Classes 5/2-7

Class 5/1, Changes

• Constantine- Roman emperor who accepted Christianity in A.D. 313 after claiming to have seen the cross in a vision on the way to battle, he was victorious in this battle for the leadership of Rome, credited this win to Christianity, he then outlawed executing Christians, in the Edict of Milan he announced Christianity was a religion approved by the emperor
• Theodosius made Christianity the official religion of the empire in 380 AD
• Christianity developed structure with priests (local level, led small groups), bishop (also priest, supervised local churches)
• Peter was the first bishop in Rome, eventually named first pope (head of church)
• Disagreements began to arise about beliefs, leaders called any beliefs that contradicted basic teachings a heresy 
• A single set of beliefs was established in the New Testament 

Class 4/27, Early Christianity

Notes:

• The worship of Roman gods was impersonal and often practiced without a great deal of emotion 
• Rome took control over the Jewish kingdom in AD 6 and made it a province 
• Jesus' message began to spread and people started to believe he was the Messiah who would restore the Jewish kingdom
• Roman and Jewish leaders felt threatened by Jesus and they eventually charged with blasphemy and sentenced him to death on the cross
• Jesus' resurrection convinced even more people that he was in fact the Messiah
• A new religion began to be created  based off of Jesus' teachings and spread throughout the Roman Empire even with the political and religious opposition
• Paul had an enormous influence on Christianity even though he wasn't a believer at first and never met Jesus 
• Paul had a vision of Jesus and spent the rest of his life spreading Jesus' teachings
• He wrote influential letters called Epistles 
• The Jews rebelled against the Romans many times and were unsuccessful, they were eventually   driven from their homeland, this was called the Diaspora
• Pax Romana began to crumble due to the number of rebellions from the Jews and the Christians 
• Why Christianity grew: embraced all people, gave hope to the powerless, appealed to those who were repelled by the extravagances of imperial Rome, offered a relationship with a loving God, promised eternal life after death 

Class 4/26, Test

Today in class we took our Rome test. It was also Jillian's birthday so we sang her happy birthday and then she told us that the test was going to be open blog. This was truly a blessing we were all hoping for. I thought the test went really well, having the blog helped a lot. It wasn't hard to find the information I needed which was good because I didn't have to waste time finding what I was looking for. Also it helped because even if we thought we already knew the answer we could double check with our notes just to be sure.

Class 4/25, Finishing Rome Unit

Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE)

29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome

attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps

lays siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he never can get to Rome Rome 2, Carthage 0

Third (and final) Punic War (149-146 BCE)

Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage

Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attacked the city

Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed

when the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery

the rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,000 Greek POWs, etc.)

by the end of the second century BCE there were over a million slaves in Italy

small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles

slaves did the work on the farms for the rich

the big farms became massive estates called latifundia 

How do you keep the plebs happy (or at least keep them from revolting)?

the poet Juvenal said Rome “anxiously hopes for two things: bread and

circuses”

bread (free grain from the state) and entertainment (Circus Maximus, Colosseum), partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet, distracted, and docile

Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)

military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils

soldiers’ loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

Julius Caesar         (100 - 44 BCE)

a highly successful general

he conquered the huge territory of Gaul

made common folks happy

made friends in high places

Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)

Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history

these three men formed the First Triumvirate (“rule of three men”)

Serves as consul (one year)

Appoints himself governor of Gaul

Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival

Caesar’s armies clash with Pompey’s in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt (Caesar - winning!)

In 44BC he is named dictator - first for six months, then for life

Granted citizenship to people in provinces

Expanded the Senate, adding his friends

Created jobs for the poor, especially through public works projects

Increased pay for soldiers

Started colonies where those without land could own property

Why? The senators saw Caesar’s rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability

How? They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved

Who? Even Brutus, Caesar’s ally (“et tu, Brute?”)

Senators were not punished

Octavian was named Julius Caesar’s sole heir

Basically, this is the end of the republic

Julius Caesar’s grandnephew - and adopted son - Octavian takes over at the age of 18! with his own triumvirate

Mark Antony is an experienced general

Lepidus is a powerful politician

This is the Second Triumvirate

Octavian forces the weak Lepidus to retire

He and Mark Antony become rivals

Mark Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt

Militarily

Personally

Politically

Economically

Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium

He is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome

He was given the honorific “Augustus”

“Exalted one”

He was also given the title “imperator”

Supreme military commander

This is where we get the word “emperor”

Now Rome is an empire, not a republic

40 years of ruling as emperor (27 BC to AD 14)

He began a stable era of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace)

Pax Romana was 207 years long

27 BC to AD 180

Expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa

He set up civil service to run the government/empire

Building a network of roads

Collecting taxes

Establishing a postal service

Administering the grain supply

Building awesome public facilities

Buildings, aqueducts

Setting up a police department

Running a fire-fighting organization

Finally died of natural causes

After Octavian’s death, power was passed down to emperors

Some were good, some were horrible, some appeared to be completely insane

Let’s review some of the emperors…

Tiberius

Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37

an excellent general, but a reluctant emperor

after the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge

died at age 77

Caligula

Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years!)

won a power struggle after Tiberius' death

known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant

assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the im

perial court, trying to re-establish the Republic

but it didn't work…

Claudius

Ruled from AD 41 to AD 54

suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering... possibly because of cerebral palsy

took over because he was the last adult male in the family

ruled well - built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain

died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

Nero

ruled from 54 to 68

emphasized the arts

huge fire in 64 (although he DIDN'T fiddle)

he wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic

he hugely overspent, and even raided the temples for money

historians do not look kindly on him

Class 4/23, Left Early

Today I wasn't in class because I left early for my game.

Class 4/20, Punic Wars

Notes:

• Legal Code- Rome/US
• Rome Legal Code:
• Twelve Tables
• Publicly displayed
• Gave right to plebeians, not just aristocrats 
• only protected free-born male citizens (not women)
• US Legal Code:
• Bill of Rights
• First ten amendments to the Constitution
• 1. free speech/religion/press
• 2. bear arms
• 3. no quartering
• 4. no search and seizure 
• 5. no self-incrimination
• 6. right to fair trial
• 7. jury trials
• 8. no cruel or unusual punishment 
• 9. right to privacy, rights are assumed
• 10. states have power when federal government doesn't 
• Roman legion- 5000 soldiers, not in it for the money (not yet), the Roman army's elite heavy infantry, recruited exclusively from Roman citizens
• Group of eighty's a century 
• On horseback is the cavalry
• Shield, sword, dagger, armor, and tunic
• the Punic Wars- 264-146 BCE, Rome vs. Carthage, three wars
• First Punic War (264-261 BCE)- naval battles for control of the strategic located island of Sicily, Rome wins this one