romans and their world essay questions (summaries sort of)

How did provincial exploitation enrich Rome as well as individual Romans and Italians, and what role did Romans and Italians play in that exploitation? How did this wealth change life in Italy?

- Romans/Italians exploited spain. degraded the land. pollution. enslavement (bad conditions). Lots of money though (diodorus)

- mass enslavement allowed for the prospering of latifundia -- which displaced smaller farmers and used up ager publicus. Thus it was hard to enlist in the military or make a living

- Asia was also important! lots of money, and Rome's credit sort of depended on the profitability and fertility of the province. (cicero)

- clear Roman/Italian wealth outside Rome! We can see this in the agora at Delos -- it's giant and expensive to build. shows the mass amount of wealth enjoyed outside Rome

How did Italians in and outside of Italy express their identities and what were some of the differences in the experiences of Italians when overseas and in Italy? What problems led to the Social War and what were the aims of the rebels? Why were they fighting for these aims?

- Outside of Italy, they used other languages! The Agora at Delos had a statue in Greek -- blending in with the local culture. Also have artifacts that use Latin/Oscan inflections.

- also have tessera hospitalis -- show linkages between Etruscans and Italians/Romans, Etruscans and Carthaginians. Larger social networks and interaction between different groups!

- Ennius speaks 3 languages!! multipolar culture

- lead up to social war: Fregellae revolt (put down fast), death of Livius Drusus, events at Asculum (exchanging hostages)

- aims of rebels: citizenship. Or independence

- why fight for these aims? they paid taxes to rome and fought in Rome's armies. They outnumbered Romans often enough! yet they were not given citizenship despite being so large a part of what allowed Roman citizenship to be great

- Rebel coins -- often functioned with the Roman cannon -- points to similar religious practices. For instance, conuratio with fetial priest on one coin. Also coin with Italia -- personification of the rebel state not dissimilar from the Roma depiction. Also the coins -- some of them -- were in Oscan! Language was political -- which one do you choose to express yourself?

How did Octavian, Antony, and others use images and words (including rumors) to shape public opinion during the Second Triumvirate? How does the historical record suppress Antony's side of his conflict with Octavian?

- Cicero called Antony a drunk, incompetent frat boy. Said he was nothing like Caesar. in 14 speeches -- the philippics. They are nasty!

- also Cicero supported Octavian, helped him get power, and ensured the declaration of Antony as a public enemy of Rome

- Octavian's coinage present him as divi filius -- son of a god (son of Caesar) which made him look pretty great obviously. Also coin showing him and Caesar next to each other, here Octavian is new and shiny and a continuation of the old (and by now dead) Caesar

- Coins of Antony portray him with Cleopatra or as Dionysus. This might've been to appeal to sentiments in the East and to draw on his relationship with Cleopatra -- which he needed for power in the east.

- Plutarch saw Antony as a drunk frat boy dionysus as well. the thing was that he was writing while Octavian was in power, so this is obviously a biased source.

- History is written by the victors! Octavian won, Antony died, so his side is kind of lost to history.

What, according to Sallust, was the nature of Rome's political culture during the Jugurthine War? What features of Roman political culture in his lifetime are

reflected in his depiction of the era of the Jugurthine war?

- It lacked Virtus. People wanted office and drew on their ancestors to say they were great, rather than actually be great and possessing virtus

- society is also stagnant. having an enemy kept everyone engaged and working towards something. Now that they've kind of taken control of everything, there is no common enemy to unify them. So people have time to be sketchy

- accepting bribes in the jugurthine war

- ambition is a downfall of this society. people don't want to be great, just want to have titles/seem great

- Sallust experienced the Catiline conspiracy, Caesar's death, and was ousted from Politics (essentially). he experienced the instability and was, in some ways, a victim of a lack of virtus (he tried to speak out against Milo, who ended up murdering Clodius. But also he extorted his province (africa) when he was a provincial governor.)

Sallust traces the beginning of Rome's decline to the fall of Carthage. Why?

- carthage gave everyone a unifying enemy! now that it's gone society is stagnant and not unified

- Sallust traces these behaviors back to previous power players in Rome notably comparing the ongoing events to the actions of the Gracchi and part of a tradition of people setting themselves up for failure

- Nobles are guilty of the same crimes that the Gracchi prosecuted. Fearing their own fall from power/being found out, they began making themselves more fearful, outlawing opponents etc etc (subverting the law! personal interests)

- The people's voice is too dispersed whereas the nobility have more power to make decisions (84)

- "So avarice, accompanied by powerfulness, attacked without limit or restraint, it tainted and devastated everything, it attached neither weight nor sanctity to anything, until it caused itself to fall headlong" (84).

- No longer had enemy to fear, turns in on itself. Fighting within.... Idleness is dangerous

How does Sallust present his Marius? Why might Sallust portray him in this

way?

-Marius starts out as a solid picture of Virtus -- he doesn't speak Greek, he is a novus homo. he is militarily excellent

- Sallust has marius give a speech about himself -- basically just in love with himself. thinks he's great (Marius made a temple to Virtus after a war, so it seems this is how Marius actually thought of himself)

- Marius is over ambitious and ends up in the same state of decline as the rest of the nobility. Namely, overambitious and a reliance on titles rather than being actually great. Marius wants to be respected as an insider -- not a new man outsider

- Marius lashes the upper classes.

- sallust portrays him this way to show how new men are not saviors of rome, but end up falling into the same patterns of the elites. perhaps rome is valuing the wrong things! No longer prowess, but titles and seeming great instead of actually being great

What were the reform programs of Marius, Sulla, and Caesar? Describe the

specific policies, their implications, and the larger agendas that underlay their

policies.

Marius -- let the landless into the military. thus, shifting alliances to the individual commander rather than the Roman state -- these things can clash. Also just generally wanted to be accepted as an elite. Marius had to take care of his veterans -- find land for them!

Sulla -- proscriptions, return to the Republican ideal. He reinstated checks on holding positions, and increased the size of the senate. Left out some groups -- equestrians and plebs. not perfect. also made himself dictator but stepped down

Caesar --- increased size of senate -- more people to rule the empire but also more people to support him (the senate gave him unprecedented honors, but obviously those were coming from his supporters lol). also fixed the calendar -- Egyptian one. Also made plans for more colonies that Octavian saw through later. He saw Rome as an integrated, continuous body, not a patchwork and thought it could be administered in an integrative way. wanted that expansion. also had a policy of clementia. wanted legitimate power, more stable and wanted to be legal.

-Lupercalia. is he king? also triumph over Pompeians, controversial.