The Roman Empire

1. The Roman Empire

2. The Legend of Romulus and Remus • 750 BCE • Romulus and Remus were twin brothers • Abandoned by their parents as babies and put into a basket that was then placed into the River Tiber. • Twins discovered by a female wolf. • Wolf nursed the babies for a short time before they were found by a shepherd. • The shepherd then raised the twins.

3. The Founding of Rome • Romans shared the Italian peninsula with other peoples, namely the Greek and the Etruscans, who lived north of Rome • The Etruscans ruled much of central Italy, including Rome • Romans learned the alphabet from the Etruscans

4. Rome Conquers Italy • The Romans defeat the Etruscans in the north and the Greek city-states in the south. • By 265 B.C., Rome controls the entire Italian peninsula. • Rome treats the conquered peoples justly. This enables Rome to grow. • Determined never to be ruled by a monarch, Rome set up a new government • A Republic • Romans believed that a Republic would keep any one individual from gaining too much power.

5. Conquered Lands • Treated defeated enemies with justice • Must acknowledge Roman leadership • Pay taxes • Supply soldiers • Kept own traditions and cultures • Retain own local government • Privileged were given cull citizenship

6. Problems with Carthage: The Punic Wars • The First Punic War • Carthage had, in the 260s, control of much of Sicily. • Internal dispute within the city of Messana pitted Carthage against Rome • Rome forces the Punic (the Roman word for Carthaginian) fleet to withdraw • Carthage responds, Rome responds, armies get bigger, Rome matches • Last for 20 years • Peace Treaty; Carthage loses Sicily; heavy indemnification

7. Problems with Carthage: The Punic Wars • The Second Punic War • In 202 BC Rome's second war with Carthage came to an end. Rome again forced Carthage to pay a terrible price: this time, Carthage had to give up her entire empire. Spain, the islands, North Africa, her navy, her army, all of it was either gone or drastically reduced • Hannibal in exile • TTYN: Name three lands that were part of the Roman Empire

9. From Republic to Empire In 71 BC the Roman senate sent a large army to deal with Spartacus. Outnumbered, Spartacus' army was defeated at a place called Apulia. The 6,000 slaves who were taken prisoner were crucified along the Appian Way (the main road into Rome). Their bodies were left to hang on the crosses for several months as a warning to other slaves who might consider the possibility of rebelling against their Roman masters.

10. Next In Line • In the line of succession …some were weak and some were just bad • Caligula and Nero – Evil, perhaps a little nuts • Legend has it, Caligula appointed his horse as consul • Nero persecuted Christians • Nero blamed for starting the great fire that destroyed much of Rome • The good – Hadrian • Codified Roman laws - same law for all the provinces • Soldiers built at wall in Britain to hold back attackers

12. Anyone up for a chariot race? Circus Maximus

13. The Decline • Despite the reforms, internal and external problems persisted • Foreign Invaders – As the empire declined, it was unable to fight back the Germanic people from the north • Britain, France, and Spain depart the empire • The Visigoths • Attila the Hun “scourge of God”