Title: The Romans
1The Romans
- the grandeur that was Greece and the glory that
was Rome - Edgar Allan Poe
The genius of the Greeks lay in art, literature,
science, and philosophy. The Romans were best in
warfare, engineering, and government.
2Who Were the Romans?
- The time when Rome was powerful did not begin
until after the greatest powers of Egypt and
Greece passed. - Roman history is usually divided into three main
periods - before the rise of Rome,
- the Roman Republic, and
- the Roman Empire.
- The Empire is usually divided up according to who
was emperor. -
3- Before the rise of Rome
- Stone Age (to 3000 BC)
- Bronze Age (ca. 3000 BC-1000 BC)
- Etruscans (ca. 1000 BC-500 BC)
- Roman Republic
- The early period (ca. 500 BC-300 BC)
- The Punic Wars (ca. 275 BC-146 BC)
- The Civil Wars (ca. 146 BC-30 BC)
A Roman Road
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5The Romans called the Mediterranean Mare
Nostrum--our sea. The map indicates why they
had good reason to do so. The map shows that the
empire extended from the British Isles in the
northwest to Egypt in the southeast and from
Armenia in the northeast to Mauretania (now
Morocco) in the southwest. The Roman Empire thus
encompassed the Mediterranean, ruled every
civilized land in Europe and Africa, and extended
into Asia. The only other civilized countries in
the world lay farther east, in Asia. Emperor
Trajan extended Roman rule into Mesopotamia (now
Iraq). Hadrian, however, withdrew to the previous
frontier.
6The military conquest of Greece by Rome in 146 BC
resulted in the cultural conquest of Rome by
Greece.
- As the Roman poet Horace said,
- Captive Greece took captive her rude conqueror
and brought the arts to Latium.
7- Although deeply influenced by Greek education,
Roman higher education was nonetheless quite
different. For most Greeks, the end of education
was to produce a good citizen, and a good citizen
meant a well-rounded individual. - The goal of Roman education was the same, but for
the Romans a good citizen came to mean an
effective speaker. - In other words, there was an emphasis on
Rhetoric, the skill of being a politician.
8A Worthy Roman Had. . .
- Piutus Religious devotion "Dutifulness" More
than religious piety a respect for the natural
order socially, politically, and religiously.
Includes the ideas of patriotism and devotion to
others - Gravitas "Gravity" A sense of the importance
of the matter at hand, responsibility and
earnestness. Distrusted attempts to change. - Auctoritas "Spiritual Authority" The sense of
one's social standing, built up through
experience, Pietas, and Industria. - Industria "Industriousness" Hard work.
http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VirtueRoman_virtues
9Overview
- With its military victories in North Africa,
Spain, Greece, and Asia Minor, the social,
cultural, and economic life of Rome changed
profoundly. - Literature in Latin began with a translation of
the Greek Odyssey and continued to be modeled
after Greek sources until it became Christian. - The Roman narrative becomes the narrative of the
west (just consider that both Kaiser and
Czarterms for both the German and Russian heads
of stateare actually translations of the title
Caesar.
10Virgil
70 BC--21, 19 BC
- Virgil was regarded by the
- Romans as their greatest poet,
- an estimation that subsequent
- generations have upheld.
- His fame rests chiefly upon the Aeneid, which
tells the story of Rome's legendary founder and
proclaims the Roman mission to civilize the world
under divine guidance. - His reputation as a poet endures not only for the
music and diction of his verse and for his skill
in constructing an intricate work on the grand
scale but also because he embodied in his poetry
aspects of experience and behaviour of permanent
significance.
11Left unfinished at the time of his death,
Virgil's Aeneid combines the themes of the
Homeric epics the hero at war from the Iliad,
and the wanderer in search of a home from the
Odyssey.
- Virgils work was shaped by the chaotic time of
his youth. - He avoided the public life his father had planned
for him (probably saving his life).
12- At 26 BC Julius Caesar was assonated.
- The chaos that followed only confirmed Virgils
low opinion of things having to do with the
state. - He wrote about country life (probably thinking
back to his home town of Mantua by the Alps) - Called the Eclogues, -- a major developer of the
Pastoral idea based originated by Theocritus - Shepherds and Shepherdesses living in an ideal
place. - Most of the individual poems are in the form of
conversations and singing contests between
shepherds and goatherds with names such as
"Tityrus" (supposedly representing Virgil
himself), "Meliboeus", "Menalcas" and "Mopsus". - The poems are all carefully arranged, both as a
whole and individually.
13The Eclogues
- Imitating the Greek Bucolica ("on care of
cattle",They were a collection of 10 pastoral
poems composed between 42 and 37 BC. - Some of them are escapist, literary excursions to
the idyllic pastoral world of Arcadia based on
the Greek poet Theocritus (fl. c. 280 BC) - These escapist ones convey in liquid song the
idealized situations of an imaginary world
(Arcadia).
14Eclogue I(just a sample)
- Meliboeus. You, Tityrus, 'neath a broad
beech-canopy Reclining, on the slender oat
rehearse Your silvan ditties I from my sweet
fields, And home's familiar bounds, even now
depart. Exiled from home am I while, Tityrus,
you Sit careless in the shade, and, at your
call, "Fair Amaryllis" bid the woods resound.
Tityrus. O Meliboeus, 'twas a god vouchsafed
This ease to us, for him a god will I Deem
ever, and from my folds a tender lamb Oft with
its life-blood shall his altar stain. His gift
it is that, as your eyes may see, My kine may
roam at large, and I myself Play on my
shepherd's pipe what songs I will.
15Christian Message?
- The most famous of them is Eclogue 4 (PP Ecl.4),
which contains a prophecy of a future 'golden
age', which will be heralded in by the birth of a
boy. - While the identity of the child in question is
uncertain, later Christians read this as a
Messianic prophecy - one reason why Dante later
chose Virgil as his guide through the underworld.
- Some modern scholars have pointed to Virgil's
knowledge of Roman Jewish families as a possible
route for his near quotations of Isaiah in the
poem.
16- Muses of Sicily, essay we now
- a somewhat loftier task! Not all men love
- coppice or lowly tamarisk sing we woods,
- woods worthy of a Consul let them be.
- Now the last age by Cumae's Sibyl sung
- has come and gone, and the majestic roll
- of circling centuries begins anew
- justice returns, returns old Saturn's reign,
- with a new breed of men sent down from heaven.
- Only do thou, at the boy's birth in whom
- the iron shall cease, the golden race arise,
- befriend him, chaste Lucina 'tis thine own
- apollo reigns. And in thy consulate,
- this glorious age, O Pollio, shall begin,
- and the months enter on their mighty march.
Eclogue IV
17- Under thy guidance, whatso tracks remain
- of our old wickedness, once done away,
- shall free the earth from never-ceasing fear.
- He shall receive the life of gods, and see
- heroes with gods commingling, and himself
- be seen of them, and with his father's worth
- reign o'er a world at peace. For thee, O boy,
- first shall the earth, untilled, pour freely
forth - her childish gifts, the gadding ivy-spray
- with foxglove and Egyptian bean-flower mixed,
- and laughing-eyed acanthus. Of themselves,
- untended, will the she-goats then bring home
- their udders swollen with milk, while flocks
afield - shall of the monstrous lion have no fear.
18- Thy very cradle shall pour forth for thee
- caressing flowers. The serpent too shall die,
- die shall the treacherous poison-plant, and far
- and wide Assyrian spices spring. But soon
- as thou hast skill to read of heroes' fame,
- and of thy father's deeds, and inly learn
- what virtue is, the plain by slow degrees
- with waving corn-crops shall to golden grow,
- from the wild briar shall hang the blushing
grape, - and stubborn oaks sweat honey-dew. Nathless
- yet shall there lurk within of ancient wrong
- some traces, bidding tempt the deep with ships,
- gird towns with walls, with furrows cleave the
earth. - Therewith a second Tiphys shall there be,
- her hero-freight a second Argo bear
- new wars too shall arise, and once again
- some great Achilles to some Troy be sent.
19- Then, when the mellowing years have made thee
man, - no more shall mariner sail, nor pine-tree bark
- ply traffic on the sea, but every land
- shall all things bear alike the glebe no more
- shall feel the harrow's grip, nor vine the hook
- the sturdy ploughman shall loose yoke from steer,
- nor wool with varying colours learn to lie
- but in the meadows shall the ram himself,
- now with soft flush of purple, now with tint
- of yellow saffron, teach his fleece to shine.
- While clothed in natural scarlet graze the lambs.
- Such still, such ages weave ye, as ye run,
- sang to their spindles the consenting Fates
- by Destiny's unalterable decree.
- Assume thy greatness, for the time draws nigh,
- dear child of gods, great progeny of Jove!
- See how it totters--the world's orbed might,
20- . . .earth, and wide ocean, and the vault
profound, - all, see, enraptured of the coming time.
- Ah! might such length of days to me be given,
- and breath suffice me to rehearse thy deeds,
- nor Thracian Orpheus should out-sing me then,
- nor Linus, though his mother this, and that
- his sire should aid--Orpheus Calliope,
- and Linus fair Apollo. Nay, though Pan,
- with Arcady for judge, my claim contest,
- with Arcady for judge great Pan himself
- should own him foiled, and from the field retire.
- Begin to greet thy mother with a smile,
- o baby-boy! ten months of weariness
- for thee she bore O baby-boy, begin!
- For him, on whom his parents have not smiled,
- gods deem not worthy of their board or bed.
21- In the Eclogues shepherds sing in the sunshine of
their simple joys and mute their sorrows (whether
for unhappy love or untimely death) in a
formalized pathos. - Some of the eclogues, however, bring the pastoral
mode into touch with the real world, either
directly or by means of allegory. - In this way Virgil gave a new direction to the
genre. - They were a hit, and he made his famous and rich
at 33. - Virgil followed up the Eclogues with the
Georgics, a book of poems about farming.
22The Georgics
- One of the most disastrous effects of the civil
wars--and one of which Virgil, as a countryman,
would be most intensely aware--was the
depopulation of rural Italy. - The farmers had been obliged to go to the war,
and their farms fell into neglect and ruin as a
result. - The Georgics, composed between 37 and 30 BC (the
final period of the civil wars), is a superb plea
for the restoration of the traditional
agricultural life of Italy.
23- In form it is didactic, but, as Seneca later
said, it was written "not to instruct farmers but
to delight readers." - The practical instruction (about plowing, growing
trees, tending cattle, and keeping bees) is
presented with vivid insight into nature. - Furthermore it is interspersed with highly
wrought poetical digressions on such topics as
the beauty of the Italian countryside (Book II.
line 136 ff.) and the joy of the farmer when all
is gathered in (II.458 ff.).
24The Transforming Moment
- In 31 B.C., something happened that completely
changed Virgil's feelings about Rome and about
what he wanted to write. - The Emperor Augustus (formally Octavian) finally
managed to end the civil wars that had plagued
the city for so long and restored order and
peace. - For the first time in his life, Virgil had hope
for the future of his country, and he felt deep
gratitude and admiration for Augustus, the man
who had made it all possible.
25- Virgil was inspired to write his great epic poem,
the Aeneid, to celebrate Rome and Augustus'
achievement. - He had come a long way from his early days
writing about nature and hating politics. - Virgil cleverly didn't just write a story about
Augustus. - He wanted to make Romans proud of their history
and their vast empire. - He also wanted to show how Augustus was the most
recent in a long line of great Roman leaders-
strong, dedicated to their city, and willing to
make great sacrifices for it.
26The Aeneid
- THE AENEID is a national epic poem about the
beginnings of Rome. - THE AENEID IS is a tribute to Augustus and a
celebration of the End of the Civil Wars in Rome/ - THE AENEID is the story of Aeneas personal
search for a new identity. - THE AENEID describes the struggles between the
forces of order and disorder in the world. - THE AENEID describes the relationship between
people and fate.
27Major Figures of The Aeneid
- AENEAS
- DIDO
- TURNUS
- JUNO
- VENUS
- JUPTER
- ANCHISES
- LATINUS
- EVANDER
28- Aeneas
- A great survivor, Aeneas is a cousin of King
Priam of Troy. A major question is whether
Aeneas great because his fate made him great or
is he great because he had the courage and
determination to live up to the role fate
handed him? - Dido
- She has been called the only true original
figure in Roman literature. She's the most human.
She's beautiful, generous, kind, and successful.
Her passionate nature is both attractive and
dangerous (to herself).
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30- Turnus
- Turnus was a chieftain of the Rutuli whose
conflict with Aeneas is the subject of the second
half of the Aeneid. - He is the suitor of Lavinia of Latium (daughter
of Latinos) until Aeneas arrives. This rivalry
motivates the Latins to war against the Trojans. - Because Turnus never really stops to think about
the consequences of his actions, everything he
does is incredibly destructive. That's why Virgil
always compares him to a wild animal. And that's
Turnus' great flaw.
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32- Juno
- Still furious with the Trojans over the beauty
contest she lost at Paris hands. She is the
patron goddess of Carthage which Rome is destined
to destroy. Tries to stop Aeneas by encouraging
the relationship between him and Dido.
Foolishly fights fate. - Venus
- Aeneas mother and the goddess of love. She, in
fact, demonstrates that love is not always the
positive emotion moderns think of it as being.
She is self interested and does not restore
order. At best she only counter-acts Juno but
she works with her as well.
33- Jupiter
- He is the only god in the Aeneid who acts the
way most of us would think a god should. - He's calm, rational, impartial. But in one way
he's very different from what Christians expect
in their deity. - He's not particularly interested in goodness.
- His major interest is to see that everything goes
according to fate.
34- Anchises
- As Aeneas' father, he is literally and
symbolically a burden to Aeneas. For example
he will not leave Troy until two major
revelations occur confirming Aeneas fate. - Although Aeneas loves and respects his father
very much, the old man basically representative
of one thinks that the future will resemble the
past. - Anchises must die and go to the underworld before
he will understand how different the future will
be. - Anchises symbolizes the old life and the old ways
of Troy.
35Aeneas carries his father Anchises, and leads
his son Ascanius by the hand from burning Troy.
36- Latinus
- The son of Faunus and the nymph Marica. He was
the king of Laurentum in Latium and ancestor of
the Latini. According to Roman myth he had
welcomed Aeneas, who returned from exile, and
offered the hero the hand of his daughter
Lavinia. - He is the king of the Latins, is the first native
king Aeneas meets in Italy.
37- The old king has heard many omens that his
daughter Lavinia is destined to marry a stranger,
and that together they will start a new race that
will rule the world. So Latinus is well disposed
toward Aeneas when Aeneas first arrives. - Latinus is an old man who has lost most of his
power. Thus he is as a symbol of the weakness of
the Latin society. Latinus' inability to control
his people strongly suggests that the Latin
people needed a new leader. Thus Virgil can
justify or overlook the fact that the Trojans
were invaders of Italy.
38- Evander
- King of Pallanteum. His city is on the exact
spot where Rome will be built. - Evander illustrates some of the
qualities of which the Romans were particularly
proud simple and rustic, without finery or
luxury of any kind. - Evander also becomes a substitute father figure,
replacing Anchises. Aeneas treats him with
great respect and his family loyalty is
transferred to a father with roots in Italy. - Evander also shows the greatest of Roman virtues
good political judgment. He knows how and where
Aeneas can find allies.
39- Let's be no stoics nor no stocks, I prayOr
so devote to Aristotle's chequesAs Ovid be an
outcast quite abjured - Balk logic with acquaintance that you haveAnd
practise rhetoric in your common talkMusic and
poesy use to quicken youThe mathematics and the
metaphysics,Fall to them as you find your
stomach serves youNo profit grows where is no
pleasure ta'enIn brief, sir, study what you
most affect.
Tranio from Shakespeares Taming of the Shrew 1, i
40Ovid
43 BC--AD 17
- Ovid's influence on Western art and literature
cannot be exaggerated. - The Metamorphoses is our best classical source of
250 myths. - "The poem is the most comprehensive, creative
mythological work that has come down to us from
antiquity" (Galinsky qt. in Brown)..
41Ars Amatoria
- The Ars Amatoria ("The Art of Love") is a
series of three books by the Roman poet Ovid. - Written in verse, their guiding theme is the art
of seduction. - The first two, written for men about 1 BC to AD 1
, deal with 'winning women's hearts' and 'keeping
the loved one', respectively. - The third, addressed to women telling them how to
best attract men, was written somewhat later. - The publication of the Ars Amatoria may have been
at least partly responsible for Ovid's banishment
to the provinces by the Emperor Augustus. Ovids
celebration of extramarital love must have seemed
an intolerable affront to a regime that sought to
promote family values
42 Metamorphoses
- The Metamorphoses by the Roman poet Ovid is a
poem in fifteen books that describes the creation
and history of the world in terms according Greek
and Roman points of view. It has remained one of
the most popular works of mythology, being the
work best known to medieval writers and thus
having a great deal of influence on medieval - Ovid emphasizes tales of transformation often
found in myths, in which a person or lesser deity
is permanently transformed into an animal or
plant. - The poem begins with the transformations of
creation and Prometheus metamorphizing earth into
Man and ends with the transformation of the
spirit of Julius Caesar into a star.
43- Ovid goes from one to the other by working his
way through mythology, often in apparently
arbitrary fashion, jumping from one
transformation tale to another, sometimes
retelling what had come to be seen as central
events in the world of Greek myth and sometimes
straying in odd directions. - There is perhaps little depth in most of Ovid's
portrayals. However, if others have written far
more deeply, few have written more colorfully. - Instead, the recurring theme, as with nearly all
of Ovid's work, is that of love -- personal love
or love personified as Amor (Cupid).
44- Indeed, the other Roman gods are repeatedly
perplexed, humiliated, and made ridiculous by
Amor, an otherwise relatively minor god of the
pantheon who is the closest thing this mock-epic
has to an epic hero. - Apollo comes in for particular ridicule as Ovid
shows how irrational love can confound the god of
pure reason. - While few individual stories are outright
sacrilegious, the work as a whole inverts the
accepted order, elevating humans and human
passions while making the gods and their desires
and conquests objects of low humor.
45- Based on its influence, "European literature and
art would be poorer for the loss of the
Metamorphoses than for the loss of Homer" (Hadas
qt. in Brown). - Ovid was a major inspiration for Dante, Chaucer,
Shakespeare, Milton. - Ovid's extraordinary subtlety and psychological
depth make his poetry second only to Virgil's for
its influence on western poets and writers of the
Middle Ages, the Renaissance, and beyond.
(Norton) - If Virgil is Rome's greatest poet, Ovid is the
most popular - (even in his own time Ovidian graffiti has been
found on the walls of Pompeii).(Brown)
46Horace (65 BC 8 BC)
- Famous for his Ars Poetica (also known as
"The Art of Poetry", Epistula Ad Pisones, or
Letters to Piso), published c. 18 BC, was a
treatise on poetics. It was first translated into
English by Ben Jonson, Three quotes often used in
literary criticism in particular are associated
with the work - "in medias res", or "into the middle of
things" this describes a popular narrative
technique that appears frequently in ancient
epics, (remember The Odyssey?) and remains
popular to this day
47- "bonus dormitat Homerus" or "good Homer nods" an
indication that even the most skilled poet can
make continuity errors - "ut pictura poesis", or "As is painting so is
poetry", by which Horace meant that poetry (in
its widest sense, "imaginative texts") merited
the same careful interpretation that was, in
Horace's day, reserved for painting. - Horace also served as a soldier under the
generalship of Brutus after the assassination of
Caesar. He fought as a staff officer (tribunus
militum) in the Battle of Philippi. - One of the most often quoted phrases depicting
the mind of a soldier is Dulce et decorum est
pro patria mori. This is a line from Horace's
Odes (iii 2.13). The line can be rendered in
English as "It is sweet and fitting to die for
one's country.", "It is noble and glorious to die
for your fatherland." or "It is beautiful and
honorable to die for your fatherland. Wilfred
Owen the British poet called it the old lie but
many feel differently. (Note you can find this
quote on the Civil War memorial in Mount Vernons
town square here in Ohio).
48Jesus of Nazareth(72 BC2636 AD)
- Called the ChristGreek for anointed.
- The principal sources of information regarding
Jesus' life and teachings are the four canonical
gospels Matt, Mark, Luke and John - Included in the Norton.
49Jesus, Christianity and Rome
- Rome while distant is always in the background of
Christ and his kingdom. - One of Caesar Augustus titles was Prince of
Peace since his reign marked the end of the
civil wars. The irony is not lost. - The centurion whose servant Jesus healed was in
charge of at least 80 men, maybe more. - Jesus was executed by Roman law for being the
king of the Jews when only Caesar was king. - St. Paul was a Roman citizen and used that status
often.
50- Some scholars argue that other texts (such as the
Gospel of Thomas) are as relevant as the
canonical gospels to the historical Jesus. - Most critical scholars in the fields of history
and biblical studies believe that ancient texts
on Jesus' life are at least partially accurate,
agreeing that Jesus was - a Galilean Jew who was regarded as a teacher and
healer. - was baptized by John the Baptist, and
- was crucified in Jerusalem on orders of the Roman
Prefect of Judaea Pontius Pilate, on the charge
of sedition against the Roman Empire.
51Included in the Norton
- Luke The story of his Nativity Good Tidings up
to him at 12 debating with the elders. - Mathew Sermon on the Mount (Words of the Lord)
- Luke Jesus parables
- Lost sheep,
- Lost piece of silver
- Prodigal Son
- Mathew The Last Supper, the Garden (Peters
Denial) the crucifixion, and the Resurrection Go
and Tell
52Sites Cited
- Ancient Rome. History for Kids. 8 Nov. 2005
lthttp//www.historyforkids.org/learn/romans/gt - Anthology of World Literature Section 5
Overview W.W. Norton and Company. 8 Nov. 2005 lt
http//www.wwnorto n.com/nawol/s5_overview.htm1gt - Brown, Larry. Ovids Metamorphosis an
Introductionhttp//larryavisbrown.homestead.com/f
iles/xeno.ovid1.htm 15 Nov. 2005 - Catullus The Poems Poetry in Translation
(2001) S. A. Kline ed. http//www.adkline.freeuk.c
om/Catullus.htm_Toc531846798 13 Nov. 2007 - Drake, David Ovid http//david-drake.com/ovid.ht
ml 15 Nov. 2005
53More Citations
- Garrison, Daniel H. Catullus - Roman Poet Salem
Press. https//salempress.com/Store/samples/great_
lives_from_history_ancient_world/great_lives_from_
history_ancient_world_catullus.htmgt 16 Nov. 2006 - Kenney, Edward John "Petronius Arbiter, Gaius."
Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006. Encyclopædia
Britannica Online. 21 Nov. 2006
http//search.eb.com/eb/article-5644. - "Roman Empire." Britannica Student Encyclopedia.
2005. Encyclopædia Britannica Online.
8 Nov. 2005 lthttp//search.eb.com/ebi/article-927
6779gt. - Oxford English Dictionary 2nd Ed.
http//dictionary.oed.com/entrance.dtl 21 Nov.
2006 - "Virgil." Encyclopædia Britannica. 2006.
Encyclopædia Britannica Online. 16 Nov. 2006
lthttp//search.eb.com/eb/article-9108776gt
54Not Cited but Interesting
- Mr. Donn.org 21 (Nov. 2006) http//www.mrdonn.org/
index.html. While not intended for college
academics, this resource for teachers of K-12 has
a number of helpful and accessible presentations.
Accessible is good! - Mayer, Ken. Roman Decadence. http//mywebpages.com
cast.net/pythian/courses/decadence/syllabus.html
A syllabus for a class which examines the decline
as it has usually be defined of the Roman Empire
through its literature. - The Illustrated History of the Roman Empire
http//www.roman-empire.net/index.html - UNRN History http//www.unrv.com/
- The Roman Empire The First Century
http//www.pbs.org/empires/romans/index.html