consolata institute of philosophy
TRANSCRIPT
CONSOLATA INSTITUTE OF PHILOSOPHY
CHM 938
GREEK-ROMAN HISTORY
Lecturer: Fr. Joseph Mwaniki, imc
Email: [email protected]
Outline of the course
1) Introduction to Greek-Roman History
2) Greek History; An Introduction
3) Early Aegean Civilisations
4) Rise of Greek City states
5) Wars and Expansion
6) The Glory that was Greece
7) Alexander and the Hellenistic age
8) Roman History and its major divisions
9) The Roman Republic, Its Culture and Life
10) The Roman Empire and Pax Roman
11) Roman Law, Philosophy, Literature and Art
12) The Crisis, Decline and the Causes
13) Western Civilization, Roman Heritage and Christianity.
Outline of the course
1) Greek History; An Introduction; 2) Early Aegean Civilisations; 3) Rise of Greek City states;4) Wars and Expansion; 5) The Glory that was Greece; 6) Alexander and the Hellenistic age. 7) Roman History and its major divisions, 8) The Roman Republic, Its Culture and Life, 9) The Roman Empire and Pax Roman, 10)Roman Law, Philosophy, Literature and Art, 11)The Crisis, Decline and the Causes, 12)Western Civilization, Roman Heritage and Christianity.
Lesson 9
PAX ROMANA, ROMAN
LAW, PHILOSOPHY
LITERATURE AND ART
The Pax Romana
The term "Pax Romana," which
literally means "Roman peace," refers
to the time period from 27 B.C.E. to
180 C.E. in the Roman Empire.
This 200-year period saw
unprecedented peace and
economic prosperity throughout the
Empire, which spanned from England
in the north to Morocco in the south
and Iraq in the east.
During the Pax Romana, the Roman
Empire reached its peak in terms of
land area, and its population swelled
to an estimated 70 million people.
The Pax Romana
The Pax Romana began when Octavian
became the leader of the Roman Empire
and took the title Augustus. For this reason,
it is sometimes referred to as the Pax
Augusta.
The Romans regarded peace not as an
absence of war, but as the rare situation
that existed when all opponents had been
beaten down and lost the ability to resist.
Thus, Augustus had to persuade Romans
that the prosperity they could achieve in
the absence of warfare was better for the
Empire than the potential wealth and
honour acquired when fighting a risky war.
Origin of Pax Romana After the murder of Julius Caesar, a period of civil
war erupted in Rome. Out of this turmoil emerged
the Second Triumvirate, consisting of Lepidus,
Antony, and Octavian, who was Julius Caesar's
nephew. This new triumvirate ruled Rome for a
decade, but differences among the leaders
eventually emerged.
Octavian defeated Lepidus in battle, and then
turned his armies against the more powerful Mark
Antony.
Antony had fallen in love with and married the
spellbinding queen of Egypt, Cleopatra.
At the Battle of Actium off the coast of Greece in 31
B.C.E., Octavian's navy defeated the navy of
Antony and Cleopatra, who later both committed
suicide.Cleopatra, Queen of the Nile
Origin of Pax Romana
Octavian returned to Rome triumphant and gave
himself the title of princeps or "first citizen."
Octavian was careful not to upset the Senate by
declaring himself dictator as his uncle Julius
Caesar had done.
Even though Octavian ruled as a de facto dictator,
he maintained the Senate and other institutions of
the republican government.
In 27 B.C.E., the Senate bestowed the holy title of
Augustus upon Octavian.
Augustus, as he became known, ruled for 41 years,
and the policies he enacted lay the groundwork
for the peace and stability of the Pax Romana.
Augustus
The Glorious Roman Empire
The 200 years of the Pax
Romana saw many
advances and
accomplishments,
particularly in engineering
and the arts.
To help maintain their
sprawling empire, the
Romans built an extensive
system of roads. These
durable roads facilitated
the movement of troops
and communication.
The Romans built
aqueducts to carry water
overland to cities and
farms.
The Glorious Roman Empire
Many of the advances in
architecture and building
relied upon the Romans'
discovery of concrete.
Concrete made possible
the creation of huge
rounded arches and domes.
One of the most famous
structures built during the
Pax Romana, the
Pantheon in Rome, has
one of the largest
freestanding domes in the
world to this day.Inside the Pantheon as it is today
The Glorious Roman Empire
After Emperor Augustus (r. 27
BCE-14 CE), the Roman Empire
steadily grew in power through
the reigns of the Five Good
Emperors, so called because
of the prosperity and order
they maintained.
After Marcus Aurelius, his son
Commodus (r. 180-192 CE)
became emperor and
dissipated Rome’s power
through self-indulgent and
inefficient rule. He was
eventually assassinated. By
this time, the Empire was
struggling to hold off attacking
tribes on the frontiers.
The Roman Law
The Romans had a complex system of
government and laws.
Many of the basic systems and ideas
that we have about laws and
government today come from Ancient
Rome.
Laws were made by a number of
different ways. The primary way of
making official new laws was through the
Roman Assemblies. Laws were voted on
by citizens who were members of the
assemblies.
Laws were implemented by the Plebeian
Council, decrees by the senate,
decisions by elected officials
(magistrates), and edicts by the
emperor.To the People and the Senate of Rome
The Roman Law
The laws were enforced by an official
called the praetor.
The praetor was the second highest
ranking official in the Roman republic
(after the consuls).
The praetor was responsible for the
administration of justice.
To keep the laws in the city, the Romans
had a police force called the Vigiles. The
Vigiles dealt with petty criminals like
thieves and runaway slaves.
When more force was needed, like
during riots or against gangs, other more
military groups were used such as the
Praetorian Guard and the urban cohorts.
The Roman Law
The Roman Constitution was an
agreed upon set of principles that was
followed by the Roman government.
It wasn't written down in one place but
was established through tradition and
individual laws.
Because many of the laws were
unwritten or unavailable for the
people to see, there was much room
for corruption by public officials.
The people eventually revolted
against the leaders and, in 450 BC,
some laws were written on stone
tablets for everyone to see. These laws
became known as the Law of the
Twelve Tables.
The Roman Law
Many of the protections and rights that were given to people under Roman
law only applied to Roman citizens. It was a big deal to be a full Roman
citizen.
There were even different levels of Roman citizenship, each one having
more or less rights than the next.
The punishment for committing a crime in Rome was not the same for
everyone. What punishment you received depended on your status. If you
were a wealthy patrician, you would receive far less punishment than a
slave would for the same crime.
Punishment could include beatings, lashings, exile from Rome, fines, or
even death.
The Romans generally didn't send people to prison for crimes, but they did
have jails to hold people while their guilt or punishment was determined.
The Roman Law
Many aspects of Roman law and the Roman Constitution are still used
today. These include concepts like checks and balances, vetoes,
separation of powers, term limits, and regular elections. Many of these
concepts serve as the foundations of today's modern democratic
governments.
The Romans had three branches of government including the legislative
assemblies (branch of the people), the senate (branch of the nobles and
patricians), and the consuls (executive branch).
Roman women had limited rights as citizens. They could not vote or hold
public office, but they could own property and businesses.
In 212 AD, the Roman Emperor Caracalla declared that all freedmen in the
Roman Empire were full Roman citizens.
Emperor Justinian I had the laws of Rome written down and organized.
These laws became known as the Justinian Code and were used
throughout the empire.
The Roman Philosophy
Roman men didn’t begin studying
philosophy until about 200 BC. At that
time, the Romans were conquering
Greece. So, a lot of Roman soldiers and
generals spent a lot of time in Greece
and got a chance to talk to Greek
philosophers.
The Romans discovered that Greek
philosophers like Socrates, Plato, and
Aristotle had been doing a lot of thinking
about philosophy. Some Romans got
interested.
By about 50 BC these Romans were even
beginning to write philosophy themselves,
though most of it was pretty much just
translating Greek philosophy into Latin.A Particular of Plato and Aristotle
The Roman Philosophy
One of the first Roman men who wrote
about philosophy was Lucretius. He
followed Greek Epicurean philosophy
and he left us a long poem, called On
the Nature of Things, explaining
Epicurean philosophy in Latin for
people who couldn’t read Greek.
Cicero was another man who wrote
about philosophy at just about the
same time as Lucretius. He was mostly
a Skeptic philosopher.
About a hundred years later, in the
time of the emperors Claudius and
Nero, another philosopher called
Seneca wrote another set of essays
about Stoic philosophy.
The Roman Philosophy
Soon after Seneca’s time, many men and
women began to look for a closer, more
direct relationship to the gods or to God.
Some people, like the Christian Gnostics,
tried to use magic spells and secret
knowledge to get closer to God.
The Christian followers of Montanus thought
you could get closer to God through
prayer.
Pagan Neo-Platonists used philosophical
ideas that came from Plato’s ideas about
the perfect form. They tried to perfect
themselves and get closer to God that way.
At the same time, a revival of Cynic
philosophy formed a protest movement
against imperial power.
The Roman Philosophy
Later Christians
developed their own
philosophical ideas.
St. Augustine and St.
Ambrose, in the late 300s
AD, both studied earlier
philosophers.
They tried to create a
Christian philosophy that
would include both
Christian ideas and
Greek and Roman
philosophy.
Their Christian philosophy
would include Aristotle
and Neo-Platonism.
The Roman Literature
Roman literature was, from its very inception, heavily
influenced by Greek authors.
Some of the earliest works we possess are historical
epics telling the early military history of Rome, similar
to the Greek epic narratives of Homer, Herodotus,
and Thucydides.
Virgil, though generally considered to be an
Augustan poet, represents the pinnacle of Roman
epic poetry. His Aeneid tells the story of the flight of
Aeneas from Troy, and his settlement of the city that
would become Rome.
As the Republic expanded, authors began to
produce poetry, comedy, history, and tragedy.
The genre of satire was also common in Rome, and
satires were written by, among others, Juvenal and
Persius.Bust of Virgil
The Roman Literature
Cicero has traditionally been considered the master of Latin prose. The
writing he produced from approximately 80 BCE until his death in 43
BCE, exceeds that of any Latin author whose work survives, in terms of
quantity and variety of genre and subject matter. It also possesses
unsurpassed stylistic excellence.
Cicero’s many works can be divided into four groups: letters, rhetorical
treatises, philosophical works, and orations.
His letters provide detailed information about an important period in
Roman history, and offers a vivid picture of public and private life
among the Roman governing class.
Cicero’s works on oratory are our most valuable Latin sources for
ancient theories on education and rhetoric.
His philosophical works were the basis of moral philosophy during the
Middle Ages, and his speeches inspired many European political
leaders, as well as the founders of the United States.
The Roman Art
Under Augustus, arts of Hellenic
tradition were adapted to
proclaim the permanence and
universality of Roman power.
Artists and craftsmen from
Alexandria, Athens, and Asia
Minor flocked to the imperial
court to create models that
celebrated the best of all
possible worlds.
During the crisis years of the
reign of Commodus, artists
developed the independent
artistic language that led to the
remarkable works of late
antiquity.Arts of Hellenic tradition
The Roman Art
The enduring image of Rome represents one of
mankind's greatest collective achievements.
Reflected in imperial art from the accession of the first
Roman emperor Octavian (31bc), to the deposition of
the last, Romulus Augustus (ad476), it was continued
by the Byzantine dynasties ("emperors of the Romans"
until 1453) and revived at intervals in the medieval
and modern Western world.
During the reign of Augustus (31bc-ad14), imperial art
- whether in the context of public celebration or in
the form of portraits of the sovereign - imperial art
was promoted at even, social and economic level
and exported to the most distant bounds of the
empire.
This mood of ideological fervour permeated the art of
the entire imperial era.
The Roman Art Roman sculpture played an
important part of the Roman daily
life.
Sculptures took the form of full
statues, busts (sculptures of just a
person's head), reliefs (sculptures
that were part of a wall), and
sarcophagi (sculptures on tombs).
The Ancient Romans decorated with
sculptures in a number of places
including public buildings, public
parks, and private homes and
gardens.
Roman sculpture was heavily
influenced by Greek sculpture. In
fact, many of the Roman sculptures
were just copies of Greek sculptures.
Sarcophagus (sculptures on tombs)
The Roman Art
One of the most popular types of
sculpture in Ancient Rome was
the bust. This is a sculpture of just
the head.
Wealthy Romans would put the
busts of their ancestors in the
atrium of their homes. This was a
way for them to show off their
lineage.
The wealthy Romans decorated
their large homes with sculptures.
Other popular subjects for
sculptures included gods and
goddesses, philosophers, famous
athletes, and successful
generals.
The Roman Art
The walls of the homes
of wealthy Romans
were often decorated
with paintings.
These paintings were
frescos painted
directly on the walls.
Most of these paintings
have been destroyed
over time, but some of
them were preserved
in the city of Pompeii
when it was buried by
the eruption of a
volcano.
A fresco in the fallen city of Pompeii
The Roman Art
The Romans also made pictures
from coloured tiles called
mosaics.
The mosaics have been able to
survive the test of time better than
the paintings.
Sometimes the tiles would be
applied direct at the site of the
mosaic.
Other times the tiles and the base
would be made in a workshop
and the entire mosaic installed
later.
Mosaics could be art on a wall,
but also worked as decorative
flooring.An example of a Roman mosaic