Ancient Rome BCE-CE
De nobis fabula
narratur
(The Story of Us)
How did Ancient Rome’s
rise and eventual fall
affect European’s
perceptions of
themselves?
A Matter of Time
 Roman history can be divided into two
time periods:
 Roman Republic (509 BCE – 44B CE)
 Roman Empire (44 BCE – 455 CE)
GeographyLocus-Locus-Locus (1)
 Middle of the Mediterranean
 Larger and more arable land than
Greece- mts north and south
 River valleys- Po in the North, Tiber in
middle of boot
 Rome - inland accessible by boatdefensible, on “Seven Hills”
A Lack of Credible Information
 While we lack a credible historical record
of its beginnings (fall of Rome in 386CE),
we do know what stories Romans told
themselves about it.
 Truth might be there, but it’s wrapped up
in too much myth.
At its height, Rome stretched
from England (N) to Syria (E)
to N. Africa (S) and Spain (W)
Origins of Rome (4)
Legend
 Romulus and Remus
nursed by she-wolf
 Founded in 733BCE
where they were left as
babies (Palatine,
Aventine)
 Later: Virgil’s hero
Aeneas, hero of Troy,
roams the Med looking
for a home (Carthage)
 “Hell Hath No Fury
Like a Woman
Scorned” (Dido)
Reality
 Origin unsure - Asia
Minor? Troy?
 Were Romulus &
Remus even real?
 City founded based on
waterway connections
& the easily defensible
positions
 Mid-way point between
Etruria & Magna
Graecia
Unsavory Beginnings…
 A settlement was formed at the bend in the Tiber,
but its early beginnings are filled with war, the theft
of women, and possibly assassinations.
 Opened the city to the dregs of society – debtors,
former criminals, etc along with building an army of
well-to-do (only one w/horses)
 Romulus stole women from neighboring
communities including the Sabine people
 100 Senators (patricians) eventually grows to 200
as Sabines join Rome and Romulus forms the first
Citizen’s Assembly (tribe names come from 10
Sabine women who stayed to build Rome)
 What happened to Romulus??
Steps to Unification
 290- conquered central Italy then
Samnites in South
 265 took over Greek city states
 Keys - staying power of army, won over
conquered people, become Roman
citizens, interact with the new gov’t
Roman Republic vs. United States
Consul (US President)
Ruler of Rome
Senate (US Senate)
Representative body for patricians
Tribal Assembly (House of Reps)
Representative body for plebeians
The Law of the Twelve
Tables (450 BCE)
•Roman Law was codified after plebeians
demanded representation in certain parts of the
government
•Result- increase of privileges as well as political
& social rights for Plebeians
• Became basis for most of our laws
(Constitution, Bill of Rights)
The Punic Wars 264-146 BCE
 Major rival in Med- Phoenician Carthage
 Over a series of decades, Carthage is eventually
overthrown
 Carthago delenda est” Carthage plowed and sowed
with salt
 Result: Rome now the POWER in the
Mediterranean BUT comes at a high price
 Huge debt;
 Senate took plebeian’s rights away;
 Roman Traits of courage, hard work, honesty &
simplicity disappeared;
 Unemployment, dislocation, poverty, corruption, &
crime forced reforms.
Rome’s Love/Hate w/Senate
 Corruption and struggle characterized
within this law-making body throughout
its history
 Known to murder its own people and
even its leaders when threatened
 Gracchi Brothers (Tiberius and Gaius) meet
untimely ends in 121 BCE
 Caesar murdered in 44 BCE
 Was Romulus himself murdered??
Julius Caesar (2)
•Greatest of early Roman leaders;
•First Triumvirate Julius Caesar, Pompey, Crassus
•Defeated Pompey/supporters in Egypt after Senate
tried to push him out - crosses the Rubicon and
seizes power
•Met Cleopatra and fell in love;
•Used Gracchus’ ideas to reform Rome: calendar,
freed slaves, reduced debts;
•Murdered by Cassius, Brutus in 44 BCE
How Did Rome Respond?? (2)
• CIVIL WAR- Antony vs. Octavian;
• Antony left his wife (Octavian’s sister) b/c of
his infatuation with Cleopatra
• Battle of Actium 31 BCE – Antony and
Cleopatra commit suicide
• Octavian’s rule began the Pax Romana.
• Augustus carried out reforms of Julius Caesar.
61Mark Anthony
Mark Antony
The Roman Empire
 Caesar Augustus - wants “to restore the
republic” but the rush of power convinces
him otherwise
 27 CE becomes “First Citizen” Princeps
 Tried to impact life- morality, building
 sculpture- deified him, literature as well
 Consolidated/limited power of Senate
57Octavian Augustus
Octavian “Augustus”
The Roman World
 The dream of returning Rome to a republic
dissolves into emperor/ dictatorship
 Extended Roman citizenship as they spread
 Augustus also changes the Roman family‘Pater Familias’ dissolves into balanced rights
 ‘family strong unit- run like the state
 women become more independent- socially and
ownership
 politically active as wives of emperors- Livia
The Roman World (cont)
 Augustus ushers in a Golden Age of literature
(Horace, Virgil, Ovid and Livy)
 Religion- state religion, Roman gods reflected
Greek
 Emperor became “divine” connection to gods
 tolerant of other religions Mithras, Persian god of
light
 Christianity-”And there went out a decree from
Caesar Augustus”
 persecutions not as many as thought- made stronger
 sometimes combined with others- e.g. Celtic gods
Slavery in the Roman
World
 Important to building projects and way of life
 Conquests supplied slaves so came from all
over
 Not related to ethnicity or skin color
 Greek slaves educated and highly prized
 Rebellions like Sparticus 73BCE occurred- put
down, crucified slaves and held a 10 day party
for Rome
 Slaves gradually won freedom and numbers
decreased
The Roman Builders - All
over the Empire (4)
 Amazing accomplishments- Roads that still last (PICK
4 BELOW TO WRITE BASED ON INTEREST)
 Aqueducts- bringing water to every important city
 Temples for the gods- copied Greek style- massive
 Forum- public area of the city- center- oration etc.
 Theaters- for entertainment- drama
 Coliseums- more fun, fights, gladiators, animals
 Baths- public places- series of rooms dif temps
 military training, organization & technical development.
 stories written to glorify Rome, but now tell us much
about their culture.
The Roman legacy writing and the law
 Alphabet- should look familiar to us (Latin)
 Romans wrote down everything- very literate, passed
on to use use every day (alma mater, alter ego, per
capita, vice versa, a.m/, p.m., RIP) list goes on ad
infinitum
 Statutes and case law most important legacy - took
idea that a written law can protect one person from
another
 Tried to appeal to people through argument- idea of
people deciding
 Magistrates important in Rome – Pontiff Maximus
taken over by the Pope when Rome fell
Map, Rome’s road system
Rome’s early road system
151Great Bath in England
Roman Bath in England
54toilets
Roman public toilets shared by men & women
100Roman Forum
Roman Forum
Roman
Forum
Temples &
government
buildings
19Roman Forum speaking
platform
Platform for public speaking at the Roman Forum
Roman Coliseum: For Gladiatorial events
107Coloseum
109Col
Inside the Roman Colosseum & beneath the floor
Circus Maximus
for chariot racing
115Circus
Maximus
131amphitheater
Roman amphitheater
133Wathletes
Roman female athletes
168Pantheon
Pantheon: Temple dedicated to all the gods
169Pantheon
Interior of the Pantheon
Roman
Aqueductbrought water
to Roman
cities.
138Aqueduct
142Aque
147hadrian’sWall
Hadrian’s wall in N. England, 127 AD
Appian Way:
A famous
Roman road;
an engineering
accomplishment
81Ballista
Ballista
A machine for hurling stones & bolts of hot iron
Cicero
Orator/statesman
who promoted
ideas & ideals
of Roman society
(Roman traits).
Livy
- One of Rome’s 3
great historians who
wrote the 1st great
history of Rome.
- Not known for his
accuracy but
revived the ancient
past about what it
meant to be Roman.
- 142 books (at least
3 per year)
The Roman Emperors- the
Good, Bad and Ugly
 The 200-year peace of Pax Romana gave way
to a 3rd Century CE of deteriorating leadership
 Good: Diocletian (reforms) and Marcus
Aurelius (“citizen of the world”)
 Bad: Caligula- named horse “consul”,
Commodus, fought gladiators with blunted
weapons, Nero, mass murder including his
mother, pregnant wife, brother
 Ugly: Between 235-285, Rome had more than
20 emperors (Majorian/Ricimer), many of
whom were murdered by their own armies
Constantine
- Roman emperor responsible for legalizing
Christianity throughout the Roman Empire
- Professed to seeing Christian monogram in
the sky before his famous battle at Milvian
Bridge – converted soon after his victory
- During the “Decline and Fall” of Rome this
emperor established a “new Rome” at
Byzantium that was renamed
Constantinople – stayed alive for 1,000 yrs
(1,483) after Rome’s fall in 476
Some possible Causes for the
Decline & Fall of Rome (3)
1. Legalization of Christianity
2. Moral decline
3. Government corruption
(Caligula)
4. Exhaustion of the soil
5. Plague & disease
6. Barbarian invasions (Goths,
Huns, Vandals)
Barbarians at the Gates
 Pressure from Germanic tribes looking for
safety
 Huns pressured the Visogoths-410- ran into the
empire
 Vandals- 455- sacked Rome
 Series of invasions- physical damage, but also
intellectual
 established German kingdoms in West- illiterate
 The East survives- becomes Byzantium- keeps
the learning from the ancient world
Barbarian Invasions
Barbarian Invasions
261Barbarian Map
How did Ancient Rome’s
rise and eventual fall
affect European’s
perceptions of
themselves?