Download Chapter 5 Republic and Empire

Chapter 5 and 6
Roman Republic
and
Roman Empire
1
I.
Emergence of Rome
a)
Geography
i.
ii.
iii.
b)
c)
Mountains
Plains
Rivers
Inhabitants
Neighbors and Influences
Origin of Rome – Stories and Myths
Etruscans
Early Rome: 753 – 509 BC
II.
III.
IV.
a)
Two Groups Living on Peninsula
i.
Greeks
ii.
Etruscans
Roman Republic: 509 – 31 BC
V.
a)
b)
c)
d)
e)
Political
Economic
Religious
Military and Conquest
Family and Gender
i.
ii.
iii.
f)
Husbands
Wives
Adoption
Slavery
g)
Culture
i. Laws
ii. Culture / Attitudes
iii. Struggle of Orders – Social Divisions
h)
Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic
i. Growing Unrest
ii. New Role for Roman Army
iii. Collapse of the Roman Republic
Roman Empire: 31 BC – 4th century AD
VI.
Age of Augustus 31 BC – 14 AD
a)
i.
ii.
iii.
Military
Political
Social Structure
Early Empire 14 AD – 180 AD
b)
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
v.
vi.
vii.
viii.
c)
Political
Military
Economic
Social
Culture
Family and Gender
Legal
Religion
Late Empire / Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
i.
ii.
iii.
iv.
Civil Wars
Invasions
Christianity
Reforms


v.
Diocletian
Constantine
Causes of the Decline and Fall of the Empire
VII. Selected Emperors and their Stories
VIII. Conclusion
Roman history can be divided into three periods or episodes:
Rome’s Origins:
753-509 B.C.
Roman Republic:
509 B.C. and 31 B.C.
Roman Empire:
31 B.C. to A.D. 476
I.
Emergence of Rome
a) Geography
i.
Mountains

Apennine
ii. Plains

Latium
iii. Rivers




Tiber River
Po
Arno
Rubicon
b) Inhabitants
a)
Neighbors and Influences
•
•
•
Aequi, Greeks
Sabines, Volscians
Etruscans
Origin of Rome – Stories and Myths
II.
Latin Speakers – Indo European

Aeneas

•
Virgil, TheAeneid
–
Written 30 BC
–
Lavinium
–
Aeneas, Lavinia, Silvius.
–
Silvius, Ascanius.
–
Alba Longa
–
Thirteen kings ruled after Ascanius … and the 13th was Amulius.
Romulus and Remus, 753 B.C.

•
•
•
Rome – hilltop on plain of Latium
Horatius
Shepherds
III. Etruscan
a) Etruscans
a) North
b) Greatest impact on early development
IV. Early Rome, 753-509 B.C.


DO NOT WRITE – JUST READ
Livy admitted that: "Events before Rome was
born have come down to us in old tales with
more of the charm of poetry than of sound
historical record, and such traditions I propose
neither to affirm nor refute."
a) Two Main Groups living on the Italian Peninsula
 Greeks
 Greatest impact overall.
 Alphabet, Olives, Art, Cultural models, architecture,
literature
 Etruscans
 Control 100-125 years
 adopted many Etruscan customs - alphabet, toga, vaulted
arch, gladiatorial contests.
9

Creation of executive office – Consul – to be
given to two men, who would eventually be
called consuls.
 To prevent tyranny
 They could only serve for one year at a time.
V.
Roman Republic 509 – 31 BC
a)
Political

In 509 B.C., and after having expelled the Etruscans, the
Romans constructed a form of political organization we
call a republic.


Citizenship?
Four Major Components – Checks and Balances




1) Two magistrates or consuls
2) Senate
3)Assembly of Centuries
4)Assembly of Tribes
b)
Economic
i. Farming







ii.
Figs
Corn
Grains
Fruit trees
Olives
Vegetables
Grape vines
Trade






Textiles
Metals
Pottery
Olives
Wine
Wool
c)Roman Religion
 Polytheistic
 Every aspect of life was responsibility of individual
powers (numen)
 Morphed Greek gods into Roman





Piety toward others gods
Entrails, burnt offerings, feed the gods
gods – authority – state
Less personal – more civic duty
Cults
 Dionysus
13
d)Military and Conquest
 Need to consolidate power
South – Aequi, Greeks
East – Sabines, Volscians
North – Etruscans
 Gauls on the march – 4th century
sacked Rome
 493 B.C. established the Latin League
 Roman form of conquest - made them partners.
 Confederacy – all conquered and assimilated

Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean (264-133 B.C.E.)

Punic Wars – (Carthage and Rome)

First Punic War, 264-241 B.C.E.

Second Punic War, 218-201 B.C.E.
• began in Spain.


15
Third Punic War, 149-146 B.C.E.
By 44 B.C., the Romans controlled all of Spain, Gaul (France),
Italy, Greece, Asia Minor, and most of North Africa (80% of the
coastal lands of the Mediterranean).
e) Roman Family and Gender

Paterfamilias


Husbands / fathers

Power

Absolute
Women / wives

More opportunity than in Greece


Divorce

Arranged marriages

Dowry

Roles changed as empire expanded and by 2nd century AD

divorce more common

Women more control

Father did not transfer control to husband

When father died, daughter had more control of her life – dowry.
Adoption

Children


16
Not all members born into family became members of family
legal rights as natural born
 Domus
 Etruscan architecture
 Wealthy – domus – estates, compounds\
 Poor – insula – apartments
f) Slavery


Slavery common in ancient world
Before 3rd century – 1-2 slaves per farmer


During Republic period, most were from conquest
Prestigious to have many slaves


18
Greeks – had greatest influence on Rome overall.
 Irony
Revolts
 First Slave Revolt 135-132 B.C.
 Second Slave Revolt 104-100 B.C
 Third Slave Revolt 73 BC
 Sicily, Spartacus - revolted in 73 B.C.E.
g) Culture
i.
Law: Laws of the Twelve Tables.
i. Commission, statutes to fill ten bronze tablets, plebeians were
dissatisfied, two additional tablets were added.
ii. Culture and Attitudes:
Romans - practicality and efficiency
19
iii. The Struggle of the Orders: Social Divisions in the Roman
Republic
–
–
•
Plebians – poverty during 1st half of Republic
–
–
•
20
Withdrawal from city (1st half of 5th century BC)
Demands
Assembly of Plebeians created in 471 B.C.E.
–
–
•
The "Struggle of the Orders" – a struggle between patrician and
plebeian – developed over the issue of legality.
In 494 B.C., the plebeians threatened to leave Rome and set up their
own independent state..
4th century B.C.E. plebeians permitted to become consuls
Theoretically, by 287 B.C.E. all Roman citizens equal under the law
Outside enemies
h) Decline / Fall of Roman Republic (133-31 B.C.)
i.
Growing Unrest
i. Latifundias contribute to the decline of small
farms
i. Farm landowners were the backbone of the
Roman army
ii. Small farmers drifting to the cites forming a
large class of landless poor

By the middle of the 2nd century, there was a threefold problem brewing
in the Roman Republic.
•
•
•
1) the senatorial class, growing in number and more wealthy than ever before
2) the urban masses were divorced from the land
3) the army disgusted by the senatorial class
133 B.C. Roman politics, polarized around two factions in
Senate:



"Optimates"
"Populares“
 Reforms
 Gracchi brothers
 land reform
ii. New role for the Roman army
 Social War and the arrival of Marius and Sulla
 Marius
 Loyalty Oath
iii. Collapse of the Republic

22
Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar (1st Triumvirate)
Rome and its Emperors (select few)
Republic 509 BC – 31 BC
 Age of Augustus 31 BC – 14 AD
 Roman Empire 14 AD – 455 AD (approximate)
 Roman
VI. Roman Empire: 31 BC – 4th Century AD
i. Age of Augustus (31 [could also be 29] B.C. -14 AD)
a)

Military
To maintain order foreign and domestic –
•
Army
– 28 legions; 150,000 men
– Auxiliaries
– Praetorian Guard
•
Stabilization of the frontiers
b) Political



Emperor Augustus given title of imperator (commander-in-chief) by the senate
Inherited the Republican system
Governing the provinces
c) Social Structure

Roman belief – governance of world





Augustus encouraged upper class birthrate
Adultery was made criminal
Revised tax laws
Social Stratification: Limited Mobility



24
A divine rule believed by all Romans
Senatorial – economic based
Equestrian – anyone who owned property valued at 400,000 sesterces
Lower Classes – lost power when assemblies dismantled
ii. The Early Empire (14-180)
a) Political
• Five Good Emperors (96-180)
–
–
–
–
–
–
Augustus’ stepson and subsequent four emperors = Five Good Emperors
Pax Romana
Public work projects
Equal treatment
Tolerance / Diplomacy
Peace and prosperity for nearly 100 years.
b) Military

Frontiers and Provinces
• Consolidation of the frontier
• Strengthening the provinces

Cities and towns spread culture, law, and Latin language
c) Economic




Prosperity
Extensive trade -- food and luxury goods
Agriculture the primary occupation
Industrial development: bronze work, pottery, brickmaking
d) Social Conditions
Increased wealth – better conditions in Rome
Wealthy and poor treated well
212 – Roman citizenship for all
e) Culture and Society in the Roman World
 Roman Literature

Subsidized by wealthy patrons and by state
• Catullus (c. 87-54 B.C.E.)
• Virgil (70-19 B.C.E.), Aeneid
– Virtues of duty, piety, and faithfulness
• Horace
• Ovid
• Livy

Roman Art


Copy Greek statues
Architecture
• Arch, vault, and dome
f) Family
 Upper Class

Patrician / Equestrian
• Living conditions - good
• Weakened paterfamilias
• Women – more independence

Lower Classes
•
•
•
•
Living conditions – poor
Drudgery of life
Free grain
Entertainment
g) Roman Law

Twelve Tables, 450 B.C.E.
• Codified
• Civil law

Law of nations – Natural Rights
• Justice, Equality, Innocence
• All men equal before law (more theory than practiced)

Standards of justice established
• Innocent until proven guilty
• Right to defend themselves before a judge
28
h) Religion

Augustus attempted to revive Roman religion of worship many gods
• Polytheistic
• Toleration

Mystery religions / cults
• Hellenistic cults
– Sacrificial, emotional, bonding
– Mithras: agent for chief god of light (Sun)

The Jews


By 6 AD Judea was made a Roman province
Unrest among the Jews
•
•
•
•

29
Sadducees
Pharisees
Essenes
Zealots
Revolt of Jews in 66 was crushed by Romans four years
later

Growth of Christianity
• Jesus of Nazareth (c. 6 B.C.E.-29 C.E.), Messiah
• Paul of Tarsus (c. 5-c. 67)
– Preach the message to all, not just Jews
– Key figure in spreading Christianity outside Jewish
community
iii. Late Empire / Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
Imperial Rome








Largest population of any city in empire – 1.5 million
Polyglot
Overcrowded / noisy
Police force
Chasm between rich / poor
free grain
Entertainment!!
Gladiatorial contests – amphitheater or Coliseum
• Public spectacles
• Coliseum could seat 50,000

Condemned men and gladiators – sometimes free men – trained in gladiator
schools
 Decline

and Fall of the Roman Empire
Military Monarch 193 - 235
Civil war, 235 - 284
 Invasions

• Persians
• Germanic Tribes
32

Plagues

Population declined, trade and industry declined, labor
shortage, soldiers looted from farmers, debased coinage
(inflationary), armies unpaid and yet needed, agricultural
collapse, economic collapse, invasions, plagues – and the
Romans looked to mercenaries to help – hired Germans.

The Reforms of Diocletian and Constantine

Diocletian (284-305)
• Four administrative units
• Economic policies

Constantine (306-337)
•
•
•
•
•

Expanded on Diocletian’s reforms
Edit of Milan
New capital
Political reforms
Military reforms
Theodosius the Great – 378 AD – Christianity became
official state religion throughout empire

Fall of the Western Roman Empire
 Invasions
• Huns, Visogoths (germanic)
– Adrianople 378
– 451 – Aetius and Theodoric v. Huns under Attila
• Rome sacked by Visogoths
• Rome sacked by Vandals in 455

Other Causes for fall

1.

2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.








In the East, the Eastern Roman Empire continued
for another 1000 years.
 Byzantia

Constantinople
VII. Selected Emperors and their stories:
Julius Caesar - Antony – Cleopatra / Octavian and Octavius
Tiberius
Gaius
Claudius:
Nero:
VIII. Conclusion