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The Ancient Romans 753 B.C.-1461 A.D. Rome is founded by Romulus and Remus twin brothers who founded the new city, fought over leadership. Romulus killed Remus and then lead Rome. Rome was named after Romulus. Rome survives until 1461 when the Ottomans conquer the empire of Trebizond the last Greek State.
Rome’s location • Rome was located on the Tiber River which provided a source of water for farming and drinking. • With the Alps on the border for protection, easy access via the Mediterranean to conquer and attain new lands, and the development of new trade routes, Rome became a larger nation.
Vocabulary • Right to rule-since Romulus and Remus claimed to be born from the war god Mars, Romans believed they were superior and had the right to conquer and rule. • Emperor-an all-powerful ruler. • Fasces-the sign of early kings, a bundled group of rods with an axe which was carried by the king everywhere he went in order to remind people of his power. • Latin-the language of the Romans that is the base for the “Romance” languages today: French, Italian, Spanish and German. • Republic-government in which people choose their leaders.
The Roman Republic-SPQR or the senate and people of Rome The Roman Republic was the period of the ancient Roman civilization characterized by a republican form of government. It began with the overthrow of the Roman monarchy, c. 508 BC, and lasted 482 years until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Principate form of government and the imperial period. (Princeton.edu)
Roman Republic Continued…. The Roman Republic was governed by a complex constitution, which centered on the principles of a separation of powers and checks and balances. The evolution of the constitution was heavily influenced by the struggle between the aristocracy (the patricians), and other Romans who were not from famous families, the plebeians. Early in its history, the republic was controlled by an aristocracy of individuals who could trace their ancestry back to the early history of the kingdom. Over time, the laws that allowed these individuals to dominate the government were repealed, and the result was the emergence of a new aristocracy which depended on the structure of society, rather than the law, to maintain its dominance.
Life in Rome • Atrium-a central courtyard in Rome. • Romans visited the baths on the afternoons to discuss business etc.
Life in Rome • Siesta-a mid day nap after lunch. • Forum-the main marketplace in Rome where the Senate meets (public buildings).
Life in Rome • Flats-apartment houses often connected to a shop, usually for the poorer people of Rome. • Aqueduct-a channel or canal to contain large quantities of flowing water.
Vocabulary:patricians-the noble families of Rome (the upper class).plebeians-the merchants, farmers, artisans of Rome (the lower class).Province-each new land defeated and acquired by the Romans. This required the nation to pay taxes to Rome.
Roman Soldiers • When Roman soldiers weren’t fighting, they built roads in Rome. • What does the saying, “All roads lead to Rome” mean? Rome created a huge network of roads and bridges. • Roman Soldiers served for 25 years in the Roman army.
The Punic Wars or Punicia according to the Romans-What continent was the city of Carthage located on? AfricaA long time ago, when Rome was still a Republic, a big fight broke out between Rome and Carthage. Carthage was an ancient city-state in North Africa, about 300 miles from Rome. Carthage and Rome had never liked each other, but they had, for the most part, left each other alone in the past. Both cities were busy building empires of their own. Carthage had grown into a huge empire. Carthage had a strong army, a strong navy, and a strong government.
First Punic War • One day, Rome took a good look at how big Carthage was getting. The problem, as Rome saw it, was that Carthage controlled three islands off the coast of Italy. That was too close for comfort. Rome decided that Carthage needed to join the Republic. Carthage disagreed. Carthage and Rome fought for 20 years. This was the first Punic War. Nobody won. After 20 years of fighting, all they had accomplished was to kill a lot of people and to cause a lot of hatred. • To end the fighting, Carthage offered Rome a deal. Carthage said: “If you’ll go away and leave us alone, we’ll give you the island of Sicily.” Rome took the deal. They also took Sardinia and Corsica, the other two islands off the coast of Italy. • Carthage was furious. But they were tired of fighting Rome. Carthage decided to fight Spain instead, and make up the land they had lost there. yes">The general took his army and his nine-year-old son, Hannibal, and left for Spain. Before he left home, he made his son swear that as soon as he was old enough, Hannibal would fight the Romans and make them pay for all the lives they had cost. Hannibal promised. That was the beginning of the legend of Hannibal, military genius.
Second Punic War • One of the cities he attacked happened to be good friends with Rome. Rome decided to lend a hand. But Rome did not send help to Spain. They declared war on Carthage, Hannibal’s hometown and the center of the Carthage Empire. • That was fine with Hannibal. He had never forgotten the promise he had made to his father. He had orders from Carthage to fight Rome. He needed to take Rome by surprise. He decided to attack Rome from the north. Rome would never expect that. Hannibal’s plan was to march 90,000 foot soldiers, 12,000 cavalry, and 37 elephants from Spain, through Gaul, over the Alps, into Italy, and then take Rome by force. • His plan did not work as expected. The route was more rugged that he had expected. He lost nearly all his elephants and half his men on the trip. He expected people in Northern Italy to help him. They did help him by leaving him alone, but they would not join his army. Carthage did not have a strong navy to use to send supplies. • Hannibal came up with a new plan. Instead of marching on Rome, he drove Rome crazy by attacking smaller outposts and stealing food and weapons, food intended for Rome. Hannibal and his men stayed on the Italian peninsula for 15 years, causing trouble where he could. • In 203 BCE, Rome had had it with Hannibal. They couldn’t catch him, so they attacked Carthage instead. Carthage, in a panic, called Hannibal home. Before Hannibal could arrive, Carthage had agreed to peace terms with Rome. Terms: • Carthage would leave Spain, Gal, and Italy • Carthage would reduce their navy to 20 warships
Second Punic War continued.. • Carthage had to pay 5000 talents (the money of the time) in war damages • Once Hannibal arrived home, the leaders in Carthage changed their minds. They decided not to honor their peace terms. Rome was furious. They sent an army to Carthage. Hannibal’s army lost, but Hannibal managed to get away. If possible, Rome was even more furious. Carthage had not kept their promise. Again. Rome still did not have their hands on Hannibal.
Third Punic War • This time, the peace terms were more severe. Terms: • Carthage would leave Spain, Gaul, and Italy • Carthage would reduce their navy to 10 warships • Carthage had to pay 10000 talents (the money of the time) in war damages, in 50 equal annual payments, over the next 50 years. • Carthage called it quits. They left Spain. They left Gaul. They left Italy. They reduced their navy. They paid the talents they owed each year, promptly. The 2nd Punic War was finally over. • That did not stop Hannibal, though. Hannibal spent the rest of his life fighting the growing power of ancient Rome. The Romans never stopped looking for him. In spite of all their best efforts, the Romans did not catch up with Hannibal until he was 64 years old! Even then, they didn’t get him. He chose to die by swallowing the poison he kept in his ring. • Hannibal still ranks as one of the most magnificent military minds in history and one of the world’s greatest generals
Vocabulary:orators-people who spoke persuasively in the public squares.
Hannibal Led an attach on Rome and almost defeated the Romans. Hannibal: Over the next several years, while fighting in Spain, Hannibal learned to be a strong leader. His Dad and his men had taught him well. But mostly, he was naturally tricky. Hannibal won most of his battles by coming up with clever ideas. One time, while fighting at sea, Hannibal had his men dump barrels full of live snakes onto the deck of an enemy ship. The enemy had not expected Hannibal to do that. They weren’t prepared to fight snakes. Hannibal won that battle easily.
What animals did Hannibal use during his attack on Rome? Elephants
Julius Caesar born around 100 BC Great General and Emperor of Rome. Conquered Gaul (modern day France) Made many changes to Rome without approval of the senate Created a new calendar Was assassinated by The Senate because he was so powerful His death would bring an end to the republic
Caesar Augustus Thought of as one of the best emperors in Ancient Rome. The PaxRomana (The peace of Rome) began with his rule. Between 96 & 180 AD Rome was ruled by what historians call the five good Emperors:Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius.
Republican Governments Rome United States Executive Branch-A president, elected for four years heads government & military. Senate of 100 members; makes laws & advises president. House of Representatives of 435 members; makes laws. Supreme Court of nine justices; interprets the Constitution and federal law. US Constitution: basis of US law, which sets forth both individual rights & governmental powers. • Executive Branch-two consuls, elected for one year. Led government and commanded army. • Legislative-Senate of 300 members; advised & set policies. Assemblies: made laws and selected officials. • Judicial Branch-Eight judges; oversaw courts & governed provinces. • Legal Code-Twelve tables: basis of Roman law, which established citizens’ legal, economic, property, and social rights.
The Roman Empire • During this period, the Roman Empire spread its power and influence over a large part of Europe. Roman politics, lifestyle and culture were introduced to many areas including France, Spain, the Netherlands and England in the West, Northern Africa in the South, and Greece and the Near East. The Romans brought centralized rule, a system of currency, roads and cities to Europe. • In order to defend areas under Roman control and to expand by conquering neighboring nations, large armies were posted and fortifications built along the borders of the empire. This required a large military and administrative organization, which was run centrally from Rome. • In some parts of the empire the Romans met resistance from local tribes. Although the upper classes of the conquered areas usually adjusted to the Roman way of life, conquered people were generally allowed to continue living as they had before the Romans came to power. As a result, a mixture of Roman and native culture existed in many regions. Since the Roman religious system was polytheistic, it could easily accommodate any Gods whom the natives revered. Christianity however, being monotheistic, was not acceptable. • The Roman expansion to the North halted at the Rhine and the Danube. The areas above these rivers remained free from Roman rule and developed along the lines of the pre-Roman period. (http://www.let.leidenuniv.nl/history/migration/chapter122.html)
PaxRomana • A time of peace, artistic growth, and expanding trade that lasted about 200 years under the Rule of Augustus Caesar. • Even people conquered by Augustus became loyal to Rome due to Augustus and his ability to rule in a fair way.
Gladiators • The Colosseum was a huge public entertainment center. The Colosseum could seat 45,000 spectators! This is where the ancient Romans gathered to watch bloody combat between gladiators, and battles between men and wild animals. On occasion, they flooded the Colosseum with water, to hold naval battles, where many competitors died. • http://www.history.com/videos/where-did-it-come-from-ancient-romes-stadium#mankind-in-2-minutes
Legionary • The ancient Romans loved the ornate and glittery, but their armor - in spite of what you might have seen in the movies - most probably did not shine. • Some armor was made of leather, with metal on the inside, probably against a backing of linen, to make three layers. Some was made of cloth sewn in circular links. • Still, the army was quite a sight! The army was organized into legions. Each legion has 5000 men. Each legion has its own leader, its own banner, and its own number. Each also had its own nickname. • The legion moved camp every night. Men would wander the new campsite, visiting and drilling. The men could always find their way back to their own legion. They simply looked for their legion banner. Once they found that, they looked for their fighting group banner. Each legion was broken into several fighting groups. Camp was very colorful. • A legionary's uniform included a rectangular shield, a short sword, a dagger, a metal jacket, a belt, a helmet, a kilt, a shirt, and hobnailed sandals. The legion wore special hob-nailed sandals. Unless they wanted to sneak in quietly, a legion on the move was impressive! • Their hobnailed sandals were designed to make a loud noise as they marched. They were also accompanied by trumpets and other noise makers. Add the many colorful banners waving above their heads, and you can probably understand why an approaching legion was an impressive sight and sound. • The legion was very organized, and very successful. When the legion marched into a new region, some people gave up with a fight. The legion's fighting power was that famous! • Each legionary served for 25 years. If they lived through their service, they could retire. They were given land and a pension so that they live comfortably. The land they were given was located in the provinces. This was very clever of Rome. It gave their retired military men a place to call home that they would defend. This system placed loyal military men all over the provinces.
Christianity in the Empire • http://www.nationalgeographic.com/lostgospel/timeline_09.html • Video, How Christianity Conquered the Roman Empire http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rdqb1kUllJc
Constantine • Constantine: Constantine was the first Christian Roman emperor. He lived in the Eastern Roman Empire, and chose his capital to be the small town Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. • The western side of the empire, which included the city of Rome, became less and less important to the Eastern Roman Empire. • Byzantium was located in a perfect position to trade with the east and the west. Rather than send traded goods onto to Rome, Constantine kept most of the goods in his own half of the empire. He also took money from the Roman treasury and used it to help build his city, Constantinople. • This weakened the Western Roman Empire. Rome already did not have enough money to pay their bills, including paying the men in the Roman army.
Fall of the Roman Empire • Rome had quite a run. First a monarchy, then a republic, then an empire – all roads led to Rome for over 1200 years. In the Mediterranean, Rome was in charge. During the Imperial period, Rome had some wonderful emperors. Rome also suffered from a series of bad, corrupt and just plain crazy emperors. There were lots of reasons why Rome fell.
Fall of the Roman Empire • Problems towards the end of the Empire included • The empire was too large to govern effectively. • The army was not what it used to be. There was corruption in the military - dishonest generals and non-Roman soldiers. • Civil wars broke out between different political groups. • Emperors were often selected by violence, or by birth, so the head of government was not always a capable leader. • The increased use of slaves put many Romans out of work • The rich became lazy and showed little interest in trying to solve Rome problems. • The poor were overtaxed and overworked. They were very unhappy. • Prices increased, trade decreased. • The population was shrinking due to starvation and disease. That made it difficult to manage farms and government effectively. • The Empire starting shrinking. The Huns, Visigoths, Franks, Vandals, Saxons and other barbarian tribes overran the empire.
Fall of the Roman Empire • The ancient Romans tried to solve some of their problems by splitting the Roman Empire in half, hoping that would make the empire easier to manage. Each side had an emperor, but the emperor in charge was the emperor of the western half, the half that included the city of Rome. • The Western Roman Empire did not do well. Instead of getting stronger, they became weaker. By 400 AD, it was pretty much over. The Huns, Franks, Vandals, Saxons, Visigoths – any of these barbarian tribes might have been the group that finally brought Rome down. They were all attacking various pieces of the Western Roman Empire. In 476 AD, the Visigoths sacked Rome. Europe entered the Dark Ages.
Byzantine Empire • The Easter Roman Empire received a new name – the Byzantine Empire. The Byzantine Empire did fine. It lasted for another 1000 years!
Daily Life • Patricians wore Togas. • A litter is a curtained couch carried on poles by slaves.
Daily Life continued… • Gladiators were slaves who fought to the death in the arenas. They fought others or even Lions and Tigers. • Chariot Racing took place in the Circus Maximus.
Daily life continued… • Before Christianity became the official religion of Rome, the Roman Empire got rid of Christians by tossing them into the arenas with the gladiators and wild animals.
Daily life • Barbarian-the name given to invaders from other countries by the Romans. • bulla-a special locket worn by Roman children as a protection against evil.
Daily Life • Mosaic-a design made of small tiles. • Roman Numerals-the system developed by the Romans for counting and numbering.
The Aeneid • A famous Roman epic written by the poet Virgil around 20 BC and tells the story of the survivors of Troy.
The Aeneid • The Aeneid (/əˈniːɪd/; Latin: Aeneis [ajˈneːis]—the title is Greek in form: genitive case Aeneidos) is a Latin epic poem, written by Virgil between 29 and 19 BC, that tells the legendary story of Aeneas, a Trojan who travelled to Italy, where he became the ancestor of the Romans. It is composed of 9,896 lines in dactylic hexameter.[1] The first six of the poem's twelve books tell the story of Aeneas' wanderings from Troy to Italy, and the poem's second half tells of the Trojans' ultimately victorious war upon the Latins, under whose name Aeneas and his Trojan followers are destined to be subsumed. • The hero Aeneas was already known to Greco-Roman legend and myth, having been a character in the Iliad, composed in the 8th century BC. Virgil took the disconnected tales of Aeneas' wanderings, his vague association with the foundation of Rome and a personage of no fixed characteristics other than a scrupulous piety, and fashioned this into a compelling founding myth or national epic that at once tied Rome to the legends of Troy, explained the Punic wars, glorified traditional Roman virtues and legitimized the Julio-Claudian dynasty as descendants of the founders, heroes and gods of Rome and Troy.
God and Godesses • A frieze from Rome. • The ancient Romans had gods for nearly everything. There were temples all over the Roman Empire. There was a temple at the Forum and most homes had a shrine which might honor the household god. The Romans had temples to honor their major gods. Each God and Goddess had their own temple.
Roman Gods and Godesses • Proserpine - Goddess of the Underworld • Vulcan - The Smith God • Bacchus - God of Wine • Saturn - God of Time • Vesta - Goddess of the Home • Janus - God of Doors • Uranus and Gaia - Parents of Saturn • Maia - Goddess of Growth • Flora - Goddess of Flowers • Plutus - God of Wealth • Jupiter - King of the Gods • Juno - Queen of the Gods • Neptune - God of the Sea • Pluto - God of Death • Apollo - God of the Sun • Diana - Goddess of the Moon • Mars - God of War • Venus - Goddess of LoveCupid - God of Love • Mercury - Messenger of the Gods • Minerva - Goddess of Wisdom • Ceres - The Earth Goddess • Monsters • Cerberus - Dog of the Underworld • Gorgon - Turns you to stone
