Rome

1. Rome Kingdom, Republic, Empire

2. Overview • Ancient Rome was a civilization that grew out of the city-state of Rome, founded in the Italian Peninsula circa the 9th C BCE. • During its twelve-century existence, the Roman civilization shifted from a monarchy to an oligarchic republic to a vast empire. • It came to dominate Western Europe and the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea through conquest & assimilation. • Nonetheless, a number of factors led to the eventual decline of the Roman Empire. • The western half of the empire, including Hispania (Spain), Gaul (France), & Italy, eventually broke into independent kingdoms in the 5th C • The eastern empire, governed from Constantinople, is usually referred to as the Byzantine Empire after 476, the traditional date for the "fall of Rome" & subsequent onset of the Middle Ages.

3. Romans Gain Control of Italy • After 2000 BCE, many groups of people invaded Italy and settled throughout the peninsula • Latins: ancient Italic people of Old Latium migrated to the area in the 8thor 9th centuries BCE from the north • lived in independent city-states, but had a common language, religious beliefs, & sense of kinship • Etruscans: Rome founded on Etruscan soil; Etruscan settlements popped up on southern border & took control in 7thC BCE • League of city-states; polytheism; monogamy • Greeks: approximately 1000 BCE, Greek traders & neighbors landed in area & a Hellenic civilization arose in southern Italy • Romans = legend holds that Rome was founded in 753 BCE by twin descendants of the Trojan prince Aeneas, Romulus & Remus. • Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over which of them was to reign and became the first of seven Kings of Rome, as well as the source of the city's name

4. Evolution of an Empire Monarchy: • King = religious leader, commander in chief of Roman Legion, chief justice, appointed all officials [tribune (body guard), prefect (warden), Senate] • Theories of Legislative Power: 1. supreme power of Rome resided in the hands of the people & the king was just the chief executive for the Senate & people 2. king possessed the sovereign powers & the Senate & people had only minor checks upon his powers. • When king died, Senate appointed an interrex to serve as king as he found a new nominee; if Senate OKed him, people would vote to confirm/deny the new king

5. Republic: • phase of Ancient Rome characterized by a republican form of government; began with the overthrow of the monarchy in 510 BC & lasted until its subversion, through a series of civil wars, into the Roman Empire. • division of responsibilities between various assemblies, whose members would vote on numerous issues • Membership based on class, family, & income. • two dominated the political life of the Republic: the Plebeian Assembly, & the Roman Senate. • Twelve Tables = the laws of Rome written down so new laws would not be invented at times & used against plebeians • two principles for their magistrates (who administer & enforce the law): annuality = one-year term, & collegiality = same office held by at least two men at the same time (mutal veto power) • Ex. If the Roman army took the field, it was always under the command of the two consuls who alternated days of command. • The office of dictator was an exception to annuality & collegiality • military emergency = a single dictator was chosen for a term of 6 months to have sole command of the Roman state

6. Military: • early republic had no standing army; legions conscripted as needed, put into the field to fight the war for which they had been created, & would then disband back to their civilian lives, which for most meant farming • conscripts were taken from those men who were land holders wealthy enough to equip themselves • made the Roman Legion less expensive to the state, & ensured that they were fighting to preserve their own property & way of life as well as protect their country • transformed into a standing army of lower-class "career soldiers," who enlisted for 20 years, & rewarded with a "land grant" at the end of their term of service • each time Rome conquered new lands, the territory was sectioned off into provinces under the administration of a Roman governor & partly used to settle the discharged veterans of the military campaign who had earned their "land grant“ • Effect: settle Roman people, with Roman customs, bringing Roman culture to newly conquered people: a form of "cultural imperialism"

7. Culture of Republican Rome: • Greeks influenced culture, literature, architecture, political and philosophical ideas, religious beliefs & traditions in southern Italy • Religion: • From the earliest days of the Republic, foreign gods were imported, especially from Greece • worshipped a number of gods, including Jupiter (chief god), Juno (wife of Jupiter), Mars (war)

8. Punic Wars (264-146 BCE) • Cause: clash of interests between the existing Carthaginian empire & the expanding Roman sphere of influence. • 1st Punic War: Carthage had huge maritime empire, while Rome was the rapidly ascending power in Italy. • Result: Carthage gave up Sicily to Rome • 2nd Punic War: Hannibal attacks over the Alps on elephants & is defeated by Scipio • Result: Carthage gave up Spain to Rome • 3rd Punic War: Rome conquered Carthage's empire & destroyed the city • Macedonia & Greece fell soon after, leaving Rome as the sole power in the Mediterranean • TURNING POINT: civilization of the ancient Mediterranean would pass to the modern world via Europe instead of Africa.

9. Warm Up: What was the Punic Wars? • Processor: Encyclopedia entry for Julius Caesar

10. Roman Expansion caused problems: 1. New territories poorly governed = people not citizens or allies; high taxes; corrupt governors 2. Farmers in Italy couldn’t compete with provinces = provinces used slave labor; Italian farmers abandoned land & moved to cities, but couldn’t find jobs; people judged by wealth instead of character 3. Gracchi Brothers reforms failed = • They tried to limit the size of the large farms that the patricians (upper class) owned to keep the plebeians (lower class) able to compete with their smaller farms • killed by members of the Senate (made up of patricians who owned large farms) for attempting to make the system more friendly to the lower classes of Rome.

11. Roman Empire: phase of Ancient Rome characterized by an autocratic form of government. • The earlier Republic devastated & weakened by conflicts: • military consuls Gaius Marius (elected by assembly) & Sulla (elected by senate); Sulla’s army defeats Marius’s army • 1st Triumvirate: Julius Caesar (Gaul), Gnaeus Pompey (Italy), & Marcus Crassus (eastern provinces) shared power, until civil war erupted b/n Caesar & Pompey: • 50 BCE: Senate, led by Pompey, ordered Caesar to return to Rome & disband his army because his term as Proconsul had ended; accused Caesar of insubordination & treason

12. Jan. 10, 49 BCE Caesar crossed the Rubicon (the frontier boundary of Italy) with only one legion & ignited civil war—defeated Pompey & named dictator for life • Reforms: public lands given to poor, people in provinces made citizens, roads built, swamps drained, new calendar • Murdered by jealous senators on Mar. 15, 44 BCE • During this upheaval, 100s of senators fell in battle, executed, murdered, or took their own lives. • Octavian (later to be known as Augustus = “most high”) defeated his rival Mark Antony in civil war reorganized the Roman Republic into the Roman Empire • Shared power with the Senate as “benevolent” dictator

13. Golden Age under Augustus & successors • Pax Romana = 200 years of Roman Peace • Increased business & money system, roads built, police/fire depts organized • Emperors = worshipped as a gods; allowed to choose his own successor • Other emperors: • Tiberius: god rid of Assembly • Claudius: acquired Britain, let people in provinces sit in Senate • Vespasian: built Colosseum, sent army to destroy Jerusalem • Trajan: empire at its largest • Hadrian: built wall across Britain to defend against barbarians • Marcus Aurealis: last emperor during Pax Romana • 100 years of warfare, disorder • Diocletian: restored peace, but limited individual freedoms • Divided empire b/n east & west • Constantine: moved capitol from Rome to Byzantium