1. Ancient Rome
Republic & Empire

2. The Romans and Empire
All aspects of Roman civilization influenced by its imperial ambitions: its ambition to rule over a large part of the world

3. Romans were borrowers
From the Etruscans (Northwest) they borrowed: urban planning, chariot racing, the toga, the arch
From the Greeks (South) they borrowed: pantheon of gods and goddesses, literary principles, classical style

4. Roman Republic 509 (overthrow of Etruscans)-30 B.C.E. (Augustus)
The “Republic” refers to the time when Rome develops a government res publica (“of the people”)

5. Republic: Government Popular Assembly= plebeians
Senate=patricians, at first the only lawmakers, but then plebeians make laws too beginning in 287 B.C.E.
Magistrates=consuls (2 of them)

6. Punic Wars: Rome vs. Phoenicians
147 B.C.E. Destruction of Carthage
Roman extends power all over the western Mediterranean: thus the Roman Republic had control over an empire

7. Turner, Dido Building Carthage, 1815

8. Hannibal

9. Roman possessions, 86 BCE

10. Julius Caesar
46 B.C.E. Gaius Julius Caesar, an army commander, establishes dictatorship
His famous account of his conquests of Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt: “Veni, vidi, vici”
Julian calendar: 365 days
44 B.C.E assassinated by senators led by Marcus Junius Brutus

11. Octavian
Power struggles follow Julius Caesar’s death: Mark Anthony vs. Octavian (Anthony’s grandnephew and adopted son)
43 B.C.E.: Senate grants Octavian power to rule for life

12. Octavian: a guy with many names
He called himself princeps (“first citizen”)
The Senate called him Augustus (“the Revered One”)
As Rome’s top army general, he was imperator (emperor)

14. Roman Empire
30 B.C.E – 476 C.E.
“Empire” refers to the time when Rome is ruled by the emperor, rather than having a government res publica

15. 30 B.C.E. – 180 C.E. Pax Romana
The Roman Peace: stability and commerce
The “Good Emperors” ( C.E.): Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius
So stable that we don’t have much history from parts of this era

18. Marcus Aurelius, 160-80 CE A Stoic philosopher
Author of Meditations (in Greek)
Fought against Germanic uprising
Last of the 5 “Good Emperors”

19. From Meditations “approach each action as though it were your last”
“we are all fellow-citizens and share a common citizenship, and the world is a single city”
“A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all—that is myself”

20. Commodus, 180-192 5th son of Marcus Aurelius
Brought end to “Good Emperors”
A tyrant who played at gladiatorial combat
Murdered while bathing by an athlete who conspired with Commodus’s mistress

22. The Romans were efficient conquerors
See Josephus, p. 133
Description of Roman army camp: see Gladiator

23. Roman army camp (small), 1-2nd cent. CE

26. Rome & China Traded indirectly through Silk Road
97 CE, China sent ambassador to Rome; he reached Mesopotamia but was informed that the journey to Rome would take 2 more years; so he returned home
166 CE, Marcus Aurelius sent envoys directly to China

27. The Romans were efficient administrators
when Rome conquered a territory, they permitted the local customs and even local government system to continue
they took from the territories: taxes, soldiers, slaves
they gave to the territories: Latin language, Roman law, infrastructure (roads, bridges, aqueducts), and citizenship

28. Roman Law Latin jus: “law; justice” Roman law vs. Greek law
Greek law: developed from the Greek citizen’s relationship to the polis
Roman law: developed from the practical need to administer a world-state

29. 3 Kind of Roman Law
Jus civile (law of the land): applied to Roman citizens only
Just gentium (law of the people): applied to all people under Roman rule: international, attuned to diverse cultures and traditions
Jus naturale (law of nature): universal principles underlying the law of the people

30. Romans were practical thinkers
Romans absorbed Hellenic and Hellenistic philosophy
Stoicism was particularly popular because it suited the cosmopolitan spirit of the Empire

31. Some tenets of Stoicism
Providence/Divine Reason governs world
reason over emotion
accepting one’s fate, one’s duty
belief in equality of all people—a universal vision

32. Stoicism: examples Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind (ca. 40 C.E.)
Correct estimate of self, choosing tasks accordingly; wise choice of companions; avoiding excessive wealth
Cicero, On Duty (44 B.C.E.)
--self-possession, Aristotelian Mean

33. Roman literature reflected imperial culture
Virgil’s Aeneid (20 B.C.E)
A literary (rather than oral) epic
Aeneas, our hero, journeys from Troy to Italy
Trojans conquer Latium and establish Roman state
Stoic philosophy reflected in Aeneid: see reading (p ).

34. Claude, Aeneas’ Farewell to Dido in Carthage, 1676

35. Satire
Horace
Juvenal
Horation vs. Juvenalian satire

36. Roman art is realistic Mosaic Trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”)
Still life
Empirical perspective

37. Romans were practical builders
Methods: Arch, Vault, Dome
Material: Concrete; marble veneer
Structures:
Practical: Aqueducts, Bridges, Roads
Pleasure: Colosseum, Baths (the largest structures in ancient Rome were for pleasure: pleasure was practical for social control)

39. Roman Forum

40. Pantheon, c CE

41. Pantheon Combines concrete construction with Greek style
Vitruvian proportion: distance from floor to apex of dome = diameter of rotunda

44. M AGRIPPA L F COS TERTIUM FECIT

45. Marcus Agrippa son of Lucius built this while consul for the third time

46. “Hadrian rebuilt it on the site of Marcus Agrippa’s original temple after it burned twice.”

47. 3 orders of Greek columns

53. Daily Life in Ancient Rome, 79 CE
Pompeii
Daily Life in Ancient Rome, 79 CE

54. Roman couple, Pompeii

55. Forum, Pompeii

56. Frescoes, Pompeii

57. Thermopolium (shop), Pompeii

58. House of the Vettii, Pompeii

59. Rites of Dionysus, Pompeii

60. Alexander the Great, Pompeii