ROME

THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

ORIGINS OF ROME Built on a nearly

perfect location for trade and resources.

Settled by a group called the Latins who interacted closely with Greece (culture influence)

REPUBLIC Form of

government where power rests with the citizens to vote for their leaders (representatives) Free born

males were citizens

PATRICIANS AND PLEBEIANS Patricians:

Wealthy landowners who held most the power.

Plebeians: Common farmers, merchants, and artisans who were the population majority.

TRIBUNES AND CONSULS Tribunes:

Representatives of the Plebeians and protected their rights.

Consuls: Two elected officials. Like kings they controlled the army and directed the government. Only served 1 year One consul could

overrule the other.

SENATE Aristocratic

branch of government.

300 members all chosen from the upper class.

Influenced both foreign and domestic policy.

DICTATOR A leader

with absolute power to pass laws and control the military in a time of crises.

Appointed by the Senate and Consuls.

LEGIONS Roman soldiers

were organized into legions of about 5,000 highly trained and disciplined infantrymen.

All male citizens were required to serve 10 years in the legions.

PUNIC WARS AND HANNIBAL Punic Wars: Series of

wars fought between Carthage and Rome. Rome was victorious giving it complete control of the Mediterranean Sea.

Hannibal: Famous general from Carthage that almost defeated Rome. Revolutionary in military tactics.

THE ROMAN EMPIRE

COLLAPSE AND CIVIL WAR Collapse:

Widening gap between rich and poor resulted in peasant/slave revolts.

Civil War: The assassination of 2 popular tribunes resulted in Civil War.

JULIUS CAESAR Elected Consul and

went on to become a popular general by conquering Gaul.

Using his popularity and support of the army, Caesar seized power from the Senate along with two other popular politicians and generals (triumvirate).

CAESAR’S REFORMS 1. Gave Citizenship to

more people outside of Rome.

2. Expanded the Senate (added people loyal to him)

3. Started new construction projects (created jobs)

All of these made him popular with the Plebeians

AUGUSTUS Grandnephew of

Caesar who became his adopted son.

Claimed power after Caesar was assassinated.

After another Civil War with rivals, Augustus became the unchallenged emperor.

PAX ROMANA Means Roman

Peace The Roman

Empire experienced relative peace from the time of Augustus until about 180 AD

SLAVERY Rome had more

slaves than any other civilization ever.

Economy relied on the work of slaves to function.

Slave revolts were common.

RELIGION Roman religion came

directly from Greek religion. (Changed the names to sound more Roman)

There were Gods/Goddesses for all purposes and professions.

Romans persecuted all other religions

SOCIETY Wealth was everything when determining

status in Rome. Society was based on feudalism during the

empire with a few rich and the majority poor.

CHRISTIANITY AND ROME

JESUS Born around 6 to 4

BC in Judea (Roman Province)

Began his public ministry as the proclaimed messiah at age 30 until his crucifixion at age 33.

Viewed as a direct challenge to Jewish and Roman authorities.

APOSTLES Disciples of Jesus

and selected by him to assist in his ministry.

They are the reason Jesus’ teaching continued to spread throughout the Roman Empire after Jesus’ death.

PAUL Never met

Jesus and was at first an enemy of Christianity.

After a vision of Jesus, Paul devoted his life to spreading Christianity and the word of Jesus Christ.

DIASPORA Dispersal of

the Jews after the Romans severely cracked down on their open rebellion.

CONSTANTINE Roman Emperor who

converted Rome to Christianity.

Personally converted after having a vision before a battle where he saw a cross in front of the sun and was instructed, “under this you will be victorious”

BISHOP A priest who

oversaw several local Churches.

In Roman times, these men were treated as outlaws by the Romans until the time of Constantine.

PETER Apostle who

became the first bishop of Rome (Pope).

Martyred and crucified upside down by the Emperor Nero.

POPE The father

and head of the Church that traces his roots back to Peter.

Came to symbolize Rome after the Empire fell.

THE FALL OF ROME

INFLATION A drop in the

value of money paired with a rise in prices.

Happens when the government over spends or natural resources become scarce.

MERCENARIES Paid soldiers for

hire who the Romans came to rely on as they began to not have enough soldiers to defend their massive empire (very expensive to have).

DIOCLETIAN Roman

Emperor who briefly restored Roman power.

Divided the empire into two halves in order to more easily manage.

CONSTANTINOPLE Capitol of the

Eastern Roman Empire that was founded by Constantine.

Continued the traditions and practices of Rome for over a thousand years after the fall of the West.

WESTERN COLLAPSE Western Half of

the Roman Empire finally fell due to three primary reasons: 1. Barbarian

Invasions 2. Economic

Crisis 3. Government

Corruption and Collapse

ATTILA King of a nomadic

group called the Huns.

Devastated the Western Roman empire to the point where it could no longer stop barbarian invasions.

GRECO-ROMAN CULTURE Mixture of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman

Cultures Became the foundation of

European/Western Culture

VERGIL Roman writer

who created epics like Homer did in Greece.

Wrote a lot about the founding and myth/legend behind Rome.

TACITUS Roman

Historian who was extremely accurate.

Gives us the majority of what we know about Rome.