Geography
Rome was founded about 15 miles from this river near the Mediterranean Sea.
What is the Tiber River?
A respected Roman consul who was loyal to Rome, he was granted the title of dictator by the Senate when a powerful enemy of Rome (Aequi) threatened its existence. He raised an army, defeated the enemy, then gave back his power. He fulfilled his civic duty, or his responsibility to help his country.
Who is Cincinnatus?
This emperor was a seasoned battle commander who rose in the ranks of the Roman army and later the stamped out the rebellion by the Jews in Judaea in 66 A.D. He was focused on restoring order in Rome, after Nero had so squandered the city's wealth. He treated harshly anyone who opposed Roman rule. He also began the construction of the Colosseum.
Who is Vespasian?
This Germanic tribe was running away from the Huns and asked the Romans if they could settle inside the empire’s border for protection. The Romans allowed it, but treated them badly. The Romans charged them high prices for food and enslaved some of their people. Rebellion ensued.
Who are the Visigoths?
Rome's ruling class that were also wealthy landowners were called_________.
Most Romans were this class, the _________, which were the poor /unwealthy or the artisans, shopkeepers, and small time farmers.
Who are :
1) Patricians
2) Plebians
A reorganization of soldiers into groups of 6,000 men and then subdivided into 60 men so that armies could move quicker and more efficiently on the battlefield.
What are legions?
Name two major mountain ranges in Italy.
What are the Alps and Apennines?
•In 107 B.C this general became consul. The son of a worker, not a Patrician, he transforms the army. Until he arrived, only property owners served in the military. But he recruited soldiers from the landless poor. And he paid them, and promised them land!
•While he gave work to poor, jobless farmers, it weakened the republican government. Soldiers started having more loyalty to the generals who hired them then to the republic.
Who is Marius?
This emperor, whose name means "little boots", once constructed a temporary floating bridge across the Bay of Baiae just so he could ride triumphantly from one end to the other, and appointed his favorite horse as consul.
Who is Caligula?
Name 2 reasons why/how Justinian's military was so effective.
What are:
Led by a general named Belisarius, the army was strengthened and reorganized. Instead of relying on foot soldiers, they used cavalry. Byzantine cavalry wore armor and carried bows and lances. (See picture to the right)
Between 533 A.D. and 555 A.D. the Byzantine military conquered territories once part of the Roman Empire. (Italy, Spain and northern Africa and parts of Persia)
Large farming estates of the rich were called this.
What is latifundia?
Wife of Justinian, she lobbied for more rights for women, and hen angry taxpayers threatened the government and Justinian and his advisors wanted to flee the city, she said," I would rather die an empress than escape and live as an outlaw!"
Who is Theodora?
Caesar's crossing of this river marked a point of no return for him. It led to civil war, which ultimately led to Caesar's becoming dictator for life (dictator perpetuo). Caesar had been appointed to a governorship over a region that ranged from southern Gaul to Illyricum. As his term of governorship ended, the Senate ordered Caesar to disband his army and return to Rome. As it was illegal to bring armies into Italy, the northern border of which was marked by this river, his crossing the river under arms was synonymous with insurrection, treason, and a declaration of war on the state.
What is the Rubicon?
•In 451 B.C., Rome's first written code of laws were called this. (It was placed in Rome’s marketplace, called the Forum.) These laws supported the ideal that all free citizens had the right to be treated equally regardless of social class.
What are the 12 Tables?
Name 3 negative aspects of Nero's rule.
What are: (possible answers)
•His mother Agrippina, sister of Caligula, married her uncle Claudius when Nero was 12 years old.
•Claudius adopted Nero and gave him his daughter Octavia to marry, and named him Nero Claudius Caesar Drusus Germanicus.
•In 54 AD Nero succeeded Claudius and was the last of the Julio Claudian line of emperors. He was only 16 years old. His tutor and prime minister was the stoic philosopher Seneca. Seneca and Agrippina struggled for control of Nero for several years. Seneca won Nero's favor by applauding his art and his taste for athletics and providing him mistresses.
• Nero began to hate his mother so much that he had her murdered in 59 AD.
•Seneca maintained control of the Empire with the help of Burrus, prefect of the Praetorian Guard. Later Seneca withdrew to private life but his rule was admired and referred to as the "golden quinquennium.“
• Nero began to lose favor very fast, he divorced the respected Octavia and married his young mistress Poppaea.
• He exiled Octavia and later had her executed.
• In 64 AD the great fire of Rome broke out and Nero was blamed with the accusers saying he "fiddled while Rome burned. It was believed that he wanted to used the cleared land to build a pleasure palace. He turned the blame over to a near Jewish sect known as the "Christians" at the same time that he had his wife Poppaea murdered in a fit of rage.
• Later he was declared an outlaw by the senate, the Roman generals were conspiring against him, so Nero saw no escape and committed suicide on June 8th, 68 AD.
Germanic general who overthrew the western emperor, a 14 year old emperor called Romulus Agustulus.
Who is Odoacer?
Name 3 characteristics of cities in Ancient Rome.
Rome was carefully planned out and laid out in a square with main streets crossing at right angles.
Emperor lived in a splendid palace on top of a hill.
At the foot of the hill was a large open marketplace and square called the Forum. (Like the malls we have today. They had stores, food and luxury items.) Temples and other buildings surrounded the Forum.
Rich Romans lived in large, comfortable houses on the city’s hills which had marble walls, tiled floors and running water. Houses were built around courtyards called atriums.
Some people worked as shopkeepers or artisans, but most Romans were poor.
Many poor did not have jobs or were unskilled laborers. The poor lived in dirty, crowded, noisy, neighborhoods in wooden apartment buildings six or seven stories tall.(easily caught fire-Nero and fire…for example) People tossed garbage into the street and thieves prowled the streets at night.
Name two reasons why Constantine moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium/Constantinople.
What are:
1) Constantinople was located on a peninsula with excellent harbors for fishing and trading and being the crossroad between Europe and Asia, it saw a lot of business and money.
2) Constantinople was also easy to defend. The city was protected on three sides by the sea, and a large wall protected the 4th side. A large chain was also spread across the harbor.
In August of 79 A.D, this Mountain erupted and destroyed the city of Pompeii, killing thousands. Today, about 600,000 people live near the volcano even though scientists warn it is due to erupt again soon.
What is Mt. Vesuvius?
Name and describe the circumstances of Rome's two TRIUMVERATES.
•In 60 B.C., three rulers/generals ruled the Roman republic-Julius Caesar, Crassus, and Pompey. They called their arrangement a triumvirate.
•Each triumvirate member commanded/controlled a military post in an area of the roman republic.
•Pompey led in Spain, Crassus had Syria, and Caesar had Gaul. Of the three, Caesar seemed to be having the most success and gained a lot of popularity, especially with lower classes.
•Roman senators grew uneasy with Caesar and felt he would seek full dictatorial power like Sulla.
•By 50 B.C., The first triumvirate falls. Crassus died in battle, and Pompey and the senate became buddies.
•Pompey and Senate ordered Caesar to give up his army and return to Rome.
•Caesar knew he’d be killed if he surrendered in Rome, so he decided to fight, (he crossed the Rubicon river which separated his command area from Rome, Italy.) and ultimately he defeats Pompey in 48 B.C.
Second Triumvirate:
•After Caesar’s death, civil war breaks out and three generals(Octavian, Mark Antony and Lepidus) team up and defeat those who killed Caesar. They formed the second triumvirate.
•Octavius took command of Italy and the west, Antony ruled Greece and the east, and Lepidus took north Africa.
•However, the second triumvirate doesn’t last long. Lepidus retires and Octavian and Antony become rivals. Antony falls in love with Egyptian queen Cleopatra, they form an alliance, and Octavian accuses Antony and her of plotting against Rome.
•The public sided with Octavian and he declares war on Antony.
•In 31 B.C. Octavius and Antony’s navies clash of the coast of Greece at the battle of Actium. Octavian defeats their forces, made Egypt roman territory, and Antony and cleopatra kill themselves to avoid being captured.
Compare and contrast Trajan's polices and accomplishments to Hadrian's.
•Trajan was a natural-born soldier, who conquered modern-day Romania. Dacia, as it was called, had rich gold deposits, and so the conquest greatly benefited Rome. He used the money he received in conquering Dacia to improve Rome's infrastructure, including the construction of a second Forum and Marketplace. Trajan’s military campaigns expanded Roman territory to its greatest size. He also made money available so poor people could receive an education. Trajan adopted his nephew Hadrian, who became the next emperor.
•Hadrian was a man of intense curiosity about the world. He spent much of his time as emperor traveling to places as far away as Britain, North Africa, and Egypt. While in Britain he had a wall (Hadrian’s Wall) built to prevent invasions. It had multiple securities built into it. He angered the army by abandoning some of the lands conquered by Trajan, having realized that they were straining the resources of the empire. He also built the Pantheon which utilized many of Rome's latest advanced architectural techniques. Hadrian adopted a grown man as his son, Antoninus Pius, who became the next emperor.
These two brothers mark the bloody foundation of Rome's history, when one slayed the other over an argument on where to place the city.
Who are Romulus and Remus?
Describe the various roles of slaves in the Roman empire and make sure to mention roughly what percentage of the population were slaves.
Slavery was a part of life from early times, but the use of slave labor grew as Rome conquered more territory.
Roman soldiers took conquered peoples as prisoners. Then, they were brought to Rome and sold into slavery.
Slaves performed many different jobs. Some worked in homes and harvested crops. Some mined ore, built roads, bridges and aqueducts. Others were gladiators. However, educated Greeks served as teachers, doctors and artisans.
For most slave life was miserable, and they were forced to work long hours, could be sold at any time, and could be punished severely for poor work or running away. Only a few were able to buy their freedom.
Some slaves would rebel, but often unsuccessfully. In 73 B.C., A gladiator named Spartacus and 70,000 revolted against the Romans but were crushed. He was killed and 6,000 of his followers were crucified. (Nailed to a cross)
30-40% of population were slaves.
Name 3 things the Romans learned/adopted from the Greeks and 3 things they learned/adopted from the Etruscans.
The Greeks (settled in southern Italy): Introduced grape and olive farming to the region, passed on the Greek alphabet to the Romans, and later the Romans would also model their buildings, sculpture, Gods/religion and literature on the Greeks.
The Etruscans (settled in Northern Italy in Etruria and gradually moved south) They eventually took control of Rome and its surrounding area.
Etruscans were ruled by nobles who drew wealth from trade and mining. They worked with copper, iron lead and tin, and turned these metals into weapons, tools and jewelry. They passed that on to the Romans.
Etruscans also had a powerful army(which romans would copy) and taught the romans to build with brick, to roof their homes with tile, and had city planning. They also built temples and passed their religious rituals to the Romans as well as their fashion sense-cloaks and togas.
Name 4 reasons why Italy’s location has attracted people for thousands of years and led to settlements on the Italian peninsula.
•Because of its central location in the Mediterranean, people can easily travel to it from Africa, Asia and Europe.
•Even though Italy had rugged mountains, they had passes that made trade easy and profitable.
•Its climate also attracted settlers-sunny, mild with good farmland. It also had flat plains that were ideal FOR GROWING CROPS. That meant plenty of food that could support a large population.
•Rome was founded about 15 miles up the Tiber River near the Mediterranean Sea. People used the river to travel and trade. Also, Rome’s location across seven steep hills made it easy to defend against enemy attacks.
Name and describe the different branches of Rome's government with regard to its early republic.
What are:
1)Executive: the consuls (administrative and military),
2) Judicial: the praetors; Interpreted the laws(judicial),
3) Legislative:
a) the Senate (300 patrician men who served for life)proposed laws and approved construction projects
b) the Assembly of Centuries: Elected consuls and praeters and passed laws (legislative). There were two consuls that served one year each. Each consul could veto the other’s decisions if they disagreed.
• the Council of Plebs• Council of plebs elected tribunes which that voiced plebian concerns to the government. They later were allowed to become consuls and marriages between plebeians and patricians were made legal. In 287 B.C., the council of plebs was allowed to pass laws for all romans.
Name 5 reforms Caesar Augustus made after naming himself Rome's first official emperor.
•The rule of Caesar Augustus marked a new era. For the next 200 years romans would enjoy peace and prosperity until 180 A.D. This period of peace is known as the “Pax Romana”. Rome also reached the height of its power.
•Augustus Reforms:
Created a permanent professional army of 150,000 soldiers(all roman citizens)
Created a special military unit known as Praetorian guard. They were 9,000 men whose job it was to just protect the emperor.
He established the empire’s boundaries along Rome’s natural Physical features.
He rebuilt many public buildings, fountains and palaces to reflect the greatness of rome. “City of Brick” was turned into a “City of Marble”.
Appointed a Proconsul, or governor, to oversee each roman province. (Replaced former politicians who had those jobs)
Visited the provinces himself to make sure proconsuls were doing their jobs.
Made tax collectors permanent government officials with a paid wage so they would stop stealing.
Had code of laws for people who were not roman citizens. It encouraged them to become citizens.
Fearing the public still might not like him, to avoid revolution, he imported grain from Africa to feed the poor.
Summarize the events/conditions behind the 3 Punic wars.
•Carthage (based out of North African Coast and Southern Spain) and Rome battle to be trade King in the Mediterranean. Carthage had become the largest and wealthiest city in the western Mediterranean area because of trade, and Rome wanted a piece of the trade pie.
•First Punic War: Rome wanted control of the fertile island of sicily. At first, Rome and carthage have a peace treaty(in 509 B.C.) saying neither can have Sicily as territory. However, carthage troops and colonies are spotted in Sicily in 265 B.c., and Rome decides that violates the treaty, and it’s an opportunity to gain Sicily for themselves. While Carthage has the naval advantage, Rome builds a fleet with “Moveable bridges” on their ships so that they can board Carthaginian ships. In this way, a sea war is turned into a land war. (Rome wins. Carthage was forced To give up sicily, and carthage has to pay a huge fine to the romans.)
•Second punic War: In a attempt to regain losses in sicily, Carthage tried expanding in spain to get silver, copper, gold , lead and iron. Rome didn’t like this because it was too close to rome. They encouraged the Spanish to rebel. In response, carthage sent its best general, Hannibal, to attack rome. He gathered 46,000 men and 37 elephants and crossed through the alps and Italy. Bitter cold and Mountain tribes killed half his army and most if his elephants. While Hannibal won some early battles, eventually romans win with Scipio when he attacks carthage and wins. Rome wins. They get Spanish territory, Carthage has to give up its navy, and Carthage has to pay war reparations.
•Third punic war: Rome still considered carthage a military threat, and so it puts the final “stake in their heart” and beats them for good.
Name 5 ways the lives of Roman men differed from Roman women.
When Rome was a Republic, large families were common. Married children often lived in the same house with their parents.
The fathers were the head of the family and watched wife and her activities. He could even sell his children or have them put to death if he wished.
Later, fathers lost some of their powers and wives gained some legal rights. They were also likely to have smaller families and divorce and remarry.
Fathers were responsible for their children’s education. Wealthy boys and girls got private lessons at home, but as they got older, boys from wealthy families went to schools where they learned reading, writing, arithmetic and rhetoric. Older girls studied at home. Poorer Romans couldn’t afford to go to school but learned enough skills to conduct business.
At 15, Roman boys were considered adults, and burned their toys and put a white toga to symbolize their transformation to manhood.
He then worked at his family’s business, joined the army or got a government job.
Roman women married around 14 and were then considered adults.
In early Rome, women were not considered citizens and had few rights.
Later, when Rome became an Empire, women advised their husbands, especially the wives of emperors.
The freedoms a Roman woman enjoyed depended on her husband’s wealth and position.
By 100 A.D. they could own land, run businesses and sell property. They also managed the household while slaves did the housework.
Women were free to go to the theatre, study literature, art, etc. However, they had to sit in separate areas from the men.
Women with less money had less freedom in that they spent most of their time doing housework(no slaves to help). Still in whatever spare time they did get, they could shop, visit friends, or work independently as hairdressers, doctors, etc.
Name 5 reasons for the fall/decline of the Roman Empire.
What are:
1) Poor Leadership/Emperors(Many emperors selfishly squandered empire's funds on themselves, got caught up in family power struggles, or simply ignored the economic social class disparities.
2) Rome’s government grows weak, armies/generals grow strong.
3) Emperor had to pay higher and higher wages to the soldiers who supported him. When payments could not be made, soldiers would turn on the emperor.
4) No consistent leadership. Civils wars broke out and legion would fight legion to put a new emperor on the throne. In a span of 50 years ending in 284 A.D. Rome had 22 different emperors, most murdered by the army or their body guards.
5) Romans no longer honored traditional values of duty, courage and honesty.
6) Government officials took bribes, and there were fewer and fewer talented people who wanted to take government jobs.
7) Wealthy Romans stopped paying taxes.
8) Interest and support for education declined.
9) Roman soldiers and foreign invaders attacked farms and disrupted trade.
10) This led to food shortages and prices soared.
11) People had less money to spend so they bought fewer goods.
12) Merchants saw profits decline, forcing many people to lose their jobs.
13) The government produced more coins to counteract economic decline. However, since the government supply of gold and silver was low, the coins were made of less precious metals, so their value was reduced.
14) To counteract that, farmers and merchants raised prices, which led to inflation.
15) Invasions of outsiders. (Germanic tribes)
16) Over-extension of empire. (Hard/expensive to defend.