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ROME
Geography of Rome
• What is the key to Rome
success?
– LOCATION, LOCATION
LOCATION
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All Roads lead to Rome
Middle of the Med. Sea
Middle of Italy
Middle of Europe
Roman Geography
• Rome is centered along
the Tiber River
• Why is this important?
• Why are the Alps to the
North Important?
• Rome has a flat coastal
plain that allows for great
food production and
increased population.
Imperial Roman Road System
Mythical Romans
• Who were the early
founders?
– Romulus and Remus
• The two twin brothers
were abandoned at
childhood in the Tiber
River to save their lives.
They are raised by a
she wolf. The brothers
conquer the area that
will become Rome and
build the first city.
Romulus will kill Remus
and the course of
Roman history begins
Early Romans
• The Latins
– They wander across the Alps in 1000BC and settle in
an area of Latium they were simple Shepards
– Why are they important?
• Greeks
– The Greeks introduce their culture between 750-600
BC. Caused by colonies for trade.
– Why will this be important?
Early Romans
– The Etruscans
• Invaders of Rome between 1200-800 BC. They
introduce a civilized culture to the Latins. Introduce
a writing system, building methods and a mixed
trade economy. They have a harsh rule by their
Kings that comes to a head with the rape of a Latin
noble woman that results in a rebellion that led to a
revolt?
• Why is this important?
Republican Government
2 Consuls
(Rulers of Rome)
Senate
(Representative body for patricians)
Tribal Assembly
(Representative body for plebeians)
Dictators
Senators
Tribunes
Consuls
Quaestors
Preators/censors
Assembly of Centuries
Assembly of Tribes
The Class struggle of Rome
• Patricians
– Wealth land owning city
dwellers of Rome
– They hold most of the
economic power and
political power
– The dominate the Senate
and key offices of Rome
including the officer
positions of Rome
– Only a small percentage of
the Population
• Plebeians
• Largest population of
Rome
• Limited land ownership
• Limited political and
economic power
• Limited power to reform
or serve in the military
The Twelve Tables, 450 BCE
 Providing political and social
rights for the plebeians.
Punic Wars
• Rome and Carthage were competing
for trade.
• The two cities fight three wars.
• 264-146 B.C.
– Rome eventually wins
– Carthage is destroyed
– Rome gains territory (Africa, Spain,
Romania).
• Hannibal of Carthage
– Crosses Alps with Elephants
– Unable to attack city of Rome.
After the Wars
• Soldiers return home to find destroyed land.
• They sell land, move to cities.
• With no land, they can’t be in the army.
• Ex-soldiers become poor, jobless.
• Roman currency loses value, and inflation occurs.
• Land bought by wealthy who create large estates
(Latifundia).
– Conquered people were made slaves to work on these farms.
How will this conflict cause
political change?
How can this be seen in our
society today?
Problems
• Plebeians lack political power and rights
– Limited voting rights (lack of land ownership)
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Decline of landed farmers
Unemployment
Expansion
Standing armies
Political corruption
Reform Leaders
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
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the poor should be given grain
and small plots of free land.
Military Reformer
 Gaius Marius
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recruited an army from the poor
and homeless.
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professional standing army.
The First Triumvirate
 Julius Caesar
 Marcus Licinius Crassus
 Gaius Magnus Pompey
Rise of Caesar
• Caesar forms an alliance with two popular
generals: Pompey & Crassus.
• The three make Caesar governor of Gaul.
• He conquers all of Gaul, gains loyal army.
• Caesar’s conquests make him famous.
• Crassus dies in a battle.
• Pompey is jealous, becomes sole Consul.
• Pompey has Senate order Caesar to return
to Rome without his army.
Crossing the Rubicon…
• Caesar refuses to give up his army.
• Senate will declare Caesar a rebel if he crosses
the Rubicon River and into Italy with an army.
• Caesar crosses the river.
• This starts a Civil War.
• Pompey retreats to Greece.
• Caesar takes control of Rome.
• He then defeats Pompey in Greece.
• He makes Cleopatra queen of Egypt because
she is an ally of Rome.
Caesar in Power
• Caesar is made dictator for life.
• He takes all real power away from the Senate.
• He refused the title of “King”, even though its
what he really was.
• He grants citizenship to the provinces.
• He gives poor people grain and food.
• He starts an accurate calendar that is used until
1582 AD. (Julian calendar, 365 ¼ days).
• The month of July is named after him.
Beware the Ides of March!
44 BCE
The Second Triumvirate
 Octavian Augustus
 Marc Antony
 Marcus Lepidus
Caesar Augustus
• Beginning the Empire
– Augustinian Code
• Roman Law was rewritten and
solidified
• Basis of western laws today
• Equity
– Honest government
– Added to the road system
• 53,000 miles of paved roads
– Postal system and other city
infrastructure
– Standard currency system
– Improved harbors
Caesar Augustus
• Military
– Reduced the size but
created a permanent army
– Territorial expansion
• Purpose: to consolidate
boundaries, ensure peace
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Generalship given to loyalists—Agrippa and Tiberius
German defeat/consolidation (Herman the German)
Central Europe and the Balkans expansion
Spain consolidation
Africa, annexation of Egypt
– Pax Romana
• 60 million people in peace for more than 400 years
Julio-Claudians
• Emperors who succeeded Caesar for 50 years
• Tiberius
– Ruled well if somewhat ineffective
– Retired due to opposition
• Caligula
– Insane
– Killed by troops
• Claudius
– Good administrator
– Uncomfortable around people (lame and stuttered)
• Nero
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Mother killed Claudius for Nero
Nero killed his mother
Seneca and Burrus (advisors, died from Nero pressure)
Revolt and burning of the city
Committed suicide
Third Century Disaster
• Near collapse of the empire
– Military-oriented emperors
– Threat from consolidated Germans
– 24 emperors and 24 claimants/usurpers
• 45 killed by assassination (usually by their
own troops)
• 1 died in battle
• 1 died in captivity
• 1 died of plague
– Name of a Caesar reflects selfimportance
Julio-Claudians
• Four Claimants (69 AD)
– Galba, Otho, Vitellius, Vespasian
• All generals
• Vespasian defeated the others and became
emperor
• Vespasian founded the Flavian Dynasty
• Turned into monarchy
Flavians
• 69-96 AD
• Vespasian, Titus, Domitian
– Reasonably good
administrators
– First non-Patrician Caesar
• Suppression of the Jewish
revolt
– Destruction of Jerusalem
– Masada
– Timing—70 AD
Age of the Adoptive Emperors
• 96-193 AD
• The Golden Age of Rome
• 5 good and 1 bad emperor
– Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pous,
Marcus Aurelius, Commodus
– None were power hungry except Commodus
• Façade of constitutionality
• Hadrian separated the civil services from the army
– Army changed from greater mobility to
maintenance
The Greatest Extent of the
Roman Empire – 14 CE
The Rise of Christianity
Jesus
of
Nazareth
Against this background, a spiritual leader named Jesus of Nazareth
emerged, teaching people to prepare for God’s Judgment Day.
Life
Preaching
• Nearly all knowledge of Jesus
comes from Gospels—first four
books of New Testament
• Jesus preached message of
renewal and warning
• New Testament and books of
Hebrew Bible make up today’s
Christian Bible
• Created excitement by
performing miracles of healing;
defending poor, oppressed
• Jesus born in Bethlehem, near
Jerusalem
• Instructed people to repent of
sins, seek God’s forgiveness
• Learned carpentry, studied
writings of Jewish prophets
• Must love God above all, love
others as much as self
• Gathered group of disciples
The
Spread
of
Christianity
After Jesus’s death, his disciples began teaching that all people could
achieve salvation—the forgiveness of sins and the promise of
everlasting life.
Apostles
• Jesus’s 12
disciples worked
to spread message
• Earliest Christian
missionaries
• Apostles traveled
widely, teaching
mostly in Jewish
communities
Paul of Tarsus
Conversion
• Paul, originally
known as Saul,
born in Tarsus, in
Asia Minor
• Paul had
conversion on way
to Damascus,
became Christian
• Had actively
opposed those
teaching that Jesus
was the Messiah
• If not for his work,
Christianity might
have remained a
branch of Judaism
Results
Persecution
• As Christianity spread through Roman world, some local officials feared
Christians conspiring against them; arrested, killed many Christians
• Those killed seen by Christians as martyrs, people who die for their faith
Threat
• Christians persecuted at local level, but large-scale persecution rare during
first two centuries after Jesus’s life
• Large-scale persecution by Romans grew as rulers saw Christianity as threat
Imperial Approval
• Spread of Christianity hastened by conversion of emperor Constantine
• AD 313, Constantine made Christianity legal within empire, Edict of Milan
• By late 300s, polytheism gradually disappeared from empire
The Spread of Christianity
Expansion
of
the
Church
By about 100, priests who were trained in these ceremonies became
prominent within Christianity. The authority of the priests was based on
the authority Jesus gave the Apostles. This spiritual authority
distinguished the priests from the general congregation of the church.
Administrative Structure
• Church expanded, developed
administrative structure
• Bishop oversaw church affairs,
had authority over other priests
• 300s, heads of oldest
congregations, patriarchs, had
authority over other bishops
Peter the Apostle
• Many believed Peter founded
Roman Church, was first bishop
• Later bishops of Rome, popes,
Peter’s spiritual heirs
• Gospel of Matthew: Jesus gives
Peter keys to kingdom of heaven
• Therefore future popes inherit keys
Patriarchs did not recognize the popes’ supremacy claims at first, but
over time popes gained more influence within the Christian Church.
Diocletian
• 284-305 AD
• Ruled by decree
– Stabilized the empire
– Strong general with army
support
– Imposed will on
governmental agencies
– Unity
• Worship of emperor as a
mark of loyalty
• Persecution of the Christians
– About non-participation and
separateness
– Not about beliefs
Diocletian
• Divided the empire for better administration
– Tetrarchy (2 Augusti, 2 Caesars)
– Diocletian retired, forced Maximiam to retire
– Chaos followed
Constantine
• 306-337 AD
• Constantine’s father succeeded
Maximian as Augustus
• Succeeded his father as Caesar
• Became 1 of 7 claimants for control
• Fought wars to decide emperor
– Vision of a burning Christian symbol (chirho)
– United the troops and gave them courage
that "a god" wanted them to win (most
were pagans and accepted the protection of
any god)
Constantine
• Constantinople
– Built on Byzantium site
• Acceptance of Christianity
– Edict of Milan
• Eliminated religious contention
• Supported Christian religions
– St. Helena, churches
• Supported pagan religions
– Coins, inscriptions, built temples
– Nicaean council (325 AD)
• Sought to unify doctrine
• Used imperial troops to suppress
dissent among Christians
(Donatists)
• Conversion or unity?
Post-Constantine Period
• Theodocius I
– Strongest post-Constantine emperor
– Instituted Christianity as state religion
– Goths joined army to fight against Huns
– Revolt in Thessalonica (7000 killed)
• This was the first confrontation between the
church and the state
• Theodocius I forced to beg forgiveness (St.
Ambrose)
Barbarian Invasions: 4c-5c
Post-Constantine Period
• Huns
– Central base in
Hungary
– Warriors feared by
Romans and Germans
– Attila—last leader
• Invaded Gaul
– Defeated in 451 AD by a combined army
– Moved into Italy and defeated again
– Withdrew to Hungary
Post-Constantine Period
• Barbarians (illiterate and non-urban)
– Settled in Roman territory after pressure from
the Huns
– Goths split into two groups
• Ostrogoths—eastern Europe
• Visigoths—moved to Dacia (Romania)
– Allowed to live on Roman land
• Barbarians compatible with Romans
• Visigoths revolted after unfair taxing
• Theodosius the Great bought off the Visigoths
Fall of the Roman Empire
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West had longer barbarian frontier
Persians civilized and signed treaties
East had money to pay off invaders
Eastern boundaries easier to defend
Constantinople a fortress city
The Byzantine Empire
During the Reign of Justinian
The Byzantine Emperor
Justinian
The Legacy of Rome
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Republic Government
Roman Law
Latin Language
Roman Catholic Church
City Planning
Romanesque Architectural Style
Roman Engineering
• Aqueducts
• Sewage systems
• Dams
• Cement
• Arch