Chapter 5Rome and the Rise of Christianity

The Land and Peoples of Italy

Italy is a thin peninsula- only 120 miles across

Apennine mountain range form a ridge north to south- dividing west from east Not as rugged as Greece so did not isolate communities

Some large fertile plains ideal for farming More farms supported a large population

Rome’s location on the Tiber River ideal- good central location to expand Gave route to the sea but far enough inland to be safe from pirates Built on seven hills so easy to defend

The Land and Peoples of Italy

Peninsula juts into Mediterranean Sea- important crossroads between east and west

Indo-Europeans moved into Italy from about 1500 BC-1000 BC Little is know about them but the group called Latins lived in region of

Latium & spoke Greek

Latins were headers and farmers who lived in settlements on the tops of Rome’s hills

After 800 BC other people also began settling in Italy- the Greeks and Etruscans

The Land and Peoples of Italy

Greeks came to Italy in large numbers during age of Greek colonization Started in south and migrated up the peninsula Also occupied Sicily

Greeks had influence on the people of Rome Cultivated olives and grapes, passed on alphabet and gave the Romans artistic

and cultural models though their sculpture, architecture and literature

Etruscans most influenced the early development of Rome Located in the north of Rome in Etruria Came to control Rome and most of Latium after 650 BC

Etruscans found Rome a village and turned it into a city Romans adopted their dress- toga

First Punic War Phoenicians founded Carthage around 800 BC on coast of N. Africa

By 3rd ce had enormous trading empire in Western Mediterranean- largest and richest state in the area

Rome’s first war with Carthage in 264 BC

Presence of Carthaginians in Sicily made Romans fearful Romans and Carthaginians sent armies to Sicily- both determined to

control Sicily

Because Romans a land power realized could not win war without navy Built a large fleet

First Punic War After long struggle Roman fleet defeat Carthaginian navy and

war ended Rome gained control over many sea trade routes

241 BC Carthage gave up all rights to Sicily & paid a fine to Romans Sicily became first Roman province

Carthage vowed revenge and added new lands in Spain to make up for loss of Sicily

Second Punic War Hannibal- greatest Carthaginian general

Hannibal brought war to Rome Entered Spain and moved east across Alps 46,000 men, horses and 37 battle elephants

Alps took a toll on troops-many elephants did not survive

216 BC Romans made mistake of meeting Hannibal head-on at Cannae Romans lost an army of almost 40,000 men but refused to surrender

Second Punic War Rome recovered but Hannibal roamed Italy BUT did not have men

nor equipment to attack the major cities Rome began to reconquer cities taken by Hannibal

Sent troops to Spain and by 206 BC pushed Carthaginians out of Spain

Rome invaded Carthage rather than fighting Hannibal in Italy Forced Hannibal to return

Battle of Zama (202 BC) Romans crushed Hannibal’s forces and war was over Spain became Roman province

Third Punic War 50 years later Romans fought 3rd and final battle with Carthage

For years many important Romans called for the destruction of Carthage

146 BC Carthage destroyed Roman soldiers burned and demolished city Inhabitants sold into slavery and became Roman province called Africa

During struggle with Carthage Rome also battled Hellenistic states By 129 BC Macedonia, Greece and Pergamum under Roman control

End of the Roman Republic

Roman Senate and Growing Unrest

Senate had become the real governing body of the Roman state Members mostly from landed aristocracy Remained senators for life and held chief offices

Senate directed wars, took control of foreign and domestic policy and dealt with financial affairs

Controlled by small circle of wealthy and powerful families

BUT backbone of state and army was always the farmers Over time many farmers unable to compete with large wealthy

landowners and lost their land

Roman Senate and Growing Unrest

By taking over state-owned land and buying out small peasant owners, landed aristocracy developed large estates that used slave labor

As a result- many small farmers drifted to cities to form large class of landless poor

Aristocrats like Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus urged council of plebs to pass land-reform bills that called for gov’t to take back public land held by large landowners and give it to landless Romans Many senators furious and not willing to give up personal land

133 BC group on senators killed Tiberius and his brother Gaius Attempts by the brothers to bring reforms actually opened the door to more

instability and violence

New Role for the Army 107 BC Marius became consul and began to recruit armies in a new

way

Recruited volunteers from urban and rural poor that owned no land Recruited by promising them land

Volunteers swore oath to general NOT Roman state because Marius created army not under gov’t control

Generals forced into politics to get laws passed that would provide the land needed for their veterans

New Role for the Army Marius left a powerful legacy: new system of military recruitment

that placed power in the hands of individual generals

Lucius Cornelius Sulla was next general to take advantage of new military system Senate gave him control of war in Asia Minor

Council of plebs tried to give command back to Marius and civil war broke out Sulla won, seized Rome in 82 BC and began reign of terror to wipe

out all opposition Restored power to hands of Senate and eliminated most of the

powers of popular assemblies

Sulla hoped to create a firm foundation to restore traditional Roman republic governed by a powerful Senate

First Triumvirate For next 50 years Roman history was characterized by civil wars as

people competed for power.

Triumvirate: government by three people with equal power 60 BC 3 men joined together to form first triumvirate

3 men emerged as victors of the civil war & combined wealth and power allowed them to dominate the political scene Crassus: known as richest man in Rome Pompey: military hero when he returned from a successful command in

Spain Julius Caesar: also had military command in Spain

First Triumvirate Pompey commanded Spain, Crassus commanded Syria, Caesar

commanded Gaul (France)

Crassus killed in battle in 53 BC- left only 2 men in power Fearing Caesar’s popularity Senators decided he should step down and let

Pompey rule

Caesar refused to step down- chose to keep his army and enter Italy illegally by crossing the Rubicon River

Began to march to Rome- created civil war between Pompey and Caesar Caesar defeated Pompey and gained complete control

First Triumvirate 45 BC- Caesar officially made a dictator (temporary position only

used in emergencies)

Realized need for reform so began making changes Gave land to the poor Made the Senate larger by filling with his supporters (but made weaker) Granted citizenship to his supporters in the provinces Introduced solar calendar

Caesar also had plans for building projects and military campaigns

Many Senators thought he had plans to continue as dictator so in 44 BC they assassinated him

Second Triumvirate New power struggle followed Caesar’s death

3 men joined forces to form Second Triumvirate Octavian: Caesar’s heir and grandnephew (Mark) Antony: Caesar’ ally and assistant Lepidus: commander of Caesar’s cavalry

Within a few years Roman empire divided in 2- thought they could work together but eventually came into conflict Octavian took West & Antony took East

Second Triumvirate Antony allied himself with Egyptian queen Cleopatra IV

At Battle of Actium in Greece (31 BC) Octavian’s forces destroyed Antony and Cleopatra’s Both fled to Egypt where they committed suicide a year later

Octavian, at age 32, stood supreme over the roman world.

Period from 31 BC to 14 AD came to be know as ‘Age of Augustus’

Religion in the Roman Empire

Augustus brought back traditional festivals and ceremonies to revive the Roman state religion

Official state religion focused on worship of a variety of gods and goddesses (Jupiter, Juno, Minerva, Mars)

Beginning with Augustus emperors were made gods by the Roman Senate Created support for the emperors

Roman Religion Romans believed that observing proper rituals by state

priests brought them into a good relationship with gods Guaranteed peace and prosperity

Also believed that creating an empire meant that they earned the favor of the gods

Romans were tolerant of other religions Allowed the worship of native gods and goddesses throughout

their provinces

Judaism in the Empire 6 A.D- Judea was made a Roman province placed under the

direction of an official called a procurator

Unrest was widespread in Judea but Jews differed among themselves about Roman rule Priest named Sadducees favored cooperating with Rome while the

scholar Pharisees believed that religious observation would protect them from Roman influence

The Essenes waited for God to save Israel from oppression while the Zealots called for a violent overthrow of Roman rule

Jewish revolt began in 66 AD but were crushed by the Romans 4 years later & Jewish temple in Jerusalem was destroyed

Problems and Upheavals

Marcus Aurelius, last of 5 good emperors, died in 180 AD and a period of conflict, confusion and civil wars followed

A military government under Severan rulers restored order After the Severan rulers more disorder

For almost 50 years the throne was occupied by whoever had military strength to seize it During this period there were 22 emperors- most died violently

At same time empire was troubled by series of invasions Sassanid Persians in the east and Germanic tribe poured into Balkans, Gaul,

Spain

Problems and Upheavals

Invasions, civil wars and plagues almost caused an economic collapse in the 3rd century

Labor shortage caused by the plague affected both military recruiting and the economy

Decline in: Trade and small industry Farm crop ravaged by invaders

Armies were needed more than ever but financial strains made it difficult to enlist and pay more soldiers

By mid 3rd ce state had to hire Germans to fight Did not understand Roman traditions and had little loyalty to empire

or emperors

Reforms by Diocletian and Constantine

End of 3rd and beginning of 4th centuries Roman Empire gained a new lease on life through Diocletian and Constantine

New state formed: Late Roman Empire which had new gov’t structure, rigid economic and social system and new religion of Christianity

Diocletian believed the empire had grown too large for a single ruler so he divided it into four units each with their own ruler

His military power enabled him to hold ultimate authority

Reforms by Diocletian and Constantine

Constantine continued and expanded policies of Diocletian

His biggest project was the construction of a new capital city in the east called Constantinople (now Istanbul, Turkey)

Constantinople developed for defensive reasons Its strategic location provided protection of the eastern frontier Became center of Eastern Roman Empire

Both emperors reforms enlarged army and civil service- drained public funds Population not growing so tax could not pay for the bureaucracy and army Roman money began to lose value

Reforms by Diocletian and Constantine

To fight inflation Diocletian issued a price edict in 301 that set wage and price controls for the empire- it failed

Emperors issued edicts forcing workers to remain in their vocation to ensure the tax base and keep empire going despite the labor shortage Certain jobs became hereditary

Overall economic and social policies of Diocletian and Constantine were based on control or coercion Temporarily successful but in long run they stifled the vitality need

to revive the poor economy

Germanic Tribes Constantinople remained capital of Eastern Roman Empire but

Western Roman Empire came under increasing pressure from Germanic tribes

Huns from Asia put pressure on Germanic Visgoths- Visgoths then moved south and west crossing the Danube River into Roman territory Settled as Roman allies until they revolted at Adrianople in 378

In 410 Visgoths sacked Rome

Vandals poured into southern Spain and Africa- crossed into Italy from Africa and sacked Rome in 455

476 Western Roman Empire fell but Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive

Germanic Tribes Constantinople remained capital of Eastern Roman Empire but

Western Roman Empire came under increasing pressure from Germanic tribes

Huns from Asia put pressure on Germanic Visgoths- Visgoths then moved south and west crossing the Danube River into Roman territory Settled as Roman allies until they revolted at Adrianople in 378

In 410 Visgoths sacked Rome

Vandals poured into southern Spain and Africa- crossed into Italy from Africa and sacked Rome in 455

476 Western Roman Empire fell but Eastern Roman Empire continued to thrive

Theories Theories have been proposed to explain the decline and fall of

the Roman empire: Christianity’s emphasis on a spiritual kingdom weakened Roman

military virtues Traditional Roman values declined as non-Italians gained prominence

in the empire Lead poisoning through leaden water pipes and cups caused a mental

decline in the population Plague wiped out one-tenth of the population Rome failed to advance technologically due to slavery Rome could not create a workable political system

May be elements of truth in each theory but no single explanation can explain the fall of a great empire

Facts about Gladiators Word gladiator originally meant ‘swordsman’ and comes from Latin word

for sword.

First gladiators performed at funerals.

Games were fought to the death because the belief was that the dead man should have armed fighters accompany him into the afterlife

Emperor Titus inaugurated the Coliseum in A.D. 800 with 100 days of games.

Fight between men but also between animals

Criminals, including women, were sometimes sent into the arena to be killed by wild animals

Gladiatorial games and other forms of public entertainment fulfilled political need by keeping minds of the idle masses off any political unrest