
Romans extended their empire in the eastern Mediterranean.
 While some Jews fought with the Romans, others found new sects that
looked for saviors to deliver them from subjection.
 One such sect was formed by the Essenes, which formed their community
in Palestine. They observed a strict moral code and participated in rituals
to reinforce a sense of community.
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The early Christians had little contact with the Essenes, but they shared
many of the same concerns.
The Christians formed their community around Jesus of Nazareth, a
Jewish teacher who was recognized as their savior.
He taught devotion to God and love for fellow human beings, and attracted
large amount of people because of his wisdom and miraculous powers.
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But an impending kingdom of God sounded like a threat to Roman rule, so
Roman administrators crucified Jesus by fixing him to a cross in the early
30’s CE.
After his execution, early followers made a body of writings and letters
outlining Christian teachings know and it gained recognition as the New
Testament and it became the holy book of Christianity.
The Paul of Tarsus was the principle figure in the expansion of Christianity
beyond Judaism.
He taught a Christianity that attracted the urban masses in the same way
as other religions of salvation that had spread in the Roman Empire.
His doctrine told people to observe high moral standards and to place faith
above of interests.
He traveled in search of converts and made journeys to different regions.
In early Christian communities, the communities selected their own
supervisors, known as bishops who oversaw the priests.
Different leaders taught the story of Jesus’ resurrection differently.
Some communities forbade women to serve as priests.
During the first 3 centuries of Christianity, the numbers grew very rapidly.
It influenced Roman life and taught the spiritual equality of the sexes.
By the 3rd century CE, it had become the most dynamic religious faith in
the Mediterranean basin.
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Greek Philosophy/Salvation
 During the early days, Romans recognized many gods/ goddesses who
they believed intervened in human affairs. (Jupiter, lord of heavens, Mars,
god of war, Ceres, god of grain, and Janus, god who watched over
houses)
 The Romans drew inspiration from the Greek tradition of philosophy.
 The most prominent thought in Hellenistic Greece was Stoicism. The
Stoics sought to identify a set of universal moral standards.
 Marcus Tullius Cicero adopted stoic values and was a persuasive orator
that wrote letters that emphasized the individual’s duty to live in
accordance with nature.
 He helped establish Stoicism in Rome.
 When thinkers drew inspiration from the Greeks, they found comfort in
religions of salvation.
 These religions of salvation flourished in Rome.
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The most popular religion of salvation was the cult dedicated to Mithras.
Mithras was a god associated with military virtues such as strength and
courage.
Mithraic religion was popular among armed forces.
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Mithras cults didn’t admit women.
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The cult of Isis admitted women, though, and it may have been the most
popular cult before Christianity.
Were dedicated to the goddess Cybele, and the Egyptian god Isis.
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The Social Order:
1) Royals and Patricians
 Included the emperor and patrician classes
 Sat at top of pyramid
 The elite class of Rome
 Emperor and family lived in suitable style, stayed in best villas, ate finest
food, dressed in the most magnificent clothes, and could spend their days
enjoying their favorite pastimes. But still wasn’t an easy life, the palaces
were constantly filled with political intrigue.
 Patrician is Latin for “patres” or father. These people provided the
empire‘s political, religious, and military leadership. Most wealthy
landowners from old families who were promoted by the emperor.
Enjoyed few privileges, were excuse from some military duties expected of
other citizens, patricians could become emperor.
2) Senates
 2nd on the Pyramid
 Held much less power than the predecessors
 Still had the right to confer the title of emperor
 There were 3 different ranks within the senators. Roman citizens age 25
or older with military and administrative experience could become
quaestors, then you could move up on the ladder to aedileship,
praetorship, and finally consulship.
 Senators had very special privileges, for example, they could hold the
highest official offices and judgeships in criminal and civil courts.
3) Equestrians
 Ranked immediately below senators
 Class of wealthy businessmen
 Important in human resource
 They headed the “Imperial Civil Service” that Augustus founded
 Tax collectors, bankers, miners, and exporters
 Could rise to the rank of senator
4) Plebians
 Rome’s working class
 Farmers, bankers, craftsmen, builders
 Little individual power
 Couldn’t write
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Lots in poverty
Sometimes formed mobs to riot or rebel against upper classes
Augustus created a system of state bribery known as “bread and circuses”
where he gave them free grain and controlled food prices so they wouldn’t
starve while they got free entertainment such as chariot races in
amphitheatres. This kept them from rioting.
5) Slaves and Freemen
 Most were foreigners and it was not based on race.
 Lives were very harsh; they were the property of their owners.
 Often whipped, branded, or even killed.
 Worked in private households, mines, factories, farms.
 Also could work for government to make roads and work on buildings.
 Slaves looked so much like Roman citizens that once they considered a
plan to make them wear special clothing, but it got rejected because they
thought the slaves would realize how many of them were working in Rome
and rebel.
 Slaves could be freed through manumission, which encourages them to b
obedient and hard working.
 Once freed, slaves could work the same job as Plebians.
Gender Structure
 Roman law vested immense authority in male heads of families. The
oldest male ruled the household as “pater familias” meaning “father of the
family”
 The father of the family had the authority to arrange marriages for his
children, determine the work that they would perform, and punish them for
offenses.
 The father also had the rights to sell them into slavery and execute them.
 When the children were newborns, the father had the right to decide
whether to keep the baby and accept it into the family or leave it
abandoned outside.
 The woman was usually much younger than the husband.
 Women usually supervised domestic affairs in Roman households, helped
select marriage partners for their children, and sometimes played large
roles in managing financial affairs.
 There were strict limits on the ability of women to receive inheritances, but
some clever women found ways to take advantages of loopholes.
 Only received basic education, if any.
 Women weren’t allowed to be active in politics and couldn’t vote or stand
for office. A few women ran their own businesses.
Political Organization
The Two Traditional Parties
 Populares
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o Extension of citizenship to provincials, for the cancellation of debt,
and for the distribution of land
Optimates
o The opposing conservative force, defending the traditions of Rome
and the existing order
Rulers of the Republic
 Rome was a realm of quasi kings: magistrates and senators
o Senate was made up of former magistrates and was much like the
court of a monarch
o Roman magistrates powers were absolute and the highest
magistrates were called the consuls.
o Considered to be kings, had the powers of them
The power of the offices
 The power of the office was know as the provincia
o It eventually became the name for the ‘kingdoms’ Rome ruled over
in its empire
 In those territories, governors, held the same powers as consuls over their
subjects
Offices:
Consul- Head of state
Dictator- Ruler in crisis
Pontifex Maximus- Religion
Censor- Public Morality
Praetor- Law Officer
Aedile- Public Works
Quaestor- Treasurer
Roman Army
 One of the world’s longest-lasting and most successful military
organizations in history
 Fought primarily with spears, or swords if they were wealthy enough
 Those who could afford horses fought as cavalry
 4,200 men total
The Republican Army
 Rome depended on citizen soldiers
o They spent their time farming but responded to the
government’s call in times of emergency.
 Rome was regularly at war
o Longer service was rewarded by rank and pay
 Soon, there was a need of more soldiers, then it was no longer a civic
duty, but a profession
The Imperial Army
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Once Augustus was in power, he worked to remove the army from the
political realm.
He divided Rome’s foreign holdings into imperial and senatorial provinces,
with the army based in the imperial provinces
Time of service was set at 20 years for citizens and 25 years for foreign
auxiliaries.
Roman citizenship was thrown in as a retirement perk fir foreigners.
By the 2nd century A.D. only about 1% of the army was actually Roman.
Pax Romana
 An era of relative peace
 Extended from the rule of Augustus to the reign of Marcus Aurelius
 From 27 B.C. to A.D. 180
 During this time Roman emperors generally focused on centralizing the
power rather than the expansion of the boundaries of the empire.
The Client System
 A client was a loyal supporter to a high-standing Roman family.
 The head of the higher family would be the ”patronus” or the patron
 The client supported the patron loyally in any venture, whether it’s military
or political.
 The client system formed foundations of the Roman state.
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The client system surrounding a patron would look out for its individuals.
Acted as a kind of police, made sure no harm came to their own, that
nothing was stolen from them.
If one was struck down by poverty, the other clients and most likely the
patron would make sure that they got a loan.