Download Chapter 5 Rome and the Rise of Christianity

Chapter 5
Rome
and the
Rise of
Christianity
Section 1
The Land and the Peoples of Italy
 Italy is a peninsula.
 Divided down the middle by the Appennines,
a mountain range. Didn’t isolate
communities. More land to farm.
 Rome located on Tiber River. Had way to the
sea, but protected from pirates. Built on 7
hills & easily defended.
 1500-1000 B.C., Indo-European people came
in.
 Latiums- spoke Latin, herders & farmers.
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About 800 B.C., Greeks and Etruscans came
in.
Greek influenced Rome; imitated their
sculpture, architecture, literature, alphabet.
Etruscans influenced Rome; changed Rome
from village to city; clothing (toga & short
cloak); organization of the Roman army.
The Roman Republic
 509 B.C. Romans overthrew the Etruscans &
formed a republic- a form of government in
which the leader is not a monarch, and
certain citizens have the right to vote.
 Next 2 yrs. Rome was constantly at war.
Defeated the Latium, Apennines, Greeks,
and Etruscans.
 Formed Roman Confederation. Gave
communities the possibility of becoming
citizens. Had stake in Rome’s success.
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Romans believed in duty, courage, and
discipline.
Good diplomats, gained support by giving
them citizenship & running their own
affairs. Never quit on military matters,
built roads between towns. Practical in
politics: designed a government in
response to problems.
The Roman State
 Divided into two groups.
1. Patricians -wealthy landowners, who
became Rome’s ruling class. Men could vote
& hold government offices (Consuls- led
government & led army & Praetors- in
charge of civil law).
2. Plebeians-less wealthy landowners,
craftspeople, merchants, and small farmers.
Larger group. Men could vote.
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Legislative Branch included the:
Senate: group of 300 Patricians. Served for life.
Advisors to government. Advice became law.
Centuriate Assembly: elected chief officials.
Consuls & Praetors. Passed laws. Patricians.
Wealthiest citizens.
Plebeians: not treated equally, not hold office,
children couldn’t marry patricians.
Created Council of Plebs to protect Plebeians.
Later allowed to be Consuls. Gained right to pass
laws.
All male citizens now supposedly equal under the
law.
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Rome’s 1st Laws- Twelve Tables. Applied only
to Roman citizens.
Laws of Nations were used when it involved
Romans and non-Romans. Established
standards of justice. Innocent until proven
guilty, right to defend themselves before a
judge. Judge expected to weigh evidence
before making a decision.
Rome Conquers the Mediterranean
 Fought with Carthage. 1st Punic War: Roman
navy defeats Carthaginian navy. Gave up
rights to Sicily & paid fine to the Romans.
Sicily now a province of Rome.
 Carthage focused on Spain. Rome
encourages revolt. Hannibal, the greatest
general, attacks Italy. 2nd Punic War. He
defeats the Rome at Cannae. Couldn’t win
the major cities. Rome attacks Carthage.
Hannibal recalled & is defeated at the Battle
of Zama.
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Final war with Carthage in 146 B.C.
Carthage destroyed and made slaves.
Becomes a Roman province.
4th Macedonian war made Macedonia a
Roman province in 148 B.C.
Greece and Pergamum soon followed.
Rome controlled the Mediterranean region.
Section 2
Growing Inequality and Unrest
 2nd century, Senate is the real governing
body & controlled by small group of wealthy
aristocrats.
 Small farmers lost land to wealthy & became
landless poor.
 Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus urged the Council
of Plebe to take land back from large
landowners & give to poor. Assassinated by
a group of Senators.
A New Role for the Army
 Marius recruited landless poor promising
land. Swore an oath of loyalty. Army not
under government control. Involved in
politics to get land for soldiers. Generals had
the power.
 Sulla commanded war in Asia Minor. Council
of Plebs tried to transfer power to Marius.
Sulla won and seized Rome in 82. B.C.
Wiped out opposition. Eliminated
assemblies. Set the stage for Generals to
use their army to gain power.
The Collapse of the Republic
 Next 50 yrs. torn by civil war. 3 men- Crassius
(richest), Pompey, & Julius Caesar (war heroes)
were victorious. Formed the First Triumvirate.
 Pompey- Spain, Crassius- Syria, Caesar- Gaul.
 Crassius killed in battle. Senators wanted Pompey
as leader. Caesar was asked to step down.
 Caesar marches on Rome, defeats Pompey, and
took complete control of the Roman Government.
Named dictator. Gives land to the poor & increased
number of Senators to 900. Weakened power of
Senate. Assassinated by Senators.
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Struggle for power. 2nd TriumvirateOctavian, Antony, & Ledipus. Split the
empire. Octavian took the west & Antony
took the east. Antony allied himself with
Cleopatra of Egypt. Octavian defeats Antony
& Cleopatra’s forces at the Battle of Actium.
Both commit suicide.
The Age of Augustus
 27 B.C., Octavian became the first Roman
emperor. Senate gave him title Augustus,
“the revered one”.
 31 B.C.-14 A.D. is the Age of Augustus.
 Commander in chief of the army. Only
Roman citizens could be part of the legion.
 Conquered more land but unable to conquer
Germany. Power wasn’t unlimited.
The Early Empire
 14-180 A.D.
 Select successor from family. Tiberius,
Claigula, Claudius, and Nero who took away
more Senate power. Emperors were more
powerful and corrupt.
 “Good Emperors”- Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian,
Antoninus Pius, & Marcus Aurelius. Created
“Pax Romana” or Roman Peace. Created
new programs to help poor: aqueducts,
bridges, roads, and harbor facilities.
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Trajan extended the empire into
Mesopotamia and the Sinai Peninsula.
Hadrian pulled out troops from Mesopotamia.
Too hard to defend. Strengthened
fortifications and built Hadrian’s Wall to keep
the Scots out of Britain.
2nd century, Roman Empire was at its
height. Covered 3.5million sq miles with 50
million in people. Citizenship to all free
people. Latin was language
Roman & Greek culture mixed and formed
Greco-Roman civiliztion.
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Trade flourished. A lot of people farmed.
Hugh gap between rich and poor.
Small farmers dependent on the wealthy.
Thousands of people depended on
government handouts of grain to survive.
Section 3
Roman Art and Architecture
 Roman sculptures imitated Greeks. Produced
realistic sculptures that show unpleasant
physical details.
 First to use concrete on a large scale.
 Used forms based on curved lines; arches,
vaults, and domes.
 Built bridges, roads, and aquaducts.
Roman Literature
 Age of Augustus also known as the golden
age of Literature.
 Virgil: poet, wrote Aeneid.
 Horace: poet, wrote satires that made fun of
human weaknesses.
 Livy: poet, wrote “History of Rome”. Good
storyteller, but not accurate
The Roman Family
 Head of the family was the paterfamilias, the
dominant male.
 Household= wife, sons with their wives, unmarried
daughters, and slaves.
 Father in charge of education. Greek slaves
taught.
 Boys learned reading, writing, moral principles,
law, & physical training to prepare them to be
soldiers. Married no earlier than 14.
 Girls were taught by tutors or sent to primary
schools. No secondary education. Married off 1214 yrs old.
 Marriage meant for life. Divorce added in 3rd
century.
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2nd century changes: paterfamilias no
longer in control. Women could own,
inherit, and sell property. Not segregated.
Could attend races, the theater, & events
in the amphitheater.
Women could not participate in politics
still, but had influence through their
husbands.
Slavery
 Had many slaves: brought as prisoners from
their many wars.
 Greek slaves: tutors, doctors, musicians, &
artists.
 Did all types of work.
 Conditions were pitiful for slaves.
 Some revolted & killed their masters.
 Spartacus led the most famous slave revolt.
70,000 slaves defeated several Roman
armies before finally being captured.
Crucified- put to death by nailing to a cross.
Daily Life in the City of Rome
 Rome capital of the Roman Empire & had
largest population. Overcrowded & noisy.
 Augustus set up police force.
 Rich lived in villas. Poor in apartment blocks
called insulae: poorly built, fire a problem,
no plumbing or central heating.
Uncomfortable. Whole family in 1 room.
 Most people spent their time outside.
 Augustus provided grain for the poor.
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Certain parts of Rome were beautiful:
temples, baths, theaters, government
buildings, & amphitheaters.
3 Main types of entertainment: Chariot
races in the Circus Maximus, Dramatic
performances at theaters, & Gladiator
fights.
Section 4
Roman Religion
 Focused on the worship of several
gods/goddesses: Jupiter, Juno, Minerva &
Mars.
 Believed that proper rituals brought peace &
prosperity. Had to earn the favor of the gods
to increase their empire.
 Tolerant of other religions & adopted some
of their gods.
 Emperors were officially made gods by the
Roman Senate.
The Jewish Background
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A.D. 6, Judah (Judaea) was a Roman province.
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The Jewish people were divided into political
groups:
1.
Sadducees wanted to cooperate.
2.
Essenes were waiting for a Messiah, who would
save them from oppression & bring the kingdom
of God to Earth.
3.
Zealots, who wanted to overthrow the Roman
rule.
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Tried to revolt, put down, & Jewish temple
destroyed.
The Rise of Christianity
 During the time of conflict in Judea, Jesus
began his public preaching. God’s primary
command was to love God and one another.
His teachings about humility, charity, and
love towards others would form the basis of
the value system of Western civilization.
 Judean authorities thought he was a
revolutionary who might lead the Jews into
another revolt against Rome.
 He was arrested, tried and convicted. Pontius
Pilate had him crucified.
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They believed that Jesus was the Messiah,
the long expected Savior of Isreal.
Simon Peter & Paul of Tarsus carried on
Jesus’ teachings. They taught that Jesus
was the Savior, the Son of God, who had
come to Earth to save all humans. His death
made up for the sins of all humans.
His resurrection, increased the number of
those practicing Christianity.
Jesus’ teachings were recorded into the
Gospel or “good news”.
Letters & epistles became the New
Testament (2nd part of the Bible).
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At first, Romans paid little attention to them
and then thought of them as a threat, since
they wouldn’t worship the state gods and the
emperors. This was considered an act of
treason punishable by death.
Roman government persecuted Christians
during the reign of Nero.
The Triumph of Christianity
 Because of persecution, Christianity became
more organized.
 Clergy (church leaders) had separate
functions than the laity (regular church
members).
 Christianity flourished in the 4th century.
Constantine, who became the first Christian
emperor, issued the Edict of Milan. This
officially tolerated Christianity.
 Theodosius the Great adopted it as the
official religion for Romans.
Section 5
The Decline
 After Marcus Arelius died, a series of civil
wars followed. Severan rulers formed a
military government and restored order. 20
of the next 22 emperors died.
 Roman empire being invaded by Sassanid
Persians, Balkans, Gaul, and Spain.
 Roman Empire close to collapsing because
of invasions, plagues, and civil wars.
 Diocletian & Constantine temporarily
restored the Roman Empire.
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The Late Roman Empire had a new
governmental structure, a rigid economic
system, and new religion.
Diocletian divided the empire into 4 parts,
with each having a ruler. He still had
ultimate authority because of his military
power.
Constantine continued to expand Diocletian’s
policies.
Army was increased to 500,000. Diocletian
set wage and price controls. People were
forced to stay in their jobs. Farmers lost their
land and dependent on large landowners.
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Built Constantinople on the site of Greek
city of Byzantium.
Had a strategic location.
Would become the center of the Eastern
Roman Empire and one of the great cities of
the world.
The Fall
 After Constantine, the empire was split in 2.
 Western Roman Empire’s capital was Rome.
Had problems with invaders: Visigoths &
Vandals. Around 476, Romulus Augustus
was overthrown and the Western Roman
Empire ended.
 Eastern Roman Empire’s capital was
Constantinople. It continued to thrive and
later became known as the Byzantine
Empire.