History Ancient Rome Reading Guide and Essay Question
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- • Name and describe two Jewish movements that emerged in response to Roman rule.
- • Zealots: resolute in the worship of Yahweh and determined to get rid of the Roman yoke. • Messianic/apocalyptic group: People believed that the Messiah would destroy the Roman Empire and usher in a period of happiness and plenty for the Jews.
- Why might it be considered ironic that most of the olive oil consumed by the western part of the Roman empire came from North Africa and Spain?
- The Roman colonists introduced olive-growing to those regions.
- • Why was Rome initially more inclined to trade with Spain and Carthage [western Mediterranean] than with places located in the eastern Mediterranean?
- The Apennines run the entire length of the Italian peninsula, virtually cutting off access to the Adriatic Sea.
- • Why did the Church leaders no longer permit Christians to study the ancient Roman writers?
- The ancient Roman writers were pagans, and the church leaders did not want their followers to learn pagan superstitions.
- In which way did the philosophy of the Stoics influence Roman law-making? [Note: Before answering this question, look at the reading-guide for Greece to remind yourself about the Stoics.]
- Roman jurists favored the Stoic notion that all men are brothers and are, therefore, subject to "natural law," a universal law that could be applied to all societies.
- • Who was Vespasian?
- Vespasian was the general who restored order in Rome after the chaos that followed the death of Nero [70 C.E.] By establishing the Flavian dynasty, he turned the principate into a monarchy.
- • Which people founded Carthage in North Africa?
- Phoenicians
- Why is it misleading to think that all four rulers in the Diocletian's Tetrarchy enjoyed equal power?
- Diocletian was clearly the senior authority.
- What did the Romans call the areas into which it divided its empire?
- Provinces.
- • Kingdom
- 753-510 BCE
- • How did the Senate provide stability and continuity for the early Roman republic?
- The Senate sat year after year; magistrates annually.
- • Why did Constantine build the city of Constantinople?
- • The emperors could not defend Rome and the Western part of the empire from the barbarian invasions.
- What is a "paterfamilias?"
- The "paterfamilias" was the oldest dominant male of the family. He held nearly absolute power over the lives of his wife and children as long as he lived.
- • Plebeians
- artisans, small farmers, and landless urban dwellers.
- • Patricians
- wealthy landowners who controlled all political power.
- Describe the three strategies that Rome used to defeat Carthage during the Second Punic War.
- • Rome imitated Hannibal's mobile warfare by wresting Spain from Carthage's control.
- • Why did Christianity at first appeal so strongly to women?
- Christianity gave women more rights than they could expect from either paganism or Judaism. For women, Christianity was a source of liberation.
- • Who were the "tribunes?"
- The "tribunes" were the representatives of the plebeians.
- Why did the Romans invade and occupy Macedonia and Greece during the Second Punic War?
- To punish the king of Macedonia, who, during the Second Punic War, had made an alliance with Carthage.
- 5) Pax Romana
- a. Religious tradition ex lord's suppera. nations or states or empires
- • The Greeks are best known for their cultural and intellectual achievements. For what are the Romans best known?
- Politics and law.
- Why was Plato's Academy of Athens closed in 529 CE
- The emperor, Justinian, prohibited pagans from holding position in public education.
- How did Roman agriculture contribute to the arrangement of medieval manors?
- Latifundia were amassed by the great landlords when the tenant farmers were killed or abandoned farms that had been ravaged in the fighting of the third century C.E; these latifundia were the forerunners of medieval manors.
- • What were the "latifundia?"
- Huge estates
- 2) Language
- Latin French, Spanish, Italian
- Why might it be considered ironic that Jesus was born in Galilee?
- Galilee was the stronghold of the Zealots, who were determined to overthrow the Romes in Judaea, even if it meant resorting to violent means.
- Why did the "barbarization" of the Roman army undermine the strength, values, and traditions of the Roman empire during the third century?
- The barbarians in the Roman army were indifferent to Rome and its traditions.
- • Which of the Stoics ideas probably influenced Paul's views about Christianity?
- The Stoic concept of the unity of Mankind.
- • Though all conquered peoples did not receive the right to vote or hold office, how could they receive full Roman citizenship?
- By moving to Rome.
- • Empire
- 27 BCE- 476 CE
- What strategy did the plebeians use to force the patricians to heed their demands in 494 BCE?
- They literally walked out of Rome: general strike.
- Explain why many pagans misunderstood Christianity.
- • They saw Christianity as a bizarre new sect.
- Though the Western empire disintegrated, the Eastern empire continued to thrive as which empire?
- Byzantine empire.
- Why did the emperors support gladiatorial contests and chariot racing?
- To entertain and distract the Roman masses from rebelling against his authority.
- • Republic
- 516-27 BCE
- • Which Roman emperor divided the empire in two?
- Diocletian
- • Why was Paul of Tarsus so effective in his efforts to spread Christianity among both Jews and Gentiles?
- Paul was a Hellenized Jew, who was comfortable in both the Roman and Jewish worlds.
- • Why did the Senate name Caesar's nephew, Octavian, "Augustus" in 27 BCE?
- Octavius's victory over Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Actium in Greece ended the age of civil.
- 6) Culture Diffusion
- Romans brought Greek culture to west, a. Northwestern Europe was tribal to having cities and states
- 7) Roman History began western history
- • West: Greek ideas Romans Middle ages today • East: Greek ideas died out
- • When did Theodosius declare Christianity the official religion of the Roman Empire?
- 380 CE.
- • What was the role of the Parthians in trade between the West [Rome] and the East [China]? Explain your answer.
- Because Iran [Parthians] was at the crossroads of East and West, the Parthians filled the role of middlemen. The Chinese sold their goods to the Parthians in Afghanistan; the Parthians carried the goods overland to Mesopotamia or Egypt, from where they were shipped throughout the empire.
- How did the Roman attitude towards slavery differ from the modern view?
- To the Romans, slavery was a misfortune that befell some people, but it did not entail any racial theories.
- How did Octavian transform the government of Rome
- He introduced a constitutional monarchy by quietly creating the office of emperor.
- 1) Architecture
- Arch, vault, roads, coliseum, columns, amphitheater, viaduct, aqueduct, baths, arena, temples
- What was the significance of the "Law of the Twelve Tables" for the plebeians?
- Only the patricians knew what the law was, and only they could argue cases in court. The Twelve Tables codified the law, and were published. By the time that the "Struggle of the Orders" ended in 287 BCE, every Roman citizen was aware of the Law: Roman citizenship was equal for all.
- 3) Law
- Foundation of modern legal systems; a. Twelve tables - laws written down - how life was run and a law for everyone
- • Explain why there was a political, geographical, and cultural division between the eastern and western parts of the Roman Empire by the middle of the first millennium CE.
- • The East remained Mediterranean-centered, ruled by a Roman [Byzantine] emperor.
- Why were the Parthians so mindful of not letting the Chinese and the Romans make direct contact?
- The Chinese and Romans would then discover how large a cut the Parthians took in commercial transactions.
- Why might the third century C.E. be seen as the beginning of the end for the Roman empire?
- • Civil wars
- Why did Caesar send 80,000 poor people to Gaul, Spain, and North Africa?
- • To relieve the pressure of Rome's growing population.
- • After the Punic Wars, why were the wages of war veterans who moved to the cities so low?
- Competition from the slaves that had been brought to Rome from throughout the Roman empire.
- • Why did the Romans establish their city, Rome, on the Tiber River?
- • Tiber provides Rome with a constant source of water.
- As regards culture, which people did the Romans most admire?
- Greeks
- Who was Hannibal and why is he famous?
- Hannibal was the Carthaginian general who led his troops and elephants on a thousand-mile march across southern France and over the Alps to fight the Romans on their own turf during the Second Punic War.
- Why did some Romans think that the complete destruction of Carthage was a mistake?
- The fear of Carthage kept the Romans loyal to their traditional values.
- 4) Religion
- Catholic church/ Christianity
- How did people become serfs on the estates of the great landlords?
- To ensure a steady supply of labor for themselves, the landlords bound the free men to the soil. Henceforth, they worked their patrons' land, not their own, and could not move elsewhere.
- • Which Germanic tribe penetrated Italy as far as Milan?
- Alamanni
- Why was the first Punic War [23 years] fought between Rome and Carthage?
- Conflicting ambitions in Sicily.
- • Why is the period of 200 years during the first and second centuries CE known as the Pax Romana or "Roman peace?"
- The Mediterranean world enjoyed a period of security, order, harmony, culture, and a booming economy.
- What initiated the political violence that ultimately destroyed the Roman republic?
- Though an aristocrat himself, Tiberius Gracchus was murdered by a group of senators because he had proposed to divide public land among the poor as an antidote to the plight of the landless veterans.
- • How did Rome finally gain full mastery of the Mediterranean?
- At the end of the Third Punic War, the Romans completed destroyed Carthage and enslaved the survivors.
- • Who first dominated/controlled the area in which the Latins established the city of Rome?
- Etruscans
- How do we know that the Romans were influenced by the Etruscan and Greek religions?
- Originally, the Romans thought of the gods as invisible; after interacting with the Etruscans and Greeks, their deities assumed human form.
- What were the two most immediate effects of the Romans contact with the Far East?
- • Military confrontation between the Romans and the Iranians.
- • Why do you think that the struggle that developed between the patricians and the plebeians came to be known as the "Struggle of the Orders?" What are the "orders?"
- Class struggle.
- • As regards empire-building, why were the Romans more successful than the Greeks
- Unlike the Greeks, who refused to share citizenship, the Romans incorporated all conquered people into the Roman system by offering them citizenship.
- Why did the plight [situation] of the war veterans threaten the Roman Army?
- Though an aristocrat himself, Tiberius Gracchus was murdered by a group of senators because he had proposed to divide public land among the poor as an antidote to the plight of the landless veterans.