Life in Ancient Rome
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• In addition to their own developments in
science and engineering, Roman artists
and writers borrowed many ideas from
the Greeks.
• The rich and poor had very different
lives in the Roman Empire, as did men
and women.
Life in Ancient Rome
Roman Culture
• The Romans admired the Greeks and
copied some of their ideas, though they
often changed what they borrowed.
• Roman statues and art portrayed people
with flaws, whereas Greek art and
statues portrayed ideal people.
• Romans incorporated Greek ideas in
their architecture, such as columns and
porches.
(pages 303–305)
Life in Ancient Rome
Roman Culture (cont.)
• They also used their own ideas, such as
arches, domes, and vaults, which are
curved ceilings.
• Two famous
buildings still
stand today: the
Colosseum, which
is a large arena,
and the Pantheon,
which is a temple
built in honor of
Rome’s gods.
(pages 303–305)
Life in Ancient Rome
Roman Culture (cont.)
• The Roman writer Virgil wrote the Aeneid,
which tells the story of the Trojan prince
Aeneas and his followers.
• The poet Horace wrote satires, which are
works that poke fun at human
weaknesses, and odes, which express
strong emotions about life.
• The writers Ovid and Catullus were
inspired by Greek writing and myths.
(pages 303–305)
Life in Ancient Rome
Roman Culture (cont.)
• Livy, one of Rome’s most famous
historians, wrote the History of Rome.
• Many modern European languages
spoken today are based on Latin, the
language of Rome.
• The Greek doctor Galen brought Greek
medical ideas to Rome.
(pages 303–305)
Life in Ancient Rome
Roman Culture (cont.)
• Ptolemy was a famous scientist who
studied and mapped the stars.
• Engineers created an advanced road
system and aqueducts that provided
water.
(pages 303–305)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome
• Rome was one of the largest cities in
the ancient world.
• The Forum was in the center of Rome
and served as a marketplace and public
square.
• Wealthy Romans lived in large, fine
homes.
• Poorer people lived in apartment
buildings of stone and wood.
(pages 306–310)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome (cont.)
• Because of high rent, most people could
not afford large homes.
• The government provided free grain and
sporting shows, such as chariot races
and gladiator contests.
• Gladiators were men who fought
animals and each other.
• Roman families were large, including
young and married children, other
relatives, and enslaved servants.
(pages 306–310)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome (cont.)
• The paterfamilias was the man who
headed the family.
• Wealthy children—boys and girls—
received an education
through hired tutors.
• Some boys went to
school.
• A boy became a man
between ages 14 and
16 years.
(pages 306–310)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome (cont.)
• Girls became adults when they married.
• Women had few rights but were
influential in the family.
(pages 306–310)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome (cont.)
• Wealthy women had more freedom
than poor women.
• Slaves were not uncommon in the
Roman Empire.
• Slaves suffered many hardships and
were treated poorly.
• Sometimes slaves revolted against
the Romans.
(pages 306–310)
Life in Ancient Rome
Daily Life in Rome (cont.)
• Spartacus was a gladiator who led a
slave revolt.
• Romans worshipped many gods and
goddesses.
• As the Roman Empire grew, the
Romans conquered people of other
religions.
• They were allowed to worship freely as
long as they did not threaten the Roman
government.
(pages 306–310)
The Fall of Rome
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• Poor leadership, a declining economy,
and attacks by Germanic tribes
weakened the Roman Empire.
• Rome finally fell when invaders swept
through the empire during the A.D.
400’s.
• Rome passed on many achievements in
government, law, language, and the arts.
The Fall of Rome
The Decline of Rome
• After Aurelius’s death, Commodus and
the Severans ruled Rome.
• After the Severans ended, Rome’s
leadership grew weak, and the
government grew corrupt.
• With a weak government, the economy
worsened.
• A plague, or a disease that spreads
widely, broke out and killed many people.
(pages 318–320)
The Fall of Rome
The Decline of Rome (cont.)
• Inflation, or rapidly increasing prices,
occurred because money became less
valuable.
• Invaders began pushing into the
empire’s territory, and the Roman
government could not pay Roman
soldiers.
• Emperor Diocletian tried to establish
reforms that would improve the political
situation.
(pages 318–320)
The Fall of Rome
The Decline of Rome (cont.)
• Emperor Constantine tried to stop the
empire’s decline.
• He moved the capital city to Byzantium,
and the city later became known as
Constantinople.
(pages 318–320)
The Fall of Rome
Rome Falls
• Theodosius became emperor after
Constantine’s death.
• Theodosius split the empire into two
separate empires: the Western Roman
Empire and the Eastern Roman Empire.
• The Visigoths feared the Huns and
asked Rome for protection.
• In exchange, Rome required the
Visigoths to be loyal to them.
(pages 322–324)
The Fall of Rome
Rome Falls (cont.)
• The Visigoths rebelled against the
Romans and beat the Romans at the
Battle of Adrianople.
• More Germanic groups invaded Roman
territory.
(pages 322–324)
The Fall of Rome
Rome Falls (cont.)
• The Visigoth leader Alaric and his soldiers
captured the city of Rome and burned it.
(pages 322–324)
The Fall of Rome
Rome Falls (cont.)
• The Vandals overpowered Rome’s
territories in Spain and northern Africa.
• Then they entered Rome and destroyed
buildings.
• Odoacer was a Germanic leader who
took control of Rome’s government
from the emperor Romulus Augustulus.
• This event marked the end of the
Western Roman Empire.
(pages 322–324)
The Fall of Rome
Rome Falls (cont.)
• A band of Visigoths killed Odoacer and set
up a kingdom in Italy.
• The Eastern Roman Empire continued to
prosper after the fall of the Western
Roman Empire.
• It became known as the Byzantine
Empire.
(pages 322–324)
The Fall of Rome
The Legacy of Rome
• The law and government of the United
States today is influenced by the laws and
government of the ancient Romans.
• The alphabet of the Latin language is
used through the Western world today.
• Many European languages stemmed
from Latin.
• Many English words come from Latin.
(pages 325–326)
The Fall of Rome
The Legacy of Rome (cont.)
• Western architecture uses styles of the
Romans, such as domes and arches.
• Christianity began in the Roman Empire.
(pages 325–326)
The Byzantine Empire
Get Ready to Read (cont.)
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• The Eastern Roman Empire grew rich
and powerful as the Western Roman
Empire fell.
• The policies and reforms of Emperor
Justinian and Empress Theodora
helped make the Byzantine Empire
strong.
• The Byzantine developed a rich culture
based on Roman, Greek, and Christian
ideas.
The Byzantine Empire
The Rise of the Byzantines
• The Eastern Roman Empire was known
as the Byzantine
Empire.
• It included Greeks,
Egyptians, Arabs,
Armenians, Jews,
Persians, Slavs, and
Turks.
• Constantinople was
the capital of the
Byzantine Empire.
(pages 328–329)
The Byzantine Empire
The Rise of the Byzantines (cont.)
• Constantinople was located between the
Black Sea and the Aegean Sea, at the
crossroads of trade routes between
Europe and Asia.
• People of early Constantinople initially
followed Roman ways.
• They spoke Latin and enforced Roman
laws.
(pages 328–329)
The Byzantine Empire
The Rise of the Byzantines (cont.)
• Eventually, the Byzantine Empire
became more influenced by Greece.
• People spoke Greek and drew upon
Greek culture.
• Some ideas from the Slavs, Egyptians,
and Persians also mixed in with the
Greek influences.
(pages 328–329)
The Byzantine Empire
Emperor Justinian
• Justinian was the emperor of the
Byzantine Empire from A.D. 527 until
A.D. 565.
• Empress Theodora, Justinian’s wife,
helped her husband rule Byzantine.
• She gave him advice and advocated
more rights for Byzantine women.
• Justinian tried to restore the Roman
Empire by invading Western Europe
and northern Africa.
(pages 329–330)
The Byzantine Empire
Emperor Justinian (cont.)
• Belisarius was a general who helped
lead the Byzantine army.
• Tribonian was a legal scholar who
worked with his colleagues to simplify
the law code, so it could be more easily
understood.
(pages 329–330)
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Civilization
• The Byzantine Empire lasted for about
1,000 years.
• Constantinople was its largest and
wealthiest city.
(pages 332–334)
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Civilization (cont.)
• The Byzantine Empire depended on
trade.
• It was the center of trade between
Europe and Asia.
• Silk weaving was a major industry.
• Byzantine emperors supported artists
and architects.
(pages 332–334)
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Civilization (cont.)
• Hagia Sophia was the religious center of
the Byzantine Empire and was a great
architectural accomplishment.
• Mosaics are pictures made from many
bits of colored glass or stone.
• Most mosaics showed saints, or
Christian holy people.
• Marriage and family were very important
in the Byzantine way of life.
(pages 332–334)
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Civilization (cont.)
• Byzantine women obtained some rights.
• They became educated, and some
served as regents, or people who stand
in for rulers who are too young or too ill
to govern.
• The Byzantine government supported
education.
(pages 332–334)
The Byzantine Empire
Byzantine Civilization (cont.)
• Boys studied academic subjects in
Byzantine schools.
• Girls did not attend school but were
taught at home.
• Most written
literature was
religious.
(pages 332–334)
Roman Civilization
Section 1: Life in Ancient Rome
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• In addition to their own developments in
science and engineering, Roman artists
and writers borrowed many ideas from
the Greeks.
• The rich and poor had very different
lives in the Roman Empire, as did men
and women.
Roman Civilization
Section 2: The Fall of Rome
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• Poor leadership, a declining economy,
and attacks by Germanic tribes
weakened the Roman Empire.
• Rome finally fell when invaders swept
through the empire during the A.D.
400’s.
• Rome passed on many achievements in
government, law, language, and the arts.
Roman Civilization
Section 3: The Byzantine Empire
Focusing on the Main Ideas
• The Eastern Roman Empire grew rich
and powerful as the Western Roman
Empire fell.
• The policies and reforms of Emperor
Justinian and Empress Theodora helped
make the Byzantine Empire strong.
• The Byzantines developed a rich culture
based on Roman, Greek, and Christian
ideas.
Roman Civilization
Review Vocabulary
Define Match the vocabulary words with the definitions.
__
D 1. pictures made of many
bits of colored glass or
stone
__
B 2. rapidly increasing prices
__
F 3. father of a family
__
A 4. emotional poem about
life’s ups and downs
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
ode
inflation
anatomy
mosaic
plague
paterfamilias
gladiator
regent
Roman Civilization
Review Vocabulary
Define Match the vocabulary words with the definitions.
__
E 5. a disease that spreads
widely
H 6. a person who stands in
__
for a ruler who cannot
govern
G 7. a warrior who fought
__
animals and people in
public arenas
__
C 8. study of the body’s
structure
A.
B.
C.
D.
E.
F.
G.
H.
ode
inflation
anatomy
mosaic
plague
paterfamilias
gladiator
regent