The Romans Create a Republic
Geography:
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Central location on the peninsula
Near the sea, on the river – Good for transportation and trade
Fertile soil is good for farming
Mountains are not steep – will allow unification
How It Began:
 Settled by the Latins near the Tiber River – farmers and shepherds
 Greek colonies in S. Italy and Sicily – influence farming and religion
 Etruscans in N. Italy – metalworkers and engineers – Influenced writing,
religion and architecture
CULTURAL DIFFUSION
The Early Republic:
 Aristocrats overthrow Roman king – vow never to be ruled by one man
 Establish a republic – people vote for their leaders
 Class Structure
o patricians (aristocrats) held most power, made laws
o plebeians (common man) had right to vote
 Twelve Tables
o Laws written and hung in public
o Form the basis for later Roman Law
o Show that all free citizens have the right to protection under the law
Government:
 Consuls
o Served 1 year terms, elected by the assembly
 Senate
o 300 members of the aristocracy
o Served for life – provides continuity
o Advise consuls, influence foreign and domestic policy
The Roman Army:
 All citizen landowners were required to serve
 Flexible fighting force
Rome Expands:
 Control
o Defeat Etruscans and Greeks – control peninsula
o Treated defeated people well – citizenship or ally status – helped to
control the empire later
 Commerce
o Location made trade easy – land and sea
o Fight with other cities for control of sea
 Punic Wars
o Series of 3 wars with Carthage to control western Sea
 3rd Punic War – Rome destroys Carthage – gains African coast
o Later Rome gains control of entire Mediterranean Sea
 “Mare Nostrum” – Our Sea
The Roman Empire Brings Change
Expansion Creates Problems:
 Rich landowners take farms of soldiers at war
 Returning soldiers move to cities for work – few jobs
 Widening gap between rich and poor
 Class tensions
Republic Collapses:
 Character of military changes
o Generals hire landless poor as soldiers to fight for pay
o Citizen soldiers loyal to the republic decline in number
o Soldiers are now loyal to Generals rather than Rome
o Generals now can take power by force – civil wars result
Julius Caesar:
 Very popular military leader
 Senate names Caesar dictator for life
 Caesar’s Reforms
o Granted more people citizenship
o Expanded senate
o Helped poor by creating jobs
o Increased pay for soldiers
 Troubled by Caesar’s growing powers, senators assassinate him
Beginning of the Empire:
 Octavian avenges Caesar, takes control of Rome
 Rome is now an empire, with Octavian (Augustus) as the first emperor
A Vast and Powerful Empire:
 Pax Romana
o Starting with Augustus, Rome is peaceful and prosperous for over
200 years
 Economy
o Farming
 most important industry
 90% of people farmed
o Trade
 Vast trade network – from Spain to Middle East
 Roads linked destinations, army and navy secured trade routes
 Common currency made trade easy
 Managing a Huge Empire
o Roman army used men from provinces – they gained citizenship
o Army spread Roman customs to remote areas
 Sound Government
o Civil service managed gov’t functions (people were paid)
o Many plebs and slaves administered the empire effectively
o Made a stable gov’t that could survive bad emperors
 Succession
o Gov’t had no rules for picking new emperors – civil war possible
o 5 “good emperors” picked successors who had the support of the
army and senate
The Rise of Christianity
Jews Come Under Roman Rule:
 Judea becomes Roman province after revolt against Roman influence
Life and Teachings of Jesus:
 Jesus’ Message
o Taught belief in one god - monotheism
o Stresses people’s love of God, others, enemies and themselves
o God would create an eternal kingdom after death
o Jesus lived simply – his message appealed to the poor
 Jesus’ Death
o Romans felt Jesus challenged the authority of Rome
o His following was strengthened when his body was gone after death
Christianity Spreads Throughout the Empire
 Paul’s Mission
o Paul spread Jesus’ message
o Pax Romana made travel and exchange of ideas easy
o Welcomed all people, regardless of class, sex, occupation or status
 Jewish Rebellion
o Jews were defeated at Masada and other battles
o Jewish political state was gone
o Diaspora – dispersion of the Jews – exiled from homeland
 Persecution of Christians
o Refused to worship Roman gods - monotheism
o Were persecuted and executed
o Despite this, the religion spread
A World Religion
 Widespread Appeal
o Embraced all people
o Gave hope to the powerless
o Promised life after death
o Offered personal relationship with a loving God
o Alternative to extravagances of Rome
 Early Christian Church
o Pope – Bishop of Rome and head of the Christian Church
o Bishop – priest who supervised several small local churches
o Priest – led church at local level
o Rome was chosen as capital of the Church
 Constantine Accepts Christianity
o Roman emperor who converted to Christianity
o Stopped persecution of Christians
o Edict of Milan – made Christianity an approved religion in Empire
 Discord and Harmony
o New Testament written to try and end conflicts of belief
 Fathers of the Church
o Augustine – wrote “The City of God”
o Emphasized the afterlife to comfort people after the sacking of
Rome
The Decline of the Roman Empire
Rome’s Economy Declines
Rome Faces Military Upheaval
Roman Politics Decay
Emperor Diocletian - Reforms
Emperor Constantine
Germanic Invasions
Rome and the Roots of Western Civilization
Legacy of Greco-Roman Civilization:
 Greco-Roman culture is a blend of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman cultures
 Romans borrowed and adapted elements from both cultures to create their
own style
Roman Fine Arts:
 Learned sculpture from Greeks
o More realistic, rather than idealistic
 Bas-Relief
o Low relief – from flat background
 Mosaic – set small tiles to make design
Learning and Literature
 Philosophy
o Borrowed from Greeks – Stoicism is influential
 Literature
o Virgil – poet - wrote The Aeneid – modeled after the epics of Homer
o Ovid – poet - wrote light, witty poetry
o Tacitus – wrote accurate, objective historical accounts
Roman Achievements
 Latin
o Basis for the Romance languages (French, Spanish, etc.)
o Root of many English words
o Language of Catholic Church into the 20th Century
 Architecture, Engineering, Technology
o Arch, dome, concrete used to build spectacular structures
o Unlike Greeks, Roman architecture emphasized grandeur
o Aqueducts – engineering and architectural marvels
o Roads – so well built some are still used today
 Law
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All persons have the right to equal treatment under the law
Person is innocent until proven guilty
Burden of proof rests with the accuser, not the accused
Judges could interpret laws
Served as model for legal systems in many countries, including the U.S.
The Byzantine Empire
What is was:
 The Greek speaking Eastern half of the Roman Empire that remained
after the Latin speaking Western half had collapsed and fell to barbarians
 Although the Western half was under the control of foreigners, the
Eastern half (Byzantines) believed themselves to be the Roman Empire
 Over the centuries, the Byzantine Empire develops a Greek influence
while the rest of Europe begins to develop as kingdoms during the
Middle Ages
How It Began:
 292 CE - Emperor Diocletian divides the Roman Empire into two
sections – East and West
o The Eastern half was wealthier
 could bribe barbarian tribes not to invade
 could hire mercenaries to defend it
 located on strategic trade routes (Silk Road and Bosporus
Strait)
 Controls key trade routes between Europe and Asia
 330 CE - Emperor Constantine moves the capital from Rome to
Byzantium (renamed Constantinople) – It was a “New Rome”
Life in “New Rome”
 Constantine wanted “New Rome” to be as magnificent as Rome had been
o Commissioned buildings, baths, theaters, a university and law
courts
o Imported artwork from throughout the empire
 Preserved Greco-Roman heritage
 Most people spoke Greek, although the official language was Latin
o The rich and elite spoke Latin
 Governed by Roman law and political institutions
 Education
o Students studied ancient Greek literature, philosophy, science art,
medicine, art and rhetoric
 Classical education
Emperor Justinian
 Reconquered most of the “old” Roman Empire
o This was the largest expanse of the Byzantine Empire
o It weakened the Empire – drained it of much needed resources
 Justinian’s Code
o Collected of all of Rome’s laws into a simple and clear system of
laws
o Removed obsolete or contradictory laws
o Provides a clear, consistent and efficient legal system
o Becomes the model for future European nations
 Hagia Sophia
o Model for Byzantine architecture
 Domed structure, use of mosaics
Contributions of the Byzantine Empire:
 Religion
o Eastern Orthodox Church spreads to Russia
 Architecture
o Domed architecture spreads to Russia
 Alphabet
o Cyrillic alphabet from the Byzantines is still used in Russia
 Culture
o Preserved Greek and Roman culture until it is rediscovered by
Western Europe after the Crusades
 Autocratic Rule
o Russia will have Tsars - absolute rulers – Russian for “Caesar”