Ancient Rome
Lesson 1 Vocabulary
Sicily
peninsula
land
Alps
Apennines
basin – Po basin
1. Italian Peninsula
Boot shaped
Europe
Sicily: near by island
Close to Africa and Greece
Italy is midpoint of the
Mediterranean Sea
Mountainous, not as bad as Greece
Rich farmland, yet sea people
2. Natural Regions: PAAW
1st = Alps, in the north, mts.
separated Italy from the rest of
Europe.
2nd = Apennines, mts. the length of
the peninsula to Sicily
3rd = Po Basin, south of the Alps, it
is between the two mt. ranges
4th = the Western Coastal Plain,
fertile
The
Alps
The
Po
Basin
The Western Coastal Plain
The
Apennines
3. The Early Romans: LEG
1st were the Latins from
Central Europe who settled
around the Tiber River.
Settlers from Greece too
Etruscans [lived in the north],
possibly from Gaul…modern
day France
4. Growth of Rome
Western coastal
plain attracted
settlers because of its
fertile land.
DO NOW:
This is a ______.
What does it help us
remember?
This is a ______.
What does it help us
remember?
Lesson 2:
The Roman Republic
The Story of How Rome Was Given its Name
The Story of Romulus and Remus
The twin brothers Romulus and Remus were the sons of
the god Mars. When they were very young they were
abandoned by the banks of the Tiber River and left to fend
for themselves. Luckily for them, they were found by a
she-wolf who took pity on them and fed them with her
milk.
Later, a shepherd found the boys and took them home to
look after them. He ended up raising the boys as his own
children. The boys grew up to be very strong and clever.
They decided to build a town on the spot where the
shepherd had found them.
Shortly after building the town, the twins had a big
argument about who should be in charge. Romulus
overpowered his brother Remus, who died in the fight.
Romulus then became the first king of this town which
he named Rome, after himself.
As you can see, the early days of the city of Rome are
surrounded with mystery. Much of what historians
believe is based upon circumstance, as there is little
evidence remaining of what Rome was like two and a
half thousand years ago. What we do have, is a Legend,
a story that is partly based on fact, partly based on
fiction.
LessonRepublic
2 Vocabulary
Y
e
a
r
voting rights
Senate
Consuls
7
Plebeians
Patricians
Tribune
Twelve tables
Punic Wars
1. Birth of a Republic
Rome used to have kings-monarchy
509 BCE set up a Republic: government
in which RICH citizens have a right to
choose their ruler. How does it differ
from an OLIGARCHY??
Oligarchy = Rich Rule
Republic comes from the Latin:
“publica”=public things
Birth of Republic- cont’d
Only MALE citizens w/ money and
property could vote-how does this
differ from Greece?
More wealth → more power
Senate: lawmaking council-in Greece
it was what?
Senators elect 2 men to serve as
consuls: share power, command army,
Veto powers
Arch of Constantine and Where
Senate Met…in Rome.
2. Patricians and Plebeians
made up the population
Patricians = rich powerful families
in senate, 200 patrician families
Plebeians = most of the people in
Rome: farmers, merchants. Free
citizens, but no say in government
Years later… A walk out! A revolt!
Tribunes: people elected to protect
plebeian’s interests. 10/year
3. The Twelve Tables
Roman laws had been based on
custom- “It’s always been this
way!” – nothing was written in
stone.
Creation of the Twelve Tables:
written on 12 bronze tablets
Code of laws made by plebeians
and patricians- NOW ALL HAD
RIGHTS
How the Romans Voted
Romans voted
on tablets
using a
pointed stick.
DO NOW: ON THE COVER
rephrase each question into a
statement
What are the 4
Natural Regions of
the Italian
peninsula?
Who were the 3
Early Settlers on
the Italian
peninsula?
Next to this picture, describe the African
elephants below with 3 powerful adjectives.
4. Rome Expands
3 BIG POWERS-Med. Area
Rome
Alexandria,
Egypt
Carthage –
north coast of
Africa
Sicily
Carthage
Egypt
5. War with Carthage
Punic Wars: Rome and Carthage
fight for Sicily
Rome wins and gets Sicily, Sardinia
and Corsica
Leader of Carthage vows revenge by
his son Hannibal
The Punic Wars
Rome was growing, It was starting to expand beyond the
southern Italian peninsula. At the same time as Rome
was growing, so was the city-state of Carthage. Carthage
was in North Africa and had sent out its ships and soldiers
to many parts of the Mediterranean. Carthage had
conquered three islands off the coast of modern day Italy,
and Rome felt that these islands should belong to
Rome. The two governments could not reach any
agreement, so these two powers went to war. Carthage
had a great navy. The Romans had a great army. This war
was going to be bad.
The wars between Rome and Carthage are called
the Punic Wars. The First Punic war lasted for 20
years. Neither side won. Carthage could not beat
Rome's army, but Rome could not beat Carthage's
navy. The war causes many deaths and lots of
destruction. The First Punic war ended when
Carthage decided to end the fighting by giving
Rome one of the three islands.
The Romans still wanted the other two islands, and
Carthage wanted Rome to stop expanding towards
Africa, so everyone knew that there would soon be
a second war.
There soon would be.
At the end of the First Punic war,
Carthage decided to expand into Iberia
(Spain). They sent their best army with
their best general Hamilcar. Hamilcar
took along his oldest son, Hannibal, to
help him. Carthage was doing really
well in Iberia when Hamilcar got sick
and died. The Carthaginians wondered
what to do. The army had no such
worries. By popular acclaim, they
made Hannibal their general.
Hannibal: Hannibal was a great
general. He was very , very tricky. He
won battles by using new and different
ideas. As an example, once while fighting
at sea, he had his men throw live snakes on
to the enemies ship. The snakes frightened
the enemy so badly they surrendered.
Carthage wanted to conquer all of Iberia and Hannibal set about
doing just that. Unfortunately, some of the cities in Iberia were
allies of Rome. When Hannibal attacked one of these cities, Rome
saw the excuse they needed, so they declared war on
Carthage. But they did not go after Hannibal in Iberia. They sent
their main army to attack Carthage. Hannibal knew he had to do
something to prevent the Romans from conquering Carthage, but
what? He was in Iberia with his army. Rome was safe on the other
side of the Alps, which were a very tall and steep set of
mountains. Hannibal didn't let that stop him. In a feat for which he
is remembered still, Hannibal decided to invade the Italian
peninsula by going over the Alps. He decided to bring his war
elephants with him. No one at the time believed that it was
possible, and it almost wasn't. Hannibal lost most of his elephants
to the cold of the mountains, and he lost half of his men as
well. But he did cross the Alps and brought the rest of his army
into the Italian peninsula to attack Rome.
Because of his losses as he crossed the Alps,
Hannibal's army was not strong enough to attack
the city of Rome. So Hannibal attacked other
cities and towns throughout the Italian
peninsula. Hannibal and his army spent 15 years
on the Italian peninsula fighting against the Roman
legions. Rome was worried and afraid. They had
to keep a large army near Rome to protect against
Hannibal so they could never get enough troops
out to catch him. Rome settled on a new
strategy. Once again, they sent their army to attack
Carthage itself.
The leaders of Carthage panicked and called Hannibal
and his army home. Before Hannibal could return, the
Roman army had Carthage surrounded. The leaders of
Carthage surrendered. Carthage agreed to limit the size
of its army and navy, to pay tribute to Rome, and to leave
Spain and Italy. When Hannibal got back, Carthage
reneged [went back on] the deal. Rome sent back its
army and finally defeated Hannibal's forces. They did
not manage to catch Hannibal himself, but they made
Carthage shrink its army and navy even more, and pay
even more tribute.
The war was over. But the Romans were still after
Hannibal. Hannibal led his troops back to Spain and
continued fighting against Rome.
Third Punic War. While Rome was busy at other tasks
and in other parts of the world, the city of Carthage was
growing strong again. Soon Carthage felt strong
enough to fight Rome. The third Punic war
started. The Romans and Carthage fought for several
years but Rome was too strong. The Romans defeated
Carthage again. But this time Rome had had
enough. They rounded up all the people of Carthage
and sold them into slavery. They tore down every
building in the city, then spread salt over all the farms
and fields around where Carthage had been. Thus the
land was no good for growing food. There was no
longer a city of Carthage.
6. Hannibal Crosses the Alps
Second Punic War Invades Italy from the north –
the Alps
Many battles
Scipio: Roman general attacks Carthage, Hannibal
forced to leave Rome
Hannibal’s
path
Lesson 3
The Roman
Empire
Lesson 3 Vocabulary
territory
Roman
Empire
Julius Caesar
Dictator
soothsayer
civil war
Octavian
Augustus
Ides of
March
Pax Romana
Please give 5 descriptive
adjectives for each
BRICK
MARBLE
1. Building an Empire
Roman armies march to add new
territories- large areas of land
Strong Roman gov’t made this
possible
Each territory was a Roman state w/
a governor
New areas kept their own customs
Julius Caesar
2.Julius Caesar
Most powerful leader
Was a patrician
Conquered many
lands
Senate made him a
dictator = someone
with absolute powerbecause he was a
great general.
The Roman Empire
from Britain to Mesopotamia
3. Ides of March
Senators grew angry b/c
Caesar took away their power
Wears purple – a color of
royalty
Warning from a soothsayer –
predicts the future
March 15th – murdered on the
Ides of March
Ides = middle of month
Planning the Assassination
The conspirators [men who meet to plan an evil crime] never
met exactly openly, but they assembled a few at a time in each
other's homes. There were many discussions and proposals, as
might be expected, while they investigated how and where to
execute their design to kill Caesar.
•Some suggested that they should make the attempt along
the Sacred Way, which was one of his favorite walks.
•Another idea was to do it at the elections, during which he
had to cross a bridge.
•Some proposed that they draw sticks for someone to push
him from the bridge and others to run up and kill him.
•A third plan was to wait for a coming gladiatorial show.
The advantage of that was, because of the show, no
suspicion would be aroused if arms [weapons] were seen.
In the days leading up to the assassination, Caesar was
told by doctors, friends, and even his wife, Calpurnia,
not to attend the Senate on the Ides of March for various
reasons, including medical concerns and troubling
dreams Calpurnia had.
The majority opinion, however, favored killing him
while he sat in the Senate. He would be there by himself,
since only Senators were admitted.
Conspirators could hide their daggers beneath their
togas.
This plan won the day.
...his friends were alarmed at certain rumors and tried to
stop him from going to the Senate-house, as did his doctors,
for he was suffering from one of his occasional dizzy spells.
His wife, Calpurnia, especially, who was frightened by
some visions in her dreams, clung to him and said that she
would not let him go out that day. But Brutus, one of the
conspirators and BEST friend, came up and said,
“What is this, Caesar? Are you a man to pay
attention to a woman's dreams and the idle gossip of stupid
men, and to insult the Senate by not going out, although it
has honored you and has been specially summoned by you?
But listen to me; cast aside the strong feelings of all these
people, and come. The Senate has been in session waiting
for you since early this morning.”
This convinced Caesar and he left.
Assassination
Where Julius Caesar was
cremated-
dispose of a dead person’s body by burning to ashes
Augustus
Adopted by Julius Caesar, Augustus (c.62 BCE – 14 CE)
Reigned (31 BCE – 14 CE) had to fight for his throne. His
long rule saw a huge expansion in the Roman Empire and the
beginnings of a dynasty that, over the next century, would
transform Rome, for better and worse.
The man who would become one of Rome’s greatest
leaders had an unpromising start in life. Augustus was a
sickly child in a family with few connections.
His father died when Augustus was four. His future
looked bleak: Rome was dangerous and engulfed by civil
war. However, Rome was led by his great-uncle,
Caesar.
Julius
A bit of luck
Then Augustus got a lucky break. In 46 BCE,
Caesar won the civil war and was named
dictator of Rome. To secure his position, he
needed an heir. With no son of his own, he
adopted Augustus.
This was a fantastic opportunity for a young
man from nowhere. Almost at once, however,
Caesar was dead – murdered by his own
advisors. Augustus was just 19, but
immediately threw himself into the
backstabbing world of Roman politics .
Claiming the throne
He formed a strategic alliance with Marc
Antony, a successful and ambitious general.
Over the next few years, they defeated their
enemies in Rome and chased the survivors to
Greece, where they finished them off in two of
the bloodiest battles in Roman history.
The killing over, the empire was theirs and they
divided the spoils. Augustus kept Rome, while
Antony took Egypt. There he fell under the
spell of Cleopatra, Egypt’s beautiful queen.
Trouble in Egypt
Romans feared that Cleopatra wanted the
throne for herself and his relationship with her
made Mark Antony a hated man in Rome. His
alliance with Augustus disintegrated but,
before Antony and Cleopatra could strike
Rome, Augustus attacked.
The Battle of Actium in 31 BCE destroyed
three-quarters of the Egyptian fleet. Cleopatra
and Marc Antony killed themselves and, finally,
the Roman Empire now included the land of
the pharaohs.
Local hero
Back home, Augustus was a hero. At the age
of 32, he had become Rome’s first Emperor,
promising to restore peace and security.
Winning the war had been difficult, but was
nothing compared to the challenge of winning
the peace. Many immediately suspected him
of wanting to create a dynasty to rule Rome
for generations to come.
A charm offensive
To avoid Julius Caesar’s fate, Augustus
charmed the Senate and the people by
pretending to give up power. But a series of
disasters panicked Romans. They became
convinced that only he could save them and
begged the Senate to vote him absolute ruler.
Augustus agreed, but did so cleverly. He
convinced Romans that he was ruling in the
best traditions of the republic, but actually was
an absolute ruler creating a dynasty. The
Romans bought it.
Growing older
During his reign, Augustus achieved a lot.
He expanded the empire, adding Egypt, northern
Spain and large parts of central Europe before
invading Germany.
But problems remained.
Augustus was growing older and weaker.
Despite his successes, the plotting continued.
Everything that Augustus had worked so hard to
achieve was in danger of collapsing as he faced
crisis after crisis, both at home and abroad.
Nevertheless, Augustus clung onto power
for another 10 years. When he died, in 14 CE,
the Senate declared him a god. With his two
grandsons already dead, power passed to his
stepson, Tiberius.
So what did he do?
Augustus had ended 100 years of civil
war and achieved over 40 years of internal
peace and prosperity. His vision and power had
expanded the Roman Empire to become far
more than a collection of countries. Instead, it
was a diverse society and enormous
marketplace in which people across Europe,
north Africa and the Middle East could trade
and travel under Rome’s protection.
He had won over the Senate and founded
a dynasty. But this would feature as many
villains as heroes, and would take Rome on a
roller-coaster ride into assassination, insanity
and terror.
4. Octavian Augustus
Julius Caesar’s nephew,
adopted son
Caesar’s murder causes 13 yr.
civil war
Great general-ruled for 41
years
Augustus = “honored one”
God-like emperor
Made government fair again
5. Pax Romana
“Roman Peace”
Pax = peace
Began with Octavian’s rule
lasted 200 years
Empire was at its greatest
What does this quote mean,
said by Octavian Augustus?
“I found Rome a city
of brick and left it a
city of marble.”
Lesson 4
The Legacies of
Ancient Rome
Lesson 4 Vocabulary
architecture
dome
arch
concrete
Coliseum
gladiator
forum
aqueduct
Romance
Languages
1. Architecture
Architecture: Science of building
Use columns and archesimportance – structures are more
stable
Aqueduct
Invented the dome- (roof formed
by rounded arches) importancetoday, many arenas are covered
with domes so that all –weather
events can take place.
Introduced concrete (lime and soil)
- importance- long-lasting,
made connecting territories in
Rome’s Empire, possible
2. Coliseum
Sports, chariot races
4 stories of arches/columns
Marble seats -seating 50,000 spectators
Mechanical elevators
Shows all day
Bloody events- 500,000 people and over a
million wild animals died
Gladiators: [criminals, Christians, slaves,
men wishing to pay off their debt to the
emperor] fought animals/men, expected
to die
Our Trip to Rome- Summer 2013
Il Colosseo: A roof to protect?
What took place inside Il Colosseo
Inside the Il Colosseo
98 Degrees and Humid
Outside Il Colosseo
Let’s view a video
A Gladiators Story- taken from real life
events.
Pompeii
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZncaI3rpfe
8
3. Roads and Aqueducts
Roads: layers of crushed
stone/pebbles, linked the townsImportance- to connect all territories
of Rome for SPEEDY movement of
troops and communication around the
empire.
Also leads to the forum: central
market place- Importance –
today, we have outdoor
marketplaces
Aqueducts: long lasting, stone
structures
importance- to bring water to
places, were to carry water from
wells or natural springs.
4. Importance of Latin
Language
Latin based languages = Romance Languages-there is a melody to HOW the words are
pronounced.
“FIRPS”
F
I
R
P
S
Most European languages are from Latin
5. Gifts of Rome
Advanced civilization
How were they advanced?
Think Architecture
Lesson 5
Birth of
Christianity
Lesson 5 Vocabulary
Jesus
New
Testament
Christianity
Apostle
Peter
Paul
Bishop
Pope
Constantine
Fall of Rome
1. Land of Palestine
Palestine: land of the ancient
Hebrews (earlier known as Canaan)
Mary and Joseph from here go to
Bethlehem to be counted in the
census- [Latin “censere”= estimate]
counting of the population- for taxes
and for men fit for military
Census
Suffolk County
2010 census
Added 15 people
Total: 1.5 million
Nassau County
2010 Census
Added 3,500
Total: 1.38 million
2. Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus: born to Mary
Jesus’ life in the New Testament of the Bible
New Testament tells of the story of Christianity.
Jesus grew up in Nazareth- Close friends = 12
Apostles
Apostles helped him organize Christian Church
3. Teaching of Jesus
One god- new to Romans
Follow the Ten Commandments
Preached: Love for others
Worshipped secretly in fear of persecution. They
would use a secret signal – a fish- to show they
were a Christian.
Jesus arrested b/c rulers in Palestine thought he
wanted to rebel…condemned to death. Being
nailed to a cross was an example of that.
Christians slaves were used to fight gladiators
until the emperor himself became a Christian.
4. Spread of Christianity
Apostles set up churches
Paul: traveled to spread Jesus’
teaching
Paul: wrote letters- explaining
his voyages.
Peter: helped Paul, went to
Rome, won over converts.
Becomes 1st bishop – an official
who leads a group of Christians.
Bishop of Rome is the POPE =
Pope means father
Pope Francis
This
picture
hangs in
the
Sistine
Chapel
in
Rome.
One day in year 312 C.E., the emperor Constantine stood with his troops under the cloudy sky near
a bridge across the Tiber River. He was filled with doubts. A battle was about to begin. His enemies were
waiting on the other side of the river. While Constantine was hoping for victory, the sun broke through the
clouds. The sun had a cross on it. Above the cross was written in Latin: “Under this sign you will conquer.”
The next morning, Constantine had artisans put the Christian symbol on his soldiers’ shields. In the battle, they
won an overwhelming victory. Constantine believed that the victory had come from the Christian God.
Constantine vowed to become a Christian.
5. Christian Emperor
Christians did not want to worship rulers
and..
Rome did not tolerate Christianity
Christians slaves were killed in the
Coliseum- under Emperor Nero
Constantine: general, said to have favored
Christianity
313CE – “Freedom to worship any
religion”, Constantine
395CE – official religion of Rome
Italian: Tutte le strade portano a Roma!
The Roman Empire at its greatestAll the land surrounding the Med. Sea
6. Fall of Rome
Polytheists vs monotheists- the
Roman gods vs Christianity. The
population was divided.
Because of Christianity, the empire
lost its unification
military problems lead to loss of
wealth- foreigners- ByzantinesEastern Empires- were conquering
them