The Geography of Rome
Geography
 Livy “Early History of Rome”
 “Not without reason did gods and men choose this
spot for the site of our city- the hills, the river to bring
us produce from the inland regions and sea-borne
commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough
for convenience yet not so near as to bring danger
from foreign fleets, our situation in the very heart of
Italy- all of these advantages make it of all places in
the world the best for a city destined to grow great.”
Why was Rome’s geography so important?
First Settlers
 Latins (9th-8th Century B.C.E.)
 1st around Rome
 Palatine Hill
 Greeks (750-600 B.C.E.)
 Colonize southern Italy and Sicily
 Greek cultural influence
 Etruscans
 Native to central and northern Italy
 Current day Tuscany
 Influence? Article?
Roots of Roman Values
Etruscans Influences
Greek Influences
Influence of the Etruscans
 Writing
 Religion
 The Arch
The Mythical Founding of
Rome:
Romulus & Remus
Italy in 750 BCE
Republican Government
2 Consuls
(Rulers of Rome)
Senate
(Representative body for patricians)
Tribal Assembly
(Representative body for plebeians)
The Twelve Tables, 450 BCE
 Providing political and social
rights for the plebeians.
Punic Wars
• Start of Imperial Expansion
• First Punic War (264-241 B.C.E)
– Started over who controlled Sicily
– Ended 20 years later with surrender of
important colonies of Sicily and Sardinia to
Rome
– During truce Carthage built up its forces and
invaded Italy
• Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.E)
– Carthaginian forces led by Hannibal
– 15 years of destroying Italy
– Rome wins
– Carthage gives up holdings in Africa and Spain
• Determined Roman control and civilization would
take over Mediterranean world
Hannibal
• Carthage (Northern Africa)
– First settled by Phoenicians
– Will fall to Rome
• Raised by his father to hate
Rome
• Takes over military
– Tightened Carthage’s control of
Spain
– Attacks Saguntum in Spain
Carthaginian Empire
Hannibal’s Route
Territorial Problems facing the
Roman Republic
• Results of
the Punic
Wars
• Territory too
big for the
Republic to
control
Economic Problems
• Increasing gap between
the rich and the poor
• Rich landowners vs.
slaves (1/3 population)
• Small farmers (proletariat)
– Can’t compete = Sell farms
– Result: homeless, jobless
– Urban poor grows (1/4 of
population)
• Deaths lead to Civil War
• Power-hungry generals
• Soldiers for hire vs. citizens
• “Rape of the Sabine Women”
– Page 122
The Roman Forum
Rome’s Early Road System
Roman Roads:
The Appian Way
Roman Aqueducts
The Roman Colosseum
The Colosseum Interior
Circus Maximus
Reform Leaders
 Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
•
the poor should be given grain
and small plots of free land.
Military Reformer
 Gaius Marius
•
recruited an army from the poor
and homeless.
•
professional standing army.
The First Triumvirate
 Julius Caesar
(general)
 Marcus Licinius Crassus
(rich man)
 Gaius Magnus Pompey
(general)
The Rise of Julius Caesar
(100 – 44 B.C.)
• 59 B.C. Caesar elected Consul
• 58 – 50 B.C. Julius Caesar conquers Gaul
• Pompey and Senate fear Julius Caesar’s
popularity & orders Caesar’s army to
disband and return home
• 49 B.C. Julius Caesar marches on Rome &
defeats Pompey’s troops
• Returns home in 46 B.C. and named
“dictator for life” in 44 B.C.
Julius Caesar’s Reforms
 Granted Roman citizenship to many provincials
 Expanded the Senate
 Created jobs for the poor
 Constructed public buildings
 Started colonies for people without land to own
property
 Increased pay for soldiers
The Fate of Julius Caesar
 The powerful feared Caesar’s growing power &
popularity
 March 15, 44 BCE Caesar assassinated by
senators
 Only surviving relative was adopted son Octavian
Caesar
Beware the Ides of March!
44 BCE
The Second Triumvirate
 Octavian Augustus
 Marc Antony
 Marcus Lepidus
Second Triumvirate
• Divided empire
– Antony (general) - East and Egypt
– Octavian (Caesar’s
grandnephew/ adopted son) Italy and West
– Lepidus (politician) – Africa
• Octavian encourages Antony to
declare war on him and won at the
battle of Actium
= Start of
Roman
Empire!!
Octavian Augustus:
Rome’s First Emperor
The First Roman
Dynasty
The Rise of Augustus Caesar
(63 B.C. – A.D. 14)
• Octavian
– Forces Lepidus to retire
– Defeated Mark Antony &
Cleopatra in Egypt in 31 B.C.
– Becomes Augustus “exalted one”
– Master of Roman Worlds
(Article and Discuss Packet from Class)
The Augustan Age
• Sheet from book and Discuss
Pax Romana: 27 BCE – 180 CE
Pax Romana
 Roman Peace
 31 BCE- 180 CE
 Greatest Achievement of
Augustus
 Syria to Spain, Bristol to Belgrade
 Unified, peaceful, one ruler,
common law
 Literature and Arts Flourished
 Trade
 Sam Laws
Roman Culture
• Borrowed heavily from Greeks
• Had own native culture
– Law
– Administration
– Practical matters: engineering,
sanitation, finance, system of justice
• Arts
– Latin Language
– Literature
– Architecture
The Greatest Extent of the
Roman Empire – 14 CE
The Legacy of Rome
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Republic Government
Roman Law
Latin Language
Roman Catholic Church
City Planning
Romanesque Architectural Style
Roman Engineering
• Aqueducts
• Sewage systems
• Dams
• Cement
• Arch