ANCIENT ROME

DO NOW

• Turn to a new page in your notebooks and title it “Unit 2: Ancient Rome”

• Write the following OBJECTIVE in your notes underneath:• Evaluate how Rome’s central location and geographic features

made it a desirable location from which to expand

DO NOW• Read the following quote from the historian Livy, in his work, The Early

History of Rome, about the cite of Rome, then answer the questions• Not without reason did gods and men choose this spot for the cite of

our city—the healthy hills, the river to bring us produce from the inland regions and sea-borne commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near enough for convenience yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation in the very heart of Italy—all these advantages make it of all places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great.

• What is the main idea of this quote?• What arguments does Livy point out to support his argument?

OBJECTIVE

• Evaluate how Rome’s central location and geographic features made it a desirable location from which to expand

ITALY

• Peninsula extending 750 miles from north to south• Not very wide, averaging 120

miles across

THE IMPACT OF GEOGRAPHY

• Alps fairly easy to cross

• Italy easily accessible by other peoples in Europe

• Italy had more land for farming

• Enabled large population

• Rome’s location inland on the Tiber River very favorable

• Gave Rome a route to the sea, but was far enough away from it to be safe from pirates

• Rome built on seven hills

• Made it easy to defend

• Italian peninsula juts into Mediterranean Sea

• Made it important crossroads between western and eastern Mediterranean

• After Romans established their empire around the Mediterranean, easier to govern because of its location

ITALY VS. GREECE

Italy Greece

• Poor in mineral resources and lacking useful harbors

• Huge amount of fertile land and precipitation• Larger population• Mountains easier to cross• Agrarian (farming) people• Easily accessible from Europe to the north• Romans had no buffer civilization: constant

conflict on the Italian peninsula caused Italians to become military society early in their history

• Rich in mineral resources and useful harbors• Poor in fertile land• Lived behind huge mountain range• Trading people• Fairly cut off from rest of world• Warlike population to the north (the

Macedonians) served as buffer between themselves and other Europeans

FOUNDING OF ROME

• LEGEND:

• According to Roman legend, city of Rome was founded in 753 BCE by Romulus and Remus

• Twin sons of the god Mars and a Latin princess

• They were abandoned on the Tiber River as infants and raised by a she-wolf

• Decided to build a city near the spot where they were abandoned

• WHAT REALLY HAPPENED:

• Rome developed because of its strategic location and its fertile soil

• Indo-European peoples moved into Italy from about 1500 BC to 1000 BC

• Built on 7 rolling hills at a curve on the Tiber River, near center of Italian peninsula

• Midway between Alps and Italy’s southern tip

• Near the midpoint of the Mediterranean Sea

PEOPLES OF ITALY

Group: About Them: Contributed to Rome:

Latins• Wandered into Italy across Alps around

1000 BCE• Lived in region of LatiumSpoke Latin• Herders and farmers lived in

settlements on top of one of Rome’s hills: called Palatine Hill

• First Romans• Built original settlement of Rome

Greeks• Between 750 and 600 BCE, established

50 colonies on coasts of southern Italy and Sicily

• Cities became prosperous and commercially active

• Cultivated olives and grapes• Passed on their alphabet• Gave religious ideas to Romans• Gave Romans artistic and cultural

models through sculpture, architecture, and literature

Etruscans• Native to northern Italy

• Region of Etruria• Skilled metalworkers and engineers• Came to control Rome and most of

Latium after 650 BCE

• Had largest influence on early development of Rome

• Found Rome a village and turned it into a city

• Influenced Rome’s architecture, especially the use of the arch

• Gave religious ideas to Romans• Romans adopted Etruscan dress: toga

and short cloak• Roman army also borrowed its

organization from Etruscans

THE EARLY REPUBLIC• 600 BCE: Etruscan became king

• Etruscan kings helped Rome grow from collection of hilltop villages to city that covered nearly 500 square miles

• Various kings ordered construction of Rome’s first temples and public buildings

• Swampy valley below Palatine Hill was drained, making public meeting place

• Later became the Forum, the heart of Roman political life

• Last king of Rome was Tarquin the Proud

• Harsh tyrant driven from power in 509 BCE

• Roman aristocrats (wealthy landowners who resented Etruscan king) overthrew him

• Romans declared they would never again be ruled by a king

• Established new government

• Called it a republic

• Form of government in which power rests with citizens who have the right to vote to select their leaders

• In Rome, citizenship with voting rights granted only to free-born male citizens

WAR AND CONQUEST• At the beginning of the republic, Rome surrounded by enemies

• For next 200 years, city engaged in continuous warfare

• 338 BC, Rome crushed Latin states

• Next 50 years, Rome waged war against people from central Appennines

• By 264 BCE, Romans had overcome Greeks and completed conquest of Southern Italy

• After defeating remaining Etruscan states to north, Rome had conquered virtually all of Italy

• To rule Italy, Romans devised the Roman Confederation

• Under this system, Rome allowed some peoples, especially Latins, to have full Roman citizenship

• Most remaining communities made allies who remained free to run local affairs but required to provide soldiers for Rome

• Loyal allies could improve their status and become Roman citizens

SUCCESSFUL STRATEGIES

• Romans believed characteristics of their ancestors made them successful

• Duty, courage, discipline

• Stories by historian Livy about Cincinnatus

• Romans good diplomats

• Smart in extending citizenship and allowing states to run own affairs

• Romans excelled in military matters

• Accomplished and persistent soldiers

• Brilliant strategists

• Built colonies (fortified towns) in conquered areas connected by roads so Romans could move troops quickly

• Practical in law and politics

• Did not try to build an ideal government but created political institutions in response to problems as they arose

FOR HOMEWORK…

• Print out a copy of your group’s information handout from my website• Create an Edmodo account and join my class• If you do not already have one, create a Gmail email

account.• Directions for doing both of these will be posted as a

Homework Assignment on my website