Download Ancient Rome Guided Notes

The Roman Republic and the Roman Empire
I. GEOGRAPHY AND FOUNDATION OF ANCIENT ROME
A. In addition to Greece, another significant classical
civilization was ancient _________
B. THE GEOGRAPHY OF ANCIENT ROME
1. Rome was located on the _____________
_______________along the Mediterranean Sea; the
Romans were influenced by the ____________and a
neighboring tribe called the ______________
C. THE CULTURE OF ANCIENT ROME
1. Roman religion was polytheistic and based on the
____________ _________(usually only the
_______________changed)
2. Roman writing was called ____________; it was
based on ____________writing
3. Roman ____________________borrowed heavily from Greek styles; like Greek agoras, Roman cities had a
____________for markets and _____________ _______________
D. ROMAN SOCIETY: Society was divided among three major groups:
1. At the top were the ____________(called _________________); they
controlled most of the land and held key military and _______________ positions
2. Patricians made up ________ of all Roman ________________
3. Most Roman people were __________________ (called ________________);
they were farmers, shopkeepers, or peasants; plebeians paid the majority of
____________ collected in the Roman Republic; they made up __________ of
Roman citizens
4. At the bottom of society were _______________and residents of the Roman
Republic who were not Roman
II. THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
A.ROMAN GOVERNMENT: When Rome was first founded, it was ruled by
__________; but in 509 BCE, the Romans created a _______________; a republic
is a form of government in which ________________have the power to elect
their _______________
1. The most important feature of the republic was the _____________, whose 300 members were ______________by
citizens to ___________ ___________and taxes
2. In 451 BCE, government officials wrote down ____________ ___________onto the ____________ _____________,
which were hung in the forum for all citizens to see; the Twelve Tables were based on the idea that ______ _____________
of Rome had a right to the ___________________ of the law; the Twelve Tables made clear how the law would be
________________ to Roman citizens
3. The _____________ _____________ also has a republican government, very _____________to the one of Ancient Rome
B. ROMAN MILITARY
1. Rome was protected by an _________________ ____________ of professional soldiers (not part-time soldiers who were
farmers or merchants by trade)
2. Rome had the ______________ ___________ in the Mediterranean at the time; it was also highly ________________;
the Roman _________________were divided into groups of 5000 men called ________________; each legion was divided
into smaller groups of 80 men (called ________________) commanded by ___________ ______________called centurions
3. The highly ________________ command structure ensured that legions could be _________ deployed against the enemy
4. Advances in _______________ __________________ (such as catapults) enabled the professional Roman soldiers to not
only defend the Romans’ territory, but to _______________ it
C. THE PUNIC WARS
1. The Romans went to _________ with a neighboring kingdom, ________________(based in northern Africa)
2. The Carthaginians engaged the Romans in __________ _______ _______ over the course of about a _____________
___________; led by the great general _________________, the Carthaginians nearly defeated the Romans in the
___________ _________; they invaded the Italian peninsula and almost captured Rome
3. The Romans held the Carthaginians off, then ________________ _______________Carthage in the __________
_________; with Carthage’s defeat, the Romans were then the most ________________power in the Mediterranean,
carving out an _______________ _______________
D. THE EXPANSION OF ROME
1. Controlling this massive territory, though,
would present ________ _______________ for
the Romans
2. Rome’s expanding territory brought wealth,
but also brought issues:
 The new lands brought more
___________, which created a ______
_______________ for Roman citizens
 Generals who controlled the army became
_______ _________________ than
Senators
 People flocked to the big cities from
farms, which created _________
____________ shortages
 Struggles for power led to a series of __________ __________ between Romans
E. THE RISE AND FALL OF JULIUS CAESAR
1. From the turmoil within the Roman Republic, a new political _____________ emerged: a general named
___________ _______________
2. Julius Caesar partnered with two other Roman __________________ to take control of Rome (they formed a
__________________); Julius was extremely _____________ with the Roman people, due to his great military___________
3. Julius Caesar gathered ________ _____________to himself, looking to ___________ the Roman Republic’s problems
by initiating reforms; Caesar named himself ___________-______-________in 46 BCE, which weakened the Senators’
power a great deal
4. Fearing that he was becoming ________ ________________, members of the Roman Senate
conspired to _____________________ Caesar
5. Caesar was cornered and _______________ to death in the Roman Senate building, which
began the __________ of the Roman Republic
III. FROM REPUBLIC TO EMPIRE
F. AUGUSTUS CAESAR: THE FIRST ROMAN EMPEROR
1. The assassination led to ______________ __________ _________led by Caesar’s adopted son
________________ and his best general, Marc Antony
2. Julius Caesar’s death changed Rome; the people no longer ________________ the Senate to
___________ the Roman Republic
3. _______________ exacted _______________ on the Senators who assassinated Julius; Octavian
soon became undisputed ruler of Rome, renaming himself _____________ ____________
4. “Augustus” means “_____________ _________”; Julius Caesar’s last name became the title for “________________”
5. Augustus did away with the Senators’ power, eventually ending the ________________ ___________________of
Rome and becoming Rome’s first ________________; the Senate still met, but the emperor had all of the __________
_____________
G. PAX ROMANA
1. Augustus’ 41 year reign marked the beginning of a
207-year era of peace, ______________, and expansion
called “________ _______________” (the “__________
___________” ) from 27 BCE to 180 CE
2. The Empire was over 3 million square miles in size
and contained about ____ ___________ ____________
3. Pax Romana became the “___________ _______”
of Rome as emperors like Augustus built well-paved
_____________ and a modern infrastructure; they had
PAX ROMANA
a merit-based bureaucracy to rule the empire
4. Roman architects used new styles like
____________ __________ to beautify cities
5. Emperors built arenas and used chariot races,
________________ events, and theater to
________________ the Roman people
IV. ROMAN EMPERORS: THE GOOD, THE BAD, AND THE UGLY
Rome would have a wide range of ______________ _______________ over the years
THE GOOD:
1. Several emperors were ________________ ______________ (like Trajan and Marcus Aurelius)
THE BAD:
1. Some were not so good; Nero was _______________ and uncaring of the Roman people’s well-being; the legend is that
Nero played his fiddle while part of __________ ______________ (then blamed Christians for the fire)
2. Commodus was a __________ and inept leader, leading a life of _________________ and debauchery
THE UGLY:
1. Domitian was ______________ and devised many
_______________ and executions for his enemies
2. Caligula was a ___________________; he raped
whomever he wanted, _______________for greed and
_________________, and thought he should have been
treated as a god
Despite having some bad emperors mixed in with the great ones, the Roman Empire ___________ in size, power, and
______________. But all things come to an end, and the Roman Empire, for all its greatness, would eventually
_______________ and ___________.
CONCLUSIONS:
ONE: Rome expanded from a city, to a republic, to an empire
TWO: The era of the Roman Republic introduced representative democracy
THREE: The era of the Roman Empire led to the Pax Romana and the “golden age” of Roman innovation and culture