Ch. 11 Rome and Christianity From Republic to Empire The Roman Empire and Religion The End of the Empire

From Republic to Empire Big Picture Rome grew politically and economically, eventually developing into a culture that would influence later civilizations. Main Ideas Disorder made opportunities for Julius Caesar to gain power Empire began with the reign of Augustus Caesar The empire grew to control the entire Mediterranean world Romans made many advances in engineering, art, literature, science, architecture and law

Disorder in the Republic Rome in the 70s BC was a dangerous place to be, politicians and generals fought each other to gain power Gifted orator and philosopher, Cicero advised people to limited the power of the generals and support the Senate. Citizens did not listen and several generals were set to take over the government. The most powerful of these generals was Julius Caesar.

Caesar’s Rise and Fall He was a well respected general who gained power and prestige. Not only a successful general, but a gifted speaker with powerful friends: Pompey and Crassus, together the three ruled Rome. As Caesars power grew his friendships fell apart Pompey's Senate supporters told Caesar to give up command of his armies so that Pompey could rule alone. Caesar refused. He prepared for a confrontation crossing the Rubicon River to invade Italy from the north. Caesar was successful! In 45 BC Caesar returned to Rome and declared himself dictator for life The Senate feared his power and killed him on March 15th.

The End of the Republic After Caesar’s murder, Marc Antony and Caesar's adopted son, Octavian, took over Rome The two were driven to make the killers pay and were successful Happiness between Antony and Octavian did not last. Antony married Octavian’s sister, but later divorced her to marry Cleopatra of Egypt. This angered Octavian. This led to a civil war. Octavian won and became Rome’s sole leader He took the name Augustus (revered one) changing Rome from a republic to an empire

Rome’s Growing Empire As emperors conquered new territory, they not only added land, but new cultures, ideas, and goods. Romans experienced a Pax Romana or a Roman peace As a result. Trade increased, making Romans wealthy. This improved the equality of life for people of Rome and its provinces

Rome’s Accomplishments Science and Engineering Greek doctor Galen studied the body to improve health Great builders who used cement Built roads in layers like we do today Created lasting structure using arches, like in their aqueducts. Combined arches helped in the construction of vaults Architecture and Art Roman Architecture copied some older Greek designs and use of marble Engineering techniques like the vault. Roman artists were known for mosaics, paintings and statues Literature and Language Virgil was an author who wrote the Aeneid, which was about the founding of Rome Ovid wrote poems about Roman mythology They wrote in Latin which later developed into the Romance languages. Other Romance languages are Italian, French, Portuguese, Spanish, and Romanian.

Law Rome’s greatest influence may have been in the field of Law Inspired civil law – a legal system based on a written code of laws What is our code of laws in the USA?

Section 2 The Roman Empire and Religion Big Idea The people of the Roman Empire practiced many different religions. They considered some religions a political problem. Eventually, they accepted the religion of Christianity. Main Ideas Romans had conflicts with the monotheistic Jews Christianity grew out of Judaism Many considered Jesus the Messiah Christianity grew in popularity eventually becoming Rome’s official religion

Religious Tolerance and Conflict Rome practiced religious tolerance, allowing others to continue their faith when conquered as well as adopted religious ideas from other cultures Romans had issues with religions they felt caused political problems, like the Jewish faith They felt the because the Jews only prayed to one God, they would anger all of the other gods Jews rebelled against the Roman rule, eventually Romans took their anger out on the Jews by taxing them heavily and treating them harshly Emperor Hadrian thought that if he banned some Jewish rituals they would eventually give up the religion. Instead the Jews rebelled and Hadrian and the Roman army crushed the revolt and destroyed Jerusalem building a new city over the ruins and invited people from all over the empire to live there. Jews were forced out.

A New Religion Many Jews believed a new leader would come to restore the greatness of King David’s Kingdom, Israel. This leader was to be a Messiah, “God’s anointed one” Many Jews anxiously awaited his arrival Many believed Jesus of Nazareth was this Messiah

Jesus is an influential person in all of world history, but little is known of his life Most of what is known is learned from the Christian Bible The Bible is made of two parts, Old Testament (similar to the Hebrew Bible) and New Testament (sacred to Christians) Jesus was born to a simple family and Christians believe he is the son of God. As he grew he cause a lot of excitement wherever he went He was a teacher who influenced many people This influence challenged the authority of political and religious leaders Shortly after he was arrested and sentenced to die by crucifixion Christians believe he resurrected or rose from the dead. Some people began calling him Jesus Christ. Christ came from the Latin word Christos, Greek for Messiah this is where the words Christian and Christianity came from Jesus of Nazareth

The Teachings of Jesus His teachings were rooted in older Jewish traditions, such as, love God and love other people He encouraged the love of all people even your enemies, salvation or forgiveness of sins, many other teachings dealt with reaching the kingdom of Heaven Jesus’ teachings have been interpreted in many different ways, which is why there are so many different denominations of Christianity

The Spread of Jesus’ Teachings The Apostles traveled widely telling of Jesus and his teachings, after the Resurrection Some of Jesus’ disciples wrote accounts of Jesus’ life and teachings known as Gospels The ideas of Paul of Tarsus helped break the Christian Church from Judaism

The Growth of Christianity Through Paul of Tarsus and early Christians the teachings of Jesus began to spread rapidly Within a hundred years of Jesus’ death thousands of Christians lived in Rome A few Roman emperors feared that Christians would cause unrest, so they to banned Christianity This began a period of persecution, a punishment against a group because of their beliefs It wasn’t until emperor Constantine that Christianity was accepted in the empire and became Rome’s official religion

Section 3 The End of the Empire The Big Idea Internal and external problems lead to the Roman Empire splitting into east and west. The Western half collapsed, but the east prospered for hundreds of years Main Ideas Many problems led Diocletian to split the Empire making it easier to run and defend Rome declined because of political problems, invasions and money issues In the east the Byzantines created a new society with different religious traditions

Rome had become so big by the end of the 200s, emperors had given up some of the land the Roman army had conquered Germanic tribes attacked from the north Persians invaded from the east People living on the outskirts of Rome began to move away for fear of attack Government had to raise taxes to pay for defense Desperate Romans looked for a stronger emperor

Division of the Empire Diocletian stepped in to rule and split the empire in two in order to rule more efficiently When Constantine moved in as emperor he moved the capital to Turkey and renamed it Constantinople after himself

The Decline of Rome Barbarians attacked at every turn Huns and Goths, made up of Ostrogoths and Visigoths were very strong It reached a point were the Romans could only keep the Goths out by paying them to stay away In 408, however the Romans stopped making the payments and the Goths attacked. In 410 the Goths overthrew Rome

The Fall of the Western Empire The take over by the Goths inspired other barbarians to attack The Vandals, Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and Franks all launched attacks on the empire The Huns again attacked from the east, led by Attila and raided the land

Reasons for Rome’s Fall Vast size of the empire Communication during conflict was difficult Too big to govern efficiently Political crisis lead to corruption which made poor leadership The wealthy fled their homes and formed their own armies Some used their armies to overthrow emperors and take power for themselves Population decreased and schools closed The empire collapsed

A New Eastern Empire Despite the Fall of Rome, the eastern empire grew in wealth and prosperity Justinian ruled the eastern empire well by organizing laws and focusing on Church Justinian’s code was a simplified version of the Roman code of laws Justinian did make enemies but put the rioters down with the support of his smart and powerful wife After his death the empire did begin to weaken, but finally fell to the Ottoman Turks in the year 1453 Justinian and Theodora

Byzantine Society The Byzantine Empire, as it came to be known, developed in the Eastern Empire Christianity was interpreted differently in different parts of the world, this caused a split between Catholic in the west and Orthodox Christians in the east Hagia Sophia