Ancient Rome PDF

ANCIENT ROME Part 1: From the beginning to the fall of the Roman republic  Origins  The Roman civilization takes its name from the name of the capital city - Rome  The tradition says that the city was founded in 753 BC – it´s a myth...

ANCIENT ROME Part 1: From the beginning to the fall of the Roman republic  Origins  The Roman civilization takes its name from the name of the capital city - Rome  The tradition says that the city was founded in 753 BC – it´s a myth of Romulus and Remus https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l-P8t33xHu M  Another legend is connected with a mythological hero called Aeneas.  The historical truth is less La Lupa Capitolina "the Capitoline Wolf". Traditional scholarship says the wolf-figure is dramatic… Etruscan, 5th century BC. The figures of Romulus and Remus were added in the 15th century AD by Antonio Pollaiuolo.  The foundations of Rome  The “settlement” of Rome was on the Tiber River, an area surrounded by seven hills and some fertile farming fields (4 villages).  It became a natural place for trade among peoples in the area, including the sophisticated Etruscans and the Latins.  The settlement became a city, and the city became a kingdom.  The settlement of the Italian peninsula  1. The Etruscans (in latin Tusci, Toscana): their origin hasn´t been cleared up so far.  = excellent craftsmen and artists  system of government: city- states with a king The Latins and the Greeks  Two other groups also lived in the Italian peninsula:  2. the Italic peoples (Latins = the Romans, Samnites, Umbrians etc.) – in the center and in the south  3. the Greeks (in the south – Apulia,  Timeline and periods  1. Kingdom: 753 BC – 509 BC = period of 7 Etruscan kings; they take control of Rome and rule over the Latins; the last king – Tarquin the Proud – was overthrown in 509 BC by the Latins  2. Republic: 509 BC – 27 BC 2a) Early Roman Republic (509 – 133 BC) 2b) Late Roman Republic (133 – 27 BC)  3. Empire: 3a) The Principate (27 BC – 286 AD) 3b)The Tetrarchy (286 – 476 / 1453)  Kingdom  Rome had seven kings, supposedly starting with Romulus  They took Greek mythology, renamed most of the deities, and made some of their own.  They ordered temples and public centers to be built, including the Forum, the center of Roman politics.  Rome became a large, prosperous and commercially active city.  Republic  = from latin „res publica“ = public affair  Roman citizens were allowed to elect the leaders of their government, but only free- born men were considered citizens and at the beginning, only the wealthy people could vote.  Two groups struggled for power: 1. the patricians = noble, wealthy, land- owning class (traditionally – 300 noble families) 2. the plebeians = common farmers, artisans, merchants of low birth (the majority of population)  Fight of plebeians against patricians for rights = the Conflict of the Orders  (500-287 BC) The plebeians became unsatisfied with being the lower class and not having the same rights and privileges as the patricians. Due to the patricians having the political status, the plebeian class had no representation in the government to advocate for their interests. By not having anyone advocating for their interests, this also meant that the plebeians did not know the laws they had to abide by.  The first step was the creation of the office of Plebeian Tribune with the right of veto (= I forbid).  The second step was the Twelve Tables = the written form of laws, the foundation of Roman law 449 BC.  The third step = creation of the Council of the Plebs = the principal assembly of the common people through which the plebeians could pass legislation (called plebiscites), elect plebeian officials and try judicial cases.  At the end of the fight, the plebeians were able to rise in politics and become members of the Senate, which used to be exclusively for patricians.  Government  1. Consuls: 2 consuls elected for a one-year term; executive authority or military command (in case of war, one became a dictator of the state and the second a military leader for 6 months)  2. Senate: = advisory council - passed decrees from the senators to the magistrates - 300–500 senators who served for life  Government  3. Citizen assemblies (legislative, electoral, and judicial power)  4. Other magistrates (praetors, tribunes, aediles, censors, quaestors, lictors etc.) ! Political offices and institutions were designed to prevent any one man from becoming too powerful. These systems began to break down in the first century BC. Fasces = symbol of magistrate´s power and jurisdiction Foreign policy and expansion „The Romans did not set out any deliberate plan to build an empire. Instead, Rome expanded as it came into conflict with surrounding city-states, kingdoms, and empires and had to create ways to incorporate these new territories and populations. The Romans did not try to turn everyone they conquered into a Roman. For the most part, cities and regions that came under Roman control were allowed to maintain their existing cultural and political institutions. The only major requirement that Rome imposed on its defeated enemies was that they provide soldiers for military campaigns. In the ancient world, military victory usually meant a share of the loot taken from the conquered, so participating on the winning side of a conflict offered incentives to Rome’s new allies. Most conquered enemies were offered some level of Roman citizenship, sometimes with full voting rights. Because a person had to be physically present in Rome to vote, the extension of voting rights beyond the population of the city itself did not drastically alter the political situation in Rome. However, the offer of citizenship did help to build a sense of shared identity around loyalty to Rome. In order to manage the new territories that came under their influence, the Romans created formal provinces and appointed former political officeholders to manage them. Given the distance between most provinces and Rome, these governors often had considerable power and flexibility in dealing with local issues. The Romans tried to create a balance between giving governors enough power to control their  Expansion  1. Romans vs. Etruscans: all the Etruscan city- states were conquered, the last one in 265 BC  2. Romans vs. Greeks: the Greeks lost their colonies after the Pyrrhic war and the fall of the Greek city - Tarent in 272 BC – cf. Pyrrhic victory  3. Romans vs. Phoenicians: Punic wars 264 – 146 BC = series of 3 wars between Rome and Carthage (Phoenicians = Puni) – their best-known military leader = Hannibal Hannibal's celebrated feat in crossing the Alps with war elephants passed into European legend: detail of a fresco by Jacopo Ripanda, c. 1510, Capitoline Museums, Rome.  Consequences  1.  2.  3.  4.  5.  6.  7.  Late Roman republic = the crisis of the state 133 – 27 BC  First attempts to solve the social problems = reforms of the Gracchi brothers – Tiberius and Gaius attempted to redistribute the public land (occupated by aristocrats) to the urban poor and veterans – both were assassinated  Second step – Gaius Marius = important reforms of Roman armies (to increase their power rather than power of individual generals)  Third step – around 60 BC – 3 men tried to usurp the whole power: Crassus, Pompey and Caesar = they made an unofficial pact to control Rome (a secret alliance in which they promised to use their respective influence to help each other, but also to control each other) = the First Triumvirate 60 – 53 BC  Gaius Julius Caesar  100 – 44 BC (the Ides of March)  almost all important functions (and repeatedly) – consul, tribune of the people, high commander of the army, high priest…  59 – 50 BC – he conquered the Gaul (Gallic Wars) and led the civil war (49 – 45 BC) against his ex-friend Pompey and Pompey ´s supporters  Reforms: - increased the number of magistrates who were elected each year, which created a large pool of experienced magistrates, and allowed Caesar to reward his supporters - enlarged the citizenship on other provinices (to link them more tightly to the empire) - reform of calendar (365 days, 12 months, 30/31 days) = the Julian calendar  the senators disapproved of these reforms and feared the increasing power of Caesar – they assassinated him (44 BC, March 15th) – how is the adjective brutal connected with this murder? Roman republic in Caesar´s era Second Triumvirate and the end of the republic  43 BC, the Second Triumvirate was formed in order to find and punish Caesar´s assassins  Octavian (Caesar´s adoptive son) + Mark Antony + Lepidus  after the defeat of Brutus and other senators, Lepidus was expelled in the exile and a conflict broke out between Mark Antony and Octavian  Mark Antony (supported by the Egyptians and Cleopatra) was defeated at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC and Octavian became the only ruler of the Romans. OCTAVIAN