Rise of
Rome
The Roman Empire
Protection
• The Alps and the Mediterranean
Sea provided protection for Rome
The Beginning
• According
to legend,
Rome was
founded
by
Romulus
and
Remus
(twin
brothers)
Lucky Number 7
• Rome was built on seven rolling hills at
a curve on the Tiber River
– This strategic location in the middle of the
Italian Peninsula gave Rome fertile soil.
Control of Rome
• In the beginning 3 groups inhabited
Rome:
2. Greeks
1. Latins
3. Etruscans
Greek Influence
• Greeks established 50 colonies
(settlements) in Italy
• These cities became busy with trade
• Brought Italy and Rome in closer
contact with Greece
• Greeks taught Romans how to grow
grapes and olives
The Etruscans
• Native to Northern
Italy
• They were skilled
metalworkers and
engineers
• Strongly
influenced Roman
civilization
Roman Mythology
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• The Romans based their
religion on Greek Mythology
–They were also polytheistic
–Many of the gods/goddesses were
the same, but the Romans
changed their names
–The gods explained human
qualities and life events
The Roman Gods
Roman God
Greek God
Represents
Jupiter
Zeus
God of light and sky
Juno
Hera
Queen of the Gods
Apollo
Apollo
God of healing
Diana
Artemis
Goddess of Fertility
Minerva
Athena
Goddess of wisdom
Aphrodite
Goddess of love and
beauty
Venus
Jupiter
• God of
light and
sky
• Supreme
ruler of
the gods
Juno
• Queen
of the
Gods
Apollo
•God of
music,
light and
healing
Diana
• Goddess
of fertility
and hunt
Minerva
• Goddess
of
Wisdom
Venus
• Goddes
s of love
and
beauty
Roman Literature
• Virgil – wrote the
Aeneid
– A Latin epic
– legendary story of
Aeneas, a Trojan
who traveled to
Italy where he
became the
ancestor of the
Romans
Architecture
• Romans brought many new ideas to
architecture
• Taught by the Etruscans
3.Cement
2. Baked Brick
1. Arch
Roman Arch
• A way to make a doorway or window
with no beams
Keystone
Aqueducts
• River water was
dirty with sewage
• Aqueducts
brought clean
water to cities
from far nearby
hills
Pantheon
• Temple built
for the
seven roman gods
Coliseum
• An ancient sports
arena in the shape of
an oval stadium
– Had mock battles
where over 10,000
slaves, prisoners
or volunteers were
killed
• Could hold over
50,000 spectators
Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.
Roman Legion
• Divided into
infantry and
cavalry
• 5,000 Soldiers
• Every citizen
had to serve
for 10 years
Roman Legion
• Divided into smaller groups
of 80 men called a century
Roman Power
Grows
• Roman
power grew
slowly and
steadily
• Eventually
conquered
The Defeated People
• Rome was lenient to the
people they conquered
–They were allowed to
be full citizens if they
lived on the Tiber
–Those who lived
further away had
citizenship but could
not vote.
The Punic Wars
• Eventually Rome
and Carthage
began to fight
over trade in the
Mediterranean
Sea
• They fought 3
battles
The First Punic War
• Fought over
Sicily for 23
years
• Carthage lost
• This was
Rome’s first
province
The Second Punic War
• Carthage was led by
HANNIBAL a brilliant
general.
• He used 50,000 men,
9,000 cavalry and 60
elephants.
• To surprise Rome he
went through the Alps
The Second Punic War
• For 10 years he
pillaged northern
Italy
• Finally a Roman
general name
SCIPIO defeated
Hannibal.
The Third Punic War
• By this time, Carthage
was no longer a threat.
• Cato a influential
senator reminded them
of the terror Hannibal
laid on Italy.
• Romans destroy
Carthage and sold all
of Carthaginians into
slavery
Rome In Control
Victory in the Punic Wars
gave Rome control of the
Mediterranean
From Republic to
Empire
Copyright © Clara Kim 2007. All rights reserved.
After the Punic Wars
• Increasing wealth and expanding
empire brought many problems
• The most serious problem was the
widening gap between the rich and
the poor.
1
• Thousands of slaves were
captured and made to work on
Latifundias = huge estates.
2
• Thousands of Soldiers returned
from war without jobs or homes.
• They moved to cities like Rome to
find work.
• They became part of the poor class.
Two Brothers
• Tiberius and Gracchus
tried to help Rome’s
poor by proposing to:
– Give land to the poor
– Limit the size of estates
(latifundias)
• The senators felt
threatened and the two
brothers were murdered
3
• Rich Romans
became corrupt
with money and
luxury and
tensions between
the rich and the
poor caused a
civil war!
Julius Caesar
• Eventually an
ambitious
and daring
leader
emerged to
bring order to
Rome
Triumvirate
• The First Triumvirate = Julius
Caesar, Crassus and Pompey
• Triumvirate = a group of three
leaders working together in
government
• He conquered all of Gaul in
France
Caesar’s Reforms
• He became the absolute
ruler of Rome = he had
total power.
• He expanded the Senate
by adding his friends
• Created jobs for the
poor and expanded land
• Raised pay for soldiers
Caesar’s Assassination
Why did Julius Caesar have enemies
among the rich and powerful?
• military victories = very popular with the Romans.
• His soldiers were very loyal to their leader so Senate
was afraid of his popularity and power.
• Pompey and some senators tried to take over power
and Caesar defeated Pompey.
• After the civil war, Caesar was given more power.
• Senators didn't trust anyone who wanted to be a
dictator and take their power. They thought he was
trying to end the Republic.
• Caesar tried to get control of the senate by adding
more senators who were loyal to him. Therefore, the
senators felt their power was slipping even further.
• He granted citizenship to many Greeks. This made
many Roman citizens angry.
Rise of Imperial Rome
• Octavian = adopted son of Caesar defeats
Mark Antony (Caesar’s best general
• Accepts title of Augustus = “exalted
one” and becomes Rome’s first
Emperor.
• During his rule Rome enters a time of
peace and prosperity known as the Pax
Romana or “Roman Peace”
The Age of Augustus
(Imperial Rome)
A Vast and Powerful Empire
• Octavian the adopted
son of Julius Caesar
accepts the title
Augustus (exalted one)
• During his rule, Rome
reaches its peak in power
and reaches a time of
great peace
• From 27 B.C. to 180 A.D
there will be a period of
207 years of peace called
the Pax Romana
Economy during Pax Romana
• Agriculture is the most
important industry of the
Roman empire
• Whole empire used
uniform silver coin called
a denarius which made
trade easier
• Had a huge network of
roads that connected all
the way to Persia and
Russia
• Created prosperity and
Government of Pax Romana
• Augustus was a great
emperor who:
– stabilized the frontier
– glorified Rome with
splendid public buildings
– Set up a civil service
• A civil service paid workers
from the Plebeian class to:
– Manage grain supply
– Collect taxes
– Manage a postal system
• Government was very stable
Emperor Succession
• Peace and prosperity
depended on orderly
transfer of power
• There was no written
law for how to transfer
the emperor’s power
when he died
• Five good emperors
solved this problem
only for a little time.
Rise of
Christianity
in Rome
The Teachings of Jesus
• Jesus born in
Bethlehem in Judea
• He was both a Jew
and Roman citizen
• He was baptized by
John the Baptist
Jesus’ Message
• By age 30, he began preaching
publicly and for 3 years he:
– Preached
– Taught
– Did good works
– Performed miracles
• Contained many ideas of
Judaism such as: Monotheism
and the 10 Commandments
• He emphasized God’s personal
relationship with each human being.
Jesus’ Message
• Stressed importance of love for
God, neighbors, enemies and
even their own selves.
• He gathered 12 apostles or
pupils = disciples
• Main source of information about
Jesus comes from the Gospels –
the first 4 books of the New
Testament of the Bible
• Gospels written by one or more of
the apostles (disciples).
Jesus’ Death
• The people called him
the Messiah which
means King.
• This worried the Roman
and Jewish leaders,
Pontius Pilate a Roman
governor arrested
Jesus.
• Sentenced to be
crucified or nailed to a
cross.
Resurrection
• According to
Gospels he rose
from the dead and
ascended to
heaven
• One of the first
apostles, Peter,
spread the
teachings of Jesus
throughout
Palestine and Syria
Christianity Spreads
• Another apostle, Paul
had enormous influence
of the development of
Christianity
• Spread during the Pax
Romana where
conditions were safe for
travel on the Roman
Roads.
• Paul stressed that Jesus
was the son of God who
died for people’s sins.
Jewish Rebellion
• The Jews eventually
rebelled against control of
Romans
• About half million Jews
died trying to break free
from Roman control.
• This caused a Diaspora
– when mass Jews
were driven from their
homeland in Jerusalem
into exile.
Persecution of the Christians
• Christians would not worship Roman
Gods = viewed as opposition to Roman
rule
• Some Romans blamed bad economic
conditions on Christians
• When a disastrous fire occurred in Rome,
and Emperor Nero blamed the Christians
and ordered them to be persecuted.
• Thousands were exiled, imprisoned,
crucified, burned or killed by animals in
circus arenas
A World Religion
• Christianity still survived
because of widespread appeal:
– 1. Embraced all people
– 2. Gave hope to the powerless
– 3. Appealed to people who
rejected the extravagances of
imperial Rome
– 4. Offered a personal
relationship with a loving God
– 5. Promised life after death.
The Decline
and Fall of
the Roman
Empire
Economic Troubles
• Decline begins after the
Pax Romana in 3rd Century
• Invaders made trade unsafe
on sea and on roads
• The rich spent gold and
silver on luxury items from
Asia which drained Rome
of these precious metals
• Rome began making coins
with less silver which
caused inflation.
Economic Troubles
• Inflation = Drastic
drop in the value of
money coupled with
rising prices for items
• Agriculture decreased
because of infertile
soil, and farmland
destroyed by war.
• Food shortages
• Spread of disease
Military Troubles
• Germanic tribes were
invading Rome
• Soldiers no longer had
discipline or loyalty to Rome.
• Soldiers had loyalty only to their
commanders, who fought not
for Rome, but to try to become
the emperor.
• To defend Rome, mercenaries
were recruited
• Mercenaries = Foreign soldiers
who fought for money.
Political Troubles
• Troubles in the empire
made citizens lose
patriotism for Rome
• Being a political official
was no longer thought to
be an honor
• Few people wanted to
serve in the government
• Out of 26 generals who
became emperors, 25
met violent deaths.
Temporary Help
• Diocletian in A.D. 284
became a strong leader
• He doubled the Roman
armies and hired German
mercenaries
• Persecuted Christians
• He divided the Roman
empire into 2 sides
– East: Greek speaking
– West: Latin speaking
• He took over the West, but
Civil war broke out after his
Constantine
• Constantine took
over the Eastern half
of the empire in A.D.
312
• Moved the capital to a
strategic location in
Greece in the East in
Byzantium and
renamed it
Constantinople
• He accepted
Christianity
The West Falls
• The west faced worse problems than the
east that was far from invaders
• From A.D. 376 to 476, huge numbers of
Germanic tribes poured into Rome to
get away from the
fierce Huns
• Attila the Hun
was a powerful
chieftain
who swept
through the west
The West Falls
• Germanic tribes
continued to invade and
finally the west was no
longer Rome
• The Eastern Roman
empire will continue as
the Byzantine Empire
that will preserve Greek
and Roman heritage