Rise of Rome  2 mountain ranges  Apennines mountains run down the middle of the country but don’t divide the country like Greece. Alps provide protection in the North.  Outlet to the sea, but far enough inland for protection  Position in Mediterranean Sea made Rome an important crossroad for trade

Roman Republic  Republic, government where the leader is not a monarch and certain citizens have the right to vote  Rome conquers all of Italy in 267 BCE. They distrusted kings  Areas remained free to run their local affairs, but had to send troops to Rome  Roman Senate- 300 people who served for life

Battle with Carthage  264 BCE the two powers go to war over control of the Sea.  Punic Wars  Rome pushes Carthage off of Sicily  Hannibal, greatest Carthage general invades Rome from the North  Rome sends an army to Carthage and destroys the city while Hannibal is in Rome  Result- Rome controls the Mediterranean Sea

Collapse of the Republic  Civil War begins between generals with loyal armies  3 men arise:  Crassius- control of Syria and was a wealthy business man from Rome  Pompey- controls Spain and was a general  Julius Caesar- controls France and was general  Julius Caesar wins the civil war and is made dictator. He is assassinated by Brutus shortly after

Life after Julius Caesar  New group of leaders  Octavian- Caesar's heir and nephew. Becomes Augustus, which means revered one.  Antony- Caesar’s ally and assistant  Lepidus- Commander of Caesar’s cavalry  Augustus wins by killing Antony and Cleopatra in Egypt.

Pax Romana Period  Means “Roman Peace”  Lasted for 100 years  Lessoned the power of the Senate  Greatest height of the empire  Covered 3.5 million square miles  Population of 50 million  Latin was the language of the West and Greek was the language of the East.

R

Other Important Emperors  Diocletian  Last emperor to persecute the Christians  Constantine  Became first Christian emperor  Issued the Edict of Milan, proclaimed official tolerance to Christianity. Christianity doesn’t call for revolution  Theodosius the Great  Adopted Christianity as the official religion

Roman Culture  Sculptors were realistic with unpleasant features  First to use concrete  Built aqueducts to supply water to the population  Toga was the appropriate dress  Color of toga showed manhood  Livy wrote History of Rome

N  Slavery was a large part of economy. Large slave revolt lead by Spartacus.  Cities were very overcrowded, and fire was very dangerous  3 types of entertainment:  Circus Maximus- horse and chariot races  Dramatic performances  Gladiator shows

Fall of Rome  Plague, inflation and political upheavals led to weakness.  Constantine construction a new capital in the east for defense  Byzantium becomes the capital of the East and Rome is the capital of the West. Later is called Constantinople and today called Istanbul.  410 the Visigoths sack Rome  476 Romulus Augustus was defeated by a Germanic army, which marks the fall of the Western Roman Empire  East continues to flourish