CCD HISTORY 101 - History of Western Civilization 1
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The Capitoline Wolf: the totem animal of Rome, is a powerful beast and shows how skilled the Etruscans were in bronze casting by 500 B.C. (The twin boys were added 2,000 years later, during the Renaissance.)
Contents
The Origins of Rome
How did the geography of the Apennine Mountains shape the development of Italy?
Where are the mountains? Where are the plains? Where are the towns? Why few towns in the East?
Where is Rome? 15 miles from the sea on the Tiber River - not a sea port. What implications for early attitudes toward the sea? Trade?
Map of Italy 500 years after the founding of Rome peninsula still culturally fragmented.
Map of Western Mediterranean Resources
East - Dalmatia (former Yugoslavia, now Croatia, Serb Republic, Albania)
West - Corsica, Sardinia, the Balearic Islands, Spain Sicily and North Africa.
Peninsula possesses few natural resources.
What commodities were traded in the Roman Empire After Rome begins to expand, trade becomes important. What comes from where?
Trade routes in the Roman Empire All roads lead to Rome
Most authorities say the Neolithic Revolution in Italy occurred around
2500 BC.
It entered the Bronze Age around 1500 BC and had iron by 1000 BC.
However evidence from the Ice Man may make us re evaluate.
Though we may have to revise the dates back, it is believed the Latins came from the north into Italy at around the same time as the various Indo-European peoples entered Greece, between 2000 & 1000 B.C.
Were the Romans Etruscans? Explain. Map Mediterranean 650BC
Roman cities were occupied by the Etruscans from 616 till 510 BC however Roman culture was strongly shaped by the Etruscans. It was probably Etruscan rule that civilized Rome and gave it dominance and control over the other cities of the Latins - Latium.
Sometime after 800 B.C. the Greeks founded several city-states in the south of the Italian peninsula and in Sicily, and the Etruscans rose to power on the north western coast where they brought their culture to the Latin peoples settled in small villages along the Tiber River. Here, three centuries later, a prosperous urban center called Rome would emerge. Rome flourished under the Etruscans but the Latin population resented sovereign Etruscan rule and joined with other local tribes in a rebellion. The revolution of 510 B.C.E., which dethroned the Etruscan king marks the beginning of the Roman Republic. The Roman Republic continued until 31 B.C. when it was replaced by the Roman Empire that would last well into the fifth century C.E.
Lets look at who lived around the Romans and how they interacted.
The Latins' principal city was Rome, a small settlement on the Tiber river in central Italy squashed between the Etruscans in the north and Greek colonies in the south and various mountain tribes, such as the Umbrians and the Samnites, to the east. Under pressure from their neighbors, the Latins changed from simple farmers to hard-bitten warriors.
Where
was Etruria? Map Etruscan Cities
The Etruscans are interesting. There is much we don't know about them - their origins are obscure. Some scholars believe that they may have been part of the Sea Peoples. The (5th C BCE) Greek historian Herodotus wrote that the Etruscans migrated to Italy from Lydia (in Anatolia) in the 12th cent. B.C. to escape a severe famine. We don't really know.
At any rate, by 800 B.C., the Etruscans settled in what is now Tuscany, north of Rome, and rapidly developed a trading empire. Etruria had no centralized government, but rather comprised a loose confederation of city-states.
Etruscan wealth and power were in part based upon their knowledge of iron working and their exploitation of iron deposits that were abundant in Etruria. Much of the actual work in Etruria was done by the native population, who were subject to, though probably not slaves of, their conquerors; the Etruscan nobility formed an exclusive caste .
The Etruscan language cannot be classified into any
known group of languages.
The Etruscan alphabet is related to Greek, we know the sound value of the signs, but, except for a few words, we don't know anything about the vocabulary. The language seems to contain both Indo-European and non-Indo-European elements but it cannot be classified.
We have writings dating from the 7th cent. B.C. to the 1st cent. A.D.; most are brief and repetitious dedications.
One of the mysteries of Etruscan civilization is why the written record is so sparse and why the Romans wrote almost nothing about the Etruscan language or its literature.
In the 7th and 6th C, they reached the peak of their power, expanding southward, conquering Rome and the Italic peoples. During this period the Etruscans were a great maritime power and went west established colonies on Corsica, Sardinia, and on the coast of Spain. This put them into direct commercial competition with the western Greek colonies and with the Carthaginians.
Rome on the other hand was a sleepy little agrarian village which gradually grew into a city under Etruscan rule.
Map of Decline of Etruscan League
The drive for Roman expansion and acquisition of new territory was fueled by a growing population, the need for land grants for the plebeians, a competitive ethic among the leading families, and their need for property to give to their sons.
Who were the plebeians? Plebs were the general body of Roman citizens, as distinct from the patrician class.
Rome was able to expand, in part, because it was more politically stable than its enemies. Despite the social turmoil of the early republic, the Romans often settled conflict by compromise backed up by force.
The Romans adopted an aggressive military policy, but they were not strong enough to conquer the Italian peninsula immediately. After they deposed the Etruscan King it was nearly a century before they could cross the Tiber and invade Etruria.
In the early 4th C, after the Etruscans had been weakened by Gallic invasions and civil wars, the Romans attempted to beat them back. Slowly one Etruscan city after another fell to the Romans. In the Punic wars of the 3d cent., in which Rome defeated Carthage, the Etruscans provided support for Rome against their former allies. During the Social War (90–88 BC) of Sulla and Marius, the remaining Etruscan families allied themselves with Marius, and in 88 BC Sulla eradicated the last traces of Etruscan independence.
Etruscan Legacy
From the Etruscans, Romans learn how to use stone, drain marshes, build sewers, divine the future, phalanx formation, and the drive for expansion.
Early 4thC, Etruscans weakened by Gallic invasions and civil wars
The Social War (90–88 BC) of Sulla and Marius, 88 BC Sulla eradicated the last traces of Etruscan independence.
Gauls - Indo-European Celtic speakers in Germany and France around 1100 BCE.
The Celts introduced iron industries and the horse.
Spread to British Isles, France, Italy, Spain, Balkans, Macedonia, Anatolia.
By the 4thC BCE threatened by Germanic tribes, lost holdings in the north
Gauls sacked Rome ~390 BC
Like the Etruscans, Romans also faced invasion by the Gauls. We first find evidence of Gauls around 1100 B.C. in SW Germany and E France. They were a group of tribes speaking Indo-European Celtic languages. Armed with iron weapons and mounted on horses, they spread rapidly over Europe, crossing into the British Isles, moving S over France, Italy, and Spain, into the Balkans, fighting the Macedonians, penetrating into Anatolia where they raided Hellenistic cities. The Celts introduced the newly developed iron industries and the horse. Their wealth from trade and from raiding helped to maintain their dominance over Central Europe. By the 4th cent. BC they could no longer withstand the encroaching Germanic tribes, and they lost most of their holdings in the north and in W Germany. It was at this time that they invaded Rome.
The disastrous sack of Rome by the raiders from Gaul in ~390 BC could well have ended the city's history, even though patriotic fiction has since minimized the event. At that time many Romans argued that they should emigrate. But instead, they bribed the Gauls to leave with 1000 lbs of gold and rebuilt the city.
Between 800 and 500 BC, the Greeks established colonies in southern Italy and Sicily, called Magna Graecia,
In many ways the Romans were in awe of the Greeks. Conquered by the Etruscans, the Latins gained a hatred for monarchy and looked to Greek democracy as a model of political freedom. The Latins adopted Greek religion, worshiped Greek Gods (with Latinized names), and adopted many aspects of Greek Culture. When the Etruscan Empire fell apart, the Romans were quick to fill the political vacuum. The Romans, like the Greeks, saw military service and citizenship as inseparable.
Unlike the Greeks, the Romans did not deliberately temper the bloodshed in their battles. The Greeks fought in phalanxes, dense rows of infantry armed with long spears. Greek battles were basically huge rugby scrums, filled with pushing and shoving but rarely involving more than twenty percent casualties. The Romans main weapon was the far more effective - the Gladius, or short sword. The Romans fought battles of butchery and annihilation, and though their tactics were crude, their infantry was the best on Earth until the third century A.D.
The other major power in the west was Carthage. Carthage was founded in the 9th cent. BC by the Phoenicians as a trading colony. It developed its economy and power through commercial activity, expanding its trading empire throughout the western Mediterranean.
Who were the Phoenicians? Semitic speaking peoples of the Levant. Known as Canaanites until the Greeks renamed them Phoenicians in the 6th century after they started to trade with them. (Phoenicia is the Greek word for “purple” which comes from the purple dye that they made from sea shells and used to dye the famous Tyrian purple cloth which was traded extensively)
Excavations at Byblos have revealed that trade existed between Egypt and Byblos as early as c.2800 BC.
They traded from Anatolia to the Iberian Peninsula.
They sailed down the western coast of Africa, and possibly even rounded Africa and reached the East Indies
(see the two historic texts on the class website Ancient Page: Herodotus on Phoenician African coast voyage and African circumnavigation).
[What do we remember them for? Inventing alphabet. What was significant about the Phoenician invention? first alphabet. What other countries invented their own writing. Sumeria-cuneiform, Egypt-hieroglyphs, Han Chinese ideograms, Korea, Japan Kana syllabary. What is Cyrillic? Greek, Hebrew, and Arabic all have their own alphabets. As does Sanskrit. What alphabet do we use? Roman]
Principle towns are Byblos, Sidon and Tyre
although they also were in Jerusalem and Jericho until they were pushed west to the coast by the Hebrews around the time the Hebrews founded Israel and Judah.
[What were the differences between Israel and Judah? Israel worshiped multiple gods and Judah only one. But bear in mind if you read a good translation of the Bible it refers to God as Elohim, Yahweh and Adoni. El as in Elohim, Yahweh and Adonai as in Adonis were all different Canaanite Gods that the Hebrews rolled into one and said they were different names for the same God. In other words the Hebrews were not initially monotheistic and they worshipped the same gods as the Canaanites. **What language group are the Hebrews and the Canaanites?]
Tyre's principle colony was Carthage on the north coast of Africa near Tunis. It was founded in the 9th C BCE. at about the same time that Assyria expanded under Assurnasirbal.
[Who were the Assyrians? the people out of Mesopotamia that your book said were particularly cruel to the people they conquered. What other cultures were founded in Mesopotamia: Sumerian Babylonian Akkadian, Kassites. Were the Hittites Mesopotamians? no they came out of Anatolia but they adopted many aspects of Mesopotamian Culture.]
As cruel as the Assyrians reputedly were, it took the Assyrians 100 years to defeat the Hebrews and they never captured the Phoenician cities - perhaps because they needed the trade.
In the 6th cent. BCE., however, Phoenicia submitted to the more tolerant empire of the Persians, keeping their own autonomy but gradually they were absorbed into the Persian sphere. This decline, and expanded Greek naval power largely cut off the colonies in the western Mediterranean and left them on their own. Carthage became a colonial empire in its own right in the western Mediterranean.
The Development of Carthage
The Latin term for Carthaginians was Poeni, derived from the word for Phoenicians, from which derived the adjective Poenicus, or its variant Punicus (thus giving us 'Punic'). So when you read about the Punic wars it is Rome's war with the Phoenician Carthaginians.
In the early days of Rome, the commercial expansion of colonies from Carthage brought the Phoenicians into conflict with both the Etruscans and the Greeks, since all of them had commercial interest in the islands off the western coast of Italy like Sardinia and Corsica.
With the collapse of the Etruscans in the 4th century, Carthage was left to share the seas with Greece, its economy expanded and as a result it became very wealthy and powerful.
The Phoenician traders were not particularly interested in territorial acquisition or 'empire'; their towns were essentially trading posts. But the surrounding territories were exploited: Carthage came to exact heavy tribute from them, and forced them to supply troops. Carthage was more concerned to exact all it could from its possessions than to win their goodwill and co-operation.
Carthage was democratic as opposed to Oligarchic. There was a supreme council, with the executive in the hands of two annually elected officials, called suffetes. However they limited citizenship to Phoenicians.
Carthage relied for its defense mainly on its navy; for the army, in addition to troops pressed into service from subject territories, Carthage recruited large numbers of mercenaries, who made good soldiers but whose loyalty to the city they served was questionable
Although there must have been Carthaginian histories, they all gone presumably because of the Roman insistence upon stamping out every last vestige of Carthaginian life, after they won the Punic wars in 146 BC. We have no poetry or literature. Oddly, given the importance of wealth in the state, the Carthaginians were slow to begin coining money (around 410).
The Phoenicians and the Carthaginians in particular were reviled by the Romans and the Greeks. The cultural stereotypes was that though Carthage was wealthy and well governed. the Carthaginians were bejeweled, perfumed, effeminate, voluptuous, easterners.
It has not helped their reputation to have it confirmed, by the excavations on the site of Carthage itself, that the Carthaginians routinely performed human sacrifice; not only do inscriptions mention it, but numerous urns containing the burnt bones of sacrificial victims (some animal, some human) have been found.
They practiced the ancient rite of sacrifice of the first-born, both of humans and of animals. In times of crisis in particular the gods would get large numbers of sacrificial victims - mostly babies. In 310, after a disastrous defeat at the hands of Agathocles, the Carthaginians are supposed to have sacrificed 300 babies to Baal.
Remember our discussion of Abraham? Abraham means in Hebrew=father of many nations. In the Bible, Abraham was the progenitor of the Hebrews; in the Qur’an, he is the ancestor of the Arabs. He is important as the founder of Judaism. He was born in Ur in Mesopotamia, had a vision and emigrated to Egypt, left Egypt and ended up in the land of the Canaanites. There he had another vision where God told him to sacrifice his first born son. Moslems think that son was Ishmael - his true first born by a slave, Hagar. Whereas Jews and Christians think it was Isaac - the first born by his wife, Sarah. The Bible reviles the Canaanites for practicing human sacrifice but clearly the practice was conceivable for the Hebrews as illustrated in Abraham's case.
There is some evidence of human sacrifice associated with the Orphic and Dionysian Mysteries and the them is echoed in the communion meals of Mithraism, Zoroastrianism, Christianity, and many other religions of the ancient world. Nonetheless the only real archaeological evidence we have for human sacrifice is from the Carthaginians.
**[What was Zoroastrianism? What precepts were embodied in the Persian religion of Zoroaster ? The struggle between good and evil, evil people will go to hell, but if you are worthy of salvation after death you will find a wide road to the realm of light. In the final days a savior, Saoshyant, will appear, the dead will rise for their final reward or punishment, and good will reign eternally. Originally monotheistic the cosmology developed legions of good angels and bad angels battling it out and ended up incorporating various Persian deities. Obviously this religion influenced Judaism, and Christianity. Are there still Zoroastrians practicing today?]
At the height of its power, Carthage signed treaties with the Romans requiring that a Carthaginian be present for every commercial transaction that involved Romans in Carthaginian territories. This was to insure that Carthage received its percentage of all commercial business. That the Romans would agree to such terms shows their relative lack of interest in trade and their inferior power at the time of the agreement.
South of Rome was the Latin League, 30 cities that shared their language and religious festivals.
Rome dominated these cities and eventually made subjects of Latins and Etruscans.Conflict with the mountain peoples of central Italy, e.g. Sabini, Umbrians, Samnites, etc.
Separate tribes of the central and southern Apennines united militarily to oppose Roman conquest. Both the rugged terrain and the tough Samnite and Umbrian soldiers proved to be formidable challenges, which forced Rome to adopt military innovations that were later important for conquering the Mediterranean world. The Romans made their army more flexible by adopting javelins, using cavalry, and organizing the infantry in small groups (called maniples) which were superior in mountain fighting.
Romulus and Aneas
Traditional Founding of Rome 753 BC. Roman legends (in Virgil's Aeneid ) tell the story of Aeneas, a Trojan hero, who, after the fall of Troy, escaped first to Carthage and then to Italy, where he was said to have founded Rome. Aeneas may have been Etruscan.
Another tradition has it that the city was founded by Romulus and Remus, two royal brothers who had been set adrift in the Tiber River to die. They were suckled by a she-wolf until they were found. When they grew up, Romulus and Remus decided to found a city on the same location where the she-wolf had found them. But, in arguing over the name of the new city, Romulus killed Remus, and thus the city was named Rome in Romulus' honor. Rome is located on seven hills (Palatine, Capitoline, Quirinal, Viminal, Caelian, Aventine, and Esquiline) 15 miles from the point the Tiber River flows into the sea. It probably started as an agricultural village around 800 BC and did not thrive until it was conquered by the Etruscans.
Describe the Roman family-life. What was paterfamilias?
Roman mosaic showing the Latin poet Virgilius
Roman society based on Paterfamilias - the family governed by the father. The father's prerogatives were similar to the state's imperium.
Influence of Greek and Middle Eastern CultureDescribe Roman religion. Juno discovers Jupiter with Io
The indigenous Italic religion, which was the nucleus of the religion of ancient Rome, was essentially animistic. They believed that forces or spirits existed in natural objects: trees, streams, mountains, houses, hearths, fires, etc and that some of these spirits controlled human destiny.Before the rise of cities, the family and the household were the basic religious units. Everything vital to the continuance of human life had its spirit and a ritual for dealing with the spirit. To perpetuate the family, the Italian farmer made offerings to the genius of the family.
A genius was a guardian spirit of a man, a family, or a state. In some instances, a place, a city, or an institution had a genius. The genius of the paterfamilias was honored in familial worship as a household god and was thought to perpetuate a family through many generations. Your intellectual powers were attributable to your genius, so ultimately a person of achievement was said to have genius or to be a genius.
Vesta was the guardian spirit of the hearth fire and worshipped in every home. The lares a god of a place (home) and penates the god of the storeroom, were guardians of the house to whom offerings were made before each meal. Janus was worshipped as the guardian of the door.
To protect the boundaries of his property he honored Terminus. To insure an abundant harvest he held various festivals throughout the year. To placate the vampire like ghosts of the dead he made offerings to the lemures -also called larvae, and to the manes who were thought of more like the ghost of the ancestors, as well as the deities of the underworld. In performing these religious ceremonies the head of the family acted as the priest and was assisted by his sons and daughters.
When these families coalesced into tribes and then a state, the family cult and ritual formed the basis of the state cult and ritual. Vesta had a community hearth tended by vestal virgins, the penates a community storeroom, and Janus a holy door in the Forum.
Janus was the god of beginnings, the custodian of the universe. The first hour of the day, the first day of the month, the first month of the year (which bears his name) were sacred to him. His chief function was as guardian deity of gates and doors. The gates of his temple in the Roman Forum were closed in time of peace and opened in time of war.
Rome, which was theoretically one family, was ruled by its king, who was head of the family and chief priest. The king was assisted in his duties by his “sons and daughters,” the colleges of priests and priestesses. They elaborated and recorded the rituals necessary for the propitiation of the gods and regulated the state ceremonies and the ceremonial calendar.
The official clergy included the pontifex maximus [The head priest - always the emperor until the Christian era thereafter the Pope], the rex sacrorum [king of the sacred rites], and the vestal virgins.
Old Roman deities Jupiter, Mars and were equated with the Greek gods and accordingly endowed with their attributes and myths. Particularly important were Dionysus and Apollo. Epicureanism and the Stoicism influenced Roman religious thought.
Religious mysteries and the Middle Eastern cults: Great Mother (Cybele), Isis and Osiris, Sol, and Mithra.
In the last two centuries of the republic—when the old basis of Roman religion had lost much of its importance, and when the state had grown so massive and distant that its ceremonies failed to satisfy the populace—religious feeling rapidly degenerated. The people, needing a new and emotionally more satisfying religion, turned toward the religious mysteries and the Middle Eastern cults. The most prominent were those of the Great Mother (see Cybele), Isis and Osiris, Sol, and Mithra. Old Roman worship had been controlled, impersonal, and concerned with matters of the everyday world. The new cults, which centered around the individual, promised personal salvation and blessed afterlife.
Mithra was a Persian deity, the god of light and wisdom closely associated with the sun. His cult expanded through the Middle East into Europe and became a worldwide religion, called Mithraism. This was one of the great religions of the Roman Empire, and in the 2d cent. A.D. it was more general than Christianity.
Mithraism found widest favor among the Roman legions, for whom Mithra was the ideal divine comrade and fighter. They believed in a struggle between the forces of good and evil. Mithra represented the fearless antagonist of the powers of darkness.
The story of Mithra’s capture and sacrifice of a sacred bull, from whose body sprang all good things on earth, was a central cultic myth. The ethics of Mithraism were rigorous; including fasting and continence.
The rituals, highly secret and restricted to men only, included many of the sacramental forms common to the mystery religions (e.g., baptism, sacred banquet, promise of blessed immortality).
What do Roman curse-tablets for the reveal about their religious beliefs?
Highly superstitious, still believed in the power of individual spirits to intercede on their behalf.
The Creation of the Roman Republic: In 510 B.C. the Romans revolted against the Etruscans, overthrowing their monarchy and establishing an aristocratically-based Republic (a "thing of the people") instead.
Like the Americans' use of the acronym U.S.A. to stand for the country, the Romans used the acronym SPQR, (Senatus Populus Que Romanus: The Senate and People of Rome).
The acronym still exists, used by the city of Rome, but modern Italians outside of Rome have made a joke of it by saying it stands for Sono Porci Questi Romani "These Romans are Pigs."
When Rome conquered the Carthage, Macedonia, Greece and the Seleucids, did it extend its control to the former borders of these states? Compare the maps on page 150 and 131.
Describe the institution of slavery in Roman times.
Slavery was a misfortune that happened to some people. Slavery was not predicated on race, however conquered peoples were usually sold into slavery so there was an element of racism - slaves were non Romans pressed into service. Slaves were chattel - things - property and could be killed for not coming to the aid of their masters or tortured for various acts. It was accepted as a fact of life, a necessary way to get work done.
not a single written document but a set of traditional beliefs, customs and laws.
Patricians and Plebeians
In the early Republic, the land-owning aristocrats, the Patricians, had all the power and elected a Senate of one hundred (later 300) members to meet and advise. The Plebeians were commoners - consisting of adult males who could afford weapons. The Plebeian included some newly wealthy families. External marks of a patrician were a distinctive tunic and a shoe adorned with an ivory crescent.
How did praetors differ from consuls?
Consuls, Quaestors , Praetor, Censors = imperium
The Senate selected two of its members as chief magistrates to serve as Consuls for a one year term. The consuls commanded the army in battle, administered state business and supervised financial affairs - they (with the senate) ran the state. Before becoming consul a man generally had to have experience as quaestor and praetor. The minimum age for a consul was normally set at 40 or 45. Ex-consuls became provincial governors as proconsuls. Can you imagine what it would be like if we had a presidential election every year? It is amazing the Romans got anything done!
The Senate elected two financial officials called Quaestors to help the consuls manage the Republic's economic affairs.
They also elected two Praetor (judicial magistrates). The urban praetor (praetor urbanus), decided cases to which citizens were parties, and the peregrine praetor (praetor peregrinus) decided cases between foreigners. Upon taking office the Praetor issued an interpretation of the law. These interpretations acted to clarify areas where the law was vague. The urban praetor exercised the functions of the consuls in their absence and took over for the peregrine praetor when he was holding a military command. A principal duty of praetors was the production of the public games.
They elected two Censors that took the census (by which they assessed taxes, determined voting, and military service) and supervised public behavior. They also had charge of public works and filled vacancies among the senators and in parts of the military.
The Republic placed vast power in its executives (the imperium). Theoretically, the consuls' actions had to be approved by the Senate. In practice, however, the early consuls had near-despotic power. In times of crisis one of the consuls received six months of authority to govern as a dictator.
What was the difference between the ius civile and the ius gentium?
ius civile was law of citizens - body of law governing lives and relations of citizens - property, persons, reputations,
ius gentium was law of peoples - same thing but included foreigners (who had fewer rights but were interacting with citizens)
ius naturale was natural law. Under stoicism a concept that there is a universal law that applies to all people in all times and places.
There was a great deal of friction and antagonism between the patricians and plebeians in the history of the early Republic. The plebeians deeply resented the patricians' political power and advantages. Between 500 and 290 B.C. the plebeians gradually succeeded in winning a share of the power.
From c.508 B.C. the military tribunes (tribuni militum) were the senior officers of the legions, elected by the people and with the rank of magistrate; a plebeian could hold the position.
In 494 B.C., the plebeians won their first victory when the Senate granted the Tribes (areas of the city) the right to elect Tribunes (tribuni plebis) to represent the plebeians in disputes with patrician magistrates.
The tribune had the right to punish magistrates who disregarded their injunctions. Gradually the tribune gained the right to veto a decision of a magistrate and the right to prosecute corrupt magistrates before a public body. Under the empire the tribuneship was held by the emperors. This gave to the emperors few powers that they did not otherwise possess, but the tradition of the office as a defender of popular rights was useful to them.
471 created the assembly known as Consilium plebis which could meet and pass ordinances
445 lex Canuleia allowed plebeians and patricians to marry one another.
450 BC published the Law of the Twelve Tables (called this because the laws were written on wooden tablets), codified the oral laws - people's traditional rights. Later legal procedures were codified as well. Important because initially only patricians had knowledge of the law. Which makes sense since they invented it ...
- mandated guardianship (or tutelage) for all women because "light-minded"
- gave a husband the right to kill his wife if caught in adultery or drinking wine (!)
In 367 BC. after much agitation the Senate passed a law that at least one of the consuls had to be a plebeian
300 BC obtained priestly offices of the pontificate and augurship
In 287 B.C. the Plebeians won their most important victory: Acts (lex) passed by the plebian assembly - the Concilium were binding and not subject to the Senate's veto and,
the tribunes had the power to attend and convene the senate and to lay before it matters for consideration.
As the plebeians came to occupy more public offices, the tribune became less the champion of a class and more the representative of the individual over the state.
With the blurring of the distinction between the two classes, from this time the name plebs passed to the lowest ranks of the people.
Under the Republic, Rome began to expand. First they conquered the other Latin peoples, then the mountain tribes, the Etruscans and the Greek cities on the Italian Peninsula. Then they took over the western Mediterranean and finally the eastern Mediterranean.
Your book says they did not have a grandiose strategy for world conquest, that they often did not initiate military action and were reluctant to declare war. They just "responded to events". However they did express a strong need to dominate everyone around them and to eliminate any threat.
How did Rome's treatment of conquered people differ from Greece?
Its more than just scale - the polis always remained small, independent and in essence local. The Greeks set up colonies of Greeks in conquered territories. They extended Greek ideas - art, religion, philosophy, architecture - but never really changed the local people (aside from the ones they enslaved) - locals were always considered non Greeks - barbarians.
The Roman expanded not through colonization but through conquest. The Roman policy in subduing Italy and later the rest of the Mediterranean world was that of a master toward slaves. The Romans completely reorganized the governments of conquered people along Roman lines. They changed their subjects into Romans.
In what way did Rome succeed where the Greek Polis failed?
In what way was Roman expansion similar to Persian expansion under Cyrus? Like Cyrus and unlike the Greeks, the Romans proved generous victors. They shared with other Italian cities political power and degrees of citizenship but note this was originally just for other Latin peoples. While its allies were not given the right to vote or hold office, they were allowed to run their own local affairs. They remained second class citizens. Latin allies could gain full citizenship only by moving to Rome. Eventually Rome extended full citizenship to conquered peoples throughout the Empire. This gave Rome additional manpower and wealth.
How does that compare with the Hellenistic Kingdoms?
Why were there so many positions open to Greeks and Macedonians in the Hellenistic kingdoms? They wouldn't trust foreigners in government or in command in the military.
How did Rome's treatment of conquered people differ from Etruscans? Etruscans never extended citizenship though they did civilize the Romans.
How did Rome's treatment of conquered people differ from Carthage? the Carthaginians never extended citizenship - they exacted heavy tribute and pressed conquered peoples into military service. Rome invited foreigners into military service - as a result, in general, the foreign soldiers were more loyal.
The Sabines were ancient people of central Italy, centered principally in the Sabine Hills, NE of Rome. They were probably Oscan-speaking (Related to the Samnites). From the earliest days there were Sabine people in Rome. The story of the rape of the Sabine women to supply wives for the womanless followers of Romulus is a fable explaining this fact. Many Roman religious practices are said to have Sabine origins.
In the story is that the Romans asked the conquered Sabines to give up their daughters. They refused. Romulus, the legendary founder of Rome invited the Sabines to Rome for a religious festival and at a signal the Roman youths grabbed the Sabine women and took them. Afterwards they persuaded their captives to become their wives and bear their children.
What does this fable say about Roman attitudes toward their conquests?
Foedus Cassianum document describing a treaty of peace and friendship drawn up by Rome with the Latin league
What does this treaty say about Roman attitudes toward their conquests?
The Punic Wars (264-146 B.C.): Rome fought three wars against the north African kingdom of Carthage.
- The first war marked the first Roman involvement outside of Italy, and represents the beginning of the Roman conquest of the Mediterranean. It was a huge conflict that lasted for more than two decades.
- The second war was the hardest war the Romans ever fought and resulted in huge losses for the Romans in material and manpower. It devastated the country, and left the Romans bitter and seeking vengeance.
- In the third war the Romans completely obliterated their bitter enemy for profit and revenge.
The wars were decisive for the emergence of imperial Rome and the direction of western history.
Mamertine mercenaries called on Carthage to protect them from Syracuse; then called on Rome to protect them from Carthaginians. This led to war over control over Sicily.
During this war Rome built a fleet for the first time. Rome defeats the former Mediterranean sea-power, Carthage, at Mylae in 260 BC.
In 256 the Romans invade Africa but Carthaginians defeat them with the help of a Spartan general and the Romans withdrew.
Roman fleet destroyed in 254 BC by weather247 BC rebuilt Roman fleet defeats Carthaginian ships near Aegates islands.
241BC Carthage surrenders.
After 25 years of fighting, Rome forces Carthage to accept humiliating surrender terms: give up all claims to Sicily, keep fleets out of Roman waters, and pay a large fine.
In 238, Rome seizes Sardinia and Corsica and demand an additional war payment from Carthage.
Romans ultimatum to Hannibal, acknowledge Rome's interest in Spain and pay even greater reparations. Hannibal refused and the Second Punic War begin.
Rome controls seas. Hannibal leads 50,000 troops and 60 war elephants across the Alps into Po valley. Joined by 15,000 (50,000) Gauls. Invades Italy and has a string of successes. Strategy: separate the Latin allies.
Romans general Quintus Fabius stalls - avoiding pitched battles which he could lose. Hannibal ravages countryside for 10 years
Romans cut off Hannibal's resupply, invade North Africa. Hannibal recalled from Italy to protect Carthage. Hannibal defeated by the Roman general Scipio Africanus (202 BC). Carthage surrenders (201 BC).
The Second Punic War left Rome in control of the western Mediterranean. Rome brutally subjugated the Iberian people who had been so vital to Roman success in the second Punic War.
During the 2nd Punic War, Philip V of Macedonia had allied himself with Carthage. This provoked three eastern wars between the Macedonians and the Romans: (First Macedonian War, 215-205 B.C.; Second Macedonian War, 200-196 B.C.; and Third Macedonian War 171-167 B.C.) These wars had the net effect of extending Rome's influence to the east while bringing Hellenistic culture to Rome. Shiploads of Greek artifacts, and slaves who served as teachers and the interpreters of Greek culture, were brought to Rome during this period and after.
Carthage continued to be commercially successful and, though only a minor power, a source of irritation to Rome. The Romans were especially angry at the Carthaginians who had almost destroyed them. Despite the fact that Carthage lived up to the peace treaty, Rome's hatred of Carthage remained unshaken. Cato the Elder, a Roman Senator, exemplified this by ending every speech he delivered in the Senate--no matter what the topic--with the sentence: "Censeo Carthaginem esse delendam" or "I declare that Carthage must be destroyed."
Disputes with Rome's client king in North Africa, Masinissa, gave the pretext for the Third Punic War (149-146 BC), in which the Romans, led by the grandson of Scipio Africanus, Scipio the Younger, burned the city to the ground, went door to door and killed 700,000 of its inhabitants (the first recorded mass genocide and the worst until WWII) and sold the remaining 50,000 into slavery. The story that they salted the earth around Carthage so that nothing would grow is untrue.
The Decline of the Republic (146-30 B.C.):
What doomed the Republic?
1 the institutions of the roman state failed to meet the needs of the empire
2 the state lost control of the generals
3 soldiers put their faith in the generals not the state so they lost control of the army
Rome's expansion into a world power brought about a profound and permanent change in Roman life. Wealth and slaves flowed into Rome after the Punic Wars. Conquests in the Hellenistic Kingdoms brought in Greek influence changing the old ways.
But the new wealth was not distributed equally. Roman allies got less than the Romans even though they had fought side by side. And the Roman aristocracy largely controlled the new wealth. This contributed for calls for full Roman citizenship to be extended to people outside of Rome.
A requirement of being in the army was that one be a land owning citizen. The second Punic war lasted for 15 years and for much of that time the Carthaginian army and the Roman army were chasing each other up and down the Italian peninsula - the farms were destroyed and they could not be worked while the farmers were away at war. The vast influx of wealth from the newly conquered lands produced horrible inflation.
So, when the veterans returned home they were economically ruined. The traditional agrarian basis of Roman life was disrupted. Soldiers lost their land to the growing Latifundia (large, fortified, slave-run plantations owned by the aristocracy). (this answers the question What conditions contributed to the rise of latifundia?)
The small farmer, always the backbone of the state, now landless and jobless, flocked to the cities. They were dependent on wealthy urban patrons for support. The jobless in the city formed a dissipated mob which had to be bribed with "Bread and Circuses."
So other factors we can list that doomed the Republic are
4 conversion from an agrarian economy to one dependent on wealth being brought in through conquest.
5 conversion from self reliance to a slave economy
6 the economic basis for the masses destroyed as small farmers lost their land to Latifundia
7 all three of the above created massive unemployment
8 army was no longer citizen soldiers but paid professionals - often foreigners with different loyalties.
Interestingly, they did not blame the aristocracy for stealing their land or the influx of slaves for competing with the citizens for jobs or the loot and booty from their conquests for producing inflation. Instead they would say what doomed the empire was
moral decline - people took up foreign practices and were idle
Why did many Romans consider the growth of the Republic into an empire a misfortune?
It undermined the traditional values of simplicity, it made them weak, cowardly and immoral.
This attitude can be seen in the life of Cato the Censor, (Marcus Porcius Cato, 234–149 BC), a statesman and moralist who fought in the Second Punic War and later served as quaestor (204), praetor (198), consul (195), and censor (184). Renowned for his devotion to the old Roman ideals—simplicity of life, honesty, and unflinching courage, he detested luxury, extravagance, high culture and new customs. He affected a rustic appearance and rustic manners, however as a patrician he treated his servants harshly. He is the one who ended every speech he gave in the senate with the phrase, ' Carthage must be destroyed'.
What two attitudes represented trends in the early empire?
longing for the good old days of agrarian life
eager acceptance of Greek culture
Is it any wonder that people longed for the old days of agrarian stability before these outside influences came in and changed things?
For what is Cicero remembered?
Romans remember him as a patriot and a traditionalist. We remember him because he wrote well and advanced the ideas of stoicism.
Toward the end of the 2nd century, B.C., there was a renewed struggle between the aristocracy and the common people, who wanted some relief from their diminished economic conditions. Which resulted in the Social Wars between Sulla and Marius, ultimately bringing Julius Caesar to power as Dictator.
Under Caesar the Assembly possessed little power. He reformed the tax code and won popularity by easing the burdens of debtors. He ordered a commission to reform the calendar. The Julian calendar divided the year into 365 days with fourth year having 366 days. This system was not revised until 1582 when Pope Gregory XIII introduced the current Gregorian calendar. Catholic countries adopted the new calendar immediately, while protestant countries took until the 18th-19th centuries. However, the eastern, Greek Orthodox church refused to adopt the "papist" innovation until the 20th century.
Octavian wanted to avoid Caesar's fate. The secret of his success lay in his ability to maintain the outward forms of the republican government while quietly, and without alarming anyone, concentrating real power in himself. Instead of calling himself imperator (emperor), Octavian chose the more innocuous title of princeps (first among equals). The reality was that all effective political and military power rested in him: he was, in everything but name, a dictator. In 27 B.C., Octavian consolidated his position in a cleverly staged maneuver--he offered to give up his power! The Senate, swollen with Octavian's supporters, clamored for him to reconsider. The Senate handed him an overwhelming vote of confidence and a new title, Augustus ("most revered one"). In this way, Octavian secured a legal precedent for his autocratic ends.
In what way did Augustus fail to control the army? What were the implications of this for constitutional monarchy?Augustus made the army a permanent standing organization under his personal control. He also introduced the Praetorian Guard, a military unit designed to protect Italy. It had police functions, and worked as a bodyguard for the emperor. Since Augustus was strong, he could keep the Praetorians in line, but his later successors were unable to control them and they eventually became politicized and turned into kingmakers. They enthroned and deposed weak emperors at will. They were a major factor in the decline of the later Roman state.
Augustus ruled for forty-four years (31 B.C.14 A.D.). The length of his reign was in itself a remarkable accomplishment after the decades of civil strife. Augustus introduced a number of important government reforms which won him popular support. These included a new system of coinage; new public services within Rome (police and fire protection); a new system of tax collection; a policy which encouraged excess population to resettle in the provinces where they could receive farm land, and new building projects which included public baths and theaters.
Look at the Ara Pacis on page 160. What do you think the symbols in the sculpture represent to the Roman people.
Earth (Terra Mater) or Peace, with two babies. A figure to the left rides on a swan and symbolizes the air, while to the right, riding on a sea- monster, a figure symbolizes the breezes of the sea. Below are a sheep and a cow in the center, and a river (symbolized by an urn and reeds) to the left, and, to the right, the waves or the sea. The allegory depicts the fertility of Italy renewed by the Pax Augusta.
Other friezes show the armed war god Mars with his children Romulus and Remus
at the cave of the wolf that rescued the babies. And the other legendary
ancestor of Rome, Aeneas.
This 'Altar of Peace' was commissioned by the Senate in 13 BC to give thanks for
Augustus' gift of peace to the entire Roman world after the victories in Spain
and Gaul.
Both the mythological and historical reliefs present a clear message that is echoed in the altar's title: a new age of peace and fertility has been instituted in Rome by Augustus. Certainly this is an optimistic message, but also a propagandistic one, which is repeated in other monuments in Augustus' time it was nothing new for a Roman to publicize his own achievements what are significant are the scale on which Augustus does it the manner in which he proclaims his deeds through a combination of mythological symbolism and historical realism.
What parts of modern Europe never came under direct
Roman control?
Map Roman Empire
Iceland, Ireland, Scotland, parts of Germany, Scandinavia, Poland, Russia, the Baltic countries, parts of the Ukraine
What literary themes were common to Ovid and Virgil?
simplicity, pastoralism, nationalistic fervor for things Roman
What accounts for the successes of the "five good emperors"?
victory in war, war kept on the periphery on the frontiers, strong monarchy, effective administration, big growth of government bureaucracy, separation of administrative service from military service, a halt to further conquests
How did the emperors pacify the population of Rome?
free bread, oil, wine for citizens, low prices for grain for noncitizens, more bread and circuses
How did agriculture flourish under the "five good emperors"?
large tracts of land in newly pacified Britain, Gaul, and portions of Germany became available for cultivation, the "new" land was opened up for immigration, free farmers were encouraged with loans,
What factors contributed to the growth of trade at this time?
pirates were controlled shipping improved, trading opportunities increased so there were new markets for agricultural and produce manufactured products. Increased economic interdependency.
On what was the success of the Parthians based?
Trade and a monopoly on the silk road from China. The Parthians were famous horsemen and archers and were probably Scythians At its height, in the 1st cent. B.C., this empire extended from the Euphrates across Afghanistan to the Indus and from the modern Uzbekistan to the Indian Ocean. Defeated the Romans because of their superior archers and horsemanship.
How far did the Roman sea exploration extend?
East Indies
What crises beset the empire between the death of Marcus Aurelius and the reign of Diocletian?
civil wars, barracks emperors and barbarian invasion
What change did Diocletian institute to save the empire?
The 50 years of chaos and civil war ended when Diocletian (284-305 A.D.) was recognized as emperor by the army. To avert the collapse of the empire he stripped the Senate of most of its remaining powers, took the title of Dominus (lord), declared himself the sole ruler of the state, and adopted both a crown and a throne. He also ended all civil liberties and the Roman Empire became, in effect, a totalitarian police state.
To try to control the rising threat of Christianity, he called himself the elect of god - ruling because of God's favor.
He set up dioceses-small administrative units which were divided into provinces. The provincial governors were civil administrators and deprived of their direct military authority.
In spite of this trend, he was able to prevent the military from interfering in civil affairs; but, to keep them from revolting, he enlarged the army with more German barbarian recruits.
Diocletian instituted state control of the economy. He stopped the debasement of coinage which had caused inflation, but he created economic and social stagnation with two measures.
First, he initiated wage and price controls and adopted a system of uniform taxation so heavy that it retarded private initiative.
Second, he created a caste system of sorts, which froze all people in their current occupations. To prevent movement between occupations, sons were compelled to go into their fathers' line of work. Farmers were likewise bound to stay on the land, to pay their landlords a large part of their produce, and to provide certain services. These farmers were known, from Diocletian's time onward, as Coloni, or serfs, and the system eventually evolved into feudalism.
These actions delayed the fall of the empire, but it destroyed Rome' traditional social and economic flexibility. The resulting economic decline caused money to gradually disappear from circulation (replaced with barter) and international trade dried up.
And finally He divided the empire, created four rulers, two for each half. Diocletian believed that the empire was too large to be governed effectively by one man. He also wanted to set up an orderly system of succession. So his most famous act was his division of the Roman Empire into two parts--a western and an eastern half--each to be ruled separately. He became the emperor in the east, while Maximian was the ruler in the west. Both emperors would have vice-emperors who would succeed them.
map division of the Empire 400AD
economic, social and religious.
War and barbarian invasion destroyed agriculture base and trade and drained the treasury, monetary system collapsed, roads and sea lane travel became unsafe, people became serfs of land lords, social and professional mobility was restricted, Christianity and its anti intellectualism cut off access to past knowledge, and the divided empire was unable to repel barbarian invasions so the western empire collapsed into barbarian kingdoms.
official state religion full of ritual and grand spectacle but no emotional or spiritual comfort
traditional cults of hearth and countryside put people in touch with nostalgic past and with nature but were undeveloped as religion
mystery religions - exclusive to initiates these provided secret knowledge, dying god who was resurrected, some promised a messiah who would bring personal salvation, baptism, a the sacred banquet - sometimes involving the flesh and blood of god, promise of a better life in afterlife, some promised punishment for the wicked or non believers in hell - Christianity was one of the eastern mystery religions.
From the perspective of Pilate, why was Jesus killed?
To prevent a riot - maintain peace and order, prevent greater bloodshed from rioting Jewish factions
How did Paul of Tarsus' Hellenism affect his turning Christianity from a Jewish sect to a universal one?
Steeped in Stoicism and Epicureanism he advocated inclusion of all people in Christianity non Jews and Jews. He did not believe that non Jews were unclean. Hellenism's relatively more enlightened attitude toward women meant that women were especially receptive to the new religion.
In what way did Christianity give its believers a cause?
instead of the passive acceptance of the divine plan advocated by Stoicism or the passive search for serenity advocated by Epicureanism, Christianity gave believers the goal of striving for the triumph of Christianity on earth, to spread the Word, play a part in God's plan and a belief that everyone mattered, everyone's effort was important.
What does your book say about Roman persecution of Christians?
The Christians exaggerated it for propaganda purposes and most of the gory stories are untrue. Though Diocletian (and others) did persecute Christians as a state policy to try and appease the state Gods.
What was the pagan attitude toward Christianity?
thought they were atheists because they refused to worship the official gods and because they urged others to abandon the state religion, they were blasphemers. They thought it was a bizarre sect that involved cannibalism and other immoral and indecent acts. They thought Christians hated the whole human race, were unsociable, and subversive. Paganism was tolerant of a diversity of beliefs. Christianity was notoriously intolerant.
How did the East and West Roman empires differ in 500 AD?
The east was Byzantine, urban, sophisticated, and maintained trade. The west largely collapsed, became rural, rustic, trade collapsed and the focus was on agriculture. The gap between rich and poor increased but the west became relatively impoverished.
What changes in intellectual life occurred as a result of the rise of Christianity?
Christianity was anti intellectual. They closed the schools and forbade people to read pagan writers for fear they would learn superstitions. They went on rampages and destroyed the eyes and hands of classical artwork all over Egypt, the Near East, Anatolia, Greece and Rome because they were fearful of the evil eye and the secrete signs that they thought the pagan statues and paintings were making with their hands. They stamped out knowledge of science, geography, philosophy, history, engineering, drama, poetry - much of the high culture of ancient times. It is primarily through the efforts of Arabic and Persian scholars that much of the knowledge of antiquity was preserved from the depredations of the early and medieval Christians.
Movements of the barbaric tribes
Following Constantine's death, the empire was once again divided by rival emperors. This division grew so that by 400 A.D., there were two separate empires. In spite of its division, however, both halves--but particularly the western half--were compelled to contend with the increasingly disruptive movements of the barbaric German nomadic tribes. The western Germans included the Franks, Alemanni, Angles, Saxons, and Jutes; while the eastern Germans included the Visigoths, Ostrogoths, and Vandals. These people migrated into the empire in search of land, loot and adventure; but, they were also attracted by the comforts of the superior Roman civilization.
Germanization of the Roman Army and State: During the first three centuries A.D., the Germans were successfully held in check by the Roman legions on the frontier. As the empire weakened, however, it adopted the policy of settling the Germans on and within the frontier regions, where they were known as Foederati, or allies. They also made good soldiers--they could be disciplined and could withstand hardship. They were stationed along the frontier to defend it. However, so many were taken into the Roman army that they finally outnumbered the Roman soldiers, and thus German influence in the empire increased. These people took Roman names, adopted Roman ways, and some even held high office.
How Disruptive Were They? In this early period the German incursions weren't very disruptive. However, since the soldiers and officers stationed on the frontier shared an ethnic heritage with the barbarian invaders, they couldn't be expected to keep them out indefinitely. Therefore, at the end of the 4th century, when the trickle of Germans into the empire turned into invasion in full force, their presence ended up devastating the Western Roman Empire. The situation for the Eastern Empire was not nearly so bad.
Movements of the Steppe Peoples: The Germans were driven southwestward by the fierce hordes of Huns, a Turkic people originally from Central Asia. The Huns defeated the Ostrogoths, while the Visigoths applied to Rome for permission to settle within the frontier.
Sack of Rome When corrupt Roman officials attempted to collect taxes from them, the Visigoths, under Alaric (370-410), went on a rampage and sacked Rome in 410 A.D.
In 453, the Huns themselves, under Attila "The Scourge of God", invaded Italy and ravaged the countryside a second time, although they didn't get to Rome itself.
The Vandals, another Germanic people, followed the Huns into Italy, where they participated in another sack and looting of Rome in 455 A.D.
They took what they wanted and destroyed what they couldn't carry away. Their name has since come to mean "senseless destruction."
The Huns turned east to settle on the westernmost of steppes plains in the Balkans--Hungary. Which is why the Hungarians don't speak an Indo-European language.
By the end, the Western Roman Empire was but a shadow of its former self. Its emperors were nonentities and puppets, at best.
Map Ostragoth Invasion 490 AD
The western empire finally fell to the barbarians once and for all when the German general Odoacer deposed the last Roman emperor, a boy by the name of Romulus Augustulus in 476 A.D. He confiscated the imperial insignia and proclaimed himself king of Italy.