Chapter 6 Lesson 1 Notes:
DAY 1
Italian Peninsula
Rome
Balkan
Peninsula
Greece
Mediterranean
• Where is Rome?
• What is the name of
the peninsula on which
Rome is located?
• Where is Greece & on what
peninsula is she located?
• Into which sea do both the Italian
and Balkan Peninsulas jut?
Geography
• located in center of the Italian Peninsula which is approx. midpoint in the Mediterranean Sea on Europe
• Apennine Mountains run the length of most of the peninsula
• Roman ancestors, the Latins, settled along the Tiber River
Geographical benefits
• ideal location for trading & colonizing & practicing imperialism
(conquering other lands and peoples for raw materials and markets)
• mountains provided fertile land & grazing pasture, supporting a
growing population
• the Tiber became a centralized location for trade up and down the
river; the city of Rome eventually developed as the center of the
Tiber
These geographical features benefited Rome because:
A. with no major rivers for irrigation, the Romans relied on the sea
B. Rome was centrally located on the Balkan Peninsula
C. the Romans were forced to go to war with other civilizations
D. the Romans were required to rely on their hunting and gathering
skills
A
Rome’s republic
• in 509 B.C. the Romans drove out the Etruscans,
after having adopted their alphabet (from the
Phoenicians) and technology
• pledging never to be ruled by kings again who
abused their power, the Romans set up a republic,
whereby some officials are chosen by the people
• in the early republic, the Senate dominated the
government. Its members were patricians, or the
aristocratic citizens of Rome.
Two consuls were chosen for one-year terms
each. In times of crisis, a dictator would be
chosen for a 6-month term only.
Roman dictator Lucius Cincinnatus handing back
the rods of power [called the “fasces”] to the city
fathers [served general & consul; resumed role as
farmer; appointed dictator to rid Rome of invading
tribes from the east; completed this task in 17
days; immediately returned to farming]
• Little by little, the plebeians, or common Roman citizens,
gained some political power. They received the Twelve Tables
in Rome’s Forum. They gained the right to elect their own
officials called Tribunes. The tribunes could veto, or block, laws
that they felt harmed plebeians.
• the United States’ Constitution would adopt Roman ideas of
government, such as the senate, the veto, & checks & balances
on political power.
Rome’s Forum that housed all
government and religious
buildings and Rome’s code of
laws: the Twelve Tables,
inscribed on 12 ivory tablets
Rome’s practice of imperialism
• by about 270 B.C., Rome controlled most of the Italian Peninsula
• Rome’s expansion in Italy was successful because of Rome’s:
• skilled diplomacy (art of tactful negotiations)
• a loyal, well-trained army of citizen-soldiers collectively called
legions
• fair treatment of defeated enemies (like the Persians) giving
them citizenship rights
• after gaining control of the Italian Peninsula, Rome began to build
an empire around the Mediterranean
• the Romans followed a policy of imperialism, establishing control
over foreign peoples and lands
• Carthage (a Phoenician trading giant colony that is now called
Tunis and an enemy in the Punic Wars), Macedonia, Greece, and
parts of Asia Minor became Roman provinces, or lands under
Roman rule.
Where is Carthage?
Where is the Bosporus?
Where is France?
Carthage lost
3 (Punic) wars to
Rome,
losing control
of the Med.
The Romans distrusted “rule by a monarchy” because
A. “all men are born to desire power for power’s sake”
B. their Etruscan rulers governed with autocratic power
C. they believed all men had the right to govern themselves
D. kings are always unfair, selfish, and have no manners.
B
Which code of laws gave more and more power to the plebeians?
A. Code of Hammurabi
B. Draconian Code
C. Torah
D. Twelve Tables
D
Which of the following was not a Roman idea adopted by the
U.S. Constitution?
A. a system of checks and balances
B. the power of the veto
C. a direct democracy
D. a legislative branch of government
C
Which of these is considered the legislative branch of the
Roman republic?
A. Senate
B. Supreme Court
C. Dictator
D. Consul
A
Why did Rome and Carthage fight each other in the three Punic
Wars?
A. to gain control of all of North Africa
B. to gain a trade monopoly in the Mediterranean
C. to capture classical Greece
D. to take control of all of the Italian Peninsula
B
Which of the following was not a way the Persian and Roman
empires were similar?
A. They both built roads to improve government efficiency.
B. They both were tolerant of their defeated enemies.
C. They both first developed their empires from a single city-state.
D. They both established a kind of government by which it
conquers other lands and peoples.
C
Rome’s civil wars
• Julius Gaius Caesar forms a consulate known
as the [First] Triumvirate (rule by three),
eventually taking complete power when Caesar
forces the Senate to make him dictator
• Caesar institutes reforms to try to save Rome’s
many poor plebeians [Caesar’s popularity skyrockets!]
• Caesar is killed by Senate enemies on the Ides
of March in 44 B.C. because some of its members
feared he planned to make himself
king.
• More civil wars break out with Caesar’s
assassination
DAY 2
• A Second Triumvirate is formed to avenge the death of Caesar.
• Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Egypt’s queen Cleopatra VII
at the Battle of Actium off the coast of Greece in a struggle for
power.
• The Roman senate bestows Octavian with the title of
Augustus, or “Exalted One” in 31 B.C.
• The 500-year old “republic” comes to an end. The age of the
Roman Empire begins.
+
versus
Octavian
Antony
Rome’s empire and the reforms of Emperor Augustus
• Augustus laid the foundation for a stable
government that would function well for over
200 years.
This period is called the
Pax Romana (Roman Peace)
• created efficient civil service (government
employees) to enforce the laws
• opened up high-level jobs to men of merit
rather than according to birth
• ordered a census, or population count, in
order to make the tax system fairer.
• set up a postal service (like the
Persians)
• first to use a material called concrete to
construct buildings to save money (but overlaid the new buildings with decorative marble
to make the new constructions appear
expensive and extravagant)
The Julio-Claudian Emperors follow the rule of Augustus
• added lands, including Britannia
• opened the Colosseum (Rome’s sporting arena) and the Circus
Maximus (Rome’s largest race course) to entertain the jobless
masses and provided free bread to the poor
• persecuted Christians to encourage a sense of loyalty to the
Roman gods and, therefore, to the emperors
The Good or Adoptive Emperors
• built the Pantheon temple in Rome’s
[marketplace]
Forum (the showplace of the ancient world)
• built Hadrian’s Wall in Britannia to keep out barbarians in the
Roman Empire’s northern frontier (outer boundaries of empire)
The wall was approximately 75 miles long & 16-20 feet high
• introduced the practice of common
law (laws, based on previous judges’
decisions that have been passed down
from one generation to the next and
adopted by the
•U.S. and other countries
• death of Marcus Aurelius
ends Pax Romana and Rome’s
Golden Age around [the year] 240
Caesar was assassinated by a group of Roman Senators because:
A. he had been appointed dictator for 10 years instead of 6 months.
B. his conquests were making Rome a target by other empires.
C. he was the first to weaken the Roman republic.
D. he was so popular that the Senate feared he could become king.
D
Which of the following is NOT true of Augustus?
A. The “Exalted One” ruled as an autocratic god rather than as a
trusted Roman citizen.
B. Augustus began a Roman era known as the Pax Romana or
Roman Peace.
C. Augustus developed allegiance by appointing civil service jobs
based on worth, not birth.
D. Augustus established a census to fairly tax the Roman citizens.
A
Which religious group was most persecuted during the rule of
the Julio-Claudian emperors to increase their prestige among
Roman citizens?
A. Jews
B. Christians
C. Muslims
D. all of these
B
What kind of laws are based on previous judges’ decisions?
A. civil
B. criminal
C. common
D. jury
C
• What is the term for “rule by three?”
Triumvirate
• When was Julius Caesar assassinated?
Ides of March (March 15) 44 B.C.
• Term for the practice of “conquering and controlling other
peoples and lands?”
Imperialism
• This African city was established by the Phoenicians and lost 3
Punic Wars.
Carthage
• What does “Pax Romana” mean?
Roman Peace
• Which emperor built a wall in Britannia to keep barbarians out?
Hadrian
• With whose rule did the Pax Romana begin?
Augustus
• Whose rule ended the Roman republic and began the Roman
empire?
Augustus
• What Egyptian family was defeated at the Battle of Actium by
Octavian (soon to be Augustus)?
Ptolemy