Roman Empire

Rome! Early Days • Rome (750 BCE) – Founded by Latins – Tiber River – Influences from other Mediterranean cultures • Etruscans • Greeks • Phoenicians Origin Myths • Adopt Greek Gods – Active Greek Roman • Aeneas Aphrodite............... Venus – Virgil’s Aeneid Apollo.....................Apollo • Romulus and Remus Ares........................ Mars Athena....................Minerva – Numitor deposed by Amulius Hades..................... Pluto Hera........................Juno – Rhea Silvia impregnated by Mars Hermes...................Mercury – Boys raised by wolves Poseidon.................Neptune – Revenge Zeus........................Jupiter – Rome Women in Rome • “Rape of the Sabines” • Influence in the home • Tombstone – “She was chaste, she was thrifty, she remained at home, she spun wool.” Women in Rome • “Rape of the Sabines” • Influence in the home • Marriage • Tombstone – “She was chaste, she was thrifty, she remained at home, she spun wool.” • Juvenal – Against Women (pg. 151) • Uses criticism of women to make a larger point about the state of Imperial Rome Republic 509-133 BCE • Government – Assembly of the Tribes – Roman Senate • Elected positions – Consuls – Quaestors and Praetors – Censors – Dictator Struggle of the Orders • Class division – Power struggle between plebeians and patricians – Civic and civil rights • 445 BCE - Intermarriage • 367 BCE – First plebeian elected consul • 300 BCE – can enter all levels of priesthood • 287 BCE – Laws of Popular Assembly applied to everyone This looks familiar • Conquer the people • Assert authority – Governors – Law – Taxes – Military • Tolerate local customs • Improve their lives – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vbSRaXH3NM Via Appia Via Traiana 312 BCE – Stage 1 – 132 miles 109 BCE – 205 miles 264 BCE – Stage 2 – 230 miles Expansionist Policies • Roman Military – Powerful legions 5,300 fighting men – Highly organized – http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndh3b9wC-A0 “Moreover, their peace maneuvers are no less strenuous than veritable warfare…Hence that perfect ease with which they sustain the shock of battle: no confusion breaks their customary formation, no panic paralyzes, no fatigue exhausts them.” - Excerpt from Description of the Roman Army, by Josephus (70 CE) Julius Caesar • Classical Roman education – Practiced law early on • Prosecuted corrupt politicians • Consul of First Triumvirate (59 BCE) – Along with Crassus and Pompey – Civil War begins when recalled to Rome and command given to Pompey • Civil War (49 BCE) – Caesar vs Pompey – Caesar defeats Pompey in battle of Pharsalus (48 BCE) – Pompey assassinated • Enters Rome (46 BCE) – Appointed dictator – Civil reforms • Public works • Food and land reforms • Tax reform How to be a dictator • Gain support of the people and elected officials • Appoint yourself dictator for life • Stock the government with loyalists • Hope you don’t get assassinated Why people freaked out over Caesar • Sulla (138 BCE – 78 BCE) – Roman general and statesman – Was granted dictator status, with no set time limit (81 BCE) – Executed thousands of nobles perceived to be enemies – Enacted harsh laws governing finances and leadership – Retired after only one year, however Assassinated (44 BCE) Therefore think him as a serpent's egg, Which, hatch'd, would as his kind grow mischievous, And kill him in the shell. Literature on Civil War • Lucan • Civil War – Horace – Writes Civil War Why do ye rush, oh wicked folk, To a fresh war? • Caesar vs Pompey Again the cries, the sword, the – Epic poem like Virgil smoke – and Homer What for? Has not sufficient precious blood – Condemnation of war Been fiercely shed? • What madness was this, Must yet spill more until ye flood my countrymen, what The dead? fierce orgy of slaughter? End of the Republic • Sallust – How does Sallust characterize the end of the Roman Republic and what seems to be the source of all these troubles? Roman Empire 30BCE-480 CE Octavian • Caesar killed – Anger from politicians over loss of power – Recollections of Sulla • Power struggle – Mark Antony vs Octavian – Octavian defeats Antony and Cleopatra – 27 BCE: Senate grants Octavian title of Augustus http://youtu.be/WUi2nxQaesY Emperor Death Augustus: Natural causes Tiberius: Possibly assassinated Caligula: Assassinated Claudius: Poisoned Nero: Suicide Galba: Assassinated Otho: Suicide Vitellius: Assassinated Vespasian: Natural causes Titus: Plague Domitian: Assassinated Caelus or Jupiter Luna Sol Aurora Spain Gaul Tiberius Parthain King Phraates IV (maybe) Apollo She-wolf Diana (Artemis) Tellus Pax Romana 30B CE-180 CE • Booming Trade – Connecting to East (India and China specifically) • Public Works – Roads, Bridges, Aqueducts • Law – Police – Twelve Tables of Law • Religion – Christianity • Replaced many cults (Demeter, Isis, Mithras, so on) • Art – Architecture, Sculpture, Frescos • Literature – Poetry and Drama Law of the Twelve Tables • Court and trial procedures • Laws on – Debt – Paterfamilias – Legal guardianship – Land rights – Injury law – Public and Sacred law Cont… • “Whomever is in need of evidence, he shall go on every third day to call out loud before the doorway of the witness.” • “There are eight kinds of punishment: fine, fetters, flogging, retaliation in kind, civil disgrace, banishment, slavery, and death.” • Whoever is convicted of speaking false witness shall be flung from the Tarpeian Rock.” More cont… • “Females, by reason of levity of disposition, shall remain in guardianship, even when they have reached their majority.” • “If a man and woman live together continuously for a year, they are considered to be married.” • “Marriage shall not take place between a patrician and a plebian.” Literature • Seneca – Tranquility of Mind • Stoicism – During a plague we must be careful not to sit near people caught in the throes and burning with fever, because we would be courting danger and drawing poison in with our breath; just so in choosing friends we must pay attention to character and take those least tainted. • Cicero – On Duty • Public service – …the men who in a civil capacity direct the affairs of the nation render no less important service than they who conduct its wars… • Tacitus – Dialogue on Oratory • Public speaking – So it was that eloquence not only lead to great rewards, but also was a sheer necessity; and just as it was considered great and glorious to have the reputation of being a good speaker, so, on the other hand, it was accounted discreditable to be inarticulate and incapable of utterance… Architecture Doric • Greek Columns • Concrete Ionic • Aqueducts • The arch Corinthian – Barrel vault – Groin vault – Dome Pantheon Features • Dome • Post and Lintel • Corinthian columns • Classical symmetry and proportion Architecture • Colosseum – 6 acres holding 50,000 spectators – Structural Influence • Arch design from Etruscans • Greek columns – Bread and Circus events • Now that no one buys our votes, the public has long since cast off its cares; the people that once bestowed commands, consulships, legions and all else, now meddles no more and longs eagerly for just two things, Bread and Games! – Juvenal • Circus Maximus – 200,000 spectators Basilica Portraits Uses • Family shrines Funerary altar of Cominia Tyche, Roman, ca. 90–100 CE Marble Uses • Family shrines • Public Viewing Equestrian Statue of Marcus Aurelius Rome, c.a. 173 CE Gilded bronze Uses • Family shrines • Public Viewing 2 • Advertisements 1 3 Coins of Titus (1), Trajan (2), and Hadrian (3) Roman; 80–81, 105–7, 134–38 CE Bronze and gold Beryl Intaglio with a portrait of Empress Julia Domna Severan Roman, ca. 205–210 Carnelian Ringstone with an artist painting a sculpture Roman, 1st–2nd century CE Roman Fall, fall, fall • Why the fall? – Leadership • Greedy, self-serving leaders – Disease • Dirty city • Juvenal, Against the City of Rome (pg. 150) – Poverty • Weakness in trade • Welfare – Problems abroad • Stripped of tax base • Less money = less military funding, draining welfare – Warfare • Germanic Prince Odovacar defeats Romulus Augustulus: 476 CE .

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