Ancient Rome

1. Ancient Rome By: Andres Delarosa, Brian Wawro, Christian Gustafson, Michael Niewinski

2. Rise of the Romans • It is said that the Roman Empire began when Romulus killed Remus, to be king. Soon after Romulus killed his brother, he founded the a small village, called Rome. • Rome was built on seven hills near the center of the Italian Peninsula. From 1000-500 B.C., There were three groups in Italy: • The Latins- They build Rome, and were the first Romans. • The Greeks- From 750-600 B.C. They established colonies along the southern tip of Italy and Sicily. The cities were prosperous and commercially active. They also brought the Greek culture to the Romans. • The Etruscans- In 600 B.C., and Etruscan became King of Rome. The village of Rome grew into a city by expanding by 500 square miles, and by having some temples built. • In 509 B.C., The Romans overthrew the King Tarquin the Proud. Swearing NEVER to have a king again, by establishing a Republic.

3. The Roman Republic • Early on, The Republic had two groups. The Plebeians, who were basically commoners, and the Patricians, who were the Rich. The Patricians had most of the power in the senate, but the Plebeians had no power. The Plebeians demanded the right to vote, so the Senate gave them the Tribunes, basically Plebeians that could represent them. • The Republic also had two people called Consuls, they are basically like kings, they commanded the army, and controlled the government. Although their power was limited, by a One year term, and the ability of the Consuls to Veto each other. • The Senate was the main governing body of Rome, they made the laws. It had 300 members of the Upper class of Rome. Later on The Plebeians were added into it. • Also in emergencies the Senate could elect a dictator, who had absolute power, for the purpose of protecting Rome and it’s people. The catch was that when Rome was safe and the people were safe, You had to step down.

4. Conquest of Italy/Punic Wars • The Roman power was small at first, but slowly it grew steadily as the legions battled for control of the Peninsula. By 265 B.C., the Romans basically controlled Italy. Rome used different laws and different treatments for conquered people and territories. In Territories father from Rome, they didn’t have the right to vote, but had basic rights. Everyone else conquered were treated like allies of Rome, as long as they supplied the military with troops, and stayed loyal with Rome ONLY. • The location of Rome gave it a perfect position for trade. They traded wine and olive oil for food, raw materials, and manufactured goods from other empires. But with Rome’s power rising, it wouldn’t be long before they clashed with other empires. • In 264 B.C. Rome went to war with Carthage in the first of three. In the First war, They fought for the control of the western Mediterranean and Sicily, and by establishing a Navy that basically rams other ships allowing for hand to hand combat, they defeated the Carthaginians. It lasted 23 years. • In 218 B.C. The second war began. A Carthaginian general named Hannibal wanted revenge on the Romans for his defeat. He assembled 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 60 war elephants. He figured the Romans would expect him to sail straight into Italy, so he went through Spain, and crossed through more of Europe, until he arrived at the Alps. He crossed them, losing a lot of his war elephants, but he made it across. The Romans were caught off guard and couldn’t hold against Hannibal. Their worst defeat was at the battle of Cannae, and Hannibal after winning at Cannae, basically just marched up and down the peninsula raiding the Romans. Finally a man named Scipio comes along and takes the Roman Legions, and attacks Carthage at Zama. He uses the same tactic the Carthaginians used at Cannae. He wins the battle, and wins the war. • In the Third War in 146 B.C., The Romans destroy Carthage for good.

5. Conquest of Europe • By 146 B.C. The Romans had expanded their borders to include: • Most of Modern Day Spain, and ALL of Modern Day Portugal. • The Alps, Macedonia, Greece, and Carthage. • About 92 years later Julius Caesar started a brutal campaign to conquer Gaul (Modern day France), He succeeded by gaining the loyalty. • Later Britain up to Scotland, was conquered, included, parts of Germany, Hungary. A kingdom called Dacia, and a little bit of Russia.

6. Fall of the Republic, Rise of the Empire. • Starting with a huge division between the Rich landowners, and the farmers. There was a lot of Economic turmoil. Farmers found it hard to compete with the rich landowners and became homeless and jobless. A motion to help them failed and resulted in Civil War. • The Generals gathered their legions about them, and started to fight each other for control • 3 men, Julius Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus, worked together in a Triumvirate in order to restore order to Rome. Crassus was pressured by both to step down, so he did. Leaving Pompey and Caesar to fight for Power. Caesar worked for one ear as a Consul, then went off to Gaul, and conquered it. His Success won the hearts and respect of many of the Romans. • But Pompey had the senate order Caesar to disband his legions and never return, but Julius defied that and conquered Rome. In 44 B.C., the Senate named him Dictator for life. He had absolute Power. He gave full citizenship to many of those who didn’t have it before, and he expanded the Senate. • March 15th 44 B.C., Marcus Brutus, and Gaius Cassius, led many important Senators into the Senate, where they assasinated Caesar. E tu Brute? • After ANOTHER Civil War, Caesar’s nephew, Octavian, battled with Mark Antony to fight for control of Rome. In 31 B.C. at the famous Naval Battle of Actium, Octavian defeated the Powerful Legions of Antony, and Antony’s ally Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt. • Octavian returned to Rome, and reformed the government by bringing back some ideas from the republic. Soon after he became the unchallenged Ruler of the Roman empire. He took the name Augustus (“exalted one”), and he kept the title Imperator, or supreme military commander, which is where emperor derives from.

7. Rise of Christianity • Later on, the Romans conquered the Land of Israel. There they met fierce resistance by the Israelites, but they defeated them, and attempted to secure Israel and maintain peace • In 6-4 B.C. Jesus of Nazareth was born, he was a carpenter/prophet, supposedly the son of god. He went around preaching peace and monotheism, and one thing the Romans laughed at, that everyone should love their enemies. Many poor people liked his messages, because his teachings supported the poor. • The Jews and the Romans had Jesus crucified. It was said later that he was appearing alive to the disciples telling them to spread the “good news.” The religion spread across the empire despite political opposition. Some emperors persecuted Christians by publicly humiliating them, and executing them, but that didn’t stop the faith from growing. • Finally Constantine, a roman fighting for control of the empire, saw a vision of a cross in the sky. He ordered all his legions to draw crosses on their shields, and they won the battle. When he took the throne, he decreed that Christianity was a religion excepted throughout the empire.

8. Fall of the Empire • There are a few theories surrounding the fall of the Roman empire, the first of which, is economic turmoil. It is believed that the Roman empire ran out of gold and silver, pirates were attacking the trade routes, the government raising taxes, and inflation killed the empire. • Agriculture could have been a downfall because the land was overworked, because they were constantly growing food on the same fields. • The Military also could have caused the downfall. The legions grew more loyal to their generals instead of Rome, they became less disciplined as well. The empire started recruiting mercenaries, which were only loyal to the Highest bidder. • Many Roman Citizens lost their faith in the empire, they used to care so much for the republic, that they would give there life for it, but the change in conditions is what made that harder. • Another Theory is that when Constantine moved the capital to Byzantium, it probably cause a lot of confusion, and when he added a religion that was being persecuted to his own people to an excepted Religion list. • It is possible that lead water pipes may have caused the downfall of the Roman Empire, because of the Lead getting in the Drinking Water. • We know for sure though, that the direct cause of the fall of Rome is Barbarian invasions. Which ended in the fall and plundering of Rome.

9. Impact of the Roman Empire • The Roman Empire had a few powerful impacts: • They started the Roman Catholic Church, which was the main unifying force in Europe for another 1,000 years. • They had their own art style that became famous, they were called mosaics. • They were well known for fusing their culture with the Greek culture. • They had a many great poets, the greatest being Ovid, a love poet, and Virgil, who wrote the Aeneid. • The Romans developed the language Latin, and a strong system of law, and a legal system. • They also were master architects, they built huge bridges, and Aqueducts, which basically brought water to the Roman Cities.

10. Unique Characteristics of the Roman Empire • Some unique Characteristics of the Roman Empire were: • They built the largest empire in the west. • Created the Roman Catholic Church. • It’s Eastern half, later called the Byzantine Empire, was one of the longest lasting empires in history. • One of the few civilizations to have Gladiator games • It’s language lasted 2000 years, used mainly by the Catholic Church

11. Important Leaders (Political & Military) • Some major military and political leaders of Rome were: • Romulus-Founder of Rome • Tarquin the Proud- The Last King of Rome • Scipio- Defeated Hannibal at Zama • Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus- Tried to make a movement in the Senate to help the Plebeians • Julius Caesar- Dictator of Rome for life, helped establish the empire • Octavian/Augustus- Caesar’s grandnephew, Defeated Antony, and Cleopatra at Actium. First Emperor of Rome • Diocletian- Attempted to reform Rome in times of trouble to help slow the fall of the empire • Constantine- Moved the Capital to Byzantium, and Established Christianity as one of the Main religions of Rome.

12. Important Enemies • Some important enemies of Rome: • Hannibal- Carthaginian Commander, First to ever cross the Alps with Elephants. Defeated the Romans at Cannae. • Cleopatra- Queen of Egypt, Lover of Antony, Defeated at Actium. • Mark Antony- Lover of Cleopatra, Defeated by Octavian at Actium • The Jews- made it hard for the Romans to control Israel, and their holdings in that region, by disrupting their forces. They were like a thorn in the Roman’s side. Their rebellion was broken up by the Dispora, which was the Jews getting seperated throughout the empire. • Atila the Hun- King of the Huns, almost made it to Rome, but died before it happened. The Hun invasion cleared the way for more Germanic Tribes to attack. • Visigoths, Successfully Sacked Rome. A Germanic Tribe • Other Germanic Tribes- Pretty much all the Germanic tribes gave the Romans hell. They were the main cause of the downfall of Rome.