CHAPTER 6 ANCIENT ROME and THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY

1. CHAPTER 6ANCIENT ROME and THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY 509 B.C. – A.D. 476

2. Section 1: The Roman World Takes Shape • Rome • Began as a small city-state in Italy • Geography • Peninsula centrally located in the Mediterranean • Rome center of Italy • Much easier to unify than Greece. • Mountains less rugged • Broad, fertile plains

3. Peoples • Latins Roman ancestors • Settled along the Tiber River • Herded and farmed • Grew into Rome, “city on seven hills” • Shared peninsula with Greeks and Etruscans

4. Etruscans • Ruled much of central Italy, including Rome itself. • Provided the alphabet to the Romans (acquired from the Greeks). • Provided the arch in building • Adapted engineering techniques to drain the marshy lands along the Tiber • Etruscan gods and goddesses merged with Roman deities.

5. The Roman Republic • 509 B.C. Romans drove out the Etruscans • Date marks the founding of the Roman state • Republic a government in which some officials were chosen by the people • “Thing of the people” • Keep an individual from gaining too much power

6. The Government Takes Shape • Senate • Most powerful governing body • Patricians • senate members • Landholding upper class • Served for life • Made the laws

7. Senators, cont’d • Consuls • Supervise the business of government and command the armies • Elected from the patrician class • Could serve only one term • Expected to consult with the senate • Provided a system of checks on the power of government

8. Cincinnatus • Dictator • Chosen by senate in the event of war • Granted complete control over a government • Power to rule for 6 months

9. Cincinnatus, cont’d • 16 days • Organized an army • Led to Romans to victory • Attended victory celebrations • Returned to his farmland

10. Plebians Demand Equality • Plebeians • Farmers, merchants, artisans, and traders • Bulk of the population; had little influence • Government had the Roman laws inscribed on 12 tablets and set up in the Forum, or marketplace. • Laws of the Twelve Tables • Made it possible for plebians to appeal a judgment handed down by a patrician judge. • Tribunes plebian elected officials to protect their interests

11. Roman Society • Male the head of the household • Wife, subject to his authority; not allowed to administer her own affairs • In later Roman times, women from all classes ran businesses. • Girls and boys learned to read and write • Jupiter Roman god who ruled over the sky and all the other gods.

12. Expansion in Italy • 270 B.C. Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula • Legion basic military unit made of about 5,000 men • Roman armies • Consisted of citizen-soldiers who fought without pay and supplied their own weapons.

13. Conquered Lands • People had to acknowledge Roman leadership • Pay taxes • Supply soldiers for the Roman army • Rome let them keep their own customs, money and local government • Some gained full citizenship

14. Protection and Unification • Posted soldiers throughout the land • Built a network of all-weather military roads to link distant territories to Rome • Local peoples incorporated Latin into their languages and adopted many Roman customs and beliefs.

15. Section 2: From Republic to Empire • Carthage • City-state on the northern coast of Africa • Settled by North Africans and Phoenician traders • Ruled over an empire that stretched across North Africa and the western Mediterranean

16. Wars with Carthage • First Punic War • Rome defeated Carthage and won Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia • Second Punic War • Hannibal, Carthaginian general, led his army including dozens of war elephants, on an epic march across the Pyrenees, through France, and over the Alps into Italy. • Carthage gave up all its lands except those in Africa.

17. Wars with Carthage, cont’d • Third Punic War • Rome completely destroyed Carthage. • Survivors killed or sold into slavery. • Romans poured salt over the earth so nothing would grow there again.

18. Other Conquests • Imperialism • Establishing control over foreign lands and peoples • Romans confronted the Hellenistic rulers who divided up the empire of Alexander the Great. • Provinces • Lands under Roman rule • 133 B.C. Roman power extended from Spain to Egypt.

19. Social and Economic Effects • Conquests and control of busy trade routes brought incredible riches into Rome. • Generals, officials, and traders amassed fortunes from loot, taxes, and commerce. • Latifundia huge estates bought up by newly wealthy Roman citizens. • Forced people captured in war to work as slaves • Widespread use of slave labor hurt small farmers. • Many farmers fell into debt and had to sell their land.

20. Social and Economic Effects, cont’d • Landless farmers flocked to Rome and other cities looking for jobs. • Gap between poor and rich widened • New wealth increased corruption

21. Attempts at Reform • Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus • Young patrician brothers • Among the first to attempt reform • Tiberius, tribune, called on the state to distribute land to poor farmers • Gaius, tribune 10 years later, sought a wider range of reforms • Use of public funds to buy grain to feed the poor • Killed in waves of street violence set off by senators and their hired thugs.

22. Decline of the Republic • Rome was plunged into a series of civil wars • Senate • Wanted to govern as it had in the past • Popular political leaders • Wanted to weaken the senate and enact reforms • Turmoil sparked slave uprisings and revolts among Rome’s allies

23. Julius Caesar’s Rise to Power • Ambitious military commander • Completed the conquest of Gaul –now France • “Veni, vidi, vici” • Forced the senate to make him dictator • Absolute ruler of Rome

24. Caesar’s Reforms • Public works to employ the jobless • Gave public land to the poor • Reorganized the government of the provinces • Granted Roman citizenship to more people • Julian calendar Introduction of a new calendar based on Egyptian knowledge; still our calendar today (with minor changes).

25. Assassination • Caesar’s enemies worried that he planned to make himself king of Rome • Plotted against him to save the republic • March 44 B.C. enemies stabbed him to death in the senate

26. Civil Wars • Caesar’s death plunged Rome into a new round of civil wars • Mark Antony • Caesar’s chief general • Octavian, Caesar’s grandnephew • Joined forces to track down the murderers • Quarreled, Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra

27. Roman Empire and Roman Peace • Octavian received the title of Augustus, or “Exalted One” • Declared him princeps, or first citizen • Exercised absolute power and named his successor • Created an efficient well-trained civil service to enforce the laws • High level jobs open to talented men, regardless of class • Cemented the allegiance of cities and provinces to Rome by allowing them a large measure of self-government.

28. Augustus • Ordered a census, population count, to make the tax system fair • Set up a postal service • Issued new coins to make trade easier • Jobless worked on building roads and temples and farmed the land

29. Bad Emperors and Good Emperors • Caligula • Appointed his favorite horse as consul • Nero • Viciously persecuted Christians and wan even blamed for setting a great fire that destroyed much of Rome • Hadrian • Codified Roman law; built a wall across Britain to hold back attackers • Marcus Aurelius • Philosopher-king; stoic philosophy and commitment to duty

30. The Pax Romana • “Roman Peace” • 200 year span that began with Augustus and ended with Marcus Aurelius • Roman rule brought peace, order, unity, and prosperity to lands stretching from the Euphrates River in the east to Britain in the west.

31. Bread and Circuses • Circus Maximus • Rome’s largest racecourse • Chariot races • Gladiator contests • Slaves trained to fight • Good fighter could win his freedom • Government provided free grain to feed the poor

32. Section 3: The Roman Achievement • Greco-Roman Civilization • Rome absorbed ideas from Greek colonists in southern Italy • Blending of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman traditions produced Greco-Roman civilization. • Trade and travel during Pax Romano helped spread.

33. Literature, Philosophy and History • Aeneid • Written by Virgil after Augustus came to power; hoped to arouse patriotism and unite Rome • Satirize, make fun of • Other poets, like Horace, used playful wit to attack human folly. • Livy, historian, sought to rouse patriotic feeling and restore traditional Roman virtues by recalling images of Rome’s heroic past. • Stoics stressed the importance of duty and acceptance of one’s fate; showed concern for the well-being of all people.

34. Art and Architecture • sculptors stressed realism, and revealed an individual’s character • Romans beautified their homes with works of art. • Pompeii • Mosaic picture made from chips of colored stone or glass

35. Pantheon • Most famous domed structure • Temple to all the Roman gods • Still stands in Rome

36. Technology and Science • Romans excelled in engineering  the application of science and mathematics to develop useful structures and machines. • Built bridges, roads, harbors, and aqueducts • Aqueducts bridge-like stone structures that brought water from the hills into Roman cities • Public baths • To wash themselves and to hear the latest news and exchange gossip

37. Roman Law • Civil Law • System of law that applied to Roman citizens • Law of Nations • Applied to all people under Roman rule • When Rome extended citizenship across the empire, the two systems merged. • Accused allowed to face the accuser • Presumed innocent until proven guilty • Judges interpret the laws and make fair decisions

38. Section 4: The Rise of Christianity • Mystery Religions • Cult of Isis • Offered women equal status with men • Mithras • Championed good over evil and offered life after death • Rome tolerated the various religious traditions • As long as citizens showed loyalty to Roman gods and acknowledged the divine spirit of the emperor.

39. Divisions in Judea • 63 B.C. Romans conquered Judea, where most of the Jews of the time lived. • Romans excused Jews from worshipping Roman gods. • Zealots • Called on Jews to revolt against Rome and reestablish an independent state. • Messiah, anointed king sent by God, would soon appear to lead to Jewish people to freedom.

40. Jewish Revolt • A.D. 66 Roman forces crushed the rebels • Captured Jerusalem • Destroyed the Jewish temple • Roman armies leveled Jerusalem • Many Jews decided to leave Judea • Jewish rabbis extended and preserved the religious law as set forth in the Talmud

41. Jesus and His Message • Founder of Christianity • Gospels • First four books of the New Testament • Matthew, Mark, Luke and John • Born about 4 B.C. in Bethlehem • Worshipped God and followed Jewish law • Apostles, “a person sent forth” • Twelve close followers • Roman authorities a revolutionary who might lead the Jews in a rebellion against Roman rule.

42. Spread of Christianity • Paul • Jew from Asia Minor • Had never seen Jesus • Had a vision in which Jesus spoke to him • Spread the teachings of Jesus to gentiles, non-Jews • Journeyed around the Mediterranean and set up churches from Mesopotamia to Rome. • His letters explained difficult doctrines, judged disputes, and expanded Christian teachings • Apart of the new Testament

43. Persecution • Rome did not tolerate Christianity • Christians refused to make sacrifices to the emperor or to honor the Roman gods. • Roman rulers used Christians as scapegoats, blaming them for social or economic ills. • Thousands of Christians became martyrs, people who suffer or die for their beliefs.

44. Reasons for Christianity’s Appeal • Found comfort in Jesus’ message of love • Welcomed all people • Equality, human dignity, and the promise of a better life • Incorporated the discipline and moderation of Greek philosophy • Christian documents written in Greek or Latin, languages that many people understood • Impressed by the strength of Christians’ belief.

45. Triumph • Persecution ended with the Edict of Milan • Emperor Constantine • Granted freedom of worship to all citizens of the Roman empire

46. The Early Christian Church • A person fully joined the Christian community by renouncing evil in the rite of baptism. • Through baptism sins were forgiven by the grace of God • Members of the community are equals • Gather each Sunday as a thanksgiving to God • Eucharist • Sacred meal in which baptized ate bread and drank wine

47. Structure of the Church • Each Christian community had its own priest • Only men allowed to be members of the clergy • Bishop church official responsible for all Christians in a diocese district or region under the care of a bishop. • Patriarch highest church official in a major city.

48. Divisions in the Church • Bishops in Rome popes; began to claim greater authority over all other bishops. • Greek-speaking east patriarchs felt that the five patriarchs should share spiritual authority as equals. • Heresies beliefs said to be contrary to official Church teachings. • Church leaders met to decide official Christian teachings. • Sent out missionaries to convert people to Christianity

49. Theology and Scholarship • Theology talk or discourse about God. • Clement and Origen • Leading scholars of the early Christian Church • Lived and worked as teachers in Alexandria • Both wrote in Greek • Could reach a deeper understanding through reflection • Augustine • Bishop of Hippo in North Africa • Wrote The City of God

50. Section 5: The Long Decline • 180 • Marcus Aurelius dies • Pax Romana ends • Disruptive political pattern emerges • 50 year period, 26 emperors reigned • High taxes • Poor farmers left their land to work for wealthy landowners