HST 108    Rome: from Republic to Empire

Key Terms from Lecture and Textbook
Apennine Mountains
 Jugurtha
 Edict of Milan
 Second Triumvirate
Po River
 Sulla
 Battle at the Milvian Bridge
 Augustine
Tiber River
 Caesar
 debasing coinage
 Theodosius
Etruscans
 Pompey
 Huns
 Council of Nicea
Senate
 Mark Antony
 Visigoths
 Tetrarchy
Latin League
 Augustus (Octavian)
 Romulus and Remus
 Third-Century Crisis
Gauls
 Cleopatra
 patricians
 paterfamilias
Carthage
 Pax Romana
 plebeians
 Tiberius
Punic Wars
 princeps
 tribunes
 Caligula
Struggle of the Orders
 praetorian guard
 consuls
 Claudius
optimates
 Romanization
 cursus honorum
 Nero
populares
 messiah
 Jupiter
 Virgil
latifundia
 Jesus
 Juno
 pontifex maximus
Tiberius Gracchus
 St. Paul
 Mars
 pax deorum
Marius
 Constantine
 First Triumvirate
 Christianity
Chronology
Founding of Rome (according to tradition)  
753 BCE
Etruscan Rule
 		7th-6th c. BCE
Roman Republic
 		510-31 BCE
   Attack of the Gauls
 		387 BCE
   Punic Wars
 		265-146 BCE
   Reforms of Marius
 		107-100 BCE
   Civil Wars
 		1st c. BCE
Roman Empire
 		31 BCE - 476 CE
   Augustus
 		31 BCE - 14 CE
   Pax Romana
 		1st-2nd c. CE
   Rise of Christianity
 		1st-4th c. CE
   Edict of Milan
 		313 CE
   Invasions of Huns and Germans  
4th-5th c. CE
I. Geography and Environment [Map] 
        A. peninsula
	B. not as mountainous as Greece; potential for larger political units
	C. Rome is located on the Tiber River, 18 miles from the coast
                - strategically valuable location

II. Early Rome
        A. shepherds, farmers settled in small huts in the hills
                 surrounding future site of Rome (c. 1000 BCE)
        B. urban center developing at Rome (early 7th c. BCE)
        C. Rome absorbed by Etruscans (mid 7th c. BCE) [Map]
                - installed Etruscan king to rule Rome
        D. Rome became an important commercial center under
                Etruscan rule
        E. Romans kicked out last Etruscan king at the end of the
                6th c. BCE and set up a "republic"

III. The Roman Republic and the Conquest of the Mediterranean [Map]
    	A. the republic: aristocrats sat in the Senate and ran the government
	B. Rome now vulnerable without Etruscan protection 
	C. various factors allowed Rome to conquer Italy and the Mediterranean
		1. Latin League
			a. an alliance with the city-states in Latium, south of the Tiber
			b. created to fend off attacks in the early 5th c. BCE
     		2. attack of the Gauls (387 BCE) 
			a. Celtic-speaking people from north of the Alps
			b. very fast cavalry
			c. longer swords, larger shields
			d. sacked Rome and made it aware of its defensive weaknesses
			d. returned northward and settled in Cisalpine Gaul
        		e. in response, Rome built a massive defensive wall around (378 BCE) [Map]
		3. liberal citizenship policy
			a. granting citizenship to defeated enemies gave them a vested interest 
				in fighting for Rome
			b. large pool of citizens = large pool of soldiers
	D. Punic Wars (265-146 BCE)
        	1. First Punic War (265-241 BCE)
			a. Carthage had been a Phoenician colony
			b. emerged as the dominant power in the western Mediterranean
			c. Carthage got too close to the Roman sphere of influence by establishing
				a naval base on Sicily
                	d. long, costly naval war that forced Rome to become a naval power
                	e. Rome had more timber resources for ships and more soldiers = victory
        	2. Second Punic War (218-202 BCE)
                	a. Rome fears that Carthage is increasing its territory/power in Spain; declares war
			b. Hannibal crosses Alps with 23,000 troops and 18 war elephants
                	c. he devastates the Italian countryside and defeats the Romans at every turn
               	 	d. Rome saved by Publius Cornelius Scipio who took the war to north Africa
			e. battle of Zama, 202 BCE -- Scipio defeats Hannibal in Africa
		3. Third Punic War (149-146 BCE)
                	a. Carthage no longer a threat, but some Romans are worried
			b. Carthage overwhelmed and destroyed
	E. The Struggle of the Orders (c. 500-287 BCE)
		1. social and political inequality
			a. aristocrats control the government and the state religion
			b. no intermarriage between commoners and aristocrats
		2. plebeians gradually gain political equality
			a. plebeian assembly
			b. access to priesthoods, public offices and the Senate                 
		3. Lex Hortensia (287 BCE)
                        - decisions of the plebeian assembly are binding
                                on all citizens (patricians and plebeians alike)
	F. Optimates v. Populares
                1. optimates means "the best ones" in Latin; they are the richest of the rich
		2. populares means "the popular ones" in Latin; they are the ones 
			who want to help the people
		3. patricians have become massively wealthy as a result of Rome creating an empire
		4. they served as governors of provinces, extorting money and acquiring slaves
		5. they bought up all the land in the Italian countryside and created massive 
			agricultural estates called latifundia
		6. they brought back slaves from the provinces to work on their latifundia
		7. the plebeians have been displaced from their land and their jobs
		8. the populares 
			a. they were aristocrats who wanted to help the landless poor
			b. they also wanted to use the support of the plebeians for political gain
			c. the brothers Tiberius Gracchus (163-133 BCE) 
				and Gaius Gracchus (153-121 BCE) came up with plans to provide
				land to the plebeians
			d. the optimates had them killed

IV. The Civil Wars and the Fall of the Republic
	A. the Republic fell apart for two main reasons:
		1. huge numbers of disgruntled, landless poor
		2. the Roman legions became the personal armies of Roman generals
			who fought each other for control of Rome
        B. Marius (157-86 BCE)
                1. elected consul (107 BCE)
                2. ignores property qualifications and raises an army of landless citizens
                3. defeats Jugurtha, king of Numidia in Africa (106 BCE) [Map]
                4. promised his soldiers land on the completion of their service in order 
			to keep them happy and maintain their loyalty
                5. the Senate refused to provide the veterans with land
		6. this resulted in a shift of loyalty from the state to the individual 
			commander of the army
		7. Marius solidifies the relationship by pulling some strings 
			and getting them some land
	C. Marius has brought about a watershed moment in Roman history
		1. generals promise land to landless soldiers
		2. those soldiers become their private army
		3. the generals use their armies to fight each other and take over the government
	D. powerful generals who used private armies to gain power
		1. Sulla (138-78 BCE)
			a. raised an army and seized control of the government 			
			b. made himself dictator (82-79 BCE)
		2. Caesar (100-44 BCE) and Pompey (106-48 BCE)
			a. fought for control of Rome
			b. Caesar came out on top and made himself dictator
			c. he was famously assassinated on 15 March 44 BCE
		3. Octavian (63 BCE - 14 CE) and Mark Antony (83-30 BCE)
			a. loyal to Caesar; avenged his death
			b. they ended up fighting for control of Rome
			c. Mark Antony had allied himself with Cleopatra
			d. Octavian defeated their combined forces at the battle of Actium in 31 BCE

V. The Roman Empire
	A. Octavian 
		1. takes over after the civil wars
		2. he is given the title Augustus (exalted one) by the Senate
		3. he initiates a 200-year period of peace called the Pax Romana
		4. he rules the empire for 45 years
	B. the Republican Façade
		1. Augustus appeased the people by making it seem like the Republic was still running
		2. he had complete control behind the scenes because he had control of the army
		3. he achieved this in 4 main ways:
			a. he allowed the Senate to remain
			b. he purged the Senate of opposition
			c. he had himself appointed to constitutional positions
			d. he takes the title of princeps instead of king
	C. military reforms
		1. decreased the number of legions from 60 to 28; less chance of revolt
		2. created the Praetorian Guard
        D. Romanization  [Map]
                1. he tries to win the loyalty of conquered people by making them Roman
		2. he takes the liberal citizenship policy to a new level
			a. gave citizenship to over a million people in the provinces
			b. dual citizenship
		3. urbanization [Map]
                        a. higher standards of living (aqueducts, sewers, latrines, bath houses)
                        b. cultural amenities (amphitheaters, circuses, theaters) [Map]
	E. Pax Romana
		1. the reforms of Augustus brought two centuries of peace to the empire
		2. the empire functioned as it had under Augustus even when there were 
			incompetent rulers, such as Nero (r. 54-68 CE)
		3. excerpt of Seutonius, The Life of Nero (from De vita Caesarum, 121 CE)
			[Seutonius is a bit of gossip-monger, but this gives you an idea of 
				the kind of things that distracted Nero during his reign]
			His mother offended him by too strict surveillance and criticism of his words 
			and acts... At last terrified by her violence and threats, he determined to have 
			her life, and after thrice attempting it by poison and finding that she had made 
			herself immune by antidotes, he tampered with the ceiling of her bedroom, 
			contriving a mechanical device for loosening its panels and dropping them upon 
			her while she slept. When this leaked out through some of those connected with 
			the plot, he devised a collapsible boat to destroy her by shipwreck or by the falling 
			in of its cabin...  On learning that everything had gone wrong and that she had 
			escaped by swimming, driven to desperation he secretly had a dagger thrown down 
			beside her freedman Lucius Agelmus, when he joyfully brought word that she was 
			safe and sound, and then ordered that the freedman be seized and bound, on the charge 
			of being hired to kill the emperor; that his mother be put to death, and the pretense 
			made that she had escaped the consequences of her detected guilt by suicide.

VI. Christianity
	A. historical context  [Maps: Roman Empire, Palestine]
		1. afterlife
			- concept of personal immortality
		2. Messiah
			- a person chosen by God to liberate Israel from foreign rule
	B. Jesus (~5 BCE - ~30 CE)
		1. began to preach around the age of 30
        		a. the coming of God's kingdom 
			b. people had to repent to get into this new kingdom
        	2. what separated Jesus from many other Jews?
                	a. he was dissatisfied that ethical teachings seemed secondary
				to rituals and restrictions
			b. he wanted a moral transformation of character
		3. he was seen as a troublemaker
			a. Jewish leaders saw him as a religious troublemaker
			b. Roman authorities saw him as a political agitator
        		c. both groups were responsible for his death
		4. crucifixion
			a. Roman authorities sentenced him to death by crucifixion
			b. the cross then comes to symbolize belief in his teachings
			c. not specific to Jesus
			d. the Romans executed thousands of people this way
		5. Jewish Christians
			a. Christianity was only a small Jewish sect after Jesus' death
			b. Christ means Messiah in Greek
		6. the resurrection
			a. established Christianity and gave it strength
			b. allowed people to see Jesus as his followers saw him
			c. allowed his followers to attract believers
	C. St. Paul (5-67 CE)
		1. originally Saul of Tarsus
		2. seen as the second father of Christianity
		3. at first, he persecuted Christians
		4. he underwent a spiritual transformation
		5. then spent years traveling throughout the Roman Empire trying to convert people
        	6. he was successful because he broke with Judaism in 2 significant ways
                	a. he taught that God had revealed himself to ALL people through Jesus 
				and that this took precedence over God's earlier revelation to the Jews
                	b. because of this, Mosaic regulations were obsolete
				- i.e., you don't have to follow all the Old Testament rules attributed to Moses
		7. these changes allowed Paul to appeal to a wide range of people
	D. the spread of Christianity throughout the Roman Empire
		1. religious toleration
			a. polytheism
			b. Romans incorporated gods of the people they conquered
			c. Christianity could get its foot in the door and start to spread
				before the persecution picked up speed
			2. Pax Romana
			a. large size of the empire
			b. cities and roads throughout empire
			c. peace and stability
		3. Constantine (r. 306-337)
			a. Edict of Milan (313)
			b. possible reasons for his move toward Christianity
				1. he was a usurper who needed Christian support
				2. he liked the parallel of a single, all-powerful god and a single, all-powerful ruler
				3. he may have had a vision/dream before the Battle at the Milvian Bridge (312)
					a. he saw a cross in the form of the Greek letters chi and rho
					b. went into battle under that sign and won
					c. attributed his victory to the Christian God
			
VII. The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire
	A. economic crisis
		1. emperors running low on silver
		2. debased the coinage by adding copper
		3. this led to inflation
	B. population decline
		1. the inflation meant that people couldn't afford to feed themselves
		2. many people stopped having children
	C. military crisis
		1. the population decline meant that there weren't enough people to fill the army
		2. the emperors began to use non-Roman citizens (provincials and Germans)	
	D. Germanic invasions [Map]	
		1. Huns arrived in the 4th century
			a. fast, strong cavalry
			b. powerful, reverse curve bow
		2. they forced the Germans (Visigoths) into the Roman Empire
		3. the weakened Roman army couldn't fight them off
		4. Rome sacked by Visigoths in 410
		5. Rome sacked by Vandals in 455
		6. the Romans paid Germans to serve in the army and fight other Germans
		7. in 476, German soldiers in the army overthrew the emperor 
			and replaced him with a German
	E. the WESTERN Roman Empire fell to the German tribes; the Eastern half did not