Pre-Roman Peoples of

Ancient Italy

Statue of the She-Wolf Lupa

feeding Romulus and Remus

The Seven Hills of

Rome

Senatus Populusque

Romanorum

“Senate and the People of

Rome”

The Fora in Rome: Meeting

Place of the Movers and

shakers of Rome

The Curia: Meeting house of

the Senate

Interior of the Curia

The Roman Government

• Senate

– Patrician families

– Duties:

• Taxes

• Expenditures

• Public Works

• High Crimes

• Foreign Policy

• Votes to supply the army

• Authorizes the Triumph

The Roman Government

• Tribunes

– Can be Patrician or Plebeian

– The “voice of the people”

– Duties:

• Tries capital cases

• Confirms offices

• Can declare war or call for peace

• Can Veto Senate resolutions

The Roman Government

• Consuls (2)

– Elected from the Senate for one

year terms

– Supreme military commanders:

each one leads half the army

– Calls Senate to order

The Expansion of Rome

The Mediterranean

World in 650 BC

The Mediterranean

World in 270 BC

Publius Cornelius Scipio aka

Scipio Africanus

The Punic Wars: Rome

vs. Carthage; 264-241,

218-202, 149-146 BC

Tiberius Gracchus: Tribune of

the People (168-133 BC)

Spartacus’ Slave Revolt:

73-72 BC

The Mediterranean in 86

BC: Rome vs. The

Parthians

Gaius Julius Caesar (100-44 BC)

Europe in 52 BC: Rome vs.

Gallic Tribes

Augustus Caesar (Octavian),

r. 27 BC- 14 AD

Gender in Ancient Rome

• Father is pater familias

– Controlled family wealth

– Controlled all children

– Controlled daughters until they

married

– Signed all legal documents

• Mother

– Had to obey husband

– Could inherit property but needed

a male guardian

– Dowry as insurance policy

– Could divorce an abusive husband

The Women challenge

Patriarchy

• Oppian Law following Second

Punic War

– Limited women’s inheritance

– Limited rights of patrician women

– Fury in the Forum!

• Hortensia’s speech

– After Julius Caesar’s death

– Tax on wealthy women to pay for

civil war

– Hortensia’s speech—a

transcendent theme

Patrician Society

• Patrician men followed cursus

honorum

• Patron/Client relationships

– Built upon reciprocity

– Patron provided money, jobs, and

favors

– Client offered protection, service,

loyalty

– The importance of an Entourage

and the need to “represent”

• Later these obligations became

legal contracts

Roman Architecture

• The Arch

The Arch

Concrete

Roman Aqueduct

Roman Bath

The Roman Termi

Roman Toilets

Roman public toilets shared by men

& women

Roman Forum

Roman Forum

• Temples & government buildings

• Platform for public speaking at the

Roman Forum

Roman Colosseum

Circus Maximus

Circus Maximus for chariot racing

Roman Amphitheater

Roman Female

Athletes

Pantheon

Temple dedicated to all the gods

Hadrian’s Wall

N. England, 127 AD

Appian Way

A famous Roman road; one of Romes engineering accomplishment

Roman Roads

Crisis of the Third Century:

Was the Empire to big?

Emperor Constantine (r. 306-

337)