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The Roman Empire 41 BCE-476 CE
The Roman WorldThe earliest of the Roman civilizations were the Etruscans. (Textbook to page 150.) With the fall of Hellenic influence, the Etruscans conquered all of the Italian peninsula. Their competition for control of the Mediterranean Sea were the Carthaginians in Africa.
After three wars with the Carthaginians – called the Punic wars – the Romans emerged as the supreme rulers of the Mediterranean area.
The REAL HannibalBlue Textbook , page 153
• In 218 BC the Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army, including dozens of war elephants, from Spain across the Pyrenees, through Gaul to Rome.
• Hannibal surprised the Romans and began 15 years of fighting. In the end, the Romans attacked Carthage and ended Hannibal’s attacks against Rome.
• Rome now ruled the Mediterranean.
The REAL HannibalBlue Textbook , page 153.
• “The Carthaginians fought for their own preservation and the sovereignty of Africa. The Romans for supremacy and world domination.” ( a Greek witness to the destruction of Carthage.)
• The Romans were committed to a policy of imperialism.
• Define “imperialism”• Domination by one country of the political,
economic or cultural life of another country or region.
WARM UP: On your own paper, describe the extent of the Roman Empire at its height. Be sure to name oceans, rivers and seas in your description. Use page 160 in your textbook for further details.
Height of Roman Empire
60 – 400 AD
The Republic of Rome• Define Republic• Republic: System of
government in which officials are elected by the people.
• Senate: Most powerful governing body. 300 members – all patricians. Made the laws.
• First laws codified into the Twelve Tables
• Two Consuls – elected by Senate. Ran the government and the army.
• Tribunes – elected by the people (plebeians)
• Judges – Oversaw courts cases
The Republic of Rome Wide spread use of slave
labor from conquered territories
Slave labor forced small farmers out of business. Led to mass unemployment and poverty.
Mob riots and corruption in the government.
Attempts at reform failed.
Civil wars began.
Julius Caesar emerged as dictator of Rome
Julius Caesar and the Empire of Rome
• Caesar conquers Gaul What is Gaul called today?
• France• First Triumvirate: Julius
Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus
• Caesar defeats Pompey in a civil war after Crassus dies in battle.
Julius Caesar and the Empire of Rome
• Caesar conquers Gaul What is Gaul called today?
• France• First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar,
Pompey, and Crassus• Caesar defeats Pompey in a civil war
after Crassus dies in battle.• Caesar pursues Pompey to Egypt
where he meets Cleopatra and has a child with her. He was 50, she was 18.
• Caesar becomes dictator of Rome
Julius Caesar and the Empire of Rome
• Caesar conquers Gaul What is Gaul called today?
• France• First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Pompey,
and Crassus• Caesar defeats Pompey in a civil war after
Crassus dies in battle.• Caesar pursues Pompey to Egypt where he
meets Cleopatra and has a child with her. He was 50, she was 18.
• Caesar becomes dictator of Rome• Caesar is assassinated by the Senate he
tried to displace.
Steps where Caesar was assassinated.
Julius Caesar and the Empire of Rome
• Caesar conquers Gaul What is Gaul called today?
• France• First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Pompey,
and Crassus• Caesar defeats Pompey in a civil war
after Crassus dies in battle.• Caesar pursues Pompey to Egypt where
he meets Cleopatra and has a child with her. He was 50, she was 18.
• Caesar becomes dictator of Rome• Caesar is assassinated by the Senate he
tried to displace.• Marc Anthony goes to Egypt to secure it
for the new Roman Empire. He marries Cleopatra and begins a revolution.
• Rome plunges into Civil War.
Julius Caesar and the Empire of Rome
• Caesar conquers Gaul What is Gaul called today? • France• First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Pompey, and
Crassus• Caesar defeats Pompey in a civil war after Crassus
dies in battle.• Caesar pursues Pompey to Egypt where he meets
Cleopatra and has a child with her. He was 50, she was 18.
• Caesar becomes dictator of Rome• Caesar is assassinated by the Senate he tried to
displace.• Marc Anthony goes to Egypt to secure it for the
new Roman Empire. He marries Cleopatra and begins a revolution.
• Rome plunges into Civil War.• Marc Anthony and Cleopatra are defeated by
Caesar Augustus.• Caesar Augustus ends all hope for a further Roman
republic by becoming Emperor of Rome.
Rome at its Height60 – 400 AD
Pax Romana Pax Romana, Latin for "the Roman peace", is the long
period of peace experienced by states within the Roman Empire.
The term stems from the fact that Roman rule and its legal system pacified regions which had suffered from the quarrels between rival leaders, sometimes forcefully.
During this time Rome still fought a number of wars against neighboring states and tribes, most notably the Germanic tribes and Parthia.
It was an era of relative tranquility, in which Rome endured neither major civil wars, such as the perpetual bloodshed of the first century BC, nor serious invasions.
Characterized by rule by emperors and a lack of democracy. Strong military presence.
The Roman Achievement• Roman Roads - As early as the 4th century BC, a good road
system was recognized as vital for military deployment, communication and increasing commerce. By having an option to traveling around the peninsula or along the coast line of Italy, travelers and merchants could avoid some threat of storms, pirates and navigational problems.
Well trained and extensive military. Because the military presence on Roman roads was so extensive, travel and trade were safer and much faster.
Roman rule of law - An accused person is innocent until proven guilty.
The Roman Achievement
The Roman Achievement Aqueducts – Roman
water systems often carried water to cities from mountain streams hundreds of miles away. Only a highly organized civilization with advanced technology could create such a system.
The Roman AchievementHighly sophisticated
public buildings and baths.
The Rise of ChristianityTextbook - page 171-173
Despite Roman persecution of the early Church, the Pax Romana and the extensive Roman transportation system allowed Christianity to spread throughout the Roman empire. The huge slave population made Christianity attractive to a wide section of the population. By 312 AD, Emperor Constantine had decreed Christianity the official religion of Rome.
Jesus healing the blind man.
Silk Road Traders Ancient trade was not limited to the Mediterranean
region. The Chinese Han Dynasty Emperor Wudi opened up a trade route, later called the Silk Road that linked China and the west for centuries.
Silk Road trade goods included silk, whose production secrets were carefully guarded by the Chinese, jade, and porcelain in return for glassware, linen, fabric and cedar wood .
Click here for British Museum Silk Road exhibition website.
“To this city everything that is most rare and valuable in all parts of the world finds its way.”
Silk Road Traveler, Marco Polo, Describing the Chinese city of Beijing.
View the video, “Trade Connects the World: The Silk Road.”
Answer these questions as you watch the video:1. What goods were
traded on the Silk Road during the Han Dynasty?
2. What ideas traveled along the Silk Road?
ROMAN Decline: Government•Structure
• Imperial system• Emperorship not hereditary• Emperor selected arbitrarily• Elite form imperial bureaucracy
•The Crisis• Succession crises, many civil wars• Many military coups • Declining Loyalty to State• Politicized generals• Corruption, graft common
• Eastern, Western Empires too much to manage.
ROMAN Decline: Military•Structure• “All volunteer army”• Poor, foreigners, criminals• Citizens avoid military service
•Problems• Politicized Generals, Incompetent• Troops loyal to paying leader• Troops largely “barbarians”
• Persia • Major enemy• Romans fight wrong force• Roman troops in East
ROMAN Decline: Economics• Economic Structure
• Capitalistic, mercantilistic• Some command economy• Commercial agriculture: grains, export• Heavy reliance on slave labor• Industry not wide-spread
• Problems • Economic Stagnation, collapse• Agriculture disrupted, famines• Currency devalued, worthless• Trade, commerce collapse• Peasants overtaxed• Feudalism on Rise
ROMAN Decline: Religion• Original Roman Faith Traditions
• Nationalistic, ritualistic• Unemotional
• Rise of Philosophies, Mystery Religions • Rise of Christianity
• Christianity spreading, vibrant• Attracts poor, women, slaves• Good Romans enter Church
• Problem for Rome• Loyalty to God, church, faith• Christians live in East, urban areas • Church is state within a state
ROMAN Decline: The Germans
• Homeland• Overpopulated, hunger for land• Migrated to East, SE Europe • Spread of agriculture
• Tribal Structure• War-like kings led tribes • Well-led, loyalty to leader• Rule of king not rule of law
• Interactions: War, Faith, Diplomacy• Enjoyed war, part of their code• Superior in cavalry, archers• Often strong Arian Christians• Allied with Huns, Romans• Turned on both in end• Kings assign lands after conquest to
loyal supporters
Decline of Empires• Empires too big—costly to defend the frontiers• Burden of taxes on the poor, some flee to
evade taxes, as maintaining the grows more costly—taxes go up, few new sources of revenue, religious groups and nobility exempt
• Slavery in Roman so oppressive less productive, fewer new sources, less technological development
Decline of Empires (continued)
• Administrative problemssuccession—court intrigue, barrack emperorsfailing bureaucracies—corruption of examination system, lack of civic responsibilityRoman—bread and circuses to forestall revolts
• Eroding economies—decline in trade when roads not repaired or safe
• Religion—Christianity a factor in the decline of Rome, but not Buddhism in the decline of the Han Dynasty.
Decline of Empires (continued)
• Plagues—hit both empires hard, especially in cities of Roman empire
• Pressure from nomads—Huns, Xiongnu, Germanic
Why did the west fall harder?• More multiethnic Han Chinese—a true nation that can
endure beyond the dynasty.• In Roman empire most live outside Italy.• State and society not bonded together with the same
glue—China, Confucianism offers both order for family, society and state—not true of Romans
• Better assimilation of “barbarians” by China, Germanic dismembered Roman empire, while nomads absorbed by Chinese
• Common language—Latin never really replaced Greek in much of the empire
Why did the western Roman empire fall and not the eastern?
• Deep, engrained civilization in the east—Greeks and before• East less impacted by nomadic invasion—maybe because many
enduring cities, large populations• Tribes on eastern borders were disorganized and unmotivated• After separation of empire, east no longer has to send any help to
West• Even with changing political structure , little threat to social,
economic or cultural continuity• No cities in the west• German soldiers fill the ranks of Roman legions • When west cut from wealth of East, the tax base dwindled
