ROME
Geography and Early Roman Peoples
• Lots of rich farm land and mild climate, able to support
a large population
• Rome is based on the Italian Peninsula, which is
surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea
– Protected in the north by the mountains of the Alps
– Protected in the south, east, and west by the
Mediterranean Sea
• Founding of Rome based on the legend of twin brothers
Romulus and Remus
• The people who built Rome were members of an IndoEuropean tribe called the Latins around 1000 BC
– The city prospered due to its location on the Tiber
• In 616 BC a group named the Etruscans arrived and
started to rule Rome
• Influences of the Etruscans – heavily influenced by
the Greeks
– The toga, gladiator games, and Chariot races
– Introduced the alphabet and number system, also
built Rome’s first walls and sewer
• The last Etruscan king was driven out of Rome in 509
BC
Roman Republic
• Since the Romans had been ruled by kings under the
Etruscans, they distrusted monarchy and decided it to
replace it with a new form of gov’t
– Republic = a form of gov’t in which the leader is not a
monarch, elected officials governed the state, and
certain citizens have the right to vote
• Early Rome was divided into two groups:
– Patricians = rich landowners who controlled the gov’t
and society
– Plebeians = commoners, mostly farmers and
merchants
• Men in both groups were citizens who could vote
• In the beginning, however, only patricians could be
elected to governmental offices
• Plebeians eventually got more rights, and formed their
own assembly called the Plebeian Council
– Even had the right to elect officials called tribunes
– It was the job of the tribunes to protect the plebeians
against unjust treatment by patrician officials
• Tribunes could even veto, or ban, laws that the
patricians made that they felt were harmful
• The plebeians also forced the patricians to have all laws
written down
– The Law of the Twelve Tables = Rome’s first written
law code, was displayed in the Roman Forum (central
square)
• The patricians and plebeians created an unwritten and
flexible constitution
– Constitution = framework for gov’t or political
structure
• The government consisted of three parts:
– The Senate = a select group of 300 hundred patricians
who served for life
• Advised elected officials, handled all foreign
relations, and controlled public finances
• By the third century it had the force of law
– Various popular assemblies
• All citizens voted on laws and elected officials
– Officials called magistrates = put laws into practice
and governed in the name of the Senate and the
people
• Chief executive officers of the Republic
– Consuls – two elected each year, one to run the gov’t
and one to lead the army
– Praetors – magistrates that could act as consuls when
the consuls were away at war
• Also in charge of enforcing civil law
– Censors – recorded the city’s population and how
much property people owned
• System of checks and balances that stopped one group
from becoming too powerful
The Republic Expands
• Military might
– All men between the ages of 17 and 46 with a
minimum amount of property were required to serve
in the army during times of war
– Army was organized into units called legions
• The backbone of the legions were centurions
• Centurions = commissioned officers who usually
commanded a century of a 100 men
• Conquests
– Romans defeated the Etruscans and the Greek cities
in southern Italy by 256 BC
– Rome fought and defeated the Hellenistic kingdoms
of Macedonia and Persia, making them Roman
provinces
– Rome also annexed Greece as another province
• Annex = incorporate territory into an existing
country
• Adopted many elements of Greek culture,
especially religion
• Why was Rome successful
– Romans were good diplomats
• Extended Roman citizenship and allowed states to
run their own internal affairs
• Only had the conquered people supply troops
– Romans excelled at military matters
• Accomplished and persistent soldiers
• Fortified towns and built roads
• Defeated the enemies surrounding Rome
• Roman Law
– One of the greatest achievements was its system of
law
• First code of laws adopted was the Twelve Tables
• Later a more sophisticated system of civil law was
developed
• As Rome expanded, legal questions arose that
involved both Romans and non-Romans, needed
special rules
• Gave rise to a body of law known as the Law of
Nations
– Law of Nations
• Used natural law (universal law) based on reason
• Established standards of justice that applied to all
people:
–Innocent until proven guilty
–Accused allowed to defend themselves before a
judge
– This law system greatly influenced the law system of
the United States
The Punic Wars
• Due to the conquest of Italy, the Romans now faced the
powerful city and empire of Carthage located in North
Africa
– Both wanted to control the Mediterranean
• First Punic War
– War started in 246 BC when the Romans sent an
army to help some allies in Sicily
• Carthage considered this an act of war because
they believed Sicily to be part of their empire
– Carthage’s powerful navy dominated the fighting
early on
• The Romans were a land power and had to create
their own navy
– The war ended when the Roman navy defeated the
Carthaginian navy off the coast of Sicily
– Carthage gave up all rights to Sicily and vowed
revenge
• Second Punic War
– Rome encouraged one of Carthage’s Spanish allies to
revolt and Carthage struck back with the greatest
Carthaginian general, Hannibal
• Hannibal decided to bring war home to the
Romans
• 218 BC Hannibal led a well-trained army of 46,000
men and a force of 37 war elephants across the
Pyrenees and the Alps to invade Italy
– 216 BC Romans decided to meet Hannibal head on
• Was a disaster for Rome – lost an army of 40,000
• Refused to surrender and raised another army
– For many years Hannibal dominated the Italian
countryside
• Defeated one Roman army after another
• Battle of Trasimene – 15,000 Romans killed,
15,000 captured, Hannibal only lost 1,500 and an
eye
• In another battle 50,000 Romans died or were
wounded
– Unable to defeat Hannibal in Italy, the Romans
decided on a new strategy
• The Roman army sailed across the
Mediterranean and attacked Carthage
• Carthage was forced to recall Hannibal
– Battle of Zama (202 BC) – Romans defeat
Hannibal’s army
• Carthage lost Spain, which became part of
Rome
• Carthage was stripped of its navy
• Rome is now the dominant power on the
Mediterranean
• Third Punic War
– Romans decide in favor of the complete destruction
of Carthage
– After a siege of three years, Carthage finally fell in
146 BC
• Roman soldiers spent ten days burning and
demolishing buildings
• The entire population was sold into slavery
• Carthage became a Roman province called Africa
Collapse of the Republic
• Social unrest
– Growing tension among the various classes
– Soldier-farmers were returning home from years of
service and finding that their land had either been
sold or was in bad shape
• Two brothers, the Gracchi, tried to redistribute
public land and were quite popular
• The Roman elite, especially the Senate, were
unhappy about this
– The Senate urged mobs to kill the two brothers
– For the first time, the blood of Roman citizens was
intentionally shed in the Forum
• Violence had become a political tool
• The Social War
– Rome’s allies in Italy wanted Roman citizenship
– The Senate refused and war broke out
– The Italian rebels were defeated, but only after the
Senate promised them citizenship
• The military in politics
– Gaius Marius, a talented young military leader was
elected consul and he decided to improve
recruitment for the army
• Eliminated property requirements
• Poor people began to join and swore an oath of
loyalty to the general, not to the Roman state, in
hopes of sharing the plunder from war
– Result was that armies largely became private forces
devoted to a general and placed much power in the
hands of individual generals
• Generals could use loyalty of troops as a political
tool
– New type of army that was not under gov’t control
• The Civil War
– General Sulla became consul following the Social
War
– Marius and his supporters defied Roman custom by
trying to prevent Sulla from taking a military
command
• Sulla responded by marching on Rome with his
legions
– Sulla emerged victorious and became a dictator
• Dictator = an absolute ruler
• Executed all who had opposed him
• Carried out reforms aimed at protecting the power
of the Senate and preserving the Republic
– Legacy of Sulla = using an army to seize power
Rise of the Roman Empire
• The old Republic was mostly gone within a generation
of Sulla
– Was the result of the ambitions of just a few men
• The First Triumvirate
– Triumvirate = rule by three people with equal power
– The first Triumvirate was composed of Julius Caesar,
Pompey, and Crassus
• Caesar added Gaul – modern France
• Pompey added Syria and parts of Asia Minor
• Crassus was one of the wealthiest men in Rome
– Took over Rome in 60 BC
• Crassus died and Caesar and Pompey faced off in a
civil war – Caesar was victorious
– Senate declared Caesar dictator for life in 44 BC
• Gave citizenship to people in the provinces and
gave public land to veterans
• Was popular with the people, but many senators
thought he meant to destroy the Republic
– Ides of March (March 15) – a group of senators
murder Julius Caesar
• Second Triumvirate
– Established in 43 BC – composed of Octavian
(Caesar’s adopted son and heir), Marc Antony, and
Lepidus
• Lepidus was pushed aside and Octavian and
Antony each decide to govern half the empire
– Civil war breaks out and Octavian defeats Antony and
his ally Queen Cleopatra of Egypt
• Both commit suicide after the defeat
– Octavian now alone controlled Rome
• Republic effectively dead
• Senate awards Octavian the title Augustus “the revered
one”
– continued to control the army and took the name
imperator
• Imperator = commander in chief (emperor)
• Became the first emperor of Rome
• The Augustan Age
– Augustus ruled Rome for more than 40 years
– Divided the power to rule Rome between himself
and the Senate
• Later emperors took over more and more powers
of the Senate
– Augustus did great things for Rome
• Created a police force and fire brigades
• Vast building program, he restored old temples
and built new ones
• Sponsored Latin literature – Vergil, Livy, Horace
• Julio-Claudians – relatives of Caesar ruled for the next
54 years
– Tiberius – adopted son of Augustus
– Caligula – brutal and mentally unstable
– Nero – killed his own mother and committed suicide
• The Five Good Emperors
– Nerva
– Trajan
– Hadrian
– Antoninus Pius
– Marcus Aurelius
– Governed Rome for nearly a century and under them
the empire grew tremendously
– Hadrian built defensive fortifications along the
frontiers to guard against invasions
• Hadrian’s Wall – built in northern Britain
Pax Romana
• Pax Romana = Roman Peace
– Age of peace and prosperity
– Started off with the reign of Augustus in 27 BC and
ended with the death of the last Good Emperor,
Marcus Aurelius, in 180 AD
• Stable gov’t, strong legal system, widespread trade
• Not much war or invasion
– The Roman gov’t was the strongest unifying force in
the empire
• Maintained order and enforced the laws
– Extensive road network – 50,000 miles
Rise of Christianity
• Some Jews began to revolt against Roman rule, resulting
in all Jews being banned from Jerusalem
• Jesus of Nazareth
– Born in the town of Bethlehem
– All knowledge about Jesus comes from the Gospels,
the first four books of the New Testament
– Traveled around preaching people to repent their sins
and seek God’s forgiveness
• People needed to seek forgiveness in preparation
for the coming of Judgment Day
• People were to practice humility, mercy, and charity
– As Jesus traveled, he gathered a small group of
disciples, or followers
• According to the Bible, Jesus performed miracles
and defended the poor
– Roman authorities feared a political uprising and
arrested Jesus and sentenced him to death
• Jesus was crucified = nailed to a cross
– Some believed he rose from the dead and spent
another 40 days teaching his disciples before
ascending into heaven
– As a result, people began to call him Jesus Christ, the
Greek word for Messiah
• Spread of Christianity
– Jesus’ disciples began to teach that all people could
• Salvation = forgiveness of sins and the promise of
everlasting life in heaven
– The Apostles – the 12 disciples that Jesus had
specifically chosen to carry out his message
• Were the earliest Christian missionaries
• Mostly only taught in Jewish communities
– Paul of Tarsus believed that God had sent him to
convert non-Jews
• Without him, Christianity might have remained a
branch of Judaism
• He helped to make Christianity a broader religion
• Established Christian churches throughout the
eastern Mediterranean
– Paul got rid of some Jewish customs, such as food
prohibitions, that hindered his missionary work
among non-Jews
• Emphasized new doctrines that helped distinguish
Christianity from Judaism
– The Christian message of eternal life after death
appealed to many
– Roman religious toleration contributed to the spread
• Persecution
– Some local officials and rulers saw Christians as a
threat and arrested and killed them
• Fed to the lions, made them martyrs
• Martyrs = people who die for their faith and thus
inspire others to believe
– Christianity survived and triumphed
• Imperial approval of Christianity
– Emperor Constantine became the first Christian
emperor after he converted after winning a battle
• He issued the Edict of Milan, which made
Christianity legal within the empire and
declared official tolerance of Christianity
– Emperor Theodosius outlawed public nonChristian sacrifices and ceremonies
• As a result, Christianity was adopted as the
Roman religion and polytheism began to
disappear
• The Early Christian Church
– Development of ceremonies that inspired people’s
faith and made them feel closer to Jesus
• Eucharist = held in memory of Jesus’ last supper
with his disciples
–Eat bread and drink wine in memory of Jesus’
death and resurrection
• Baptism = people admitted into the Christian faith
• Mass =
– Hierarchy
• Priests ran the ceremonies and instructed a small
local community
• Bishops = high-ranking church official who
oversees a group of churches in a particular area
• Bishops were the most important official of the
early Christian church
• Many Christians believed that Peter the Apostle
founded the Roman Church
–Peter had been the bishop of Rome, so later
bishops of Rome were seen as Peter’s spiritual
heir
–They took the name popes
–Popes were seen as the head of the entire
Christian church
–This was due to the belief that Jesus gave Peter
the keys to the kingdom of heaven
Roman Society
• Rich vs. Poor
– The rich usually had a house in the city and one in
the country
– The poor (most of the people of Rome) lived in
crowded apartment buildings where fire was a
constant hazard
– To keep the poor from rebelling against the bad living
conditions, free food and public entertainment
became a major feature of city life
• “Bread and Circuses”
• Entertainment – provided on a grand scale for Romans
– Chariot races
– Coliseum - Gladiator fights, animals killing prisoners
– Dramatic performances held in theaters
• Slavery
– Romans relied the most on slave labor and had the
most slaves
– Large numbers of captured peoples brought back as
slaves
– Slaves built buildings and roads, were used as tutors,
on farms, and as shop assistants
– Conditions for most slaves were bad
– The murder of a master by a slave meant the
execution for all the household slaves
– Most of the gladiators were slaves
– The most famous slave revolt was led by Spartacus
and involved 70,000 slaves – they managed to defeat
several armies before being caught and crucified
• Family
– Headed by the paterfamilias – the family father
• Was the oldest living male and had extensive
powers over his family
– Extended family – included wife, sons with their
wives and children, unmarried daughters, and slaves
– Legal age to marry: girls – 12 and boys – 14
– Families with no sons could adopt boys to be heirs
• Education
– The upper classes placed great importance on
education
– The father was the chief figure in providing for the
education of his children 1) teach them himself,
2) hire a tutor, or 3) send them to exclusive schools
• Women
– Women could do little without the intervention of a
male guardian
– Could own and inherit property
– Could attend races, the theater, and events in the
Colosseum, but had to sit in separate female sections
• Achievements
– Galen – Roman physician who wrote several volumes
that summarized all the medical knowledge of his
time
• Was regarded as the greatest authority on
medicine for centuries
– Ptolemy – stated that the earth was the center of the
universe
– Aqueducts – man-made channels used to bring water
to the cities
Decline and Fall of Rome
• Political problems
– Weak leaders
– Political upheaval – series of civil wars
• Military dictatorship – army deposed emperors
and elevated their own leaders
• Between 235 to 284 there were 20 emperors, all
but one died violently
• Economic problems
– Economic crisis – decline in trade and farming
– Military needs required emperors to raise taxes
– As taxes rose, the value of money declined
• Emperors minted new coins with copper and lead
instead of the same amount of silver
• People didn’t believe the money was worth the
same
– The result was growing inflation = dramatic rise in
prices
• Military Problems
– Difficult to pay and enlist more soldiers, had to rely
on hiring Germans to fight
• Had little loyalty to the Empire
• Plague
– Disease weakened the Roman Empire
– Not enough soldiers or farmers to harvest crops
• Invaders
– Invading Germanic tribes, mostly enter Roman
territory to flee from the Huns
• Huns = feared nomadic warriors from Asia
• Visigoths – crossed the Danube river into Italy
• Vandals – came into Italy from north Africa
– Sacking of Rome
• 410 the Visigoths plunder Rome
• 455 the Vandals sack Rome
–Famous for destroying everything in their path
–Vandal = “one who causes senseless
destruction”
• The Huns were talked out of attacking Rome by
Pope Leo I
• Fall of Rome
– 476 – the last emperor of Rome was deposed by the
Germanic commander Odoacer
– Many consider this to be the end of the Western
Roman Empire
• Division of the Roman Empire
– To slow the empire’s decline, emperors Diocletian and
Constantine divided the empire into two parts
– Western Roman Empire – capital at Rome
• Destroyed in 476
– Eastern Roman Empire – capital at Byzantium, later
renamed Constantinople
• Lasted another thousand years, becomes known as
the Byzantine Empire