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Roman Empire

Roman Empire. Pax Romana = Roman Peace. 31 BCE – 180 CE 200-year span between Augustus and Marcus Aurelius Augustus : 31 BCE - 14 CE ended civil war and created a stable government Marcus Aurelius : 161-180 Plato’s ideal of the philosopher-king. Period of Political Turmoil: 180-284.

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Roman Empire

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  1. Roman Empire

  2. PaxRomana = Roman Peace • 31 BCE – 180 CE • 200-year span between Augustus and Marcus Aurelius • Augustus: 31 BCE - 14 CE • ended civil war and created a stable government • Marcus Aurelius: 161-180 • Plato’s ideal of the philosopher-king

  3. Period of Political Turmoil: 180-284 • Diocletian: 284-305 • divided empire into eastern and western parts - ruled in the east • instituted economic reforms • fixed prices for goods and services • farmers working on latifundias had to remain on the land • sons were required to follow their father’s occupations • Constantine: 312-337 • granted freedom of religion - legalizing Christianity

  4. Roman Society • patriarchal family • women gained greater public freedom: business, theater, baths

  5. Achievements • access to education: all classes and both sexes • engineering: roads, bridges, aqueducts, harbors, and baths • literature: Virgil’s Aeneid - epic poem glorifying Rome’s heroic past, Ovid’s The Metamorphoses - tales of Greek/Roman gods • law: principles later incorporated into U.S Bill of Rights

  6. Bread & Circus • to feed and entertain the masses • chariot races, gladiator fights, mock naval battles, and public executions

  7. Problematic Neighbors • Germanic tribes: Ostogoths, Visigoths, Vandals • semi-nomadic invaders originally from Scandinavia • Huns • fierce nomads and superb riders and warriors from Central Asia • drove more Germanic tribes into the Roman Empire

  8. Causes of Decline • Political • division of empire = less capable leaders in the west • oppression and corruption = less popular support • no official system of succession = internal power struggles and civil wars between rival generals

  9. Causes of Decline • Military • poorly trained armies • mercenaries (foreign soldiers who fight for pay) had no loyalty • series of Germanic invasions

  10. Causes of Decline • Economic • increase in taxes to support army and bureaucracy • reliance on slave labor - created unemployment • indenture of farmers to wealthy landowners • no more loot from newly conquered territories

  11. Causes of Decline • Social • decline in population from war and disease • decline in patriotism, discipline and devotion to duty • devotion of upper classes to luxury and self-interest • Germanic rulers became as acceptable as Roman rulers

  12. Fall of Rome ~ 476 CE • Odoacer, a minor German chief, captured Rome, forced the emperor to give up the throne, and proclaimed himself King of Italy.

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