From Romulus to Romulus

1. From Romulus to Romulus The Rise and Fall of Rome

2. Romulusand Remus

3. Legendary Rome • Aeneas and Trojan Refugees settle in Italy (Vergil’s Aeneid; wholly fictional) • Romulus founds Rome 753 BCE • Another legend • Romulus probably named for Rome • “Rome” may come from a word for “river” • Seven Kings • Tarquinius Superbus deposed • Republic founded 509 BCE

4. The Pre-Roman World

5. War With Carthage • 264-241 BCE: Rome wins control of Sicily • 238 BCE Rome takes advantage of revolt in Carthage to seize Sardinia • 218-201 BCE: Hannibal invades Italy, but Carthage loses Spain and N. Africa to Rome • 149-146 BCE: Alarmed by Carthage’s recovery, Rome launches a final war to destroy Carthage

6. Rome Expands

7. Rome Expands

8. Many-Front War

9. Rome Expands

10. The Republic Crumbles • Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus try but fail to implement social reforms (land reform)130-122 BCE • Social War 91–88 BCE: Rest of Italy tries to secede from Rome • Civil War 87-81 BCE, followed by purge by Lucius Sulla • Catilina 63-62 BCE: Failed coup • First Triumvirate 60-53 BCE: Caesar, Pompey, Crassus

11. Julius Caesar • Born 100 BCE • Consul 60 BCE • First Triumvirate 60-53 BCE: Caesar, Pompey, Crassus • Conquest of Gaul 58-49 BCE • Attempted invasion of Britain 55 BCE • 50 BCE: Caesar-Pompey alliance breaks up • 50-45 BCE: Civil War; Caesar wins • 44 BCE: Assassinated

12. Rome Expands

13. Empire! • Civil War • Antony against Brutus and Cassius • Antony and Octavian against Brutus and Cassius • Octavian against Antony and Cleopatra • Octavian declared Emperor 27 BCE as Caesar Augustus • Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero • 69 CE: Year of the Four Emperors

14. Rome Expands

15. Rome Expands

16. Rome Expands

17. The Empire at its Peak • Flavian Dynasty • Vespasian (69–79) • Titus (79–81) • Domitian (81–96) • Five Good Emperors • Nerva (96-98) • Trajan (98-117) • Hadrian (117-138) • Antoninus Pius (138-161) • Marcus Aurelius (161-180)

18. Roman Science and Technology • Little theoretical science or innovation (Lucretius-atoms) • Encyclopedists (Pliny) • Architectural virtuosity • City planning--water, lead pipes, sewage, fire protection • Bridges and aqueducts • Law and administration

19. Roman Science and Technology • Concrete (if a society can only introduce one invention, it could do no better than this.) • Codex form of books • Water mills (late in Empire)

20. Near Collapse 235-284 • 20-25 emperors and many claimants • Internal dissension weakens frontiers • Dacia (modern Romania) lost • Empire fractures into three parts 258-275 • Economic stagnation and hyperinflation • Two tough general-emperors, Claudius Gothicus and Aurelian, stabilized Empire • Diocletian (284-305) created autocracy, reformed military, bought another two centuries for the Empire

21. Final Decline • Constantine the Great (306-337) • Legalized Christianity 313 • Theodosius I (379-395) • The last ruler of the whole empire • Made Christianity official 391 • Empire divided East-West 395 • Eastern Invasions • Romulus Augustulus deposed 476 • Eastern half endures as Byzantine Empire to 1453

22. Roman Empire Splits, 395 A.D.

23. Fall of Rome

24. Fall of Rome

25. Fall of Rome

26. Did Anyone Try to Stop It? • Majorianus 457-461 • “The successor of Avitus presents the welcome discovery of a great and heroic character, such as sometimes arise, in a degenerate age, to vindicate the honor of the human species.” (Gibbon, Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, Ch. 36)

27. Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, 1782 Edward Gibbon suggested four reasons for fall of Rome: • “Immoderate greatness”--growth of bureaucracy and military • Wealth and luxury • Barbarian invasions (cause or symptom?) • Spread of Christianity

28. Persecution of Christians • Rome was generally tolerant of other religions • Tended to incorporate other religions • Tolerated Jews, who refused assimilation • Roman religion was utilitarian • Means of maintaining unity and order (pietas) • Securing favor for Rome • Christianity threatened both aims • Blamed for decline of Rome

29. Persecution of Christians • Other Issues • Secrecy bred suspicion • Organized among lower classes • Competition with other sects • Some early Christians were extremists • Freedom of conscience was not on anyone’s radar until about 1700

30. Persecution of Christians • Sometimes scapegoats for disaster (Nero) • Most persecutions local and spotty • Imperial persecutions tended to happen under two types of emperor • Conscientious (Domitian, Diocletian, Julian) • Oppressive (Nero) • Mediocre emperors were apathetic or too busy surviving

31. An Alternate View of the Fall of Rome Americans often idealize ancient Rome • We are impressed by its monuments. • It's the first ancient state in the Western world that looks like a modern nation-state on the scale of the U.S. • Latin was used as the intellectual language of Europe until recent times • Many "religious" films about the life of Christ are actually films about Rome with a pious veneer.

32. Reality Check: Rome was a stagnant, corrupt, brutal and petty society • Two suggested antidotes to the romantic view of Rome: • Robert Graves' I, Claudius • H.G. Wells Outline of History • Not once did the local populace ever rise up to oppose the barbarian invaders.

33. Two Empires Face a Fateful Choice • The U.S., Northwest Ordinance- 1787 • Provided for division of new territories into additional States • Admission of new States incorporated into Constitution • Hence no distinction whatever between original States and later States. • Rome - 201 BCE • Rome acquires Spain from Carthage • Rome decides to exploit the new territories as source of tax revenue and slaves.

34. Results of Rome’s Choice • Non-stop guerrilla war in Spain for over 300 years • Rome abandons its traditional citizen army for a permanent standing army • Conscripted soldiers frequently became dispossessed while serving in Spain (Destroyed the middle class) • Rome's erratic but real progress toward equality reverses. Power and wealth re-concentrate in the hands of the upper class • Soldiers become dependent on generals for welfare and equipment

35. Conclusion: Like a baby born with AIDS, the Roman Empire was infected at birth with the disease that eventually killed it.

36. A Bit of Perspective