Ancient Roman history exam 3

Empire begins: roman peace

Power, wealth and influence and it’s going to rise over 300 years of the provinces in Italy (julio-claudian dynasty)

Antonine Dynasty (96-192) = “Roman Peace”

• = “Five Good Emperors” (96-180)

• Adoption

Trajan (98-117): roman peace

• Was chosen by his good military record

• First and only emperor to undertake major foreign war campaigns 

• Offensive policy contrary to Augustus 

• Parthia and Dacia - war campaigns 

  • Dacia took him across the Danube river, very mountain heavy 

  • Parthian Empire, made new provinces

• Building projects- Trajan’s Forum, Trajan’s Column, purpose is to advertise your glory 

  • Scenes from the Dacian wars

• Trajan’s Market

  • Anona

  • Keeping the people happy

  • No other place to get their free food, usually grain 

  • Continued to be used by churches 

• OFFENSIVE POLICY

  • Dacian Wars (101-107)

  • 2nd Jewish Revolt (115)

  • Parthian War (115-117)

  • Plotina, Augusta (117 CE)

Hardian (117-184): roman peace 

• Came from spain 

• Return to defensive policy of Augustus

• Open to everything, you could not have defended it so they abandoned Mesopotamia

  • Deal with Parthians in a treaty, give back Mesopotamia for trade routes

• Keep Dacia (need gold)

  • Need to pay the army 

• Fortify frontier (Hadrian’s Wall in Britain)

  • Went straight across the northern part of britain 

  • Prevent dangerous barbarians from getting in, only about 10 feet tall

  • Engaged in construction projects for soldiers who weren’t in battle

• Agriculture is main economy, main income 

• Augustus abolished the tithe, 

• Roman empire can’t spend more money than you have in tax 

• Tribute tax: it is not an income tax, had to pay a certain amount of change

• Taxes were paid in 4 month installments 

• Punishments were quick, harsh, and severe 

• Very dutiful, spent most of his reign traveling the empire, responsible for Fortifying the frontier

• Hadrian’s Building Projects

  • Temple of Venus (Amor) and Rome (Roma)

    • Two duplicate temples back to back

  • Pantheon

    • Most famous temple

    • Round rather than square 

  • Hadrian’s villa:

    • Mult around it 

    • Had a boyfriend when Antinous died 

• Roman Law = voice of emperor, “jurists”

• 3rd Jewish Revolt: Bar Kochba Revolt (132-135)

Antonius (138-161) - roman peace

Most peaceful

Age of romance peace

• Greco-Roman Culture

• Economy

  • Income:

  • Tribute 

  • Confiscations

  • Mining

  • Expenditures

    • Army 

    • Public Works

    • Annona

    • Emergencies

  • Transportation: Roman road in Britain 

  • Typical Roman city: Lutetia Parisiorum (Paris, France)

  • Aqueduct, Pont du Gard, Nimes, France 

  • Temples of Augustus and Livia, Vienne, Gaul 

  • Greek theaters- open areas

  • Roman - big backstage

  • Ampitheater at El Djem

  • Baths of Trajan (Rome)

• Greater interaction with neighbouring peoples

  • Berbers, “Germans”, Parthians 

• Combination of Roman and Provincial culture

• Culmination of Urbanization 

• Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

• Stoicism, “Meditations”

• Bad stuff starts happening 

• Parthian Wars, plague

  • Not good 

• First “Barbian invasions”

  • More organized raids 

• But Marcus triumphs 

• Columns of marcus

State Religion

• Zeus/Jupiter

• Emperor as “Pontifex Maximus”

• Emperor Worship

• Marcus Aurelius sacrificing as Pontifex Maximus  

• Go into the temple to sacrifice something 

• Most people didn’t practice state religion, the average person usually did not 

Personal Religion

• Family Religion

  • Family sacrifice by the Paterfamillas

  • The whole family goes

  • Family shrine of the Lares (gods that protect the home), snakes were good luck 

• Philosophy 

  • Stoicism: Doing your duty 

• Mystery cults/Fertility cults

  • Afterlife for all, initiation 

    • Be pure for six days

  • Isis, Cybele, etc. 

  • Family Religion

    • Family sacrifice by the Paterfamillas

    • The whole family goes

    • Family shrine of the Lares (gods that protect the home), snakes were good luck 

  • Philosophy 

    • Stoicism: Doing your duty 

  • Mystery cults/Fertility cults

    • Afterlife for all, initiation 

      • Be pure for six days

    • Isis, Cybele, etc. 

Roman Religion and the Growth of Christianity 

• Ancient Monotheism

• Judaism = the original monotheists

  • Covenenant with God based on law Written Scriptures, Moral Code meet regularly to worship Messiah 

• Christianity (based on Judaism)

  • Time of Tiberius, the Messiah comes!

  • Jesus of Nazareth 

    • = Christos (“the anointed one”)

  • Executed ca. 30 CE for sedition 

  • Covenant with God based on belief

  • Written Scriptures, Moral Code 

  • Meet regularly to worship 

  • Forgive sins, afterlife, Social services 

Christianity and the roman empire

• Misconceptions: Cannibalism, Incest, Loyalty 

• Persecutions, “Martyrs” (eg. Nero’s fire)

  • Greatest exercise of your faith 

  • Christian Martyrs become the “rock stars” of early christianity 

• Common ground with paganism 

  • Christ as the sun god 

    • And the halo of the sun god become standard in Christian iconography

The End of “Roman Peace”

• Antonine Dynasty (96-192) = “Five Good Emperors” (96-180)

• Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

• Commodus (180-192) (not a good emperor)

• Popular w people and army, not with Senate

• Identified himself with Hercules

• Enjoyed entertainment and was said to have fought as a gladiator

Conspiracy theories

• Conspiracy theories

• Conspiracy of the Augusta Lucilla (182)

• Daughter of Marcus Aurelius 

• Identified with goddess Venus

• Exiled and dies

• Conspiracy of mistress Marcia (192)

• Assasination of Commodus (192 CE)

• “Damnation of Memory)

• Became illegal to have portraits of them 

• No relatives left…what’s next?

More Civil Wars (192-197)

• “The Year of the 5 Emperors”

  • Pertinax, Julianus, Severus, Niger, Albinus

• Septimius Severus (193-211) from Libya 

• Continued spread of influence out of Italy

Severan Dynasty 

• Julia Domna, from Syria

• Fake adoption by Marcus Aurelius 

• Breakdown of partnership with Senate

• Military emperors

• Army pay raises (300 to 500 denarii!) - Severus did this 

• Have a balanced budget - how to pay for it? 

  • Couldn’t spend more than the income coming in 

  • Arch of Severus in Forum: Romans capture Parthian capital city 

• Debasement of coinage - massive inflation 

  • Cost of goods is going to rise and not stop 

  • 50% silver - “Bad money drives out good money”

• Economic disaster:

  • Value of copper money based on silver money 

  • Only good coinage left is gold 

    • Which the soldiers get as a “donative” whenever a new emperor is named

    • Gold aureus of Severus with Julia Domna and sons Caracalla and Geta “Happiness of the age”

• Septimus Severus died in Britain (211)

• Succeeded by two sons simultaneously 

• Caracalla (211-217)

• Geta (211) - immediately murdered

• Poor Geta suffers “damnation of memory”

• “Antoninianus” = 2 denarii 

Christianity and the Roman Empire

• Christianity 

  • Jesus of Nazareth = Christos (“the anointed one”)

  • Forgive sins, Afterlife, Social services

  • Urban, less privileged people

• Misconceptions

• Persecutions 

The End of “Roman Peace”

• Antonine Dynasty (96-192) = “Five Good Emperors” (96-180)

• Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

• Commodus (180-192) (not a good emperor)

• Popular w people and army, not with Senate

• Identified himself with Hercules

• Enjoyed entertainment and was said to have fought as a gladiator

• Conspiracy theories

• Conspiracy of the Augusta Lucilla (182)

• Daughter of Marcus Aurelius 

• Identified with goddess Venus

• Exiled and dies

• Conspiracy of mistress Marcia (192)

• Assasination of Commodus (192 CE)