Rome Notes

The Rise and Fall of Rome

Geography

Rome has a Mediterranean climate Warm (dry) summer, wet mild winter. Rome is located near river (Tiber) and hills all

around city, Mountains to North. (protection) Italy is a peninsula.

Geography

The city of Rome was the Empire’s capital, its borders expanded from Britain to Egypt. West to Spain and East to Modern day Iraq.

Geography cont.

Rich in agriculture. Fertile soil in Rome

lots of conquered land that could produce food. Geography led to easy

trade on Mediterranean sea

-Rome easily expanded its

empire through its location

(sea travel and land travel)

Economy and Trade

Econ./Trade

Rome Produced (grapes, olives, grains) Goods from all over Europe, Asia, and Africa reached

Rome. Roads were the key to overland trade routes. (quick

travel, and moving lots of goods, mainly used to move lots of people SOLDIERS)

African caravans from South, merchant vessels from Middle East, everyone wanted to trade in/with Rome.

Major trading ports on Mediterranean sea under Roman Control.

Econ./Trade

Rome’s wealth, power, and population grew over time.

Population over 1,000,000.

-Could not produce enough food (had to import grain)

-Army was very important

(protect trade and empire,

but hard to feed and sustain)

Rome as an Empire (Politics/Gov.)Rome as an Empire (Politics/Gov.)*-Octavian is sole leader (first Emperor)

-renamed Augustus--“revered one”-beginning of Roman Empire{one person has

complete power} 27 B.C.—lasts until 476AD-emperor has power to:

-declare war-raise taxes-punish lawbreakers-nominate public officials-influence Senate-lead religious festivals

Pax Romana (P&G cont’d.)Pax Romana (P&G cont’d.)

-during Octavian’s rule (spread of Roman ideas into the world—not marked by war)

-rulers had to follow written laws

-Roman citizenship (so appealing, conquered people asked to become one!)

“roman peace”

Rome’s Leaders (P&G cont’d.)Rome’s Leaders (P&G cont’d.)-Some emperors held power well, others did not

-Nero: brutal emperor who lived lavishly and blamed others for all that was going wrong with Rome (fire in 64…)

-Trajan: expanded empire further east-building projects-education-social welfare

Religion

Similar to the Greeks (Polytheistic) the gods were used to explain things that happened in the world.

Christianity developed during the time of the Roman Empire. Jesus was born during Augustus’ reign.

Followers of Jesus and his life

Would lead to the religion of

Christianity. Some emperors

Embraced Christianity (Justinian)

Others persecuted Christians. (Nero)

Science Technology (Advancements)

Romans developed many things we use today: (LEGACIES)

Roads to transport troops. Architecture – domes, arches, and concrete. Aqueducts-transport water to cities for

fountains, baths, and drinking. Battle field surgery (C-Section)

Society/Culture

The Romans shared many cultural tendencies with the Greeks.

Art- Realistic statues and paintings. Philosophy- “Stoics” don’t be concerned with

possessions live a virtuous life. Later in the 500’s Empire Religion became a

huge part of the Roman culture (most people valued religion)

Rome Weakens Rome Weakens

-Unrest in late 200 AD-Romans off to fight too much and cannot farm enough-Rome’s opponents begin to rebel/ -civil unrest-death by disease-raised taxes…

-Diocletian:-divided empire in late 200s(east and west)-he rules east (Byzantium)-co-emperor to rule west

-after Diocletian, Constantine takes over and reunites empire

-capital city Constantinople-“city of Constantine” (modern Turkey)-power

moved east and opened borders of the west

Predictions

Wealthy People Leave Rome, move to Constantinople.

Emperor now rules from Constantinople. Army is focused around Constantinople

Barbarian Invasions Barbarian Invasions (P & G cont’d.)(P & G cont’d.)

-Goths caught between Romans and Huns so they flee from the Huns--locate in Western Rome because east is well protected -Attila the Hun raids in east (takes over a lot of Rome-scary ruler, death in 453 AD)-Romans are weak and pay for invaders to leave, but then they are poor and cannot defend themselves—Goths conquer city of Rome in AD 410 -East not Rome anymore, but Byzantine Empire (lets west fall)

Barbarian Invasions (P&G cont’d.)Barbarian Invasions (P&G cont’d.)

-West: barbarian son (6 years old) named emperor Romulus Augustus (Momyllus: “little disgrace”)-kidnapped after one year and sent away

-476 AD barbarians conquer Rome (barbarians were any people who did not speak Latin, so they were seen to be uncivilized)

Rome’s Decline (P&G cont’d.)Rome’s Decline (P&G cont’d.)

-What led to Rome’s decline (West)?

-invaders

-political corruption

-size (too big—difficult to manage)

-wealthy people fled

-tax increases

-Dark Ages (period after Rome fell and before rebuilding of Europe)