ancient rome

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INTRODUCTION Rome was the culmination of ancient civilization It consolidated and improved the entire heritage of the ancient world Everything great that the ancient civilizations had achieved reached their peak of their development under the Romans On the other hand, all that was negative about ancient civilization also reached its highest state of development with the Romans Slavery, inequality, political violence, technological backwardness, and moral ambiguity The entire development of ancient civilization reached its peak with Rome With its collapse in the 5 th century AD, a new civilization (partly based on the remnants of Roman civilization) would gradually develop in its place

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Page 1: Ancient Rome

INTRODUCTION• Rome was the culmination of ancient civilization

– It consolidated and improved the entire heritage of the ancient world

• Everything great that the ancient civilizations had achieved reached their peak of their development under the Romans

• On the other hand, all that was negative about ancient civilization also reached its highest state of development with the Romans

– Slavery, inequality, political violence, technological backwardness, and moral ambiguity

• The entire development of ancient civilization reached its peak with Rome– With its collapse in the 5th century AD, a new civilization (partly

based on the remnants of Roman civilization) would gradually develop in its place

Page 2: Ancient Rome

PROBLEMS WITH SOURCES I

• Titus Livius (Livy) wrote entire book on the prehistory of the Latin people– Written 500 years after the fact– Used work of annalists as main

source of information• Annalists were individuals who

recorded past events in chronological order

– But the earliest known annalists lived and worked around 220 BC

» Hundreds of years after the events they listed

Page 3: Ancient Rome

PROBLEMS WITH SOURCES II• Other sources were writings by Greeks and

Etruscans– Information was only incidental and

fragmentary since Rome was not their primary interest

• Written documents by early Romans themselves were also probably used– Writing was not used by Romans before 500

BC • Rome was also sacked by Gauls in 390

BC and most public records were destroyed

• Some private documents could be found in archives of the great families– But family pride often resulted in the

production of exaggerated or false documents regarding their past achievements

Page 4: Ancient Rome

A WORD OF CAUTION• Ancient historians like Livy had a big problem

– His state had become the most powerful in ancient world and it had to have a history

• Mythology and legend had already moved in the fill the gap– But dependable and continuous information about the

Romans was scarce for the period before 390 BC• 800 years had to be accounted for but historians like Livy did

the best they could– But the scarcity and unreliabliity of documents, records,

stories, and lists they found meant they could not be accepted at face value

– Modern methodologies have been used the information provided by Livy

» But yawning gaps still persist and intelligent speculation must often substitute for data-based analysis

Page 5: Ancient Rome

EARLY ITALY• Indo-European immigrants

merged with Neolithic original people in Italy over thousands of years– Resulted in appearance of

different Italian tribes scattered throughout the peninsula

• Ligurians in the north, Venetians along northeast coast, Latins on the west coast, Sabellian tribes in south and center, and Samnites in the mountains of the east

Page 6: Ancient Rome

GREEKS IN ITALY• Set up colonies in southern Italy

and Sicily at end of the Dark Age– Oldest Greek colony was Cumae– Other colonies were Syracuse,

Sybaris, Croton, and Tarentum• Each was an independent city-state

– Main economic activity was agriculture

– Constantly squabbled among themselves but all also supported highly developed arts and crafts, literature and philosophy

• Greek cultural activity radiated throughout the Italian peninsula

Page 7: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCANS• Inhabited Etruria• Enigmatic people• 12 cities were independent and

individualistic– Often disagreed with each other– Had of religious cohesion

• Believed their was a powerful and inseparable relationship between heaven, earth, and hell

– Vital organs of sacrificed animals could reveal the imprint of both past and future events

– Interpreting organs of animals became a ritual for Etruscans and it would be adopted and highly valued by the Romans

Page 8: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCAN INNOVATIONS• Cities originally ruled by kings

– But monarchs replaced by annually elected magistrates in 600s BC

• Most important was zilath– Model for Roman republican

office of consul• Other legacies

– Purple-bordered robe worn by consuls and triumphant generals

– Throne– Lictors– Fasces (bundle of rods around an

axe)– Concept of imperium

Page 9: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCAN INFLUENCE

• The “Etruscan” nation was a collection of individual cities primarily interested in trade-generated commercial wealth– At the height of Etruscan influence

during the 700-600s BC, their culture and influence extended north of Etruria into Po Valley and southward into Campagna

– Cities in these regions were conquered by roving freebooters and populated by surplus people from the cities in Etruria

• Rome was taken over in this manner during this time

Page 10: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCAN DECLINE

• Etruscan power began to decline in the 400s BC– Lost cities in Campagna to

Samnites– Gauls captured cities in the

Po Valley– Attempt by Gauls to capture

Etruria itself weakened economy and hastened decline

– Drifted into insignificance, the victims of economic deterioration, increasing social unrest, and, after 300 BC, Roman aggression

Page 11: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCAN LEGACY• Etruscans taught Romans quite a bit

– To surround their officials with pomp and symbols of power and numerous special prerogatives and duties

– Art of surveying and carefully designing street patterns

– Architecture– Knack for capturing the particular

and unique in art– Even some names

• Family names like Tullius and names of many gods

• Practice of augury

Page 12: Ancient Rome

EARLY ROMANS• Descended from an Italian tribe

known as the Latins– Their territory, Latium, was

bordered by Tiber River on the north, the sea on the west, foothills of the Apennine Mountains on east and south

– Not particularly desirable territory• Coastal area was malarial

swamp, subject to periodic flooding

• Drier backcountry experienced severe volcanic activity until 800 BC

Page 13: Ancient Rome

LATIN ORGANIZATION• Early Latins were herdsmen who

practiced agriculture on the side– Organized themselves into

clans, each with its own little bit of territory

• Within each territory was a town or village, usually located on the top of a hill

• Each town originally had its own chieftain but many later discarded their kings in favor of an annually-elected dictator

Page 14: Ancient Rome

FOUNDING OF ROME• In the mid-700s, a Latin clan

established a new settlement on the Palatine Hill– One of several hills that overlooked

a bend in the Tiber River• Roman legend attributed the founding

of this village to Romulus and Remus– Twin grandsons of the king of Alba

Longa– Orphaned when young and raised

by a wolf– Later adopted by a shepherd who

grazed his sheep on Palatine Hill• Later remembered it as adults

and selected it as site of settlement

Page 15: Ancient Rome

EARLY SETTLEMENTS• Good strategic and economic reasons

for selection of site– Defensible, well-watered,

accessible to the Italian interior, and it commanded only feasible bridgehead across the lower Tiber River

– Also astride a number of natural routes to other parts of Italy

• Within a few years, new settlers created villages on other nearby hills– Mostly Latin settlements but two

were Sabine– Land that was ultimately become

the Forum was used as a common cemetery by the villages

Page 16: Ancient Rome

SEPTIMONTIUM• In 600s BC, the seven villages on the

hills of Rome formed a loose-knit league for either mutual protection or cooperation in exploiting pastureland– Called the Septimontium– Each village still retained its own

chieftain• Ruled with the advice of the

heads of all familites in the village

• Powers limited by tradition• If he proposed anything new, it

had to be approved by an assembly of all men of military age before it became law

Page 17: Ancient Rome

RELIGION

• Religious practices based on worship of spiritual forces that controlled natural phenomenon– Did not go in much at

this time for idolatry– Their gods at this time

did not have concrete form

• It was the job of the king to maintain the health and prosperity of his people by appeasing these spirits

Page 18: Ancient Rome

ETRUSCAN TAKEOVER• Latium attracted the Etruscans because

control of region would give them a direct overland route between Etruria and the cities of Campagna– Etruscan overlords took control of the

Septimontium in the mid-500s BC– Domination began with the appearance of

adventurers with small contingents of supporters

• Gained chieftainship of villages through their superiority in arms and the glamour of their advanced culture

• Rome would be controlled for the next 100 years by Etruscan adventurers– Tarquin the Elder, Tarquin the Proud,

Servius Tullius, and Lars Porsenna

Page 19: Ancient Rome

CREATION OF RUMAN• Etruscan overlords also took the

scattered villages of the Septimontium and made them into a little city– Named it Ruman (city of the river)– Surrounded it with fortifications

and drained the marsh which ultimately became the Forum

– Enhanced political and economic stature of the place and its population grew rapidly with an influx of artisans and merchants from other places in Italy

Page 20: Ancient Rome

EARLY POLITICAL LIFE• Latins grouped clans into curiae (geographic districts)

• Septimontium grouped three tribes into 30 curiae– Etruscans divided city into four tribes and 30 curiae

• Etruscans also introduced more formal methods of combat– Replaced old haphazard Latin style by organizing all

residents of Rome for military service• Based on their ability to arm themselves instead of

their family or clan connections– Would also ultimately provide foundation for Centuriate

Assembly later

Page 21: Ancient Rome

CURIATE ASSEMBLY• During Etruscan period, Romans

had Curiate Assembly– Each of the 30 curiae had one

vote in this assembly• Determined by majority vote

within each curiae– Function was to give advice to

the king, ratify his proposals, and witness certain religious rituals

– Would be retained by Roman Republic where its main function would be to bestow imperium (the right to act on behalf of the state) on political leaders

Page 22: Ancient Rome

GROWTH• Commercial and manufacturing

activity increased dramatically in Rome during Etruscan period

• Public games (horse and chariot racing) introduced in area that would become site of Circus Maximus

• Forum was made habitable by contruction of drainage system– Later became famous Cloaca

Maxima• Foreign artists and large numbers of

immigrant craftsmen and merchants moved to city– Most settled in Viscus Tuscus

commercial district

Page 23: Ancient Rome

PATRICIAN RESENTMENT• New commercial immigrants found it difficult to

assimilate with the old Latin families– Who based their wealth on ownership of

land and who had in the old days served as advisors to Latin kings

• Etruscans set up special guilds for immigrants, allowed them to serve in army, and employed them on public works projects– As a result, they identified their loyalty,

safety, and well-being with Etruscan kings– Not with Latin landowning elite (patricians)

• Patricians resented the Etruscans for giving newcomers so much attention and aid

Page 24: Ancient Rome

EXPULSION OF THE ETRUSCANS

• According to Roman legend, the last Etruscan ruler, Tarquin the Proud, was expelled in 509 BC because of his arrogance and acts of immorality– The precise date is

probably inaccurate• But other evidence

indicates that it happened around that timeTarquin the Proud

Page 25: Ancient Rome

PATRICIANS WIN• Main beneficiaries of the overthrow of Etruscan

rule were the patricians

• Most likely scenario was that patricians took advantage of military reverse suffered by Tarquin the Proud– Overthrew him and expelled his supporters

from city– Then established system of government

based partly on Latin traditions and partly on the emergence of new conditions

• Designed to support and perpetuate their superior position in Roman society

– Would lead to creation of Roman Republic

Page 26: Ancient Rome

Rome would then move on and gradually take over all

the other people of

Italy

Long, slow, difficult

process and Roman

success was by no means guaranteed

Conquest of Italy took over 100

years and Rome

suffered some

serious setbacks in the process

But through hard work,

perserverence, and luck, Rome

did it