World History

Chapter Five Section Two

Literature, History, Philosophy

• Ideas borrowed from the Greeks• Blending of Greek, Hellenistic and Roman –

known as Greco-Roman civilization• Virgil - Aeneid – epic poem that showed

Rome’s past• Linked to Greece – Aeneas escaped from Troy

and founded Rome• Written after Augustus took power - unity

Poetry

• Satire – make fun of – Roman society• Horace – used satire to make fun of human

folly• Juvenal and Martial – more cutting in wit• Martial was so crass in his poems that he

changed names so he would not be hurt or killed

Historians

• Told of the rise and fall of Roman power• Livy – tried to arouse patriotic feelings –

recalled Rome’s heroic past• Horatius and Cincinnatus• Tacitus – disliked Augustus and his successors

and felt they ruined Rome

Philosophy

• Borrowed much of it from the Greeks• Hellenistic philosophy of Stoicism impressed

Marcus Aurelius• Stoics stressed accepting of ones fate and

duty• Showed concern for all people

Art and Architecture

• Sculptors portrayed realism – showed warts and veins

• Sought to show a person character – look on face – smug, arrogant, proud

• Some sculptors strived for an idealistic view• Used art to beautify homes• Mosaics – picture made from chips of stone or

glass

Architecture

• Emphasized grandeur – size, power• Huge temples, palaces and stadiums• Used columns and arches• Invented concrete for building material• Developed a round domed roof• Pantheon – temple that honors the Roman

gods and is still in Rome today

Pantheon

Science and Math

• Romans were masters of engineering – application of science and math to develop useful structures and machines

• Roads, bridges, harbors• Built so well still around today• Aqueducts – bridge like stone structures that

carried water

Science

• Greeks now citizens in the Empire and most science was left to them to perform

• Ptolemy – astronomer-mathematician• Proposed theory that earth was the center of

the universe – he was wrong but this was accepted for 1500 years

Civil Law• Civil law developed in Rome – applied to citizens• Law of Nations – applied to non-citizens and citizens alike• When Rome offered citizenship to more people these two

law codes merged• Innocent until proven guilty• Accused could face his/her accuser and defend themselves• Guilt had to be established “clearer than daylight” – using

evidence• Judges were to interpret the law and be fair• Penalties varied depending on social class and the poor

were often treated more harshly