The Chief Turning Point in the Long Course
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C H A P T E R 4 T R L he chief turning point in the long course At the same time his social reforms, aimed chie y at of Roman history came in 31 BCE , with the the upper classes, were intended to return his subjects nal collapse of the Roman Republic, and to traditional family values. Laws provided tax breaks its replacement by an Imperial system of for large families and penalized couples who did not Tgovernment. Augustus, the rst emperor, was faced produce children and those who remained unmar- with the task of restoring peace. During his long reign, ried. Adultery became a crime against the state. the spread of economic prosperity produced a hard- Yet despite the success of Augustus’s political and working middle class, loyal to the central government. economic policies, it is doubtful if his moral reform- ing zeal met with more than polite attention. His own daughter and granddaughter, both named Julia, were notorious for their scandalous affairs. To make matters worse, one of the lovers of his daughter Julia was a son of the Emperor’s old enemy, Mark Antony, whose defeat and suicide in 31 BCE had brought the Republic crashing down. Whatever his personal feel- ings, duty compelled Augustus to banish Julia to a remote Mediterranean island. A few years later he had to nd another distant location for the banishment of his granddaughter. He hushed up the details of both scandals, but there was much gossip. Augustus himself created a personal image of ancient Roman frugality and morality, although on his death-bed he gave a clue as to his own more com- plex view of his life. He asked a slave to bring a mirror, so that he could comb his hair. Then, turning to the friends beside him, he asked, “Tell me, have I played well my part in this comedy of life? If so, applaud me and send me on my way.” THE IMPORTANCE OF ROME If the origins of our intellectual heritage go back to the Greeks and, less directly, to the peoples of Egypt and the Near East, the contribution of Rome to the wider spreading of Western civilization was tremendous. In elds such as language, law, politics, religion, and art Roman culture continues to a ect our lives. The road ◆ Young woman putting on perfume, c. 150 , Rome, Italy. (© Scala/Art Resource, NY) ◆ 83 84 ◆ CHAPTER 4 The Roman Legacy network of modern Europe is based on one planned themselves as the divinely appointed rulers of the world. and built by the Romans some two thousand years In the course of ful lling their mission, they spread ago; the alphabet we use is the Roman alphabet; and Roman culture from the north of England to Africa, the division of the year into twelve months of unequal from Spain to India (see map, “The Roman World”). This length is a modi ed form of the calendar introduced Romanization of the entire known world permitted the by Julius Caesar in 45 . Even after the fall of the Romans to disseminate ideas drawn from other peoples. Roman Empire the city of Rome stood for centuries Greek art and literature were handed down and incor- as the symbol of civilization; later empires deliberately porated into the Western tradition through the Romans, shaped themselves on the Roman model. not from the Greeks. The rapid spread of Christianity in The enormous impact of Rome on our culture is the fourth century was a result of the decision by the partly the result of the industrious and determined Roman emperors to adopt it as the o cial religion of character of the Romans, who early in their history saw the Roman Empire. In these and in other respects, the GENERAL EVENTS ART 753 BCE 753 Founding of Rome (traditional date) c. 650–500 Influence of Greek and Orientalizing styles on Etruscan art c. 700 Development of Etruscan culture 509 509 Expulsion of Etruscan kings and foundation of Roman Republic 450 Promulgation of the Twelve Tables of laws TALY c. 390 Sack of Rome by Gauls I 287 Hortensian Law reinforces plebeian power OF 264–241 First Punic War: Roman conquest of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica 218–201 Second Punic War: Roman conquest of Spain EDITERRANEAN ONQUEST EPUBLIC 146 Destruction of Carthage: Africa becomes Roman province; sack of Corinth: Greece & M C becomes Roman province R 133 90–88 Social War 1st cent. Realistic portraiture; Funerary 82–81 Sulla dictator at Rome Portrait OME 60 First Triumvirate: Pompey, Caesar, Crassus OMAN R 58–56 Caesar conquers Gaul AT R 48 Battle of Pharsalus: war of Caesar and Pompey ends in death of Pompey; Caesar meets OLITICAL Cleopatra in Egypt P RISIS 46–44 Caesar rules Rome as dictator until assassinated c. 30 BCE–30 CE Villa of Mysteries frescoes, C 43 Second Triumvirate: Antony, Lepidus, Octavian Pompeii 31 31 Battle of Actium won by Octavian c. 20 View of a Garden , fresco from Augustus’s 30 Death of Antony and Cleopatra villa, Prima Porta 27–14 Octavian under name of Augustus rules as first Roman emperor 13–9 Ara pacis BCE BCE c. 6 Birth of Jesus; crucified 30 CE CE 14–68 Julio-Claudian emperors: Tiberius, Caligula, Claudius, Nero Flavian emperors: Vespasian, Titus, Domitian TABILITY 69–96 S 70 Capture of Jerusalem by Titus; destruction of Solomon’s Temple 79 Destruction of Pompeii and Herculaneum 96–138 Adoptive emperors: Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian . 138–192 Antonine emperors: Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius . 180 193–235 Severan emperors: Septimius Severus, Caracalla . - 212 Edict of Caracalla ISINTE MPIRE GRATION D E 284 Decline of realism 284–305 Reign of Diocletian; return of civil order Edict of Diocletian, fixing wages and prices 301 324–330 Colossal head from Basilica of OMAN 307–337 Reign of Constantine; sole emperor after 324 Constantine, Rome R 330 Founding of Constantinople ECLINE 381 Paganism officially suppressed; Christianity made state religion & D ECONSTRUCTION Vandals and Visigoths invade Italy, Spain, Gaul, Africa R 409–455 476 Romulus Augustulus forced to abdicate as last Western Roman emperor CE 476 Most dates are approximate The Importance of Rome ◆ 85 legacy that Rome was to pass on to Western civilization questioning it. True, in some fields the Roman contri had been inherited from its predecessors. bution was not impressive. What little we know about The Romans were in fact surprisingly modest about Roman music, for example, suggests that its loss is hardly their own cultural achievements, believing that their a serious one. It was intended mainly for performance strengths lay in good government and military prow at religious events like weddings and funerals and as ess rather than in artistic and intellectual attainments. It a background for social occasions. Musicians were was their view that Rome should get on with the job often brought into aristocratic homes to provide after of ruling the world and leave luxuries like sculpture and dinner entertainment at a party, and individual perform astronomy to others. ers, frequently women, would play before small groups in a domestic setting. Small bands of traveling musicians, Roman Music It is easy but unfair to accept the playing on pipes and such percussion instruments as Romans’ estimate of themselves as uncreative without cymbals and tambourines, provided background music LITERATURE & ARCHITECTURE PHILOSOPHY MUSIC c. 616–509 Etruscans drain marshes, build Extension of Greek trumpet into Roman temples, construct roads tuba, used in games, processions, battles c. 200–160 Ennius, Annals , epic poem; Plautus, Mostellaria , Roman comedy; Terence, Roman comedies c. 2nd cent. BCE Greek music becomes 2nd cent. Epicureanism and Stoicism popular at Rome imported to Rome 1st cent. Discovery of concrete c. 82 Sulla commissions Sanctuary of Fortuna Primagenia, Praeneste c. 65–43 Lucretius, On the Nature of Things , Epicurean poem; Cicero, orations and philosophical essays; Catullus, lyric poems; Caesar, Commen- taries , on Gallic wars c. 27 BCE–14 CE Horace, Odes and Ars Poetica ; Virgil, Aeneid, Georgics , Eclogues ; Ovid, Metamorphoses , mythological tales; Livy, Annals of the Roman People 1st cent. CE Pont du Gard, Nîmes; atrium- 100–150 Tacitus, History ; Juvenal, Satires ; style houses at Pompeii. Use of arch, vault, Pliny the Younger, Letters ; Suetonius, Lives dome, principles of stress/counter stress of the Caesars ; Epictetus, Enchiridion , on Stoicism c. 126 Pantheon, Rome c. 166–179 Marcus Aurelius, Meditations , on Stoicism 300–305 Diocletian’s palace, Split 306–315 Basilica of Constantine, Rome 86 ◆ CHAPTER 4 The Roman Legacy THE ROMAN WORLD 0 500 Miles B R I TA I N LONDON 0 500 Kilometers COLOGNE G E R M A N Y D a nu G A U L be R. D A C I A NÎMES RAVENNA CK SEA BLA SPLIT S P A I N TARQUINIA ROME BYZANTIUM (CONSTANTINOPLE) OSTIA PRAENESTE NAPLES BRINDISI A S I A POMPEII PERGAMUM M I N O R ACTIUM ANTIOCH EPHESUS ATHENS PALMYRA CARTHAGE M E D I T E R R A N E A N S E A JERUSALEM LEPTIS ALEXANDRIA N O R T H A F R I C A for the acrobats and jugglers who performed in public squares and during gladiatorial contests [Fig. 4.2 ]. Nonetheless, for the Romans music certainly had none of the intellectual and philosophical signi cance it bore for the Greeks, and when Roman writers mention musical performances, it is often to complain about the noise. The only serious development in Roman music was the extension of the Greek trumpet into a lon ger and louder bronze instrument known as the tuba, which was used on public occasions like games and processions and in battle, when an especially powerful type some four feet (1.2 m) long gave the signals for attack and retreat.