Pax Romana
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In 31 B.C., the Pax Romana, or
Roman Peace, started. The peace
lasted 200 years.
When Augustus became emperor,
there were about 70 to 100 million
people living in the Roman Empire.
He needed to figure out ways to
successfully govern all these people.
He put governors in charge of each
area.
He had roads built so he could keep
in close touch with all the parts of
the empire.
Roman Empire, AD 117
Remember, Roman, that it is for you to rule the
nations. This shall be your task: to impose the ways of
peace, to spare the conquered and to tame the proud
by war.
Virgil (70-19 BC), Roman poet
The Roman Forum of the Empire
Pax Romana
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There were many emperors after Augustus. Rome
won more and more provinces, or regions
throughout the nearby world.
New laws were made to deal with all the new
noncitizens that lived in the empire.
The Pax Romana improved trade, and there were
many achievements in the arts.
Artists made blown glass, weavings, pottery, and
jewelry.
Poets, philosophers, athletes, sculptors, architects,
and playwrights were all admired.
Pax Romana
“Although we conquered Greece, she conquered us.”
--Horace, a Roman poet, in 35 B.C.E
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What do you think this quote means?
The quote by Horace means that even
though Greece was conquered by Rome
back during the Republic, Rome was
incredibly influenced by Greece.
Greek Art and Architecture
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Rome practically worshipped the art and
architecture of Greece.
They tried to copy the Greek ways of building,
using columns and domes. They also added
some features of their own.
Greek Parthenon in Athens
Roman Pantheon in Rome
Roman Aqueducts
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They built aqueducts, which carried water to
the people.
Water flows
on top
California Aqueduct
AD 1960
Roman Aqueduct of Segovia
1st century AD
Roman Roads
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They were the first to build roads out of
concrete.
Road in England
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Roman roads later became a liability because invading
barbarians could travel along them as quickly as the Roman
armies.
Roman Colosseum
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They built the huge stadium called the
Colosseum, where all the people could come
watch games and sporting events for free.
Scale Model of Colosseum
Today
Rise of Christianity
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The Romans, just like the Greeks
and Egyptians before them,
worshipped many gods.
During the Roman Empire, a new
religion called Christianity
came to be practiced by Jews
who lived in the eastern
Mediterranean part of the
empire.
The Ten Commandments
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Unlike the Romans, both
Jewish and Christian faiths
worshipped one God
instead of many gods.
The foundation of both
beliefs was in the Ten
Commandments, the laws
of behavior that Moses
had presented to the Jews
many years before.
Jesus Christ
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Christians followed the teachings of a Jew
named Jesus Christ.
He urged people to turn from their sins
and practice kindness to others.
The followers of Jesus believed he was the
Messiah, or savior to the Jews.
Practice Kindness
Christian Persecution
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Christianity spread throughout the Roman
Empire.
Early on, the Christians were persecuted,
and many were tortured and put to death.
In spite of the persecution, many Romans
became Christians.
The Catacombs Near Rome
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In these underground
passages persecuted
Christians found a hiding
place, held their services,
and buried their dead.
Roman law forbade
Christian burial places
within city limits
Catacombs of St. Sebastian
Rome
Official Religion of Rome
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The Emperor Constantine,
who ruled from A.D. 312 on,
proclaimed himself to be a
Christian.
Because of him, Christianity
became the official religion
of Rome.
DECLINE OF ROMAN EMPIRE
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The problems began when some bad
emperors ruled Rome.
They spent money on whatever they
wanted and ruled as tyrants.
They were so evil that their own troops
would plot to kill them.
Dictatorships
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Over the course of about 90 years, Rome
went through 28 emperors like this—
installing them and then killing most of
them off.
In all this disorder, Roman armies were so
busy fighting each other that the invaders
were allowed to gain strength and win
attacks against the empire.
Economics
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Rome also ran out of money.
The uncontrolled spending of the
emperors bankrupted the treasury.
All the warfare made trade and production
break down.
Many artisans and merchants went out of
business.
Farmlands became battlegrounds, and
crops were destroyed.
Food prices soared.
Inflation
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The government tried to solve the problem
by minting more coins.
The coins didn’t have much gold or silver in
them, and were worth less and less.
This led to heavy inflation, as prices soared
and money lost value.
Inflation Coins
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The Roman Emperors where interested in
stretching their money, so they devised many
ingenious methods to debase and make their
money cheaper.
Silver coins went through a series of devaluation
stages, such as; reducing the size of the coins,
shrinking the silver content while increasing the
alloys etc.
It got so bad, that by the year 225 bronze coins
were merely washed with a scant coating of silver.
Division of the Roman Empire
Diocletian
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A few emperors tried to stop
the slide of the empire.
Diocletian (A.D. 284) spent a lot
of time traveling throughout the
empire building up defenses.
He made laws to try to stop
inflation, but the laws didn’t
work.
Constantine
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Another important emperor was
Constantine (A.D. 305).
He moved the capital of the
empire to a Greek town that
was well protected and good for
trade.
He named the capital
Constantinople after himself.
Theodosius
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Theodosius was the next emperor after
Constantine.
He tried to solve the problems by dividing
the empire into two separate empires.
The eastern empire eventually came to be
known as the Byzantine Empire.
The western half remained the Roman
Empire.
The Roman Empire Divided
Barbarian Invaders
Barbarian Invaders
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During the A.D. 200s, the Roman Empire
began to crack and weaken.
Germanic tribes, called barbarians,
began to invade and overrun the western
half of the empire. They destroyed homes
and villages, and chaos and fear followed
in their wake.
How was this allowed to happen?
Rome had kept invaders out for hundreds
of years in the past. So what changed?
The Visigoths
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During the late A.D. 300s into the A.D. 400s,
several Germanic groups strengthened their grip
on Roman territory.
One of the most important of these was the
Visigoths. The Visigoths managed to defeat a large
Roman army and kill the eastern Roman emperor.
Then they traveled into Italy and captured Rome.
The Huns
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After the Visigoths, the Huns raided the
eastern empire.
The Romans and Visigoths combined forces to
fight the Huns in A.D. 451.
The Huns were turned aside to Italy and
began to plunder and destroy the cities there.
Finally, plague and famine weakened the Huns
and they retreated to eastern Europe.
END OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE
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By the time the Huns were
gone, Rome was
completely weakened.
During the chaos and
disorder, the Germanic
tribes closed in.
The Roman Empire
officially fell in A.D. 476.
Fall of the Roman Empire
There were several reasons for the fall of the Roman Empire.
Each one interweaved with the other.
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Decline in Morals and Values
Public Health
Political Corruption
Unemployment
Inflation
Urban decay
Inferior Technology
Christianity
Military Spending
Barbarian Invasions