Rome and the Barbarians The Rise and Dismemberment of Empire 750 b.c.e – 500 b.c.e.

Chapter

Fourth Edition

THE WORLD’S HISTORYTHE WORLD’S HISTORY

Copyright ©2010, ©2006 by Pearson Education, Inc.All rights reserved.

The World’s History, Fourth EditionHoward Spodek

Rome and the BarbariansRome and the BarbariansThe Rise and The Rise and Dismemberment of EmpireDismemberment of Empire750 b.c.e – 500 b.c.e.750 b.c.e – 500 b.c.e.

6



Rome and the Barbarians

• At height, 2nd century C.E., Roman Empire contained 70-100 million people in an empire reaching 2,700 miles east to west and 2,500 miles north to south

• Rome enforced Pax Romana across empire

• Contemporaries praised it for promoting peace and prosperity while critics claimed Pax Romana was brute military conquest



From Hill Town to Republic

• The Founding of the Roman Republic– Founded in 753 B.C.E. [in legend]– Ruled for 250 years by Etrurians [Etruscans]– Republic created in 509 B.C.E. when upper-

class Romans drove Etruscans out of city– New republican government had two

consuls and a Senate using a system of checks and balances







From Hill Town to Republic

• Conquest of Italy 396–264 B.C.E.– Punic Wars

Rivalry of Carthage First Punic War 264–241 B.C.E.; Roman

conquest of Sicily Second Punic War 219–202 B.C.E.• The threat of Hannibal (247–183 B.C.E.)

Third Punic War 149–146 B.C.E.; destruction of Carthage

– Conquests in Europe and Near East





Social World of the Late Republic

• Social War and extension of Roman citizenship to Italians

• Patron/client relationship

– Protection/dependence as social glue• Family

– Power of paterfamilias

– Position of women in Roman society




• Struggle of the Orders 494–440 B.C.E.

– Patrician v. plebeian

– Limitations on absolute power of the rich




• The late Republican struggle between nobles and the poor (cont.)– Extremes of wealth and poverty in Rome– Great reform effort: the Gracchi (130s and

120s B.C.E.) New violence of Roman politics Support of poor as political strategy Noble/poor conflict paved way for end of

Republic




• “Bread and circuses”

• Slaves– Very widespread slavery– Three great slave revolts



Military Might

• A. Militarism = central to Roman ideology

• Generals as politicians– Marian reform of army: recruitment of

propertyless soldiers– New dependence of soldiers on their generals



Military Might

• First Triumvirate– Rise of G. Julius Caesar– Conquest of Gaul– Caesar as dictator

• Octavian - Antony civil war for sole control of Roman state



From Republic to Empire

• Establishment of the principate

– Octavian (Augustus Caesar) as sole ruler 30 B.C.E.–14 C.E. Rule of Augustus as “golden age”

– Augustus as imperator– Further conquests







From Republic to Empire

• Economic life in the Empire

– Exploitation of subject peoples

– The problem of decadence

– Flourishing of trade and administrative cities

– Luxury trade and its profits





Roman Culture

• The deep influence of Greece

• Virgil and the rhetoric of greatness

• Stoicism



Roman Culture

• Roman religion

– Greco-Roman polytheism

– Addition of a cult of deified emperorsAddition of mystery religionsMithraismCybele, Isis

– Tolerance of all religions that weren’t harmful to the state









Roman Culture

• Roman religion (cont.)

–Triumph of ChristianityPersecutionConstantine and the Peace of the Church

Outlawing of polytheism 394 C.E.



Transformation of the Roman Empire

• The problem of “barbarians”– Celts

Arrival in Europe c. 2000 B.C.E. Expansion/threat to Mediterranean c. 400

B.C.E. on Defeats by Romans

– Germans Many conflicts along long frontier Gradual settlement of Germanic tribes within

western Empire




• The problem of “barbarians”

– Steppe peoples, especially HunsHuns upset balance of borders c. 370

C.E.Move of Goths into imperial territory to

escape Huns






• Dismemberment of Empire– Plague– Third-century crisis: series of invasions– Division into eastern and western empires– Settlement of Germans within Empire as

“federates”– 410 sack of Rome– 476 abdication of last western emperor




• Causes for the “fall”

– Military = too expensive for its economic base

– No fixed system of imperial succession

– Germans





Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire)

• Survival of eastern empire

• Resurgence under Justinian I (r. 527–565 C.E.)

– Justinian Code

– Reconquest of much of the West



Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire)

• Religious Disputes

– Monophysites

– Iconoclasm

• Build-up of strong Byzantine bureaucracy





Legacy of the Roman Empire

• Linguistic

• Legal

• Urban

• Transformation of Roman administration by Christian church

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Rome and the Barbarians The Rise and Dismemberment of Empire 750 b.c.e – 500 b.c.e.

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