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 

Class 4/19, Absent

Today I wasn't in class because I wasn't feeling my best.

Class 4/17, Roman Government

Notes:

• Res publica- the people's affairs
• Brand new republic, ready to run
• Democracy (the people's assembly and the tribunes)
• Aristocracy (the Senate- approx. 300 members)
• Plus monarchy (the consuls)
• Not tyranny (a mistake the Romans did not want to repeat)
• Government: ancient Rome/ USA-
• Originally the US modeled their new government on the model used by the ancient Romans 
• Is it exactly the same? Not quite...
• Both have three branches of government, executive, legislative, and judicial 
• Both have a legal code 
• 3 branches (1) - Rome/US
• Executive Branch in Rome- two consuls, one year terms, each has veto power, controls the military, could appoint a dictator in a crisis for six-month term 
• Executive Branch in USA:
• President (plus VP)
• Four year terms
• Can veto proposed laws
• Commander-in-Chier of the military
• Legislative Branch in Rome:
• Senate, 300 people, aristocrats, members for life
• Assemblies (either Centuriate or Tribal), 193 members (later 373), members for life
• Legislative Branch in USA:
• Senate, 100 senators (two from each state), six year terms
• House of Representatives, 435 members (55 from Cali, MD has 8, AK, DE, MT, ND, SD, WY have 1)
• Two year terms 
• Judicial Branch in Rome:
• Praetors (judges)
• Chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
• One year terms
• Judicial Branch in USA:
• Supreme Court
• Nine members
• Lifetime terms
• Appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate
• Article Two of the United States Constitution

Class 4/16, Plebians

Notes:

• The people's shock at this horrible family and their terrible behavior made them NEVER want to be subject to the rule of kings EVER again- this was an attitude that lasted for centuries
• Three governments rolled into one
• Rule by kings is replaced by rule of two consuls
• Consuls were elected officials
• Term of office: one year
• Always aristocrats (patricians)(Roman term for aristocrats)
• Patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor, pater ("father")
• Duties: dealing justice, making laws, commanding the army 
• One consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)
• Fifth century BCE- patrician dominance of government was challenged by the plebeians (plebs or the regular people)
• Plebs were 98% of the population 
• How did the patricians dominate?
• Plebs had to serve in the army, but could not hold office 
• Plebs were threatened with debt slavery 
• Plebs had no legal rights
• Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial traits
• Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs 
• Patricians could interpret these to their own advantage 
• Plebs refused to serve in the military until... 
• Laws were written out (the Law of the Twelve Tables)
• These laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)
• Tribunes- ("tribal leaders") were elected 
• SPQR- Senatus Populusque Romanum, designers any decree or decision made by "the Roman Senate or People"

Class 4/13, The Origin of Rome

Today in class we started the powerpoint for the new Rome unit. We took notes on the powerpoint and we also discussed the origins of Rome. My conspiracy was that since the Latins were the first ones to settle in Rome that the name Italians came from the Latins. I think that the name Italians came from the Latins and that it was just pronounced wrong and that the name just stuck. Think about it, the letters in Latins are very to the letters in Italians but just rearranged. I think that this is not a bad conspiracy and should be given some very serious thought . I plan on looking into this more to try to prove that this is in fact a thing.

Class 4/11, Half Day

Today in class we finished going over the rest of the test. There was quite a disagreement over some of the questions but I think for the most part it all got sorted out. The whole class got four points added to their test because one of the questions was just wrong for everyone's test and then there were two other questions that were a little weird so we all got one point for each. Class was really short today which was nice and we got everything done that we wanted to. Kelsie was in charge of the arguing and taking the votes for who were guessing on certain questions and who wasn't.

Class 4/10, Rome

Notes:

• Rome was founded in 753 BCE (according to legend) by Romulus and Remus
• Romulus and Remus were twins and were the sons of the god of Mars and a Latin princess
• City was built for its strategic location and fertile soil
• Geography- built on seven rolling hills at the curve of the Tiber River near the center of the Italian peninsula, midway between the Alps and Italy's southern tip, near midpoint of the Mediterranean Sea
• From about 1000 to 500 BCE, three groups inhabited the region and battled for control 
• The three groups were the Latins, the Greeks, and the Etruscans
• The Latins built the original settlement of Rome on Palatine Hill, were considered to be first Romans 
• Etruscans- native to northern Italy, skilled metalworkers and engineers 

Class 4/9, Test

Today in class we took our test to wrap up the Ancient Greece and Cultures of the Mountains and the Seas units. I thought the test was kind of hard but I felt that I knew most of the stuff on it. There were only a few that I was not sure about so overall I'm feeling pretty good about the test. Then afterwards we had some notes to take on our next unit about ancient Rome.
Notes:

• Ancient Rome and Early Christianity (500 BCE- AD 500)
• Power and Authority- Rome began as a republic, a government in which elected officials represent the people. Eventually, absolute rulers called emperors seized power and expanded the empire
• Empire Building- At its height, the Roman Empire touched three continents (Europe, Africa, Asia). For several centuries, Rome brought peace and prosperity to its empire before its eventual collapse
• Religious and Ethical Systems- Out of Judea rose a monotheistic religion known as Christianity. Based on the teachings of Jesus of Nazareth, it soon spread throughout Rome and beyond.