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Ancient Greeceand Rome

1900 B.C.–A.D. 500Key Events

As you read, look for the key events in the history of Greece and Rome.• Greek philosophers established the foundations of Western philosophy.

• The Peloponnesian War weakened Athens and Sparta.• Rome’s republican government was eventually replaced by the rule of an emperor.

• Christianity became the official religion of the Roman Empire.

The Impact TodayThe events that occurred during this time period still impact our lives today.

• Much of Western culture was influenced by the artistic ideals of Classical Greece.• Current democratic systems of government are based on ideas originally developed by the Greeks.

• Roman achievements in law, government, language, and engineering influenced Western civilization.

World History—Modern Times Video The Chapter 2 video, “The Early Olympics,” chronicles the origins of the Olympic games.

1300 B.C. 1100 B.C. 900 B.C. 700 B.C. 500 B.C.

Mycenaean ceremonial cup

The goddess Athena

Etruscan sculpture

1300 B.C.Mycenaeancivilizationreaches itspeak

650 B.C.Etruscans rule Rome

509 B.C.Romebecomes arepublic

445 B.C.AthenianEmpireexpands

479 B.C.Greeks defeat Persians

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HISTORY

Chapter OverviewVisit the Glencoe WorldHistory—Modern Times Web site at

and click on Chapter 2–Chapter Overview topreview chapter information.

wh.mt.glencoe.com300 B.C. 100 B.C. A.D. 100 A.D. 300 A.D. 500

Ruins of the Appian Way

The Pont du Gard, a Roman aqueduct in southern France

c. 387 B.C.Plato founds Academy inAthens

338 B.C.Macedoniacrushesthe Greeks

C. A.D. 33Jesus dies inJerusalem

Assassination of Julius Caesar

44 B.C.Julius Caesaris assassinated

A.D. 476Fall of theRoman Empire

312 B.C.AppianWay built

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n 431 B.C., war erupted in Greece as two very differentGreek states—Athens and Sparta—fought for domination

of the Greek world. Strengthened by its democratic ideals,Athens felt secure behind its walls.

In the first winter of the war, the Athenians held a publicfuneral to honor those who had died in combat. On the dayof the ceremony, the citizens of Athens joined in a procession.The relatives of the dead mourned their loved ones.

As was the custom in Athens, one leading citizen wasasked to address the crowd. On this day it was Pericles who spoke to the people. He talked about the greatness ofAthens and reminded the Athenians of the strength of theirpolitical system.

“Our constitution,” Pericles said, “is called a democracybecause power is in the hands not of a minority but of thewhole people. When it is a question of settling private dis-putes, everyone is equal before the law; when it is a questionof putting one person before another in positions of publicresponsibility, what counts is not membership in a particularclass, but the actual ability which the man possesses. No one . . . is kept in political obscurity because of poverty. And,just as our political life is free and open, so is our day-to-daylife in our relations with each other. . . . Here each individualis interested not only in his own affairs but in the affairs of thestate as well.”

I Why It MattersIn his famous speech, called theFuneral Oration, Pericles describesthe Greek ideal of democracy andthe importance of the individual.This is but one example of how theGreeks laid the intellectual founda-tions of Western civilization. Theyasked basic questions about thepurpose of life, divine forces, andtruth. The Greeks not only strove toanswer these questions, they alsocreated a system of logical thoughtfor answering such questions. Thissystem of thought remains worth-while today.

History and You Reread thequote by Pericles. What portions ofAthenian democracy described inthis passage are found in the Consti-tution of the United States? Preparea written report explaining and sup-porting your position with examplesfrom the United States Constitution.

Pericles Addresses Athens

Pericles giving his famousFuneral Oration

Guide to Reading

Ancient Greece

Preview of Events

Main Ideas• The polis was the central focus of

Greek life.• During the Age of Pericles, Athens

became the center of Greek culture.• Hellenistic cities became centers for the

spread of Greek culture.

Key Termsepic poem, polis, acropolis, democracy,oligarchy, direct democracy

People to IdentifyHomer, Solon, Cleisthenes, Pericles,Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Alexander the Great

Places to LocateMycenae, Troy, Sparta, Athens, Macedo-nia, Alexandria

Preview Questions1. Who lived in the polis?2. How did Athens and Sparta differ?

Reading StrategyOrganizing Information Use a conceptmap like the one below to show the ele-ments that contributed to the ClassicalAge of Greece.

1300 B.C.Mycenaean civilization peaks

461 B.C.Pericles comesto power

405 B.C.PeloponnesianWar ends

500 B.C.ClassicalAge begins

330 B.C.Alexander takes possessionof the Persian Empire

Classical Age of Greece

Thucydides

CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece and Rome 51

Classical Greece is the name given to the period of Greek history from around 500 B.C.to the conquest of Greece by the Macedonian king Philip II in 338 B.C. This period wasmarked not only by a brilliant culture but also by a disastrous war among the Greeks,the Peloponnesian War, described here by the Greek historian Thucydides:

“The Peloponnesian War not only lasted for a long time, but throughout its coursebrought with it unprecedented suffering for Greece. Never before had so many citiesbeen captured and then devastated, whether by foreign armies or by the Greek pow-ers themselves; never had there been so many exiles; never such loss of life—both inthe actual warfare and in internal revolutions.”

—The History of the Peloponnesian War, Thucydides, R. Warner, trans., 1954

For all their accomplishments, the Greeks were unable to rise above the divisions andrivalries that caused them to fight one another and undermine their own civilization.

Early Greek CivilizationGeography played an important role in the development of Greek civilization.

Compared with Mesopotamia and Egypt, Greece occupies a small area. It consistsof a mountainous peninsula and numerous islands—about the size of the state ofLouisiana. Much of Greece consists of small plains and river valleys surroundedby high mountain ranges. The mountains isolated Greeks from one another, caus-ing different Greek communities to develop their own ways of life.

The sea also influenced the evolution of Greek society. Greece has a long sea-coast dotted by bays and inlets that provided many harbors. The Greeks lived on

Voices from the Past

!1300 B.C. !1250 B.C. !500 B.C. !450 B.C. !400 B.C. !350 B.C. !300 B.C.

difficult period in which the population declined andfood production dropped. Historians call the periodfrom approximately 1100 to 750 B.C. the Dark Age,because few records of what happened exist. At thesame time, the basis for a new Greece was forming.

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The physical geography of Greece had a major impact onthe development of Greek civilization.

1. Interpreting Maps How many miles apart areMycenae and Troy?

2. Applying Geography Skills Using the map, giveexamples of how Greece’s geography affected Greek civilization.

a number of islands to the west, south, and east of theGreek mainland. It was no accident that the Greeksbecame seafarers.

The First Greek State: Mycenae Mycenae(my•SEE•nee) was a fortified site in Greece that wasfirst discovered by the German archaeologist Hein-rich Schliemann. Mycenae was one of a number ofcenters in an early Greek civilization that flourishedbetween 1600 and 1100 B.C.

The Mycenaean Greeks were part of the Indo-European family of peoples who spread into south-ern and western Europe, India, and Iran. One of thesegroups entered Greece from the north around 1900B.C. Over a period of time, this group managed togain control of the Greek mainland and develop acivilization.

Mycenaean civilization, which reached its highpoint between 1400 and 1200 B.C., was made up ofpowerful monarchies. Each resided in a fortifiedpalace center. Like Mycenae, these centers were builton hills and surrounded by gigantic stone walls.

Archaeological evidence indicates that the Myce-naean monarchies developed an extensive commercialnetwork. Some historians believe that the Mycenaeansalso spread outward militarily, conquering Crete andmaking it part of the Mycenaean world. The story ofthe most famous of all their supposed military adven-tures, the sacking of the city of Troy, is told in the Iliad,written by the great Greek poet Homer.

The Dark Age and Homer When Mycenaean civi-lization collapsed around 1100 B.C., Greece entered a

Greece’s geography helped shape Greek civilization.

Settled areas

CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece and Rome

in population. Athens had a population of more thanthree hundred thousand by the fifth century B.C., butmost city-states were much smaller, consisting of onlya few hundred to several thousand people.

The polis was, above all, a community of peoplewho shared a common identity and common goals.As a community, the polis consisted of citizens withpolitical rights (adult males), citizens with no politi-cal rights (women and children), and noncitizens(slaves and resident aliens).

Citizens of a polis had rights, but these rights werecoupled with responsibilities. The Greek philosopherAristotle argued that a citizen did not belong just tohimself or herself: “We must rather regard every citi-zen as belonging to the state.”

Greek states had different forms of government. Insome Greek city-states, there emerged democracy,which is government by the people or rule of themany. Other city-states remained committed to gov-ernment by an oligarchy, rule by the few. The differ-ences in how Greek city-states were governed isespecially evident in the two most famous and mostpowerful Greek city-states, Sparta and Athens.

Identifying Who had political rightsin a Greek polis? Who did not?Reading Check

Near the very end of the Dark Age, the work ofHomer appeared.

The Iliad and the Odyssey were the first great epicpoems of early Greece. An epic poem is a long poemthat tells the deeds of a great hero. The Iliad and theOdyssey were based on stories that had been passeddown from generation to generation.

Specifically, Homer used stories of the Trojan Warto compose his epic poems. The war is caused byParis, a prince of Troy. By kidnapping Helen, the wifeof the king of the Greek state of Sparta, Paris outragesall the Greeks. Under the leadership of the Spartanking’s brother, King Agamemnon of Mycenae, theGreeks attack Troy and capture it ten years later.

The Odyssey recounts the journeys of one of theGreek heroes, Odysseus, after the fall of Troy, and hisultimate return to his wife. The Odyssey has longbeen considered Homer’s other masterpiece.

Homer did not so much record history; he createdit. The Greeks looked on the Iliad and the Odyssey astrue history and as the works of one poet, Homer.These masterpieces gave the Greeks an ideal pastwith a cast of heroes. The epics came to be used asbasic texts for the education of generations of Greekmales. Homer gave to later generations of Greekmales a model of heroism and honor. The Iliad taughtstudents to be proud of their Greek heritage and theirheroic ancestors.

Summarizing Why is Homerthought to have created, rather than to have recorded, Greekhistory?

The Polis: Center of Greek LifeBy 750 B.C., the city-state—or what the Greeks

called a polis—became the central focus of Greek life.Our word politics is derived from the Greek wordpolis. In a physical sense, the polis was a town, a city,or even a village, along with its surrounding coun-tryside. The town, city, or village served as the cen-tral point where people could meet for political,social, and religious activities.

The main gathering place in the polis was usuallya hill. At the top of the hill was a fortified area calledan acropolis. The acropolis served as a place ofrefuge during an attack and sometimes came to be areligious center on which temples and public build-ings were built. Below the acropolis was an agora, anopen area that served both as a place where peoplecould assemble and as a market.

City-states varied greatly in size, from a few squaremiles to a few hundred square miles. They also varied

Reading Check

53CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece and Rome

History through Art

Golden Mask of Agamemnon, c. 1500 B.C.This gold mask was found by Heinrich Schlie-mann at a royal grave circle at Mycenae. Who was Agamemnon? What was his role in Greekhistory?

Spartans were not allowed to travel abroad, wherethey might encounter ideas dangerous to the stabilityof the state. Likewise, Spartan citizens were discour-aged from studying philosophy, literature, or thearts—subjects that might encourage new thoughts.The art of war was the Spartan ideal.

Summarizing How did the restric-tions placed on Spartan males affect their lives?

AthensBy 700 B.C., Athens had become a unified polis on

the peninsula of Attica. Early Athens was ruled by aking. By the seventhcentury B.C., however,Athens had becomean oligarchy underthe control of its aris-tocrats. These aristo-crats owned the bestland and controlledpolitical life. There was an assembly of all the citi-zens, but it had few powers.

Near the end of the seventh century B.C., Athensfaced political turmoil because of serious economicproblems. Many Athenian farmers were sold intoslavery when they were unable to repay their debtsto their aristocratic neighbors. Over and over, therewere cries to cancel the debts and give land to thepoor. Athens seemed on the verge of civil war.

The ruling Athenian aristocrats reacted to this cri-sis in 594 B.C., by giving full power to Solon, areform-minded aristocrat. Solon canceled all landdebts and freed people who had fallen into slaveryfor debts. He refused, however, to take land from the

rich and give it to the poor.Solon’s reforms, though pop-

ular, did not solve the problems of Athens. Aristocrats were stillpowerful, and poor peasants couldnot obtain land. It was not until508 B.C. that Cleisthenes (KLYS•thuh•neez), another reformer,gained the upper hand.

Reading Check

SpartaBetween 800 and 600 B.C., the lives of Spartans

were rigidly organized and tightly controlled (thus,our word spartan, meaning “highly self-disciplined”).Males spent their childhood learning military disci-pline. Then they enrolled in the army for regular mil-itary service at age 20. Although allowed to marry,they continued to live in the military barracks untilage 30. At 30, Spartan males were allowed to vote inthe assembly and live at home, but they stayed in thearmy until the age of 60.

While their husbands lived in the barracks, Spar-tan women lived at home. Because of this separation,Spartan women had greater freedom of movementand greater power in the household than was com-mon elsewhere in Greece. Many Spartan womenupheld the strict Spartan values, expecting their hus-bands and sons to be brave in war. The story is toldof a Spartan woman who, as she was handing her sonhis shield, told him to come back carrying his shieldor being carried on it.

The Spartan government was an oligarchy headedby two kings, who led the Spartan army on its cam-paigns. A group of five men, known as the ephors(EH•fuhrs), were elected each year and were respon-sible for the education of youth and the conduct of allcitizens. A council of elders, composed of the twokings and 28 citizens over the age of 60, decided onthe issues that would be presented to an assemblymade up of male citizens. This assembly did notdebate; it only voted on the issues.

To make their new military state secure, the Spar-tans turned their backs on the outside world. Foreign-ers, who might have brought in new ideas, werediscouraged from visiting. Except for military reasons,

The Acropolis in Athens is crowned by theParthenon. What function(s) did thearea of the acropolis play in the ancientGreek city-states?

History

PELOPONNESUS

ATTICAAthens

AegeanSea

citizens now had the central role in the Athenianpolitical system, the reforms of Cleisthenes createdthe foundations for Athenian democracy.

Explaining How did Cleisthenes cre-ate the foundation for democracy in Athens?

Classical GreecePericles expanded the involvement

of Athenians in their democracy. By creating a directdemocracy, he enabled every male citizen to play a rolein government. Classical Greece is the name given to the period of

Greek history from around 500 B.C. to the conquest ofGreece in 338 B.C. This period was marked by twowars. In the first one, fought between 499 B.C. and 479B.C., the Greeks worked together to defeat two inva-sions by the Persians.

After the defeat of the Persians, Athens took overthe leadership of the Greek world. Under Pericles,who was a dominant figure in Athenian politicsbetween 461 and 429 B.C., Athens expanded its new

Reading Check

Cleisthenes created a new council of five hundredthat supervised foreign affairs, oversaw the treasury,and proposed the laws that would be voted on by theassembly. The Athenian assembly, composed of malecitizens, was given final authority to pass laws afterfree and open debate. Because the assembly of

Rulers and GodsAll of the world’s earliest civilizations believed that

there was a close connection between rulers and gods.In Egypt, pharaohs were considered gods whose rolewas to maintain the order and harmony of the universein their own kingdoms. In Mesopotamia, India, andChina, rulers were thought to rule with divine assis-tance. Kings were often seen as rulers who derived theirpower from the gods and who were the agents or rep-resentatives of the gods. Many Romans certainlybelieved that their success in creating an empire was avisible sign of divine favor. As one Roman stated, “Wehave overcome all the nations of the world, because wehave realized that the world is directed and governedby the gods.”

The rulers’ supposed connection to the divine alsocaused them to seek divine aid in the affairs of theworld. This led to the art of divination—an organizedmethod to figure out the intentions of the gods. InMesopotamian and Roman society, divination took the

form of examining the livers ofsacrificed animals or the flightsof birds to determine the willof the gods. The Chinese usedoracle bones to receive advicefrom the gods. The Greeks con-sulted oracles.

Underlying all of these practiceswas a belief in a supernatural uni-verse—a world in which divine forceswere in charge and human well-beingdepended on those divine forces. Itwas not until the scientific revolution of the 1600s thatmany people began to believe in a natural world thatwas not governed by spiritual forces.

Why were rulers of early civilizations considered tohave divine powers? How did this affect their sys-tems of government?

! An Athenianking consults the oracle at Delphi.

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Vases such as this one are an excellent source of information abouteveryday life in ancient Greece.

Greece

In Sparta, boys were trained to be sol-diers. At birth, each child was examined

by state officials, who decided whether thechild was fit to live. Those who werejudged unfit were left on a mountainsideto die. Boys judged fit were taken fromtheir mothers at the age of seven and putunder control of the state.

These boys lived in military-style bar-racks, where they were subjected to harshdiscipline to make them tough and mean.Their education stressed military trainingand obedience to authority. The Greek his-torian Plutarch described the handling ofyoung Spartans:

“After they were twelve yearsold, they were no longer allowedto wear any undergarments, theyhad one coat to serve them ayear; their bodies were hard anddry, with but little acquaintance of

In Sparta girls andboys were trained tobe athletes, as is shownby this bronze statue,which was part ofa vase lid.

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baths; these human indulgences they were allowed only on somefew particular days in the year. They lodgedtogether in little bandsupon beds made of therushes which grew bythe banks of the riverEurotas, which theywere to break off with theirhands with a knife.”

empire abroad. At the same time, democracy flour-ished at home. This period of Athenian and Greekhistory, which historians have called the Age of Peri-cles, saw the height of Athenian power and brilliance.

In the Age of Pericles, the Athenians becamedeeply attached to their democratic system, whichwas a direct democracy. In a direct democracy, thepeople participate directly in government decisionmaking through mass meetings. In Athens, everymale who was a citizen participated in the governingassembly and voted on all major issues.

The growth of an Athenian Empire, however, leftthe Greek world divided into two major camps: theAthenian Empire and Sparta. Athens and Sparta hadbuilt two very different kinds of societies, and neitherstate was able to tolerate the other’s system. Spartaand its allies feared the growing Athenian Empire,and a series of disputes finally led to the outbreak ofthe Great Peloponnesian War in 431 B.C.

This disastrous civil war lasted until 405 B.C., whenthe Athenian fleet was destroyed at Aegospotami(EE•guh•SPAH•tuh•MEE). Within the next year,Athens surrendered. Its walls were torn down, thenavy disbanded, and the Athenian Empire destroyed.

The Great Peloponnesian War weakened the majorGreek states and ruined any possibility of coopera-tion among them. During the next 66 years, Sparta,Athens, and Thebes (a new Greek power) struggledto dominate Greek affairs. In continuing their pettywars, the Greeks ignored the growing power ofMacedonia to their north.

Explaining How did the Great Pelo-ponnesian War weaken the Greek states?

The Culture of Classical GreeceClassical Greece, especially Athens under the rule of

Pericles, witnessed a period of remarkable intellec-

Reading Check

CONNECTING TO THE PAST1. Summarizing Information Describe a Spartan

upbringing. How does this differ from the childhoodof an American child?

2. Compare and Contrast Compare a well-educatedSpartan boy with a well-educated Athenian and awell-educated American. What are the differences?

3. Writing about History Does your education todayincorporate any Spartan or Athenian ideas? If so,give specific examples.

Basically, the Spartan system worked.Spartan males were known for their tough-ness and their meanness. They were alsoknown as the best soldiers in all of Greece.

Spartan girls received an education simi-lar to that of the boys. Girls, too, under-went physical training, including running,wrestling, and throwing the javelin. Thepurpose was clear: to strengthen the girlsfor their roles as healthy mothers.

Well-to-do Athenian citizens raised theirchildren very differently. Athenian childrenwere nurtured by their mothers until theage of seven. At seven, a boy of the upperclass was turned over to a male servant,known as a pedagogue. The pedagogue,who was usually a slave, accompanied thechild to school. He was also responsiblefor teaching his charge good manners. Hecould punish the child with a birch rod toimpose discipline.

The purpose of an education for upper-class Athenian boys was to create a well-rounded person. To that end, a boy hadthree teachers. One taught him reading,

writing, and arithmetic. Another taughtphysical education, a necessity to achievethe ideal of a sound mind in a soundbody. A third taught him music, which con-sisted of playing the lyre (a stringed instru-ment) and singing. Education ended at 18,when an Athenian male formally became a citizen.

Girls of all classes remained at home, as their mothers did. Their mothers taughtthem how to run a home, which includedhow to spin and weave—activities expectedof a good wife. Only in some wealthy fami-lies did girls learn to read, write, and per-haps play the lyre.

Discobolos, a famous Greekstatue, pays tribute to athletesand the Greek ideals of soundmind and sound body.

tual and cultural growth. The developments of thisperiod became the main source of Western culture.

The Classical Ideals of Greek Art The arts of theWestern world have been largely dominated by the

standards set by the Greeks of the classical period.Classical Greek art was concerned with expressingeternal ideals—reason, moderation, balance, and har-mony in all things. The subject matter of this art wasthe human being, presented as an object of greatbeauty. The classic style was meant to civilize theemotions.

In architecture, the most important form was thetemple dedicated to a god or goddess. At the centerof Greek temples were walled rooms that housedboth the statues of deities and treasuries in whichgifts to the gods and goddesses were safeguarded.These central rooms were surrounded by a screen ofcolumns that made Greek temples open structuresrather than closed ones.

Some of the finest examples of Greek classicalarchitecture were built in Athens in the fifth centuryB.C. The most famous building, regarded as the great-est example of the classical Greek temple, was the

“I tell you that virtue does not come from money, but that money comes from virtue, as does every other good of man, public and private.”—The Apology of Socrates, Plato

Socrates

Parthenon. It was built between 447 and 432 B.C.Dedicated to Athena, the patron goddess of Athens,and to the glory of Athens itself, the Parthenon wasan expression of Athenian pride in their city-state.The Parthenon shows the principles of classical archi-tecture: the search for calmness, clarity, and freedomfrom unnecessary detail.

Greek sculpture also developed a classical style.Lifelike statues of the male nude, the favorite subjectof Greek sculptors, showed relaxed attitudes. Theirfaces were self-assured, their bodies flexible andsmooth muscled. Greek sculptors sought to achieve astandard of ideal beauty rather than realism.

Greek Drama Drama as we know it in Western cul-ture was created by the Greeks. Plays were presentedin outdoor theaters as part of religious festivals. Thefirst Greek dramas were tragedies, which were pre-sented in a trilogy (a set of three plays) built arounda common theme. The only complete trilogy we pos-sess today, called the Oresteia, was composed byAeschylus. This set of three plays relates the fate ofAgamemnon, a hero in the Trojan War, and his fam-ily after his return from the war.

Greek tragedies dealt with universal themes stillrelevant today. They examined such problems as thenature of good and evil, the rights of the individual,the nature of divine forces, and the nature of humanbeings. In the world of the Greek tragedies, strivingto do the best thing may not always lead to success,but the attempt is a worthy endeavor. Greek pride inaccomplishment and independence was real. As thechorus chanted in Sophocles’ Antigone, “Is there any-thing more wonderful on earth, our marvelousplanet, than the miracle of man?”

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Greek Philosophy The term philosophy comes froma Greek word that means “love of wisdom.” EarlyGreek philosophers were concerned with the devel-opment of critical or rational thought about thenature of the universe. Socrates, Plato, and Aristotleremain to this day three of the greatest philosophersof the Western world.

Socrates was a sculptor, but his true love was phi-losophy. He taught many pupils, but he accepted nopay. He believed that the goal of education was onlyto improve the individual.

Socrates used a teaching method that is stillknown by his name. The Socratic method of teachinguses a question-and-answer format to lead pupils tosee things for themselves by using their own reason.Socrates believed that all real knowledge is alreadypresent within each person. Only critical examina-tion is needed to call it forth. This was the real task ofphilosophy, because, as Socrates said, “The unexam-ined life is not worth living.” This belief in the indi-vidual’s ability to reason was an importantcontribution of the Greeks.

One of Socrates’ students was Plato, considered bymany to be the greatest philosopher of Western civi-lization. Unlike his teacher Socrates, who did notwrite down his thoughts, Plato wrote a great deal. Hewas particularly fascinated with the question of howwe know what is real.

Plato’s ideas about government were explained ina work entitled The Republic. Based on his experi-ences in Athens, Plato had come to distrust the work-ings of democracy. To him, individuals could notachieve a good life unless they lived in a just (fair)and rational state.

Plato’s search for the just state led him to constructan ideal state in which people were divided intothree basic groups. At the top was an upper class ofphilosopher-kings. The second group in Plato’s idealstate were warriors who protected society. The thirdgroup contained all the rest, the masses, peopledriven not by wisdom or courage but by desire. Theywould be the producers of society—artisans, trades-people, and farmers. Contrary to Greek custom, Platoalso believed that men and women should have thesame education and equal access to all positions.

Plato established a school in Athens known as theAcademy. One of his pupils, who studied at theAcademy for 20 years, was Aristotle. Aristotle’sinterests lay in analyzing and classifying thingsbased on observation and investigation. He wroteabout many subjects, including ethics, logic, politics,poetry, astronomy, geology, biology, and physics.


Like Plato, Aristotle wanted an effective form ofgovernment that would rationally direct humanaffairs. Unlike Plato, he did not seek an ideal state buttried to find the best form of government by analyzingexisting governments. For his Politics, Aristotle lookedat the constitutions of 158 states and found three goodforms of government: monarchy, aristocracy, and con-stitutional government. He favored constitutionalgovernment as the best form for most people.

Summarizing What ideals wereexpressed in classical Greek art, architecture, and drama?

Alexander the GreatAs a result of Alexander’s con-

quests, Greek language, art, architecture, and literaturespread throughout Southwest Asia. The Greeks viewed their northern neighbors, the

Macedonians, as barbarians, but in 359 B.C., Philip II

Reading Check

came to the Macedonian throne. A great admirer ofGreek culture, he longed to unite all of Greece underMacedonia. He finally did so in 338 B.C. at the Battleof Chaeronea (KEHR•uh•NEE•uh), near Thebes. TheMacedonian army crushed the Greeks.

Philip insisted that the Greek states form a leagueand then cooperate with him in a war against Persia.Before Philip could undertake his invasion of Asia,however, he was assassinated, leaving the task to hisson Alexander.

Alexander the Great was only 20 when he becameking of Macedonia. After his father’s death, Alexan-der moved quickly to fulfill his father’s dream ofinvading the Persian Empire. In the spring of 334 B.C.,Alexander entered Asia Minor with an army of somethirty-seven thousand men, both Macedonians andGreeks. By 331 B.C., Alexander had taken possessionof the Persian Empire. However, he was not content.

Over the next three years, Alexander moved eastand northeast, as far as modern-day Pakistan. In 326


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Empire of Alexander the Great, 323 B.C.

Alexander the Great established his empire over three conti-nents. The smaller map on the right outlines the present-day equivalent of Alexander’s empire.

1. Interpreting Maps Did physical boundaries appear tohave limited Alexander’s conquests?

2. Applying Geography Skills Compare the inset mapto the large map. What modern states correspond toAlexander’s empire?

Modern-dayborders

Extent of empireAlexander's routesof conquestMajor battle

Alexanderthe Great


B.C., he crossed the IndusRiver and entered India,where he experienced anumber of difficult cam-paigns. Weary of fightingyear after year, his sol-diers refused to go farther.

Alexander returned to Babylon, where heplanned more cam-paigns. However, inJune 323 B.C., exhaustedfrom wounds, fever, andtoo much alcohol, hedied at the age of 32.

Identifying What changes in theGreek states resulted from the Greeks’ defeat at the Battle ofChaeronea?

The Hellenistic EraAlexander created a new age, the Hellenistic Era.

The word Hellenistic is derived from a Greek wordmeaning “to imitate Greeks.” It is an appropriateway, then, to describe an age that saw the expansionof the Greek language and ideas to the non-Greekworld of Southwest Asia and beyond.

The Hellenistic Kingdoms The united empire thatAlexander created by his conquests fell apart soonafter his death as the most important Macedoniangenerals engaged in a struggle for power. By 300 B.C.,

Reading Check

any hope of unity was dead. Eventually, four Hel-lenistic kingdoms emerged as the successors toAlexander: Macedonia, Syria in the east, the king-dom of Pergamum in western Asia Minor, and Egypt.All were eventually conquered by the Romans.

Hellenistic rulers encouraged a massive spread of Greek colonists to Southwest Asia. Greeks (andMacedonians) provided not only new recruits for thearmy but also a pool of civilian administrators andworkers. Architects, engineers, dramatists, and actorswere all in demand in the new Greek cities. The Greekcities of the Hellenistic Era became the chief agents inthe spread of Greek culture in Southwest Asia—asfar, in fact, as modern-day Afghanistan and India.

Hellenistic Culture The Hellenistic Era was aperiod of considerable cultural accomplishment inmany areas. Certain centers—especially the greatHellenistic city of Alexandria—stood out. Alexan-dria became home to poets, writers, philosophers,and scientists—scholars of all kinds.

The founding of new cities and the rebuilding ofold ones presented many opportunities for Greekarchitects and sculptors. Both Hellenistic kings andrich citizens patronized sculptors. Thousands of stat-ues were erected in towns and cities all over the Hel-lenistic world. Hellenistic sculptors moved awayfrom the idealism of earlier classicism to a more emo-tional and realistic art. This is especially evident inthe numerous statues of women and children.

Identifying Which four kingdomsemerged following Alexander’s death?Reading Check

60

Checking for Understanding1. Define epic poem, polis, acropolis,

democracy, oligarchy, directdemocracy.

2. Identify Homer, Solon, Cleisthenes,Pericles, Socrates, Plato, Aristotle,Alexander the Great.

3. Locate Mycenae, Troy, Sparta, Athens,Macedonia, Alexandria.

4. Describe the importance of the Iliadand the Odyssey to Greek culture.

5. Identify the values and standards exem-plified by Greek art and architecture.

Critical Thinking6. Contrast How were the governments

favored by Plato and Aristotle different?Which view makes more sense to you?Why?

7. Organizing Information Using a tablelike the one below, identify the reformsthat led to democracy in Athens andthe leaders who initiated them.

Analyzing Visuals8. Examine the photo of the Parthenon

shown on page 54. Where is theParthenon located? When was it built? How does this famous templedemonstrate the principles of classicalarchitecture?

9. Descriptive Writing Imagine thatyou are a 25-year-old male living inSparta in 700 B.C. Create a diary inwhich you record your activities forone week. Write one diary page foreach day.

Leader Reforms SolonCleisthenesPericles

HISTORY

Web Activity Visitthe Glencoe WorldHistory—Modern Times Web site atwh.mt.glencoe.com andclick on Chapter 2–Student Web Activity to learn more aboutAlexander the Great andhis conquests.

61

Making ComparisonsWhy Learn This Skill?

When making comparisons, you identify the sim-ilarities and differences among two or more ideas,objects, or events.

Learning the SkillFollow these steps to make comparisons:• Find two subjects that can be com-

pared. They should be similar enoughto have characteristics that are commonto both. For example, it would be moreappropriate to compare a Greek statueto an Egyptian statue than to anabstract modern painting.

• Determine which features the sub-jects have in common that are suitable for comparison.

• Look for similarities and differ-ences within these areas.

• If possible, find information thatexplains the similarities and differences.

Practicing the SkillThe following excerpts from the

text discuss Spartan and Athenianmodels for raising children. Read bothexcerpts, then answer the questionsthat follow.

Passage AIn Sparta, boys were trained to be soldiers. State

officials examined all children at birth and decidedwhether or not they were fit to live. Those who werejudged unfit were left in the open on a mountainsideto die. Boys judged fit were put under control of thestate at age seven. They lived in military-style bar-racks and were subjected to harsh discipline to makethem tough. Their education stressed military train-ing and obedience to authority.

Passage BAthenian children were nurtured by their moth-

ers until the age of seven, when boys of the upperclass were turned over to a male servant, known asa pedagogue. The pedagogue accompanied thechild to school and was responsible for teaching hischarge good manners. He could punish the childwith a birch rod to impose discipline.

The purpose of an education forupper-class Athenian boys was to create a well-rounded person. A boy

had three teachers. One taught read-ing, writing, and arithmetic; a sec-ond taught physical education; and a third taught music. Educa-tion ended at eighteen, when an Athenian male formally became a citizen.

1 Make a chart with one columnlabeled Sparta and one labeledAthens. List the similarities inhow the two states raised chil-dren, then list the differences.

2 How did the similarities anddifferences in raising childrensuit the needs of each city-state?

Applying the Skill

Survey your classmates about an issue in the news.Summarize their opinions and compare the differentresults in a paragraph.

Glencoe’s Skillbuilder Interactive Workbook,Level 2, provides instruction and practice in keysocial studies skills.

Athena

62 CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece and Rome

Greeks in antiquity considered theIliad to be a historical account of theirpast. Alexander the Great, for exam-ple, traced his mother’s family back tothe hero Achilles. We know today thatthe poem is not a true story of a warin Greece’s late Bronze Age (about1600 to 1100 B.C.). For one thing, the Iliad was not written during thisperiod. It is the result of more than500 years of oral tradition, handeddown by generations of professionalpoets. Credit for the final masterpiecewent to someone the Greeks called“divine Homer,” but they knew noth-ing more about this person than hissupposed name—and neither do we.

Still, myths often spring from akernel of historical truth, and in the

IIn Homer’s epic poem the Iliad, the rich and

powerful city-state of Mycenae headed a united

Greek attack against “windy Ilion”—the wealthy

city of Troy—to avenge the kidnapping of “lovely-

haired Helen,” wife of Sparta’s king Menelaus. For

centuries, the fabled treasures of these legendary

cities were thought to exist—like the Trojan War

itself—in imagination only. But modern archaeol-

ogy suggests there may be more than myth to

Homer’s classic tale.

late nineteenth century, the TrojanWar’s mythic rival cities entered thereal world of history. Between 1870and 1890 German businessman andamateur archaeologist HeinrichSchliemann carried out archaeologi-cal digs that put Troy and Mycenaeon the map. Since then, archaeolo-gists and scholars have uncoverednumerous details suggesting thatHomer’s Iliad records many aspects ofthe Greek Bronze Age (known to his-torians as the Mycenaean Age, for thecity that dominated the period). Thegiant walls of Mycenae and its fabu-lous treasure, for example, and thegeography around Troy itself innorthwestern Turkey, all supportdescriptions you can find in the

poem’s stirring rhythms.Descendants of Greek-speaking

peoples who appeared on the Greekmainland around 1900 B.C., theMycenaeans eventually developedsocieties that revolved around a cen-tral palace. In addition to Mycenaeitself, Schliemann and later archaeolo-gists have discovered major Myce-naean centers whose names appear inthe Iliad: “sacred” Pylos, Tiryns “ofthe huge walls,” and “thirsty” Argos,to list only a few of them. Researchershave also discovered hundreds of settlements and tombs—all with ashared culture.

The historical Mycenae dominatedthe plain of Argos, a wealthy region that controlled much of the trade

Myth to the MoRe Than

1


across the Aegean Sea. The city’s mas-sive walls enclosed a large administra-tive complex of royal courts, houses,sanctuaries, and storerooms. Itsfamous grave circle, unearthed bySchliemann in 1876, revealed richtreasures suggesting that as early as thesixteenth century B.C. the Mycenaeanruling class possessed a treasure troveof silver, gold, and ivory.

From archaeological digs at bothMycenae and Troy came signs thatHomer’s Iliad told of real things in the ancient world. Among the itemsfound at Mycenae, for example, was asmall gold ring. Carved on its face is a miniature battle scene showing aman protecting his entire body behinda huge shield, the kind that Homerdescribes the Greek hero Ajax holdingin front of him “like a wall.” The Iliad’sheroes were known across the sea inAsia as well. Tomb art found in Turkeyand dating from the fourth century

B.C. depicts a scene from the Trojansiege (opposite page).

Troy’s location at the mouth of theDardanelles, the strait that Homercalled the Hellespont, gave it com-mand of the water route into centralAsia. From this vantage point, thehistorical Trojans traded skillfullythroughout central Asia. Whatremains of Troy’s walls still overlooks a plain crossed by willow-lined riversmentioned in the Iliad.

Heinrich Schliemann’s excavationof Troy was crude and impatient. Hesank trenches straight to bedrock,believing Homer’s “windy Ilion”would lie at the bottom, thus destroy-

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1 A scene etched in stone on a fourthcentury B.C. tomb found in Turkey sug-gests the Iliad’s tragic final battle,between Hector of Troy and Achilles,hero of the Greeks.

2 Prosperous Mycenae traded through-out the Aegean. The reconstructionabove shows the city’s fortress in thelate thirteenth century B.C., at the peakof its power. Some 250 miles (402 km)away, its rival Troy commanded thestrait called the Dardanelles (Homer’sHellespont), a key link to the Black Sea.Today Troy’s ruins lie 3 miles (4.8 km)inland, but in the late Bronze Age, thecity sat on the edge of a bay thatopened directly onto the Hellespont.

2

S P E C I A L R E P O RT


TROY

Lower town

Wooden palisadeTrench

Scaean Gate

Citadel

ART BY WILLIAM COOK

ing several layers of history. Today aninternational team of archaeologistsdirected by Manfred Korfmann ofGermany’s Tubingen University isreexcavating the entire site—nine levels ranging from 3000 B.C. to theRoman city of New Ilium in the earlysixth century A.D. The sixth and sev-enth levels straddle the years 1250 to1150 B.C., the era of Homer’s war.

Whether or not the Greeks actually launched an invasion orentered Troy by means of the famousTrojan horse ruse (opposite page),evidence shows that the two peopleswere in trading contact. Mycenaeanpottery found at Troy dates back to1500 B.C.

Some 1,300 feet (396 m) beyondthe citadel first uncovered by Schlie-mann, Korfmann’s team of archaeolo-gists has made a most exciting find.They uncovered an extensive trench8 feet (2.4 m) deep and 10 feet (3 m)wide encircling an entire lower town

of wooden houses. The reconfiguredcity (reconstruction above)—whichincreases the known area of the sixth level of Troy by as much as 50acres (20.25 ha)— is almost ten timesas large as the citadel and held a pop-ulation of at least 6,000. This findingmakes Troy an opponent more equal to the mighty Mycenae thanSchliemann’s hilltop fortress.

Farther afield, in a nearby sandcove, lies evidence to support specula-

tion that the Trojans took advantageof their commanding position at thiscrossroads of trade between Europeand Asia. Because of prevailing north-easterly winds, shallow-keeled BronzeAge merchant ships would have beenforced to wait at Troy for a favorablebreeze before proceeding north of theDardanelles to the Black Sea.

Korfmann’s team has located buri-als in the cove that reflect differentcultural influences, suggesting that

3


the crews of stranded vessels may have died while waiting for the windto change. Korfmann says later textsconfirm that “occupants of the regionexacted tolls from incoming vessels.”If Troy grew rich with this practice, itwould have made bitter enemies ofmerchants like the Mycenaeans.

1. Was there a Trojan War? If so, whatwas its likely cause?

2. What is significant about the strait called the Dardanelles?

INTERPRETING THE PAST

Indeed, some historians speculatethat conflict over trade routes, ratherthan Helen’s legendary beauty, mayhave sparked the Trojan War. AsKorfmann sees it, “It is possible thatTroy experienced several commercialskirmishes, if not one Trojan War.”

5

4

3 Stone walls believed to be thecitadel of Troy were first unearthed inthe 1870s. Troy holds the remains of atleast nine settlements spanning 3,500years. In the early 1990s, archaeolo-gists discovered several wooden pal-isades and a 10-foot (3 m) trenchencircling a lower town (reconstruction).Earlier only the hilltop citadel wasknown.

4 The Tumulus of Ajax is one of morethan 40 mounds on the plain of Troysaid to honor fallen heroes of the Trojan War.

5 A seventh-century B.C. amphora fromMykonos shows the earliest knowndepiction of the wooden horse that bore“death and doom for the Trojans.”

S P E C I A L R E P O RT

66 CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece

509 B.C.Romans overthrowEtruscans

27 B.COctavian is namedemperor

Guide to Reading

Rome and the Rise of Christianity

Preview of Events

A.D. 180Pax Romana ends

A.D. 313Constantine proclaims officialtolerance of Christianity

A.D. 410The Visigoths sack Rome

!500 B.C. !A.D. 1 !A.D. 100 !A.D. 200 !A.D. 300 !A.D. 400 !A.D. 500

Main Ideas• Octavian, titled Caesar Augustus, was

the first emperor of the Roman Empire.• Christianity spread throughout the

empire and eventually became the statereligion of Rome.

Key Termsrepublic, patrician, plebeian, imperator,Christianity, clergy, laity

People to IdentifyHannibal, Julius Caesar, Augustus, Virgil,Jesus, Constantine

Places to LocateRome, Carthage, Mediterranean Sea, AsiaMinor, Constantinople

Preview Questions1. Why did Rome become an empire?2. Why did Christianity grow so quickly?

Reading StrategyCategorizing Information As you readthis section, complete a chart like the one shown below listing the governmentofficials and the legislative bodies of theRoman Republic.

Virgil’s masterpiece, the Aeneid, was an epic poem clearly meant to rival the work of Homer. It was also meant to express that the art of ruling was Rome’s gift, as seen here:

“Let others fashion from bronze more lifelike, breathing images—For so they shall—and evoke living faces from marble;Others excel as orators, others track with their instrumentsThe planets circling in heaven and predict when stars will appear.But, Romans, never forget that government is your medium!Be this your art: to practise men in the habit of peace,Generosity to the conquered, and firmness against aggressors.”

—Aeneid, C. Day Lewis, trans., 1952

One of the most noticeable characteristics of Roman culture and society is theimpact of the Greeks.

The Emergence of RomeIndo-European peoples moved into Italy during the period from about 1500 to

1000 B.C. The Latins were one such group. These people spoke Latin, which, likeGreek, is an Indo-European language. The Latins were herders and farmers wholived in settlements consisting of huts on the tops of Italy’s hills. After 800 B.C.,

Voices from the Past


Officials Legislative Bodies

Virgil

other people also began settling in Italy—mostnotably, the Greeks and the Etruscans.

Roman tradition maintains that early Rome(753–509 B.C.) was under the control of seven kingsand that two of the last three kings were Etruscans.Historians know for certain that Rome did fall underEtruscan influence during this time. In 509 B.C., theRomans overthrew the last Etruscan king and estab-lished a republic, a form of government in which theleader is not a monarch and certain citizens have theright to vote. This was the beginning of a new era inRome’s history.

Rome’s Conquest of Italy At the beginning of therepublic, Rome was surrounded by enemies. For thenext two hundred years, the city was engaged inalmost continuous warfare. By 264 B.C., the Romanshad overcome the Greeks and completed their con-quest of southern Italy. After defeating the remainingEtruscan states to the north over the next three years,Rome had conquered virtually all of Italy.

To rule Italy, the Romans devised the Roman Con-federation. Under this system, Rome allowed somepeoples—especially Latins—to have full Roman cit-izenship. Most of the remaining communities weremade allies. They remained free to run their ownlocal affairs but were required to provide soldiers forRome. The Romans made it clear that loyal alliescould improve their status and even become Romancitizens. The Romans made the conquered peoplesfeel they had a real stake in Rome’s success.

Rome Conquers the Mediterranean After theirconquest of Italy, the Romans found themselves faceto face with a strong power in the Mediterranean—

the state of Carthage.Carthage had beenfounded around 800B.C. on the coast ofNorth Africa. Thestate had created anenormous tradingempire in the west-

ern Mediterranean. By the third century B.C., theCarthaginian Empire included the coast of northernAfrica, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and west-ern Sicily.

The presence of the Carthaginians in Sicily, anisland close to the Italian coast, made the Romansfearful. The Romans fought three wars withCarthage, beginning in 264 B.C. During the secondwar, Rome came close to disaster as a result of the

victories of Hannibal, Carthage’s greatest general.Despite their losses, the Romans refused to give upand created new armies and a navy to carry on thestruggle. In 202 B.C., the Romans crushed Hannibal’sforces, ending the second war. Carthage lost Spain,which became a Roman province. Rome had becomethe dominant power in the western Mediterranean.Fifty years later, the Romans fought their third andfinal war with Carthage, completely destroyingCarthage in 146 B.C.

During its wars with Carthage, Rome also battledthe Hellenistic states in the eastern Mediterranean. In148 B.C., Macedonia was made a Roman province.Two years later, Greece was placed under the controlof the Roman governor of Macedonia. In 129 B.C.,Pergamum became Rome’s first province in Asia.Rome was now master of the Mediterranean Sea.

Summarizing What is the sequenceof events that led Rome to become master of the Mediter-ranean Sea by 129 B.C.?

The Roman StateThe Romans had been ruled by kings under the

Etruscans. As a result, they distrusted kingship anddevised a very different system of government.

Early Rome was divided into two groups or orders—the patricians and the plebeians (plih•BEE•uhns).

Reading Check


Hannibal247–183 B.C.Carthaginian general

When Hannibal was only nineyears old, his father, a Carthaginiangeneral, took him to a temple inCarthage and made him swear that hewould always hate the Romans. Hanniballater inflicted terrible losses on the Romans—his army killed or captured thousands of Romans andallied soldiers in Italy. Unable to win the war, Hannibaleventually sought refuge with Rome’s enemies.

The Romans never forgave Hannibal. They pursuedhim for years and finally caught up with him in Bithynia.To avoid capture, Hannibal took poison after remarking,“Let us relieve the Romans of the fear which has so longafflicted them, since it seems to tax their patience toohard to wait for an old man’s death.”

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citizens always had a majority. The council of theplebs was the assembly for plebeians only, and itcame into being as a result of the struggle between thetwo social orders in Rome.

The Struggle of the Orders There was often con-flict between the patricians and the plebeians in theearly Roman Republic. Children of patricians andplebeians were forbidden to marry each other. Ple-beians resented this situation, especially since theyserved in the Roman army that protected the Repub-lic. They thought that they deserved both politicaland social equality with the patricians.

The struggle between the patricians and plebeiansdragged on for hundreds of years. Ultimately, it ledto success for the plebeians, and the council of theplebs was created in 471 B.C. New officials, known astribunes of the plebs, were given the power to protectthe plebeians. In the fourth century B.C., plebeianswere permitted to become consuls. Finally, in 287B.C., the council of the plebs received the right to passlaws for all Romans.

By 287 B.C., all male Roman citizens were suppos-edly equal under the law. In reality, however, a fewwealthy patrician and plebeian families formed anew senatorial ruling class that came to dominate thepolitical offices. The Roman Republic had notbecome a democracy.

Explaining How did the differencesbetween plebeians and patricians prevent Rome from becom-ing a true democracy?

From Republic to EmpireAfter the collapse of Rome’s repub-

lican institutions and a series of brutal civil wars,Augustus created a new order that began the RomanEmpire. Between 509 and 264 B.C., most of what is modern-

day Italy was unified under Rome’s control. Evenmore dramatic is that by 129 B.C., Rome stoodsupreme over the Mediterranean Sea.

Rome’s republican institutions, however, provedinadequate for ruling an empire. By the second cen-tury B.C., the Senate had become the real governingbody of the Roman state. Within the Senate, rival fac-tions of wealthy families began to compete forpower, creating disorder.

In addition, in the first century B.C., Roman leadersbegan to recruit armies that swore an oath of loyaltyto the general, not to the Roman state. For 50 years

Reading Check

Roman legions had defeated theGermanic tribes?

The Roman Empire was near its height duringthe first century A.D. However, in A.D. 9, threeRoman legions, approximately 15,000 men, werewiped out by Germanic tribesmen led by Arminiusin the Teutoburg Forest. From that point on, Romemade no serious attempts to conquer what weknow today as Germany.

Consider the Consequences Identify andexplain at least two ways in which Europeanhistory might have been different if the Romanshad defeated the German warriors in the Teu-toburg Forest.


The patricians were great landowners, who becameRome’s ruling class. Less wealthy landholders,craftspeople, merchants, and small farmers were partof a larger group called plebeians. Men in bothgroups were citizens and could vote, but only thepatricians could be elected to governmental offices.

The Government of Rome The chief executiveofficers of the Roman Republic were the consuls andpraetors (PREE•tuhrs). Two consuls, chosen everyyear, ran the government and led the Roman armyinto battle. The praetor was in charge of civil law—law as it applied to Roman citizens. As the Romans’territory expanded, another praetor was added tojudge cases in which people were noncitizens. TheRomans also had a number of officials who had spe-cial duties, such as supervising the treasury.

The Roman Senate came to hold an especiallyimportant position in the Roman Republic. It was aselect group of about three hundred patricians whoserved for life. At first, the Senate’s only role was toadvise government officials. However, the advice ofthe Senate carried a great deal of weight. By the thirdcentury B.C., it had the force of law.

The Roman Republic had several people’s assem-blies in addition to the Senate. By far the most impor-tant of these was the centuriate assembly. Thecenturiate assembly elected the chief officials, such asconsuls and praetors, and passed laws. Because it wasorganized by classes based on wealth, the wealthiest


(82–31 B.C.), Roman history was characterized bycivil wars as a number of individuals competed forpower. In one of these struggles, Julius Caesardefeated the forces led by Pompey. After Caesar wasassassinated, Octavian, Caesar’s heir and grand-nephew, defeated Mark Antony and took control ofthe Roman world.

The period beginning in 31 B.C. and lasting untilA.D. 14 came to be known as the Age of Augustus. (In27 B.C., the Senate had awarded Octavian the title ofAugustus—“the revered one.”) Augustus proved tobe highly popular, but his continuing control of thearmy was the chief source of his power. The Senatenamed Augustus imperator, or commander in chief.Our word emperor comes from the word imperator.Augustus thus became the first emperor of theRoman Empire.

Summarizing What factors contrib-uted to disorder and civil war in the Roman Republic duringthe second and first centuries B.C.?

Reading Check

The Early Empire Beginning in A.D. 14, a series of new emperors

ruled Rome. This period, ending in A.D. 180, is calledthe Early Empire.

The Five Good Emperors The first four emperorsafter Augustus grew increasingly more powerful and

From China

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In about 350 years, the Romans conquered an area aboutthe size of the present-day United States. Exchange andcommunication through trade was extensive throughout the vast Roman Empire.

1. Interpreting Maps Explain how the trading routesindicated on this map allowed for the areas in the furthest reaches of the Roman Empire to trade with one another.

2. Applying Geography Skills Why would control of theMediterranean region benefit Rome’s economy? Whatare the names of the two chief Italian port cities of theRoman Empire?

Roman Empire: Trade and Expansion

Roman Empire,A.D. 200

Trade route

Glassware

Grain

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corrupt. At the beginning of the second century, aseries of five so-called good emperors—Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, and Marcus Aure-lius—came to power. These emperors created aperiod of peace and prosperity known as the PaxRomana—the “Roman Peace.” The Pax Romanalasted for almost a hundred years (96–180). Theserulers treated the ruling classes with respect, endedarbitrary executions, maintained peace in the empire,and supported domestic policies that were generallyhelpful to the empire.

Under the five good emperors, the powers of theemperor continued to expand at the expense of theSenate. Officials who were appointed and directed bythe emperor took over the running of the government.

The good emperors also created new programs tohelp the people. Trajan, for example, created a pro-gram that provided state funds to assist poor parentsin the raising and education of their children. Thegood emperors were widely praised for their build-ing programs. Trajan and Hadrian were especiallyactive in building public works—aqueducts, bridges,roads, and harbor facilities—throughout theprovinces and in Rome.

Prosperity and Trade At its height in the secondcentury, the Roman Empire was one of the greateststates the world had ever seen. It covered about threeand a half million square miles (about 9.1 millionsquare km) and had a population that has been esti-mated at more than fifty million.

The Early Empire was also a period of much pros-perity, with internal peace leading to high levels of

trade. Merchants from all over the empire came to thechief Italian ports of Puteoli (pyuh•TEE•uh•LY) onthe Bay of Naples and Ostia at the mouth of the TiberRiver. Trade went beyond the Roman frontiers aswell and included even silk goods from China. Largequantities of grain were imported, especially fromEgypt, to feed the people of Rome. Luxury itemspoured in to satisfy the wealthy upper classes.Despite the active trade and commerce, however,farming remained the chief occupation of most peo-ple and the underlying basis of Roman prosperity.

Explaining How did the policies andprograms of the five good emperors benefit the Early Empireand its people?

Roman LawOne of Rome’s chief gifts to the Mediterranean

world of its day and to later generations was its sys-tem of law. Rome’s first code of laws was the TwelveTables, which was adopted in 450 B.C. This code wasa product of a simple farming society and provedinadequate for later Roman needs. From the TwelveTables, the Romans developed a more sophisticatedsystem of civil law. This system applied only toRoman citizens, however.

As Rome expanded, legal questions arose thatinvolved both Romans and non-Romans. The Romansfound that although some of their rules of civil lawcould be used in these cases, special rules were oftenneeded. These rules gave rise to a body of law knownas the Law of Nations. The Romans came to identifythe Law of Nations with natural law, or universal law

Reading Check


A detail from the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii shows thatlife for many in the city offeredseveral comforts and pleasures.The city of Pompeii was buried in a single day when the volcanoVesuvius erupted in A.D. 79. Whatdoes this surviving wall painting from Pompeii tell us about the lifestyles of upper-classRomans?

History

based on reason. This enabled them to establish stan-dards of justice that applied to all people.

These standards of justice included principles stillrecognized today. A person was regarded as innocentuntil proved otherwise. People accused of wrongdo-ing were allowed to defend themselves before a judge.A judge, in turn, was expected to weigh evidence care-fully before arriving at a decision. These principleslived on long after the fall of the Roman Empire.

Identifying Name at least two princi-ples in the Law of Nations that are still recognized today.

Slavery in the Roman EmpireSlavery was common throughout the ancient

world, but no people had more slaves or relied somuch on slave labor as the Romans did. Before thethird century B.C., slaves used in Rome were usuallyfrom Italy and were often regarded as part of thefamily household.

The Roman conquest of the Mediterraneanbrought a drastic change in the use of slaves. Largenumbers of foreign peoples who had been capturedin different wars were brought back to Italy as slaves.Greek slaves were in much demand as tutors, musi-cians, doctors, and artists. Roman businessmenwould employ them as shop assistants or craftspeo-ple. Many slaves of all nationalities were used ashousehold workers, such as cooks, valets, waiters,cleaners, and gardeners.

Slaves built roads and public buildings, andfarmed the large estates of the wealthy. The condi-tions under which these slaves lived were often piti-ful. One Roman writer argued that it was cheaper towork slaves to death and thenreplace them than to treat them well.

Some slaves revolted. The mostfamous slave revolt in Italy occurredin 73 B.C. Led by the gladiator Spar-tacus, the revolt broke out in south-ern Italy and involved seventythousand slaves. Spartacus man-aged to defeat several Romanarmies before being trapped andkilled in 71 B.C. Six thousand follow-ers of Spartacus were crucified (putto death by nailing to a cross).

DescribingHow did the Roman conquest of theMediterranean change slavery in theRoman world?

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Daily Life in the City of RomeAt the center of the colossal Roman Empire was

the ancient city of Rome. Truly a capital city, Romehad the largest population of any city in theempire—close to one million by the time of Augus-tus. For anyone with ambitions, Rome was the placeto be. People from all over the empire resided there.

Living Conditions Rome was an overcrowded andnoisy city. Because of the congestion, cart and wagontraffic was banned from the streets during the day.

An enormous gulf existed between rich and poor.The rich had comfortable villas, while the poor livedin apartment blocks called insulae, which could be six stories high. Constructed of concrete walls withwooden beam floors, these buildings were usuallypoorly built and often collapsed.

Fire was a constant threat in the insulae because ofthe use of movable stoves, torches, candles, andlamps within the rooms for heat and light. Oncestarted, fires were extremely difficult to put out. Highrents forced entire families to live in one room. Therewas no plumbing or central heating. As a result,many poor Romans spent most of their time out-doors in the streets.

Public Programs Rome boasted public buildingsunequaled anywhere in the empire. Its temples, mar-kets, baths, theaters, governmental buildings, andamphitheaters gave parts of the city an appearance ofgrandeur and magnificence.

Although it was the center of a great empire, Romehad serious problems. Beginning with Augustus, theemperors provided food for the city’s poor. About


The Colosseum is Rome’s mostfamous amphitheater.

Thomas Jefferson copied Roman temples in hisdesigns for the buildings of the University of Virginiaat Charlottesville. How do the two buildings illustrateRoman architectural innovations and the ideas theRomans borrowed from the Greeks?

Then and Now

two hundred thousand people received free grain.Even so, conditions remained grim for the poor.

Entertainment was provided on a grand scale forthe inhabitants of Rome. Public spectacles were pro-vided by the emperor as part of the great religiousfestivals celebrated by the state. The festivalsincluded three major types of entertainment. At theCircus Maximus, horse and chariot races attractedhundreds of thousands. Dramatic performances wereheld in theaters. The most famous of all the publicspectacles, however, were the gladiatorial shows.

Summarizing What problems didpeople face in the ancient city of Rome?

Roman CultureThe high point of Latin literature was reached in

the Age of Augustus. The Augustan Age has beencalled the golden age of Latin literature.

The most distinguished poet of the Augustan Agewas Virgil. The son of a small landholder in northernItaly near Mantua, he welcomed the rule of Augustusand wrote his greatest work, the Aeneid (ih•NEE•uhd), in honor of Rome. In the poem, the character ofAeneas is portrayed as the ideal Roman—his virtues

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are duty, piety, and faithfulness. Virgil’s overall pur-pose was to show that Aeneas had fulfilled his mis-sion to establish the Romans in Italy and thereby startRome on its divine mission to rule the world.

During the third and second centuries B.C., theRomans adopted many features of the Greek style ofart. They developed a taste for Greek statues, whichthey placed not only in public buildings but also intheir private houses. While Greek sculptors aimedfor an ideal appearance in their figures, Romansculptors produced realistic statues that includedeven unpleasant physical details.

The Romans excelled in architecture, a highlypractical art. Although they continued to use Greekstyles such as colonnades and rectangular buildings,the Romans also used forms based on curved lines:the arch, vault, and dome. The Romans were the firstpeople in antiquity to use concrete on a massivescale. Using concrete along with the new architec-tural forms made it possible for the Romans to con-struct huge buildings undreamed of by the Greeks.

The engineering skills of the Romans were alsoused to construct bridges, aqueducts, and roads suchas the Appian Way. The Romans built a network ofsome 50,000 miles (80,450 km) of roads throughoutthe empire. In Rome, almost a dozen aqueducts kepta population of one million supplied with water.

Contrasting Why were the Romansable to construct buildings larger than those of the Greeks?

The Emergence of ChristianityIn Hellenistic times, the Jewish people had been

given considerable independence. By A.D. 6, how-ever, Judaea, which embraced the lands of the oldJewish kingdom of Judah, had been made a Romanprovince and had been placed under the direction ofa Roman official called a procurator. Unrest waswidespread in Judaea, but the Jews differed amongthemselves about Roman rule. A Jewish revolt beganin A.D. 66 but was crushed four years later.

A few decades before the revolt, a Jewish prophetnamed Jesus preached throughout Judaea. Jesusbelieved his mission was to complete the salvationthat God had promised to Israel: “Do not think that Ihave come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I havenot come to abolish them but to fulfill them.” Accord-ing to Jesus, what was important was not strictadherence to the letter of the law but the transforma-tion of the inner person: “So in everything, do to oth-ers what you would have them do to you, for thissums up the Law and the Prophets.”

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! Hadrian’s Pantheon inRome

Rotunda at the "University of Virginia "

God’s command was to love God and one another.Jesus said, “Love the Lord your God with all yourheart and with all your soul and with all your mindand with all your strength. This is the first command-ment. The second is this: Love your neighbor as your-self.” Jesus voiced the ethical concepts—humility,charity, and love toward others—that would latershape the value system of Western civilization.

Jesus’ preaching eventually stirred controversy.Some people saw Jesus as a potential revolutionarywho might lead a revolt against Rome. His opponents finally turned him over to the Romanauthorities. The procurator Pontius Pilate orderedJesus’ crucifixion.

After the death of Jesus, his followers proclaimedhe had risen from death and had appeared to them.They believed Jesus to be the Messiah (anointed one),the long expected deliverer who would save Israelfrom its foes.

Explaining Why was Jesus turnedover to the Roman authorities?

The Spread of ChristianityChristianity began as a religious movement within

Judaism. After the reports that Jesus had overcomedeath, the Christian movement won followers inJerusalem and throughout Judaea and Galilee.

Prominent apostles, or leaders, arose in earlyChristianity. One was Simon Peter, a Jewish fisher-man who had become a follower of Jesus duringJesus’ lifetime. Peter was recognized as the leader ofthe apostles. Another major apostle was Paul, a

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highly educated Jewish Roman citizen who joinedthe movement later. Paul took the message of Jesus toGentiles (non-Jews) as well as to Jews. He foundedChristian communities throughout Asia Minor andalong the shores of the Aegean Sea.

At the center of Paul’s message was the belief thatJesus was the Savior, the Son of God who had cometo Earth to save humanity. Paul taught that Jesus’death made up for the sins of all people. By acceptingJesus as Christ (from Christos, the Greek term forMessiah) and Savior, people could be saved from sinand reconciled to God.

The teachings of early Christianity at first werepassed on orally. In time, written materials appeared,primarily in the form of letters written by disciples toChristian churches or individuals. Later, betweenA.D. 70 and 100, the oral accounts about Jesus becamethe basis of the written Gospels—the “good news”


Saint Matthew

Early Christians buried their dead in catacombs, under-ground chambers that sometimes had multiple roomsand levels. This catacomb was built in Rome in the sec-ond century. Why might early Christians have wantedan underground sanctuary for their dead?

History

concerning Jesus. These writings, along with the disciples’ letters and recorded teachings, became thebasis of the New Testament, the second part of theChristian Bible.

By 100, Christian churches had been established inmost of the major cities of the eastern empire and insome places in the western part of the empire. Mostearly Christians came from the Jews and the Greek-speaking populations of the east. In the second andthird centuries, however, an increasing number offollowers were Latin-speaking people.

Many Romans came to view Christians as harmfulto the Roman state because Christians refused toworship the state gods and emperors. The Romanssaw the Christians’ refusal to do so as an act of trea-son, punishable by death. The Christians, however,believed there was only one God. To them, the wor-ship of state gods and the emperors meant worship-ing false gods and endangering their own salvation.

The Roman government began persecuting(harassing to cause suffering) Christians during thereign of Nero (A.D. 54–68). The emperor blamed theChristians for the fire that destroyed much of Romeand subjected them to cruel deaths. In contrast, in thesecond century, persecution of Christians diminished.By the end of the reigns of the five good emperors,Christians still represented a small minority, though itwas one of considerable strength.

Summarizing How were the teach-ings of Jesus preserved and passed on?

The Triumph of ChristianityUnder Theodosius the Great, who

ruled from 378 to 395, the Romans adopted Christian-ity as the official religion of the Roman Empire.Though the Romans persecuted Christians in the

first and second centuries, this did nothing to stop thegrowth of Christianity. In fact, it did just the opposite,strengthening Christianity in the second and thirdcenturies by forcing it to become more organized.

Crucial to this change was the emerging role of thebishops, who began to assume more control overchurch communities. The Christian church was creat-ing a new structure in which the clergy (the churchleaders) had distinct functions separate from the laity(the regular church members).

Christianity grew quickly in the first century, tookroot in the second, and by the third had spreadwidely. Why was Christianity able to attract so manyfollowers?

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First, the Christian message had much to offer theRoman world. Christianity was personal and offeredsalvation and eternal life to individuals. Christianitygave meaning and purpose to life.

Christianity also fulfilled the human need tobelong. Christians formed communities bound toone another. In these communities, people couldexpress their love by helping one another and offer-ing assistance to the poor and the sick. Christianitysatisfied the need to belong in a way that the hugeRoman Empire could never provide.

Christianity proved attractive to all classes, butespecially to the poor and powerless. Eternal life waspromised to all—rich, poor, aristocrats, slaves, men,and women. Christianity stressed a sense of spiritualequality for all people.

In the fourth century, Christianity prospered asnever before when Constantine became the firstChristian emperor. Although he was not baptizeduntil the end of his life, in 313 Constantine issued theEdict of Milan, which proclaimed official tolerance ofChristianity. Then, under Theodosius the Great, theRomans adopted Christianity as their official religion.

Evaluating What benefits did Chris-tianity offer to individuals and Roman society as a whole?

The DeclineMarcus Aurelius, the last of the five good emper-

ors, died in A.D. 180. For the next hundred years aperiod of civil wars, political disorder, and economicdecline almost brought the Roman Empire to its end.

At the end of the third and the beginning of thefourth centuries, the Roman Empire gained a newlease on life through the efforts of two emperors, Dio-cletian and Constantine. The empire was changedinto a new state: the Late Roman Empire. It includeda new governmental structure, a rigid economic andsocial system, and a new state religion—Christianity.

Believing that the empire had grown too large fora single ruler, Diocletian, who ruled from 284 to 305,divided it into four units, each with its own ruler.Diocletian’s military power still enabled him to claima higher status and to hold the ultimate authority.Constantine, who ruled from 306 to 337, continuedand expanded the policies of Diocletian.

Both rulers greatly strengthened and enlarged theadministrative bureaucracies of the Roman Empire. Ahierarchy of officials exercised control at the variouslevels of government. The army was enlarged to fivehundred thousand men, including German troops.

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The political and military reforms of Diocletianand Constantine greatly enlarged two institutions—the army and civil service—which drained most ofthe public funds. More revenues were needed to payfor the army and bureaucracy. The population wasnot growing, however, so the tax base could not beincreased. To ensure the tax base and keep the empiregoing despite the shortage of labor, the emperorsissued edicts that forced people to remain in theirdesignated vocations. Basic jobs, such as bakers andshippers, became hereditary.

By 324, Constantine had emerged as the soleruler of the empire. Constantine’s biggest projectwas the construction of a new capital city in the east,on the site of the Greek city of Byzantium on theshores of the Bosporus. Calling it his “New Rome,”Constantine enriched the city with a forum, largepalaces, and a vast amphitheater. Eventuallyrenamed Constantinople, the city would becomethe center of the Eastern Roman Empire and one ofthe great cities of the world.

In general, the economic and social policies of Dio-cletian and Constantine were based on control andcoercion. Although temporarily successful, such poli-cies in the long run stifled the very vitality the LateEmpire needed to revive its sagging fortunes.

Evaluating Identify two reforms ofDiocletian and Constantine. What were the short-term effectsof those policies?

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Invasions into the Roman Empire, A.D. 200–500

Contributing to the fall of the Western Roman Empire wereinvasions that pressed in on all sides of the empire.

1. Interpreting Maps Which group of invaders made themost limited incursions?

2. Applying Geography Skills Which parts of theRoman Empire seem to have been more secure from theinvasion? Why do you think this was?

Western Roman Empire

Eastern Roman Empire

Angles/Saxons

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The FallThe restored empire of Diocletian and Constantine

limped along for more than a century. After Constan-tine, the empire continued to be divided into western

and eastern parts. The capital of the Western RomanEmpire remained in Rome. Constantinople remainedthe capital of the Eastern Roman Empire.

The Western Roman Empire came under increas-ing pressure from the invading Germanic tribes. Themajor breakthrough of invaders into the west camein the second half of the fourth century. The Huns,who came from Asia, moved into eastern Europeand put pressure on the Germanic Visigoths. TheVisigoths, in turn, moved south and west, crossedthe Danube River into Roman territory, and settleddown as Roman allies. However, the Visigoths soonrevolted. The Romans’ attempt to stop the revolt at Adrianople in 378 led to a crushing defeat for the Romans.

Increasing numbers of Germans now crossed thefrontiers. In 410, the Visigoths sacked Rome. Anothergroup, the Vandals, poured into southern Spain andAfrica. They crossed into Italy from northern Africaand, in 455, they too sacked Rome. (Our modernword vandal is taken from this tribe.)

In 476, the Western emperor, Romulus Augustu-lus, was deposed by the Germanic head of the army.This is usually taken as the date of the fall of theWestern Roman Empire. As we shall see in Chapter 3,a series of German kingdoms replaced the WesternRoman Empire. The Eastern Roman Empire, or theByzantine Empire, however, continued to thrive withits center at Constantinople.

Identifying Which groups invadedthe Western Roman Empire?Reading Check


Emperor Constantine

Checking for Understanding1. Define republic, patrician, plebeian,

imperator, Christianity, clergy, laity.

2. Identify Hannibal, Julius Caesar,Augustus, Pax Romana, Twelve Tables,Law of Nations, Virgil, Jesus, New Tes-tament, Constantine.

3. Locate Rome, Carthage, MediterraneanSea, Asia Minor, Constantinople.

4. Describe the significance of the TwelveTables and the Law of Nations.

5. List the ethical concepts voiced byJesus.

Critical Thinking6. Explain How were the Romans able to

obtain large numbers of slaves? Howwere slaves utilized in ancient Rome?

7. Summarizing Information Create atable like the one below describing thecontributions of the Greeks and thecontributions of the Romans to Westerncivilization.

Analyzing Visuals8. Examine the photograph of the Col-

osseum on page 71. What types ofentertainments were performed inRoman amphitheaters and other pub-lic buildings?

9. Expository Writing Use the Inter-net or library sources to research thetheories about why the RomanEmpire fell. Summarize the theoriesin a brief essay and explain whysome theories seem more convinc-ing than others.

Greek contributions Roman contributions

77

Cincinnatus Saves RomeTHERE IS PERHAPS NO BETTERaccount of how the virtues ofduty and simplicity enabledgood Roman citizens to succeedduring the difficulties of the fifthcentury B.C. than Livy’s accountof Cincinnatus.

“The city was thrown into astate of turmoil, and the generalalarm was as great as if Rome her-self were surrounded. The situa-tion evidently called for a dictator[the position of dictator was atemporary one used only in emer-gencies], and, with no dissentingvoice, Lucius Quinctius Cincinna-tus was named for the post.

Now I would solicit the partic-ular attention of those numerouspeople who imagine that money is everything inthis world, and that rank and ability are inseparablefrom wealth: let them observe that Cincinnatus, theone man in whom Rome reposed all her hope ofsurvival, was at that moment working a little three-acre farm west of the Tiber. A delegation from thecity found him at work on his land—digging a ditch,maybe, or ploughing. Greetings were exchanged,and he was asked—with a prayer for divine blessingon himself and his country—to put on his toga andhear the Senate’s instructions. This naturally sur-prised him, and, asking if all were well, he told hiswife to run to their cottage and fetch his toga. Thetoga was brought, and wiping the grimy sweat fromhis hands and face he put it on; at once the envoysfrom the city saluted him, with congratulations, asDictator, invited him to enter Rome, and informedhim of the terrible danger of the enemy’s army. . . .

[Cincinnatus proceeded to raise an army,marched out, and defeated the enemy.]

Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus, Roman statesman and dictator, isshown here receiving his dictatorship.

Analyzing Primary Sources

1. How did Cincinnatus embody the characteristics of an ideal Roman citizen?

2. What lesson(s) did Livy hope to teach his readers?

3. Compare the position of dictator in this account with present-day dictators.

In Rome the Senate was convened, and a decreewas passed inviting Cincinnatus to enter in triumphwith his troops. The chariot he rode in was pre-ceded by the enemy commanders and the militaryflags, and followed by his army loaded with itsspoils. . . . Cincinnatus finally resigned after holdingoffice for fifteen days, having originally accepted itfor a period of six months. He returned to hisfarm.”

—Livy, The Early History of Rome

A series of causes and effects shaped the history of ancientGreece and Rome.

Using Key Terms1. The English word emperor comes from the Latin word

.2. The focus of Greek life was the , or city-state.3. The were great landowners, who became Rome’s

ruling class.

4. Some Greek city-states were committed to government bythe many, called , while others were ruled by ,which means rule by the few.

5. were Roman citizens and could vote, but they couldnot hold government office.

6. Romans established a when they overthrew the lastEtruscan king.

7. The served as a place of refuge and sometimes cameto be a religious center.

8. In a , the people participate directly in governmentdecision making.

9. The Odyssey, an , tells the story of the Greek heroOdysseus.

10. During the Roman Empire, the Christian church developed anew structure in which church leaders, or , had dis-tinct functions separate from church members, or .

Reviewing Key Facts11. Geography How did the geography of Greece affect Greek

history?12. Citizenship Contrast the rights of male and female citizens

in the Greek polis.13. History Identify the wars that Greece fought during the

Classical Age.14. Culture Describe the themes of Greek tragedies.15. Culture What is the Socratic method?16. History What became of Alexander’s empire after his

death?17. Culture What was the political and social standing of the

patricians and plebeians? How was the struggle between the orders resolved?

18. Culture Describe the living conditions of a poor family inRome. What services did the empire provide?

19. Science and Technology How did the Romans utilize theirengineering skills?

20. Economics What was the economic base of the RomanEmpire?

Critical Thinking21. Understanding Cause and Effect The Peloponnesian War

weakened Greek states, yet later, Greek culture was spreadfarther than ever. How did this happen?

22. Analyzing Choose four influential men from Greece andRome and describe their impact on the government andpolitics of the time.

Cleisthenes gives theAthenian assemblythe final authorityto pass laws.

Cause

Male citizens play a central role in politics, creating the foundation for Athenian democracy.

Disputes among city-states lead to theGreat PeloponnesianWar in 431 B.C.

Philip II of Macedoniadefeats the weakenedGreek city-states in338 B.C.

Alexander the Greatbecomes king ofMacedonia and createsan expansive empire.

Greek ideas and cultureare spread to thenon-Greek world ofSouthwest Asia andbeyond.

The expansion of Romeweakens its republicanrule and leads to civilwars.

Octavian gains control ofthe state and becomesthe first emperor of theRoman Empire.

Christianity attracts manyfollowers and quicklyspreads throughout theRoman Empire.

Economic and socialpolicies of Diocletianand Constantine arebased on coercion.

The policies of these twoemperors contribute tothe empire’s eventualcollapse.

Theodosius the Greatmakes Christianity theofficial religion of theRoman Empire.

Effect


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Greek Colonies, 750–550 B.C.

Analyzing Maps and ChartsStudy the map above to answer the following questions.28. Between 750 and 550 B.C., large numbers of Greeks left their

homeland to settle in distant lands. Analyze the location ofthe Greek colonies. What generalizations can you makeabout their locations?

29. What is the approximate maximum distance that a Greekcitizen would have to travel to reach the sea?

30. Based on this map and others in the chapter, how importantwas a navy to the Athenian Empire?

Self-Check QuizVisit the Glencoe World History—Modern Times Website at and click on Chapter 2–Self-Check Quiz to prepare for the Chapter Test.

wh.mt.glencoe.com

HISTORY

Writing About History23. Expository Writing Research reasons why Romans thought

Christianity was dangerous to their empire. Compare thesearguments to actual Christian doctrine and practices. Presentyour findings in a carefully prepared essay. Show that yoursources corroborate your position.

Analyzing SourcesIn his book The Early History of Rome, the Roman historian Livytraced the development of Rome from its beginnings to 9 B.C.

“The study of history is the best medicine for a sickmind; for in history you have a record of the infinitevariety of human experience plainly set out for all tosee; and in that record you can find for yourself andyour country both examples and warnings: fine thingsto take as models, base things, rotten through andthrough, to avoid.”

24. According to Livy, what is the benefit of studying history? Do you agree with Livy? Why or why not?

25. Why might modern-day historians find Livy to be an impor-tant resource ?

Applying Technology Skills26. Creating a Multimedia Presentation Using the Internet

and traditional print sources, conduct further research onGreek architecture, especially the design and building oftemples. Then, design and construct a small three-dimensional temple, using the type of column best suited toyour building. Attach the following information: the locationof the temple, the god or goddess it serves, and the approxi-mate dates a temple like this would have been constructedin Greece.

Making Decisions27. In groups of two, have one person take the role of a ple-

beian, and the other, the role of a patrician. Discuss theextent to which the gulf between patricians and plebeians isstraining the Roman Republic. Together, decide on measuresthat could end the struggle and benefit the republic as awhole.

CHAPTER 2 Ancient Greece and Rome 79

Greece

Greek colonies

Directions: Choose the best answer to thefollowing question.

One lasting contribution of the Roman Empire wasA the Pax Romana.B the Christian church.C the gladiatorial shows.D its system of law.

Test-Taking Tip: Do not pick an answer just because itsounds good. Sometimes a choice is deliberately meant tosound correct but is not. Read all of the answer choicesvery carefully before you select the best one and avoidmaking any hasty decisions.

StandardizedTest Practice

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