Transcript The Rise of Ancient Rome - Tewksbury Township Schools

Chapter 8
 The
mythical founders
of Rome: twin brothers
Romulus and Remus
• The legend says that they
were raised by a wolf!
• They want to build a city Romulus kills Remus in a
fight over where to build
their city, and Romulus
builds Rome
The Tiber River flows
through Rome from
mountains in central Italy
 Rome is at the center of a
long, narrow peninsula
called Italy

• Italy is located on the
Mediterranean Sea
The hills in the area made
Rome easy to defend
 The fertile soil made it
easier to grow food

 Here
is a map of Italy and Greece. What
similarities do you see in the geography
of the two countries?


900 B.C. – The first people settle Rome
600 B.C. – A group of people called
the Etruscans held power in Rome
• They spoke a different language than most
other ancient Italian languages – they
probably came from Turkey
• An Etruscan king ruled, but the Romans did
not like having an all-powerful king tell them
what to do
• 509 B.C. – Romans defeated Etruscans and
their harsh king, Tarquinius Superbus
 The Romans borrowed ideas from Etruscan
culture
 Worshipped many of the same gods
 Etruscans and Romans both used Greek
alphabet
 They both wore the toga – a long flowing
garment, that almost looked like a sheet

Republic government was established
• Republic: Citizens who have the right to vote select their
leaders
• Romans spoke a language called Latin

264 B.C. – The Romans gain power of the entire Italian
peninsula and the Republic rules over Italy
 In
the Roman Republic, the most powerful
part of the government was the senate
• At first, the senate was made up of 300 upper-
class men
 Patrician – a member of a wealthy family in the
Roman Republic – only patricians could become
Senators in the government
 Plebeian – an ordinary citizen in Roman Republic
 Early in the Roman Republic, plebeians could not be
senators

Consul – chief official of the government, similar to a
U.S. President
• 2 consuls led the government
 They were responsible for enforcing laws and policies
 They ruled for one year
 They usually did what senate wanted them to do – the senate was
really more powerful than the consuls, even though the consuls had
the highest title
 The senate advised consuls on foreign affairs, laws, and finances
 Power was divided equally, both consuls had to agree on any
decision
 If one made a veto, the matter was dropped
 Veto – the rejection of any planned action by a person in power
 Today, Presidents veto a proposed law if he doesn’t like it
• Consuls were elected by citizens
• 367 B.C. – plebeians were allowed to become consuls
A
dictator was
appointed to handle
emergency situations
when consuls
disagreed constantly
• Dictator – A Roman official
who had the powers of a
king but could only hold
office for six months
 Praetors
– Judges in
Roman trials
• Helped to develop rules
for courts of law
 Why
do you think the Romans wanted to
limit the dictator’s term of rule to only 6
months?
 Patricians
and plebeians had different
attitudes and interests
 Patricians (the rich class)
• They thought of themselves as leaders
• They fought to keep control of the government
• They grew wealthy from Roman war conquests
 With this money, they bought farms, and slaves worked for
them on the farms
 Plebeians (the average people)
• They just wanted to be respected and treated fairly
• They believed the Senate was unfair for not allowing
them to take part in it
• They formed groups to protect their interests
• They often were out of work
 Since
they believed they were being
shown disrespect, the plebeians refused
to fight in the Roman army as a protest
• As a result, the patricians agreed to establish the
Laws of the Twelve Tables
 Twelve Tables – a set of laws that applied to all
citizens, no matter who they were
 The
Roman armies conquered new
territory
 Carthage – A North African city, located
in modern day Tunisia
• Carthage held power in surrounding territory
and Spain
 Rome took over Carthage’s territory
• By 146 B.C., the Romans had destroyed Carthage
and conquered Greece
• Eventually, Rome took control of Spain and Gaul
(modern day France)
 120
B.C. – The patricians and plebeians
fought over land
 Private armies, led by powerful Roman
politicians, also fought for power,
resulting in civil war
 Roman republic was breaking up, but a
man named Julius Caesar emerged as a
strong leader
 Julius Caesar stepped in to rule Rome
• From 58 – 51 B.C., he led the army that conquered
Gaul
 He helped bring new territory and many people under
Roman control
 He was much like Alexander the Great – he inspired loyalty
from his troops with his strong leadership
• In 48 B.C., Caesar made himself dictator of Roman
lands
 Dictators were only supposed to rule for 6 months, but in
44 B.C., Caesar proclaimed himself dictator for life
• Caesar ruled with great power
 He took power that had belonged to the senate for himself

Caesar slowly took all the
powers of government for
himself
• 45 B.C. – Caesar became the
only consul
• 44 B.C. – Became dictator for life

These actions made many
enemies for Caesar
• March 15, 44 B.C. – Caesar was
killed by a group of senators at a
senate meeting
 The Romans felt Caesar had taken
his power too far

After Caesar died, the Romans fought in civil
wars, or wars against people in their own country
• The civil wars lasted 13 years

After the wars were over, Caesar’s adopted son,
Octavian, held power
• The senate gave Octavian the title “Augustus,” meaning
“highly respected”
• Augustus was the first emperor of Rome
 This began the Roman Empire, which was led by an allpowerful emperor, and ended the Roman Republic

The republic had lasted 500 years, and Rome had
grown

Before we proceed to 8.2,
let’s review 8.1. To do this,
we are going to play “Two
Truths and a Lie.” Each
group will use their 8.1
Guided Notes to come up
with three pieces of
information about the
Roman Republic. Two will
be true, and one will be
false. The other groups
will have to guess which
statement is fiction.
 To
refresh your memory on topics from
8.1, write the correct answers to these
questions on your Do Now paper.
• 1. Which Roman leader made himself dictator for
life in 44 B.C.?
• 2. Who was the first emperor of Rome?
• 3. How many members did the Roman senate
have at a time?
• 4. In what year was Julius Caesar assassinated?
 When
Augustus gained power, Roman
control had spread far beyond Italy
 Augustus
in 27 B.C.
gained power
• He did not want to be an
all-powerful emperor –
instead, he wanted to
restore the republic
• Augustus respected the
senate and wanted to share
power with them
 He was a good ruler; he did
such a good job that the
Roman people wanted to
make him an all-powerful
emperor
 Do
you find it strange that the Roman
people would want Augustus to be an allpowerful ruler, instead of sharing power?
Why?
 The
rule of Augustus
began the Roman Empire
• The Roman Empire was ruled
by a powerful emperor
• The senate still existed to
help the emperor make
decisions, but they had very
little power
 The
Romans expanded
their empire by
conquering a large
amount of land
• The Romans took some slaves
after conquering lands, but
most people remained free
 Rome
divided its empire
into provinces in order to
organize the government
• Province: an area of the
empire ruled by a Roman
governor and supported by
an army
 The
Romans allowed conquered people
to follow their own religions and way of
life; they did not force them to do
everything the Romans did
• As long as there was peace, Roman governors
did not interfere, they only supervised the
people
• The Roman government’s one requirement: they
did want people to pay taxes
• Many people adopted Roman culture anyway,
such as the Latin language and Roman religion
 Augustus died in 14 A.D.
 After Augustus’ death,
Rome had several bad
emperors
• Caligula – He believed he
was a god and was cruel and
unfair
• Nero – He murdered his halfbrother, mother, and wife
• Caligula and Nero were
hated by Romans so much
that they removed them from
the official Roman records
 In
96 A.D., Rome
entered into a period of
having “good
emperors”
• Hadrian
 He built a strong government
 He made laws to protect
women, children, and slaves,
which extended throughout
the empire
 He reorganized and improved
the army, making them more
disciplined
 As
you have learned, a republic is a
government in which citizens elect leaders
to make laws for them. An empire is a
government in which an all-powerful
emperor makes all the decisions for
everyone – and you can’t argue with him.
• If you are facing the windows, you will write 2 pros
and 2 cons of a republic. If you are facing the door,
you will write 2 pros and 2 cons of an empire with an
all-powerful ruler.


Now, discuss the pros
and cons of your type of
government with the
person next to you, who
wrote about the same
type of government.
Now, discuss both types
of government with your
whole group. As a
group, decide which
kind of government you
would like to live under,
and tell us why.
 The
Romans greatly admired the Greeks
• Greek religion influenced Roman religion
 Both practiced polytheism – belief in more than one
god
• Many Roman gods were similar or the same as
Greek gods
 Zeus = Jupiter
 Poseidon = Neptune
 The
Romans also told stories using
heroes from Greek mythology
 The
Romans studied Greek knowledge of
mathematics, astronomy, and philosophy
• They also wanted to understand the world
through reason
 The
Romans developed new concepts in
architecture and engineering
• The Romans studied Greek styles of art and
architecture, and used them to develop their own
styles
 In
what ways did the Greeks and Romans
value learning?
 Romans
used the arch –
a curved structure used
as a support over an
open space
 Romans began using
concrete to build
• Concrete – a mix of stone,
sand, cement, and water
 Colosseum
– a large
amphitheater built in
Rome; the site of
combats and contests
 The Colosseum held
between 50,000 and
75,000 people,
depending on its
setup
 Please
answer the following questions as
you watch Engineering an Empire:
Colosseum.
• When did construction on the Colosseum begin?
• How long did it take to complete?
• How many people could the Colosseum hold?
• What are the two types of games played in the
Colosseum?
• How long did the Colosseum stay in use?
 Roman
roads were
built very well and
spread throughout the
empire
 “All roads lead to
Rome”
 Aqueducts – structures
that carried water over
long distances
• Aqueducts ran through
mountains and valleys
• Some are still used today
 What
are some characteristics of Roman
buildings?
Roman law spread
throughout the empire
 Roman system of justice
influences American
system of justice – it was
created by Emperor
Justinian and called
Justinian’s Code

• People accused of crimes
would have the right to face
their accusers
• Accused person is innocent
until proven guilty
 What
were two features of Justinian’s
code? Explain their meaning.
Julius Caesar
assassinated,
44 B.C. End of
the Roman
Republic
Civil war in
Rome, 44 –
27 B.C.
Octavian (Augustus)
becomes emperor.
Rome is now an
EMPIRE (rule by a
single ruler) in 27
B.C.
 When
Augustus gained power, Roman
control had spread far beyond Italy
 Augustus
in 27 B.C.
gained power
• He did not want to be an
all-powerful emperor –
instead, he wanted to
restore the republic
• Augustus respected the
senate and wanted to share
power with them
 He was a good ruler; he did
such a good job that the
Roman people wanted to
make him an all-powerful
emperor
 Rome
originally hated the idea of the
Etruscans having an all-powerful king
that ruled over the area. They overthrew
the Etruscans and began a republic, a
form of “rule by the people.” Now, they
were back to where they started – an allpowerful ruler (Octavian Augustus).
 The
rule of Augustus began
the Roman Empire
• The Roman Empire was ruled
by a powerful emperor
• The senate still existed to help
the emperor make decisions,
but they had very little power
• Rome entered “Pax Romana”
(Roman Peace) – an era of 200
years with little war in Rome
 The
Romans allowed conquered people
to follow their own religions and way of
life; they did not force them to do
everything the Romans did
• As long as there was peace, Roman governors
did not interfere, they only supervised the
people
• The Roman government’s one requirement: they
did want people to pay taxes
• Many people adopted Roman culture anyway,
such as the Latin language and Roman religion
 Problem
with having an
all-powerful emperor:
some were very bad
rulers!
 Caligula and Nero are
two examples – they
were so cruel that the
Romans removed them
from the official history
of Rome!

After Pax Romana (around
180 C.E.), Rome continued
expanding their empire
• The Romans took some slaves
after conquering lands, but most
people remained free
• Emperor Hadrian expanded as
far as Britain

Rome divided its empire into
provinces in order to
organize the government
• Province: an area of the empire
ruled by a Roman governor and
supported by an army
 Romans
used the arch –
a curved structure used
as a support over an
open space
 Romans began using
concrete to build
• Concrete – a mix of stone,
sand, cement, and water
 Colosseum
– a large
amphitheater built in
Rome; the site of
combats and contests
 The Colosseum held
between 50,000 and
75,000 people,
depending on its
setup
 Please
answer the following questions as
you watch Engineering an Empire:
Colosseum.
• When did construction on the Colosseum begin?
• How long did it take to complete?
• How many people could the Colosseum hold?
• How long did the Colosseum stay in use?
• How many people visit the Colosseum every
year?
 Roman
roads were
built very well and
spread throughout the
empire
 “All roads lead to
Rome”
 Aqueducts – structures
that carried water over
long distances
• Aqueducts ran through
mountains and valleys
• Some are still used today