Ancient Rome and Early Christianity

1
Ancient Rome and Early Christianity

• 509 BCE to 476 CE

2
Italian Peninsula (The Boot of Europe)

• Alps Mountains in the North.
• Apennines running north to south along the
  peninsula.
• Tiber and Po Rivers.

3
Legend of the Foundation of the Roman Civilization

• Romulus and Remus.
• Both thrown into the Tiber River by their uncle.
• Found by a shewolf and nursed until they were
  found by a sheepherder and his wife.
• Romulus built Rome in 753 BCE.
• The way it really happened.

4
Foundation of Early Rome

• Neolithic Revolution arrives on the Italian
  Peninsula around 1000 BCE.
• Between 2000-1000 BCE, there were groups of
  Indo-Europeans that settled on the Italian
  Peninsula.
• By 900 BCE, one of these groups, the Etruscans
  ruled the northern part of the peninsula.

5
Foundations (Cont)

• The Etruscans brought with them the Greek
  alphabet and were able to quickly dominate the
  other groups of people that inhabited the Italian
  Peninsula.
• The Etruscans were skilled artists and painters.
  Much of what we know of them comes from their
  art.
• The Etruscan society was divided up into two
  social groups aristocrats and the lower class.

6
Foundations (Cont)

• The Etruscan upper class treated others as
  virtual slaves.
• By the 600s BCE, a family of wealthy Etruscans
  called the Tarquins took control.
• They helped the people of the town of Rome, which
  had been built in 753 BCE, to build with brick,
  lay out streets, and drain the swamps that
  surrounded the city.
• They also taught the Romans their religion.

7
Foundations (Cont)

• With the help of the Tarquins, Rome became one of
  the wealthiest cities in the region.
• However, by 534 BCE, a king named Tarquin II took
  control. He was an extremely cruel leader.
• In 509 BCE, the Romans drove the Tarquins out of
  Rome and declared the new region, res publica or
  republic.

8
Roman Republic

• Under the Etruscan rule, Roman society had been
  divided into two groups
• Patricians - wealthy, landowning aristocrats
• Plebeians - wealthy, non-aristocratic
  townspeople, merchants, small farmers, etc..
• Both groups had the right to vote, serve in the
  military and both paid taxes to the government.
  However, only patricians could hold public office.

9
Republican Government

• The government of the republic was organized into
  both executive and legislative branches.
• At first, the legislative branch consisted of two
  branches the Senate and the Assembly of
  Centuries. The Senate outranked the Assembly of
  Centuries and the 300 members served for life.

10
Republican Government (Cont)

• The executive branch was headed by two patricians
  elected by the Senate.
• Consuls
• Served one year terms
• Veto power
• Consuls appointed other government officials.
• Only a dictator could overrule the consuls.
• Dictators were only appointed during crisis.

11
Plebeian Demands of 494 BCE

• The plebeians wanted a bigger voice in the
  government.
• In 494 BCE, the plebeians refused to serve in the
  military until their demands for representation
  in the government was made.
• The patricians agreed to the demands of the
  plebeians.

12
Plebeian Victories

• As a result of their threatened strike, the
  plebeians won the following concessions from the
  patricians
• Representation by tribunes.
• Slavery by debts was abolished.
• Plebeians and patricians could marry.
• The creation of the Twelve Tables. A written
  code of Roman laws that were place din the Forum.

13
Roman Life

• Religion
• Roman religion was based on Etruscan deities and
  Greek gods and goddesses.
• During the 500 years of the Roman Republic, the
  Roman actually preserved much of the Greek
  culture.
• Romans changed the names of the Greek gods and
  goddesses to better reflect Roman ideals.

14
Roman Life (Cont)

• The real power in the Roman Republic rests in the
  hands of the Senate.
• The backbone of the republic was the
  citizen-farmer of Rome. These were the people
  that manned the Roman armies and gave Rome the
  power to expand.
• The basic unit of Roman society was the family.

15
Roman Life (Cont)

• The oldest living male member of the family was
  the absolute head of the household.
• The oldest male owned all property, controlled
  the education of the sons, and conducted the
  familys religion ceremonies.
• The oldest male had the power to sell family
  members into slavery or even kill them.
• Women had few legal rights under the law.

16
Roman Republic - Expansion and Crisis

• 500 - 27 BCE

17
Roman Republic - Expansion

• From 500 to 300 BCE, the Roman Republic faced
  threats from the other groups on the Italian
  Peninsula. One by one, the Romans were able to
  either conquer or force these groups to submit to
  Rome.
• The toughest challenge came from the Greeks that
  inhabited the southern part of the peninsula.
  Pyrrhic Victory 275 BCE.

18
Roman Legions - Might of Rome

• The strength of Rome was in its armies or
  legions.
• Each legion was 6000 men strong.
• It was quicker than the Greek phalanx.
• Roman soldiers were well trained. Deserters were
  punished by death.

19
Roman Legions (Cont)

• The ranks of the Roman legions were made up of
  the citizen farmers.
• Romans would even allow conquered peoples the
  opportunity to serve in the legions.
• Romans set up military colonies throughout the
  Italian Peninsula to protect key points and
  cities. To connect these colonies, the Romans
  build roads.

20
Punic Wars

• In 264 BCE, the city of Carthage attempted to
  seize the waterway between Sicily and the Italian
  Peninsula. This area is called the Straits of
  Messina.

21
Punic Wars (Cont)

• The Roman legions were able to quickly defeat the
  Carthaginians on the Island of Sicily.
• Carthage then attacked Rome with its powerful
  navy.
• Romes power was in its legions. This gave
  Carthage an advantage against Rome.

22
Punic Wars (Cont)

• During the early stages of the war, a
  Carthaginian warship was beached during a storm.
  The Romans captured it and made copies.
• It allowed the Romans to use its superior legions
  on the seas and Carthage was defeated in 241 BCE.
• Rome required Carthage to pay an indemnity for
  the damages.

23
Punic Wars (Cont)

• In 221 BCE, a Carthaginian general named Hannibal
  was put in command of the Carthaginian armies in
  Spain.
• In 219 BCE, he had taken one of Romes colonies.

24
Punic Wars (Cont)
25
Punic Wars (Cont)

• Hannibal set his sights on Rome.
• Leading 40,000 soldiers and 40 battle elephants,
  he marched towards Rome, crossing Gaul and
  natural obstacles.
• The Romans felt comfortable in the fact that
  Hannibal was a long way off and that Rome was
  protected by the obstacles that lay in Hannibals
  path.

26
Punic Wars (Cont)

• Hannibal continued to march towards Rome. His
  armies crossed over the Alps in the middle of
  winter and surprised the Romans by making it into
  the northern part of the peninsula. Over half his
  armies died on the march.
• Roman legions were sent to stop Hannibal. All
  were destroyed and the Carthaginians continued to
  advance on Rome.

27
Punic Wars (Cont)

• When Hannibal and his armies arrived outside
  Rome, they were not strong enough to attack the
  city itself.
• Hannibal then moved his armies into the southern
  part of the Italian Peninsula and attacked
  smaller cities and towns.
• In 216 BCE, the Romans met Hannibal on the
  battlefield at Cannae.

28
Punic Wars (Cont)

• Hannibal and his armies were vastly outnumbered.
  
• When the Romans attacked, Hannibal sprung his
  trap. The Romans were completely routed off the
  battlefield by the outnumbered Carthaginians.
• Dont kill the Romans - Hamstring them.

29
Punic Wars (Cont)

• For the next 14 years, Hannibal and his armies
  attacked and plundered cities and towns in
  southern Italy.
• In 202 BCE, a Roman general named Scipio attacked
  Carthage. Hannibal was summoned home to protect
  the city.
• Scipio defeats Hannibal at the Battle of Zama.

30
Punic Wars (Cont)

• As a result of losing, Carthage had to give most
  of its warships to Rome and pay another
  indemnity.
• Hannibal was hunted by the Romans and finally
  committed suicide in Asia Minor as the Romans
  were about to capture him.
• For the next 50 years, Carthage rebuilt.

31
Punic Wars (Cont)

• The Romans continued to fear Carthage.
• Cato, a Roman senator, ended all of his speeches
  with the statement, Carthago delenda est
  (Carthage must be destroyed).
• Hannibal had left a mark on the psyche of the
  Romans.

32
Punic Wars (Cont)

• In 146 BCE, Rome attacked Carthage, burned it to
  the ground and sold all of its citizens into
  slavery. Legend also states that the Romans
  plowed salt into the ground so nothing would
  grow.
• This victory gave Rome control over the Western
  Mediterranean region. Then they turned their
  attention to Greece.

33
Crisis in the Roman Republic

• Unemployment
• Overcrowding in the cities.
• Slavery
• Rising crime rate.
• Traffic congestion
• Deepening class struggle

34
Crisis (Cont)

• From the period 230-130 BCE, the Romans expanded
  their borders in the Eastern Mediterranean region
  as well.
• As Rome expanded, the social conditions within
  the republic began to deteriorate.
• Throughout the Italian Peninsula and the
  conquered territories, wealthy Romans began to
  seize lands.

35
Crisis (Cont)

• Small farms were bought up by the wealthy Romans
  from farmers who fell behind in their taxes or
  were away serving in the roman legions.
• These small farms were combined into huge estates
  called latifundias.
• These latifundias also switched from subsistence
  to cash crops.

36
Crisis (Cont)

• Labor for these huge estates came from the
  increasing numbers of slaves that Roman expansion
  had brought into the republic.
• The most highly prized slaves were from Greece.
  These were the best educated and most artistic.
• By 100 BCE, slaves formed about 30 of republics
  population.

37
Crisis (Cont)

• As more slaves became available, many of the
  small farmers and their families were forced to
  move into the cities seeking employment.
• Jobs were not available to them because most were
  uneducated and slaves had taken many of the jobs.
• This created a new class of urban poor.

38
Crisis (Cont)

• Realizing the dangers of the vast numbers of
  hungry and unemployed within the cities,
  politicians implemented bread and circuses.
  Keeping the people entertained and fed became a
  major priority for the republic.

39
Crisis (Cont)

• The gap between the rich and poor became wider
  and Rome positioned legions throughout the
  republic to put down any rebellions.
• In 133 BCE, a tribune named Tiberius Gracchus
  proposed limiting the sizes of the latifundias
  and giving land to the poor.
• Members of the Senate opposed his ideas and had
  him assassinated doing street riots sponsored by
  the Senate.

40
Crisis (Cont)

• 10 years later, Tiberius brother Gaius was also
  murdered in Senate backed riots because of his
  social reforms.
• After the death of the Gracchi brothers, the
  generals took control of the republic.

41
Civil War 88 - 82 BCE

• In 107 BCE, a Roman general named Marius became
  consul in Rome.
• Marius opened the army ranks to the urban
  unemployed.
• His armies swore allegiance to him rather than
  Rome.

42
Civil War (Cont)

• A rival general named Sulla struggled for control
  of Rome.
• Sulla led the Senates armies against Marius and
  defeated Marius armies.

43
Struggle for Power

• In 60 BCE, the 1st Triumvirate was formed by
  Julius Caesar, Cassius, and Pompey.
• They wanted to restore the power of the republic.

44
Struggle for Power (Cont)

• While serving as consul of Rome, Caesar realized
  that he needed military victories to advance his
  political career.
• In 59 BCE, Caesar left Rome to take command of
  the roman legions in the province of Gaul.
• He was able to defeat the Celts and expand the
  republic to the Rhine River in present day
  Germany.

45
Struggle for Power (Cont)

• By 50 BCE, Caesar was being hailed as a hero by
  the Roman public and the triumvirate was falling
  apart. Cassisu had been killed in battle and
  Pompey grew increasingly jealous of Caesar.
• In 49 BCE, Pompey urged the Senate to recall
  Caesar from Gaul.
• Caesar was ordered to give up his armies and
  return to Rome.

46
Struggle for Power (Cont)

• Caesar took 5000 loyal soldiers with him and
  marched towards Rome.
• He crossed the Rubicon River with his legion.
  This was a direct violation of Roman law.
• Caesar forced Pompey and his armies out of the
  Italian Peninsula and declared himself dictator
  for life in 45 BCE.

47
Julius Caesar

• Caesar granted citizenship to many people from
  the provinces.
• Appointed senators from the provinces that were
  loyal to him.
• Set up public works programs.

• Ordered landowners to hire more free laborers.
• Continued to distribute free grain to the poor.
• Instituted a new calendar based on 365 days.

48
Caesar (Cont)

• Many people supported Caesar and his reforms.
  However, some saw him as a tyrant who wanted to
  become king.
• Under Roman law, any person that wanted to become
  king could be executed with trial.
• As Caesar was going to the Senate on March 15, 44
  BCE, Caesar was assassinated by a group of
  Senators who opposed him.

49
The End of the Roman Republic

• After Caesar was assassinated, the 2nd
  Triumvirate was formed by Octavian, Marc Antony,
  and Marcus Lepidus.
• This triumvirate was formed to avenge the
  assassination of Caesar.
• The triumvirate did not last long. Lepidus was
  forced to retire and Marc Antony and Octavian
  struggled for control of Rome.

50
End of the Republic (Cont)

• Marc Antony married Cleopatra and Octavian
  convinced the roman people that Antony planned to
  rule with Cleopatra as his Queen.
• In 31 BCE, the forces of Octavian and Marc Antony
  and Cleopatra met at the Battle of Actium.
• Within a year, both Antony and Cleopatra had
  committed suicide.