Roman Empire

  • What are the impacts of Roman engineering innovations?

    • Roman engineering innovations transformed urban life, enhanced trade, supported military efforts, and demonstrated Rome's advanced technological capabilities, contributing to the empire's expansion and endurance during ancient times. These innovations left a lasting legacy, influencing future engineering practices and urban development for centuries to come.

  • What are the impacts of Augustus on the Roman Civilization?

    • Roman engineering innovations, such as aqueducts and concrete construction, greatly improved urban infrastructure, allowing for the effective distribution of water and the building of monumental structures that demonstrated the empire's power and advanced technology.

    • Augustus established a period of peace known as the Pax Romana, which enabled trade to flourish, fostered cultural development, and solidified his control through reforms in government and military, ultimately transforming Roman civilization into a powerful and enduring empire.

  • What are the factors that led to the split of the Roman Empire?

    • several factors contributed to the eventual split of the Roman Empire, including political instability, economic decline, military overextension, and the increasing pressure from external invasions, which weakened the central authority and made it difficult to manage such a vast territory.

  • What impacts did Christitanity have on the Roman Empire?

    • The spread of Christianity contributed to the unifying of diverse populations within the empire, promoting a sense of community and shared values.

    • It challenged traditional Roman beliefs and practices, leading to conflicts with pagan traditions and the eventual adoption of Christianity as the state religion under Emperor Constantine.

    • The moral and ethical teachings of Christianity influenced laws, societal norms, and the role of the church in governance, shaping the cultural landscape of the empire. Additionally, the rise of Christianity played a pivotal role in altering social hierarchies, as it emphasized equality among believers, including the marginalized and lower classes, which led to a re-evaluation of status and power dynamics within Roman society.



People

  • Octavian/Augustus

    • Julius Caesar’s grandnephew & adopted son

    • forces lepidus into exile

    • declares war on Antony and wins

      • battle of actium (naval battle)

    • takes power

    • appointed Consul and Commander-in-chied for life

    • becomes rome’s first emperor

    • names Augustus = “magestic one”

    • reforms

      • created a dedicated police dept and fire dept

      • established the pratorian guard

      • created a cult to the emperor

      • establised tax collection departments

      • reaname the month of sextilis - august

      • built new roads and aqueducts

      • chose heirs among qualified canidates

  • Mark Antony

    • General

    • allies with cleopatra in egypt

    • loses war against Octavian

      • commits suicide with cleopatra

  • Cleopatra

    • allies with Marc antony in egypt

  • Hadrian

    • wall-building emperor

    • visited nearly every province in the roman empire

    • built the pantheon

    • did not believe the empire could maintain/defend its huge size

    • hadrian abandoned far off provinces and built fortificaton

    • reformed the legal system

    • military reforms

  • Trajan

    • soldier emperor

    • grew up in a senatorial family in spain

    • served in the military and was a talented general

    • adopted and made heir by emperot nerva

    • trajan expanded rome to its maximum territory

    • created a welfare system to provide for poor children and orphans

    • tax reductiuon

  • Jesus

    • jewish and traveled around judea teaching about god until he was crucified in 29 CE

    • believed to be the messiah (savior) and son of god

  • Saint Paul

    • traveled around the roman empire preaching and setting up churches

  • Diocletian

    • most famous for splitting the roman empire

    • tetrarchy, each tetracarch would rule over a quarter division of the empire

    • divided the empire into east and west

    • persecuted christians

  • Constantine

    • allowed freedom of religion through the Edict of Milan

    • moved capital of the empire to byzantium and renamed it Constantinople

  • Theodosius

    • made christianity the offical religion of the roman empire

    • last emperor to rule all of rome

    • after him, rome is offical two seperate empires, west and east


Vocabulary

  • Emperor

  • Pax Romana

    • 200 year period of peace and prosperity began by Augustus

    • “the roman peace”

    • trade increased

    • art and architecture flourished

    • standards of living went up

    • common currency created

    • all free males in the empire were citizens

    • Law system

      • roman law was standardized

      • people are equal under the law

      • the accused can faced accusers and defend themselves

      • innocent until proven guilty

  • trade helped upper and middle class, but lower classes still struggled

  • city of rome had same problems ad modern cities

    • too little housing

    • pollution

    • crime

    • high cost of living

  • Colosseum 

    • gladiatorial games

      • gladiators were slaves, criminals, or prisoners of war, or poor people

  • Gladiators

    • Slaves, criminals, prisoners, or poor people

      • Murmillo

        • heavily armored gladiators that used a long, oblong shield and a sword called a gladius. their most distinctive trait was the full-cover helmet decorated with a fish-shaped crest

      • thraxes

        • wore similar armor to the murmillo, but who used a smaller, rectangular shield and a curved thracian sword. their helmet was also covered the entire head, but was decorated with a griffin instead of fish

      • retiarius

        • famous gladiators wielding a large net and a trident. they wore lighter armour and had no shield, and fought by attempting to trap their opponets under their net and stabbing at them with their three-pronged spear

      • essedarius

        • mounted gladiators. little info on them beyond that they fought mounted on chariots

      • hoplomachus

        • translates to ‘armed fighter’ in greek, they were gladiators who carried a throwing spear, a short sword, a small, round shield, and who sported a plumbed helmet

  • Pompeii

    • mt. vesuvius erupted and ash killed thousands of residents

    • city was evacuated

    • birth of modern archaeolgy

  • Latin

  • Romance Language

    • Languages based on latin

      • spanish

      • french

      • italian

      • portuguese

      • romanian

  • Baths

    • place to meet and socialize

  • Roman Roads

    • Appian way

      • connected rome and southeastern italy

      • guarenteed safe travel and trade

    • network of roads linked rome with the rest of the empire

  • Aquaducts

    • channel used to transport fresh water to highly populated areas

  • Dome

  • Circus Maximus (chariot racetrack)

  • Concrete

    • enhanced to make it more sturdy

  • Constantinople

    • moved to be better able to protect the eastern part of the empire

    • away from germanic invasions in the western empire

    • very wealthy city

  • New Testament/Bible

    • old testament (history of the jews)

    • new testament (life and teachings of jesus)

  • Messiah

    • savior


Events

  • Assassination of Julius Caesar

    • the republic collaspes

    • 3 reasons for collaspe

      • civil war

      • spread of slavery on large farms forces poor farmers to the city

      • inflation

  • Augustus starts the empire

    • 2nd tirumviate comes to power

      • octavian (Caesar’s grandnephew & adopted son)

      • marc antony (general)

      • marcus lepidus (consul)

    • defeated caesar’s assassins

  • Diocletian splits the empire

    • diocletian rules the east, a co-emperor rules the west

  • Persecution of Christians

  • Edict of Milan

    • 313 CE

    • grants tolorance to christians

    • allowed freedom of religion

  • Barbarian Invasions