Rome Notes
☼ The Romans were practical with a sense of justice & respect for law
☼ 11.1 The Land
☺ Italy is on the Apennine Peninsula
Ѳ Shaped like a boot with a very high heel
☺ Sicily is near the toe of the boot
☺ West side=Tyrrhenian Sea
☺ East side=Adriatic Sea
☺ South side=Mediterranean Sea
☺ Alps
Ѳ North of Italy
Ѳ Largest mountain system in Europe
Ѳ 500 miles long
☺ Apennine Mountains
Ѳ Run length of Italy
☺ To the west is a broad, fertile plain
☺ Po River
Ѳ Longest river
Ѳ Begins in Alps
Ѳ Flows eastward to the Adriatic
Ѳ Almost all northern Italy’s rivers are branches
Ѳ Provides Italy’s best farmland
☺ Tiber River
Ѳ Central Italy
Ѳ Flows through Rome into the Tyrrhenian Sea
☼ 11.2 The People
☺ 1000 B.C.
Ѳ Itali settle on Apennine Pen.
Ѳ Latins settle near the Tiber & built Rome
͏ Language used by Romans later called Latin
☺ 800 B.C.
Ѳ Etruscans settled north of the Tiber
Ѳ Built first cities in Italy
☺ Greeks began building colonies in southern Italy & Sicily
☺ Rome often called “City of 7 Hills”
☺ Greeks spent a lot of time & money chiseling stone for buildings
Ѳ Romans built with bricks that could be made quickly & cheaply
Ѳ Sometimes they would cover the brick with slabs of marble
͏ Just a beautiful, cost less, similar strength
☺ Romans imitated Greeks in fine arts
Ѳ Music, painting, sculpture, acting
☺ And in religion
Ѳ Worshiped Greek gods
͏ Gave them Roman names & new stories
1. On which peninsula is Rome located? Apennine
2. What is it called today? Italy
3. 2 mountain ranges of Italy? Alps; Apennines
4. 2 major rivers of Italy? Po; Tiber
5. Which of the 4 groups that settled on the Apennine built Rome? Latins
6. Greek culture influenced the Romans most in the area of? Fine Arts
☼ Romulus & Remus
☺ Legend
Ѳ Story passed down from person to person until finally is written down
Ѳ Not true
☺ Romulus & Remus were twins
Ѳ Abandoned in a basket in the Tiber by King Uncle who wanted no challenge to his throne
Ѳ Washed ashore & found by a wolf who cared for them
Ѳ Shepherd found & raised them
Ѳ Grown & discovered truth
Ѳ Killed wicked uncle & decided to build their own city
Ѳ Argued
Ѳ Romulus started to build
Ѳ Remus jumped the sacred ditch (very disrespectful) & killed
Ѳ Romulus named city Roma
☼ 11.3 Life in Rome
☺ Clothing
Ѳ All wore tunic
͏ Short sleeved knee length ‘dress’ fastened with belt
Ѳ Toga
͏ Long drape worn over tunic
͏ Only worn by Roman citizens
Ѳ Sandals
☺ Education
Ѳ Parents taught for a while
Ѳ Wealthy children
͏ Taught by highly educated Greek slaves
͏ Continued on to higher education
͏ Wax tablet to write on; stylus to write with; books or scrolls to read
Ѳ Poor children were needed at home to work
☺ Homes
Ѳ Wealthy
͏ Built around an atrium
͏ Main room of house
͏ Contained an altar for the worship of family gods
͏ Central room with an opening in the roof
ˤ Allowed rainwater to fall into a small shallow pool
͏ Room off each side
ˤ Dining area
ϐ Couches to recline on as you ate
ˤ Sleeping area
Ѳ Poor
͏ 1 room home or
͏ Apartments
ˤ Romans were among the 1st people to build apartment houses
ˤ Some were 5 stories high
☺ Work
Ѳ Farming
͏ Grains, vegetables, fruits (olives & vineyards ?)
͏ Flocks of sheep & goats on hillsides
͏ Hogs, poultry, donkeys, & mules
͏ Irrigated & fertilized
͏ Crop rotation
ˤ Growing one kind of crop on a piece of ground for a while & then growing another kind of crop on the same ground
ˤ Helped save the land’s fertility
Ѳ As Romans conquered lands, they would use the goods made by these nations for their own use & trade
͏ Pottery, linen, wool, silk, perfumes, silverplate, bronzeware, purple dye, parchment, glassware
Ѳ Mining
͏ Most done outside Italy
͏ Northern Italy & Greece
ˤ Marble
͏ Spain
ˤ Iron & silver
͏ Other areas
ˤ Gold, copper, tin
☺ Accomplishments
Ѳ Built a system of roads that connected the various kingdoms & countries within their Republic to Rome
Ѳ Bridges & tunnels connect highways
Ѳ Aqueducts
͏ Transport water to areas inland of rivers
͏ Looked like a bridge with the top having a channel where the water flowed
͏ Sometimes, there would be a roadway underneath
Ѳ Concrete
͏ Invented by Romans
☺ Government
Ѳ 509-27 B.C. republic
Ѳ Citizens elected 2 consuls
͏ Rulers with equal power
͏ 1 year term
Ѳ Senate
͏ Members were the oldest & wisest men of Rome
Ѳ 2 classes
͏ Patricians
ˤ Wealthy, distinguished families
ˤ For years, were the only ones who could hold gov. Jobs
͏ Plebeians
ˤ Common people
ϐ Farmers, peasants, freed slaves
ˤ Couldn’t hold office, but could vote
ˤ 200 B.C. gained most of the same rights as patricians
1. What is a story passed down from person to person until it is written? Legend
2. 3 main items of clothing worn by Romans? Tunic, toga, sandals
3. What were a Roman students main school supplies? Wax tablet, stylus, books or scrolls
4. What is growing one kind of crop for a while then switching to another crop in order to preserve the land’s fertility? Crop rotation
5. What did an aqueduct look like? Bridge
6. What was an aqueduct’s purpose? Carry clean water to areas away from rivers
7. Was a farmer a plebeian or patrician? Plebeian
☼ 11.4 How Rome Conquered the World
☺ 509 B.C.
Ѳ Rome overthrew Etruscans
Ѳ Latin tribes joined together to form Latin League
͏ Helped each other fight enemies
☺ 338 B.C.
Ѳ Romans conquered other Latins
☺ 270 B.C.
Ѳ Rome conquered all Greek cities in southern Italy
☺ Punic Wars
Ѳ Series of 3 wars between Rome & Carthage (African port city with a powerful navy & control of parts of Spain and Sicily)
Ѳ Lasted 23 years
Ѳ Rome won all 3
Ѳ Romans found an abandoned oar-driven Carthaginian warship.
͏ Took it to shipbuilders
͏ Had 100 copies made in 60 days
͏ Made a portable bridge to connect Carthaginian ships to Roman ships
ˤ Romans could board & fight hand to hand
Ѳ 1st Punic War
͏ Rome conquered Sicily
Ѳ 2nd Punic War
͏ Carthage surrendered Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain & Portugal)
͏ Carthage led by General Hannibal
ˤ Knew he would be defeated if he sailed to Rome, so decided on a land route
ˤ Sailed to Spain
ˤ Marched across Spain & Gaul (modern France)
ˤ 40,000 men
ˤ Hundreds of mules & horses &
ˤ 37 war elephants to carry food & equipment
ˤ As they crossed the Alps, they lost many men & animals
ˤ Won several battles before being driven back to Africa
Ѳ 3rd Punic War
͏ Rome completely destroyed the city of Carthage
ˤ Burned it to the ground
ˤ Sowed the land with salt
ϐ Made the land useless for years for growing crops
ϐ No food meant no rebuilding
☺ Macedonia
Ѳ Helped Carthage, so Rome wanted revenge-conquered
☺ Greek city-states were infighting.
Ѳ Conquered by Rome
Ѳ By 146 B.C.
͏ Balkan Pen. was part of Roman Republic
͏ Culture continued to influence Rome
☺ Pergamum
Ѳ Located in Asia Minor
Ѳ King was friendly with Rome
Ѳ 133 B.C.
͏ King knew he was dying, with no heir
͏ Asked Rome to take over his kingdom
͏ Rome agreed & Pergamum became Rome’s 1st Asian province
ˤ Land ruled by another country
☺ By 129 B.C.
Ѳ Rome had conquered Mesopotamia
☺ 64 B.C.
Ѳ Syria had become a Roman province
Ѳ Palestine (under Syrian rule when Rome took over) under Roman rule
͏ This is how Rome ruled the Holy Land during the time of Christ.
☺ Julius Caesar
Ѳ 59 B.C.
Ѳ Elected consul of Rome
Ѳ After his term, he set out to conquer Gaul
Ѳ One of the greatest military leaders in history
Ѳ Conquered Gaul
Ѳ Crossed English Channel to invade Britain twice
Ѳ Later became the NW frontier of Roman Republic
Ѳ Senate sent Caesar an order to disband his army & return home
͏ May have planned to have him killed when he was alone
͏ Instead of obeying, led his army across the Rubicon River and into Italy
ˤ Direct act of disobedience
ˤ “crossing the Rubicon”= committing a deed that can never be reversed
ˤ Begun a civil war
͏ As Caesar and his army returned home, the cities would open their gates to him
ˤ Most of the Senate fled Rome, because they were so afraid of him
Ѳ 49-44 B.C. (5 years)
͏ Caesar controlled Roman Republic
Ѳ Became a dictator for the rest of his life
͏ Person with absolute rule of his country & government
☺ Worked to make the people of his country like him
☺ Pardoned enemies
☺ Did what he could to stop dishonesty
☺ Provided jobs for the poor
☺ Planned to build new public buildings & roads & add new lands to the Republic
☺ March 15, 44 B.C.
☺ Jealous & selfish men in Senate
☺ Stabbed Caesar to death
☺ Hoped to become heroes
☺ Instead had to flee for their lives
☺ Mark Antony, Caesar’s closest friend & assistant, took control
☺ Caesar had named Octavian (18 year old grandnephew) as heir
1. What north African city was the rival of Rome? Carthage
2. How many wars did Rome & Carthage fight? 3
3. What were they called? Punic Wars
4. Why were the wars between Rome & Carthage called Punic Wars? Roman name for Phoenicians
5. What territory did Rome gain at the end of the 1st Punic War? Sicily
6. Who was the Carthaginian general who used elephants in his weaponry during the 2nd Punic War? Hannibal
7. At the end of the 3rd war, who was the victor? Rome
8. What was Rome’s 1st Asian province? Pergamum
9. What did Julius Caesar’s “crossing the Rubicon” come to mean? Committing a deed that can never be reversed
☼ 11.5 The Roman Empire
☺ Pompeii
Ѳ August 24, A.D. 79
͏ Mt. Vesuvius erupted without warning, burying Pompeii under volcanic stones, boiling water, and ash
͏ 3 days the area was covered in flames, lightning, smoke, & poisonous clouds
͏ ~2,000 of Pompeii’s 20,000 residents were trapped or suffocated
Ѳ For over 1,600 years (until 1748), Pompeii lie forgotten
Ѳ People were highly artistic, interested in farming & fishing, merchants, cobblers, bakers, surgeons
Ѳ People scratched messages & announcements on the walls of their city
☺ Mark Antony’s ally was Cleopatra, queen of Egypt
☺ 31 B.C.
Ѳ Mark Antony & Octavian’s navies battled
Ѳ Octavian won
͏ Egypt became a Roman province
☺ 27 B.C.-A.D. 476 Roman Empire
☺ Senate changed Octavian’s name to Augustus Caesar
Ѳ 1st emperor of Roman Empire
Ѳ Ruled for 41 years
Ѳ Result of his wise rule was peace & prosperity
͏ 200 years of peace
ˤ Known as Pax Romana
Ѳ Expanded the empire
Ѳ Organized a permanent army
Ѳ Kept a navy in the Mediterranean
Ѳ Built a system of well-paved roads throughout empire
Ѳ Robbers & pirates brought under control
Ѳ Trade & prosperity increased
Ѳ Businesses grew
Ѳ Efficient postal system developed
͏ All made the advancement of the gospel possible
Ѳ To efficiently tax the people, Augustus Caesar took a census (count the people and value their property)
͏ It was one of these that brought Mary & Joseph to Bethlehem where Jesus was born
☺ Roman Empire continued for 480 years after Christ’s birth before falling to northern invaders
1. What 2 men fought for many years to be ruler of Rome? Octavian & Mark Antony
2. Who was Mark Antony’s Egyptian ally? Cleopatra
3. Who finally won & became Rome’s ruler? Octavian
4. What new name did Octavian take when he became emperor? Augustus Caesar
5. What does the name mean? The exalted
6. What do we call the 200 year period of peace following the beginning of the Roman Empire? Pax Romana