Rome Slideshow

Rome Ultimate Study Guide

Rome - successor to Greece

  • Rome modeled itself after Greece

  • Similar architecture and religion

  • Big difference: Greece never united, Rome became a major empire

Mythical Origins of Rome

Locations and places

  • Rome centrally located in the Mediterranean Basin and distant from eastern Mediterranean powers

  • Centrally located on Italy coast

  • Alps provide protection

  • Mediterranean Sea provides protection and seaborne commerce

Religion

  • Roman religion is polytheistic

  • Many symbols, metaphors, and words in Western civilization come from ancient Roman mythology

  • Symbols and images in literature, arts, and architecture are based on Greek mythology

Jupiter

  • Roman version of Zeus

  • God of thunder and sky, King of the gods

Juno

  • Roman version of Hera

  • Goddess of marriage, queen of the gods

Apollo

  • Roman version of Apollo

  • God of sun, archery, poetry/music, medicine

Diana

  • Roman version of Artemis

  • Goddess of moon, hunting

Minerva

  • Roman version of Athena

  • Goddess of wisdom and battle strategy

Venus

  • Roman version of Aphrodite

  • Goddess of love and beauty

Mars

  • Roman version of Ares

  • God of war

Locations and places

  • Alps (Mts)

  • Apennine Mts

  • Rome

  • Carthage

  • Sicily

  • Sardinia

  • Adriatic Sea

  • Mediterranean Sea

  • Tyrrhenian Sea

  • Ionian Sea

  • Tiber River

  • Po River

  • Rubicon River

Map of the Roman Empire

  • Label and color the water blue

  • Color the Roman Empire any color (but not blue)

  • Color all other land a third color

Economy/Infrastructure

  • Agriculture: olives, grapes, citrus fruit, grains

  • Food surplus led to job specialization and trading

  • Trade and commerce were vital, importing/exporting

Social

  • Patricians: wealthy individuals/landowners, eligible to hold public offices

  • Plebeians: majority of the population, poorer individuals who could not hold office, peasants, laborers, artisans, merchants, farmers

  • Women excluded from the governing process, very limited rights

  • Foreigners/Aliens: non-Romans living in the Republic, most were excluded from the governing process

  • Slaves: not based on race, prisoners of war, born to enslaved parents, or failed to repay loans and debts, excluded from the governing process

Achievements

  • Conquests and trade spread Roman cultural and technological achievements throughout the Roman Empire

  • Western civilization influenced by the cultural achievements of ancient Rome

Politics

  • Citizens: patrician and plebeian men, selected foreigners

  • Rights and responsibilities of citizens: taxes, military service

Political Rome's Stages of Government

  • Monarchy (753 BCE - 509 BCE)

  • Republic (509 BCE - 27 BCE)

  • Empire (27 BCE - 476 CE)

Political

  • 600 BCE - Etruscans ruled under a monarchy

  • 509 BCE - 27 BCE - Patricians overthrew monarchy and established a Republic/Representative Democracy

  • Republic or representative democracy is a government in which citizens elect representatives to make laws/rules

  • 494 BCE - 200 BCE - Plebeians slowly increased their power in the republic through strikes and demands, known as the Conflict of Orders

  • 450 BCE - Laws of Rome codified as the Twelve Tables, displayed in the Forum for all to read, aimed for fair application across social classes, "Innocent until proven guilty"

  • 27 BCE - Republic becomes an Empire

  • 476 CE - Western Roman Empire comes to an end

  • Roman Republic composed of 3 governing bodies: Magistrate/Consuls (Executive Branch), Senate (Legislative Branch), Assemblies (Legislative Branch)

The Revised Republic 494 BCE - 30 CE

  • Executive Branch: 2 Consuls

  • Legislative Branch: 2-10 Tribunes, Senate, Assembly of Tribes/Council of Plebs, Assembly of Centuries

Punic Wars

  • Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 BC and 146 BC

  • Both sides wanted control over the Mediterranean region

Punic Wars

  • First Punic War: Rome wins, fought over Sicily

  • Second Punic War: Rome wins, Carthage invaded Italy

  • Third Punic War: Rome wins, Carthage is destroyed

Results of the Punic Wars

  • Three Roman victories

  • Carthage is destroyed

  • Rome expands trade network/land acquisition and increases wealth

  • Rome dominates Mediterranean basin with NAVY

  • Spreading/diffusion of Roman culture

Causes for the decline of the Roman Republic

  • Spread of slavery in the agricultural system

  • Migration of small farmers into cities; unemployment

  • Civil war over the power of Julius Caesar

  • Devaluation of Roman currency; inflation

  • First & Second Triumvirate

    • Triumvirate: A government of three officials functioning jointly

  • Julius Caesar: Seizure of power, assassination

Background: Rome’s territory after the Punic Wars

  • As Rome takes more and more territory (Think Punic Wars), the Roman Republic faces more and more problems governing this massive amount of territory.

The Problems

  1. Rich getting richer (Patricians), poor getting poorer (Plebeians)

    • New territory = new tax revenue

  2. Government Corruption

    • Local leaders taking bribes and simply not doing their jobs

  3. Unemployment

    • The rich take over poor farm lands and use slave labor (Latifundia System), leaving lower class farmers out of work. Many flee to the cities in search of work.

Patricians and Plebeians

  • Many Patricians were still upset that Plebeians had earned more of a say in government.

  • EXAMPLE: Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus became Tribunes (Plebeian leaders of the Executive Branch) and were murdered by Patrician Senate members.

  • Over the next 100 years military leaders fought each other for power over Rome. The Republic was powerless.

The Solution: The 1st Triumvirate

  • What is a Triumvirate? Rule by 3 people, a more specific form of an Oligarchy

  • Why a Triumvirate? These military leaders fighting for power realized they could never get power on their own, so they teamed up with other military leaders and split the power.

  • Members of the 1st Triumvirate - All famous Military Generals

    • Pompey

    • Julius Caesar

    • Crassus

1st Triumvirate continued...

  • Crassus: dies fighting a war in the Asia Minor (Present-day Turkey)

  • Pompey: Stays in Rome, Leads the Republic

  • Caesar: Takes over much of Gaul (Present day France) and Britain

    • Gets super popular because of this

Pompey and Caesar DRAMA!!!

  • Pompey and the Roman Senate order Caesar to disband his military and return to Rome.

  • Caesar says NO! And crosses the Rubicon River into Rome with his Army.

  • Pompey and his followers in the Senate flee Rome but are tracked down by Caesar and defeated.

  • The Senate, now under Caesar’s control, declares him “Dictator for Life”

Julius Caesar, Dictator for Life

  • What did he do as Dictator for life?

    • Gave land and jobs to the poor

    • Offered citizenship to conquered people

    • Created the Julian Calendar, which was used for the next 1600 years

    • Falls in love with Cleopatra of Egypt and creates an alliance with Egypt

Caesar’s Fall

  • Members of the Senate worried that Caesar would use his popularity to make himself emperor and destroy the Roman Senate

  • On March 15th, 44 BCE, Senate members Cassius and Brutus, Murdered Caesar on the Senate floor.

  • Caesar’s SUPPOSED final words: “Et tu brute?”

The 2nd Triumvirate

  • Lepidus: Old, a former advisor to Julius Caesar. Removed from power by Octavian.

  • Marc Antony: Powerful military mind. Falls in love with Cleopatra.

  • Octavian: Julius Caesar’s adopted son. Wealthy and ambitious.

Marc “The Shark” Antony vs. Octavian

  • Marc Antony and Octavian go to war for total power of Rome

  • Octavian wins at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC

    • Marc Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide together when they finally accept defeat.

Octavian becomes Augustus Caesar

  • Octavian becomes Rome’s 1st Emperor and changes his name to Augustus Caesar to honor his adoptive father, Julius Caesar.

  • THE ROMAN REPUBLIC IS DEAD AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE HAS BEGUN.

Imperial Rome

  • 27 B.C.E. -Augustus Caesar- Rome’s first emperor

  • Empire: Unified and enlarged, using imperial authority and the military

  • Failed to provide for peaceful succession of emperors

  • Rome became an extremely large empire that controlled the Mediterranean

Pax Romana 27 B.C.E.- 180 C.E.

  • AKA Roman Peace

    • Known for economic prosperity and territorial expansion as well.

  • Peace came at a price, NOT all emperors were good.

Impact of Pax Romana

  • Economic

    • Established uniform system of money, which helped to expand trade

    • Guaranteed safe travel and trade on Roman roads

    • Promoted prosperity and stability

  • Social

    • Returned stability to social classes

    • Increased emphasis on the family

  • Political

    • Created a civil service

    • Developed a uniform rule of law

Fall of the Western Roman Empire- 476 C.E. (A.D)

  • Geographic size: Difficulty of defense and administration

  • Economy: The cost of defense and devaluation of Roman currency, high inflation and high taxes

  • Military: Increasing reliance on foreigners to serve in and to lead the Roman army

  • Diseases: Declining Roman populations as a result of epidemic diseases

  • Political & social problems: Civil conflict and weak administration

  • Invasion: Germanic migrations and settlement

  • The Western Roman Empire officially ended 476 CE, when Emperor Romulus Augustulus was deposed by the Germanic King Odoacer.

Eastern Roman Empire...

  • becomes Byzantine Empire and lasts