HIST 1010 Fall 2024 Lecture 014: The Romans PDF

HIST 1010 Fall 2024 Lecture 014: The Romans By Matt Malczycki Amphitheaters Then & Now Rome & the Mediterranean – In the 6th century BCE there several groups living in Italy. – One of these groups was the Latins, and...

HIST 1010 Fall 2024 Lecture 014: The Romans By Matt Malczycki Amphitheaters Then & Now Rome & the Mediterranean – In the 6th century BCE there several groups living in Italy. – One of these groups was the Latins, and they lived in the hills of the TIBER River Valley. – They would eventually found the city of Rome. Etruscans – The Latins borrowed much from another Italian group, the Etruscans. – The Latins got their alphabet, military formations, and architecture from the Etruscans. – A LATIN victory over the last ETRUSCAN kings led to the rise of the Roman Republic.  The Roman Republic – founded in 509 BCE – consuls: heads of state; 2 served at a time; nominated by Senate & elected by Comitia Centuriata (a military assembly) – Senate: 300-900 men representing patricians and later, after a civil war, plebians – there were also tribunes, censors, praetors, and other offices – more democratic than monarchy, but government was still largely in the hands of the wealthy  Patricians and Plebians – There were 2 broad socio- economic groups in Rome: the patricians and the plebians. – The patricians were aristocrats who traced their lineage back to the foundation of Rome. – The plebians were everyone else else. They were by far the majority. Some became wealthy & powerful, and even married into patrician families. – Patricians dominated the officer corps, the economy, and the Roman Senate. Early Roman Imperialism Punic Wars 246-146 BCE – Phoenician Carthage dominated the southern coast of the Mediterranean while Rome dominated the north. – The three Punic Wars resulted in Roman domination of the western Mediterranean and North Africa.  Macedonian Wars (215-148 Philip V of Macedon BCE) – series of four wars that Rome fought in Macedonia – Macedonia became Roman province in 146 BCE – major step on the road to empire Philip V. Photograph. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 5 Oct. 2010.  Roman Civil Wars Sulla Gaius Marius Julius Caesar (d. 44 BCE) – From 121 BCE onward, Rome was frequently beset by internal wars (i.e. civil wars). – Julius Caesar was a Roman general who survived these wars and who was very popular among his troops. – Julius Caesar ended the civil wars for a time, but the patricians felt he was too powerful – They assassinated him in order to preserve the Republic and to prevent a new era of kingship. – BUT J. Caesar was very popular with a lot of people, so …  Octavian a.k.a. Augustus Caesar (d. 14 CE) – adopted son of Julius Caesar – won civil war in 31 BCE – maintained structures of republican government, but kept power in his own hands – on one hand, the democratic principles of the Republic became little more than ideals – on the other hand the Pax Romana or “Roman Peace” lasted until 181 CE (Note: Not all historians agree on the time frame of the Pax Romana.) Roman Citizenship, Law, & Society Roman Empire ca. 100 CE  Decline in the West – violent political turmoil in Rome – Rome consumed more than it produced; heavily reliant on imports – end of conquest = end of easy money – cooler climate – plagues = thousands of Barbarian invasions. Map/Still. Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Web. 5 Oct. 2010. deaths – “Barbarian” invasions  Barbarians! Barbarian invasions , image, from Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed September 17, 2021, https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/1822.  Barbarians! – Germanic tribes such as Marcomanni, Alemani, & Goths always lived beyond limes or frontiers – 300s-400s: Germanic peoples pushed westward by rise of the Huns, esp. under Attila –some tribes: Vandals, Visigoths, Ostrogoths, Lombards, Suebi, Franks, Saxons, & more – results: Romans/Byzantines withdrew from Italy so the Church was the main surviving locus of social organization  The Goths Migrations and kingdoms of the Goths in the 5th and 6th centuries ce , image, from Encyclopædia Britannica, accessed September 17, 2021, https://academic.eb.com/levels/collegiate/assembly/view/5733. Clovis & The Franks – Franks lived in the Roman Province of Gaul, which became known as Francia & which we now know as “France.” – Frankish King Clovis (d. 511) adopted Roman Catholic Christianity ca 496 – Church support gave Clovis legitimacy while Clovis’s support gave Church military protection – St. Gregory of Tours (d. 594) wrote History of the Franks; described Clovis as “new Constantine” The Byzantine Empire Emperor Constantine (d. 337) – 304-324: fought civil wars for control of empire – 312: ascribed victory at Milvian Bridge to Christian God – 313: Edict of Milan legalized Christianity – 325: Council of Nicaea – moved capital from Rome to Byzantium, (later named Constantinople) – deathbed baptism  Justinian (r. 527-565) – reconquered much that had been lost in previous century – despotic but effective – ceasaeropapism = Roman emperor as head of Christian Church – built Hagia Sophia, largest church of the time – Justinian Code = law code that formed basis of law in Justinian I: mosaic in the Church of San Vitale, Ravenna, Italy, Photograph, from Britannica Academic, accessed June E. Med. for centuries 7, 2016, http://academic.eb.com/EBchecked/media/17144/Justinian-I- detail-of-a-mosaic-in-the-Church-of The End