Chapter 5
Chapter 5
Ancient Rome and the rise of
Ancient Rome and the rise of
Christianity
Christianity
The Roman World takes shape
The Roman Republic (meaning the thing of the
People)
300 members of the Senate were all Patricians, members of the landholding upper class.
The Centuriate Counsel elected the chief officials – consuls, praetors and passed laws.
The Consuls were responsible to supervise
the business of government and command
the armies. They could serve one term.
During time of war the Senate would select
one man to be dictator.
He would serve for 6 months.
He had complete control over the government.
Relationships between the Patricians and Plebeians was often conflicted.
The Plebeians were the backbone of the army but had little rights.
The Council of the plebs was created in 471 B.C. to represent the plebeians.
In 450 B.C. the government had the laws of Rome inscribed on 12 tablets.
1. appeal a judgment handed down by a patrician judge.
2. right to elect their own officials called tribunes,
adopt such Roman ideas as the Senate, the Veto. and checks on political power
By 287 B.C. all Roman males were equal under the law.
*** More than 2,000 years later the United States
A. War with Carthage - the 3 Punic Wars
The First Punic War lasted 23 years, Rome
The Second Punic War lasted 17 years.
The Second Punic War lasted 17 years.
Great Carthaginian General Hannibal took
Great Carthaginian General Hannibal took
his troops north through Spain . He had
his troops north through Spain . He had
46,000 troops.
46,000 troops.
Only one of his 37 Elephants remained to
Only one of his 37 Elephants remained to
carry weapons etc.
carry weapons etc.
Carthaginians were forced to give up all
Carthaginians were forced to give up all
their land except what they had in North
their land except what they had in North
Africa and Spain.
Africa and Spain.
The Third Punic War lasted 3 years.
The Third Punic War lasted 3 years.
Rome attacks Carthage. They destroyed
Rome attacks Carthage. They destroyed
all of the land and sold all citizens into
all of the land and sold all citizens into
slavery.
Section 2 from Republic to
Empire
New Military under Marius
Recruited from urban and rural poor
Promised them land
They swore an oath of loyalty to the general,
not the Roman state.
Marius was defeated in a war for control with Lucius Sulla.
Julius Caesar: Ambitious military
commander
Veni, Vidi, Vici” which means I came, I saw, I conquered. He forced the senate to make him a dictator.
Caesar crushed Pompey and his supporters.
He set up a program of public works to employ the jobless. He reorganized the government and granted Roman
citizenship to more people.
March 44 B.C. his enemies stabbed him to death.
Octavian (Caesar’s grand-nephew) defeated the armies of
Roman Empire and Roman Peace
Octavian took the name Augustus (exalted One)
Control of the military – 150,000 men.
Took the title “imperator” which later was changed to Emperor.
This starts the new age of the Roman Empire.
Augustus created an efficient, well-trained civil service to enforce laws.
To make the tax system more fair he started a census.
He set up a new postal system and printed new coins, built road.
Bad Emperors
Caligula
appointed his own horse as counsel to show his
contempt for the senate.
Nero –
viciously persecuted Christians and blamed
them for setting the fire that destroyed much of Rome.
When he committed suicide he claimed the
Good Emperors
Hadrian
New programs to help the poor Created Hadrian’s Wall in Britain
Marcus Aurelius
Followed Plato’s ideal ruler from his book
“The Republic”
Nerva
Trajan
Expanded the empire to its
greatest extent
Antoninus Pius
Promoted art and science,
the construction of public
Greco-Roman Civilization
Rome absorbed ideas from Greek colonists. Greco-Roman comes from the blending of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman traditions.
Literature, Philosophy, and History
1. Virgil – wrote the Aeneid : Rome’s past was as
heroic as that of Greece.
2. Horace described scenes from everyday life –
3. Livy wrote the History of Rome
4. Philosophy was fashioned after the Stoic
philosophy.
Roman Society:
The Family: the man was the head of the home Women slowly gained rights.
Education was for girls and boys.
Women
Women needed to have male guardians
Legal marriage age was 12 although most were at 14 Divorce was introduced in the 3rd century
Slavery: large number of foreign people who had been captured.
Greek Slaves were used as musicians, doctors, tutors, artists and household workers. They built roads.
Slave revolts:
Art stressed realism
1. showed all subjects in reality, revealed an
individual’s character.
2. Use of Mosaic – picture made from chips of
colored stone or glass
Science
1.Ptolemy – proposed his theory that the Earth was the center of the universe
Architecture improved on devices such as the column and the arch. Built aqueducts – bridge like stone structures that brought water from the hills.
The Coliseum
Circus Maximus
Held chariot races and
gladiator contest. Rome’s
oldest arena could seat
Roman Law
Law of Nations:
All people under Roman rule were citizens.
People were considered innocent until proven
guilty.
The accused were allowed to face their
accuser.
Judges were allowed to interpret the laws and
Religion:
• Jupiter ruled over the sky and other gods,
• His wife Juno was goddess of marriage.
B. Neptune - god of the sea,
Section 4 The Rise of Christianity
Religious diversity in the early Empire
Division in Judea
Romans had conquered Judea, where most
Jews lived
To avoid violating the Jewish belief in one God,
.
Divisions among the Jews
Sadducees = favored cooperation with Rome
Pharisees held that close observance of religious law
would protect Jewish identity form Roman influences
Essences lived apart form society sharing goods in
common.
Zealots called on Jews to revolt against Rome
Roman forces crushed the rebels, captured Jerusalem
II. Jesus and his Message
Born about 4 B.C. in Bethlehem – descendant of King David of Israel
An angel told Mary that she would give birth to the Messiah.
Jesus worshiped God and followed the Jewish Law.
At the age of 20 he began preaching to villagers near the Sea of Galilee
He recruited twelve close followers known as the apostles.
The Message
Jesus’ teachings were rooted in Jewish tradition, he
preached obedience to the laws of Moses.
He called himself the Son of God.
He emphasized God’s love and taught the need for
justice, morality, and service to others.
Some Jews regarded him as a dangerous
troublemaker, he was betrayed, tried and condemned to be crucified.
Spread of Christianity
Prominent apostle Simon Peter is recognized
as the leader of the apostles.
Disciples spread Jesus’ message and helped
establish Christian communities.
Peter established Christianity in the city of
Saul to Paul
Had persecuted Christians, had a vision in
which Jesus spoke to him.
Changed his name to Paul. He taught that Jesus
was the Savior and Son of God
Traveled throughout the Mediterranean Sea to
spread the word of Jesus
His letters to the new church’s are called The
Persecution
Romans suspected Christians of disloyalty to Rome
Roman rulers like Nero used the Christians as scapegoats for
all their problems
Christians became Martyrs – people who die for their beliefs.
Reasons for Christianity’s appeal: Followers that accepted
Christ were called “Christos” – Greek term for Messiah
Jesus had welcomed all people – they found comfort in his
message of love
Emperor Constantine converted to
Christianity
In the midst of a losing battle Constantine saw the sign of a red cross. The angel told him that “in this sign you shall conquer”. Constantine had the cross inscribed on all the shields, and
helmets of his troops.
When they won he converted and supported the church and
allowed Christians to practice their religion freely.
Chapter 5 section 5
The Long Decline Crisis and reform of the
Roman Republic
Struggles for Power – in one 50 year period Rome had 22 different
emperors.
Economic and Social problems – high taxes to support the army and
the bureaucracy placed heavy burdens on business people and small farmers.
Plagues came close to causing economic collapse.
Labor shortage
D. Emperor Constantine
Ruled from the East – set up a new capital at Constantinople on the Bosporus Strait. Granted toleration to Christians.
While the Western Empire was in decline, the East was growing
C. Emperor Diocletian Divided the empire into two parts.
To slow inflation he fixed prices for goods and services.
By 350 the Huns reached Eastern Europe, led by Attila. They were defeated in 451 when an alliance of Germanic tribes joined the Romans
A. Barbarian Invasions
1. The Visigoths = asked for refuge in Roman territory. 2. They were led by Alaric. They defeated the Romans
at the Battle of Adrianople.
3. The Vandals, a Germanic tribe that established a kingdom in Africa took Spain and Gaul.
4. In 476, Odoacer, a Germanic leader, ousted the Emperor in Rome.
C. Causes of the Fall of Rome
1. Germanic invasions.
2. Military was full of mercenaries – foreign soldiers serving for pay with little loyalty to Rome.
3. Political problems – government was more oppressive.
4. Economic – heavier taxes, huge bureaucracy, wealth of the empire dwindled as farmers abandoned their land.
5. Social causes – decline in patriotism, discipline, and devotion to duty.
6. Smaller population – warfare, famine and declining birth rate.
7. Christianity offer a spiritual kingdom weakened the roman military virtues.
