History IDs Chapter 4-5

Start Studying!

Terms

undefined, object

copy deck

The Second Punic War: 218-202 BCE Carthage captured the town of Sagunum and refused surrender, forcing Rome to declare war. Rome lost almost every battle against Carthage's general Hannibal. Finally instead of facing their army rome decided to invade Spain and cut off Carthage's reinforcements. This straegy worked and rome conquered spain and moved onto Africa. Carthage was allowed to survive-stripped from its land and navy and Rome came out the ruler of the western Mediterranean.
Patricians and Plebeians: From the start the roman society was split into two classes. The patricians who were considered to be the upper class could serve as priests, senators and magistrate. The plebeians were the commoners- farmers, laborers and artisans. The wealth did not define the class, some plebeians were rich and more patricians could be poor.
Barbarian Invasions: in the third century the pressure on Roman frontiers reached massive proportions. On the east side Sassians raided deep into the empire and captured the Roman emperor Valerian. ON the western and northern borders seminomadic german tribes (Goths) attacked the Roman borders. Because Rome was internally weak, it was attacked on multple fronts and the military training was not as good as it was before. Manpower shortage forced slaves gladiators and barbarians to enlist.
Tiberius Gracchus: 133BCE he proposed a land reform legislation in which he suggested the land would be taken from the rich and redistributed it among the poor. There was a lot of opposition to this proposal. The wealthy senators would be hurt by this passage and many feared that Tiberius would win a popular following that will give him too much power. When he put this bill up, M. Octavius vetoed it. Tiberus then virtually eliminated the checks and balance of rome's constitution by voting Octavius out of office and eliminating his veto. Tiberius knew he would not have senatorial support so he drafted a harsher bill that was more appealing to the masses. He proposed using revenue from a kingdom to finance implementation of land reforms which was a second assault on the constitution because the Senate conrolled romes finance and foreign affairs no the tribunal office. He then announced he was going to run for reelection because he knew he was in personal danger. His enemies killed him and his followers. His tribunate permanently changed the practice of politics in rome, he had shown how the tribunate could be used to evade senatorial dominance. He appealed directly to the people.
The consuls: Two consuls were elected by the magistrate from a patrician family annually and like the former kings had the power to lead an army, oversee state religion and were judges. A consul was not a king because he only held the office for a year and had a colleague with the same powers. If consuls could not agree on issues like war, a dictator would be elected. The dictators term of office however was only 6 months. As Rome grew and wars became longer it was nessecary to have a longer term so in 325 it was decided to create proconsulship to extend terms of consuls who has important work to finish.
The Struggle of the Orders: plebeian did not have any political rights and the law was passed down orally by patricians who dominated assemblies and the Senate and refused to marry outside their class which was resented by wealthy plebeians. The tension between two classes grew and plebeians pushed for reforms, they withdrew from the city and refused to fight in until they were granted concession. The plebeians formed a political organization of their own and elected tribunes who were officials with power to protect plebeians from abuse of the patricians. The tribunes could veto any action of the magistrate or any bill in a roman assembly or senate. Through their demands the law was published in 450 BCE and the plebeians got the right to marry patricians and gradually all offices were available to them.
Roman policy toward the conquered: - when conquering a city the romans did not destroy it, and some were even given citizenship and some municipal privileges. The treaties varied from city to city, some were given Latin right to intermarry, some were not. From some the land was taken but not from others. The romans planted colonies of veteran soldiers to deter rebellion. The Romans were known for rapid and harsh punishment of their enemies, but also generosity to those who submitted.
Rome as a Center of the Early Church-: the bishops of the city of Rome began to claim primacy because since it was the capital of the empire and had the largest single congregation of Christians of any city.
Gallic Invasion: gauls from the Po Valey marched south and routed the roman army and burned the city. The romans fled and had to pay a ransom to get the land back. A league was formed dedicated to resisting the roman dominance but was defeated and rome offered the terms that set precedents leading to unification of Italy
Development of Autocracy: because the government was facing a crisis it drifted toward total military mobilization. The traditions were suppressed to improve efficiency. Emperors consulted only a few officials that they themselves appointed. To prevent assassination they distanced themselves from the people and appeared in public wearing crowns and lavish robes. People addressed them as dominus (lord) a title that implied their authority and was divinely based. Constantine built a city called Constantinople which marked the start of a new empire which embraces Christianity and autocracy.
The triumph of Christianity: third century the pagan deities seemed less and less effective as the problems of the empire mounted and the traditional state cults were closely linked to the fading civic life Rome's declining cities. Many new religions appeared and old ones were combines and reinterpreted. Manichaeism offered early Christianity stiff competition. Manichaean interpreted human history as a war between light and dark forces, good and evil. The human soul was an element of light that was trapped in the human body. To achieve salvation individuals had to overcome the desires of flesh. This religion persisted into the Middle Ages. Although Christianity drew much from the eastern cults no other religion had its universal appeal
Propertuis: Propertuis joined vergil and Horace in the poetic circle and wrote elegies that were renowned for their grace and wit.
Vergil: 70-19 BCE most important Augustan poet. Transformed the ealy greek's poet's praise of labor into hymn to the human enterprise.
The emperors 14-180 CE: Augustus transefered his power behind the scenes to his chief surviving male relative, stepson Tiberius 14-37. Romans were getting used to the new order so there was less reason to conceal the power and the term imperator began to be used as a title of someone who is related to Julius Caesar. The throne was passed down to his nephew Caligula and then to his uncle Cladius who left it to Nero. Nero mismanaged his affairs, lost the army and commited suicide which ended the Julio- Claudian dynasty. The power was changed hands rapidly until Vespasian(69-79) who restored order and founded the Flavian dynasty. The dynasty ended with the murder of Domitian and Nerva(96-98)was elected and was the first of a line called "good emperors". The power of the dynasty was always passed down to a son and provided a century of peace and competent government
Imperial persecution: At first the roman emperors ignored Christianity but as the empire's problems increased and the Christians became more numerous and visible rulers were less tolerant of them. When Christians refused to sacrifice to the state gods Decius tried to purge them from the empire. The persecution continued party because of the desire to confiscate the wealth of rich Christians. The number of Christians increased and so did the hostility. Extreme actions horrified the pagans which aroused sympathy and created more followers. Eventually an edit was issued of toleraton legitimating Christian worship. And a ear later Constantine converted to Christianty to celebrate his conquest of the western empire.
Hellenized Education: Greeks had profound influence in the Roman education in the third century BCE. The greek teachers introduced the study of language, literature, philospphy and humanitas to the romans. Rhetoric was of great use in political life an legal issues. Roman education becme more formal and organized. In stead of homeschooloing boys attended elementary, in which they spoke in Greek and wrote on waed tablets and learned math. A few travaled abroad to work with the Greek teachers. Upper class girls received basic education. They were taught at home by tutors, some became prose writers and poets but that was uncommon.
The Emergence of Catholicism: first century the simple beliefs were open to a wide range of interpretations and left a lot of questions unanswered which threatened the church internally as persecution threatened it externally. It was nesesary to define orthodoxy to combat heresy. The church agreed on particular scriptures and called them orthodox. The church drew up creeds and bishops made sure the community followed those statements.
Horace: 65-8 was the son of a freedman and wrote many satires and odes. He transformed latin into the forms of greek verse
The Persecution of Christians: first century At first the roman authorities could not distinguish between the Christians and the Jews and gave them the same tolerance. Both religions raises suspisions when they refused to believe in the pagan gods and participate in the state cult of emperor worship. Unlike the Jews, Christians had passionate missionaries that were dedicated to spreading their belief. Claudius expelled Christians from Rome but the Roman authorities did not initiate attacks on Christians, most of the early persecution was done by mobs. When something bad happened to the community it was easy to blame Christians for not following the cults. This only strengthened the church by weeding out the weak and uniting the faithful and creating martyrs- the most persuasive witnesses to the power of Christian Faith
Ariansm: Priest named Arius of Aleandria (280-336 CE) insisted that christ was the first of God the Father's creations and the being through whom the Father created all other things, he was neither fully man nor God but something in between. He was opposed by Christians who believed that God is a unity of three equal persons (Father, Son and Holy Spirit). Arius believed that that was thinly veiled polytheism. His simply and rational explanation had great appeal. Christianity had the power to divide as well as to unite.
First Punic War: 264-241 romans built a fleet to blockade the Carthaginian ports at the western end of Sicily. It captured Sicily and the islands in between. The additional territory caused serious problems because the Romans felt that it was impossible to treat distant foreigners like they had treated their neighbors. They turned Sicily Sardinia and Corsica into provinces that were controlled by military governors. Rome made no effort to oversee the conduct of these men and these provinces were neighter citizens nor allies but were subjects who paid tribute. While this was happening Carthage was on the road to recovery. It expanded north into Spain and romans, alarmed, proposing a treaty that obligated Carthage not to expand past Ebro River and in return rome would grant Carthage a free hand in the south. Romans broke the treaty by allying with Sagunum.
Gaius Grachus: 123 BCE Became a tribune.He renewed efforts to redistribute public land. He undercut his opponents by putting the senators and the equestrians against each other. In 122 he was reelected (which became legal) and increased his number of supporters and suggested extending citizenship to Rome's Italian allies. When he wasnt elected for the third term he and 3000 of his followers were murdered. His death convinced the populares that they had to find some way to match the Senates violence
Decline and Fall of the Empire in the West: In the 5th century-Soil, exhaustion, plague, climate change and poisoning caused by lead pipes were contributing causes. The growth of the Roman empire was fueled by conquests . Romans overextended themselves and as the pressure from outsiders grew, Romans could not find resourses needed to fend off their enemies.
Christian Writers: In the third century Christian literature was abounded. The writers used poetry and prose to explain Christian practices to pagans and wrote sermons hymns and biblical commentaried for their own use. Jerome created the Vulgate which was the latin translation of the Bible that became the standard text for the Catholic Church. One of the most important writers was Augustine who explained the course of history as a complex interaction between the secular, the "city of Man" and the spiritual, the "City of God". The fall of Rome was not surprising or significant because it was a part of the City of Man, which were corrupt and immoral. Only the City of God was immortal because it was the true church.
The Etruscans: People who's language was not Italic appeared in Etruria in 800 BCE. Had connection with asia minor and the middle east, they held power over the native Italians. They worshiped human like gods under the greek influence and had aristocratic council as a form of government. The communities were independent, self-governing city states loosely linked in a religious confederation. The Etruscan domination spread but the independent cheiftans did not want to work together and the celts from gaul pushed them back and the cities lost their independence. The Etruscan women appeared in public, could read and write, participated in althletic contests and attended banquets. The Etruscan culture had a profound effect on Rome. The Roman religion was very influenced by the Etruscan and women had more liberty.
The conquest of Italy: Romans used inducements and threats to compromise with their foes and turned enemies into allies who joined the Roman army. When land was conquered it was redistributed to the poor so they could afford to equip themselves for military service. The roman army was successful in defeating the Etruscans in 392 and doubled its size.
The Senate and the Assembly: he Senate was continuously in session in the Roman Republic. Prominent patricians were senators and controlled the states finances and foreign policy. Early republic's most important popular assembly was the centuriate assembly- roman army when it was deliberating rather than fighting. The centurate assembly elected consuls and magistrates, voted on bills, made decisions of war and peace and served as court for citizens with serious crimes.
Jesus of Nazareth: Christianity first appeared in Judaea. It spread through a man called Jesus from Nazareth. Jesus was borth during the reign of augustus. And was believed to be a messiah. He taught that he would not establish an earthly kingdom but would end the world at the Day of Judgement. God will reward the righteous and punish the wicked. He advised the faithful to forget wordly ambitions and practice love charity and humanity. Jesus won a considerable following but criticism of cultic practices provoked hostility and the roman governor concluded that Jesus was a threat to peace and ordered his crucifixion at 30CE. Jesus followers claim that he rose from the dead 3 days after his crucifiction.
Ovid: The only poet whom Augustus did not like. His poems celebrated loose sexual mores. After publishing his book he was exiled to a remote region on the empire.
Cicero: 106 43 BCE he was the most important Roman literary figure of the late republic. Wrote about rhetorics, ethics and politics and fostered Latin and the medium for philosophical debate. He believed the world was governed by natural law that human reason could understand and use to build civilized institutions. His respect for law custom and tradition of stability and liberty led him to take over the senate and feeling threatened Mark Antony marked him for execution
Paul of Tarsus: was most important missionary at work on spreading Christianity. He was originally a member of a Jewish sect know for strict laws, and and an opponent to Christianity. For some reason he converted to Christianity and saw it as the new universal religion. Jesus and his deciples were all Jewish and believed that Christians should continue to go by Jewish law, unlike them Paul believed the Jewish law in Christianity would pose as an obstacle to conversion. Hi advocacy of a gentle mission is what made Christianity spread. He believed that salvation could not be earned by believing and doing good deeds but true faith was a gift of God's grace not an act of human will.

Start Studying!

Deck Info

Number of cards 31