Rome: Republic and Empire

The ItalianPeninsula

  1. Central location in the Mediterranean Sea. Extends from Europe to the shores of Africa.
  2. Ideally situated to be the center of trade between Europe, Asia and Africa.
  3. Rich soil and mild climate provide agricultural opportunities.
  4. Silt deposits blocked many streams forming mosquito laden swamps. This causes recurring epidemics of malaria as well as other mosquito transmitted diseases.
  5. Alps in the north cut off Italy from the rest of Europe.
  6. Few good harbors along the rocky and marshy coastline.

Early Peoples

  1. Archaeological remains suggest that settlements were formed as early as c. 5000 BC.
  2. Between 2000 BC and 1000 BC Indo-European migrations absorb / overwhelm Neolithic settlements.
  3. Three main cultures inhabit the peninsula:
  4. Umbrians in the north.
  5. Latins in the central plain (Latium).
  6. Oscans in the south.
  7. 900 BC to 500 BC northern Italy ruled by the Etruscans.
  8. Etruscan society made up of wealthy overlords, aristocratic priests and slave laborers.
  9. After repeated revolts, the Etruscan lower classes and other Italian peoples freed themselves.

The Rise of Rome

  1. Legend: 753 BC Romulus is the founder of Rome.
  2. Reality: Sometime between 800 BC and 700 BC the Latins agreed to form one community by joining those villages found on seven nearby hills.
  3. Around 620 BC the Etruscans gained control of Rome.
  4. The Tarquins would provide the kings that would rule Rome.
  5. The following occurred during Etruscan rule:
  6. marshy lowlands drained
  7. Forum created
  8. building with brick introduced
  9. roof houses with tile
  10. religious rituals adopted
  11. Rome becomes one of the wealthiest in Italy
  12. 534 BC Tarquins driven out of Rome. Skilled Etruscans remain allowing the city to prosper.

Society and Social Groups

  1. Under Etruscan rule a new wealthy aristocratic class was created. These nobles were called patricians.
  2. The patricians declared Rome a republic after successful revolt.
  3. Remaining population of Rome were plebeians. This includes all non-aristocratic members of the society regardless of economic status.
  4. Both groups had rights and responsibilities such as:
  5. right to vote
  6. hold public office (patricians only)
  7. pay taxes
  8. serve in military

The RomanRepublic

  1. Control of the government was in the hands of the patricians.
  2. Two consuls, heads of state, were elected annually by an assembly of all adult citizens.
  3. Consuls were chief judges and generals of the army. They oversaw other executive officials such as:
  4. praetors
  5. censors
  6. The consuls were attended by lictors. The lictor's main task was to attend as bodyguards. Each lictor carried a bundle of rods, fasces, surrounding an axe as a symbol of the consul’s power of punishment.
  7. One consul could veto, another consuls decision. (Veto is Latin for “I forbid”.)
  8. The only person that had more power than a consul was a dictator. This person was chosen in time of crisis and held power for a period of six months.
  9. Only patricians could hold high public office and sit in the Senate (senex=old man in Latin).
  10. Assembly can only vote on magistrates’ proposals and the Senate can reject any vote. This guarantees patrician control of the Republic.

The Conflict of Orders

  1. In the early years of the RomanRepublic, patricians controlled all the religious and political offices; plebeians had no right of appeal against decisions of the patrician government, since no laws were codified or published.
  2. The struggle of the plebeians to gain rights and an opportunity for advancement within Roman society and political structures is known as “the conflict of orders.”
  3. The one advantage plebeians had over patricians lay in their numbers, and they used this effectively through the strategy of secession (secessio), withdrawal or the threat of withdrawal from the Roman state during times of crisis.
  4. The major accomplishments of the plebeians were:
  5. 494 BCE: traditional date of the First Secession of the Plebs, during which they established their own assembly (the Concilium Plebis) and elected their own magistrates, the Tribunes and the Plebeian Aediles.
  6. 450 BCE: traditional date of the Law of the Twelve Tables, the first codification of Roman law
  7. 445 BCE: patricians and plebeians were permitted to intermarry
  8. 367 BCE: plebeians became eligible for the consulship
  9. 342 BCE: law passed making it mandatory that one of the two Consuls must be a plebeian
  10. 339 BCE: law passed making it mandatory that one of the two Censors must be a plebeian
  11. 300 BCE: half of the priesthoods (which were also state offices) must be plebeian
  12. 287 BCE: Third Secession, won the concession that all plebiscites, measures passed in the Concilium Plebis, had the force of laws for the whole Roman state.

Roman Militarism and Expansion

  1. 500 BC to 300 BC Rome faces threats within the ItalianPeninsula.
  2. Rome conquers or forms alliances in order to protect the republic.
  3. By 264 BC Rome rules the entire peninsula.
  4. Conquered cities treated as allies with the rights and responsibilities of full citizenship. Citizenship NOT hereditary as it was in Greece.

Rome and Carthage

  1. The conquest of southern Italy brings Rome into contact with Sicily.
  2. Sicily occupied by two peoples:
  3. east occupied by Greek cities
  4. west occupied Carthage
  5. Carthage was:
  6. Founded in 800 BC by Phoenician colonists.
  7. Ruled by a shrewd commercial class.
  8. The most powerful state in northern Africa.
  9. An industrial city with a population of nearly 1 million.
  10. An empire that stretched across North Africa and into Spain.

The Punic Wars

The First Punic War

  1. The First Punic War was fought between 264-241BC.
  2. Control of Sicily was the primary issue.
  3. Rome was unwilling to have a strong enemy so close.
  4. Rome=larger army, Carthage=larger navy
  5. Rome is victorious when they turn naval battles into land battles. The invention and deployment of the corvus (raven or crow in Latin) gives Rome victory.
  6. Carthage agrees to withdraw from Sicily and pay a large indemnity. (Indemnities were payable in talents. Modern conversion is 1 talent = $1 million ) Both sides agree to maintain existing borders &/or territiories. (Sicily becomes Rome’s first province outside of the ItalianPeninsula.)

The Second Punic War

  1. The 2d Punic War lasted from 218-202 BC.
  2. Causes:
  3. Carthage expands power in Spain an attacks Suguntum an ally of Rome.
  4. Rome seizes the Carthaginian islands of Sardinia and Corsica.
  5. Carthaginian forces, under Hannibal Barca, move from Spain into Gaul and then cross the Alps into northern Italy.
  6. Hannibal remains in Italy for 15 years. Unable to secure victory and is forced to leave the Italy when the Romans invade North Africa.
  7. At the Battle of Zama, the Romans led by Scipio were victorious. Carthage agrees to:
  8. Gave Spain to Rome
  9. Handed over all of their warships to Rome
  10. Paid another large indemnity.
  11. Never go to war without Rome’s consent.

The Third Punic War

  1. The 3d Punic War is from 149-146 BC.
  2. Carthaginian trade begins to thrive despite huge indemnity.
  3. Jealousy and envy of rich Romans is the cause of this conflict.
  4. Senators such as Cato end each speech in the Senate with “Carthago delenda est!” (Carthage must be destroyed!).
  5. Carthage uses military in self-defense against the Numidians who had been raiding Carthaginian lands in the southwest.
  6. Rome uses this as an excuse to go to war. Rome lays siege to Carthage for two years. Carthage was burned. The surviving population was sold into slavery, and agricultural areas salted.

Expansion towards the East

  1. During the 2d Punic War Macedonia allies itself with Carthage.
  2. Rome moves east for revenge.
  3. Rome soon gains control of Greece, Egypt and Syria.
  4. Some rulers handed Rome their kingdoms after their death.

The Results of the Punic Wars

  1. Rome was now a naval as well as a military power.
  2. Professional army replaces citizen militia.
  3. Class distinctions became more pronounced.
  4. Rome becomes master of the Mediterranean.

Civil War and Expansion

  1. With empire came the eventual downfall of the republican form of government.
  2. The old ideals of simplicity and hard work had been replaced by to worship of power and wealth. Honesty and self-sacrifice had given way to corruption and ambition.

Problems

  1. The Roman government faced three major problems:
  2. Satisfying the discontented lower classes.
  3. Reforming the administration of the provinces.
  4. Creating and maintaining border defenses.
  5. Neither the government nor the Senate were able to overcome selfishness and greed to make changes.
  6. Centuries of warfare had brought misery to small farmers and landowners of Italy.
  7. Local farmers could not compete with cheap grain from the provinces or slave labor.
  8. Landless farmers move to Rome and live in tenements on government supplied grain.
  9. Tiberius Gracchus, a young noble, demands that public lands be divided among the poor.
  10. Tiberius is assassinated in a riot as a means of stopping his reforms.
  11. Tiberius’ brother Gaius was elected to the Senate. He wanted to reduce the Senate’s power and redistribute lands. He was eliminated shortly after his election.
  12. The deaths of the Gracchi began nearly 100 years of civil war.

Class Warfare: Marius v. Sulla

  1. After the death of the Gracchi the people’s party elected Marius, a successful general, consul six times.
  2. He is chosen not for political skill but because of battlefield victories.
  3. During Marius’s rule a young aristocrat named Sulla becomes leader of the Senatorial party.
  4. The Senate tasks Sulla with invading Asia Minor. Not to be outdone the Assembly picks Marius for the same operation.
  5. Sulla is victorious but while he is away the people’s party takes over Rome and eliminates the Senatorial leadership.
  6. When Sulla returned he sought revenge and took the title of perpetual dictator.
  7. Sulla makes the Assembly and tribunes give up their powers. He dies soon after.

The First Triumvirate

  1. With Sulla’s death the people’s party elects Pompey, one of Sulla’s generals, as consul.
  2. After repealing the more hated laws Pompey is given command of the military.
  3. Pompey conquers Asia Minor and extends Roman control westward. He also eliminated the Mediterranean pirates.
  4. On his return to Rome, Pompey made an alliance with two other powerful men, Crassus (financial) and Caesar (politician). This alliance was the First Triumvirate.

Pompey v. Caesar

  1. To gain a military reputation Caesar obtains an army tasked with the conquest of Gaul.
  2. In a series of brilliant campaigns he conquered Gaul, drove the Germans behind the Rhine and moved into Britain.
  3. His popularity increased and he was seen as a threat to the Senate. The Senate convinces Pompey to eliminate Caesar.
  4. Caesar crosses the RubiconRiver and entered Rome in 49 BC.
  5. By 45 BC Caesar had crushed all opposition, he transferred all powers of the Senate and tribunes to himself. He then named himself dictator for life.

Caesar as Dictator

  1. He undertakes colonizing projects to siphon off idle population.
  2. He created plans for rebuilding the city of Rome as well as public works throughout the empire.
  3. He began to reform the provincial governments.
  4. Introduced a revised calendar of 12 months and 365¼ days.
  5. Caesar was assassinated by a group of Senators on March 15, 44 BC.

Antony v. Octavian

  1. Octavian (Caesar’s adopted son/grand-nephew) and Antony (Caesar’s chief lieutenant) combined with Lepidus to form the Second Triumvirate.
  2. The Second Triumvirate defeats the Senatorial forces and divide Roman territory among themselves.
  3. Lepidus is driven out by Octavian. Eventually, Octavian would go to war against Antony.
  4. In the naval battle of Actium (31BC), Octavian is victorious and becomes undisputed ruler of the Roman Empire.

The End of the Republic

  1. Octavian rules until his death in 14 AD.
  2. He let people believe in the “Republic” by allowing the Senate, Assembly, and magistrates to “go through the motions” but he held supreme authority.
  3. He commanded the army, conducted foreign affairs, supervised the administration of the provinces.

Octavian, a.k.a. Augustus Caesar, maintained his popularity by giving out free food and spending on public works, his simple lifestyle and his refusal to accept a crown.

  1. His titles included:

1. Augustus = Majestic Caesar

2. Imperator = General

3. Princeps = First Citizen

Rome under Augustus

  1. During the long reign of Augustus the following occurred:
  2. public order restored
  3. the army was reorganized
  4. provincial governments were improved
  5. construction projects completed
  6. Rome was beautified
  7. art and literature flourished

The Successors of Augustus

  1. The emperors that follow Augustus are called the Julian Emperors since they are related to Julius Caesar in some way.
  2. Tiberius
  3. Caligula
  4. Claudius
  5. Nero
  6. Following Nero’s death the empire was ruled for army backed emperors for 28 years.
  7. In 96 AD the Senate placed their own candidate, Nerva, on the throne. He is the first of the Good Emperors.
  8. Nerva
  9. Trajan-increased empire’s size
  10. Hadrian-strengthens borders of the empire
  11. Antonius Pious-maintains prosperity of the empire
  12. Marcus Aurelius-increases height of prosperity

The Pax Romana

  1. From the reign of Augustus to the reign of Marcus Aurelius (161-180 AD) there was peace within the boundaries of the Roman Empire. This time period is called the Pax Romana or Roman Peace.
  2. Inside the empire industry, trade and commerce expanded and cities flourished.
  3. On the frontiers the legions were always busy.

Administration of the Empire

  1. The known world obeyed the emperor of Rome.
  2. The governors of the provinces and armies on the borders answered to him.
  3. A body of trained officials administered the government.
  4. In 212 AD citizenship was granted to all freemen throughout the empire.

Roman Law

  1. The Twelve Tables was the foundation of Roman law.
  2. The code stressed broad principals and gave judges great freedom in deciding cases.
  3. Older, harsher features were gradually replaced with a more just and humane system.
  4. This system of law and administration is one of the greatest contributions to civilization. It has far-reaching influence on:
  5. the law of the Catholic Church –canon law
  6. the legal systems of Western Europe and those areas colonized by Western Europeans

Roman Economy

  1. Artisans in Italy produced finely crafted goods for sale throughout the empire.
  2. The provinces sent luxury items, raw materials and finished goods to Rome.
  3. Roman trade networks connected Britain in the west with China in the east.

Roman Decline

  1. The empire faced many problems which would eventually destroy it.
  2. Political
  3. Political instability following the death of Marcus Aurelius. 80 emperors in less than 100 years.
  4. Political unrest encourages barbarian incursions.
  5. The populace lost interest in government and public affairs.

C. Economic

  1. Never-ending conflict paralyzed trade and industry.
  2. High taxes virtually eliminate the middle class.
  3. The gulf between rich and poor grew wider.

D. Military

  1. Military weakness allowed barbarian invasions to increase.
  2. Roman population centers being overrun by invaders.

Attempts to Reform Fail

  1. Diocletian splits empire into two parts to make governing easier.
  2. He issues the Edict of Prices to eliminate inflation.
  3. Constantine makes jobs hereditary and has employees chained to positions.
  4. He moves the capital to Byzantium and renames the city Constantinople.
  5. Theodosiuspermanently splits the empire.

End of the Western Empire

  1. Germanic and Hun invasions devastate Italy and the empire.
  2. Vandals sack Rome in 455 AD.
  3. Franks and Goths divide Gaul.
  4. Odoacer kills the emperor and names himself King of Italy in 476 AD.
  5. With no new emperor the Roman Empire ceases to exist.

RISE OF ISLAM

Arabian Peninsula

  1. Area = approximately 1 million sq. mi.
  2. Between Red Sea, Persian Gulf, Arabian Sea
  3. Two distinct geographic regions

SW is well-watered valleys and mountains

Remainder is arid plains and deserts

  1. Oases provide permanent source of water used by three distinct economic groups:

farmers

herders

travelers

  1. Peninsula crossed for centuries by travelers: herders & caravans

q strong reliance on family ties and organizations.

  1. Arab civilizations in region date to c. 3000 BC minimum.

Growth of Towns

a. 500s AD towns become more common.

b. settlements appear around oases or in fertile valleys.

c. Merchants found market towns.

j. Makkah (Mecca) becomes most important.

j. 50 miles from Red Sea.

j. Located on a commercial crossroad.

d. Arabs are Polytheistic at this time.

r Kaaba = peninsula’s holiest shrine.

r Contains statues of Arab deities

r Pilgrims come to worship gives merchants economic

opportunities.

Stirrings of Change

  1. Business ties begin to replace family ties
  2. Old moral / ethical rules becoming obsolete
  3. Byzantine and Persian Empires threaten to take Arab lands.
  4. No Arab unity.
  5. Religious ideas in flux.

MByzantines, Ethiopians, and Jews introduce monotheism.

M Byzantines and Ethiopians = Christianity

M Jews = Judaism

M Holy men (hanifs) denounce idols and accept / stress the

ideal of one god.

M Dissatisfied Arabs leave idols and look for truly Arab

religion.

INTRODUCTION OF ISLAM

Muhammad

  1. Muhammad born in Makkah c. 570 AD
  2. Orphaned and raised by an uncle.
  3. Worked as a caravan leader.

Q Exceptionally capable and honest

d. Employer makes Muhammad head of operations then proposes

marriage.

e. Muhammad now free from economic worries.

Y Distraught over greed, idolatry, mistreatment of city poor.

Y Focuses on life and lifestyle issues.

Y Fasting and praying for guidance and enlightenment.

Revelation, Persecution, Escape

a. 610 AD Muhammad experiences a revelation.

a He hears a voice claiming to be from the one true God (Allah).