1/24/12
1
• Monarchy (tradi2onally, 753-‐509 BC): -‐ 7 kings, star2ng with Romulus (but also a senate)
-‐ Last few Kings were Etruscan -‐ Ends when Tarquin the Proud is kicked out -‐ trad. date 509 BC for founding of the Republic
• True? Specifics are legend, but, yes, there were kings. • Traces of Monarchy: – Regia (king’s house) – Rex Sacrorum (king of sacred rites) a priesthood in the Republic
• Meanwhile in Greece: Homer & lyric poets like Sappho
Early Republic (c. 509 to 264 BC) (res publica = commonwealth)
-‐ supreme power shared by annually elected officials -‐ constant ext. struggle among small Italian city-‐states -‐ constant internal class struggle over poli2cal power -‐ military and econ. decline a\er end of monarchy
• NB: kingdom and early Rep. not well known. Few historical sources & many legends, later distor2ons.
• Roman literature only begins in 3rd cent. BC,
• Meanwhile in Greece: Fi\h century = Athenian Golden Age, Classical period of democracy, Greek tragedy, & Athenian hegemony.
1/24/12
2
Middle Republic (c.264 – 133 BC)
• huge growth, and crea2on of “Roman Empire” as we know it. Rome mistress of Italy by 260s, and then dominates West. and East. Med.
• establishes internal poli2cal equilibrium between classes (but precarious)
• Meanwhile in Greece:
• Hellenis2c Age-‐ compe2ng dynas2es all over East, figh2ng over pieces of Alexander the Great’s conquests.
Late Republic (c.133-‐31 BC)
• Con2nued external expansion in all direc2ons • but paradoxically: internal chaos at Rome. Assassina2ons, violence, poli2cally sanc2oned murder, bribery, revolt, and civil war…
• End of Rep. as we know it in 31 BC, when young warlord Octavian (aka Augustus), wins civil war against Mark Antony (and Cleopatra)
• Easily best-‐known period, mass of documenta2on -‐-‐ above all speeches and lehers, some2mes daily, of R’s greatest orator, Cicero (105-‐43)
1/24/12
3
Principate / Empire
• Begins some2me around 31 BC when Octavian (aka Augustus) gains control
• named a\er rule of one man: chief ci2zen (princeps = first)
• Republic Restored?? Remember: central ins2tu2ons of Republican gov’t s2ll exist—s2ll consuls and a senate
• Western Roman Empire lasts un2l 5th cent. AD and Eastern half, even longer
Figures and sta2s2cs—
• Popula2on of the city of Rome under Augustus—about 1,000,000
• Popula2on of Roman Empire at death of Augustus—about 54,000,000
Possibly 1/5 of all humans then alive lived in the territory of the Roman Empire.
• Literacy rate—maybe 15-‐20%?
• Percentage of the pop. in slavery ca. 30%
1/24/12
4
Two founda2on stories combined: • 1) Romulus, Remus, Alba Longa, and She-‐Wolf
• 2) A\er Troy fell (1184, tradi2onal date), Aeneas leads survivors to La2um. War with La2ns, then merges with them. -‐ Aeneas’ link to Rome standard by at least 3rd cent. B.C.
-‐ Combined with Romulus and Remus myth: R+R supposedly descendants of Aeneas and his new, La2n wife.
Aeneas’ route from Troy to La2um-‐ as told by Vergil
1/24/12
5
Greek depic2ons of Aeneas carrying his father out of Troy
Apc Black-‐Figure Vase ca. 520 BC Apc Red-‐Figure Vase 5th cent. BC
Coin minted by Julius Caesar ca. 46 BC
Aeneas rescues both father and the Palladium (sacred cult-‐statue of Athena) from burning Troy.
FYI: Julius Caesar traced his ancestry back to Aeneas…
Terracoha statue from 1st cent. AD (Pompeii)
1/24/12
6
Aeneas rescuing father, son, and Troy’s sacred emblems -‐painted by Federico Barrocci in 1598 AD -‐now displayed in Villa Borghese
Aeneas leaving Troy sculpted by Bernini c. 1619 (now housed in Villa Borghese)
1/24/12
7
The Problem of 753 BC
• April 21st 753 BC
But Fall of Troy supposedly 1184 BC Gap way too large –invent kings of Alba Longa
So: -‐ Trojan hero Aeneas founds Lavinium -‐ his son, Ascanius (or Iulus), founds Alba Longa -‐ genera2ons later, his descendants, Romulus and Remus, found Rome -‐ Rome destroys Alba (convenient)
TroyLaviniumAlba LongaRome
Why would it appeal to early Romans to be linked to Trojan Aeneas?
• link to Homeric past, but not Greek. • if Troy = start of history and of Rome, then history and Rome = co-‐extensive
• tale of assimila0on -‐-‐ na2ves and outcasts mixed to produce something drama2cally new (like Romulus’ asylum).
Fits with the real problems of incorpora2ng so many new ci2zens during conquest of Italy.
1/24/12
8
Why don’t we buy Livy’s version?
• Clearly– the fabulous, supernatural nature of many parts of the story.
• Nature of historiography at Rome not same as ours. Focused on using history to instruct with good and bad examples.
• Alterna2on of good and bad kings is too neat • The names look made up: Rom. > Rome; Numa > numen (divine power); Servius > servus (slave); Tarquinius > Tarquinii (an Etruscan town)
1/24/12
9
• Before the kings: ~ 950 = Iron Age • First substan2al sehlement in Rome: huts on Pala2ne and Esquiline Hills
Etruscans arrive from the East around 700 BC
1/24/12
10
Etruscan Civiliza2on
Effects of Etruscan influence at Rome
• Metal working techniques • Arts • Urban planning • Commercial network • Cra\smen, merchants, builders, religious experts • ... And kings (last 3 kings) • ROME: -‐ Est. poli2cal and commercial center of city: forum -‐ Est. religious center on Capitoline Hill: Capitolium
1/24/12
11
Cloaca Maxima emp2es into Tiber Greatest Sewer, built ca. 600 BC?
19th cent. pain2ng
Odd collec2on of graffi2 near modern-‐day cloaca maxima
1/24/12
12
Capitoline Hill Citadel & Religious center
• Capitoline triad: • Jupiter, Juno, Minerva
• JOP = Jupiter Op0mus Maximus
• Jupiter Greatest & Best
1/24/12
13
Archaeology: Conclusions
• ~ 950 first sehlements in Rome • 625 Etruscans in Rome
• By ~ 500 Rome had its shape, like Greek and Etruscan towns:
• Temples, markets, shops, streets and drains
• Public spaces to gather for poli2cs, religious fes2vi2es, sport
• Very primi2ve, not (yet) marbled Rome
Servius “the mixer” Tullius (578-‐535)
• Tribes • Army
• Temple of Diana
1/24/12
14
In 509 BC: Expulsion of Tarquinius Superbus = expulsion of Hipparchus (last of tyrants in Athens)
-‐Both revolts triggered by sexual assault
-‐Tarquin Colla2nus (good guy) exiled from Rome just for his name.
-‐ Hipparchos son of Charmos (good guy) exiled from Athens just for his name.
N.B. -‐Hipparchus son of Charmos from Kollutos -‐ Tarquin Colla2nus from from Colla=a…
-‐Too exact a synchrony to be real? Historical plagiarism? Conscious emula2on of Athenian model?
Greek contamina2on of Roman archaic history?