Download Ancient Rome and the Rise of Christianity

Vocabulary
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Republic
Patrician
Consul
Dictator
Plebeian
Tribune
Veto
Legion
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Imperialism
Latifundia
Mosaic
Aqueduct
Messiah
Apostle
Bishop
Patriarch
CHAPTER 6
Ancient Rome and the Rise of
Christianity
(509 B.C.–A.D.476)
37
*Two geographic factors played a
major role in the growth of Rome
Central location
Lack of geographic
barrier
Etruscans
In 509 B.C. the Romans drove out their Etruscan king
• *Set up a republic (thing of the
people)
• 300 member Patrician Senate
• Senate elected two Consuls
as the executive branch
• In event of war a dictator was
elected and granted power for
six months
In 450B.C. Plebeians
demanded more power
• *Laws of the Twelve
Tables
– The earliest code of
Roman law
• Could elect their own
officials called
Tribunes.
– plebeian tribunate
– *Had the power of veto
(Lat. "I forbid") over
elections, laws, decrees
of the senate
• A dreadfully deformed child shall
be quickly killed.
• females should remain in
guardianship even when they have
attained their majority.
• A man might gather up fruit that
was falling down onto another
man's farm.
• If one is slain while committing
theft by night, he is rightly slain.
• Marriages should not take place
between plebeians and patricians
War and rivalry with Carthage
264 B.C. to 146 B.C.
Punic Wars
• *General Hannibal
– Led Carthaginian army
over the Alps
– Fought Rome for 15
years before being called
back to Carthage
– Took poison
– Carthage destroyed and
survivors sold in slavery
By 133 B.C. Roman territory
extended from Spain to Egypt
*Called the Mediterranean
Mare Nostrum meaning
(“Our Sea”)
Summary
Summarize your notes using at least
four sentences
From Republic to Empire
*Social Effects of Expansion
• New class of wealthy
Romans
– Bought huge estates and
used slaves to work them
• Forcing small farmers
bankrupt
– Angry mobs rioted
A Roman could tell how
important or wealthy a person
was from their toga
Julius Caesar
100 - 44 B.C.
Forced the Senate to make him dictator
• * Reforms Rome
• Public works
• Gave land to the poor
Ides of March 15th 44B.C.
• Gave Roman citizenship
more people
Caesar stabbed to death
of the steps of the Senate
• Introduced the Julian
calendar
Rome again in civil war
The end of the Republic
MARCUS
ANTONIUS
83-31 BC
Caesar’s chief
general
Cleopatra
B.C. 69-30
The Last
Pharaoh
Gaius Octavius
63 B.C. - 14 C.E.
Caesar’s
grandnephew
Augustus Caesar
“Exalted one”
*Pax Romana or Roman
Peace
* Augustus Contributions
•Created a stable gov’t.
• Well trained civil service.
• Gov’t jobs went to those with
talent .
• Allowed cities and provinces
a large measure of selfgovernment
Pax Romana opened up trade
*Extending Roman influence and culture
along the growing silk road trade network
Summary
Summarize your notes using at least
four sentences
*CIRCUS MAXIMUS
Racing Chariot
Third of a mile long and 150 yards wide, the
Circus Maximus allegedly held 250,000 people."
Military Chariot
*The Coliseum
Tour
Over 160 ft high with eighty entrances, the Coliseum could hold upwards of 50,000
spectators. Public events such as gladiator fights, mock naval battles and wild animal
hunts were held at the Coliseum. During the staged fights as many as 10,000 people
were killed. Fighters were slaves, prisoners or volunteers. Spectators saw persecuted
Christians killed by lions. After 404 AD gladiatorial battles were no longer held, but
animals such as lions, elephants, snakes and panthers continued to be massacred in the
name of sport until the 6th century.
*Greco-Roman civilization
A blend Greek, Hellenistic,
and Roman achievements
Aqueducts and Roads
Many used after Rome fell and some even today
Science
*Ptolemy proposed
the earth centered
universe which
lasted for 1400 years
*It was Galen who first introduced
the notion of experimentation to
medicine.
On the Natural Faculties remained the
authority on medicine until the
sixteenth century
Rome’s greatest legacy
“The rule of law”
A principle that
continues to
shape western
civilization today
*Common principles
• Equal before the law
• Presumed innocent
• Face accuser and defend
• Guilt through evidence
• Fair decisions
Summary
Summarize your notes using at least
four sentences
The Rise of Christianity
Romans conquered
Palestine in 63 BC
*Jews were tolerated
and excused from
worshiping roman gods
Jews absorbed Greek
influence creating rifts
in the religion
Jesus, the founder of Christianity
Called himself the Son of God
Said his mission was to bring
spiritual salvation and eternal
life to anyone who would
believe in him.
Our history comes from the
Gospels.
• Written by four of his
followers
Was Jesus Dangerous?
*Jewish priests considered
Jesus dangerous to their
leadership
They became jealous of the great
crowds that followed Him and
believed in Him, and finally decided
to get rid of Him by having Him
killed.
*Romans considered
Jesus a revolutionary
He was tried and crucified
Spread of Christianity
Jesus talked to his disciples
telling them to spread his
word
Those who spread his
message are know as
Apostles
Greek ideas from
Paul from Asia Minor
Plato and the Stoics
*Christians were persecuted moderated the
Christian church
and became Martyrs
which many Romans
liked
Christianity the official of the
Roman Empire
*After the empire fell,
The Church preserved,
adapted and spread
Greco-Roman
civilization
Theodosius the Great
346-395
Reforming emperors tried to
reverse the decline
*Diocletian in 284
• Divided the empire
into two parts
• Fixed prices
*Constantine in 312
• Granted toleration to
Christians
• Built a new capital in
Constantinople
Foreign Invasions
*Christian Romans
saw the Huns as the
very Horsemen of
the Apocalypse.
Pushed the Germans
(Visigoth) into Roman
territory
In 410 the Visigoth
*Internal problems combine
general Alaric
with foreign invasion to bring
plundered Rome
about the “fall” of Rome
*Causes for Rome’s downfall
• Military causes
– German invasions
– Lack of discipline among
the empire’s soldiers
• Political causes
– Authoritarian and corrupt
government
– Division of the empire
• Economic causes
–
–
–
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Heavy taxation
Diminishing wealth
Reliance on slave labor
Population decline
• Social causes
– A decline in moral values
– A devotion to luxury and
self-interest among the
upper classes
– A loss of self-reliance
among the masses
Summarize your notes
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