I.  Rise and Expansion of Rome

  1. Essential Question: How did Rome begin
  2. Began in the center of what is now Italy (identify on a map)
  3. Legend of Romulus and Remus
  4. 3 people were living in the Italian peninsula (what is a peninsula)
  5. Latins – original romans
  6. Greeks
  7. Etruscans
  8. Geography of Rome
  9. Cool, rainy winters
  10. Apennine Mountains protected them from harsh weather
  11. Los Angeles type climate (called Mediterranean)
  12. Tiber River (why were rivers important? –trade, water, crops)
  13. Hilly region (how many hills in rome?)
  14. Kingdom emerges
  15. Harsh kings began to rule Rome
  16. Etruscan influence.
  17. Tarquin the Proud was the last, Romans rebelled and in 510 b.c., they formed a Republic
  18. Republic
  19. What is a republic?
  20. Power to the citizens, votes for leaders
  21. Wealthy males, members of noble families had the power
  22. Women had few rights
  23. Created laws that protected basic liberties
  24. Structure –
  25. 2 Consul - Head of the government were two leaders known as consuls. However their power was limited and they could only rule for one year.
  26. Senate – law making body they made sure the consuls didn’t get too powerful. Checks and balances
  27. Army – well organized army.
  28. Types of weapons (sword, javelin, shield)
  29. Techniques for fighting (javelins, turtle formation, speed, organization)
  30. Why they were so effective? Fast, mobile, devastating
  31. Show the enemies they fought and were up against (Sparta, Celts, etc.)
  32. Punic Wars with Carthage
  33. Decline of the republic
  34. How did Rome change from a republic to an empire?
  35. They became too big to maintain order and stability.
  36. They fought for power and so Rome fell into a civil war (what is a civil war?)
  37. Rise of Julius Caesar
  38. Brilliant general, beat out all of his Rivals
  39. He was elected dictator for life which spelled the end of the Roman Republic
  40. Senate didn’t like him having all the power and so they took turns stabbing him to death.
  41. Caesar Augustus
  42. With the death of Caesar, there was a power vacuum. 3 rivals fought for power, Marc Antony, Marcus Lepidus, and Octavian
  43. Octavian won and changed his name to Augustus
  44. Became the first Emperor of Rome
  45. Kept the senate but they didn’t have much power
  46. During his reign there was a period of peace known as Pax Romana
  47. Died in AD 14, but emperors after him continued to grow the empire to larger and larger size.
  48. Rome the Empire
  49. By the second century AD, Rome had reached its larges size
  50. Two million square miles, 50,000 miles of roads
  51. Borders extended from Spain in the west to Mesopotamia in the east, Britain in the north to the Sahara in the south.
  52. They ruled Celts, Germans, North Africans, Greeks, Syrians, Jews, and Egyptians

II.  Christianity

  1. Origin
  2. Teachings of Jesus, in the Roman province of Judea
  3. 3 year ministry that ended with crucifixion
  4. Rose from the dead, went to heaven
  5. Followers continued to spread the gospel or good news across the empire.
  6. Rome’s reaction
  7. Didn’t like the fact that Christianity taught there was only a single God and that they refused to worship the Roman Gods
  8. Persecuted for their faith, many were put to death, dragged out of their homes, or eaten by wild animals in the arena.
  9. Still kept growing though.
  10. Was Jesus real?
  11. Other sources outside of the Bible say he was
  12. What is it about Christianity that make it so powerful?

III.  Decline and fall of the Empire

  1. Internal weaknesses threaten Rome
  2. Economic and social difficulties.
  3. Army was expensive and needed conquest to maintain itself. No more lands to conquer
  4. Government raised taxes
  5. Cost of education grew out of reach for the citizens, so people were getting dumber
  6. Decline in Agriculture due to overuse of soil and constant warfare
  7. Military
  8. Roman soldiers became less disciplined and loyal and pledged their allegiance not to Rome but to their military leaders and generals.
  9. Political
  10. Citizens lost faith and loyalty in their government, did not participate in their civic duties
  11. Politicians were becoming increasingly corrupt and were looking out for financial gain rather than public service
  12. Rome Divides into East and West
  13. Emperor Diocletian
  14. Ruled with an iron fist
  15. Took bold steps to divide the empire into two and elected another Emperor to rule with him along with two junior emperors. All 4 governed, 2 in the east, 2 in the west.
  16. Diocletian balanced the government and got things back on track
  17. Constantine
  18. Succeeded Diocletian as emperor
  19. Moved the capitol from Rome to Byzantium (changed it to Constantinople)
  20. Declared an end to the persecution of Christians
  21. The Fall of Rome
  22. Foreign invasions from barbarian tribes
  23. Germanics
  24. Slavs
  25. Huns – Attila
  26. Visigoths
  27. Came into the empire to seek protection from the Huns. They were treated poorly by the Romans and so they rebelled. They defeated the Roman Army in the battle of Adrianople and killed the Roman Emperor Valens. They then marched on Rome and sacked the city (410 AD)
  28. Vandals sacked Rome yet again (455 AD)
  29. 476 AD Rome was sacked and conquered by Odoacer, a barbarian warlord
  30. Clovis, leader of the Franks, conquered the remaining Roman lands in the province of Gaul. Founded the Frankish kingdom (eventually turning into France)
  31. Byzantine Empire lasted for another 1000 years.

IV.  Byzantine Empire

  1. Justinian
  2. Created a legal code, called Justinian’s Code and regulated much of the life for the empire for the next 900 years
  3. Built churches and famous buildings, including the Hagia Sophia
  4. Sought to reclaim all of the lost territory of Rome and bring back the glory days
  5. Stopped by a plague that wiped out it population
  6. Rise of Constantinople
  7. Great location between east and west
  8. Thriving trade center
  9. Lots of free entertainment
  10. Easy to defend
  11. Split of Christianity – the Schism of 1054
  12. Eastern Orthodox –
  13. services are conducted in the local languages
  14. Patriarch and other bishops head the church as a group
  15. Emperor claims authority over all religious leaders
  16. Priest may be married
  17. Roman Catholic
  18. Services conducted in Latin
  19. Pope has authority over all other bishops
  20. Pope claims authority over all kings and emperors
  21. Priest man not marry
  22. Icons – using religious images to aid in their prayers
  23. Byzantine said no
  24. Catholic said yes
  25. Pope excommunicated or removed from the church, the Byzantine emperor

V.  The Legacy of Rome

  1. Impact of Roman culture
  2. Art
  3. Mosaics – pictures made out of many small colored tiles or pieces of glass.
  4. Philosophy and Citizenship
  5. Stoicism – stressed the importance of virtue, duty, and endurance of life.
  6. Cicero primary source and discussion
  7. Citizenship – individuals are expected to have a relationship with their country, to strengthen their community.
  8. Architectural and Engineering feats
  9. Arches
  10. Vaults – an arched structure that forms a ceiling or roof
  11. Domes
  12. Aqueducts, public buildings, bath houses, Coliseum, outdoor arenas
  13. 50,000 miles of Roman Roads
  14. Contributions to religion and law
  15. Preserved Christianity (though not intentionally)
  16. Roman law and Rights – our current model of government is modeled on Roman principles, fairness, common sense, judges, juries
  17. Representative government (congress and senate)