The Roman Empire

Why are the Romans so famous?  They had a huge empire… 3 continents  That empire achieved many things and influenced later kingdoms and countries.  Influential leaders  Achievements in architecture, building science, engineering, law.  They were sports enthusiasts.  They created a base language that created 5 different languages  Christianity was born during this time.

What do we want to learn?  The geography of Italy.  How Rome gains control of 3 continents  How did the Roman Empire rise and decline.  What were the achievements of the Roman culture.

Where is Rome?  It is in Italy  Italy is bordered by three islands and seas  It has a Mediterranean climate  It is surrounded by mountains  There are 3-4 groups of people who lived in Ancient Italy

How they ruled:  At first, they had republic  Romans were made up of two groups  Patricians were upper class landowners.  Plebeians were the working class.

How the Republic worked:  Two Consuls or top gov’t officials  A Senate of elected patricians as a lawmaking body.  Praetors were judges  Romans were ruled by a dictator in times of war.  Plebeians had the Council of Plebs, a representative body that could veto laws

Roman Law  The most important laws were called The Twelve Tables  The tables were shown in the forum, or marketplace  “innocent until proven guilty”  The law applies to everyone or “rule of law”  Juris Civilis Corpus- Body of Civil Law

Bellringer:  Look at your worksheet from yesterday entitled “ the Roman Republic”. Think about how our government is designed  How does our government look like the government of the Roman Republic? Provide 3 examples.

Bellringer  Name a problem that the United States is dealing with as a government right now.  Do you know how the problem started? If so, tell why.

What about the Roman Army? The army divided into groups of 5,000 or legions. All men had to serve at least 2-4 years but most members were volunteer.

How did Rome gain land?  By slowly conquering land around Italy.  The 1 st and 2 nd Punic Wars allowed Rome to defeat the city of Carthage and gain control of Africa and the Mediterranean Sea

The Rise and Death of Julius Caesar  Caesar was a general in the army in charge of Gaul (France)  He was part of the First Triumvirate or political alliance of 3 people.  The triumvirate consisted of Crassus, Pompey, and Caesar.  When Crassus died, Pompey and Caesar’s armies battled for power.  Caesar defeated Pompey’s armies

As a leader  Caesar did many things including building roads, a new calendar, and created jobs

How he was killed  Caesar wanted to become dictator and abolish the republic  His best friends decided to kill him before he declared himself “First Princeps” or First Citizen

The Early Empire  Started with Caesar Augustus Was Julius Caesar’s adopted son He defeated Mark Antony for power He was born and raised Octavian He changed his name when he became emperor The name Augustus means “majestic one”

What is the Pax Romana?  It means Roman Peace  For 250 years, Rome did not fight a war.  So, for that period of time, the Romans created a vast trade network, built a lot of stuff, and created new ideas.

Good Emperors and Bad Emperors  Good Emperors expanded the empire and created many things Hadrian- built a wall and the Pantheon Trajan- improved education Antonius Pius Marcus Aurelius

The Bad  Nero- persecuted Christians  Caligula- crazy enough that the Praetorian Guard killed him and put Claudias in charge

Bellringer  The fall of the Roman Empire started 200 years before its collapse. Read the opening paragraph on page 318. By reading this paragraph, identify major problems the Romans encountered years before its collapse. What do you predict will be the causes of the collapse of the Roman Empire?

Why did Rome Fall?  Worksheet that focuses on the decline of the Roman Empire.  Political- problems in the government  Social- problems that exist among citizen.  Economic- affects the way they produce goods and services (jobs, trade, taxes)  Military- affects the army and their ability to fight.

Bellringer 1/19/11  Pg 320  Define the word “reform”.  Describe two ways a government might try to reform.  Name two ways Diocletian tried to reform the Roman Empire.

Objective  Define “reform”  Describe important factors that led to the Roman collapse

Why Did Empire Decline?  Political Problems Poor leadership Talented people refusing to serve in government Wealthy people stopped paying taxes

Social Problems  More slaves as a labor force  Lack of education  The Romans became a lazy group of people

Economic Problems  Soldiers seized crops and a famine started  Romans bought fewer goods  People lost jobs  Inflation- the rising of prices  High taxes

Military  Workers leaving to serve in the army  Army leader fought each other for power  Small invasions by rivals, the Romans lost some of their land.  The army couldn’t afford to pay soldiers

Diocletian and Constantine  Diocletian divided the Empire into 4 parts  Help the economy by controlling wages and inflation  Constantine moved the capital to Constantinople

Theodosius  Tried to end fighting among the Romans  split the empire into two areas Western Roman Empire- capital was Rome Eastern Roman Empire- capital was Constantinople

Invasion  The Huns invaded Eastern European side of the empire  Germanic tribes like Franks, anglos, saxons, Vandals and Ostrogoths took over Northern Europe  The Visogoths took over Rome  The Empire fell in about 476 a.d.

Roman Culture  Roman Architecture The Romans constructed domes They used Greek style columns in their buildings They built porches in from of their homes ml ml _Colosseum.html _Colosseum.html wonders/colosseum.html wonders/colosseum.html

Engineering  The arch was used as support for buildings  They were the first to use concrete  They designed the aqueduct  The coloseum was the first sports arena

Literature  They wrote satires or plays that poked fun of people  They wrote odes or poems that express strong emotions about life  Copied the style of Greek writers  Famous writers: Virgil, Horace, Livy  Latin became a standard language for literature

Law  Today, we use many roman phrases in the courtroom such as jurisprudence, writ of habeas corpus,  The Romans used juries to decide the fate of someone