THE ORIGINS OF ROME
Site chosen for its fertile soil and
strategic location
Romans found a republic —
government in which citizens elect
leaders
DOCUMENT 1
Not without reason did god and men choose this
spot for the site of our city – the salubrious hills,
the river to bring us produce from the inland
regions and sea-borne commerce from abroad,
the sea itself, near enough convenience yet not
so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets,
our situation is in the very heart of Italy – all
these advantages make it of all places in the
world the best for a city destined to grow great.
-Lily, The Early History of Rome
1A: Identify two advantages given here that its
geographic location offered Rome.
1B: Choose one advantage and explain how it
played a direct role in Rome’s expansion.
EARLY ROME
 Elected leaders
 Dictators are
appointed briefly in
times of crisis
 Legion — military
unit of 5,000
infantry; supported
by cavalry
 Army is powerful;
key factor in Rome’s
rise to greatness
ROME’S COMMERCIAL NETWORK
 Establishes large
trading network
 Access to
Mediterranean Sea
provides many trade
routes
 Carthage, powerful
city-state in North
Africa, soon rivals
Rome
PROBLEMS
 Gap between rich
and poor widens as
Roman Republic
grows

Civil War
 Military
leader
Julius Caesar
elected consul
 Caesar is named
dictator for life in 44
B.C.

Assassinated
PAX ROMANA
Under Augustus, Rome moves from a
republic to an empire. Power no longer
resides with citizens, but a single ruler
Rome enjoys 200 years of peace and
prosperity known as Pax Romana
Augustus, creates lasting system of
government
 glorifies
Rome with beautiful public
buildings
 sets up civil service to administer empire
DOCUMENT 2
What territory did Rome add between 500 BC and 117 AD?
AGRICULTURE AND TRADE
Agriculture most important industry in
empire
 90%
of Romans farm
Common
coin, denarius, makes trade
within empire easier
Vast trading network, includes China
and India
Network of Roman roads links empire
to Persia, Russia (Next week: Silk
Road)
DOCUMENT 3A: From
what three continents did
trade goods come to Rome?
DOCUMENT 3B: Which
good were supplied by
all three areas?
ROMAN LIFE
 Slaves
become
gladiators
 Worship of emperor
becomes part of official
religion
 Rich live well; most
people are poor, receive
grain from government
 150 holidays and
Colosseum events
created to control the
masses
THE RISE
OF
CHRISTIANITY
DOCUMENT 1
1a: What are the physical characteristic of the Tigris and
Euphrates river valley? For example, in which direction do they
flow? Where are they located?
1b: What geographic factors made this valley ideal for civilization?
THE RISE
OF
CHRISTIANITY
We’ll come back
to this topic in a
couple of weeks.
THE FALL OF THE
ROMAN EMPIRE
Internal problems and innovations
spur the division and decline of the
Roman Empire
THE FALL OF ROME
1.
What economic problems did Rome
face?
2.
Who was Constantine?
3.
What role did Attila play in the
collapse of Rome?
DOCUMENT 4
The nation of the Huns … surpasses all
4a: List two
other barbarians in the wilderness of life
negative
… And though [the Huns] do just bear
the likeness of men (of a very ugly
qualities of
pattern), they are so little advanced in
the Huns,
civilization that they … feed upon the …
according to
half-raw flesh of any sort of animal …
Marcellinus.
When attacked … they fill the air with
4b: What
varied and discordant cries … they fight
in no regular order of battle, but by
does their
being extremely swift and sudden in
regard for
their movements, they disperse …
their enemy
spread havoc over vast plains, and …
say about how pillage the camp of their enemy almost
the Romans
before he has become aware of their
likely viewed approach.”
- Ammianus Marcellinus
themselves.
DOC 5
5A: What group of invaders came from the greatest distance?
5B: What areas of the empire were not threatened by invasion?
The decline of Rome was the natural
and inevitable effect of immoderate
6A: What
does feel was greatness. Prosperity ripened the
principle of decay; the causes of
the
underlying destruction multiplied with the
extent
of
conquest;
and,
as
soon
as
reason for
time or accident had removed
Rome’s fall?
artificial supports, the stupendous
6B: What
fabric yielded to the pressure of its
does Gibbon own weight. The story of its ruin is
find
simple and obvious; and instead of
surprising
inquiring why the Roman Empire
was destroyed, we should rather be
about the
surprised that it had subsisted so
Roman
long.
Empire?
DOCUMENT 6
- Edward Gibbon, Historian
ROME AND THE ROOTS OF
WESTERN CIVILIZATION
The Romans develop many ideas and institutions
that become fundamental to Western Civilization.
THE LEGACY
OF
ROME
 Romans
adopt aspects
of Greek and
Hellenistic culture

Greco-Roman
culture, or classical
civilization
 Romans
borrow from
Greek philosophy and
literature

Poet Virgil writes epic
Aeneid modeled after
Homer’s Greek epics
THE LEGACY
OF
ROME
 Latin
was official
language of Roman
Catholic Church until
1900s


French, Spanish,
Portuguese, Italian,
Romanian
More than half the
words in English stem
from Latin
 Master


Builders
Arch, domes, concrete
Create aqueducts—
structures to bring
water into cities, towns
THE LEGACY
 System

ROME
of Law
Principles of Roman
law form basis of
modern legal systems
 Enduring

OF
Influence
By preserving and
adding to Greek
civilization, Rome
strengthened the
Western cultural
tradition
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
Extra Credit: Who am I?
What is my legacy?
100 words due tomorrow.
DOCUMENT-BASED
QUESTION INSTRUCTIONS
Rome
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Over the course of several centuries, Rome built one of
the largest empires the world had ever know. By 120
A.D., the Romans controlled portions of three
continents, spreading their civilizations across much of
the ancient world.
ESSAY PROMPT
 Describe the rise of and the two biggest reasons for
long duration of the Roman Empire.
 Discuss the difficulties associated with such a vast
empire, and explain what led to its fall.
 Conclude with a detailed discussion of the legacy of
Rome.
MORE DIRECTIONS
Write a well-organized essay that includes an
introduction, several paragraphs, and a conclusion.
Address all aspects of the task by accurately
analyzing at least four documents. Support your
response with relevant facts, examples and details.
Include additional outside information.
 The
textbook will be helpful: Chapter 6.4 and 6.5
 No outside research is necessary. Use the documents,
your textbook and class notes.
 Respond to all three parts of the prompt.
 Follow the high school essay format expectations.
Abraham Lincoln
HIGH SCHOOL
Nov. 19, 1863
Fifth Hour
ESSAY FORMAT
Gettysburg Address
Name information
 Title (not “essay”)
 No word art
 Paragraphs
 Indents
 Double spaced
 Textbook-style font
 10-12 size font
 1-inch margins
 CITE DOCUMENTS
(usually parenthetically)
No bibliography needed on a DBQ
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent,
a new nation, conceived in Liberty, and dedicated to the proposition that all men
are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation, or
any nation so conceived and so dedicated, can long endure. We are met on a great
battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field, as a final
resting place for those who here gave their lives that that nation might live. It is
altogether fitting and proper that we should do this (document #3).
But, in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate—we cannot consecrate—we
cannot hallow—this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here,
have consecrated it, far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will
little note, nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they
did here. It is for us the living, rather, to be dedicated here to the unfinished work
which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to
be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us—that from these honored