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World History Unit 3:
Ancient Rome – Republic to Empire
and Historical Christianity
Map of Ancient Rome (from 117 AD)
SPQR
Senatus Populusque Romanus
Rome as a Republic
509 BC to 24 BC
Romulus and Remus
• Legendary orphan brothers
– raised by a she-wolf
• Legend says they’re sons of
the god of war: Mars
• founded Rome in 753 BC
• Romulus killed Remus over
jealousy and rage
• Legend is central to Roman
sense of self – inside every
Roman citizen will be the
legacy of both the wolf and
a murderer. Romans will
take these traits with them
wherever they go.
Romulus and Remus
True story behind the founding of Rome
• Etruscans and Latins – two
tribes on the Italian
peninsula
• Latins founded the town of
Rome (date unknown)
• Etruscans settled in the lands
surrounding the city
• Series of wars raged for
centuries between the two
groups.
• 509 BC – Last Etruscan king
is deposed – Senate is
founded and the Republic
Established
Senate in Rome
Citizens of Rome
Patricians and Plebeians
• Patricians
– Wealthy families of Rome
– Only about 5% of the free
population (25% of the
population was enslaved)
– Position based on birth –
passed from father to son
– Very patriarchal – led by
the oldest male of the
household
– Controlled the Senate
through money and power
• Plebeians
– Lower / working class
citizens of Rome
– About 95% of the free
population of Rome
– Entitled to rights and
privileges due all citizens
– Formed the basis of Roman
society
– Eventually fought to gain
more control from the
patricians
– Will become the
“commoners” of European
society
Expansion of the Republic in Italy (509
BC to 264 BC)
• Rome immediately began to expand from the
eternal city
• Mostly by military conquest
• Conquered regions (such as Tuscany and Napoli)
were granted citizenship rights as long as they
swore loyalty to the Senate
• Really established a “Roman” Italy
• Set the pattern – everyone could be Roman
• By 264 – the Italian peninsula from the alps to the
tip of the boot was under Senate control
Punic Wars – Rome vs. Carthage
• Three Punic Wars (Punic – Latin for Phoenicia–
Carthage had been a Phoenician colony)
– First Punic War – over Sicily – Rome and Carthage about
equal strength – Rome wins and takes Sicily, Sardinia and
Corsica
– Second Punic War – attack by Carthage – Hannibal takes
elephants through the Alps – Romans win at Zama and
Carthage is reduced to a second rate power
– Third Punic War – attack on the city of Carthage by Rome
– unprovoked – Carthage destroyed – citizens sold into
slavery or massacred – salt dumped to prevent
resettlement
Map of the Med at the beginning of the Punic Wars
Legacy of the Punic Wars
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Rome expands off the Italian peninsula
Citizenship brought to non-Italians
Resistance is Futile
Roman drive to Empire
Local Autonomy – decentralized government
– Roman Procurator – taxes, administration of Roman
justice and keeping the peace
– Local Officials (different forms in each province) –
administration of local / provincial laws and help keep
the peace by working with Roman officials
Roman Lands after the Punic Wars
Corruption in the Republic
• Over the years, the Senate became more and more
corrupt
• Senators began to serve themselves instead of the
people
• As the republic expanded, the Senate lost touch with
the provinces, mostly due to the difficulty of
communication
• Eventually factions tore the Senate into different
warring camps – each faction had a rival mercenary
(privately paid) army
• Roman Army – by 50 BC was fighting to expand the
republic in Gaul (France) under Julius Caesar
Julius Caesar – First among equals
• Roman General in command of the Army in
Gaul
• Under orders from the Senate in 50BC to
expand the republic
• When civil war broke out in Rome, he
decided to take the army (against orders) to
the gates of Rome
• He’s wildly popular with both the soldiers in
his army and the people at large
• 49 BC – Caesar takes Rome – tells the
Senators to get back to work – it’s only
temporary
• 46 BC – Caesar has himself declared
“dictator for life” by the Senate
• March 15, 44 BC – Caesar assassinated on
the steps of the Senate
Roman Civil War
• Octavian vs. Marc Anthony and Cleopatra
– Octavian
• Julius Caesar’s nephew
• named by Caesar as successor
• Controlled about ½ the army (because of his uncle)
– Marc Anthony
• Caesar’s highest ranking general and best friend
• Gave one of the most memorable speeches of all time when Caesar died
(immortalized 1500 years later by Shakespeare)
• Refused to follow Octavian – he loved Cleopatra
• Controlled about ½ the Roman Army
– Cleopatra
• Pharaoh of Egypt (not Egyptian, but rather Greek – legacy of Alexander the
Great’s conquest of Egypt in the 4th century BC)
• Married to Julius Caesar and had a son with him
• After Caesar’s death – sided with Anthony against Octavian
Roman Civil War – part 2
• Lasted 20 years (44 BC to 24 BC)
• Control eventually swung to Octavian
• Anthony committed suicide by falling on his sword
before he was captured
• Cleopatra was captured – while under arrest she
committed suicide by having an asp brought to her by
servants – within minutes of the snakebite, she was
dead
• 24 BC – Octavian becomes first emperor of Roman
Empire and is granted the title of “Augustus Caesar” –
he will bring stability and order to the empire
Augustus Caesar
• First Among Equals (first emperor)
• Hero of the people because of his link
to Julius Caesar
• Rules for 41 years with an iron fist, but
brings stability and order to Roman
Empire
• Ushered in a period of peace and
prosperity (Pax Romana) for the empire
• Ended most of the corruption and
reformed the tax code
• Massive construction projects
• Reported to have said that he “found
Rome brick and left it marble”
• Instituted a census of the empire in
4BC (Roman year 505)
Pax Romana
• Period of relative peace and
stability from 24 BC to 180 AD
• Time of expansion in the
empire
• Mostly good emperors – they
thought more about the empire
then themselves
• Citizenship expanded and
major internal improvements
took place across the empire
• Stability and peace allowed for
the expansion of Christianity
(went along Roman roads that
were protected by Roman
soldiers)
Biblical vs. Historical Christianity
Historical Christianity – part 1
(birth of Jesus)
• 4BC – Augustus orders a
census of the empire
• Israelites were required
to return to their family
home city
• Records from Bethlehem,
Judea show a Joseph (a
carpenter) and Mary (his
wife) of Nazareth with an
unnamed newborn son
• Biblical story appears to
match Roman records
Historical Christianity – part 2
(Death of Jesus)
• Jewish and Roman records
from 26 AD (Roman year
535) speak of a new rabbi –
Jesus of Nazareth and his
growing movement
• 29 AD – Jesus arrested (by
Jewish leaders) and executed
(by the Romans)
• INRI -- IESVS
NAZARENVS REX
IVDAEORVM (Jesus of
Nazareth, King of the Jews)
• Students should take notes
from the movie
Spread of Early Christianity
• Peter
– apostle who, according to
biblical sources, was
appointed to lead the Church
by Christ himself (he’s thus
the first “pope”)
– Jesus was the fulfillment of
the Jewish promise of a
messiah, so one had to be
Jewish first in order to accept
Christianity
– Church spread very slowly
under his leadership
– Most Jews refused to accept
Jesus as a messiah
Bringing Christianity to the Gentiles
• Paul
– Originally named Saul
– Educated Jew from Tarsus,
Anatolia (modern Turkey)
– Persecuted Christians
– According to Christian tradition,
while Saul was on the way to
Damascus, Syria he met the risen
Christ and had an immediate
conversion
– Brought Christianity to the nonJews (Gentiles) of the empire
– Tradition says he walked 8000
miles around the empire
establishing Churches
– Wrote letters back to the Churches
(some of them are in the Bible)
Paul’s Journeys around the Empire
(37 AD to 67 AD)
Fall of Rome
Internal problems
External Threats
• Spread of
Christianity
• Bad Emperors
• Size of the Empire
• Lack of
Communication
• Shift of culture to
the East
• Atilla – the Scourge of God
• Huns on Europe’s doorstep
• Germanic Invasions
– Anglo/Saxons
– Franks
– Visigoths
– Ostrogoths
Internal Issues within the Empire
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Christianity as a cancer
Lack of communication
Size of the Empire
Commodus sends empire down the toilet
Attempt at a solution
– Diocletian and Constantine
– Creation of the Byzantine Empire
• Fall of Western Rome
Christianity as a Cancer to Rome
• Christianity spread among lower classes and women – the
hook was salvation in the afterlife
• Slaves picked up on it
• At first Rome didn’t really care
• Problem – Citizens must pray to the emperor’s god for the
health of the empire
• Christians refused – that’s treason against Rome
• Thousands were executed
• Emperor Nero’s bar-B-Que parties
• As the new religion continued to spread, citizens began to
identify themselves with Christianity, not with Rome. This
shift took away a fundamental pillar of Roman society.
Diocletian Split the Empire in 285 AD and appointed a subemperor in Byzantium
Constantine the Great
• Had a battlefield conversion to
Christianity and soon after
made Christianity a legal
religion in the Empire
• Moved the imperial capital
from Rome to Byzantium in
306 AD
• Renamed the capital after
himself – Constantinople
• Eastern Rome will thus be
known as the Byzantine
Empire – will last until 1453 AD
External Invasions caused Rome’s Collapse
• Attila and the Huns
– Scourge of God
– Fierce warriors from Asia
– In Russia by about 300 AD (bad timing)
• Germanic Invasions
– Anglo/Saxons
– Franks
– Ostrogoths
– Visigoths
Attila and the Huns
Germanic Invasions by 476
Germanic Invasions
• Franks
• Anglo/Saxons
– Invade Gaul
– Invade Britannia
– Adopted Christianity very
– Anglo-land (becomes England)
quickly
– Brought Germanic language to
– Strong bond between Franks
Britain (became Old English)
and the institutional church
• Ostrogoths
– Defended Christianity against
– Finally settle on Iberian
the Muslim invasion of Western
Peninsula (today’s Spain and
Europe
Portugal) – adopted
• Visigoths
Christianity
– Invaded Italy
– Will be kicked out during the
– Captured Rome in 476 AD and
Muslim invasions of the 7th
forced the last sub emperor
century
from the throne
Western Europe after 476 AD
• Medieval kingdoms –
decentralized governments
and lack of trade
• Decline in the cities
• Strong institutional Church
• Pope as the most powerful
man in Europe
• “Dark Ages” – 476 AD to
1400 AD