Final Notes on Rome

The aftermath of the murder   

• Julius Caesar’s grandnephew (and adopted son) Octavian takes over at the age of 18! with his own triumvirate
• Mark Antony - experienced general
• Lepidus - powerful politician

• This is the Second Triumvirate

• Octavian forces the weak Lepidus to retire
• He and Mark Antony become rivals
• Mark Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt
• Militarily
• Personally
• Politically
• Economically
• Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium

Octavian is now on his own

• is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome
• He was given the honorific “Augustus” (“Exalted One”)
• He was also given the title “Imperator” (Supreme Military Commander)
• This is where we get the word “emperor”
• Now Rome is an empire, not a republic

He isn't a Tarquin

• 40 years of ruling as emperor (27 BC to AD 14)

• He began a stable era of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace)

• Pax Romana was 207 years long
• 27 BC to AD 180

A few of Octavians accomplishments

• Expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa
• He set up civil service to run the government/empire
• Building a network of roads
• Collecting taxes
• Establishing a postal service
• Administering the grain supply
• Building awesome public facilities (buildings, aqueducts)
• Setting up a police department
• Running a fire-fighting organization         

Finally died of natural causes

Which begins age of emperors (some were good, some bad, and some horrible) Tiberius:

• Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37
• an excellent general, but a reluctant emperor
• after the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge
• died at age 77

Caligula:

• Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years!)
• won a power struggle after Tiberius' death
• known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant
• assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court, trying to re-establish the Republic
• which didn't work

Claudius:

• Ruled from AD 41 to AD 54
• suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering-possibly because of cerebral palsy
• took over because he was the last adult male in the family
• ruled well: built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain
• died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

Nero:

• ruled from 54 AD to 68 AD
• emphasized the arts
• huge fire in 64 AD
• he wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic
• he hugely overspent, even raided the temples for money
• historians do not look kindly upon him

Verification and Notes

I Laura Hughes, section 201 will be taking the final chapter test on Tuesday, June 2 from 1:25 to 2:15.

Now for some more notes on Ancient Rome:

• Poet Juvenal from Rome says the way to keep plebeians happy is to give them circus' and bread. 
• the bread is free grain from the state and the circus is entertainment to keep them quiet, happy, distracted, and docile.
• Tiberius Gracchus saw the advantages of courting plebeians, so the military leaders used that to their advantage. 
• They lead an army to conquer the land and then give them a share in the spoils.
• Some soldiers were only loyal to their leader and not necessarily to Rome or the Republic.
• Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BC)was the greatest, he was a successful general, and conquered the huge territory of Gaul.
• He made common folk happy, made friends in high places (Pompey: a general who conquered Syria and Palestine & Crassus: the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history)
• those three men formed the first triumvirate, "rule of the three men"
• Crossing the Rubicon is crossing the point of no return
• Caesar served as a consul for one year, appointed himself governor of Gaul.
• Pompey becomes jealous and turned into a rival of Caesar, their armies clash in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt, & Caesar wins.
• In 44BC Caesar is named dictator for six months, then for life.
• Caesar's reforms: granted citizenship to people in provinces, expanded the Senate & adding friends, created jobs for poor & especially through public work projects, increased soldiers' pay and created colonies were those without land could have property.
• Caesar was assassinated because other Senators saw his power as a huge threat to their political viability.
• They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved, even Brutus, Caesars ally.
• The senators weren't punished, Octavian was named Julius Caesar's sole heir.
• This is basically the end of the Republic.

Essay Question

The essay question I chose is B. Analyze the factors that contributed to the fall of the Roman Republic. A few ideas I could write about are economic inequality, military upheaval, civil war, slaves, overexpansion, overspending on military, and the rise of Caesar who helped Rome but then seized power. 

Notes on the Roman Empire

Here are some of my notes on the Roman Empire. 

• as Rome grew the gap between rich and poor grew
• by 100 BC enslaved persons formed 1/3 of the population
• two brother Tiberius and Gaius tried to help Rome's poor by limiting estate size, & giving land to the poor
• with many enemies, brothers had violent deaths, Tiberius in 133 BC, & Gaius in 121 BC
• Civil war- a conflict between groups in the same country
• eventually, all the poor people became soldiers for pay and they formed a big military
• in 60 BC military leader Julius Caesar joined Pompey and Crassus, they formed a triumvirate
• Triumvirate- a group of three rulers
• Caesar served a year as a consul, became governor of Gaul and conquered it
• Pompey feared Caesar's ambitions, so on Jan. 10, 49 BC, Caesar marched his army to Rome and Pompey fled.
• Caesar was named dictator for life in 44 BC after conquering Pompey armies in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Europe.
• he gave Roman citizenship to many people in other provinces, expanded senate adding friends from Italy and other regions
• also helped the poor by creating jobs, making colonies
• Caesars 18yr old grandnephew and adopted son Octavian joined Mark Antony and Lepidus and made the second triumvirate
• it ended in violence and jealousy, Octavian made Lepidus retire and that made him and Mark Antony rivals
• Mark met Cleopatra, fell in love, and was accused by Octavian that he was trying to rule Rome from Egypt, that leads to another civil war, they lost to Octavian and committed suicide.
• Octavian became Augustus (exalted one), Rome became empire ruled from one man
• Rome was at the peak of its power and was at peace for 207 years
• Pax Romana- "Roman peace", a period of peace and prosperity 27 BC to 180 AD
• Augustus died in 14 AD
• Romans managed to control an empire that by the second century AD reached from Spain to Mesopotamia, & North Africa to Great Britain
• Slaves were conquered people brought back by Roman armies, children who were born to slaves were slaves, they could be bought and sold, they were the property of their owners, they could be set free, punished, rewarded or put to death by their masters.
• worked in the city and farmers, some men would become gladiators who were put in contests that you fight to the death, slaves of wealthy landowners were treated better, none of the slave revolts succeeded
• Romans worshipped and honored the Roman Gods/Goddess to avoid misfortune
• the rich lived extravagantly, they had parties with rare food like parrot tongues pie and boiled ostrich, they bought large homes and gardens, and bought slaves
• most of Rome didn't have the bare necessities of life and were unemployed and were given daily rations of grain to get by
• poor people crowded in rickety, sprawling tenements
• to distract masses of Rome they had free games, races, mock battles, and gladiator contests
• by 250 AD there were 150 holidays and 50,000 rich and poor would gather in a Colosseum
• during Pax Romana, a practice of new religion called Christianity emerged

The Punic Wars

The Punic Wars were fought from 264 - 146 BC. Three wars happened in that time period: the first was from 264 - 241 BC, the second was from 218 - 201 BC, the third was the shortest from 149 - 146 BC. The three great wars were fought between Rome and Carthage, Carthage wanted to take control over Roman land but they never succeeded. They fought battles in the sea for the island Sicily, they fought right in their homeland of Rome, and they fought right in Carthage city which was destroyed in the end. Rome did all this with 5,000 unpaid soldiers(until later) carrying a shield, sword, dagger, wearing armor, and a tunic. They had cavalry and one of the best Navy's.

Rome's leader and government

This is how Tarquin took power to Rome. Before Tullia became his wife, she killed her old husband and sister so she could be with him. For him to be king right then they had to get rid of her father. Tarquin asked to become king and was refused so he had the king assassinated. Tullia worships Tarquin as the new king but is sent home, and she sees her father's body on the road and runs over it. Some senators want to bury the body but Tarquin doesn't want it buried so he assassinates the senators. Much later Tarquins son causes a young woman to commit suicide, Tarquin tries to hide it but the people had him, his son, and his family expelled from Rome. After this Rome didn't want kings to rule ever again. So they change the government to two consuls. They are patricians who are elected each year. They dealt with justice, making laws, and commanding armies. One person could veto the other so they were less powerful. Then plebeians challenged the patrician's power, and eventually, fair laws were written down. Democracy was created similar to ours. Everyone can vote, they both have three branches of government. We both have a legal code. Ours is the Bill of Rights and Romes was the Twelve Tables. We based our democracy off of Rome's.

Notes on Rome

Groups that settled in Rome

Latins- (they were first)

• descendants of Indo-Europeans
• settled on the banks of the Tiber
• situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further
• a commercial port, but not susceptible to attack
• built on seven hills (esp. Palatine)

they drained a swamp:

• many streams flowed into the Tiber
• there was a marshy area called the Forum, between Palatine and Capitoline Hills
• Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber
• urban legend says Washington DC was built on a swamp - but only about 2% was actually swampland - however, Constitution Avenue is located on what used to be called Tiber Creek

Etruscans 

•  they came from the north-central part of the peninsula
• they were metalworkers, artists, architect

two foundation myths: 

• Virgil’s Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy)
• the story of Remus and Romulus

Greeks

• had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
• Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as:
• religious beliefs
• alphabet
• much of their art -Remus wanted Aventine
• military techniques and weaponry -Romulus chose Palatine

Lucius Tarquinias Superbus

• the seventh and final king of Rome
• known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to as Tarquin the Arrogant)
• a true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word
  

Rome by Chi Cago

When I heard I was going to get the chance to hear Rome by the famous rapper and historian I was very excited. I heard about it from my brother years back and waited for my chance. I wasn't totally sure what to expect but I would have given it a standing ovation. I think it was very well written and it even had a lot of information but it was in a fun way. I am very disappointed I didn't get to see it live though, that would have been cool. But, it was still great and I'm glad I didn't miss out on the once in a lifetime chance.

Twelve Tables

The Twelve Tables are a set of Roman Laws that are inscribed on 12 tablets in Ancient Rome. They were created in 451 BC. These tablets were hung everywhere for all people to see. It was the start of a new way for laws. These laws would go through the government first, and then they would be written down. They were then hung around Rome so all citizens would know their rights and be treated equally without the laws changing. Before these laws were created patricians would change laws or make them up for their benefit because they were a higher class. The plebeians didn't like this so they fought against them and when they won these laws were created. These laws established the rights of Roman citizens in areas of property, trials, personal wrongs, public, and religious matters. This was an important step for Romans in their government.

Arch of Septimius Severus

                                            

This is the Arch of Septimius Severus. The 69-foot archway is made of Proconessian white marble from the Sea of Marmara. The Romans made this arch to dedicate it to the Emperor Septimus Severus, and his two sons Caracalla and Geta in 203 for their victories in Parthia. It is one of the two remaining triumphal arches that surround the Roman Forum.