AP EUROPEAN HISTORY: ROME

WORLD HISTORY NOTES 7 RISE OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC - Just before he died Alexander planned to invade Italy - but already been conquered by one of its own cities - Italy is also a peninsula - twice the size of Greece - north bounded by high mountains, the Alps - divided Italy from rest of Europe - also mountains throughout Italy - divided by rich land, warm climate, lots of rain - good for farming - so early Italian settlers were farmers - @1000 BCE three groups wandered into Italy - Latins - came in over the Alps from the north - settled in what was to become Rome - Etruscans - from Asia Minor - settled in west Italy - Greeks - settled in south Italy - Latins learned a lot from the Etruscans & Greeks - Etruscans taught them how to build roads and plant crops - Greeks taught them alphabet and religion - all three lived in polis - Rome founded @ 750 BCE - became powerful polis - built on 7 hills along Tiber River - protected them from attack - but Rome able to attack and conquer polis in the north and south - Rome became a major trading center - b/c it was located near several trade routes - this helped Rome grow rapidly - b/t 750 & 500 BCE Rome ruled by Etruscans - Etruscan King ruled w/help of rich landowners - Patricians aka nobles - slowly gained power - @ 500 BCE overthrew the Etruscan King - set up a republic - gov’t where officials elected by citizens - but republic really ruled by Patricians - at head of republic were two elected consuls - usually leaders of army, gov’t or religion - their power limited b/c could only serve one year - real power was in the Senate - 300 Patricians appointed by the consuls for life - they passed laws and chose who w/b voted on for consul - only Patricians c/b consuls, senators or other Gov’t office - Commoners called plebians - Roman soldiers, farmers, workers, traders, etc. - They elected the Assembly - but had little power in gov’t - Plebians finally gained power by clever plan - they moved out of Rome! - Patricians helpless w/o them - Plebians won right to elect 2 tribunes to represent them - they had power to veto laws they d/n like - the Assembly also gained power - Plebians won right to have laws written down - later the right to be senators or other gov’t - but Patricians still most important officers - by 270 BCE Rome ruled most of Italy - allowed conquered cities to rule themselves - in return, pay taxes and supply soldiers for Rome - needed b/c feared attack from Carthage - huge empire that included part of Spain, northern Africa, and some Med. islands - 264 BCE war b/t Carthage & Rome broke out - The Punic Wars, there were several - Rome won the first one - but 2nd time Carthage led by Hannibal - great general - decided to attack Rome by surprise - marched through Spain - captured city and named it after his father Barca for his birthday - Barcelona - crossed Alps into Italy - conquered Rome & stayed 15 years - but in 202 BCE Roman army conquered Carthage - took over and ultimately destroyed it in revenge - stone by stone WORLD HISTORY NOTES 8 THE END OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC - after defeat of Carthage in 202 BCE - Rome now strongest nation in known world - conquered Macedonia, Spain & Greece - and later part of Asia Minor - Didn’t try to conquer Egypt (at least yet) - both countries had become allies - Egypt allowed to remain independent - by 133BCE, Rome controlled entire Med. region - Before Punic Wars, most Romans, rich or poor, led a simple life - but afterwards a new class of rich appeared - would change Roman life - here’s how it happened - When Rome conquered a land, that land was made a province of Rome - & that land was ruled by a Roman official - a governor, usu. an ex-general - a procurator, one of the conquered peoples chosen to represent Rome - most infamous procurator in history was Pontius Pilate - man who condemned Jesus - often they ruled badly - conquered people forced to pay heavy taxes - tax money used to make officials rich - some became rich by selling food to Roman Armies in the provinces - built large fortunes this way - others became rich by buying up farms - during wars taxes very high - farmers had to sell farms to pay taxes - rich Romans bought these farms - combined then into one large farm - worked by slaves - farmers now jobless - moved to city to find work - but no jobs there either - many formed homeless gangs - or became beggars - These new rich Romans gained power in the Senate - main interest was to protect their wealth - poor classes & jobless had little to no power - yet depended on gov’t to feed them - the growing underclass worried leaders - might revolt - 133 BCE Tiberius Gracchus, rich Roman plebian - elected tribune - wanted to help the poor - tried to limit amt of land one could own - any land over limit div’d up and given to poor - many rich Roman senators were landowners - d/n want to give up land - had Tiberius murdered - 123 BCE younger bro. Gaius became tribune - tried to pass laws to help poor - to give them land - to create colonies were poor could start over - to have gov’t sell food to poor at lower prices - Senate d/n like these changes - 121 BCE Gaius learned Senators were going to have him killed like his brother - he committed suicide - Afer Gaius’ death, things got worse - army generals fought for control of gov’t - some supported by Senate, some by the people - fought for many years in this civil war - Meanwhile the country grew weaker - Finally it came down to 2 generals - Pompey - Julius Caesar - famous general who conquered Gaul - present day France - peopled by western European tribe known as the Celts x2 - most Celts were Druids 2 - nature worshipers - he returned to Italy & was strong enough to take control - new ruler of the republic - used his power to help common people - gave citizenship to provinces - passed laws to help poor pay debts - unified provinces w/Rome by roads - improved the calendar - Julian Calendar - used for next 1000 years - was about to make other changes - but Senate feared he was about to name self King - and take away their rights - March 15, 44 BCE (the Ides of March) - Caesar X2 assassinated on steps of the Senate - Marcus Antony delivered the eulogy - (read soliloquy from Shakespeare) - After Caesar’s death civil war resumed - lasted 27 years - in 27BCE Caesar’s grandnephew Octavian defeated other generals - became first emperor of Roman Empire - changed his name to Augustus Caesar - to tie himself with beloved Julius WORLD HISTORY NOTES 9 THE CULTURE OF ROME - Romans carried on Greek culture X2 - w/o Romans Greece w/have been forgotten - Romans accepted Gr.art X3, writing, ideas, science - helped spread ideas throughout empire - also spread idea of democracy - Empire lasted nearly 500 years - 27BCE to 576 ACE - at its largest empire included all of W.&S. Europe, N. Africa, Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, Mesopot. - large area difficult to govern - but Romans did it - Most of gov’t power centered in Rome - other powers given to provinces - main gov’t d/n try to rule provinces - just obey laws, pay taxes and keep peace - very similar to U.S. gov’t - central gov’t in Wash. D.C. - states like provinces - but Americans are a free people - and have part in gov’t - not Romans - Latin language also important contribution - is basis for all modern Romance languages - Spanish, French, Portuguese, Italian - even English - art = ars= art - culture = cultura = to grow - government = gubernare = to steer - language = lingua = tongue - after empire ended, Latin still used - by educated people all over Europe - Roman Catholic Church - doctors, lawyers - Roman law spread - remember Plebians forced laws to be written down - later laws became more difficult to understand - but were also more fair - during the Republic, special lawyers explained laws - beginnings of judges - later most famous code or collection of laws c. 500 ACE - Emperor Justinian - Justinian’s Code of Laws - contained all laws and explained them - would become basis of laws all over world - Architecture -Romans were great builders - not as beautiful as Greeks - but larger, stronger - b/c used new invention - cement or concrete - also new innovations - arch, vault, barrel vault, etc. - Colosseum - Roman arena w/arches - Aqueducts - brought water to cities - Monuments - arches to honor emperors or battles - some still stand today after 2000 years - Romans built paved roads - thousands of miles tied empire together - most famous was Appian Way - from Rome to SW Italy - Romans wrote plays, poems - different writing style than Greeks - interesting stories about Roman life - Most famous poet was Virgil - wrote “The Aeneid” - story about founding of Rome - Much about what we know of Rome written by two Roman historians Livy and Tacitus - Great speech writers and orators - Cicero - famous Roman leader told about Roman life WORLD HISTORY NOTES 10 LIFE IN ROME - Romans were polytheistic - same gods as Greeks, but renamed - plus they had other gods - including “household” called lares - religion was very important to the Romans - had many priests & temples - some priests were called augers - told gov’t officials what the gods said was important - no business was done w/o augers approval - had many religious holidays - Family life - during Roman Republic, father ruled the family - wife, children, grandchildren - also ran wife’s property - also chose wives for sons and husbands for daughters - women had few legal rights - c/n vote or serve in gov’t - but had more freedom than Greek women - directed household work - trained the children - greeted, took care of guests/visitors - could visit other homes w/husbands - Romans married at a young age - sons at 14, daughters at 12 - families treated each other w/respect - Education - Roman education shaped by Greek ideas - but they were also taught to do good work - not be good citizens, like in Greece - all schools were private - in early years both boys/girls learned to read, write, do arithmetic - afterwards only sons of rich attended school - studies Latin & Greek - read books of the great writers - learned public speaking - some even went to Greece - to continue studies - would be prepared to become lawyers or gov’t officials - Slavery - Romans depended on slaves - most captured in wars - some were artisans, doctors, teachers, engineers - some used as household servants - most used to do hard work - farms, artisans shops, mines - most of these were treated badly - slavery not only hard on the slaves - it caused unemployment by thousands - as more used, more Romans jobless - also more Romans became lazy - depended on slaves to do everything - therefore Romans no longer worked hard to improve themselves - bathhouses - one of the Romans’ favorite pleasures - as important as sports were to Greeks - more than just a place to bathe - had libraries, gardens, exercise rooms - were low cost - some had up to 3000 bathers at one time - Baths of Caracalla (p.278 in art book) - also good place to socialize, network - therefore good social centers - entertainment - Romans went to theaters and plays like Greeks - but enjoyed chariot races X2, too - also gladiator fights held in arenas - gladiator was slave trained to fight - sometimes wild animals - sometimes each other - loser was killed - thumbs up or down - Romans grew to love slaughter - perhaps helped to deal with death - or maybe they became used to it - Theater of Marcellus X2 WORLD HISTORY NOTES 11 THE END OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE - Augustus now Emperor of Rome - knew why Julius was murdered - Senate feared loss of their power - Augustus allowed Senate to keep their power - in return, he would be crowned Emperor - and have all the powers he needed - Augustus d/n try to conquer new territories - worked to improve the provinces already there - to be more honest and well run - in this way the people there w/n revolt - used propaganda to tell Roman people there was peace throughout the empire - this peace lasted 200 years - The Pax Romana - Augustus died 14 ACE - Rome w/b ruled by many successive emperors - Until 180 ACE most emperors ruled wisely - but in 100 years after 180, successive bad emperors - gov’t not ruled well - caused many revolts and wars in empire - 284 ACE general Diocletian became emperor - was strong ruler - had to be to keep empire together - made all gov’t officials report to him - as a result, Senate lost its power - and Roman people lost many of their rights - Diocletian divided empire into two - eastern and western half - he ruled the eastern half - another emperor rules the western half - that would be the Byzantine Empire WORLD HISTORY NOTES 11 THE BYZANTINE EMPIRE - the eastern Roman Empire was called the Byzantine Empire - capital was Constantinopolis - built by Emperor Constantine 330 - on the ruins of old city of Byzantium - well located for trade b/t Europe and Asia - also well protected from attack - Constantine was Christian - and knew religion was spreading - gave Christians religious freedom - 395 Christianity b/c official in Byzantine Emp. - Byzantine emperors were strong rulers - controlled gov’ts - were powerful in religious affairs - leader was called the Patriarch of Constantinopolis - the empire strong enough to defend itself from Germans - and other tribes - when Justinian b/c emperor, tried to reconquer western part of the empire - won most of Italy, N. Africa and part of Spain - Justinian ruled well until death in 565 - in addition to his Codes - also built roads bridges, churches - most famous is Hagia Sophia in Constant. - “holy wisdom” - one of the most beautiful in the world - but empire not strong enough to KEEP western territory - emperors who followed Justinian fought 2 enemies - Persians and Arabs - Byzantines defeated the Persians - but Arabs took N.Africa, Egypt, Syria Palestine - by 750 Arab conquests were stopped - Byzantine Empire now much smaller - but still the largest in Europe - the hundred years of fighting created many changes - emperor now stronger ruler than before - took over all gov’t - empire now divided into provinces - each ruled by a general - chosen by the Emperor and reported to him - Greek replaced Latin as official language - language used in gov’t and churches - helped tie Byzantine Empire together - as gov’t strengthened, again tried to get more land - b/t 900 & 1000 took Greece, Macedonia, Asia Minor, and S. Italy - times were good during these years - merchants traded w/India, China, Persia, Arabia - as well as Europe - were known for silks, jewels, ivory, metalware and glassware - both Byzantine traders and gov’t became rich - meanwhile Byzantine church slowly separating from the church of Rome - became known as Greek Orthodox Church - sent missionaries to Balkans and SE Europe - Slavic languages were spoken here. - Byzantine priests rewrote Bible in these tongues - developed a new alphabet for Slavic words - said to be invented by St. Cyril - cyrillic alphabet - still used in Slavic countries today - most important converted nation was Kiev - Russia’s original name - @ 1000 Russia’s ruler and people became Christian - from there, Byzantine art, writing, alphabet and building style spread to Russia - while Greek language forgotten in West, thrived in East - was, after all, the official language - educated people required to learn it - read the philosophers and writers - Greek culture m/have been lost w/o them - Splitting the empire into two saved the Roman empire - but at the cost of Roman freedom - When Dioclectian died, the 2 empires became separate - Rome remained capital of western - Constantinople became capital of eastern - eastern empire lasted until 153 ACE - but western was destroyed 476 ACE - Why? - one reason was high taxes - turned Romans against gov’t - another was diseases during period - resulted in smaller population - had to hire soldiers from other nations to fight for them - many not loyal to Rome - some would desert - others turn against Rome - another reason was slavery - Romans had become lazy - jobless turned against the gov’t - another reason was brutality - excesses in arena - licentiousness, orgies, anomie - more reasons, too, but all added up to one - Romans no longer supported western empire - Western empire was always in danger of attack - invading Germanic tribes from the north - when empire was strong, held them back - but now weak, and German tribes settled w/in Rome’s borders - 378 ACE Romans fought battle with Visigoth tribe - they would found the country of Spain - Visigoths won - showed the rest of the Germanic peoples that Rome was now too weak to defend itself - Germanic tribes began to attack Rome itself - 410 ACE King of the Visigoths, Alaric captured Rome - 455 another Germanic tribe, the Vandals, nearly destroyed Rome - was basis of new word, vandalism - 476 Rome asked German general Odoacer to help defend it - Odoacer agreed, but just when the invaders attacked he turned on the Romans and conquered the city - the Roman Empire now came to an end