Rise and fall of the Roman Empire 753 BC to 475 AD.

Founding of Roma Legend says Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars, god of War, founded the city where they were rescued from the Tiber River and cared for by the she-wolf. (753 B.C.E.)

Etruria the Kingdom: Rome’s Early Days (700-500 B.C.E.) In its early years, the Romans shared Italy with several other peoples. The dominant power in the neighborhood of Rome was the Etruscans. The Romans learned about city building, art, religion, mythology, and even language from the Etruscans. Unfortunately no document that allowed to translate the original Etruscan language has survived.

We don't know very much about the Etruscans and other people that lived in Italy at that time, in part because we haven't figured out how to read their language. But the evidence suggests that Rome was at first ruled by Etruscan kings an event that is traditionally dated to 509 BC. East of Rome were other tribes speaking languages related to the Romans' native Latin. And by 400 BC, the prosperous and technologically sophisticated Greeks had established colonies at Italy's southern tip.

From Kingdom to Republic 509 B.C. In 509 B.C.E., the citizens of Rome, all veterans of military service, drove out the Etruscan kings. They declared Rome a republic, a government in which power resides in a body of citizens and consists of representatives elected by them. Only men with wealth and property could command and rise in the ranks. At the heart of the city, they built the Roman forum, a political and civic center with temples and public buildings where leading citizens tended to government business.

The Roman Republic The executive was held by two Consuls, elected by the senate for a 1-year term They held power that extended over the lands that Rome ruled. At the end of their one-year term, they entered the Senate of Rome, the highest legislative and consultative body of the government. The senators were not elected, but appointed by the consuls. Because the consuls and Senate both represented the interests of the patricians (aristocratic, wealthy classes), there was always tension between the wealthy classes and the plebeians, or common people.

Rome conquers Italy Rome went from being one of many city-states in 340 BC to being master of the entire peninsula by 264. Beginning in 326, Rome fought the Samnites to their East, a conflict that would continue sporadically until Roman victory in 282. Rome also fought sporadic battles with Etruscans and Gauls to their North during this period. Rome then turned its attention to the Greeks in the south of Italy, fighting a war with the Greek king Pyrrhus. Pyrrhus won two major battles against the Romans in 280 and 279, respectively. But he took such heavy casualties in those battles that he would eventually lose the war — giving rise to the term "Pyrrhic victory."

The Republic - ~300 BC Carthage was the dominant political power in north Africa (excluding Egypt), the southern part of the Iberian peninsula, and the western region of Sicily. Meanwhile, Hellenistic empires dominated the eastern Mediterranean, Macedon, Egypt, Syria, and Anatolia. The Hellenes (Greeks) had a thriving network of maritime commerce in the Mediterranean.

Rome and Carthage The Carthaginians controlled the north central coast of Africa and the western Mediterranean. One of their trade networks focused on the mineral wealth of Spain, especially its silver mines. Carthage developed ports and cities in Sicily and Sardinia to protect that route.

Roma and Carthage The first war with Carthage The Romans began to come into conflict with another rising power located just across the water: Carthage. Located in North Africa near modern-day Tunis, Carthage was the capital of an empire that dominated maritime commerce in the Western Mediterranean. Rome fought three conflicts with Carthage, known as the Punic Wars, between 264 and 146 BC. The first conflict occurred after Carthage intervened in a dispute on the island of Sicily, just off the southern tip of Italy. While Sicily wasn't Roman territory at the time, the Romans felt this was a little too close to home. They sent an army to expel the Carthaginian troops. The result was the First Punic War, which lasted for more than 20 years. This map shows the situation after the war: Rome gained control of the islands of Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia making it a significant naval power for the first time. http://www.vox.com/2014/8/19/5942585/40-maps-that-explain-the-roman-empire

Archimedes Syracuse (then part of Greece) 287-212 BC

Quick facts about Archimedes . . . Born About 287 BC in Syracuse, Sicily. At the time Syracuse was an independent Greek city-state with a 500-year history Died 212 or 211 BC in Syracuse when it was being sacked by a Roman army. He was killed by a Roman soldier who did not know who he was. Education: Probably studied in Alexandria, Egypt, under the followers of Euclid. Family His father was an astronomer named Phidias and he was probably related to Hieron II, the king of Syracuse. It is not known whether he was married or had any children.

Inventions Many war machines used in the defense of Syracuse, compound pulley systems, planetarium, water screw (possibly), water organ (possibly), burning mirrors (very unlikely). Fields of Science InitiatedHydrostatics, static mechanics, pycnometry (the measurement of the volume or density of an object). He is called the “father of integral calculus” and also the “father of mathematical physics”. Major Writings. On plane equilibriums, Quadrature of the parabola, On the sphere and cylinder, On spirals, On conoids and spheroids, On floating bodies, Measurement of a circle, The Sandreckoner, On the method of mechanical problems. Place in History. Generally regarded as the greatest mathematician and scientist of antiquity and one of the three greatest mathematicians of all time (together with Isaac Newton (English 1643-1727) and Carl Friedrich Gauss (German 1777-1855)).

This statue in the National Museum in Naples, Italy, was widely claimed to be Archimedes. It is actually a bust of Archidamos III, a third century BC king of Sparta Italian postage stamp honoring Archimedes May 2, 1983 Scott Catalogue Number 1559 Archimedes is commemorated on a Greek postage stamp from 1983. The Fields Medal carries a portrait of Archimedes.

At the beginning of the third century BC, the Mediterranean basin was controlled by the Carthaginians in the west and the Greeks in the east. The Romans controlled only a small area around Rome, but were poised to expand. They locked horns with Carthage in the First Punic War (264-241 BC), during which they greatly expanded their territory, although they did not capture the city of Carthage itself. The Greek city of Syracuse, where Archimedes lived, initially supported Carthage. But early in the war Rome forced a treaty of alliance from Syracuse's king, Hiero II, that called for Syracuse to pay tribute and provide grain to the Romans.

The Romans and Carthaginians renewed their antagonisms in 218 BC, the beginning of the Second Punic War. Under Hannibal, Carthage gained the first round of victories, culminating in Hannibal's crossing of the Alps into Italy (218 BC) and his defeat of the Romans at Cannae (216 BC). Hannibal's successes in Italy helped convince many Syracusans that they were allied with the wrong side. …

Hiero honored his treaty with Rome while he lived Hiero honored his treaty with Rome while he lived. However, upon his death in 215 BC he was succeeded by his 15-year-old grandson Hieronymos who began negotiations with Hannibal.

After the Romans gained a second round of victories, they sent Marcus Claudius Marcellus to Sicily to deal with the Syracusan situation. Marcellus besieged Syracuse in 213 BC. He attacked the coastal walls of Syracuse with sixty quinqueremes (battleships with five-man oar banks) while his co-commander, Appius Claudius Pulcher, attacked the inland walls with ground troops. And the siege of Syracuse began.

(Archimedes the geometer). Archimedes had been King Hiero's military adviser for many years and had well prepared Syracuse for any attack. A 1740 engraving of Archimedes planning the defenses of Syracuse. The Greek writing on his cap is (Archimedes the geometer).

war gadgets may have worked. Archimedes designed many tools for defending Syracuse from invasion. This is a model of how one of Archimedes war gadgets may have worked.

A detail of a wall painting in the Stanzino delle Matematiche in the Galleria degli Uffizi in Florence, Italy. Painted by Giulio Parigi (1571-1635) in the years 1599-1600.

It is rumored that Archimedes used mirrors to reflect and intensify the sun, causing the ships to catch on fire, but it’s unlikely that at the time the technology allowed to build large enough mirrors

Wall painting from the Stanzino delle Matematiche in the Galleria degli Uffizi (Florence, Italy). Painted by Giulio Parigi (1571-1635) in the years 1599-1600.

Engraving from Mechanics Magazine London, 1824 Give me a place to stand and I will move the earth Engraving from Mechanics Magazine London, 1824

w1 x d1 = w2 x d2 The Law of the Lever w2 w1 d1 d2 fulcrum The lever is in equilibrium if w1 x d1 = w2 x d2

w1 x d1 = w2 x d2 w1 x 5 = 400 x 5 w1 = 400 w1 x d1 = w2 x d2 400 pounds 5 feet ? w1 x d1 = w2 x d2 w1 x 5 = 400 x 5 w1 = 400 2 feet 8 feet ? 400 pounds w1 x d1 = w2 x d2 w1 x 8 = 400 x 2 w1 = 100

Lever Problems Now it is your turn How long would the lever need to be so that you can lift a 20 ton dinosaur? Place the dinosaur 10 feet from the fulcrum and pretend you weigh 100 pounds. How long would the lever need to be so that you can lift a team of 10 football players (weighing 200 pounds each)? Use the same set-up as above. How long would the lever need to be so that you can lift a lifetime supply of candy bars? Estimate that you can eat 2 pounds of candy each week for 70 years. Use the same set-up as above.

The death of Archimedes depicted on a Roman floor mosaic