GEOGRAPHY

LOCATION and ORIGINS

• Rome is located on the Italian peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean sea.

• Rome was built on 7 hills and it’s main river is the Tiber River.

• Romulus and Remus were the legendary twins who founded Rome and fought to be it’s first king.

• Later, Rome was founded by the Latin people. Etruscans then took over after the Latin people. After the Etruscans, the Roman people finally took over Rome.

EXPANSION

• When Rome first started, it was a small city on the Italian peninsula at about 500 B.C.

• 500 B.C. to 264 B.C. Rome had taken over the whole boot shaped Italian peninsula.

• 264 B.C. to 146 B.C. Rome had taken over Spain, Macedonia, Greece, Sicily, Carthage, Sardinia, and Corsica.

• 146 B.C. to 44 B.C. Rome had invaded all of the countries mentioned. Including, Gaul (now France), Asia Minor, Syria, and the land just above Egypt.

TRADE• The Roman people traded by

sea, since they owned the Mediterranean, and by their network of paved roads that extended well beyond the empire.

• Trading neighbors included Greece, Egypt, Britain, India, Europe, Russia, and China.

• They exported wine, olive oil, pottery to Europe, the Greek islands, Britain, and India. They also exported silver bowls and bronze ware to Russia and Northern Europe. They imported wheat from Egypt, and and silk from China.

PUNIC WARS• Rome and Carthage were rivaling lands that had 3

wars to try to destroy each others power and take the others land. These wars were called the Punic Wars.

• The first Punic War took place in Sicily because of the treaty that Carthage was accused of breaking. The treaty had stated that Carthage and Rome would stay off of each others land. The Romans declared war but they did not realize what a grand navy Carthage had. Rome then created an army to match Carthage’s and won the first Punic War.

• The second Punic War was started by the General Hannibal because of his hatred towards Rome and his desire for revenge. He attacked a Roman ally and therefore Rome declared war. Hannibal could not be defeated for many years. They finally found a leader that was equal to Hannibal. His name was Scipio. They made him to commander and then he drove them from Spain and he defeated Hannibal. Carthage then had to sign a treaty saying not to ever attack them. They also had to pay them a fine.

• Rome had attacked Carthage once more because they knew Carthage could not fight back. Finally Carthage had had enough and fought, Rome then burned down Carthage.

RELIGION

ROMAN RELIGION • The Roman people worshiped

hundreds of gods and adapted many from the Greeks and Etruscans cultures.

• The top officials of the Roman government also served as Priests and accompanied religious ceremonies. Also, as Rome grew into an empire, Romans viewed their Emperors’ as gods.

• They believed their gods lived in sacred spots, such as trees and rocks and built temples for the most important gods. The main gods were, Jupiter, Juno, Mars, and Minerva.

• They also feared the gods and tried to please them with sacrificed animals. Worshiped in temples.

CHRISTIANITY• The Christian religion is a lot

different than than the Roman religion. They believe in one and only God.

• In Christian ceremonies, they did not sacrifice animals because they believe that killing is wrong. They only ate bread and only drank wine because that is what Jesus did at the last supper.

• They did not cremate any bodies, however, because they believe that the soul goes up to heaven when a person dies. They buried the body instead.

• The Roman people were also very mean to Christians. Many Christians were crucified or set on fire! Some were even put in games were they had to fight a hungry lion.

JUDIASM• The Jewish religion is similar to

Christianity because the Jewish only worship one God. Although some of their practices are different.

• In Judaism, they did not sacrifice animals, like Christians they believe that killing is wrong. They only pray at ceremonies.

• They worship God in only one place and that is the secret homes.

• Roman people were also very mean to the Jewish as they were to the Christians.

RELIGIOUS CEREMONIES• Roman religious ceremonies

were always accompanied by Priests. The Romans sacrificed animals to please their gods.

• Jews did not sacrifice animals at their religious ceremonies. They only prayed.

• Christians don’t believe in sacrificing at their religious ceremonies either. They only drink wine and eat bread. They also give the “kiss of love”. That is a kiss that one man gives another man to represent friendship.

ACHIEVEMENTS

REPUBLICAN FORM OF GOVERNMENT

• The republican form of government is partly monarchy, partly aristocracy, and partly a democracy.

• The republican form of government influenced other societies and our constitution is based on the Romans.

• The judicial, executive, and legislative branch are equal branches and no branch is higher than another.

• In the republic form of government, the people get to vote for their leader.

SYSTEM of LAWS

• The Roman system of law was carved on 12 tables and hung in the Roman forum for all to see.

• In Rome crime usually happened at night, therefore, women and children were forbidden to go outside in the night.

• Laws were passed by senators votes and then if a law passed that law would be posted in the city.

• All were innocent until proven guilty.

• Senators were the most powerful branch and they could punish anyone in the city if that person was disrespecting them.

NETWORK OF CONCRETE ROADS

• Network of concrete roads were very useful for Roman society.

• Concrete roads were mad for the military, travel, and trading.

• They were made of heavy concrete blocks in layers of crushed stones and pebbles.

• The roads were designed to last forever and to make travel faster.

DEVELOPMENT OF AQUEDUCTS

• Rome needed more water, so to get it they built a canal like concrete structure to bring water up from lakes and mountains.

• In America today, our aqueducts are very similar and were influenced by theirs.

• Aqueducts are also useful and necessary to survive because we need water and back then they could use it for watering crops.

POLITICS

THE REPUBLIC• The first rulers of the Republic were

Kings called the Etruscans. The Etruscans made changes to Rome such as the Greek alphabet, the military, stone arches, and they drained all of the marshy areas. Although Rome never abandoned their Latin language.

• The Romans eventually got tired of the Etruscan rule so they overthrew the King and established a Republic.

• In the Republic, citizens have the right to vote for their own leaders, and the Senate holds most of the power.

• Later, the Twelve Tables (Rome’s legal system) was another major reform. The laws were first carved onto Twelve Tables and held in the city for everyone to see.

THE FALL OF THE REBULIC AND THE RISE OF THE

EMPIRE• Julius Caesar was a popular and

daring Patrician that ran for office. He decided the best way to win Rome's’ support was to have Military victories. He began fighting for Gaul, and then Britain, and had military victories in both. Then back in Rome, he lowered taxes and gave himself the name “dictator for life”.

• The Senate then thought he had too much power and assassinated him in 44 B.C. This forced his adopted son to take over Rome. He ruled like an emperor but threatened to leave the Senators begged him to stay and gave him the name “Augustus”.

• Rome became an empire after Julius Caesar’s assassination. The empire lasted for many, many years after that. In the empire Roman citizens could not choose their leader.

JULIUS CAESAR

• Julius Caesar was born into a Patrician family in 100 B.C.E. and was a man of contradictions.

• In 78 B.C.E. he began a political career and took steps that the common people cheered. For example, he distributed land to poor people and soldiers. He also eased the financial burden with the poor.

• Caesar concentrated on a military career for the next 10 years and defeated Gaul and Britain.

• The senate feared that Julius Caesar would become too powerful, so on March 15th in 44 B.C.E. they assassinated him.

POLITICAL CORRUPTION

• During the empire, one of Rome’s serious problems was choosing new emperors because they never created an effective system to do it.

• The choice of the new emperor was open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the army, and the Praetorian guard (the emperor’s private army).

• Usually the Praetorian guard gained complete authority. This system worked good for a time, but the army would kill the new emperor and sell the throne to the highest bidder.

ECONOMY

EXCESSIVE MILITARY SPENDING

• In ancient Roman times, maintaining an army was a drain of money on the government. Military spending left few resources for other things like maintaining public roads.

• In the later years, Roman’s lost their desire to defend the empire so the government found it necessary to pay hired soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs.

• This army was not only unreliable but also expensive, thus the government had to raise taxes.

INFLATION• The Roman economy suffered

from inflation after Rome stopped conquering new lands and the flow of gold in the economy decreased.

• Although the gold decreased, much gold was being spent on luxury items, and as the gold coins became less valuable.

• To make up for all the lost gold, merchants began raising their prices and people even began to barter.

• Salaries eventually had to be paid in clothing and food and taxes had to be collected in fruits and vegetables.

CURRENCY• In the empire, economic growth was

helped by a stable currency. It was quickly accepted in trade and commerce.

• Augustus issued the currency in coins after taking power. As he had hoped they were soon accepted. These coins also made it easier to conduct trade over long distances.

• The main coin was the gold denarius. The silver denarius is worth twelve times less than the gold denarius. The denarius value remained stable but only if it contained the same amount of gold or silver each year.

• The designs on the coins were of the emperor and his building projects. In that way, the emperor used them as political advertisement.

UNEMPLOYMENT• Unemployment was a big

problem in the Roman empire because of farming and slavery. A farmer who had to pay workers could not produce goods as cheaply as a slave owner could, therefore, slave owners could sell their crops for lower prices.

• Farmers could not compete with this and therefore, had to sell their farms.

• Thousands of people filled the streets, jobless. At one time the emperor had to feed many unemployed people with grain.

SOCIAL STRUCTURES

WEALTHY• The wealthy class were also known as

Patricians. Roman society and government strongly favored the Patricians over the poor class called the Plebeian.

• The Patricians family homes were very grand. They were filled with artwork, jewels, furniture, sometimes a beautiful indoor pool, and a garden.

• Patrician families also had elaborate dinners. For appetizers they would eat cooked mice, roasted parrots, and salted jellyfish. For their main meal they usually would have meat or asparagus. Then they would have dessert.

• The Patrician people also had recreation. They could go to the baths were they would swim, get massages, go to the sauna, and eat light meals.

• Chariot races were also a very popular place for the wealthy Patricians. The Circus Maximus held races and was the perfect place to find a boyfriend of girlfriend.

POOR• The lower, poor class were also known

as the Plebeians. The Plebeians had little say in ancient Rome, therefore if a Plebeians failed to pay his debt, then a Patrician could sell them into slavery. The Plebeians also had a higher population than the Patricians too.

• The Plebeians began to rebel before long however. Since all of the soldiers were Plebeians, they decided to go on strike until they received a voice in government. Their plan worked and they got what they wanted.

• The Plebeian families were very poor and their apartments were very were very small and dangerous. They did not get to enjoy the luxuries that the Patricians did.

URBAN DECAY• Wealthy Romans lived in grand houses

with marble walls and colored flooring. The poor could not afford these houses and had to live in apartments called islands.

• These islands were smelly and small and were usually six or more stories. Each island covered an entire block.

• The first floor apartment were usually nicer and were not occupied by the poor. The more stairs it took to climb the cheaper the rent was. If a family could not pay their rent they were forced to live on the streets.

• The upper apartments were very cheap, but also very dangerous, hot, smelly, dirty, and crowded. Fires were major threats because of the unclean waste disposal, rickety construction, and, cooking grills that caught fire easily.

FAMILY LIFE• In the family the men were always head of

the household, and had control of his wife and children.

• If the father should die the son would be head of the household and if they did not have a son then the head of the household would be the closest male relative.

• Women had some power as well. For example they could own property. Her most important job was to be devoted to her home and family.

• If a child grew up in a wealthy home, they would receive a great education. Girls would stay in school until they were 13, and then after that they would have to stay home and learn household skills. Boys would stay at school until they were 16.

• Poor children could not afford to go to school and had to work with their parents.

CONCLUSION• There are many important ideas I learned about in ancient Rome.

One Idea is the political achievement of The Republic. The Republic influenced many nations including America. Our country would not be the same without it.

• Some other achievements in economy. The coin is one achievement. We can also learn from the Romans mistakes on Inflation, unemployment, and excessive military spending.

• They made many achievements in ancient Rome such as aqueducts, system of laws, concrete roads, and the development of the Republic. Aqueducts are important to get water from, it also influenced our nation. System of laws are important because laws are always important in society. Concrete roads are important for every day life because of travel. The Republic is important because, like I said before, it influenced our nation.