Download Political - Spring Branch ISD

The Roman Empire
• Rome is on the Tiber
River in Italy.
• Romulus founded
Rome (753 B.C.E.)
• First rulers; Etruscans
(eighth to fifth centuries
B.C.E.)
• Overthrew Etruscan
(509 B.C.E.)
• Created a republic, a
government of elected
officials.
• Senate; in the
republic era
particularly
represented the
wealthy landed
aristocracy,
known as
Patricians.
• Set the policy
for Rome.
• 2 consuls ran the
government and
commanded the army.
• One year terms.
• Chosen by Senate.
• Could veto each other.
• Most Romans were
plebeians; small
farmers.
• Had “Assembly of
Tribes,” where they
passed laws and select
magistrates, officials to
run the government.
• Unlike Athenian
democracy, Republican
Rome believed in
division of powers
within the state..
• Tribunes were
elected to represent
the plebeians.
• Had veto power over
Senate and Consuls.
• The “Laws of the Twelve
Tables” was publically
displayed (450 B.C.E.).
• Known as “the way of
the ancestors” the “rule
of law” represented the
value of the Roman
Republic.
• Roman citizenship
given to conquered
peoples for supplying
troops and tribute to
Rome.
• By 275 B.C.E., Rome
controlled the entire
Italian Peninsula.
• Rome and Carthage
wanted to control
western Mediterranean
trade.
• They fought three wars
(264 and 146 B.C.E.),
known as the Punic
Wars.
• Rome destroyed the
city, enslaved the
population, and salted
the land to make it
infertile.
• Known as a
“Carthaginian Peace.”
• Rome conquered from Britain to Mesopotamia (1st century C.E.).
• Mediterranean Sea was called the Roman lake.
• Motivation for expansion was due to the wealth of eastern Mediterranean
societies
• Regions outside of
Italy were
organized into
provinces governed
by a general.
• Becoming an empire
killed the Republic.
• Generals raised armies
by promises of land.
• Creates personal armies
loyal to the general not
Rome.
• Civil war begin when
generals opposed one
another for leadership of
Rome. `
• Through Roman history, it was an aristocracy, a democracy,
or a monarchy?
• When Aristides described the Roman Empire as “a common
democracy of the world, under one man, the best ruler and
director”, he was
Reflecting that the
Roman Empire was
the best of democracy
and monarchy: the
people’s wishes were
fulfilled, and the
emperor was fair and
just.
• Julius Caesar became
dictator for life (46 B.C.E.).
• He revised calendar,
increased size of Senate,
granted land to poor
veterans, and added Egypt to
the empire.
• Attacked and killed on
Senate floor (March 15, 44
B.C.E.).
• Anthony and
Octavian divided
the Empire
between them
into east and
west.
• Battle of Actium
Octavian
defeated Anthony
and proclaimed
himself sole ruler
of Rome (31
B.C.E.).
• Proclaimed “Augustus Caesar.”
(Venerable/Devine)
• Mythological figures on breastplate suggest
that political authority was divinely
ordained
• Begins the Pax Romana, 200 years of
Roman peacetime.
• Aristides says Roman Empire was “a
common democracy of the world, under one
man, the best ruler and director”.
• Reflecting that the people’s wishes were
fulfilled, and the emperor was fair and just.
Why is this baby
hanging on to
his leg?
• One important reason for Rome’s decline was its drop in population,
caused by epidemics, brought by the Silk Road.
• Declining trade led to
fewer taxes.
• Less money; roads and
aqueducts not repaired,
armies not paid.
• Armies mutinies led
meant boarders not
protected.
• Attila The Huns
migrated from Asia to
Gaul (5th century C.E.).
• Migration pushed
barbarian Visigoths,
Ostrogoth, Vandals,
and Franks into the
empire.
• “Barbarian” would be
someone who is not
part of a civilization.
• These nomadic invaders had
advantages over empire armies
because they were more skilled
as horsemen.
• Visigoths sacked Rome (410
C.E.).
• When Germanic tribes entered
into the western part of the
Roman Empire, they did not
Romanize but produced a hybrid
culture that drew on both
Germanic and Roman elements.
• The eastern portion of the
Roman empire, known as
the Byzantine Empire,
experienced less decline
than the west due to:
– Had older traditions of
civilization
– Less pressure from
barbarian invasions
– More active trade
– More wealthy
• If the Greek genius was
politics, the Roman
genius was engineering.
Creating aqueducts; use
gravity to transport water
to the cities.
• Public toilets.
Street drainage
and underground
sewage systems.
• Most cities had free public baths.
•
Built a network of roads that made movement of trade goods, written
orders, and soldiers easier.
• Develop the
overshot water
wheel.
It utilized water
_____ times more
efficiently than the
undershot water
wheel.
• Polytheistic.
• Religion has nothing
to do with morality, it
is there to ______.
• So Romans tolerated
religious diversity.
• Pontifex Maximus; led the state religion.
• Ancestor worship; the value of the Roman Republic, idealized as
“the way of the ancestors” was Rule of law.
The Roman
Empire
emphasized
good laws while
the Han dynasty
emphasized
good men
(Confucius.)
• From this image we see that the central figure represents the spirit
of the male head of the household.
• Such shrines to ancestor worship would be found in a wall niche in
someone’s home.
• The domestic
shrine called
the lararia
suggest that
Romans
believed that
guardian
spirits
provided
protection
within the
home.
• Wanting a more
spiritual belief
some joined a
“mystery cult,”
religious groups
whose followers
were promised an
afterlife if they
underwent secret
rituals and
purification rites.
• Christianity also offered
hope for an afterlife.
• Inspired by Jesus.
• A reform form of
Judaism.
• His followers (disciples)
spread his teachings
urban areas.
• Popular among the urban
poor, slaves, and women.
• Unlike Judaism, women
held leadership roles in
early Church.
• Followers transformed
Jesus into God.
• Jesus taught to
“Love your enemies
and pray for those
who persecute you.”
• Christianity and
Buddhism both
attracted the
masses because of
their belief that
people were equal.
• Early Christianity was spread by
merchants and missionaries
along trade routes.
• One of Jesus’ followers was
Peter (died 64 C.E.), who
traveled to Rome and is
regarded as the first pope.
•
•
•
During its first 500 years, Christianity evolved
from egalitarian small house churches into a
male-dominated hierarchical Christian church.
Emperor Constantine, 1st Christian emperor,
declared it legal in the Edict of Milan (313 C.E.).
By 500 C.E., Christianity is endorsed throughout
Europe and North Africa.
3. Written accounts of the religion.
• Four books describing the life of Jesus, the Gospels according to
Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John.
• Paul’s letters to early Churches.
• They form the New Testament of the Bible.
• Virgil’ “The
Aeneid”
• A story of the
founding of
Rome by exiled
Trojans. Rome.
• Livy’ “The History of
Rome”
• Historical account from
the Republic through
the early empire.
• Tacitus, “Annals”
• an important source to
modern understanding of the
history of the Roman Empire
during the first century.
• Philosophy based on
Greek ideas.
• Epicureanism; promotes
living simply, enjoying the
pleasures of life, and not
focusing on appealing to
the gods.
• Stoicism; people should
learn to accept the will of
the gods and remain
detached from pleasure
and pain.
• The stirrup
came from
Central Asia
that provided
greater stability
for riders,
making horses
easier to
control.
• Originally an
agricultural economy,
based on small farms.
• Over time, they tended
to develop large,
commercial estates.
•
Decline of Small Landowners:
1.
Slave labor; independent farmers and tenants could not compete
against production by slaves.
2. Military service; citizens 17 and 46, who owned land, were required to
serve in the military.
•
Many poor farmers sold their small farms before entering the army.
•
Wealthy patricians created huge estates, known as latifundia.
• Rome was connected to India and China through a trade network
known as the Silk Road; an overland transregional route.
• Maritime commerce took place across the Indian Ocean, and up the
Red Sea.
•
Social stratification.
•
Some upward mobility.
•
Equestrians; citizens with
400,000 sesterces
property value (soldiers
made 900 a year).
•
Could hold positions in
government.
•
Women engaged at seven.
•
During the empire, woman had more rights then
Greek, Indian, and Chinese women.
–
Could divorce
–
Inherit property from father
–
Run a business
•
The portrait of
Terentius Neo and
his wife suggest
that both the
husband and wife
were literate by
the time of the
empire.
•
Roman
emperors tried to
content the
masses by
organizing
games and free
food distribution.
•
A major sources of slaves were captured during wars.
•
Slaves comprised more than one-third of the total population
•
Used for:
–
Household care and tutoring
–
Work in mines
–
Agricultural labor
–
entertainment
–
Prohibited from
serving in the military
•
Sabotage was an example of the “weapons of the weak” used
by slaves to resist their enslavement.
•
Spartacus Rebellion (73 B.C.E.), large-scale, violent reactions
to oppressive conditions.
•
Slavery slowed
down growth and
innovation in the
Roman economy.
•
Little incentive to
develop new
technology.
•
Slaves ran business, and paid if they made a profit.
•
Some bought their freedom to become Roman citizens.
That concludes
The Roman Empire.
Any questions before the quiz on the next
slide?