Studied by 8 people
What's special about Rome?
It's the crossroads of the Western world, meaning that they were in the middle of everything everyone was doing
What type of empire was Rome and why?
Land-based empire, because Italy has lots of small rivers so they only needed their navy to ship items
What are two important things about Rome's climate?
Subtropical climate - better farmland than Greece
Surrounded by mountains
What's the significance for Rome's mountains?
They protect them from invasion and unify the area (no polises), which Romans took advantage of as barriers
What happened when the Etruscans were absorbed into Rome?
The Romans took the Etruscan alphabet and the Etruscan monarchy became part of a republic
Why was the Roman republic intentionally slow and inefficient?
It was so branches of government could do proper checks and balances
Who was the last Etruscan king?
Tarquin the Proud
True or false: Rome has a weak military
False - Rome's military is incredibly stubborn and often fought its neighbors
What happened in 390 BCE?
The Celts overtook Rome
What resulted from the Celtic takeover before they left? (4)
Romans were stolen from
Romans were murdered
The area split into several nomadic tribes
The Legion was eventually created
What is the Legion?
A group of professional militaries set up to raise Roman morale after the Celtic takeover
What is a pilum?
A fancy spear that made it nearly impossible to pull out/use against the Romans
What's similar about Rome and Greece in terms of religion?
They don't priorities religion and welcome others from different religions - created a unified Italian peninsula
What is a franchised citizen?
A citizen without voting rights
What did Romans value more? Philosophy or practicality?
Practicality
Define the 3 key groups of the Roman empire
Patricians - wealthy people
Plebeians - middle class people
Senate - wealthy people in government
Why is the Senate always in session?
Because if they were dispersed, it'd be difficult to communicate with each other because communication networks were extremely slow
How is the Roman state run?
Councils run the state and take advice from senators
What are censors?
People who looked after public morals and festivals by restricting information from the public
What's a Centurion?
A leader of 100 troops
How did Romans uphold the laws they created? How was this different from Greece?
They upheld their laws based on precedent. The Greeks treated every case as a new case
In battle what were horses used for?
Scouts, they were not good for combat
What was a gladiolus sword?
A short sword primarily used for stabbing
Why could polises not form in Rome?
Not enough mountains to create independent city-states.
What were the Romans better at than the Greeks?
Land consolidation
Why did Romans require a monopoly over power?
To prevent the continuous fights between individual families and clans
Class power from most powerful to least powerful
Consuls, Senators, Patricians, Plebeians, Slaves.
How did one obtain Roman citizenship? How is this different from the U.S.?
Citizenship in Rome is earned, whereas you need to be born in the U.S. to be a citizen (most of the time)
True or false: Romans expanded throughout Italy with several different colonies
True
What happened in 264-133 BCE?
Rome makes contact and stops the Carthaginians northward expansion into Sicily and started the Punic Wars
Where did Rome expand?
Throughout Italy, Spain, and France (then Gaul)
Who are the Carthaginians?
Descendants of the Phoenicians
What shape was the armor used by the Romans and why was it shaped like that?
Angular, because they needed to either deflect attacks or absorb them
Punic Wars
Two separate wars between Romans and Carthaginians spanning over 130 years
Why would Rome "conquer the world in self-defense"?
Because they believed that everyone was out to get them
What was Carthage known for?
They were the main power of the maritime world, having lots of ports and merchant ships - notably few naval ships
True or False - The Romans had a navy at the ready at the start of the first Punic War
False - they had a major ship building campaign in order to build up their navy
What was the importance of interior lines?
It gave Romans the advantage of just needing to push South to take over Sicily
Who won the first Punic war? What happened to the losing party?
The Romans won the first Punic War. The Carthaginians were forced to move inland towards Spain
What was the trigger for the second Punic War?
Violations of the treaty, committed by both Romans and Carthaginians
Who was Hannibal?
A Carthaginian general who led troops into the Alps, defeating 3 Roman field armies in the process
What did Hannibal start to use in combat in order to battle the Romans?
He utilized war elephants with swords on their tusks
True or False - Roman allies started siding with the Carthaginians in order to protect themselves
True
What strategy did the Romans use to get access to Hannibal?
They would insert themselves into areas where two groups had silent conflict, then trick them into fighting each other
How did the Romans get more people to fight on their side?
They offered citizenship to them as a benefit of fighting in their army
What's a caltrop?
A weapon designed by the Romans to impale the feet of their war elephants - it would send the young elephants running back towards their mothers, trampling the Carthaginian armies in the process
True or False - Legions had to work together to make decisions on what to do during war time
False - they were all allowed to function independently and make their own decisions
What was the result of the second Punic War
The Romans destroyed Carthage and won the war - the West would now be influenced by Roman/Greek ideals, not Carthaginian
Where did the Romans expand to post-Punic War?
Macedonia, Egypt, Greece, Sparta, etc. - places that were allies to the Carthaginians
What two groups appear post-Punic Wars and what did they stand for?
Conservatives - interested in preserving pre-war values
Progressives - interested in adding Greek and Egyptian ideas and creating a more mixed culture
Were slaves present in Roman? If so, in what capacity?
There were slaves present in Rome. They were still more like indentured servants and were the reason so many Romans were able to live luxurious lives
More Roman land = more government; more government = ?
Increased taxes
What happened to the value of Roman citizenship after the Punic Wars?
Since so many people were demanding citizenship for fighting with the Romans, the value of it went down
What happened to veterans as a result of the Punic Wars?
They came back home to ruined farms. Many moved to the city, but others became homeless because the city could only take so many people in
Why did the Roman military turn its back on the Senate?
The troops were previously promised German land for their service in the Punic Wars. The Senate refused to allow them to obtain this land
What was barracks emperors?
Generals that troops would cycle through in order to get them to do what they wanted, making them emperors
Who was Julius Caesar?
A military leader who made himself the emperor of Rome, essentially a dictator
Why did Julius Caesar take over France?
To advance his political career/escape his creditors
What's the significance of "crossing the Rubicon"?
The Rubicon is a small river that acts as a political demarcation. Julius Caesar crossing the Rubicon signified him declaring war on the Roman Senate
What two things did Julius Caesar do when he defeated Pompey and declared himself emperor?
He ended the Roman Republic and expanded citizenship to his supports and gave land to veterans
What happened as a result of Julius Caesar's assassination?
The Senate remained (though it was utterly useless), several civil wars broke out, and Augustus Caesar became the new emperor of Rome
What was established as a result of Augustus' rule?
Emperorship in Rome was defined as hereditary succession, and Pax Romana started
What are three ways to obtain the throne?
Heritage, conquest, and acclaim
Why was Germany viewed as a threat by the Romans?
When the Romans started to enter the area, they were attacked by Germany tribes in what is known as the Teutoburg Forest Battle. 20,000 people were killed.
What does the phrase "all roads lead to Rome" refer to?
Many of the military troops that Augustus sent just outside of Rome would establish small village. These villages were the beginning of many European cities
What's the significance of Augustus sharing his power with his adopted son, Tiberius?
The transition of power wasn't exactly hereditary, but it was approved because Tiberius was an adopted child under Augustus. A dynasty was created when the Senate asked Tiberius if he wanted to be emperor
Who was Pontius Pilate?
The Prefect of Judea appointed by the Romans who approved the execution of Jesus Christ
Why didn't Pontius Pilate originally want to kill Jesus?
He didn't believe that Jesus violated any Roman rules, so he didn't want to make it his problem
Why didn't the Jews think that Jesus was the Messiah?
They believed that their Messiah was going to be a general that would led them against the Romans. Since Jesus was a rabbi and was preaching peace and didn't agree entirely with the Jews, they didn't think he was their guy
What did Jesus do that eventually got Pontius Pilate involved?
Jesus took issue with taxes being collected in a place of worship, which did violate Roman rules
What did King Herod do after he was appointed king by the Roman Senate?
He went to Judea to fight the civil war happening at the time, disposed of the Hasmonean Kings, and ruled a client kingdom under Rome and had to balance Jewish and non-Jewish people in his kingdom
What was the "Slaughter of the Innocents"?
When King Herod could not find the exact location of Jesus, out of fear for Jesus killing him, he allegedly killed all of the male babies in the region
Who were the Zealots?
Jews that didn't want to pay Roman taxes and wanted to learn to fight so they could overthrow the Romans
What were the Apocalypticisms?
Jews who wanted to get rid of the Romans, but felt that they needed to wait for a Messiah (initially believed to be a general) to show up to save them
What did Jesus mainly preach about?
Immortality and a happy afterlife
What happened 3 days after Jesus' crucifixion?
Many people claimed that they had seen/spoken to Jesus, making many people believe that he was resurrected. This was the start of Christianity
Why was early Christianity popular among women?
It spread a message of equality, stressed monogamy, condemns divorce, and condemns the abandonment ("exposing") of children
What was the goal of Christianity?
To convert people
What's the major perk of Christianity as opposed to other religions?
The ability to atone for your sins
What was the main legal issue that was faced in the Roman Empire?
There were never any legal ground established for succession of the emperor
What typically would happen when an emperor died in the Roman Empire?
Civil war would break out since so many generals would claim that they have rightful claim to the throne
What had happened to Rome's government by the 3rd century?
It was entirely decentralized, with provinces shifting towards self-rule
What was the tax collection system like in Rome?
Citizens could pay in ways other than money. Wealthy non-citizens would leave the are to avoid paying taxes, opting to live in villas
What had started happening to Roman and Greek culture?
Civic pride was disappearing and the culture was becoming more rural as people started moving out of the city
What is Gresham's law in terms of the Roman empire? What was its effect on Rome?
"Bad coins drive out good coins". Coins had started to become devalued as Romans started taking gold coins, melting them down, taking half, then re-making them with half gold, half silver. This caused inflation to skyrocket
What were the two crises in 3rd century Rome?
Due to a bad harvest, plague had killed one third of the population and, since the slave population had decreased, there was a labor shortage
Why did the Romans never use their tech for agriculture or manufacturing?
They always had slaves, so they felt that advancing this technology would be a waste of time
By the 3rd century, how was the military doing and what was the general view of the Roman Empire?
The military was suffering many loses and the empire had started losing its high regard
What were the seven things that Diocletian did when he took over the Roman Empire?
Divided up the empire into east and west due to communication issues
Established martial law to make the empire a military dictatorship
Created co-emperors for the east and the west
Established laws of succession
Created a harsh tax collecting system and stabilized coinage
Made jobs hereditary
Enacted the God/King idea
What was the Eastern Roman Empire known as and what were some of its characteristics?
Also known as the Byzantine Empire, the area had high population, wealthier, more cities, better education, less crime
What were characteristics of the Western Roman Empire and what was its claim to fame?
The area had a far lower population, more problems with fighting, worse taxes, and worse education. Their claim to fame is that they actually have the city of Rome
By 305 CE, what was Rome like?
It was a fascist state that controls all aspects of civilian life
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