The Founding of Rome

Geography

Italian Peninsula 600 miles long, smaller than California. The Apennine Mountains run most of the way down the peninsula. But they are not so rugged as to prevent political unification, as in Greece.

Location of Rome

The peninsula dominates the Mediterranean, and any society that controls it will have command of trade in this Sea.

In center of peninsula, Rome was situated. It was on the Tiber river to facilitate trade, but inland about 20 miles. This kept them from sea attack by giving them ample warning. Their location on this river was also an ideal crossing point, a fact that made Rome a crossroad for many traders.

Legend about the birth of Rome

A King’s daughter was raped by Mars, the god of war. She gave birth to twins, Romulus and Remus. They were thrown into the river and rescued by wolves who nursed them back to health.

Regions of Italy

Latium Latins

Eturia Etruscans (Tuscany)

The settlements at Rome were taken over and ruled by the Etruscans. These settlements formed into a city resembling the Greek polis (influence of Greeks who migrated from Greece?) For two hundred years there was a heavy influence by the Etruscans. During this time:

1) Romans built their first forum

2) First stone buildings built, streets laid out, first walls built.

3) Political structure (monarchy) left deep imprint.

Kings ruled with help of fathers (patres) who formed a counsel to help advise the king. Their group comes from word senex=old man. Their group was called the Senate.

Patres gave name to upper classes, patricians. Ordinary people were called plebeians.

How did Roman Republic emerge?

Rome ruled by groups, the most important of which was the Senate.

In time of war, the Senate would choose a dictator to take complete control over the people and the government. The dictator was granted 6 months to rule, the he had to step down.

Cincinnatus was held up as a model dictator. After being given a dictatorship, he left his farmlands, raised an army, defeated the enemy, attended victory celebrations, and then returned to his farm—all in 16 days. He resisted the temptation to power. Dictatorship was seen as a temporary thing.

Plebeians began to protest arbitrary power over their lives, and demanded that laws be written and made public in the Forum. The Twelve Tables was formed. No plebeians could protest or appeal a judgment handed down by a patrician judge.

To further their rights, they organized their own groups called tribunes.

Expansion of Rome

After the expulsion of the last Etruscan king (509) the city of Rome began to conquer the surrounding areas. They made alliances with cities of Latium and began to dominate them. The Etruscan cities resisted the Romans and had to be defeated one by one.

One method Rome used to conquer resistant cities was to make alliances with other cities surrounding it. They would then use these local alliances against the recalcitrant city, promising them spoils of war, and defeat them one way or another.

Rome treated the conquered areas of Italy generously. Many were allowed to retain their local leaders with Roman supervision. Local customs and laws were allowed to remain and Rome granted citizenship to loyal cities and provinces. (Consider the province of Palestine during the time of Jesus: local religion and customs remained, but the Jews needed permission from their Roman governor to execute Jesus.)

Romans claimed that their wars were never acts of aggression and therefore had the protection of their gods. Rome would often provoke others and give them no other option but to attack and then claim to be fighting a defensive war.

Rome’s expansion was slow and bloody. They did not build an empire over night. The most significant expansion was the era of the Punic Wars.

Results of expansion

Rome was transformed by the expansion of its territory. After the fall of Carthage they gained unimagined wealth

The Birth and Death of the Roman Republic

One effect of the Etruscans domination of Rome was that they influenced Rome’s future government. The Etruscans set up a monarchy in which the king was advised by a group of elected officials (called senex, Latin for old or wise men.) When the Romans kicked out the last Etruscan king in 509 B.C., they kept the idea of an elected body (senex) but without the king. They called this body the Senate. The Senate was selected from among the patricians. Thus Rome had a Republic—a form of government where elected officials rule.

The Romans had no professional army (an army of paid soldiers.) Rather, the army was made up of farmers, merchants, traders, etc., from Roman society. They were plebeians. Because the patricians found it necessary to have an army to protect their interests, the plebeians could make demands on the Senate. Over the course of several hundred years, the plebeians obtained more and more rights from the patrician Senate.

1) they got the Roman laws written in public (The Twelve Tablets) so they could defend themselves against arbitrary arrests and imprisonment.

2. they were allowed to elect a Tribunal Assembly that had the right to veto laws of the Senate (veto means “I forbid” in Latin.)

3. they eventually gained the right to be elected to the Senate itself.

Once these reforms happened, the Roman Republic became one of the most fair and just societies in the ancient world (by ancient standards).

The Expansion of Rome

Rome began to defend its borders against invaders and soon found itself in possession of larger and larger territory. They soon began to conquer the Etruscan city-states to the north. After conquering all of the Italian peninsula, they turned on the kingdoms that remained from Alexander the Great’s former empire. Soon this expansion began to rival another growing trading empire in the Mediterranean: the trading empire of Carthage, a Phoenician city-state in North Africa.

In a treaty Rome promised to leave alone the Islands of Sicily, Corisca, and Sardina—all possessions of Carthage. But when a dispute on the Island of Sicily led one group of people to ask Rome for help, they could not resist breaking their treaty and sending their army. Carthage took this as an act of war and the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage began.

Rome’s struggle with Carthage was a series of wars that stretched across several decades. The end of the wars came when Hannibal, a general from Carthage, tried to attack Rome from the north by crossing the Alps. He lost half his men and nearly all of his war elephants. Before he could attack Rome he was called home because the Romans were threatening the city of Carthage itself. He returned, was defeated, and Carthage was completely destroyed. The Romans salted the fields around Carthage so they could not be used again for agriculture. The Romans won the Punic Wars and gained control of Carthage’s trading empire. The results of this victory would forever change Rome.

Effect of the Punic Wars

After the defeat of Carthage, Rome gained incredible amounts of wealth and land. The traffic in slaves also increased. These changes profoundly changed Rome.

The small plebeian farmer had always been the backbone of the Roman republic. The effects of the war would virtually eliminate this class. The Senate gave most of the incoming land to the patricians who ended up controlling large commercial farms. These farms were worked by slaves and, not having any labor expense, could out sell the smaller family owned farms. Many of these small farmers had to sell their farms. They ended up poor and unemployed. The city of Rome was full of poor farmers seeking unemployment.

To solve this problem, two brothers—Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus—offered their solution. Elected to the tribune, Tiberius brought forth a measure that would take some of the land acquired by Rome and allot it out to the unemployed small farmers. This would improve the life of these people and solve the unemployment problem. It would also make them eligible again for military service. (You had to be a landowner to serve in the legions.) Sensing opposition from the Senate, Tiberius bypassed them completely. When a member of the tribune vetoed the plan, Tiberius had him removed. Member of th Senate became concerned about Tiberius’ proposals and his methods. They also did not want to lose the incoming land from Rome’s expansion. A crowd of Senators marched on the tribunal Assembly and clubbed to death Tiberius and 300 of his supporters. It was clear that Rome was no longer seeking democratic (republican) solutions to their problems. The Republic was on its deathbed.

From Republic to Empire

The murder of the Gracchus brothers started a time of civil war in Rome that lasted about 100 years. During this time an important change took place in the organization of the Roman army. The legions declined and several professional armies emerged, each one loyal to a popular general. Several of these generals made an agreement between themselves to rule together. They became the first Triumvirate. Two of their names were Julius Caesar and Pompey. Eventually, Caesar emerged as the most powerful person in Rome. Pompey, jealous and fearful of Caesar’s power, had the Senate call him back to Rome. Caesar openly defied the Senate and went north, “crossing the Rubicon.” After defeating Pompey in a battle, he returned to Rome victorious. Julius Caesar ruled Rome.

During his time of influence in Rome, Caesar made some important reforms:

1) he created some public work projects to bring employment

2) he made the calendar more accurate (he named July after himself).

Soon, members of the Senate feared he was becoming too powerful and murdered him on 44 B.C. The second triumvirate was formed to get revenge for the murder of Caesar. Octavian and Marc Anthony hunted down and killed the people who had murdered Caesar. Soon these three were fighting and finally, at the Battle of Actium, Octavian won. He changed his name to Caesar Augustus.

The Rule of Augustus

Since Caesar was murdered because of his quest for power, Augustus was more cautious. He was popular for ending a century of civil war, but the genius of his reign was to give the illusion that he was bringing back the old Republic while he had most of the control over the empire. In a great symbolic act, he gave the powers of legislation to the Senate to create the illusion that he was re-establishing the Republic. The Senate returned the favor by giving him control of the frontier provinces which contained the majority of the Roman armies. With the army under his control, Augustus held the true power in Rome and was able to prevent the civil wars that had plagued Rome for 100 years. He assumed the function of the tribunal which gave him the power to initiate legislation and veto. The rule of Augustus began a time in Rome called the Pax Romana, the “peace of Rome.”

Roman Achievements

The Romans borrowed heavily from Hellenistic culture (the Greeks). They often thought the Greeks were better than them in most every area, except in government. Despite this lack of cultural esteem, the Romans actually made some great accomplishments in civilization.

The Arts

In the arts they borrowed from the Greeks but made advances on them as well. As you remember, the Greeks were very concerned with proportions and symmetry. Columns were modeled on the idea human figure and proportion. This is because the Greeks celebrated the ideal, or perfection. Their statues were not so much a statue of a particular person, but a celebration of all humanity. That is why the proportions of most all Greek statues are the same: there are no thin, fat, or old statues. Their relations are all the same because they were trying to display a perfect ideal.

The Romans were quite different. There were not always trying to capture a perfect ideal or model. Rather, they tried to portray the actual characteristics of an individual. For example, a statue of Julius Caesar would accurately portray his receding hairline, his actual height, and the wrinkles in his face. It looked liked him. This is one of the greatest advancements of the Romans in art: they created individuality.

Architecture

Like the Greeks, the Romans were great builders. They preferred the Corinthian order of columns in their buildings. But one thing that allowed them to create much bigger and more complex buildings was their discovery of concrete. Concrete can be shaped into any form. It can be mixed on the spot, thus preventing the hauling of large pieces of marble over long distances. Concrete allowed the Romans to come up with their most important contributions to architecture: the dome and the arch.

The influence of the Greeks on the Romans is apparent from their buildings; a typical Roman building is supported with Greek columns. But the Romans added the dome. The most important temple built in this style is the Roman Pantheon, a temple to all Roman gods. They also discovered that arches could bear a great deal of weight, so they were used to support heavy, tall ceilings.

Engineering

On major difference between the Greeks and the Romans is that the Greeks strove for perfection and harmony while the Romans strove for practicality. That means, the Romans would not be so concerned with the proportions of a column or building, but with what its purpose was and how well it worked. They were practical, and in this sense they are more like us today. The Romans used engineering to solve practical problems. They build bridges over rivers; they connected cities with roads. If a city was in need of water, they built aqueducts to bring in water from the countryside. Many of the remains of these engineering problems are still around today.

Law

Perhaps the most important accomplishment of the Romans was in the area of jurisprudence (law and justice). Just like Hammurabi, they saw the need for consistency in a growing empire that included more and more different people and cultures. The Romans allowed some local customs to remain, but they imposed their civil law wherever Roman citizens lived. Some of their advances in jurisprudence were:

1) a person is innocent until proven guilty

2) trial by jury

3) an accused person is allowed to face the person who has accused him

By creating consistent laws that could apply to all people but yet be flexible enough to allow for local differences, the Romans were able to unit much of the world. Their system of law is the basis for the legal systems of America and Europe today.

The Birth and Growth of Christianity

One group of people being ruled by the Romans was the Jews in Palestine. Believing they were a special people chosen by God, they could not understand why God had allowed them to be ruled by the Romans. As such, they were waiting for a leader to arise and free them from Roman rule. Many of them thought Jesus would be that leader.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem near Jerusalem and not much is known of his early life. At the age of 30 he began to preach that the “kingdom of God” was at hand. He claimed he was the Messiah, the son of God. Many Jews thought he would save them from Roman rule; others hated him because he claimed to be God’s son. Jewish priests convinced the Roman authorities that he was dangerous and he was executed at the age of about 33.

Jesus’ disciples were convinced that he rose from the dead after 3 days. This belief in his resurrection spread among his followers and urged them to spread the message that he taught. One man who is responsible for spreading this more than anyone else is Paul, a many who believed Jesus was the Messiah only after he had a vision. Soon, the followers of Jesus were called Christians and his religion became known as Christianity.

At first Christianity did not spread much, but soon it began to spread across the entire Roman Empire. Because Christianity taught that God loves all people, even the humble and poor, it was attractive to the plebeians and lower classes. Furthermore, the Roman roads and common language (Latin) eased its spread too.

Worried about its impact on the Empire, Rome began to persecute Christians. Many were thrown to the lions in the Coliseum. Overall, the persecution made Christianity spread even more.

As Christianity spread across the empire, small groups of believers networked into a large organization called the Church. Each small community came under the authority of a bishop. Soon, the bishop of Rome took on special importance, and he was called the pope, which means “father.” The pope became the most important leader in the Catholic (or, universal) church. The greatest triumph of Christianity came when a Roman emperor himself converted to the new religion. Constantine became a Christian and soon this new religion became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

The Emperors

A few emperors are worth noting:

Nero—Rome burned down during his rule. He used this opportunity to rebuild Rome more gloriously than before. He also blamed the Christians for this and used it as his excuse to persecute them. Saint Paul was beheaded during his reign.

Caligula—The perfect example of the corruption of power. He used the resources of Rome for his own personal pleasure

Claudius—Conquered Britain

Trajan—extended the borders of Rome to its largest extent.

Diocletian—Realized the empire was getting two large to govern so he divided it in half with a leader in each part. He also instigated a harsh persecution of Christians.

Constantine—Converted to Christianity and built a new eastern capital that bears his name: Constantinople.

The Fall of Rome

(consult your notes from Thursday)