Western Civ 101-03

Class 13

Feb. 18, 2015

Rise of the Roman Empire

Timelines for Rome753 BC: Legendary brothers Romulus and Remus establish Rome on seven hills

510 BC: Romans rise against the Etruscans and create the Republic of Rome

By 500 BC, other Italian peoples are living in city-states, and that distinctively Greek political form, the republic, is taking root in the peninsula.

In central Italy, the small city of Rome is even now winning its independence from Etruscan domination and becoming one of these new-fangled city-republics.

http://www.timemaps.com/history/italy-500bc

218 BC: Hannibal crossed the Alps during the Second Punic War: he did NOT defeat Rome

Timelines for Rome

By the end of the fourth century BC, Romans were expanding their power across central and southern Italy. Long, fierce wars ended in Sabine, Samnite and Umbrian hill tribes, and Etruscan and Greek city-states, all falling under Roman domination. Pursuing a far-sighted policy, Rome did not treat defeated opponents as conquered peoples, but formed them into a confederation of allies under her leadership. A network of roads and colonies underpinned Roman control of the peninsula.

Rome's Italian allies provided troops for the great wars Rome fought with Carthage in the third century (264-241 BC and 218-202 BC), and mostly held firm in their loyalty to the Romans in the face of Hannibal's devastating invasion of Italy.

Carthage and Rome had fought, repeatedly, and had treaties. Carthage lost the 1st war, and with it Sicily and most of it’s navy. They had previously conquered Spain and had a treaty to the Elbro River with Greece. So Hannibal went there, to “New Carthage” to conquer Greece by land. Over rivers, mountains, the Alps. With some Elephants along….

Timelines for Rome

58-51 BC: Julius Caesar defeats the Gauls and the Britons

47-44 BC: Julius Caesar is named dictator, only to be murdered by senators

Timelines for Rome27 BC: Octavian becomes Augustus, the first emperor

1 AD: Birth of Christ and common era

79 AD: Vesuvius erupts, destroying Pompeii and Herculaneum

167 AD: Barbarians Invade the Empire’s northern and southern provinces

312 AD: Constantine declares Christianity to be Rome’s state religion.

The Roman Empire

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization

• Retention of Greek High Culture – Literature, arts, education, science, philosophy,

etc.–We get a LOT of what we know about/have

from Greece, through Roman conservation.

• The value of copying – And to some degree, adapting– There’s a lot of good to be learned by emulating

the best forms.

• Imperial Empire– Egypt, Persian, Greek, Hellenistic as models– Refined into an enduring form

• Imperial administration (the best up untill then; then until the British).– Don’t kill or enslave those you conquer.– Leave order in place, then undermine it.– Collect the taxes.– Export the goodies home.– Give em peace, order, services.

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization

• Engineering/architectural infrastructure– Roads, aqueducts, urban buildings and

monuments of all sorts.

• Important revisions to military strategy• Football.– Ok . . . Massive spectator sports/spectacles that

literally overwhelm the culture with entertainment lust.

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization

• Public school system for education– Based on the rhetorical models from Greece

• Latin as standard FORMAL code (initially, no good; eventually, the gold standard).– Remember that no one ever adopts it as the vernacular.

• History (deeply refined the practice of writing them)• Plastic art that boarders on the greatest: esp.

Sculpture & Mosaics• Great Literature • Some lasting philosophical perspectives

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization

• Politics– Briefly representative– Based on stated high ideals– Thereafter, mostly fake– Demonstrates how to build and run an empire – DID I MENTION MOSTLY FAKE?

• Law, especially the notion of “natural law” and the articulation of broad administrative codes that work for masses of people, including imperial conquests.

• “The Good Man Speaking Well”– Wedding the value of broad liberal education with civic duty

and articulate and influential communication

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization

• Graphic demonstration of how corruption --political, moral, cultural -- can truly destroy an entire civilization, no matter how great.

• Make way for the Christians. Not to over-simplify, but:– The Romans provide the Christians with a common enemy– It’s possible to “go forth and teach all nations” when there are good roads

and travel to “the provinces” is not extraordinary.– Once you get there, the language, money, etc., are shared in common. One

passport, one currency, a common “formal” language.

• Spreading a common cultural element, like religion, is not out of the question, esp. once it is validated by the State.

Introduction to Roman Empire’sContributions to Western Civilization