The Birth of the Roman Empire
I. A Weakening Republic
A. Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus saw need for
reform
1. Known as Gracchi
2. Tiberius named Tribune in 133 B.C.
a.
Instituted land reforms
i. Popular with people
ii. Senators were threatened by his popularity
iii. Senators murdered Tiberius
3. Gaius named Tribune in 123 B.C.
a.
b.
Bought grain with public funds
Sold it to poor at low price
i. Angered senators and was killed
4. Violence became a key political tool
B. The Social War
1.
Italian allies rebelled against Romans
a. Wanted Roman citizenship for help in Punic Wars
2.
3.
One of the bloodiest wars in Roman History
Were finally granted citizenship
a. All Italians became Roman
4.
Gaius Marius was elected consul in 107 B.C.
a. Brought major changes
b. Created army of volunteers
i. Rewarded with money, land, and war loot
5.
Sula was elected Consul
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Marched on Rome after his term was over
Brought civil war to Rome
Sulla won
Tried to increase power of senate
However, military power ruled Rome
II. Caesar in Power
A. Julius Caesar
1.
2.
3.
4.
Popular general
Used money to gain influence
Good public speaker
Won right to rule through military success
B. The First Triumvirate – Rule by Three
1.
Caesar joined with other popular generals
a. Crassus & Pompey
2.
Caesar took command of army in Gaul (France)
a. Took control of all of Gaul
3.
Pompey, elected Consul in 52 B.C.
a. He was jealous of Caesar and called him home from Gaul
b. Told him to leave his army
C. Caesar declared war on the republic, defeated Pompey
D. Made himself Consul for life, but was killed in the
Senate
III. The Roman Empire
A. The Second Triumvirate
1. Octavian – Caesars grandnephew
a.
b.
c.
Forced Lepidus to resign
Divided Empire with Antony
Built power in Italy
2. Antony – Drove the conspirators out
a.
b.
Defeated Brutus and Cassius in Asia Minor and Syria
Controlled Eastern half of empire
3. Lepidus – Caesar’s right hand man
B. Octavian: the first Augustus
1. Called himself the
first Citizen or
princeps
2. People gave
Octavian the title
Augustus
a. Revered One
3. 63 B.C. – 14 B.C.
4. Captured Alexandria
5. Rome reached its
height under
Octavian
C. The Pax Romana (Roman Peace)
emperors
1. Julio-Claudian Emperors
a. Tiberius – adequate but disliked
b. Caligula – insane and brutal, murdered
c. Claudius – intelligent and managed wisely,
poisoned by wife
d. Nero
i. Brutal to Christians
ii. Thought to have been responsible for great
fire that burned Rome
iii. Killed himself
2. Army Emperors
a. Four different emperors ruled in 69 because
the army wouldn’t accept any of them
3. Flavian Emperors
a. Vespasian Last of the Army and first of the
Flavian
b. Titus put down rebellions in Germania and
Jerusalem
c. Domitian
4. The Five Good Emperors
a. Nerva
b. Trajan
c. Hadrian
i.
ii.
Built Hadrian’s Wall
Protected the frontier
d. Antoninus Pius
e. Marcus Aurelius
Roman Society and Culture
I. Building a Strong Empire
A. Government and laws
1. Changed Twelve Tables
a.
b.
Made laws as necessary
Made Twelve Tables applicable to current needs
B. Trade and transportation
1. Most trade centered around:
a.
Exports:
–
–
–
–
–
–
–
Grain
Wine
Oil (olive)
Food stuffs
Linen
Pottery
Glassware
b.
Imports:
Ivory
Spices
Silk
Sand
C. Romans built many roads wherever they went
D. The Roman Army
1. Citizens soldiers served for 16 –
20 years
2. Stationed in large fortified camps
a. Towns were often built around these
3. Most men living on the border
enlisted
a. Would become Romans Citizens
II. Life in the Empire
A. Daily life
1. Wealthy had a city home and country home
2. Running water and exotic food for rich
a.
Many dinner parties
3. Crowded apartments
4. Simple meals for most Romans
B. Slaves and slavery
1. Gladiators – conquered warriors
2. Household slaves
3. Entertainment
a.
b.
Catamites- Young boys sold to men for perversity
Prostitutes
C. The roles of the family
1. Men – father held power
2. Women – mother managed household
3. Children – education at home
D. Religion – state religion
E. Fun and games
1. Roman Bath
2. Theater
a.
3.
Comedies and Satire
Arena
a.
b.
c.
Chariot Races – Circus Maximus
Gladiators
Lions
F. Science and the Arts
1. Science, engineering, and architecture
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Galen – wrote several volumes on medicine
Ptolemy – taught that the world was geocentric
Roman built many roads, coliseums, and bridges
Aqueducts – carried water from mountains to cities
Used arch and vaulted dome
2. Literature
a.
b.
c.
d.
e.
Virgil – Aeneid tells about the prince of Troy, poetry
Horace – odes, satires and epistles
Ovid – wrote lyrics and Metamorphoses
Tacitus – Annals, history of Rome
Plutarch – Greek, wrote Parallel Lives, a collection of bios
3. Language
a.
Latin is the parent of modern Romance languages
The Rise of Christianity
I. The Beginning of Christianity
A. Jews revolted and were banned from
Jerusalem
B. The teachings of Jesus
1. Grounded in Jewish traditions
2. Claimed to be Messiah (Savior)
C. The death of Jesus
1. Crucifixion
2. Resurrection
D. The Spread of Christianity
1. Spread through his apostles
E. Christianity was for everyone
1. Paul’s letter to the Romans said, “call upon the name
of the Lord and be saved”
F. Martyrs were put to death for beliefs in
Christianity
1. Roman efforts could not stop the spread of the
religion
G. Roman law accepted Christianity as a religion
1. Constantine was tolerant, converted before he died
2. Theodosius made it official Roman Religion
3. Church became organized with Bishops, Priests and
Congregations
4. Bishops of Empirical Cities were called Patriarchal
Bishops
5. Council of Mycenae
a.
Gave us the Bible
6. Council of Nicaea
a.
Canonized the main religion beliefs
The Fall of the Western
Empire
I. Troubled Times Arise
A. Rising inflation
1. Citizenship granted to all free people in the
empire
a.
Done to increase tax base
2. Silver coin was in shortage
a.
Similar to the gold standard of U.S. economy
3. Used less silver to make coin
a.
Result was inflation
B. Increasing insecurity
A.
B.
C.
D.
Attacks from invaders continued
Costs of defense went up
Small business were forced to sell to large ones
Less jobs available for common man
C. Two Able Emperors Attempt Reform
1. Diocletian
a. appointed a co-emperor and two caesars (assistants)
b. Diocletian ruled the eastern empire
c. Tried to control prices and wages
2. Constantine – supported Christianity
a. Not supported by Diocletian
i.
Civil war broke out
b. Received a vision before he defeated Diocletian
i.
Supported Christianity after the vision
c. Created a new capital in the East called
Constantinople
d. Empire remained strong for 50 years after his death
i.
ii.
Empire divided
Eastern half became the Byzantine Empire
II. The Final Invasions
A. The Goths and the Vandals
1. Eastern Germanic tribes
a. Treated poorly by Rome
b. Goths with a large heavy army won the battle at
Adrianople
c. Rome allowed them to settle in Roman borders
under own leadership
d. The Goths sacked Rome after a short peace
B. The Huns
1. Followed the Goths into Rome
2. Defeated by a Roman / Goth Army
3. Too late to save Western Half of Empire
4. Overthrown in A.D. 476
C. Results of the invasions
1. People were displaced
2. Instability
3. Destruction of cities
D. Causes of the decline
1. Political and military weaknesses
a. Empire grew to fast and too large to manage and
protect
2. Economic decline
a. Heavy taxes took cash flow out of the economy
3. Social change
a. Most early Romans believed in “Rome”
b. New generations care more about self than
country
c. People were no longer concerned with morals
and politics