Date post: | 21-Dec-2015 |
Category: |
Documents |
View: | 219 times |
Download: | 0 times |
The Romans and Empire
• All aspects of Roman civilization influenced by its imperial ambitions: its ambition to rule over a large part of the world
Romans were borrowers
• From the Etruscans (Northwest) they borrowed: urban planning, chariot racing, the toga, the arch
• From the Greeks (South) they borrowed: pantheon of gods and goddesses, literary principles, classical style
Roman Republic
• 509 (overthrow of Etruscans)-30 B.C.E. (Augustus)
• The “Republic” refers to the time when Rome develops a government res publica (“of the people”)
Republic: Government
• Popular Assembly= plebeians
• Senate=patricians, at first the only lawmakers, but then plebeians make laws too beginning in 287 B.C.E.
• Magistrates=consuls (2 of them)
Punic Wars: Rome vs. Phoenicians
• 147 B.C.E. Destruction of Carthage
• Roman extends power all over the western Mediterranean: thus the Roman Republic had control over an empire
Julius Caesar
• 46 B.C.E. Gaius Julius Caesar, an army commander, establishes dictatorship
• His famous account of his conquests of Syria, Asia Minor, and Egypt: “Veni, vidi, vici”
• Julian calendar: 365 days• 44 B.C.E assassinated by senators led by
Marcus Junius Brutus
Octavian
• Power struggles follow Julius Caesar’s death: Mark Anthony vs. Octavian (Anthony’s grandnephew and adopted son)
• 43 B.C.E.: Senate grants Octavian power to rule for life
Octavian: a guy with many names
• He called himself princeps (“first citizen”)
• The Senate called him Augustus (“the Revered One”)
• As Rome’s top army general, he was imperator (emperor)
Roman Empire
• 30 B.C.E – 476 C.E.
• “Empire” refers to the time when Rome is ruled by the emperor, rather than having a government res publica
30 B.C.E. – 180 C.E. Pax Romana
• The Roman Peace: stability and commerce
• The “Good Emperors” (96-180 C.E.): Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius, Marcus Aurelius– So stable that we don’t have much history from
parts of this era
Marcus Aurelius, 160-80 CE
• A Stoic philosopher• Author of Meditations
(in Greek)• Fought against
Germanic uprising• Last of the 5 “Good
Emperors”
From Meditations
• “approach each action as though it were your last”
• “we are all fellow-citizens and share a common citizenship, and . . . the world is a single city”
• “A little flesh, a little breath, and a Reason to rule all—that is myself”
Commodus, 180-192
• 5th son of Marcus Aurelius
• Brought end to “Good Emperors”
• A tyrant who played at gladiatorial combat
• Murdered while bathing by an athlete who conspired with Commodus’s mistress
The Romans were efficient conquerors
• See Josephus, p. 133
– Description of Roman army camp: see Gladiator
Rome & China
• Traded indirectly through Silk Road
• 97 CE, China sent ambassador to Rome; he reached Mesopotamia but was informed that the journey to Rome would take 2 more years; so he returned home
• 166 CE, Marcus Aurelius sent envoys directly to China
The Romans were efficient administrators
• when Rome conquered a territory, they permitted the local customs and even local government system to continue
• they took from the territories: taxes, soldiers, slaves
• they gave to the territories: Latin language, Roman law, infrastructure (roads, bridges, aqueducts), and citizenship
Roman Law
• Latin jus: “law; justice”
• Roman law vs. Greek law– Greek law: developed from the Greek citizen’s
relationship to the polis– Roman law: developed from the practical need
to administer a world-state
3 Kind of Roman Law
• Jus civile (law of the land): applied to Roman citizens only
• Just gentium (law of the people): applied to all people under Roman rule: international, attuned to diverse cultures and traditions
• Jus naturale (law of nature): universal principles underlying the law of the people
Romans were practical thinkers
• Romans absorbed Hellenic and Hellenistic philosophy
• Stoicism was particularly popular because it suited the cosmopolitan spirit of the Empire
Some tenets of Stoicism
• Providence/Divine Reason governs world
• reason over emotion
• accepting one’s fate, one’s duty
• belief in equality of all people—a universal vision
Stoicism: examples
• Seneca, On Tranquility of Mind (ca. 40 C.E.) – Correct estimate of self, choosing tasks
accordingly; wise choice of companions; avoiding excessive wealth
• Cicero, On Duty (44 B.C.E.)
--self-possession, Aristotelian Mean
Roman literature reflected imperial culture
• Virgil’s Aeneid (20 B.C.E)– A literary (rather than oral) epic– Aeneas, our hero, journeys from Troy to Italy– Trojans conquer Latium and establish Roman
state– Stoic philosophy reflected in Aeneid: see
reading (p. 140-41).
Roman art is realistic
• Mosaic
• Trompe l’oeil (“fool the eye”)
• Still life
• Empirical perspective
Romans were practical builders
• Methods: Arch, Vault, Dome
• Material: Concrete; marble veneer
• Structures: – Practical: Aqueducts, Bridges, Roads– Pleasure: Colosseum, Baths (the largest
structures in ancient Rome were for pleasure: pleasure was practical for social control)
Pantheon
• Combines concrete construction with Greek style
• Vitruvian proportion: distance from floor to apex of dome = diameter of rotunda