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History: Ancient Rome
Test Review
Name: _________________________ #-____ Date:_____________________
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I.
Rome and Greece
In the colonial era, the Greeks and Romans affected and influenced each other.
The two nations mostly interacted through trade at the black sea and Mediterranean regions.
The trade also thrived due to security from roman military.
Romans adopted believes and practices of the Greeks, both Greek and roman residents
practiced polytheist religion.
Roman architecture was characterized by arches and domes which Greeks didn't use. The
Roman and Greek temples were almost identical but the roman, incorporated few details like
domes and vaults.
The Greeks were intellectual, literate, artistic, sophisticated, and were all for enjoying life.
On the other hand, Roman people were hardworking, surly, ruled their life through superstition,
and most them were farmers.
Ancient Greece eventually became known as a major influence on almost every aspect of the
Roman Empire.
II.
Italy
Italy, a European country with a long Mediterranean coastline.
Its capital, Rome, is home to the Vatican as well as landmark art and ancient ruins.
Other major cities include Florence, with Renaissance masterpieces such as Michelangelo’s
"David" and Brunelleschi's Duomo; Venice, the city of canals; and Milan, Italy’s fashion
capital.
It was so strong the mark that let this civilization that absolutely everything that was done,
everything that was said and everything that was thought in the exterior icons has a relation
with this great western empire.
III.
Ancient Rome
The civilization of ancient Rome was at one the mightiest on the planet. Began as one small
settlement.
The early people of Rome were from a tribe called Latins. They were from the Plains of
Latium.
The Latins were successful farmers and traders and they became rich and successful.
Rome from its early days was a rich city. One legend says that the Trojan warrior Aeneas set
up a kingdom in Italy one legend says that the Trojan warrior Aeneas set up a kingdom in Italy
after the fall of Troy.
This city was named Rome after its legendary founder. Per legend, Ancient Rome was founded
by the two brothers, and demi-gods, Romulus, and Remus, on 21 April 753. The legend claims
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that, in an argument over who would rule the city Romulus killed Remus and named the city
after himself.
Romulus and his twin brother, Remus, found Rome on the site where they were suckled by a
she-wolf as orphaned infants.
Rome was originally a small town on the banks of the Tiber River, Rome grew and strength,
early on, through trade.
The location of the city provided merchants with an easily navigable waterway on which to
traffic their goods.
IV.
The Republic
The Etruscans provided a model for trade and urban luxury. When the last of the seven kings
of Rome, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 509 BCE, his rival for power, Lucius Junius
Brutus, reformed the system of government and established the Roman Republic.
The Republic is a government having a chief of state who is not a monarch and who in modern
times is usually a president; a political unit (such as a nation) having such a form of
government.
In the late 6th century BCE, the small city-state of Rome overthrew monarchy and created a
republican government that, represented the wishes of its citizens.
From this basis, the city would go on to conquer all the Italian peninsula and large parts of the
Mediterranean world and beyond.
The Republic and its institutions of government would endure for five centuries, wrecked by
civil wars, it would transform into a Principiated ruled by emperors.
Even then many of the political bodies, notably the Senate, created in the Republican period
would. endure, albeit with a reduction in power
The years prior to the rise of the Republic are lost to myth and legend.
Much of this history had been lost, the Roman historian Livy was still able to write a
remarkable History of Rome - 142 volumes - recounting the years of the monarchy through
the fall of the Republic.
For years Rome, had admired the Hellenism culture of the Greeks, and so it easily embraced
the story of Aeneas and the founding of Rome as penned by Roman author Virgil in his heroic
saga The Aeneid.
This story gave the Romans from today a link to an ancient, albeit Greek, culture.
This mythical tale is about Aeneas and his followers who, with the assistance of the goddess
Venus, escaped the city of Troy as it fell to the Greeks in the Trojan War. Aeneas eventually
made his way to Italy and Latium. His descendants were the twins Romulus and Remus.
Rescued from drowning by a she-wolf and raised by a shepherd, Romulus eventually defeated
his brother in battle and founded the city of Rome, becoming its first king.
Virgil Roman poet, best known for his national epic, the Aeneid.
V.
The Patricians
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When the Etruscan king was finally ousted in 509 BCE, the aristocratic families of the city the patricians - seized control of the government and created a republic, but a republic in name
only.
The noble patricians considered themselves privileged and better capable of ruling.
Certain people were born to lead and others were destined to follow.
Most the citizens, the plebeians, were denied any part in how, or by whom, they were ruled.
A Group of patricians, generally the most experimented ones, formed a counselor that limited
the supreme power of the king. This congress was called the Senate.
The Senate was acquiring power and prestige, which helped them later 510 BCE to abolish the
Monarchy, taking charge of the city’s corruptions.
It last more than 500 years.
The Senate had the support of the people, although for a while, the poorest sectors of the city
called the plebeians who wanted better conditions and more food, were organized to acquire
more rights.
To contain the discontent of the people, the members of the Senate devised a strategy: to obtain
more wealth by conquering other territories.
With the pass of the years, the Romans formed a solid army to expand their territory.
First, along the Italian peninsula and then conquered Greece, Gaul and finally the mighty city
of Carthage, which eventually granted the power of all the Mediterranean to Rome.
As Rome's expansion and wealth grew, a very successful general emerged who stood out
among them all. One day he decided to take absolute control in Rome to bring order to such
discontent, this general was called Julius Caesar and with him, Rome began his most glorious
time.
VI.
Julius Caesar and Augustus
Julius Cesar came from a patrician family and wanted to improve the conditions of the
plebeians.
Julius Caesar was assassinated at the foot of the steps in front of the Senate.
His death generated a popular upheaval and new revolts. Until finally Augustus, an adoptive
son of Julius Cesar became the first Roman emperor.
Augustus took care of ending a century of civil wars and gave to Rome an era of peace,
prosperity, and imperial greatness.
This ambition could be carried out only thanks to the formation of the most powerful army in
the world.
For this, they took the example of Alexander the Great, the great conqueror of Macedonia.
His soldiers used the famous tortoise formation that had given Alejandro such good results.
They also implemented the catapults that could throw stones with fire up to 20 kilos.
In the early days of the empire, Rome conquered from the Atlantic Ocean to the Euphrates
River and from England to the Sahara Desert.
The greatest extension of this empire was reached in the 2nd century A.C. during the rule of
the Emperors Claudius and Trajan.
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VII. The Roman Circus
Despite the conquests and the accumulation of power and riches for Rome, the tensions
between the patricians and plebeians were continuous.
So, the emperors sought a way to keep their people entertained, they created the “Roman
Circus”.
The Roman people loved to get together to watch the races of chariots, naval battles, and
bloody fighting in the sand.
Bulls, lions, and rhinos were taken to face each other or face a gladiator.
The men who submitted to these mortal trials were usually prisoners of war or criminals who
had been turned into slaves.
When a gladiator fell wounded, the emperor questioned the public, who in fury, answered
whether he deserved to live or to be executed.
The gladiators who emerged victorious from the battle, were liberated from slavery, and seen
as great heroes.
VIII. Roman Family
The core of Roman society was the family.
Rich families were the successors of the first inhabitants of the city.
All the patrician families had the head of the family (the Father known as a Patriarchal) who
was the maximum authority of the affairs of the home.
He was both a priest and a judge of conflicts between relatives, the father had authority of all
his members including the servants and the slaves.
It was best to be respectful and obedient with the Father because he had so much power that
the law authorized him to dispose of the life, the sale and death of any member of his family.
Each morning, after dressing in his robe and having breakfast, a Roman nobleman set out for
the Forum that was the administrative center of the city.
There he became aware of the news; He talked to his peers and was doing business.
After a light lunch and a long nap, the head of the family went to the public bath to relax in its
hot water and steam.
The Romans used ingenious boilers to heat the water.
They also knew very well how to get water to the center of the cities by building long aqueducts
from the springs and lakes.
IX.
The 12 tablets
The law was very serious in Rome because the one who broke them could lose their
possessions, even life.
The plebeians demanded that a code be established in which all the laws and their respective
modifications were recorded.
This code of norms is what today is known as the Roman Law. At present, all the countries of
the world are based on Roman law before proclaiming a law.
In Rome, there were rules for almost every aspect of life. Rules for buying and selling, to travel
and sail, to marry one another.
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Law in Ancient Rome was based off the twelve tables of law, which were twelve engraved
tablets including situations that a common roman might come across daily and how to handle
the situation.
The twelve tables were a way for the people to know the laws themselves because it’s the first
Mite they were written down.
These Twelve Tables were write by ten magistrates or elected government officials in ancient
Rome.
These tablets would become the basis for the future judicial system establish in Rome today.
Law was distinguished between private and public law.
Private law was more civil manners between to two private parties whereas public law was
more severe by punishment due to it being a crime fulfilled against the public.
Private law offenses were settled by compensation and Public law offenses were settled by
public punishment.
Punishment in Ancient Rome was decided upon by two factors: The social status of the
condemned person and the severity of the offense committed.
Some common punishments included: beheading, drowning in a sack, exile, torture,
imprisonment, being thrown to gladiators or wild animals as entertainment, crucifixion, or even
death.
The punishment also depended upon of the crime committed was a public or private offense,
usually private offenses were considered to be punishable by torture or death.
Private offenses were could usually be settled by a fee or forfeiting of your land. Social status
was major when deciding a suitable punishment for a criminal.
Public punishment was used to educate the citizens.
X.
The Latin
Thanks to the development of this language, the Romans could express many sophisticated
ideas.
Not all languages had the same possibility of expressing thoughts, there were peoples who
used the same words but with other meanings.
All these peoples of primitive languages were called Barbarians since the only thing the
Romans could understand was a constant Bla Bla Bla.
For the Romans, dominating the Latin language was considered a sophisticated person.
From the Latin derives many languages known today like Castilian, French, Portuguese,
Italian, Roman.
Numbers in this system are represented by combinations of letters from the Latin alphabet.
Roman numerals, as used today, are based on seven symbols.
XI.
Fall of the Empire
With the fall of Rome, many changes occurred throughout Europe. Rome had provided a strong
government, education, and culture.
Now much of Europe fell into barbarianism. The next 500 years would be known as the Dark
Ages of Europe.
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Historians have blamed the collapse on hundreds of several factors ranging from military
failures and crippling taxation to natural disasters and even climate change.
Still others argue that the Roman Empire didn’t really fall in 476 A.D., since its eastern half
continued for another thousand years in the form of the Byzantine Empire.
Other possible reason
– Invasions by Barbarian tribes
– Economic troubles and overreliance on slave labor
– The rise of the Eastern Empire (Constantinople)