Back to Index of Lecture Notes Roman Civilization Before Caesar I. Relationship of Greece to Rome

• A.No exact divide between culture of Greece and culture of Rome
  • 1.based their political systems on the same model
  • 2.based the social organization on similar models
  • 3.art, architecture, and culture of Rome all based on Greece
• B.Differences between Greece, Rome
  • 1.Geography
    • a.different settings
    • b.Greece was mountainous, area around Rome was rather flat--this would affect politics too
    • c.Greece had little farming available, Rome was an agriculturally-based system
      • 1.small independent farmers were core of Roman civilization
      • 2.gave way to larger "business" farmers
      • 3.created the model for the USA many centuries after--mythology of the family farmer
  • 2.Political differences
    • a.fewer city-states on Italian Peninsula because of geography
    • b.came after Greece, so took over where Greeks had left off
    • c.spread its empire not from need of land, but for security of its borders
• C.Greece and Rome were both expansionist powers
  • 1.for different reasons geographically
  • 2.both wanted to control their peninsulas first
  • 3.both then wanted to expand into the Mediterranean (for trade and transportation)
  • 4.both would end up expanding across the known world, minus China

II. Etruscan Kingdom, followed by Roman Republic

• A. Rome starts out as a village on Tiber river 700s BC
• B.Influences
  • 1. To the south, Greeks had colonized parts of Italian peninsula
  • 2.Etruscans to the north
    • a.non-Latin-speaking
    • b.art, culture related to that of Greece, Rome
    • c.made Rome a city-state under Etruscan king - overthrown 509BC, creating Republic of Rome
• C.Republican organization
  • 1. Monarchy replaced by two elected consuls, who served one year terms
  • 2. Roman government made up of complex set of assemblies
  • 3. In assemblies, Romans voted as groups, not individuals
  • 4.Patricians
    • a.had come from the original leading families when Rome was made a republic
    • b.patrician status based on wealth
    • c.a client system of patronage
    • d.small farmers received economic, social aid from patricians
    • e.gave their political support
  • 5.Senate
    • a.a council of Patrician leaders
    • b.made decisions that (sometimes) had rule of law
      • 1)originally a deliberative body
      • 2)became more important as time went on
      • 3)by the final years of the republic (and into the empire) was highly important
      • 4)created basis for our system of Senate
  • 6.Plebians (plebes)
    • a.citizens of the Republic, but not leaders
    • b.Roman republic the story of their gaining economic, political rights
    • c.written code of law begun in 450bc, giving plebeians rights (Twelve Tables)
    • d. plebeians organized into neighborhood assemblies
    • e. plebian assemblies later could elect Tribunes, officials empowered to defend plebeians
  • 7.these were related to Greek concepts, but still new to the world of political history
  • 8. Overall, a complex system of government with numerous officials, priests, and assemblies

V. Early Imperial expansion

• A. Driven by need for security
• B. Conquers local area (other Latin speaking tribes) - 340 BC
  • a. army made up of small farmers with mostly patrician officers
  • b. veterans given conquered lands
  • c. On Italian peninsula, conquered people could become citizens, join army, participate in further conquests
• C. Finishes conquest of peninsula - 264 BC
• D. Punic Wars (264-146BC), Rome vs. Carthage for control of Mediterranean
  • 1. By 264BC, the two dynamic powers in Mediterranean are Rome and Carthage
  • 2. Carthage - near modern day Tunis, founded by Phoenicians
  • 3. Hannibal (247-183BC) the great Carthaginian leader
  • 4. Rome defeats Carthage 146BC
  • 5. At this point, no serious rivals for Rome in Mediterranean world

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Rome: From Republic to Empire I. Problems of the Republic

• A. Expansion
  • 1.the larger Rome became, the harder it was to administer from the capital itself
    • a. Latin cities had been given the opportunity to become citizens
    • b. Beyond the peninsula, regions governed as conquered provinces, with governors who had few checks on power
    • c. tax collection farmed out to highest bidders
  • 2.communications problems were inherent in such an empire
  • 3.if one of the leaders was off in the field, how would the others be able to make decisions?
  • 4.possibility of rebellion far from Roman leadership

• B. internal political pressures
  • 1.military leadership was also civil leadership
    • a. different from the USA, because leaders actually went out in the field
    • b. originally all army came from landholders; under Marius non-landholders were recruited
      • 1)they in turn had personal loyalty to the general, not the Republic
      • 2)if they were successful, they expected land that then had to be taken from someone else
    • c. created the possibility of rivals using the army on each other as well as enemies
  • 2. Growing social problems
    • a. war with Carthage had destroyed many small farms
    • b. their land and land in provinces fell largely to patrician elite, who creates enormous farms worked mainly by slaves
    • c. poverty and slavery increased, creating social tensions
  • 4. inability to maintain control by the Senate
    • a. new wealth from empire was creating wealthy classes not tied to old patrician elites
    • b. social unrest support of the people became increasingly important for Roman politicians to succeed
    • c. increasing unrest from Italian allies who felt unrepresented in Roman government
    • d. starting with the Gracchus brothers in 133 BC., series of strong leaders who asserted power through popular support and military strength tried to reform system
  • 5. most notable of these men was Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE)
    • a. had been incredibly successful military leader--the original fast response army -- Conquered Gaul (France)
    • b. started in power in a triumvirate with Crassus and Pompey - The First Triumvirate
    • c. took over as dictator in 47 BCE
      • 1.changed the calendar to Egyptian (365) +1
      • 2. brought more Italians and people from provinces into government
      • 3. used control of army to ignore the Senate
      • 4. Expanded Roman citizenship
      • 5. Sent poor, military retirees to colonies (Rome population now 750,000)
    • d. traditional elites worried he would establish a monarchy
    • d. was murdered at the Senate on the Ides (15) of March 44 BCE - Brutus
  • 4.power vacuum left after Caesar
    • a. The Second Triumvirate
      • 1.Octavian (18yrold nephew of Julius Caesar and adopted son) forms alliance with Marc Antony (Caeser's general) and Lepidus
      • 2. Defeat Brutus and conspirators
      • 3. Octavian and Antony fall out, go to war in 33 BC
    • b. Ocatavian (in West), versus
    • c. Antony (in East), who was entangled in his love affair with the queen of Egypt, Cleopatra
    • d. fought one another until 31, when Octavian won
    • e. was named imperator, or supreme military commander
    • f. used this to recreate the Republic, but in name only
    • g. instead, began the period of the Roman Empire
    • h. became known also as "Caesar Augustus," almost a God-like name

II. Period of the Early Empire

• A. Augustan Age (31BCE-14AD) - empire of 70-100 million people
  • 1.Now not a true republic - more of a military dictatorship
  • 2.Senate still had power to make laws, but they were all created first by the emperor - more or less a rubber stamp
  • 3.stabilized control over the empire--made all governors of provinces more directly loyal to him
  • 4. Made himself chief priest of Roman religion
  • 5.tried to maintain "traditional values"
    • a. recreate the place of each class: senatorial, equestrian, and plebian
    • b. make the upper classes less interested in wealth, more interested in political service
    • c. get rid of rampant excesses by Senatorial class
    • d. make adultery inadmissible
    • e. banned new religious cults called "mystery religions"
  • 6. Continued policies of expanding citizenship, Romanizing empire by sending out colonists
  • 7. Created the cult of Roma - worship of Roman power
  • 8.did all this to stabilize Roman society, empire
  • 9.largely successful - but did not institutionalize relationship of emperor to military
  • 10. Follwed by Julio-Claudians and Flavians (27-96AD)
    • a. some good emperors in this group
    • b. but some serious nut cases, too - Caligula, Nero
• B. Followed by the period of the Pax Romana
  • 1. the five "good" emperors (96-180)
  • 2. Saw continued fights, rebellions in the provinces
  • 3. most remarkable was the Jewish uprising
    • a. Jewish rebellion brewed under Herod, exploded under Pontius Pilate
    • b. In response, Emperor Vespasian ordered the destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem in 70AD.
    • c. had been the center of Judaism--where sacrifices were still made
    • d. would be no Temple even to this very day
    • e. Jews (and early Christians) scattered across the Empire - the Diaspora
    • f. Ark of the Covenant would be lost (as in Raiders of the Lost Ark)
• C. Structure of imperial rule
  • 1. Large degree of local autonomy; many people's allowed to maintain local law and customs
    • a. kept down expense of empire
    • b. decreased dissent
  • 2. military garrisons throughout, and military commanders often doubled as provincial governors
  • 3. Created a set of basic legal principles that facilitated commerce and provided unity across diverse cultures
    • a.  focused on maintaining family, protecting property rights
    • b. belief that objective rules should govern social relations
    • c. steady expansion of citizenship meant that ever more people had access to Roman courts, encouraged loyalty
  • 4. Much attention to commerce, public works
    • a. maintaining food supplies, keeping shipping routes open
    • b. aggressive program of public works created jobs, expanded cities, provided for economic growth
    • c. in particular, extensive road building helped commerce and enable army to travel quickly
  • 4. political stability of Rome would help to create
    • a. economic prosperity
    • b. social stability (yet there was still large differentiation between classes)

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