Roman Civilization

. Introduction - Arguably the greatest empire of all time! A. During the height of power, the Pax Romana, 100 million people of different races, faiths, and customs accepted the reality that there was one world, the Roman world, one law, the Roman law, and one capital, the city of Rome. A. Edward Gibbon, the author of The Decline and fall of the believed that during the time of the Pax Romana (27BC - 180AD) "the condition of the human race was most happy and prosperous." 0. The Pax Romana was the longest period of peace known to the . 0. Responsible for this long period of law and order were the invincible Roman Legions. . The Roman Character - Roman values can be traced back to their strong sense of family, and to the legends that Romans were taught. A. From the beginning, the family served as a strong concept of authority and seniority. The family was the basic unit of the Roman social system. 0. In the early days of the Roman Republic, the father, who served as the religious leader of the family, was the unquestioned authority figure of the family. In the early days, the Roman father had the legal right of life and death over his family! 0. Many examples where the Latin word for father appears. a. patres - senators a. patria - fatherland a. patrician - upper class (fathers of the society) a. pater familias - title of the head of the family a. - "father of his country" - a title of honor 0. Even today in Mafia circles the word father expresses authority. For example, the godfather! A. The Roman character as presented in the legends 0. Aeneas, the protagonist of Virgil's Aeneid, is the prototype of the stoic Roman hero. ("It is the nature of a Roman to do and suffer bravely." a. Tell briefly the story of the Aeneid. a. Aeneas' mission was to leave the burning city of Troy and establish a new city which was destined to rule the world. a. Juno, whose favorite city was Carthage, is determined to prevent the founding of Rome because she knows that the establishment of Rome means the ultimate destruction of Carthage (Historic basis - the destruction of Carthage in the Punic Wars). a. To prevent Aeneas from accomplishing his task, Juno allows Aeneas and Queen Dido of Carthage to fall in love in order to keep Aeneas from wishing to leave Carthage and thus carrying out his mission. a. Aeneas, however, abandons Dido and carries out his mission. He chooses responsibility to the group over his personal love for Dido. This is the theme and lesson of the epic! 0. Legend of Romulus and Remus

1 a. Romulus, a descendent of Aeneas, is the actual founder of Rome. Aeneas did not actually found Rome itself. He founded a city (legendary Lavinium) from which the ancestors of Romulus and Remus came. a. According to a legend, Rhea Silvia would give birth to a son who would overthrow a local tyrant. In order to keep Rhea Silvia out of circulation the local tyrant makes her a Vestal Virgin and isolates her from all men. Mars, however, is not dissuaded and fathers her twin children, Romulus and Remus. a. To save their lives, Rhea Silvia (like Moses!) sends her kids off down the Tiber River, where they are eventually found and nursed by a wolf, and later raised by a shepherd. a. Later Romulus, kills the tyrant as well as his own brother. a. Determined to establish a city of his own, Romulus leads a group of men to a site marked by seven hills. a. Since there was not much future for a city populated only by men, Romulus and his followers take the women that they need from the neighboring city of the Sabines (Rape of the Sabines). a. Point out that Mars, the god of war, was the father of the founder of Rome, and the surrogate mother was a wolf. Fitting parents for the founder of Rome, a city that through war and violence will eventually rule the world. 0. The legend of Horatio at the Bridge - a lesson in self-sacrifice for the good of the group. a. In this story of early Rome, Horatio tells his men that he will defend a bridge against the Etruscans, while they are to save themselves by destroying the bridge thus saving themselves but sealing Horatio's fate. a. According to the historian Polybius: Horatio "deliberately sacrifices his life, regarding the safety of his country and the glory which in future would attach to his name as of more importance than his present existence." 0. Horace's ode about Regulus a. Regulus was a Roman officer captured by the Carthagians in the Punic Wars. a. The Carthagians, who were weaker than the Romans knew, asked Regulus to personally bring a message of peace to Rome. He must, however, give his word of honor as a Roman officer that he would return to Carthage after delivering the Carthagian message. a. Regulus returns to Rome and tells the Roman Senate that they should not make peace, instead they should renew their war efforts because the Carthagians were close to defeat. a. Realizing that if the Carthagians ever got their hands on him, he would suffer terrible tortures, Regulus insists on returning to Carthage because he had given his word that he would return. a. Once again, Roman honor and responsibility are more important than personal happiness.

0. The legend of Cincinnatus - Republican virtues personified!

2 a. According to this legend, a delegation of Roman senators approaches Cincinnatus, a farmer, and offers him dictatorial powers for six months if he will take over the leadership of Rome during a period of crisis. a. Sixteen days later after having defeated Rome's enemies, Cincinnatus returns to his farm after having relinquished his dictatorial powers. a. This legend becomes very popular with the enemies of Julius Caesar, a man who was also given emergency dictatorial powers but, unlike Cincinnatus chose to keep those powers for life.

. The Roman Republic A. The Early Republic 0. The traditional date for the founding of Rome is 509 BC a. Rome, a city of Latin tribesmen, was ruled by Etruscan kings during the sixth century BC. a. In 509 BC, the Romans overthrew the Etruscans and established the Roman Republic. a. The new republic was an oligarchy ruled by the patricians, the land-owning class. a. The majority of the Romans belonged to the plebeian class. 0. The government of the early republic a. Patrician Class: Senate is made up of 300 patricians. a. The consuls (executive dept.) (a) The Senate chose two senators to serve as consuls. (a) Each consul had a veto right over the other. (a) In time of crisis, however, the consuls were replaced by a dictator, who had absolute military power for six months. Ex. Cincinnatus & Julius Caesar (a) The Plebeians met in assemblies but had no real power compared to the patrician Senate. Plebeians were forbidden by law to intermarry with the patrician class. a. S.P.Q.R. - the Senate and the people of Rome. (Senatus Populusque Romanum) (0) It was customary in Rome to indicate that great public works were built in the name of the Senate(Patrician class) and the people(Plebeian class). Thus these letters, S.P.Q.R. were found on most of the great Roman building projects . a. The Tribunes - the first breakthrough of the Plebeian class in their struggle for power. (0) The Tribunes were plebeians who were allowed to sit in the Senate and defend plebeian rights. (0) The tribunes (protectors of the people) could not take part in debate or vote, but they had the right to say veto ("I forbid") when they wished to prevent a measure from being passed by the Senate. (0) Another important breakthrough: The Laws of the Twelve Tables. Bronze copies of these laws were posted in the Forum for all to see! (The right to have laws put in writing.

3 (0) In time, Plebeians won the right to marry into the Patrician class, and eventually Plebeians became Senators and even Consuls. (0) By 287 BC, the Plebeian Assembly had become a popular assembly for the entire state. (0) Unfortunately, the Assembly became a rubber stamp for the Senate in the later days of the Roman Republic. 0. Roman Military Power a. The Roman talent for organization was most spectacularly seen in their awesome military power. a. The invincible Roman war machine (0) The legions were a mobile striking force that could march 24 miles in 5 hours, each man carrying a 60 lb. pack on his back. (0) Absolute discipline ! After finishing the day's march, the soldiers first had to dig a moat around the camp, cut trees and set up a palisade, and only then could they begin to cook their meals and prepare to rest. (0) Roman engineers were capable of destroying the walls of any city. (0) The Roman road system allowed the legions to travel quickly to all parts of the empire. 0. Roman Expansion - the conquest of the world a. Rome systematically conquers its Latin neighbors. (0) Rome did not allow any of its neighbors to have treaties. (0) All treaties had to be exclusively with Rome itself "Divide and Conquer." a. Conquest of Magna Graecia in Southern Italy (Greek colony!) (0) The Greeks "hire" a Macedonian adventurer to come with his army and his war elephants to stop the Roman expansion. (0) Pyrrhus, initially successful, suffered tremendous losses in his battles against the Romans, and realizing that he could not continue to accept such losses insisted that one more such victory and all would be lost. The Pyrrhic victory! 280 BC a. The Punic Wars 264-146 BC Three great wars with Carthage for mastery of the Mediterranean world. (0) . First Punic War (a) . The Roman's, supreme on land, learns to fight against the mighty Carthagian navy. (a) . The prize of victory was Sicily, a former colony of Carthage. (0) . Second Punic War (a) . It is in this war that the Carthagian military genius, Hannibal, brings fear to the Romans. (a) . Hannibal crosses from Spain (Carthagian colony) to Italy via the Alps, one of the most famous military feats of all times. Hannibal was a military genius equal to Alexander the Great.

4 (a) . Hannibal arrives in Italy and defeats every Roman Army sent against him. The Romans learn to fear Hannibal. Hannibal, ante Portas! (Hannibal is before the door!) (a) . Battle of Cannae, Hannibal's greatest victory (216 BC)! ) a text book victory (still studied today in West Point etc.) in which a relatively small force of Carthagians inflicted on the Romans their greatest defeat. ) . In order to finally get Hannibal out of Italy, Scipio the Elder (Africanus) opens a second front in Africa, and defeats Hannibal at the Battle of Zama. As the victor over Hannibal, Scipio is given the honorary title Scipio Africanus!. End of the Second Punic War (202 BC). ) Anecdote! After his defeat, Hannibal attempts to flee the wrath of the Romans. No matter where he went, however, the Romans pursued him. Finally, after having fled as far as Turkey, Hannibal realizing that the Romans will never give up until he has been captured, decides to commit suicide, ) The last words of Hannibal:" Let us relieve the Romans from the anxiety they have so long experienced, since they think it tries their patience to wait for an old man's death." Died by his own hand in Turkey at the age of 67 (184 BC). (0) . The Third Punic War (a) An unnecessary war! For all practical purposes, Carthage was no longer a threat to Rome. The Mediterranean was now what the Romans referred to as “Mare Nostrum” (Our Sea). Later, Mussolini, the Italian dictator, will use this same expression in his empty boasts! (a) A group of Roman senators , however, led by Cato the Elder, insisted on the total destruction of Carthage. Every speech that Cato made on the floor of the Roman Senate (regardless of subject!) ended with the statement: "Et Cartago delenda est!" And Carthage must be destroyed! Finally, the Romans declared war on the Carthagians and the Third Punic War was begun. (a) Carthage was easily defeated, (146 BC) Rome did to Carthage after the war gave the world a new expression, a Carthagian Peace (extremely harsh peace terms). ) The entire city was burned (the fires were kept burning for 16 days). ) The farm land surrounding the city was sprinkled with salt. ) An official curse was leveled on anyone who would attempt to rebuild the city. ) North Africa now became a Roman province. a. The Problem of Land Distribution - a problem the Romans never solved and which would lead to the fall of Rome.

5 (0) As the Roman Legions went on to conquer the rest of the western world, enormous wealth began to pour into Rome. (0) The rich became richer (and fewer) and the poor became poorer (and more). (0) The rich absentee land lords accumulated enormous amounts of land, the Latifundia system) in which slave labor was used on a large scale. (0) The working father, the farmer-soldier, who represented the backbone of the invincible Roman Legions, could not compete. (a) Legionnaires returned from victories abroad only to find that their farms had been taken over by the rich absentee land lords. (a) This situation is similar to that of the small farmers of the Ante-bellum South, who were unable to compete against the large plantations with their slave labor. This situation is true today in many south American countries which still use the Latifundia system. (a) Unable to compete, the working farmer moved to the city, where the urban poor increased in number drastically. ) Eventually, 80% of the Roman population was made up of slave laborers, or people subsisting on welfare. Remarkable parallels with today! Famous slave rebellion led by Spartacus ) Rome's welfare system was characterized by the expression "bread and games." To control the disenfranchised and unruly urban masses, Roman politicians promised them bread (dole system) and games (great spectacles were held in such places as the Colosseum to entertain the masses. (a) Plutarch's comment on the welfare system in Rome: "The man who first ruined the Roman people was he who first gave them treats and gratuities." (a) Compare Cincinnatus, who represents all that was good about the Roman farmer-soldier with the disenfranchised Roman farmers of the later Republic. a. The Gracchi - champions of the dispossessed. (0) Two brothers from the Patrician class fight for the rights of the underclass. (0) Tiberius Gracchus' famous description of the plight of the poor: "The beasts of the field and the birds of the field have their holes and their hiding places, but the men who fight and die for Italy enjoy only the light and the air. Our generals urge their soldiers to fight for the graves and shrines of our ancestors. The appeal is idle and false! You cannot point to a paternal altar. You have no ancestral tomb. You fight and die to give wealth and luxury to others. You are called the masters of the world, but there is not a foot of ground that you can call your own." (0) The Reforms of Tiberius Gracchus (a) Tiberius proposes a law which would divide farm lands gained in war among out-of-work farmers. (a) He also proposes a limit on the amount of land any one person could own.

6 (a) The Senate's answer! Tiberius Gracchus and three hundred of his followers were murdered! (a) Years later, Gaius Gracchus attempts to take up his brother's fight for the rights of the poor. He is driven to commit suicide by the Senate!

a. Civil War and the Time of the Generals (0) The reforms of the Gracchi was the last chance to save the Republic. (0) Political and social chaos breaks out in Rome. (0) Arrogant, ruthless people leading professional armies, loyal to them rather than to the state restore order to Rome (Marius, Sulla, Pompey, Julius Caesar). a. Julius Caesar, one of the most controversial figures in history. (0) Was Julius Caesar a power-hungry tyrant or was the good of Rome his intent? (0) A great military leader! His conquest of Gaul is described in his Commentaries on the Gallic Wars, a masterpiece of concise and lucid Latin. (0) Ordered by the Senate to remain in Gaul, Julius Caesar orders his army to cross the Rubicon and seize control of Rome. Said when asked to, “The die is cast.” (0) Caesar declares himself dictator of Rome for life! (Compare to Cincinnatus!) (0) A group of 60 assassins murder led by Marcus Brutus murder Caesar on the Ides of March. (44BC) Julius Caesar’s famous question to Brutus as he is stabbed, “Et Tu Brute?” Shakespeare’s Julius Caesar (0) Civil war breaks out again! Marc Anthony and Octavian, the nephew of Julius Caesar versus Marcus Brutus and Cassius. March Anthony and Octavian defeat Brutus and Cassius at the Battle of Philippi (42 BC). a. Octavian and March Anthony divide the world between them. (0) Octavian becomes the ruler of the western part of the Roman Empire (including the city of Rome). (0) March Anthony becomes ruler of the East (including Egypt). (0) Octavian prepares for the inevitable struggle with March Anthony. (0) March Anthony meets Cleopatra, falls in love, and forgets that he must eventually fight with Octavian for supremacy. (0) At the Battle of Actium, a sea battle in which March Anthony is defeated and Octavian becomes the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. (0) March Anthony flees to Egypt where he and Cleopatra commit suicide. (a) March Anthony, who had abandoned his fleet before the end of the battle, chooses the death of a Roman. He falls on his sword. (a) Cleopatra, according to tradition, allows herself to be bitten by an Asp.

. The Roman Empire-the Republic is replaced by the Empire. A. Octavian becomes Caesar, the first Roman Emperor 0. The Augustan Age (27BC-14AD) - Rome's Golden Age a. Virgil is persuaded by Augustus Caesar to write the Aeneid, in order to extoll Republican virtues.

7 a. Horace's poetry also praises the virtues of moderation, the Roman qualities of quiet toughness, etc. "Dolce et decorum est pro Patria mori" (It is sweet and glorious to die for one's country.) a. Ovid a. Livy, the great Roman historian a. Augustus rebuilds much of Rome. "I found Rome a city of brick and left it marble." a. Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus! a. Jesus died during the reign of Tiberius, ( 14 AD-37AD) the successor of Augustus. a. The Pax Romanum - for almost 200 years the 100 million people living within the borders of the Roman Empire knew no wars (just beyond the border, however, there were constant brush fires, but no major wars.)! The Roman Legions were in control. The northern border was protected by the limes, a wooden wall (palisade) and moat that stretched from the Rhine River to the Danube River. In England, there was Hadrian's Wall, which stretched across the wasp waist of England. 0. Good Emperors and Bad Emperors a. Caligula, the successor of Tiberius, was one of the worst of the emperors. (0) Probably insane! (0) Committed incredible crimes! (0) Loved horse racing, and once invited the leading families of Tome to attend a banquet in honor of his most famous race horse (Old Dobbin sat at the head of the table munching his oats!). (0) Claimed that he was having an affair with Diana, the moon goddess, and claimed that he, too, was a god. As audible evidence of his affair with Diana, he had a machine built which could reproduce the sound of thunder. An insomniac, he would wake the city up with the sound of thunder from his thunder machine. (0) In time, Caligula's madness went too far and his personal bodyguard, the Praetorian Guard, murdered him. a. Caligula's successor was a man whom the Praetorian Guard found hiding under a table in the palace during the time that Caligula was being murdered. As a joke, Claudius, the man hiding under the table was named emperor by the Praetorian Guard. Surprisingly, this rather scholarly man proved to be an able ruler. Unfortunately, his wife (Agrippina), poisoned him so that her son by another marriage could succeed to the throne. This man was the notorious Nero. a. Nero, too, was probably insane! (0) In gratitude for his mother's help in becoming emperor, Nero threw Agrippina into the Bay of Naples. When to his surprise, she did not drown, but managed to swim to the shore, Nero and his friends pursued her and stabbed her to death. Party Games! (0) Later Nero murdered his wife, and married his mistress, whom he later kicked to death in a fit of temper. (0) Nero considered himself an artist. One of his projects was to rebuild the city of Rome. Nero supposedly ordered large sections of the city burned so that he

8 could rebuild it the way he thought fit. "Nero fiddled while Rome burned." Urban renewal Roman ! (0) The story about Nero fiddling while Rome burned is probably not true (He actually did much to put the fire out!) but the people of Rome blamed him. To find a scapegoat and get himself off the hook, Nero blamed the Christians, and began the first of the persecutions of the Christians (64 AD). (0) Nero eventually committed suicide. a. Discussion! How would Thucidides ("Power corrupts, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.") have explained the insane antics of Caligula and Nero? a. Marcus Aurelius, a true Philosopher King (0) A truly good emperor! Gibbon says of his reign that it was a period "in which the happiness of a great people was the only object of government." (0) Gibbon's description of life within the borders of the Roman Empire: Neither sea nor land is any bar to citizenship, and Asia is treated exactly the same as Europe. In your empire, every avenue of advancement is open to everyone. No one who deserves office or responsibility remains an alien. A civil world- community has been set up as a free republic, under a single ruler, the best ruler and teacher...of order. From Rome, the center, there emanates throughout the world a security that rests on a power compared with which the walls of Babylon were mere child's play and women's work. All depends on the legions, who assure the perpetual peace, because Mars, whom you have never slighted, dances his ceaseless dance upon the banks of the outer rivers (Rhine, Danube, Euphrates) and thus averts the shedding of blood. (0) Discussion! Compare this description of the Pax Romana with the Hollywood picture of life in the days of the Roman Empire. (0) Marcus Aurelius, one of the good emperors, was one of the world's great philosophers. He was the author of Meditations, one of the "100 great books of Western Civilization." (0) He spent most of his time on the northern border defending the Limes against the growing encroachments of the Germanic tribes. True to his Stoic philosophy, Marcus Aurelius, a frail man, did his duty like a soldier, rather than spending his life in luxury in a pleasure palace. a. After Marcus Aurelius, the Pax Romanum comes to an end, and a century of decline begins. (180-284AD) a. Constantine the Great (306-337 (0) Under the increasing threat of barbarian invasions, Constantine divides the empire into two parts (easier to manage) and creates a second Rome in the Greek city of Byzantium. This city is named after him, Constantinople! (0) Constantine becomes the first Roman Emperor to become a Christian (This is why he is called the "great"). a. The Byzantine Empire (0) After the fall of western Rome, Constantinople, the capital of the eastern Roman Empire becomes the center of the Byzantine empire.

9 (0) The Byzantine Empire is a continuation of the Roman Empire. (0) Latin is gradually replaced by Greek (0) Whereas, the city of Rome first fell to the Germanic barbarians in 409 AD, Constantinople will continue to be the greatest city of the western world until 1453, when it finally falls to the Turks and is renamed Istanbul.

A. Philosophy 0. Unlike the Greeks, the Romans were not a philosophical people. a. The Greeks were known as the intellectuals of the ancient world, the Romans were the engineers of the ancient world. The Roman Patricians sent their sons to Athens to be educated. a. Discussion! What is an intellectual? What are intellectual pursuits? What is the difference between an intellectual and an engineer? (0) You might make an analogy between the Greeks and a liberal arts education. For example, Princeton University has traditionally been a center for the study of pure math or theoretical math. Engineering schools (West Point, Annapolis) concentrate on applied math. Thus a Greek of the 5th century BC would have been attracted to Princeton (and Einstein!); whereas, a Roman would have been attracted to an engineering school. (0) The Greeks believed that it is better to know than not to know; the Romans were interested only in things that had an immediate, practical purpose. 0. Roman philosophy can be traced to the Greeks. The two most popular philosophies of Rome were Epicureanism and Stoicism, both of which originated in Greece. Both Epicureanism and Stoicism are concerned with finding an answer to the following question: "How can man be happy in a world of suffering"? Epicureanism: Pleasure is the beginning and end of the blessed life. ) Hedonism-the single-minded pursuit of sensual pleasures. If it looks good, smells good, tastes good, feels good, or sounds good it is good! a) Certainly going to a party (October Fest) can bring much initial pleasure. a) The rub! The headache the next morning! Etc. a) Because an up is always followed by a down, Epicurus maintained that the pursuit of intense physical pleasure will not answer the question: "How can one be happy in a world of suffering? a) Think of examples of initial happiness and eventual pain. High school affairs! Political careers! Etc. ) The key to happiness according to Epicurus is the avoidance of pain rather than the pursuit of pleasure! For Epicurus the summum bonum (greatest good) is prudence "The greatest good of all is prudence." ) Thus Epicurus would not advocate going to the October Fest because the initial pleasure of getting smashed will be followed by they pain of a hangover.

10 ) Epicurus would not advocate marriage. The pleasures of the honeymoon and the first years of marriage will inevitably followed by periods of pain. The compromises that all marriages demand. Selfish children. Divorce! Etc. ) Epicurus discourages political careers. The initial joy of winning an election will be followed by the pain of public life. ) Discussion! What are the shortcoming of such a philosophy? In Rome, many of its most talented people chose to follow this philosophy and "drop out" rather than concerning themselves with the problems besetting Rome. ) The most famous of Roman epicurean philosopher was Lucretius, who was the author of De Rerum Natura (On the Nature of Things). (Remember, Epicurus was a Greek!) Epicureanism attraced many famous Romans including the one of the greatest of the Roman poets, Horace. ) The appeal of this philosophy for the Romans was its practical nature.

) Principles of Epicureanism: Pleasure is the beginning and end of the blessed life,(1)Always aim at equilibrium, (2)long-term happiness (absence of pain!) is superior to short-term pleasure, the greatest good of all (summum bonum) is prudence,(3) "even love, marriage, and parentage are not necessary; they bring us fitful pleasures, but perennial grief,(4)"Eat little for fear of indigestion; drink little for fear of the morning after; eschew politics and love and all violently passionate activities; do not give hostages to fortune by marriage and having. Above all live so as to avoid fear." (0) Stoicism (a) A forerunner of Stoicism and a philosophy to which many Stoic ideas can be traced is Cynicism. ) The essence of Cynicism is to reduce the things of the flesh to bare necessities in order to remain free! ) Discuss! "I do not possess in order not to be possessed." a) The most famous of the Cynics was Diogenes, who lived the philosophy completely. a) He lived the natural life of a dog. He slept on the ground, ate what he could find wherever he found it, performed the duties of nature in the sight of all. He refused to recognize laws and considered himself a citizen of the world. a) For a time, he lived in a barrel (Huckleberry Finn?). a) Sometime went about with a candle or lantern saying that he was looking for an honest man. a) Anecdote! Alexander the Great's famous encounter with Diogenes at Corinth.

11 a) Summary: Cynicism is a back-to-nature philosophy that can be traced to Rousseau, Thoreau, and the Hippies of the 60's. (a) Stoicism, too, attempted to deal with the problem of how to achieve happiness in a world of suffering. ) Zeno, the Greek founder of Stoicism, believed that man has no control over his fate. The only freedom that man has is how he reacts to the inevitable. Suffering, however, is not caused by events, but by our reaction to these events. Thus the Stoic develops Stoic apathy (Apatheia) in the face of pain or suffering urges himself to endure with equanimity whatever may come his way. ) Epictetus, a Roman slave and Stoic philosopher. a) Epictetus believed that to let another person disturb your mental equilibrium is to offer yourself in slavery to him. a) Anecdote!: Epictetus, ordered by his slave owner to do something that he did not want him to do, refused. The slave owner ordered Epictetus' arm to be twisted until he did as he was ordered. Epictetus, however, steadfastly refused to comply, and so the guards kept twisting his arm to the breaking point. Just as the arm was about to break, Epictetus, quietly and serenely, informed the slave owner that his arm was about to break. The guards continued, however, to exert pressure on his arm when suddenly there was a loud crack as the bone in Epictetus' arm broke. Once again with absolute said, "See, I told you so!" Epictetus wrote The Discourses: On metaphysics . . . "What do I care whether all existing things are composed of atoms . . . or fire and earth? Is it not enough to learn the true nature of good and evil?" On Epicureans . . . "They are to be condemned for detaching men from public affairs and service; the good man will take his part in civic affairs. But he will accept with all equanimity all vicissitudes of fortune)poverty, bereavement, humiliation, pain, slavery, imprisonment, or death; he will know how to endure and renounce.

"Never say of anything, 'I have lost it,' but only 'I have given it back.' Is your child dead? It has been given back. Is your wife dead? She has been returned. 'I have had my farm taken away.' Very well, this, too, has been given back. So long as God gives it to you, take care of it as something not your own . . . ." Alas, that I should be lame in one leg!" Slave! do you then, because of one paltry leg, blame the universe; will you not make a free gift of it to the whole? . . . . I must go into exile; does anyone keep me from going with a smile, serene? . . . . "I will throw you into prison." It is only my body you imprison. I must die; must I then die complaining? These are the lessons that philosophy ought to rehearse, and write down daily, and practice . . . . A platform or a prison are places, one high, the other low; but your moral purpose can be kept the same in either place.

a) Any person who succeeds in angering you becomes your master!

12 a) Marcus Aurelius in his Meditations tells his reader that he must endure with equanimity whatever may come his way: “Each task from hour to hour performed as though it were to be his last, free from passion, insincerity, self-love, discontent...offering to God who is within thee a manly being, a citizen, a soldier at his post, ready to depart from life as soon as the trumpet sounds.” a) Stoic principles: (1)In order to become free, it is necessary for you to extinguish your desire for all things,(2) accept what cannot be changed,(3)no one has power over another's will unless he consents, which he should never do, but rather remain an independent spirit,(4)the secret of dying is to be "like a man who gives up what belongs to another." a) Discussion; The ability to withstand suffering was an important element in the success of the Roman Legions (ex. Marines etc). On the other hand, Stoicism taught one to accept problems, but not to search for a cure for those problems.

A. Classical Culture (a blend of Greek and Roman Civilizations 0. Roman Contributions a. Roman Law - the basis for the law of much of western Europe goes back to its provisions. The same organizational genius that allowed the Romans to conquer and administer their huge empire is reflected in their highly organized law code. a. Roman Law: perhaps their greatest achievement. Roman law is the basis of most of the world's law codes. a. Latin: the Roman alphabet is the most widely used in the entire world, ) Literary Latin - used and preserved by the Roman Catholic church. ) Vernacular Latin - develops into the Romance languages (French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, Romanian, etc. a. Roman Engineering: (0) City planning, aqueducts, stadiums, forums, etc. (0) Roman Road System: 50000 mile network of paved roads. Highway patrols, stables every ten miles, an inn every thirty miles. Not until the 19th century would traveling be safer and easier. Via Appia 1. First and most famous of the Roman roads (first paved road!) A. The Via Appia led south , passed by Naples, and finally ended in Brindisi on the west coast of Italy. B. Roman imperialism could only succeed if the far corners of the empire could be reached quickly. C. the Imperial Postal Service with its light two--wheeled chariots could cover 124 miles a day! D. If all Roman roads were placed end to end, their combined length would reach around the circumference of the earth ten times.

13 (0) Preservation of Greek culture. Rather than stamp out Greek culture, the Romans recognized the value of Greek civilization and preserved and added to it to their own needs. a. Famous Works of Literature (0) Marcus Aurelius - Meditations (0) Julius Caesar - Commentaries on the Gallic Wars (0) Virgil - Aeneid (0) Plutarch - Parallel Lives (Plutarch's Lives), 46 biographies of famous Greeks and Romans. (0) Tacitus - Germnania, a history in which Tacitus deliberately praises the Germanic barbarians in order to point out to the Romans their own shortcomings. (0) Livy - From the founding of the City, a history of the city of Rome (0) Cicero - Speeches, Letters, and Essays famed for their polish. Cicero, a stoic, was a famous orator and intellect. (0) Horace - poetry. (0) Ovid - poetry D. The supreme legacy of Classic Civilization 0. Greek philosophy and science 0. Greek and Roman Democracy 0. Christianity 0. Roman Law Alternative: Greece: philosphy, democracy, science Rome: law, engineering Judaism: Monotheism Christianity: the Christian ethic D. The four developments listed above are alive and well today. For example, Christian churches are to be found all over the world. Roman law is the basis of many of the world's law systems to this day. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotle are still vital to the study of philosophy. Euclidean Geometry is still a part of every high school curriculum, etc.

14 The Fall of Rome and the Beginning of the Age of Faith

I. Fall of Rome and the End of the Classic Civilization of Greece and Rome.

A. Why did the Roman Empire fall?

1. What would Thucydides have said? a. History repeats itself because human nature is a constant. b. Power corrupts (...And absolute power corrupts absolutely)!

2. Rome became tired! For a thousand years, the entire western world had been under the control of Rome. A mature, somewhat decadent, civilization fell to simpler people of primitive background (the barbarians!).

3. Gibbon, the author of The Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire, believed that Rome lost its empire when it replaced the old Roman ethic of self-sacrifice for the good of the state (“dulce et decorum est pro Patria mori”—it is sweet and honorable to die for one’s country”) with the Christian ethic (“The meek shall inherit the earth”). Remember the legends that taught the Roman ethic—Horatio at the Bridge, Regulus, who accepted torture and death at the hands of the Carthagians rather than break his word as a Roman officer, etc.!

B. The Age of Great Migrations 4th Century AD

1. The 10,000 mile border marking the Roman Empire had been under great pressure for centuries. A particular danger were the Germanic tribes which had been steadily moving from northern Europe towards the south and exerting increasing pressure on the Roman borders.

2. The “trigger” that set off the Germanic invasions of Rome was the coming of “true” barbarians, the Huns. a. The Huns, under their leader Attila, came out of central Asia and terrorized the Germanic tribes. Ever since then, the name Hun brings to mind destruction and savagery.

b. In order to avoid doing battle with the Huns, the Germanic Visigoths chose to invade the Roman Empire. (The Huns swept on into what is now France bringing with them terror and destruction. When their famous leader, Attila, died the Huns packed up their tents and returned again to central Asia and disappeared from history.)

15 c. The Battle of Adrianople is one of those pivotal battles which had an enormous impact on history. It was a last attempt to prevent the destruction of the Roman Empire. (1) As a result of this battle in which the Visigoths decisively defeated the Roman army, all of the Roman Empire was now unable to stop invasion by the Germanic tribes. The Goths employed a mounted cavalry to overcome the no longer invincible Roman Legions. (2) The Visigoths under the leadership of the famous Alaric invaded Italy and in 410AD sacked Rome, the eternal city had fallen!! A traumatic event in world history! (3) From this point on, the city of Constantinople safe behind its massive walls, becomes the new Rome. d. Following in the steps of the Visigoths, other Germanic tribes began to move into what was once the Roman Empire. Note! These so-called barbarians were relatively civilized. Many of them such as Alaric and Theodoric had served in the Roman Army and were educated men, especially Theodoric. The Germanic invaders were not barbarians in the sense of the Huns, who were true barbarians.

(1) 476 AD is the traditional date for the end of the Roman empire in the West. The “last” Roman Emperor, Romulus Augustulus, is deposed by a Germanic tribe. (2) After the fall of Rome, the Visigoths moved on to Spain and established a Germanic Visigoth kingdom in Spain. (3) The Ostrogoths moved into Italy and established an Ostrogoth kingdom at Ravenna, Italy under the leadership of Theodoric the great. (4) The Vandals, another Germanic tribe, moved through France, Spain, crossed into Africa at Gibraltar and finally established a Vandal kingdom at the ancient site of Carthage. These same Vandals, following the example of the Visigoths, sailed from Africa and sacked the city of Rome in 455 AD. Because of the extent of the damage that they imposed on Rome, a new word was coined to express their senseless destruction of Rome, vandalism! (5) The “Longbeards” Lombards, settled in northern Italy. (6) The first Germanic people to settle down during the barbarian invasions were the Franks, who established a kingdom in what is today France. (7) During the Age of Great Migrations(4th Century), not all of the Germanic tribes invaded the Roman Empire. The Angles and Saxons came from what is today Denmark and North Germany, and sailed to England where they settled. (a) The Angles and Saxons established kingdoms in all the more accessible areas of England, Scotland, and Ireland. (b) Anglo-Saxon (Old English), is the oldest form of modern English. (c) Beowulf, an Anglo-Saxon epic, is a literary work brought to England by the Anglo-Saxon invaders.

16 (d) All English literary anthologies begin with Beowulf, which was written in Anglo-Saxon. (e) The remote areas of Wales, Scotland, and Ireland are known as the Celtic fringe. The Anglo-Saxon invaders never reached these remote areas and so the Anglo-Saxon language was never spoken there until modern times. To this day, Celtic languages are still spoken in Wales, western Ireland, and the Scottish highlands. (f) Invaders from the north were bought off by the French kings and given land in France. The Norsemen. Normandy. (g) Middle English, the next stage in the development of modern English, is a combination of Saxon and French, which resulted after the successful invasion of England by the French-speaking Normans. In 1066 William the Conqueror (William the Norman) invaded England and defeated Harold the Saxon at the Battle of Hastings. (h) One hundred years after the Battle of Hastings, Middle English becomes the language of England. Usually English words associated with the upper or ruling class are of French origin; Saxon words associated with everyday life tend to be of Saxon or Germanic origin. i) Beef, a food associated with the ruling or French-speaking Norman class, is derived from the French word Boeuf. ii) Water or salt, for example, are words associated with the everyday pursuits of the lower class Saxons. Thus water and salt are words derived from the German words Salz and Wasser (spoken by the Saxons). (i) The great poem, The Canterbury Tales by Chaucer, was written in Middle English. “Whan that Aprill with his shoures soote...”

(j) Today new English words are usually of Latin and Greek derivation (scientific names).

II. A new civilization - the Age of Faith replaces the Classic Civilization of Greece and Rome.

A. The Dark Ages—during the time of the fall of the Roman Empire and the Age of the Great Migrations, the light of civilization was all but extinguished.

B. The Preserver of Civilization—the Christian church.

1. The church takes on the responsibility of civilizing the Germanic tribes. a. As the Roman armies are driven south out of Germany, Christian missionaries move north into what was once Roman territory converting the pagans to Christianity and civilization.

17 (1) In Germany, St. Boniface, an Irish monk, was responsible for the conversion of the Germans. (2) In Ireland, St. Patrick, drove the snakes (pagans) out of Ireland.

b. The church transmits the ideals and procedures from the Roman world to the new, evolving society of Barbarian Europe. There were three principal ways by which this was done:

(1) The Law—always a great strength of Rome. (a) Pagan societies had bodies of unwritten laws (b) Upon conversion, the Church would codify these laws into written form. First into the local language and then into Latin.

(2) Writing - The Church had a monopoly on writing. If something had to be written, one had to go to the Church for help. Only the Church, for example, could write a deed or free hold, which was a written confirmation of land ownership. Something new and impressive for the barbarians.

(3) Farming - the barbarians learned Roman farming techniques from the Church. Thus the Church was to a great extent responsible for changing the Germanic semi-nomadic from a subsistence society to a stable agricultural society.

III. By the thirteenth century, when the Church was at the height of its power, western Europe had developed into a great and original civilization. This period of history is often referred to as the Age of Faith.

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