!Rome!and!the!Barbarians! - Mr. Waddellmrwaddell.com/world/romelecture.pdf!Rome!and!the!Barbarians! • Atheight,!2nd!century!C.E.,!Roman!Empire! contained!70=100!million!people!in!an!empire!

Rome and the Barbarians

•  At height, 2nd century C.E., Roman Empire contained 70-‐100 million people in an empire reaching 2,700 miles east to west and 2,500 miles north to south

•  Rome enforced Pax Romana across empire •  Contemporaries praised it for promoEng peace and prosperity while criEcs claimed Pax Romana was brute military conquest

From Hill Town to Empire

•  The Founding of the Roman Republic –  Founded in 753 B.C.E. [in legend] –  Ruled for 250 years by Etrurians [Etruscans] –  Republic created in 509 B.C.E. when upper-‐class Romans drove Etruscans out of city

–  New republican government had two consuls and a Senate using a system of checks and balances


•  The Conquest of Italy – Army established on Greek model of phalanx – Drove Etruscans out of central Italy, 396 B.C.E. – Controlled all Italy south of Po Valley, 264 B.C.E.

– Offered opponents the choice of alliance or conquest

– Republic was a society geared for war


•  Conquest of Carthage and Western Mediterranean –  Carthage controlled North Africa and was a rival to Rome in commerce

–  Rome and Carthage fought three Punic Wars from 264 to 146 B.C.E.

– Wars included invasion of Rome by Hannibal using elephants

–  Romans destroyed Carthage and sold ciEzens into slavery at end of war


•  Subsequent Expansion – Annexed Spain, 197 B.C.E. – Series of wars led to annexaEon of Gaul (France) by 49 B.C.E.

– Moved into successor states of Alexander’s empire at invitaEon of the Greeks

– Rome applied “new wisdom” of harsh treatment to conquered areas


•  InsEtuEons of Empire – Support of conquered people achieved by •  SelecEve offers of full ciEzenship to non-‐Romans •  Others could get parEal ciEzenship, right to marry Roman ciEzens, and freedom from arbitrary arrest

•  CiEzenship offer directed toward upper classes


•  Patrons and Clients – An ancient form of relaEonship where strong protected weak and received obedience and support in return

– Patrons were patricians; clients were plebeians who helped pay patron expenses and showed submission by ritual visit to patron’s house

– RelaEonship present in Republic and Empire


•  Patrons and Clients [cont.] – The Roman Family •  Paterfamilias (father) had life and death control •  Control of daughters did not pass to husbands • Women had no formal rights but some control in pracEce

•  Marriages were arranged •  RestricEons did not apply to lower classes


•  Patrons and Clients – Class and Class Conflict •  Existed despite patron-‐client relaEonship •  Plebeians and patricians forbidden to intermarry under Etruscans

•  Plebeians not allowed to be army officers in early Republic

•  Etruscan king had protected plebeians from patricians; Republic meant loss of protecEon


•  Patrons and Clients –  The Struggle of the Orders

•  Term applies to plebeians’ long struggle for rights •  Boycoes of Rome provided leverage in struggle •  Plebeians had no economic rights •  First plebeian consul was 360 B.C.E. •  Fruits of imperial expansion went to patricians •  Plebeian soldiers would return home to find their land confiscated for debts


•  Patrons and Clients – Urban Splendor and Squalor •  Rome was most extreme example of wealth and poverty

•  Newly wealthy patricians relocated to Rome and built stunning mansions •  Poor flocked to Rome in search of work and food and lived in hovels


•  Patrons and Clients –  Aeempts at Reform

•  Tiberius Gracchus clubbed to death by Senate for his support of the poor (133 B.C.E.)

•  Gaius Gracchus (consul, 123 B.C.E.) redistributed land, subsidized grain sales, reseeled some poor in lands won in Punic Wars (assassinated in 121 B.C.E.)

•  Tax farming proposal unpopular •  Reforms fail but lay groundwork for later permanent reform


•  Patrons and Clients – “Bread and Circuses” •  New soluEon was to bribe poor in form of free daily bread raEon

•  Also presented many free public entertainments to fill idle hours of the poor •  Threat of revolt by poor conEnued throughout life of Roman Empire


•  Slaves and Slave Revolts – Conquests led to agricultural and mineral wealth that required an enlarged labor force

– Millions of slaves acquired in wars – Rebellions included Great Slave War (134-‐131 B.C.E.) in Sicily and Spartacus-‐led gladiator revolt of 73-‐71 B.C.E.


•  Military Power – Roman armies were central to the state – Willing to innovate: Greek phalanx, small maneuverable units, cavalry, sophisEcated warships, walled camps

– Service in army made men free but involved lengthy enlistment: 16-‐25 years under Augustus

– Conquered people served in army


•  Generals in PoliEcs – Military experience basis of poliEcal power – Control by Senate and Assembly weakens –  Julius Caesar a model of how military success leads to poliEcal power

– Augustus Caesar (Octavian) completed process with creaEon of Empire with central power coupled with promoEon of tradiEonal family values


•  The End of the Republic – Augustus created imperial monarchy – Military expansion conEnued into Switzerland, Britain, Mesopotamia

– Gains consolidated by Trajan (117-‐138 C.E.) – CiEzenship for conquered peoples now limited – Created internaEonal law (jus gen(um) to deal with diverse people of empire


•  Economic Policies of the Empire –  Romans worked with local elites in provinces –  Cost of empire to subjects included taxes and military service

–  Prosperity caused some to worry they had lost the simple virtues of Republican life before the rise of military leadership, or even before the overthrow of the Etruscans


•  Economic Policies of the Empire – Supplying Rome •  Feeding Rome, a city of one million under Augustus, was major task

•  Empire moved a large variety of products by ship within empire •  Trade included exoEc animals and gladiators for public entertainment


•  Economic Policies of the Empire – Building CiEes •  Empire was largely agricultural but managed by potent urban civilizaEon

•  Built administraEve ciEes around empire including ones that became core of London, Paris, and Lyons •  Empire contained over 5,000 civic bodies (ciEes and towns)


•  Economic Policies of the Empire – Luxury Trades •  Included goods transported over great distances including Chinese silks

•  Payment for luxuries was in metal (gold/silver) •  Overland routes also vital (“all roads lead to Rome”) •  Upper classes publicly scorned but privately parEcipated in commercial acEvity

•  End of Pax Romana sharply reduced luxury trade in the late 2nd century, C.E.


•  Cultural Policies of the Empire – Greco-‐Roman Culture •  Incorporated Greek ideas and language through conquest and spread them across empire

•  Greek was the language of high culture; LaEn was the language of administraEon •  Sense of Roman triumph a key element of Roman sense of self and others


•  Cultural Policies of the Empire – Stoicism •  From Zeno, a Greek philosopher (c. 300 C.E.) • World is raEonal, well-‐ordered system •  People should accept events without joy or grief •  Treat all people with decency as brothers and sisters •  Stoics sought more humane treatment of slaves •  Height of influence under Emperor Marcus Aurelius (r. 161-‐180 C.E.)


•  Cultural Policies of the Empire –  Religion in the Empire

•  Accepted religious diversity and divinity of emperor •  Mithraism and cult of Cybele aeracted women •  Monotheism of Judaism led to Jewish revolts and Roman suppression

•  ChrisEanity seen as atheisEc (ChrisEans rejected divinity of emperor) and treasonous (refused to parEcipate in public religious fesEvals)


•  Cultural Policies of the Empire – ChrisEanity Triumphant •  ChrisEans gained by Eme of Marcus Aurelius •  Stoic idea of orderly world and concern for social welfare paralleled ChrisEan ideals

•  IniEally aeracted poor and women •  Acceptance in Edict of Milan (313 C.E.) culminates in ChrisEanity being named official religion of empire in 394 C.E. when polytheisEc cults are banned

Barbarians and Fall of Roman Empire

•  Invaders at the Gates –  Celts sacked Rome in 390 B.C.E.; fomented revolt in 61 C.E. led by Boudicca, a woman

–  Goths (Germanic) on northern border from 50 B.C.E. move west into Empire (under pressure from Huns) and form states within empire

–  Huns pressure late Empire, topple dynasty in China and invade India


•  Decline/Dismemberment of Roman Empire – Roman vulnerability to invasion increased by plague that killed one-‐quarter of Roman populaEon (165-‐180 C.E.)

– Marcus Aurelius recognized invaders could be assimilated

– Some invaders took ciEzenship, others wanted plunder, others wanted to set up separate states


•  Decline/Dismemberment of Empire [cont.] – Crisis of the 3rd Century •  Repeated invasions along Danube and Rhine rivers •  Invasion of Italy thwarted in 253-‐268 C.E. •  Loss of territory beyond Danube •  Persian revolts unsuccessfully threaten Roman control of the east


•  Decline/Dismemberment of Empire [cont.] –  The FragmentaEon of Authority

•  Warfare required decentralizaEon of power to regional capitals, including use of ConstanEnople as home to a second, eastern center of Roman power

•  ValenEnian (r. 364-‐375 C.E.) last emperor able to defeat invaders

•  AdministraEon moved to Milan and Ravenna [c. 400 C.E.] •  Vandals and Huns extended power into west •  Control of west into barbarian hands


•  Causes of the Decline and Fall – Structural problems •  Class conflict conEnued •  Cost of armies drained treasury •  People more impoverished over Eme •  Yeoman-‐farmer class, backbone of the Republic, was ruined although wealthy sEll prospered •  Support of idea of empire faded


•  Causes of Decline and Fall [cont.] –  Quality of emperors declined –  Couldn’t defeat enemies or assimilate them –  ChrisEanity criEcal of pursuit of earthly power –  Climate change and epidemics –  TradiEonal list includes overextension, military and financial exhausEon, leadership failure, new values systems, infiltraEon of outsiders, new states that rejected Roman leadership


•  The Empire in the East – Focus on ConstanEnople, the “New Rome” – Combined Greek culture, Roman law, and ChrisEan faith

– ConstanEnople, later called ByzanEum, lasts to 1453 C.E.


•  The Empire in the East [cont.] – Resurgence under JusEnian •  ConstanEnople impervious to Germanic aeacks •  JusEnian recaptured lost porEons of western empire [r. 527-‐565 C.E.] •  Created legal codes known as JusEnian Code •  Suppressed Monophysite understanding of ChrisEanity, the basis for ongoing religious conflict in the east and amenability to Islam


•  The Empire in the East [cont.] –  Religious struggles

•  Armies of Islam launch invasions aqer 632 C.E. •  Divisive iconoclasEc controversy: is there a place for icons within ChrisEan religion and pracEce?

•  Ability to resist invaders declines •  ByzanEne emperor asks Pope [western ChrisEan leader] for help

•  Result is start of the Crusades


•  The Empire in the East [cont.] – A Millennium of ByzanEne Strength •  Ruling classes not as separated from rest of people as in Rome

•  Less geographical overextension •  Longstanding urban tradiEon

The Legacy of the Roman Empire

•  What Difference Does It Make? –  Language was basis of many European languages and survived in liturgy to 20th century

–  Law a basis of and inspiraEon for modern law –  Roman towns survive to present day –  Roman Catholic church was organized along Roman imperial lines

–  Remains a model for modern empires

Documents

!Rome!and!the!Barbarians! - Mr. Waddellmrwaddell.com/world/romelecture.pdf!Rome!and!the!Barbarians! • Atheight,!2nd!century!C.E.,!Roman!Empire! contained!70=100!million!people!in!an!empire!