Roman Empire
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: PRE-REPUBLIC AND REPUBLIC
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4). "The fullness of time" is an expression full of meaning. Jesus came at just the right time. Culturally, God had prepared the way by spreading Greek civilization around the Mediterranean so that the Greek language and mode of categorical thought were common. In the next few lessons, you will consider the Roman Empire's history and cultural contributions as well as the role of Christianity.
Here is your goal for this lesson: * Identify key events and leaders of each of the first two divisions of Roman history: Pre-Republic and Republic.
consuls | Chief magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic; now an official appointed by his government to live in a foreign city. | patrician | Person of noble birth; aristocrat. | plebeian | Having to do with the common people. | tribunes | Officials of ancient Rome, now any government official appointed to defend people and their rights. |
HISTORY
Rome's history may be divided into three parts: Pre-Republic, Republic, and Empire. In this lesson the first two parts will be discussed. The era of the Roman Empire and its decline are discussed in separate lessons.
Pre-Republic. The origins of Rome are uncertain. Legends about the city's establishment contradict each other. The best-known legend tells of Rome's founding by twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, about 750 B.C. In this story, they were the sons of the Roman god of war, Mars. As infants, they were nursed by a wild wolf. Later, they were discovered by a shepherd and his wife, who raised them as their own sons.
Another legend says that Rome was founded by a Trojan warrior around 1100 B.C. A more believable explanation is that several villages grouped together for protection and established a public square and market place called a forum on a central hill and that the city grew up around this forum. People called Latins were living on the site of Rome 700 years before Christ. For many years Rome was no more than a farming village. Five hundred years before Christ, Rome was controlled by the neighboring Etruscans from Etruria, who for a time controlled all Latium.
The lifestyle of the ancient Romans centered on family . The father, by law, was the absolute head of the home and master of his wife. Roman practice was very uplifting to women, despite what might seem a strict code.
Whereas in Greece women were kept in separate parts of the house and not allowed a public life, Roman women were active in the social lives of their husbands, attended meetings of the Forum, and did business in the city. The Roman practice was monogamy: marriage by one woman to one man. This custom of monogamy was a further safeguard to the place of women in Roman society.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: D (67%)
The three historical divisions of Roman history are:
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Two brothers who, according to legend, are responsible for the founding of Rome were and .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
Five hundred years before Christ, Rome was controlled by neighboring .
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
The lifestyle of ancient Romans centered around the .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (95%)
Romans practiced , meaning that a man married only one woman.
The Republic. Republican Rome began in 509 B.C., when the native Latins rebelled against the Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus. The Roman Republic was governed by the Senate, a body of noblemen representing the wealthiest and most influential families. The upper class of Rome was known as the patrician class. The lower class was the plebeian class. In the early Republic, only patricians could hold public office. They alone had the full rights of citizens. Plebeians could not marry patricians. The imperium, or absolute power to command, possessed by the king, passed to two consuls appointed by the Senate for one-year terms. Each consul had the right to veto acts of the other. The consuls had authority over the army as well as over civil matters.
The history of the early Roman Republic has two parts: the struggle of plebeians for political equality with patricians and Rome's expansion throughout Italy.
The plebeians' rights increased as time passed. They organized the Concilium Plebis, a corporate body of plebeians that was an unofficial part of the government presided over by tribunes. The tribunes negotiated with the consuls in the interests of the plebeians. Rome's wars were so numerous that plebeians were needed as soldiers. This fact enabled the tribunes to bargain more effectively in their behalf. A major gain was made when the laws of Rome were written down on the Twelve Tables. Previously the patricians interpreted the laws as they wished.
Other plebeian advances included the right to appeal an extreme sentence imposed by a consul to the Concilium Plebis, the right of tribunes to veto acts of the Senate or consuls that threatened the plebeians, and the right of plebeians to marry patricians. In 367 B.C. plebeians were allowed to become consuls, and other public offices were opened to them as well. Eventually plebeians were even admitted to the Senate. In 287 B.C. the Concilium Plebis, now known as the Tribal Assembly, gained the right to pass laws that even patricians had to obey.
While these class struggles were taking place in Rome, Roman armies were busy extending the territories controlled by the city. Rome, along with other early Latin city-states, only fought with neighbors hostile to the Latins. Their principal enemies were the Etruscans. Rome was in a powerful position on the Italian Peninsula. It was located at the crossroads of two trade routes, and it controlled a valuable salt industry from nearby mines.
In 390 B.C., Gauls attacked the Latin League. These tribesmen from north of the Alps were Celts, who were successful in overrunning Rome. Fortunately, they were more interested in booty than conquest and soon returned to the lands from where they had come. Rome would fight with Gaul again, but under very different circumstances. Barbarians would not conquer Rome again for another 800 years. Around 350 B.C., Rome was at war with a people known as the Samnites and was able to take control of the rich province of Campania, containing not only some of the best farmland in Italy, but also the wealthy manufacturing city of Capua.
Other members of the Latin League objected to Rome's growing power. Their resentment eventually led to a war, which Rome won. Rome would only make peace with one city at a time, so the League was dissolved. The terms of peace, as was generally true with Rome, were generous: self-government except for imperial obligations, citizenship for some cities, and even commercial privileges for Rome's former enemies.
Rome was at war with the Samnites until the battle of Aquilonia in 293 B.C. The Samnites were admitted to second-class citizenship; that is, they could not hold political office.
Greeks held the southern parts of Italy, and Rome's attention turned to them. Under Pyrrhus, a general of Epirus who had been hired by the Greek city of Tarentum, a Greek army of 20,000 mercenaries warred against Rome. Pyrrhus fought two battles; although he won, he lost so many troops that his name has been given to costly victories—pyrrhic victories. He soon left Italy.
The Punic Wars. Rome was now supreme throughout Italy. It was one of the two most powerful governments in the western Mediterranean. The other was Carthage, a major city of the Phoenicians located in Northern Africa. Carthage, a great commercial center, controlled the sea. Rome and Carthage went to war in 264 B.C. over the domination of Sicily. This was the first of three Punic Wars. Although Roman losses were heavy, Rome won the first war in 241 B.C., adding Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica to its growing territory. This victory made the Roman navy supreme in the western Mediterranean.
The Second Punic War has been called a colossal contest between Rome and Hannibal. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general famed for his march across the Alps with 40,000 infantrymen, 9,000 cavalrymen, and a company of elephants. He entered Italy from the north. Hannibal stayed for fifteen years, but he was forced to return home when the Roman general Scipio invaded Africa. The Carthaginians were defeated at Zama in 201 B.C. Rome added Spain to its territories. Hannibal eventually committed suicide in Asia Minor.
Rome defeated Macedonia, an ally of Carthage, in 197 B.C. At first the Romans wished to leave the old Greek city-state alone, but their continued infighting caused the Romans to impose a tighter administration in 146 B.C.
Angry Romans devised revenge against Carthage. Rome provoked a third Punic War, and after a siege of Carthage, they burned it.
Carthaginian warriors were sold into slavery. The Romans later rebuilt both Carthage and Corinth, which they had also burned.
Rome Expands. In 168 B.C., Ptolemaic Egypt allied itself with Rome. The king of Pergamum, (in modern-day Turkey) was a long a friend of Rome. When he died in 133 B.C., he willed his entire kingdom to Rome, and Rome entered Asia Minor and parts of the Near East. Rome now turned to consolidating its holdings . It controlled the area around the Mediterranean. Its next expansion would be northward into Europe.
During the late Republic, Rome was faced with an increasingly severe social problem. The availability of cheap slave labor from conquered areas plus improved farming methods imported from Sicily had encouraged large-scale farming on estates called Latifundia. These estates were owned by the wealthy, and they grew at the expense of small farmers. The result was that many of the former peasants went to the cities, where they swelled the ranks of the urban poor. The empire made the governing class rich and decadent, and corruption was rampant. Rome was ripe for civil war and dictatorship.
In 133 B.C., a tribune named Tiberius Gracchus was elected. A reformer, he proposed to the Tribal Assembly (the new name of the Concilium Plebis) that public land holdings be restricted to 300 acres per person. The remainder would be given to the landless citizens. Another tribune vetoed the law, but Gracchus led the Assembly in ousting the offending tribune. Tiberius ran for reelection but was murdered by political enemies in the Senate.
In 123 B.C. the younger brother of Tiberius, Gaius Gracchus, was elected tribune. Among his many proposals were: * land reallocation (redistributing weath to the poor) * establishing colonies for Rome's excess population * extending Roman citizenship to nations beyond Italy
Gaius Gracchus is best known for proposing a price-fixing scheme whereby the government financed a lower-than-market price for wheat to the masses. This proposal later became a public welfare program. The handouts to the poor were condemned as "bread and circuses." Gaius, too, was killed by his enemies.
Roman generals began gathering landless farmers into armies of their own. This practice resulted in civil war when the Senate and the Tribal Assembly each commissioned different generals to go to war with the rebel King Pontus in Asia Minor. The Roman armies led by the Assembly's Marius and the Senate's Sulla fought with each other. Each captured Rome at different times. Sulla turned out the victor and became dictator for a time. He attempted to restore a Republic based on the old power of the Senate.
In 70 B.C., a prominent general named Pompey was elected consul. He reestablished the Tribal Assembly and expanded Roman dominion beyond the Euphrates River. In 59 B.C., Pompey was joined by Julius Caesar, who conquered Gaul and entered Britain. Caesar wrote his Commentaries on the Gallic War to keep his name before the public.
Julius Caesar
Pompey became jealous and suspicious of Caesar and in 49 B.C. convinced the Senate to order Caesar to disband his army. Instead, Caesar invaded Italy. He accomplished this feat by crossing the Rubicon, the river that divided Italy from Cisalpine Gaul (modern-day northern Italy). Caesar shortly put down his opposition and became dictator of Rome. Most importantly, the Senate soon appointed him "perpetual dictator," or "dictator for life." This new title gave him absolute power, much like a king, in spite of Rome's long history of representative (republican) government.
As dictator, Caesar made several political reforms including admitting provincial representatives to the Senate. Caesar changed the solar calendar with knowledge gained from Egypt, and he established the calendar that is basically still in use today. He ruled from 49 B.C. until his death. He was murdered on March 15 (the Ides of March) in 44 B.C., stabbed to death in the Senate. His assassins were partisans of the old Republic who resented Caesar's absolute authority and power.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
Match the vocabulary words with the definitions. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | chief magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic | | officials of ancient Rome | | person of noble birth; aristocrat | | having to do with the common people |
These are the possible matching answers: consuls plebeian tribunes patrician
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
Republican Rome began with a revolt against the:
Greeks
Etruscans
Ionians
Turks
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Patricians in Rome were members of the: merchant class lower class middle class upper class
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Twelve Tables were a written set of: laws mathematical formulas prophecies poems
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: F (0%)
Those who struggled longest and hardest before winning political equality in Rome were the: senators tribunes patricians plebeians
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
A pyrrhic victory is one that: holds many honors satisfies everybody costs the winner too much everyone overlooks
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
The number of Punic Wars was: two three four six
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars was:
Macedonia
Carthage
Sparta
the Muslim Turks
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: A (100%)
The general who was famous for his march into Italy with an army and a company of elephants was:
Scipio
Caesar
Tiberius
Hannibal
Problem Number: 15
Student Grade: A (100%)
Latifundia were: landless citizens large estates market places
Roman soldiers
Problem Number: 16
Student Grade: A (100%)
Tiberius Gracchus was: insane a murderer a reformer a general
Problem Number: 17
Student Grade: A (100%)
"Bread and circuses" is a term used to refer to a system of public: handouts executions entertainment elections
Problem Number: 18
Student Grade: A (100%)
Before he became dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar was a famous: philosopher statesman poet soldier
Problem Number: 19
Student Grade: A (100%)
Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, which was:
March 15
April 10
Christmas Day
November 27
Problem Number: 20
Student Grade: A (100%)
Caesar was killed because of his belief in:
Christianity
democracy perpetual dictatorship slavery Bottom of Form
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: THE EMPIRE
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4). "The fullness of time" is an expression full of meaning. Jesus came at just the right time. Politically, God prepared the way with the Roman Empire, one of the greatest administrative machines ever devised by man.
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify key elements of early Roman architecture and engineering. * Identify significant people of first century Rome. * Identify key events and leaders of the Roman Empire.
aqueduct | An artificial channel or large pipe for transporting water over long distances. |
ROMAN CULTURE
Roman Engineering. The Romans were great engineers and architects. They built fine roads all over their vast territories, even into Britain. Many Roman roads still exist. Much of Rome was in a swampy area, and the Romans became proficient at reclaiming land.
They also learned how to transport water in huge aqueducts. Aqueducts were man-made channels consisting of a series of canals, tunnels, pipes, and bridges. They were built to carry pure water from its source (often a spring in the mountains) to the people in the cities. Because of the aqueducts, Rome was one of the cleanest cities in the ancient world. Aqueducts also provided water for drinking, as well as Rome's famous public baths.
Water in aqueducts would sometimes travel over 60 miles (96 km)!
Roman Aqueducts
Many of Rome's early public buildings were architecturally similar to those built by the Greeks. They modeled them after Greek temples, building many columns to support flat roofs. However, they also created a design all their own -- the vaulted, or curved, roof. Another architectural innovation was the Roman arch. The work of the Senate was conducted in a famous Roman structure, the Forum. Another of Rome's now-famous buildings was the Colosseum, where the Roman circuses were held. Those circuses were often bloody affairs in which gladiators fought each other to the death, and persecuted Christians were left defenseless to be eaten by hungry lions.
Aqueducts, Arches, and Architecture
People of Rome. Shortly after Julius Caesar was killed (44 B.C.), the great Roman orator and statesman Cicero was killed. Cicero was a strong believer in the old Republic and made speeches from that point of view. The greatest Roman poet was Virgil, whose most famous poem was the Aenead. The biographer Plutarch wrote about the lives of many famous Greeks and Romans. Tacitus is considered by many to be the greatest Roman historian; he wrote about the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as did the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Alexandria was known in its heyday as a cultural and intellectual center. Philosophy, medicine, and science all flourished there. The Alexandrian Jew, Philo, wrote philosophy that combined Platonic thought and Judaism.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome borrowed much of its architecture from .
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Circuses and bloody games were held in the Roman .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
The work of the Senate was held in the in Rome.
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
Romans learned to carry huge amounts of water by building .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
The famous poem, the Aenead was written by .
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
The city of Alexandria was famous for being the cultural and center during the Roman era.
ROME'S HISTORY
Rome's history may be divided into three parts: Pre-Republic, Republic, and Empire. This section focuses on the era of the Roman Empire. The decline of the Empire is discussed in a separate lesson.
The Empire. For about fourteen years, Rome was jointly ruled by Caesar's nephew, Octavian, and his friend, Mark Antony. Eventually, however, the two conspired against each other. Mark Antony had married Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. At some point after Octavian defeated the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra (31 B.C.), Mark Antony committed suicide. By 30 B.C., Octavian was in firm control of Rome. In 29 B.C., the Senate gave Octavian the title of Augustus; we now know him as Augustus Caesar. Rome was now an empire. The Republic was dead. Caesar was emperor.
Augustus's rule marks the beginning of the two-hundred year Roman Peace, or Pax Romana (30 B.C.-A.D. 235), a period of relative stability throughout the Mediterranean world. During that period, Jesus Christ was born and grew to manhood, and Christianity was spread throughout the world. Christ came into a world that was culturally homogeneous (almost everyone spoke Greek) and politically united. Paul and other Christian missionaries were not threatened by highwaymen or hostile bands because the whole world as they knew it was under Roman law. Paul was even able to make use of his Roman citizenship to spread the Gospel. Because of Rome, the missionaries had good roads to travel. One can see the hand of God in the way He used the Roman Empire to spread the gospel in the first centuries of the Christian church.
After the death of Augustus in A.D. 14, the Roman Empire established by him was ruled by his stepson Tiberius. From this time until the fall of the Western Empire in Rome (476), the empire changed greatly because of the variety of rulers, the political and economic conditions of both the empire and the countries surrounding it, and the beliefs of the people.
Augustus had left an empire that was well organized and, as the map indicates, extensive. His construction of roads throughout the empire, combined with the uneasy surface peace guaranteed for a time by Augustus, enabled tradesmen to travel from East to West with materials from far off lands, such as China and India. Roman trading posts were established as far as southern India. At least one hundred ships per year sailed from the Red Sea to India and east Africa.
Early rulers of the empire. A variety of men ruled the Roman Empire after Augustus. Some were good men and good rulers, others were wicked men or incompetent rulers. The empire established by Augustus was strong enough to survive some of the incompetent rulers. When the combination of incompetence, social problems, and economic difficulties accumulated, the empire began to decline.
From the beginning of the empire until A.D. 180, Rome had 16 rulers. Augustus was followed by four emperors known as the Julio-Claudians: Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, and Nero. Of these, the first two were fairly efficient and just administrators. Caligula was almost certainly insane. Emperor | Reign | Emperor | Reign | Augustus | 27 B.C. - A.D. 14 | Vespasian | A.D. 69 - 79 | Tiberius | A.D. 14 - 37 | Titus | A.D. 79 - 81 | Caligula | A.D. 37 - 41 | Domitian | A.D. 81 - 96 | Claudius | A.D. 41 - 54 | Nerva | A.D. 96 - 98 | Nero | A.D. 54 - 68 | Trajan | A.D. 98 - 117 | Galba | A.D. 68 - 69 | Hadrian | A.D. 117 - 138 | Otho | A.D. 69 | Antoninus Pius | A.D. 138 - 161 | Vitellius | A.D. 69 | Marcus Aurelius | A.D. 161 - 180 | xxx |
After Augustus, Nero is perhaps the best known of the first five emperors. Nero's wickedness made him famous. Not only did he murder many people, including his wife and his mother; but Nero also is blamed (probably wrongly) for starting the fire that burned half of Rome in the year A.D. 64. He was responsible for persecuting many Christians after blaming them for the great fire. Nero is said to have used Christians and others as human torches at some of his banquets. He committed suicide in A.D. 68.
When Nero died, the rule of the empire was precarious. As the list above shows, four men ruled Rome in the same year, A.D. 69, until Flavius Vespasian won the power struggle and restored order to Rome. The Flavians ruled until A.D. 96 and they were followed by the Antonines or "five good emperors" (A.D. 96-180).
One of the Antonines, the emperor Trajan concentrated his efforts on military gain and extended the empire. After Trajan's conquest the empire reached the largest area it would ever occupy (see the map of Rome below). Another of the Antonines, Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), used his reign to strengthen the borders and frontier areas of the empire. He built several aqueducts and defensive walls, among them the famous Hadrian's Wall, which runs from coast to coast in the north of England. The 80-mile-long (117 km) wall was built to prevent attacks from the north.
Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161- 180) was a strong ruler. Although he spent many years as a soldier away from Rome defending the frontiers, he was respected by his people. He was a scholar and a writer whose philosophical writings are contained in a book called Meditations. A Stoic philosopher, he taught a high idealism and lived a simple life.
After Marcus Aurelius the Empire declined. It suffered from its very bulk. Such a large empire was difficult for one government to administer; the decline of Rome wasn't far off.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
After Caesar's death Rome was ruled by Octavian and .
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Mark Antony married Cleopatra, who was the queen of .
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
Augustus died in the year A.D. .
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: A (100%)
At the height of trade in the empire, materials were imported from and .
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
The emperor who has been accused of setting Rome on fire was .
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
Pax Romana refers to an extraordinary 200 years of for Rome.
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
Match the Roman emperors. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | murderer; accused of setting fire to Rome | | insane | | defeated Antony and Cleopatra | | scholar, philosopher, and soldier | | built a defensive wall in Britain |
These are the possible matching answers: Caligula Marcus Aurelius Octavian Nero Hadrian
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: A (100%)
Why was Nero so famous?
He was a scholar and a writer.
He murdered many people.
He was accused of burning Rome in A.D. 64.
His philosophical writings are contained in a book called Meditations.
He persecuted Christians.
He spent many years as a soldier away from Rome defending the frontiers.
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE
The end of the Roman Empire came gradually. Instead of there being one simple cause for the collapse, Rome's fall was due to a complex combination of causes. Among the major issues were: * A series of bad rulers made bad decisions. * Massive migrations led to overpopulation and a shortage of resources. * The empire's size made it difficult for one government to administer. * The people had grown dependent on the government to provide. * The empire lacked unity; there were: * two capitals, with two emperors; * power struggles between military leaders and emperors.
All these reasons and more contributed to the decline and eventual collapse of the mightiest political and military machine the world had ever known.
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify major conditions that led to the decline of the Roman Empire * Identify influences of Roman culture in our own culture today
anarchy | Disorder and confusion. Absence of government and law. | mercenary | A soldier who serves in a foreign army for pay. |
THE EMPIRE DECLINES
The decline of the empire. Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161- 180) was a strong ruler who was well liked by the Roman people. After he died, the rule of the empire was again precarious. His son, Commodus, was not a strong leader and was overthrown in A.D. 192. Members of the military and the Praetorian Guard, the emperor's personal guard, struggled for power. In some cases, these men bought the title of emperor for themselves. From A.D. 193 until A.D. 285, anarchy ruled the empire. In fact, between the death of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180 and the beginning of Diocletian's reign in A.D. 284, only four of the twenty-nine emperors died of natural causes.
This long span of disorder hurt the empire. The military became more powerful and less willing to protect and to defend the vast territories. They urged the emperors to hire more and more barbarian mercenaries to keep the armies staffed. The mercenaries grew in number. The once peaceful trade routes were disturbed by the lack of leadership and unity in the empire. The unrest, the decline in trade, and the many provincial battles that forced the hiring of so many barbarians hurt the economy of the empire.
In A.D. 284, Diocletian became emperor and reigned until 305. Diocletian decided to appoint a co-emperor, Maximian, because he thought that the empire was too vast for one man's rule. For this reason, he divided the empire into two regions, East and West. Diocletian ruled the Eastern Empire, Maximian the Western Empire. Diocletian reestablished law and order in the empire and bolstered the troops on the frontiers. To accomplish these tasks, he had to hire more barbarian soldiers. He tried to restore the economy with severe taxes and price controls. He achieved some success only by laws that prevented landowners from leaving their land to avoid taxes and punished anyone who disobeyed the price control or tax systems.
One of the most important Roman emperors, Constantine, was a successor of Diocletian. He had been appointed to work with Maximian in the West. In 305 Constantine began a long struggle for sole leadership of the empire. Finally, in 324, he achieved this role and reunited the empire. Constantine observed the changing political and economic conditions in the Western Empire and decided to move the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium in the East. He renamed the city Constantinople, which means City of Constantine.
Constantine continued the hard economic policies of Diocletian. The control of prices and the taxation stopped the decline for a time, but ultimately led to more severe economic problems.
Under Constantine, there was one bright spot, however: persecution of the Christian faith was ended and Christianity was recognized as a legitimate religion. In fact, Constantine even helped to resolve disputes and heresies within the church. There is considerable debate as to whether or not Constantine was himself a believer in Jesus, but he is generally acknowledged as the first Christian emperor of the Roman world.
When Constantine died in 337, another power struggle began, leading again, at the death of Theodosius I (395), to a divided empire. Theodosius I was the last emperor to rule the entire empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his sons. The Eastern Empire became dominant and wealthy. The Western Empire became increasingly defenseless against invasions by barbarians until it finally fell in 476.
ROMAN CULTURE
The cultural atmosphere of the late Western Roman Empire did not match that of the earlier empire. The Greek influence in art and literature remained strong. Literature declined after the death of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, in A.D. 14. The Golden Age of Virgil, Cicero, and Ovid had ended. A few great writers survived: the Roman historian, Tacitus; the Greek biographer, Plutarch; and the poet, Statius. On the whole, great literature was not a mark of the later empire.
Roman law remained an important force in the formation of legal systems and continues to be today.
As Roman architecture continued to thrive, an ornate style replaced the simplicity of Greek architecture. Planned cities in the provinces were also undertaken. Rome itself grew too rapidly to follow a plan. It became a large, wide-ranging city where magnificent buildings were surrounded by run-down tenements housing large numbers of the poor.
Latin flourished as the language of church, government, law, and education for many centuries after the fall of Rome. Latin became the base for the Romance languages such as French, Italian, and Spanish. Latin words form the basis of many words in the English language today.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Western Roman Empire fell finally in A.D. .
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Diocletian tried to restore order to the empire during his reign from A.D. 284 - .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
Three conditions which led to a decline in the empire after A.D. 180 were:
boundaries dispute leadership dispute corruption decline in trade hurt the economy religious differences mercenaries hired
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
Literature in Rome declined after the death of the emperor .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
The original basis of most legal systems today is law.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
Mercenaries are soldiers who fight for rather than for a cause.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
French, Italian, and Spanish languages and many English words are based upon the language.
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Diocletian tried to restore the economy with: taxation and price controls military and barbarian soldiers improved trade agreements tax breaks for farmers
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
Review the comic above about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
What similarities do you see to our own culture today?
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify key events of the first century Christian church. * Identify major leaders and events of the early Christian church
abbot | A monk who is chosen as head of a monastery. | Arianism | Heresy named after Arius, a Greek priest who taught that Christ was not eternally God with the Father. | diocese | Originally, a Roman district. In the Middle Ages, a district ruled by a bishop. | heretic | A person who holds beliefs contrary to church doctrines. | hermit | A person who goes away from other people, and lives alone, often for religious reasons. | metropolitan | Archbishop who presides over a church province. | patriarch | Highest ranking bishop in the Eastern or early Roman Catholic Church. | regular clergy | Monks or religious men who followed a rule and took vows. | secular clergy | Priests, bishops, and other church officials who were not bound by either a rule or by vows. | see | District under bishop's authority. |
JESUS, THE CHRIST, WAS BORN DURING THE ROMAN ERA.
The most significant event of the Roman period did not seem so important at the time. The birth, life, and death of Jesus of Nazareth were not perceived by the authorities for what they truly were. During the Roman era, the Second Person of the Trinity became one of us, lived among us, and suffered and died for our sins. This is the gospel message, a narrative about a set of historical events: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In this section, we will consider some aspects of the life and death of Jesus and the spread of the gospel during the first two centuries of the Christian era. We will then study other aspects of the Roman culture.
Jesus was born in Palestine during the reign of Augustus Caesar. A decree of Augustus caused Jesus' earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, to go to Bethlehem to be registered for the census. God used this decree to fulfill Micah's prophecy that the Messiah of Israel would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
LUKE: A PHYSICIAN WHO RECORDED GREAT HISTORY
Very little has been written about the boyhood of Jesus. A few of His childhood events were recorded by Luke (Luke 2:40-52). We know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and that his earthly father was a carpenter. Luke sums up Jesus' early life with these words, And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52).
Luke carefully recorded the beginning of Jesus' ministry, which began with His baptism by John the Baptist, a desert prophet. In the following passage from Luke's gospel, he places the ministry of John the Baptist in its historical context. Note the references to Tiberius Caesar and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (Luke 3:1-2).
At approximately 30 years of age, Jesus began His public ministry, which lasted just three years. The permanent residence of Jesus in Galilee was in the town of Capernaum. Much of Jesus' ministry was spent in Galilee and is called the "Galilean Ministry." He spent shorter periods in Judea and Perea (now known as trans-Jordan).
Jesus offered Himself to the Jews as their Messiah, and although they observed His miracles and examined his doctrine, the leaders of Israel, the chief priests and rabbis, rejected His claim. This rejection came as early as chapter 12 of Matthew's gospel. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Soon afterward, Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. (Matthew 12:14).
In the third year of His ministry, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey according to Zechariah's prophecy:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9).
He was greeted by shouts of triumph, and palm branches were spread before Him. The jubilant onlookers were mostly Galilean pilgrims on their way to the Jewish Feast of Passover. The Jewish leaders, seeing what was happening, began to plot against Him even more. They sent spies to make Him speak against Caesar and, therefore, to involve the Roman authorities. Finally one of His own followers, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him and testified against Him to the Jewish authorities.
Five days after entering Jerusalem, Jesus met for a final Passover meal with His disciples (where He instituted the Lord's Supper and gave what is known as the "Upper Room discourse"). After the meal, Jesus and his disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane. There He prayed in great anticipation of what He knew was about to happen. Judas led the authorities to that place, and they arrested Jesus. After a number of trials, at least one before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish governmental council), one before Herod (ruler of Galilee), and two before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. The fickle crowd yelled, "Crucify Him, crucify Him! We will not have this man to reign over us."
Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees. Three days after His burial, Jesus was raised from the dead. A few of Jesus' disciples went to the tomb and discovered it empty.
Jesus was seen on a number of occasions by His disciples. After forty days, Jesus ascended into Heaven. Ten days later, at the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and they preached the gospel to the crowd. On that day, Peter preached a powerful sermon on the resurrection of Christ, closing with these words, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36).
THE EARLY GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY
The early growth of Christianity is described in the book of Acts, written by Luke. Luke was a good and careful historian in the Greek tradition. In Acts 1:8, Luke describes the church's growth: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The gospel was first preached in Jerusalem and Judaea, where the church was mainly a Jewish group. Gradually it spread to Samaria and other neighboring areas. In Acts 10, Peter was shown through a vision that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Saul of Tarsus, a zealous Jew, would become the instrument through which God would reach the Gentiles. (He later became known as the "apostle to the Gentiles.") Saul, who had been a supporter of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:54-60), was converted through a dramatic vision of Christ while on his way to imprison believers. Throughout most of the New Testament, Saul is known by his Greek name, Paul. He had made himself known to Peter and James in Jerusalem and had returned to Tarsus when Barnabas invited him to minister in the church at Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). From Antioch in Syria, Paul and Barnabas set out on the first missionary journey. This journey was the first of at least three journeys that Paul made. Paul took the gospel throughout Asia Minor and into Greece, founding churches all along the way. At the end of his third journey, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem. Asserting his Roman citizenship, Paul appealed his case to Caesar and was taken to Rome, where he was under house arrest for two years.
He had an extensive ministry in Rome and made converts among the Praetorian Guard, Caesar's personal army. From Rome, Paul wrote the famous Prison Epistles: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. Paul also wrote letters to many of the churches he had founded, in which he expounded doctrines of the Christian faith and delineated many principles of Christian practice. He was executed in Rome at the hands of the emperor Nero.
John was the last of the apostles to die. He last ministered in Asia Minor. Although Christ's apostles, the first generation of church leaders, were gone, the Christian church was still growing and developing.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] The most significant event of the Roman period was the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ.
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Jesus was born during the reign of Julius Caesar.
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Jesus was born in Bethlehem because His parents lived there.
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Not much has been written about the boyhood of Jesus.
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] The ministry of Jesus lasted only seven years.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his own disciples.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Jesus was crucified by the Roman officials against the will of the people themselves.
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] Golgotha was the name of the place where Jesus died.
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] After three days in the tomb, Jesus was raised from the dead.
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] According to Luke, the gospel was first preached in Rome.
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Saul was an enthusiastic Christian from the beginning of his life, and his faith never wavered.
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Paul took the gospel as far as Greece and Rome.
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Paul was executed by the emperor Nero.
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] The last of the apostles to die was John.
Problem Number: 15
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] The gospel is a true account of historical events.
Growth of Christianity
Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar in a land belonging to the Roman Empire. Soon after His death, the followers of Jesus began to spread Christianity through much of the empire. The spread of the Gospel was possible in part because of the well established trade routes and highway systems of the empire.
Tolerance and persecution. In the beginning, Rome was strong and confident. It did not feel threatened by a small band of poor Christians who traveled about preaching. Roman emperors up to Nero generally tolerated the Christians as long as laws were not broken. The Romans considered the Christians' religion just another cult among many. As the number of Christians grew, however, Roman emperors began to view them as a threat. Emperors such as Nero used Christians as a scapegoat for political ills. Nero accused the Christians of burning Rome and persecuted them as a punishment. The Christians were persecuted sporadically through the first two centuries because they were still a small group that appealed primarily to the lower classes. They had no political power. Thus, political favor was not lost by persecuting Christians.
In the third century, the first major persecution of Christians was ordered by the Emperor Decius. This persecution lasted from A.D. 249 to A.D. 251. Other major persecutions occurred throughout this period, until the year 311. These later persecutions were partly a result of economic and social conditions of the empire in the third century. This period of time was one of disorder and unrest throughout the empire. Christians were considered enemies and traitors because they would not worship the emperor and because Christianity appealed to the lower classes in a time of unrest. Their way of life and their eucharistic services (the Lord's Supper, or communion) were looked on as secret and subversive.
Finally, in the fourth century, the emperors realized that persecution could not destroy all Christians or Christianity. In fact, persecution seemed to strengthen both their numbers and their spirits. In the year 311, the East declared Christianity a legal religion. Shortly afterward in 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan declaring Christianity legal throughout the empire. The Emperor Julian tried to revive the persecutions in 361, but found it difficult after fifty years of legal Christianity in the empire. He did incite anti-Christian attacks which lasted until 363. By the year 381, Theodosius had declared Christianity the only religion, and indeed the official religion, of the empire.
Doctrines and heresies. In the first centuries after Christ, definition of doctrine became necessary. As Christianity spread, questions arose about the nature of God and of Jesus Christ. Questions also arose concerning the main doctrines or beliefs of the church and the need for a statement, or creed, to proclaim these beliefs. Many early doctrines were defined as the need arose. In other words, the misconceptions of the nature of God led the church fathers to formulate a clear definition of the nature of God. When one of these misconceptions was followed, even after a definition had been given, it became heresy. Those who continued to believe such a false idea were called heretics. Some of the major heresies faced by the early church were Gnosticism, Donatism, Arianism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism.
Keep in Mind. . .
Earlier in this unit you read about a group of people called Aryans who conqured parts of India from about 1500 to 900 B.C.
Don't get them confused with the Arians mentioned here—there's a big difference! * Aryans. From about 1500 to 900 B.C., India was invaded by Aryan people. They conquered the Indus valley and began to settle the Ganges area. * Arians. Arians were also known as Arian Christians, but this is misleading. They followed the teachings of Arius, who taught that Christ was not eternally God with the Father; they denied the Trinity. Because of this false teaching, Arians were actually heretics, and not a “division” of Christianity.
To confuse things even more, the term Aryan has one more meaning: since the mid-20th century, Aryan has also been used to refer to members of an alleged master race comprised of non-Jewish Caucasians. The term was especially used by Nazi Germans during World War 2.
Of these heresies the most serious was Arianism because it rejected the concept of the Trinity and taught that Christ and God were not of the same essence, or nature. According to this heresy, Christ could not be coequal with the Father. This heresy was so serious that the Emperor Constantine assembled the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 to settle the matter. The Council produced the "Nicene Creed" formally declaring the Trinity as three Persons in one God, and Christ as coequal with the Father and the Spirit.
The Nicene Creed didn't "make Jesus into" the Son of God. Jesus Himself declared that He was one with God the Father: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. (John 10:28-30). The Nicene Creed simply formalized what the church had believed from the beginning.
Arianism continued to be a problem, and Theodosius had to have the Nicene Creed reaffirmed in 381 at a second council. A further problem arose when the Goths and Vandals were converted by Arian missionaries. The result was a more intense hatred between the Arian Germanic invaders and the empire.
Structure of the church. The early Christian church was not highly structured. Small groups went out to preach the Gospel. Worship usually took place in private homes. No one city was considered the main stronghold of Christianity. Gradually, five cities emerged as centers of Christianity. Four of these cities, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople were centers in the East. The fifth city, Rome, was a center in the West. The Christian church gradually began to organize as numbers grew and as persecutions became more frequent. The church was composed of the laity or faithful and of the clergy. The clergy included all men appointed to take care of the localized church. The Apostles were the first clergy, appointed by the Lord Jesus. As the Christian message spread and additional local churches formed, other men were made overseers, or clergy. This clergy consisted of the priests, who took care of the laity in local parishes, and of the bishops, who were selected by the priests to take care of an area, or diocese. Each bishop resided in a city known as a see. The clergy was called the secular clergy if they did not take vows or belong to religious orders.
Beyond this diocesan structure was the larger grouping of dioceses into provinces. Each province was ruled by a metropolitan or archbishop. In the major centers of Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Rome, the bishops were given the title of patriarch.
Because Rome had been the seat of the empire for so many years, the Bishop of Rome gradually emerged as more prestigious and powerful. Even after Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople, Rome continued to be considered a major center because some of the Bishops of Rome had distinguished themselves politically as well as religiously. Pope Leo I (Leo the Great), for example, stopped Attila the Hun's march on Rome. With Rome no longer the capital of the empire, some church leaders felt that Rome should become the center because it would now be free of political influence. By the mid-fifth century, the Bishop of Rome was considered by many as supreme over all others in the Roman Church. At this time, the title papa, or pope, was given to him.
Monasticism. Christian monasticism began to grow first in the Eastern Empire, then in the West. St. Anthony of Egypt, sometimes called the father of Christian monasticism, was a third century hermit who lived alone in the Egyptian desert. Occasionally, he was visited by men seeking his counsel. Many other Christians chose this solitary life where they could live a life of prayer and sacrifice.
In the fourth century, hermits or monks began to live in groups and to organize monasteries where they could work and pray together. These groups or monastic orders lived according to a rule, or regula, and for this reason became known as regular clergy. The monastery was governed by an abbot, who was usually considered equal to a bishop in rank.
St. Basil (c. 329-379) established the first monastic orders of the East. St. Jerome (340-420) became a monk and devoted his life to learning. He is responsible for the famous Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate, a translation from the Hebrew and Greek texts that became the standard Bible translation for many centuries.
Throughout these first four centuries, the rise of Christianity and the slow decline of the empire in Rome were linked. One did not become the sole cause of the other, but the political, economic, and social problems of the empire opened the way for the beliefs of Christianity. Roman religion had become mere ritual worship. Christianity offered a spiritual promise of hope: hope for the oppressed and hope of resurrection. Roman attempts to eliminate Christians as traitors only led to admiration from others who witnessed the strong faith and the bravery of the martyrs. The disorder of the empire, civil wars, and poverty made the order of the church and its beliefs more outstanding.
The Eastern Empire did not experience the problems with Christianity that Rome encountered, and both church and empire thrived in the East for several centuries.
To be successful with the following game, be sure to review the previous lessons in this unit.
Problem Number: 16
Student Grade: A (100%)
Two conditions in the empire that helped early Christians to spread the Gospel were the well established routes and systems.
Problem Number: 17
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome's attitude toward Christians up to the time of Nero was .
Problem Number: 18
Student Grade: A (100%)
The first major persecution was ordered by Emperor .
Problem Number: 19
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] After the Nicene Creed, people began to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
Problem Number: 20
Student Grade: F (60%)
Match these items. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | A.D. 313 | | St. Jerome | | heresy denying Christ's divinity | | father of Christian monasticism | | accused Christians of burning Rome |
These are the possible matching answers: Arianism Nero Anthony of Egypt Edict of Milan the Vulgate
Problem Number: 21
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] The decline of the Roman Empire contributed to the expansion of Christianity.
Problem Number: 22
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Rome.
Problem Number: 23
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] By 381, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Problem Number: 24
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Rome was burned by Christians in A.D. 64.
Problem Number: 25
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Arians rejected the doctrine of the and taught that Christ and the Father were not of the same essence or nature.
Problem Number: 26
Student Grade: A (100%)
In response to the false teaching of the Arians, Emperor assembled a Council in A.D. 325 to settle the matter and produced the Creed.
Problem Number: 27
Student Grade: F (0%)
A is an archbishop who ruled a province of the Roman Church.
Bottom of Form
Top of Form
WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: PRE-REPUBLIC AND REPUBLIC
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4). "The fullness of time" is an expression full of meaning. Jesus came at just the right time. Culturally, God had prepared the way by spreading Greek civilization around the Mediterranean so that the Greek language and mode of categorical thought were common. In the next few lessons, you will consider the Roman Empire's history and cultural contributions as well as the role of Christianity.
Here is your goal for this lesson: * Identify key events and leaders of each of the first two divisions of Roman history: Pre-Republic and Republic.
consuls | Chief magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic; now an official appointed by his government to live in a foreign city. | patrician | Person of noble birth; aristocrat. | plebeian | Having to do with the common people. | tribunes | Officials of ancient Rome, now any government official appointed to defend people and their rights. |
HISTORY
Rome's history may be divided into three parts: Pre-Republic, Republic, and Empire. In this lesson the first two parts will be discussed. The era of the Roman Empire and its decline are discussed in separate lessons.
Pre-Republic. The origins of Rome are uncertain. Legends about the city's establishment contradict each other. The best-known legend tells of Rome's founding by twin brothers, Romulus and Remus, about 750 B.C. In this story, they were the sons of the Roman god of war, Mars. As infants, they were nursed by a wild wolf. Later, they were discovered by a shepherd and his wife, who raised them as their own sons.
Another legend says that Rome was founded by a Trojan warrior around 1100 B.C. A more believable explanation is that several villages grouped together for protection and established a public square and market place called a forum on a central hill and that the city grew up around this forum. People called Latins were living on the site of Rome 700 years before Christ. For many years Rome was no more than a farming village. Five hundred years before Christ, Rome was controlled by the neighboring Etruscans from Etruria, who for a time controlled all Latium.
The lifestyle of the ancient Romans centered on family . The father, by law, was the absolute head of the home and master of his wife. Roman practice was very uplifting to women, despite what might seem a strict code.
Whereas in Greece women were kept in separate parts of the house and not allowed a public life, Roman women were active in the social lives of their husbands, attended meetings of the Forum, and did business in the city. The Roman practice was monogamy: marriage by one woman to one man. This custom of monogamy was a further safeguard to the place of women in Roman society.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: D (67%)
The three historical divisions of Roman history are:
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Two brothers who, according to legend, are responsible for the founding of Rome were and .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
Five hundred years before Christ, Rome was controlled by neighboring .
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
The lifestyle of ancient Romans centered around the .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (95%)
Romans practiced , meaning that a man married only one woman.
The Republic. Republican Rome began in 509 B.C., when the native Latins rebelled against the Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus. The Roman Republic was governed by the Senate, a body of noblemen representing the wealthiest and most influential families. The upper class of Rome was known as the patrician class. The lower class was the plebeian class. In the early Republic, only patricians could hold public office. They alone had the full rights of citizens. Plebeians could not marry patricians. The imperium, or absolute power to command, possessed by the king, passed to two consuls appointed by the Senate for one-year terms. Each consul had the right to veto acts of the other. The consuls had authority over the army as well as over civil matters.
The history of the early Roman Republic has two parts: the struggle of plebeians for political equality with patricians and Rome's expansion throughout Italy.
The plebeians' rights increased as time passed. They organized the Concilium Plebis, a corporate body of plebeians that was an unofficial part of the government presided over by tribunes. The tribunes negotiated with the consuls in the interests of the plebeians. Rome's wars were so numerous that plebeians were needed as soldiers. This fact enabled the tribunes to bargain more effectively in their behalf. A major gain was made when the laws of Rome were written down on the Twelve Tables. Previously the patricians interpreted the laws as they wished.
Other plebeian advances included the right to appeal an extreme sentence imposed by a consul to the Concilium Plebis, the right of tribunes to veto acts of the Senate or consuls that threatened the plebeians, and the right of plebeians to marry patricians. In 367 B.C. plebeians were allowed to become consuls, and other public offices were opened to them as well. Eventually plebeians were even admitted to the Senate. In 287 B.C. the Concilium Plebis, now known as the Tribal Assembly, gained the right to pass laws that even patricians had to obey.
While these class struggles were taking place in Rome, Roman armies were busy extending the territories controlled by the city. Rome, along with other early Latin city-states, only fought with neighbors hostile to the Latins. Their principal enemies were the Etruscans. Rome was in a powerful position on the Italian Peninsula. It was located at the crossroads of two trade routes, and it controlled a valuable salt industry from nearby mines.
In 390 B.C., Gauls attacked the Latin League. These tribesmen from north of the Alps were Celts, who were successful in overrunning Rome. Fortunately, they were more interested in booty than conquest and soon returned to the lands from where they had come. Rome would fight with Gaul again, but under very different circumstances. Barbarians would not conquer Rome again for another 800 years. Around 350 B.C., Rome was at war with a people known as the Samnites and was able to take control of the rich province of Campania, containing not only some of the best farmland in Italy, but also the wealthy manufacturing city of Capua.
Other members of the Latin League objected to Rome's growing power. Their resentment eventually led to a war, which Rome won. Rome would only make peace with one city at a time, so the League was dissolved. The terms of peace, as was generally true with Rome, were generous: self-government except for imperial obligations, citizenship for some cities, and even commercial privileges for Rome's former enemies.
Rome was at war with the Samnites until the battle of Aquilonia in 293 B.C. The Samnites were admitted to second-class citizenship; that is, they could not hold political office.
Greeks held the southern parts of Italy, and Rome's attention turned to them. Under Pyrrhus, a general of Epirus who had been hired by the Greek city of Tarentum, a Greek army of 20,000 mercenaries warred against Rome. Pyrrhus fought two battles; although he won, he lost so many troops that his name has been given to costly victories—pyrrhic victories. He soon left Italy.
The Punic Wars. Rome was now supreme throughout Italy. It was one of the two most powerful governments in the western Mediterranean. The other was Carthage, a major city of the Phoenicians located in Northern Africa. Carthage, a great commercial center, controlled the sea. Rome and Carthage went to war in 264 B.C. over the domination of Sicily. This was the first of three Punic Wars. Although Roman losses were heavy, Rome won the first war in 241 B.C., adding Sicily, Sardinia, and Corsica to its growing territory. This victory made the Roman navy supreme in the western Mediterranean.
The Second Punic War has been called a colossal contest between Rome and Hannibal. Hannibal was a Carthaginian general famed for his march across the Alps with 40,000 infantrymen, 9,000 cavalrymen, and a company of elephants. He entered Italy from the north. Hannibal stayed for fifteen years, but he was forced to return home when the Roman general Scipio invaded Africa. The Carthaginians were defeated at Zama in 201 B.C. Rome added Spain to its territories. Hannibal eventually committed suicide in Asia Minor.
Rome defeated Macedonia, an ally of Carthage, in 197 B.C. At first the Romans wished to leave the old Greek city-state alone, but their continued infighting caused the Romans to impose a tighter administration in 146 B.C.
Angry Romans devised revenge against Carthage. Rome provoked a third Punic War, and after a siege of Carthage, they burned it.
Carthaginian warriors were sold into slavery. The Romans later rebuilt both Carthage and Corinth, which they had also burned.
Rome Expands. In 168 B.C., Ptolemaic Egypt allied itself with Rome. The king of Pergamum, (in modern-day Turkey) was a long a friend of Rome. When he died in 133 B.C., he willed his entire kingdom to Rome, and Rome entered Asia Minor and parts of the Near East. Rome now turned to consolidating its holdings . It controlled the area around the Mediterranean. Its next expansion would be northward into Europe.
During the late Republic, Rome was faced with an increasingly severe social problem. The availability of cheap slave labor from conquered areas plus improved farming methods imported from Sicily had encouraged large-scale farming on estates called Latifundia. These estates were owned by the wealthy, and they grew at the expense of small farmers. The result was that many of the former peasants went to the cities, where they swelled the ranks of the urban poor. The empire made the governing class rich and decadent, and corruption was rampant. Rome was ripe for civil war and dictatorship.
In 133 B.C., a tribune named Tiberius Gracchus was elected. A reformer, he proposed to the Tribal Assembly (the new name of the Concilium Plebis) that public land holdings be restricted to 300 acres per person. The remainder would be given to the landless citizens. Another tribune vetoed the law, but Gracchus led the Assembly in ousting the offending tribune. Tiberius ran for reelection but was murdered by political enemies in the Senate.
In 123 B.C. the younger brother of Tiberius, Gaius Gracchus, was elected tribune. Among his many proposals were: * land reallocation (redistributing weath to the poor) * establishing colonies for Rome's excess population * extending Roman citizenship to nations beyond Italy
Gaius Gracchus is best known for proposing a price-fixing scheme whereby the government financed a lower-than-market price for wheat to the masses. This proposal later became a public welfare program. The handouts to the poor were condemned as "bread and circuses." Gaius, too, was killed by his enemies.
Roman generals began gathering landless farmers into armies of their own. This practice resulted in civil war when the Senate and the Tribal Assembly each commissioned different generals to go to war with the rebel King Pontus in Asia Minor. The Roman armies led by the Assembly's Marius and the Senate's Sulla fought with each other. Each captured Rome at different times. Sulla turned out the victor and became dictator for a time. He attempted to restore a Republic based on the old power of the Senate.
In 70 B.C., a prominent general named Pompey was elected consul. He reestablished the Tribal Assembly and expanded Roman dominion beyond the Euphrates River. In 59 B.C., Pompey was joined by Julius Caesar, who conquered Gaul and entered Britain. Caesar wrote his Commentaries on the Gallic War to keep his name before the public.
Julius Caesar
Pompey became jealous and suspicious of Caesar and in 49 B.C. convinced the Senate to order Caesar to disband his army. Instead, Caesar invaded Italy. He accomplished this feat by crossing the Rubicon, the river that divided Italy from Cisalpine Gaul (modern-day northern Italy). Caesar shortly put down his opposition and became dictator of Rome. Most importantly, the Senate soon appointed him "perpetual dictator," or "dictator for life." This new title gave him absolute power, much like a king, in spite of Rome's long history of representative (republican) government.
As dictator, Caesar made several political reforms including admitting provincial representatives to the Senate. Caesar changed the solar calendar with knowledge gained from Egypt, and he established the calendar that is basically still in use today. He ruled from 49 B.C. until his death. He was murdered on March 15 (the Ides of March) in 44 B.C., stabbed to death in the Senate. His assassins were partisans of the old Republic who resented Caesar's absolute authority and power.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
Match the vocabulary words with the definitions. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | chief magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic | | officials of ancient Rome | | person of noble birth; aristocrat | | having to do with the common people |
These are the possible matching answers: consuls plebeian tribunes patrician
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
Republican Rome began with a revolt against the:
Greeks
Etruscans
Ionians
Turks
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Patricians in Rome were members of the: merchant class lower class middle class upper class
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Twelve Tables were a written set of: laws mathematical formulas prophecies poems
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: F (0%)
Those who struggled longest and hardest before winning political equality in Rome were the: senators tribunes patricians plebeians
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
A pyrrhic victory is one that: holds many honors satisfies everybody costs the winner too much everyone overlooks
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
The number of Punic Wars was: two three four six
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome's adversary in the Punic Wars was:
Macedonia
Carthage
Sparta
the Muslim Turks
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: A (100%)
The general who was famous for his march into Italy with an army and a company of elephants was:
Scipio
Caesar
Tiberius
Hannibal
Problem Number: 15
Student Grade: A (100%)
Latifundia were: landless citizens large estates market places
Roman soldiers
Problem Number: 16
Student Grade: A (100%)
Tiberius Gracchus was: insane a murderer a reformer a general
Problem Number: 17
Student Grade: A (100%)
"Bread and circuses" is a term used to refer to a system of public: handouts executions entertainment elections
Problem Number: 18
Student Grade: A (100%)
Before he became dictator of Rome, Julius Caesar was a famous: philosopher statesman poet soldier
Problem Number: 19
Student Grade: A (100%)
Caesar was assassinated on the Ides of March, which was:
March 15
April 10
Christmas Day
November 27
Problem Number: 20
Student Grade: A (100%)
Caesar was killed because of his belief in:
Christianity
democracy perpetual dictatorship slavery Bottom of Form
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: THE EMPIRE
But when the fulness of the time was come, God sent forth his Son, made of a woman, made under the law, (Galatians 4:4). "The fullness of time" is an expression full of meaning. Jesus came at just the right time. Politically, God prepared the way with the Roman Empire, one of the greatest administrative machines ever devised by man.
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify key elements of early Roman architecture and engineering. * Identify significant people of first century Rome. * Identify key events and leaders of the Roman Empire.
aqueduct | An artificial channel or large pipe for transporting water over long distances. |
ROMAN CULTURE
Roman Engineering. The Romans were great engineers and architects. They built fine roads all over their vast territories, even into Britain. Many Roman roads still exist. Much of Rome was in a swampy area, and the Romans became proficient at reclaiming land.
They also learned how to transport water in huge aqueducts. Aqueducts were man-made channels consisting of a series of canals, tunnels, pipes, and bridges. They were built to carry pure water from its source (often a spring in the mountains) to the people in the cities. Because of the aqueducts, Rome was one of the cleanest cities in the ancient world. Aqueducts also provided water for drinking, as well as Rome's famous public baths.
Water in aqueducts would sometimes travel over 60 miles (96 km)!
Roman Aqueducts
Many of Rome's early public buildings were architecturally similar to those built by the Greeks. They modeled them after Greek temples, building many columns to support flat roofs. However, they also created a design all their own -- the vaulted, or curved, roof. Another architectural innovation was the Roman arch. The work of the Senate was conducted in a famous Roman structure, the Forum. Another of Rome's now-famous buildings was the Colosseum, where the Roman circuses were held. Those circuses were often bloody affairs in which gladiators fought each other to the death, and persecuted Christians were left defenseless to be eaten by hungry lions.
Aqueducts, Arches, and Architecture
People of Rome. Shortly after Julius Caesar was killed (44 B.C.), the great Roman orator and statesman Cicero was killed. Cicero was a strong believer in the old Republic and made speeches from that point of view. The greatest Roman poet was Virgil, whose most famous poem was the Aenead. The biographer Plutarch wrote about the lives of many famous Greeks and Romans. Tacitus is considered by many to be the greatest Roman historian; he wrote about the fall of Jerusalem in A.D. 70, as did the Jewish historian Flavius Josephus. Alexandria was known in its heyday as a cultural and intellectual center. Philosophy, medicine, and science all flourished there. The Alexandrian Jew, Philo, wrote philosophy that combined Platonic thought and Judaism.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome borrowed much of its architecture from .
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Circuses and bloody games were held in the Roman .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
The work of the Senate was held in the in Rome.
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
Romans learned to carry huge amounts of water by building .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
The famous poem, the Aenead was written by .
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
The city of Alexandria was famous for being the cultural and center during the Roman era.
ROME'S HISTORY
Rome's history may be divided into three parts: Pre-Republic, Republic, and Empire. This section focuses on the era of the Roman Empire. The decline of the Empire is discussed in a separate lesson.
The Empire. For about fourteen years, Rome was jointly ruled by Caesar's nephew, Octavian, and his friend, Mark Antony. Eventually, however, the two conspired against each other. Mark Antony had married Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt. At some point after Octavian defeated the combined forces of Antony and Cleopatra (31 B.C.), Mark Antony committed suicide. By 30 B.C., Octavian was in firm control of Rome. In 29 B.C., the Senate gave Octavian the title of Augustus; we now know him as Augustus Caesar. Rome was now an empire. The Republic was dead. Caesar was emperor.
Augustus's rule marks the beginning of the two-hundred year Roman Peace, or Pax Romana (30 B.C.-A.D. 235), a period of relative stability throughout the Mediterranean world. During that period, Jesus Christ was born and grew to manhood, and Christianity was spread throughout the world. Christ came into a world that was culturally homogeneous (almost everyone spoke Greek) and politically united. Paul and other Christian missionaries were not threatened by highwaymen or hostile bands because the whole world as they knew it was under Roman law. Paul was even able to make use of his Roman citizenship to spread the Gospel. Because of Rome, the missionaries had good roads to travel. One can see the hand of God in the way He used the Roman Empire to spread the gospel in the first centuries of the Christian church.
After the death of Augustus in A.D. 14, the Roman Empire established by him was ruled by his stepson Tiberius. From this time until the fall of the Western Empire in Rome (476), the empire changed greatly because of the variety of rulers, the political and economic conditions of both the empire and the countries surrounding it, and the beliefs of the people.
Augustus had left an empire that was well organized and, as the map indicates, extensive. His construction of roads throughout the empire, combined with the uneasy surface peace guaranteed for a time by Augustus, enabled tradesmen to travel from East to West with materials from far off lands, such as China and India. Roman trading posts were established as far as southern India. At least one hundred ships per year sailed from the Red Sea to India and east Africa.
Early rulers of the empire. A variety of men ruled the Roman Empire after Augustus. Some were good men and good rulers, others were wicked men or incompetent rulers. The empire established by Augustus was strong enough to survive some of the incompetent rulers. When the combination of incompetence, social problems, and economic difficulties accumulated, the empire began to decline.
From the beginning of the empire until A.D. 180, Rome had 16 rulers. Augustus was followed by four emperors known as the Julio-Claudians: Tiberius, Claudius, Caligula, and Nero. Of these, the first two were fairly efficient and just administrators. Caligula was almost certainly insane. Emperor | Reign | Emperor | Reign | Augustus | 27 B.C. - A.D. 14 | Vespasian | A.D. 69 - 79 | Tiberius | A.D. 14 - 37 | Titus | A.D. 79 - 81 | Caligula | A.D. 37 - 41 | Domitian | A.D. 81 - 96 | Claudius | A.D. 41 - 54 | Nerva | A.D. 96 - 98 | Nero | A.D. 54 - 68 | Trajan | A.D. 98 - 117 | Galba | A.D. 68 - 69 | Hadrian | A.D. 117 - 138 | Otho | A.D. 69 | Antoninus Pius | A.D. 138 - 161 | Vitellius | A.D. 69 | Marcus Aurelius | A.D. 161 - 180 | xxx |
After Augustus, Nero is perhaps the best known of the first five emperors. Nero's wickedness made him famous. Not only did he murder many people, including his wife and his mother; but Nero also is blamed (probably wrongly) for starting the fire that burned half of Rome in the year A.D. 64. He was responsible for persecuting many Christians after blaming them for the great fire. Nero is said to have used Christians and others as human torches at some of his banquets. He committed suicide in A.D. 68.
When Nero died, the rule of the empire was precarious. As the list above shows, four men ruled Rome in the same year, A.D. 69, until Flavius Vespasian won the power struggle and restored order to Rome. The Flavians ruled until A.D. 96 and they were followed by the Antonines or "five good emperors" (A.D. 96-180).
One of the Antonines, the emperor Trajan concentrated his efforts on military gain and extended the empire. After Trajan's conquest the empire reached the largest area it would ever occupy (see the map of Rome below). Another of the Antonines, Hadrian (A.D. 117-138), used his reign to strengthen the borders and frontier areas of the empire. He built several aqueducts and defensive walls, among them the famous Hadrian's Wall, which runs from coast to coast in the north of England. The 80-mile-long (117 km) wall was built to prevent attacks from the north.
Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161- 180) was a strong ruler. Although he spent many years as a soldier away from Rome defending the frontiers, he was respected by his people. He was a scholar and a writer whose philosophical writings are contained in a book called Meditations. A Stoic philosopher, he taught a high idealism and lived a simple life.
After Marcus Aurelius the Empire declined. It suffered from its very bulk. Such a large empire was difficult for one government to administer; the decline of Rome wasn't far off.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
After Caesar's death Rome was ruled by Octavian and .
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Mark Antony married Cleopatra, who was the queen of .
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
Augustus died in the year A.D. .
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: A (100%)
At the height of trade in the empire, materials were imported from and .
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
The emperor who has been accused of setting Rome on fire was .
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
Pax Romana refers to an extraordinary 200 years of for Rome.
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
Match the Roman emperors. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | murderer; accused of setting fire to Rome | | insane | | defeated Antony and Cleopatra | | scholar, philosopher, and soldier | | built a defensive wall in Britain |
These are the possible matching answers: Caligula Marcus Aurelius Octavian Nero Hadrian
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: A (100%)
Why was Nero so famous?
He was a scholar and a writer.
He murdered many people.
He was accused of burning Rome in A.D. 64.
His philosophical writings are contained in a book called Meditations.
He persecuted Christians.
He spent many years as a soldier away from Rome defending the frontiers.
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
ROME: THE DECLINE OF THE EMPIRE
The end of the Roman Empire came gradually. Instead of there being one simple cause for the collapse, Rome's fall was due to a complex combination of causes. Among the major issues were: * A series of bad rulers made bad decisions. * Massive migrations led to overpopulation and a shortage of resources. * The empire's size made it difficult for one government to administer. * The people had grown dependent on the government to provide. * The empire lacked unity; there were: * two capitals, with two emperors; * power struggles between military leaders and emperors.
All these reasons and more contributed to the decline and eventual collapse of the mightiest political and military machine the world had ever known.
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify major conditions that led to the decline of the Roman Empire * Identify influences of Roman culture in our own culture today
anarchy | Disorder and confusion. Absence of government and law. | mercenary | A soldier who serves in a foreign army for pay. |
THE EMPIRE DECLINES
The decline of the empire. Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161- 180) was a strong ruler who was well liked by the Roman people. After he died, the rule of the empire was again precarious. His son, Commodus, was not a strong leader and was overthrown in A.D. 192. Members of the military and the Praetorian Guard, the emperor's personal guard, struggled for power. In some cases, these men bought the title of emperor for themselves. From A.D. 193 until A.D. 285, anarchy ruled the empire. In fact, between the death of Marcus Aurelius in A.D. 180 and the beginning of Diocletian's reign in A.D. 284, only four of the twenty-nine emperors died of natural causes.
This long span of disorder hurt the empire. The military became more powerful and less willing to protect and to defend the vast territories. They urged the emperors to hire more and more barbarian mercenaries to keep the armies staffed. The mercenaries grew in number. The once peaceful trade routes were disturbed by the lack of leadership and unity in the empire. The unrest, the decline in trade, and the many provincial battles that forced the hiring of so many barbarians hurt the economy of the empire.
In A.D. 284, Diocletian became emperor and reigned until 305. Diocletian decided to appoint a co-emperor, Maximian, because he thought that the empire was too vast for one man's rule. For this reason, he divided the empire into two regions, East and West. Diocletian ruled the Eastern Empire, Maximian the Western Empire. Diocletian reestablished law and order in the empire and bolstered the troops on the frontiers. To accomplish these tasks, he had to hire more barbarian soldiers. He tried to restore the economy with severe taxes and price controls. He achieved some success only by laws that prevented landowners from leaving their land to avoid taxes and punished anyone who disobeyed the price control or tax systems.
One of the most important Roman emperors, Constantine, was a successor of Diocletian. He had been appointed to work with Maximian in the West. In 305 Constantine began a long struggle for sole leadership of the empire. Finally, in 324, he achieved this role and reunited the empire. Constantine observed the changing political and economic conditions in the Western Empire and decided to move the capital of the Empire from Rome to Byzantium in the East. He renamed the city Constantinople, which means City of Constantine.
Constantine continued the hard economic policies of Diocletian. The control of prices and the taxation stopped the decline for a time, but ultimately led to more severe economic problems.
Under Constantine, there was one bright spot, however: persecution of the Christian faith was ended and Christianity was recognized as a legitimate religion. In fact, Constantine even helped to resolve disputes and heresies within the church. There is considerable debate as to whether or not Constantine was himself a believer in Jesus, but he is generally acknowledged as the first Christian emperor of the Roman world.
When Constantine died in 337, another power struggle began, leading again, at the death of Theodosius I (395), to a divided empire. Theodosius I was the last emperor to rule the entire empire. After his death, the empire was divided between his sons. The Eastern Empire became dominant and wealthy. The Western Empire became increasingly defenseless against invasions by barbarians until it finally fell in 476.
ROMAN CULTURE
The cultural atmosphere of the late Western Roman Empire did not match that of the earlier empire. The Greek influence in art and literature remained strong. Literature declined after the death of Augustus, Rome's first emperor, in A.D. 14. The Golden Age of Virgil, Cicero, and Ovid had ended. A few great writers survived: the Roman historian, Tacitus; the Greek biographer, Plutarch; and the poet, Statius. On the whole, great literature was not a mark of the later empire.
Roman law remained an important force in the formation of legal systems and continues to be today.
As Roman architecture continued to thrive, an ornate style replaced the simplicity of Greek architecture. Planned cities in the provinces were also undertaken. Rome itself grew too rapidly to follow a plan. It became a large, wide-ranging city where magnificent buildings were surrounded by run-down tenements housing large numbers of the poor.
Latin flourished as the language of church, government, law, and education for many centuries after the fall of Rome. Latin became the base for the Romance languages such as French, Italian, and Spanish. Latin words form the basis of many words in the English language today.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Western Roman Empire fell finally in A.D. .
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: A (100%)
Diocletian tried to restore order to the empire during his reign from A.D. 284 - .
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: A (100%)
Three conditions which led to a decline in the empire after A.D. 180 were:
boundaries dispute leadership dispute corruption decline in trade hurt the economy religious differences mercenaries hired
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
Literature in Rome declined after the death of the emperor .
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
The original basis of most legal systems today is law.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
Mercenaries are soldiers who fight for rather than for a cause.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
French, Italian, and Spanish languages and many English words are based upon the language.
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: A (100%)
Diocletian tried to restore the economy with: taxation and price controls military and barbarian soldiers improved trade agreements tax breaks for farmers
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
Review the comic above about the decline and fall of the Roman Empire.
What similarities do you see to our own culture today?
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WORLD HISTORY – UNIT 2: ANCIENT CIVILIZATIONS II
CHRISTIANITY AND THE ROMAN EMPIRE
Here are your goals for this lesson: * Identify key events of the first century Christian church. * Identify major leaders and events of the early Christian church
abbot | A monk who is chosen as head of a monastery. | Arianism | Heresy named after Arius, a Greek priest who taught that Christ was not eternally God with the Father. | diocese | Originally, a Roman district. In the Middle Ages, a district ruled by a bishop. | heretic | A person who holds beliefs contrary to church doctrines. | hermit | A person who goes away from other people, and lives alone, often for religious reasons. | metropolitan | Archbishop who presides over a church province. | patriarch | Highest ranking bishop in the Eastern or early Roman Catholic Church. | regular clergy | Monks or religious men who followed a rule and took vows. | secular clergy | Priests, bishops, and other church officials who were not bound by either a rule or by vows. | see | District under bishop's authority. |
JESUS, THE CHRIST, WAS BORN DURING THE ROMAN ERA.
The most significant event of the Roman period did not seem so important at the time. The birth, life, and death of Jesus of Nazareth were not perceived by the authorities for what they truly were. During the Roman era, the Second Person of the Trinity became one of us, lived among us, and suffered and died for our sins. This is the gospel message, a narrative about a set of historical events: the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. In this section, we will consider some aspects of the life and death of Jesus and the spread of the gospel during the first two centuries of the Christian era. We will then study other aspects of the Roman culture.
Jesus was born in Palestine during the reign of Augustus Caesar. A decree of Augustus caused Jesus' earthly parents, Joseph and Mary, to go to Bethlehem to be registered for the census. God used this decree to fulfill Micah's prophecy that the Messiah of Israel would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5:2).
LUKE: A PHYSICIAN WHO RECORDED GREAT HISTORY
Very little has been written about the boyhood of Jesus. A few of His childhood events were recorded by Luke (Luke 2:40-52). We know that Jesus grew up in Nazareth and that his earthly father was a carpenter. Luke sums up Jesus' early life with these words, And Jesus increased in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man. (Luke 2:52).
Luke carefully recorded the beginning of Jesus' ministry, which began with His baptism by John the Baptist, a desert prophet. In the following passage from Luke's gospel, he places the ministry of John the Baptist in its historical context. Note the references to Tiberius Caesar and the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate.
Now in the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar, Pontius Pilate being governor of Judaea, and Herod being tetrarch of Galilee, and his brother Philip tetrarch of Ituraea and of the region of Trachonitis, and Lysanias the tetrarch of Abilene, Annas and Caiaphas being the high priests, the word of God came unto John the son of Zacharias in the wilderness. (Luke 3:1-2).
At approximately 30 years of age, Jesus began His public ministry, which lasted just three years. The permanent residence of Jesus in Galilee was in the town of Capernaum. Much of Jesus' ministry was spent in Galilee and is called the "Galilean Ministry." He spent shorter periods in Judea and Perea (now known as trans-Jordan).
Jesus offered Himself to the Jews as their Messiah, and although they observed His miracles and examined his doctrine, the leaders of Israel, the chief priests and rabbis, rejected His claim. This rejection came as early as chapter 12 of Matthew's gospel. Jesus healed a man with a withered hand on the Sabbath. Soon afterward, Then the Pharisees went out, and held a council against him, how they might destroy him. (Matthew 12:14).
In the third year of His ministry, Jesus entered Jerusalem riding on a donkey according to Zechariah's prophecy:
Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. (Zechariah 9:9).
He was greeted by shouts of triumph, and palm branches were spread before Him. The jubilant onlookers were mostly Galilean pilgrims on their way to the Jewish Feast of Passover. The Jewish leaders, seeing what was happening, began to plot against Him even more. They sent spies to make Him speak against Caesar and, therefore, to involve the Roman authorities. Finally one of His own followers, Judas Iscariot, betrayed Him and testified against Him to the Jewish authorities.
Five days after entering Jerusalem, Jesus met for a final Passover meal with His disciples (where He instituted the Lord's Supper and gave what is known as the "Upper Room discourse"). After the meal, Jesus and his disciples went to the garden of Gethsemane. There He prayed in great anticipation of what He knew was about to happen. Judas led the authorities to that place, and they arrested Jesus. After a number of trials, at least one before the Sanhedrin (the Jewish governmental council), one before Herod (ruler of Galilee), and two before the Roman governor Pontius Pilate, Jesus was sentenced to be crucified. The fickle crowd yelled, "Crucify Him, crucify Him! We will not have this man to reign over us."
Jesus was crucified outside Jerusalem on a hill called Golgotha. He was buried in the tomb of Joseph of Arimathea, a wealthy member of the Jewish sect known as the Pharisees. Three days after His burial, Jesus was raised from the dead. A few of Jesus' disciples went to the tomb and discovered it empty.
Jesus was seen on a number of occasions by His disciples. After forty days, Jesus ascended into Heaven. Ten days later, at the Feast of Pentecost, the Holy Spirit came upon the disciples, and they preached the gospel to the crowd. On that day, Peter preached a powerful sermon on the resurrection of Christ, closing with these words, Therefore let all the house of Israel know assuredly, that God hath made the same Jesus, whom ye have crucified, both Lord and Christ. (Acts 2:36).
THE EARLY GROWTH OF CHRISTIANITY
The early growth of Christianity is described in the book of Acts, written by Luke. Luke was a good and careful historian in the Greek tradition. In Acts 1:8, Luke describes the church's growth: But ye shall receive power, after that the Holy Ghost is come upon you: and ye shall be witnesses unto me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judaea, and in Samaria, and unto the uttermost part of the earth. The gospel was first preached in Jerusalem and Judaea, where the church was mainly a Jewish group. Gradually it spread to Samaria and other neighboring areas. In Acts 10, Peter was shown through a vision that the gospel was for the Gentiles as well as the Jews.
Saul of Tarsus, a zealous Jew, would become the instrument through which God would reach the Gentiles. (He later became known as the "apostle to the Gentiles.") Saul, who had been a supporter of the stoning of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (Acts 7:54-60), was converted through a dramatic vision of Christ while on his way to imprison believers. Throughout most of the New Testament, Saul is known by his Greek name, Paul. He had made himself known to Peter and James in Jerusalem and had returned to Tarsus when Barnabas invited him to minister in the church at Antioch (Acts 11:25-26). From Antioch in Syria, Paul and Barnabas set out on the first missionary journey. This journey was the first of at least three journeys that Paul made. Paul took the gospel throughout Asia Minor and into Greece, founding churches all along the way. At the end of his third journey, Paul was arrested in Jerusalem. Asserting his Roman citizenship, Paul appealed his case to Caesar and was taken to Rome, where he was under house arrest for two years.
He had an extensive ministry in Rome and made converts among the Praetorian Guard, Caesar's personal army. From Rome, Paul wrote the famous Prison Epistles: Galatians, Ephesians, Philippians, and Colossians. Paul also wrote letters to many of the churches he had founded, in which he expounded doctrines of the Christian faith and delineated many principles of Christian practice. He was executed in Rome at the hands of the emperor Nero.
John was the last of the apostles to die. He last ministered in Asia Minor. Although Christ's apostles, the first generation of church leaders, were gone, the Christian church was still growing and developing.
Problem Number: 1
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] The most significant event of the Roman period was the birth, life, and death of Jesus Christ.
Problem Number: 2
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Jesus was born during the reign of Julius Caesar.
Problem Number: 3
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Jesus was born in Bethlehem because His parents lived there.
Problem Number: 4
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Not much has been written about the boyhood of Jesus.
Problem Number: 5
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] The ministry of Jesus lasted only seven years.
Problem Number: 6
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Jesus was betrayed by Judas Iscariot, one of his own disciples.
Problem Number: 7
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Jesus was crucified by the Roman officials against the will of the people themselves.
Problem Number: 8
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] Golgotha was the name of the place where Jesus died.
Problem Number: 9
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] After three days in the tomb, Jesus was raised from the dead.
Problem Number: 10
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] According to Luke, the gospel was first preached in Rome.
Problem Number: 11
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Saul was an enthusiastic Christian from the beginning of his life, and his faith never wavered.
Problem Number: 12
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Paul took the gospel as far as Greece and Rome.
Problem Number: 13
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] Paul was executed by the emperor Nero.
Problem Number: 14
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] The last of the apostles to die was John.
Problem Number: 15
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] The gospel is a true account of historical events.
Growth of Christianity
Jesus was born during the reign of Augustus Caesar in a land belonging to the Roman Empire. Soon after His death, the followers of Jesus began to spread Christianity through much of the empire. The spread of the Gospel was possible in part because of the well established trade routes and highway systems of the empire.
Tolerance and persecution. In the beginning, Rome was strong and confident. It did not feel threatened by a small band of poor Christians who traveled about preaching. Roman emperors up to Nero generally tolerated the Christians as long as laws were not broken. The Romans considered the Christians' religion just another cult among many. As the number of Christians grew, however, Roman emperors began to view them as a threat. Emperors such as Nero used Christians as a scapegoat for political ills. Nero accused the Christians of burning Rome and persecuted them as a punishment. The Christians were persecuted sporadically through the first two centuries because they were still a small group that appealed primarily to the lower classes. They had no political power. Thus, political favor was not lost by persecuting Christians.
In the third century, the first major persecution of Christians was ordered by the Emperor Decius. This persecution lasted from A.D. 249 to A.D. 251. Other major persecutions occurred throughout this period, until the year 311. These later persecutions were partly a result of economic and social conditions of the empire in the third century. This period of time was one of disorder and unrest throughout the empire. Christians were considered enemies and traitors because they would not worship the emperor and because Christianity appealed to the lower classes in a time of unrest. Their way of life and their eucharistic services (the Lord's Supper, or communion) were looked on as secret and subversive.
Finally, in the fourth century, the emperors realized that persecution could not destroy all Christians or Christianity. In fact, persecution seemed to strengthen both their numbers and their spirits. In the year 311, the East declared Christianity a legal religion. Shortly afterward in 313, Constantine issued the Edict of Milan declaring Christianity legal throughout the empire. The Emperor Julian tried to revive the persecutions in 361, but found it difficult after fifty years of legal Christianity in the empire. He did incite anti-Christian attacks which lasted until 363. By the year 381, Theodosius had declared Christianity the only religion, and indeed the official religion, of the empire.
Doctrines and heresies. In the first centuries after Christ, definition of doctrine became necessary. As Christianity spread, questions arose about the nature of God and of Jesus Christ. Questions also arose concerning the main doctrines or beliefs of the church and the need for a statement, or creed, to proclaim these beliefs. Many early doctrines were defined as the need arose. In other words, the misconceptions of the nature of God led the church fathers to formulate a clear definition of the nature of God. When one of these misconceptions was followed, even after a definition had been given, it became heresy. Those who continued to believe such a false idea were called heretics. Some of the major heresies faced by the early church were Gnosticism, Donatism, Arianism, Nestorianism, and Monophysitism.
Keep in Mind. . .
Earlier in this unit you read about a group of people called Aryans who conqured parts of India from about 1500 to 900 B.C.
Don't get them confused with the Arians mentioned here—there's a big difference! * Aryans. From about 1500 to 900 B.C., India was invaded by Aryan people. They conquered the Indus valley and began to settle the Ganges area. * Arians. Arians were also known as Arian Christians, but this is misleading. They followed the teachings of Arius, who taught that Christ was not eternally God with the Father; they denied the Trinity. Because of this false teaching, Arians were actually heretics, and not a “division” of Christianity.
To confuse things even more, the term Aryan has one more meaning: since the mid-20th century, Aryan has also been used to refer to members of an alleged master race comprised of non-Jewish Caucasians. The term was especially used by Nazi Germans during World War 2.
Of these heresies the most serious was Arianism because it rejected the concept of the Trinity and taught that Christ and God were not of the same essence, or nature. According to this heresy, Christ could not be coequal with the Father. This heresy was so serious that the Emperor Constantine assembled the Council of Nicaea in A.D. 325 to settle the matter. The Council produced the "Nicene Creed" formally declaring the Trinity as three Persons in one God, and Christ as coequal with the Father and the Spirit.
The Nicene Creed didn't "make Jesus into" the Son of God. Jesus Himself declared that He was one with God the Father: And I give unto them eternal life; and they shall never perish, neither shall any man pluck them out of my hand. My Father, which gave them me, is greater than all; and no man is able to pluck them out of my Father’s hand. I and my Father are one. (John 10:28-30). The Nicene Creed simply formalized what the church had believed from the beginning.
Arianism continued to be a problem, and Theodosius had to have the Nicene Creed reaffirmed in 381 at a second council. A further problem arose when the Goths and Vandals were converted by Arian missionaries. The result was a more intense hatred between the Arian Germanic invaders and the empire.
Structure of the church. The early Christian church was not highly structured. Small groups went out to preach the Gospel. Worship usually took place in private homes. No one city was considered the main stronghold of Christianity. Gradually, five cities emerged as centers of Christianity. Four of these cities, Antioch, Jerusalem, Alexandria, and Constantinople were centers in the East. The fifth city, Rome, was a center in the West. The Christian church gradually began to organize as numbers grew and as persecutions became more frequent. The church was composed of the laity or faithful and of the clergy. The clergy included all men appointed to take care of the localized church. The Apostles were the first clergy, appointed by the Lord Jesus. As the Christian message spread and additional local churches formed, other men were made overseers, or clergy. This clergy consisted of the priests, who took care of the laity in local parishes, and of the bishops, who were selected by the priests to take care of an area, or diocese. Each bishop resided in a city known as a see. The clergy was called the secular clergy if they did not take vows or belong to religious orders.
Beyond this diocesan structure was the larger grouping of dioceses into provinces. Each province was ruled by a metropolitan or archbishop. In the major centers of Antioch, Jerusalem, Constantinople, Alexandria, and Rome, the bishops were given the title of patriarch.
Because Rome had been the seat of the empire for so many years, the Bishop of Rome gradually emerged as more prestigious and powerful. Even after Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Constantinople, Rome continued to be considered a major center because some of the Bishops of Rome had distinguished themselves politically as well as religiously. Pope Leo I (Leo the Great), for example, stopped Attila the Hun's march on Rome. With Rome no longer the capital of the empire, some church leaders felt that Rome should become the center because it would now be free of political influence. By the mid-fifth century, the Bishop of Rome was considered by many as supreme over all others in the Roman Church. At this time, the title papa, or pope, was given to him.
Monasticism. Christian monasticism began to grow first in the Eastern Empire, then in the West. St. Anthony of Egypt, sometimes called the father of Christian monasticism, was a third century hermit who lived alone in the Egyptian desert. Occasionally, he was visited by men seeking his counsel. Many other Christians chose this solitary life where they could live a life of prayer and sacrifice.
In the fourth century, hermits or monks began to live in groups and to organize monasteries where they could work and pray together. These groups or monastic orders lived according to a rule, or regula, and for this reason became known as regular clergy. The monastery was governed by an abbot, who was usually considered equal to a bishop in rank.
St. Basil (c. 329-379) established the first monastic orders of the East. St. Jerome (340-420) became a monk and devoted his life to learning. He is responsible for the famous Latin translation of the Bible called the Vulgate, a translation from the Hebrew and Greek texts that became the standard Bible translation for many centuries.
Throughout these first four centuries, the rise of Christianity and the slow decline of the empire in Rome were linked. One did not become the sole cause of the other, but the political, economic, and social problems of the empire opened the way for the beliefs of Christianity. Roman religion had become mere ritual worship. Christianity offered a spiritual promise of hope: hope for the oppressed and hope of resurrection. Roman attempts to eliminate Christians as traitors only led to admiration from others who witnessed the strong faith and the bravery of the martyrs. The disorder of the empire, civil wars, and poverty made the order of the church and its beliefs more outstanding.
The Eastern Empire did not experience the problems with Christianity that Rome encountered, and both church and empire thrived in the East for several centuries.
To be successful with the following game, be sure to review the previous lessons in this unit.
Problem Number: 16
Student Grade: A (100%)
Two conditions in the empire that helped early Christians to spread the Gospel were the well established routes and systems.
Problem Number: 17
Student Grade: A (100%)
Rome's attitude toward Christians up to the time of Nero was .
Problem Number: 18
Student Grade: A (100%)
The first major persecution was ordered by Emperor .
Problem Number: 19
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] After the Nicene Creed, people began to believe that Jesus was the Son of God.
Problem Number: 20
Student Grade: F (60%)
Match these items. Match the items in the left column to the items in the right column. | A.D. 313 | | St. Jerome | | heresy denying Christ's divinity | | father of Christian monasticism | | accused Christians of burning Rome |
These are the possible matching answers: Arianism Nero Anthony of Egypt Edict of Milan the Vulgate
Problem Number: 21
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ False ] The decline of the Roman Empire contributed to the expansion of Christianity.
Problem Number: 22
Student Grade: F (0%)
[ True ] Constantine moved the capital of the empire to Rome.
Problem Number: 23
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ True ] By 381, Christianity was the official religion of the Roman Empire.
Problem Number: 24
Student Grade: A (100%)
[ False ] Rome was burned by Christians in A.D. 64.
Problem Number: 25
Student Grade: A (100%)
The Arians rejected the doctrine of the and taught that Christ and the Father were not of the same essence or nature.
Problem Number: 26
Student Grade: A (100%)
In response to the false teaching of the Arians, Emperor assembled a Council in A.D. 325 to settle the matter and produced the Creed.
Problem Number: 27
Student Grade: F (0%)
A is an archbishop who ruled a province of the Roman Church.
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