Roman Republic and Rise to Empire

The Roman Rise to Empire

• Rome was settled by the Latins, an Iron Age tribe, in central Italy
• Etruscans, Greeks, and Phoenicians settled the rest of Italy
• Latins absorbed culture from Etruscans, urban planning and the arch
• Latins absorbed culture from Greeks: gods, goddesses, and classical styles

The Roman Republic (509 to 133 B.C.E.)

• Latins overthrew Etruscan rule in 509 B.C.E.
• Res Publica refers to the "public thing"
• The popular assembly was made up of plebeians
  • Power from the popular assembly was vested in two elected magistrates
• The Senate was made up of wealthy patricians and controlled lawmaking
• Plebeians increased their political influence
  • The privilege of making laws was given in 287 B.C.E.

Roman Expansion

• Rome adopted an expansionist approach
• Rome United all of Italy by force or negotiation
• The Punic Wars ended with the destruction of Carthage in 146 B.C.E.
• Mare nostrum indicated the Mediterranean as "our sea"
• The Roman Empire included much of present-day Europe, North Africa, and southwest Asia by the end of the first century B.C.E.
• Efficient administrators and a disciplined army were the backbone of the empire

The Collapse of the Republic (133 to 30 B.C.E.)

• Roman imperialism changed the Republic by increasing the gap between rich and poor
• The Senate and army grew more powerful
• Latifundia, which were worked by enslaved people, increased agricultural productivity, driving small farmers out of business
• Reform measures failed, leading to the first century B.C.E. characterized as the age of military dictators
• Gaius Julius Caesar entered Rome and established dictatorship in 46 B.C.E.

Julius Caesar

• Conquered Gaul, Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt
  • Had a relationship with Cleopatra
• Restabilized Rome with populist reforms
• Julius Caesar assassinated by senatorial opponents, led by Brutus in 44 B.C.E.

The Roman Empire (30 B.C.E. to 180 C.E.)

• A power struggle between Caesar's Mark Anthony and Octavian
• Octavian was victorious at Actium in 31 B.C.E.
• Octavian was given the title of Augustus and began a military dictatorship

Pax Romana

• Pax Romana was an era of peace and stability
• It was characterized by active commercial contact, artistic and literary productivity, public works projects, and the birth of Christianity
• Rome continued to be ruled by military officials after the death of Augustus
• There was no system for succession to the imperial throne

Roman Law

• The development of a system of law was a landmark achievement
• Developed out of necessity
• The Twelve Tables of Law, acts of the Assembly and Senate, and public decrees of emperors were added over time
• Praetors and Jurisconsults interpreted the laws
  • This became case law and developed precedent

Latin Prose Literature

• Used to compile and transmit information
  • Geographies, encyclopedias, and histories
• Titus Livius was a key figure
• Marcus Tullius Cicero was renowned for clarity and eloquence in his oratory, epistles and concern for political realities
  • Wrote the Essay on Duty

Philosophic Thought

• Romans respected and preserved writings of Hellenic and Hellenistic thinkers,
• Romans admired Aristotle, Epicurean and Stoic works
• Lucretius popularized theories of Democritus and Leucippus
• Stoicism became especially popular
  • Rational detachment and subjugation of emotion to reason
  • The philosopher Seneca wrote On the Tranquility of Mind

Epic Poetry

• The Golden Age of Latin Literature occurred under Augustus
• Virgil's Aeneid was a landmark work
  • It glorified the imperial achievements of Augustus and the primacy of duty
  • It became the foundation for education in Latin language

Lyric Poetry

• Eclogues was a work by Virgil
  • Focused on the glorification of natural landscape and rustic inhabitants
• Catullus wrote Poems to Lesbia

Ovid

• Roman author, Ovid, created work like The Art of Love
  • Known to be a misogynistic guide to the art of seduction
• Also created Metamorphoses
  • Retold Greek and Roman myths focused on supernatural transformations

Satire

• The use of humor to denounce human vice and folly
• Became a landmark contribution to literature
• Horace wrote Odes
  • Featured lyric poetry, criticisms on Roman life with the saying Carpe Diem
• Juvenal wrote Satires
  • "Against Women"; Known as an antifemale diatribe

Roman Women

• Could not vote or hold public office
• Had the ability to own property and manage their legal affairs
• Educated with boys
• Juvenal was a response to widespread public outcry against licentiousness, a symptom of infidelity among both genders

Roman Drama

• Modeled on Greek works
• Was entertainment for civic festivals (ludi)
• Most surviving plays are comedic
  • Plautus and Terence

Roman Architecture

• Reflected practical needs of a sprawling empire
• The Romans were superb engineers and used the arch, vault, and aqueducts
• They used concrete
• Architecture and engineering were considered the same discipline
• Vitruvius created Ten Books on Architecture

Roman Public Venues

• Often referred to as "Bread and circuses", included
  • Circus Maximus
  • Colosseum, featured combination of arch and post-and-lintel
• The Pantheon
  • Landmark that inspired more works of architecture than any other in Greco-Roman history
  • Temple to seven planetary deities with classical symmetry and harmony
• Maison Carrée reflects symmetry

Roman Baths

• Elaborate structures fed by hot springs
• Centered on a basilica
• Basilica ideal for courts of law, meeting halls, and marketplaces
  • With a nave and apse

Roman Sculpture

• Political power advertised in monumental public works
• Sculpture served political function with Rulers on horseback
  • Victory Columns
  • Triumphal Arches
• Roman realism used wax death mask and portrait sculpture reflected personality and character of the sitter

Roman Painting and Mosaics

• Seen in Pompeii and Herculaneum
• Villas were built around atrium; surrounding walls painted with frescoes
• Use of illusionism (tromp l'oeil)
  • Included empirical perspective, light and shade
  • Still Life with Eggs and Thrushes
• Invention of still life; landscape painting
  • Demonstrated affection for the tangible, nature

Roman Music

• No surviving examples of musical resources
• Music theory and most instruments adopted from Greeks
• Music essential to public entertainment, military life
• They developed brass instruments for military processions
• And Water organ used in theater and public sports arenas

The Fall of Rome

• Exact cause of fifth century C.E. collapse of the Roman Empire unknown
• Likely a slow decline caused by combination of internal circumstances
  • Difficulties governing huge empire
  • Decline of slave trade
  • Increasing gap between rich and poor people
• Between 335 and 385, twenty-six emperors ruled Rome, only one died naturally
• In 476, empire fell

The Qin Dynasty (221 to 210 B.C.E.)

• Created empire by defeating all rival states
• Shih Huang Di, became the “First Emperor" and was known for
  • Salaried bureaucracy
  • Census
  • Standardization and uniformity in written language, coinage, weights and measures
  • Promoted silk industry and Great Wall of China
• Shi Huang Di's tomb was a landmark expression of Qin power
  • Included Terracotta soldiers

The Han Dynasty (210 B.C.E. to 220 C.E.)

• The peak point of Classical Chinese Civilization
• This dynasty tripled the size of the empire
• Featured royal tombs and bronze-casting and ceramics
• Musical instruments found in tombs
  • Bells, zithers, panpipes, flutes, and drums

Han Literature

• Landmark writings that influence Chinese culture today
• Featured restoration of Confucianism with the Five Chinese classics
• Focused on record keeping
  • Landmark work: Sima Qian, Shiji (Records of the Grand Historian)
• Lyric Poetry was recorded
  • Much of it written by women