312
TRANSCRIPT
Geography
Location • Rome is located on a
peninsula which is now present day, Italy. Rome was built on 7 hills on the banks of the Tiber River.
• This peninsula extended from Southern Europe to the Mediterranean region.
• The French Alps is the mountain range that separated Rome from the rest of Europe. Another mountain range close to Rome was the Apennines.
Geographical features
• Rome had many geographical features such as mountains, rivers, plains,deserts, and seas.
• Some of these features acted as protection and some acted as isolation.
• The terrain around Rome varied in different places.
• The land around the Mediterranean was arable land or land that was good for farming.
Expansion
• The Roman Empire at its greatest size consisted of all of the Mediterranean region, all of Southern Europe, Macedonia, Asia Minor, Syria, parts of Egypt and some of Northern Africa.
• Rome conquered Gaul and Spain.
• The Romans had three big wars with the Carthage people. These wars were called the Punic wars.
Climate • In the Roman Empire,
the climate varied in different places.
• The climate in the northern part of the empire was cold.
• The climate in the middle part of the empire was perfect for farming.
• The climate in the southern part of the empire was hot
Religion
Christianity
• Christianity was spread around the empire by a man named Paul.
• Paul first traveled to Cypress and Asia Minor. He built churches and made disciples in his travels.
• Paul traveled to many countries such as Macedonia, Rome, Europe,
Persia and Northern Africa.
Judaism
• Judaism was a religion that originated in Judea.
• When Judea was conquered by Rome, the people were offered Roman citizenship.
• Under the rule of Trajan, there was a Jewish revolt. Trajan was not able to react fast enough, by the time Trajan reacted 200,000 non-
Jews were killed.
Roman religion
• In the Roman Empire, the people worshipped many gods and goddesses
• Each god or goddess had a special reason why they were worshipped.
• For example, they would worship Mars before going into battle.
Religious conflicts
• During some Roman rules, there were religious conflicts.
• One of the religious conflict was the Jewish revolt.
• Another conflict happened under the rule of Nero, Nero would burn the Christians or feed them to the lions.
Achievements
Aqueducts
• The Romans learned how to store huge amounts of water and transport it around by using aqueducts.
• Aqueducts helped Roman people greatly because that’s the way they got their water.
• Aqueducts today are still a way people get their water.
System of laws
• The Romans developed a system of laws that apply to all people not just one class.
• The punishments for breaking the law were equal for all people.
• The first set of Romans laws were called the Twelve Tables.
• Today, the laws we have are fair and equally punished like Rome’s laws
System of roads
• The Romans created a system of paved roads.
• These roads were used for transportation and trade.
• Today, our roads were influenced by the Romans roads.
Military organization
• The Roman military was not only strong but they were also large in numbers and organized.
• This army could easily crush other armies, this is why the Roman empire grew so large.
• Our military has some tactics that were formed by the Roman tactics.
Politics
Etruscan kings
• At first, Rome was ruled by people called the Etruscans.
• These people ruled with the form of government called monarchy, this meant ruled by kings.
• The Etruscans had three kings that ruled instead of one king with all the power.
Roman Republic
• The Roman Republic had three parts of government. This was called the tripartite government.
• The three parts of this government were the senate, the magistrates, and the assemblies.
• The government had two side: the Republicans and the Democrats.
Augustus
• Augustus was the adopted son of Julius Caesar.
• He was a great ruler. He made life in Rome better.
• He also made an era of peace called the Pax Romana.
Trajan
• Trajan was born around 53 c.e. in a Roman province in Spain.
• Trajan took a career in the military and had many successful campaigns.
• Later he became Nerva’s successor.
• When Nerva died in 98 c.e. Trajan took over.
Hortensia
• Hortensia was born into a rich patrician family. She was given a great education.
• When she grew up, she became interested in public speaking.
• She thought that Roman woman deserved better rights.
• She was one of the reasons Roman woman got better rights.
The fall of Rome
• The Roman Empire fell because of political failure and fall in economy.
• During the later years of the empire, the emperors became targets of assassination.
• Because of this, people struggled to gain order over the empire.
• During all these political troubles, the barbarians were planning to attack Rome.
• When they attacked, they left Rome in pieces. The barbarians took over half of the once great Roman Empire
Economy
Roman economy
• Roman economy was based on slaves in the later years of the empire.
• The concerns of Rome’s economy was feeding the many people in Rome.
• Rome’s economy was dominated by trade and agriculture.
Currency
• The currency used in the Roman Empire were coins.
• These coins were made out of gold, silver, and bronze.
• On the back of these coins, there was text that stated the emperor’s achievements.
Trade
• Rome traded by using paved roads and sea routes.
• The most important port was Ostia because it was closest to Rome.
• Rome traded mostly with Spain, France, and the Middle East.
Inflation• The Roman economy
suffered greatly from inflation. Inflation was the raising of prices.
• Once the Romans stopped conquering, the flow of gold decreased.
• As people kept spending money, the coin became worth less.
• To make up for this, merchants rose the price of the goods they sold.
Roman social structure
Plebeians
• Plebeians were the most common people in Rome.
• Plebeians were the lower class In Rome.
• The plebeians made up 90 percent of Rome’s population.
• Some plebeians were wealthy but most plebeians were farmers or artisans.
Patricians
• Patricians were the wealthier class of ancient Rome.
• Patricians took pride in belonging to a wealthy family.
• The early Roman government strongly favored the Patricians.
Plebeians rebel
• The plebeians first started to rebel by performing random acts of violence.
• Later, the plebeians realized that Rome couldn’t defend themselves without the plebeian soldiers.
• The plebeian soldiers refused to fight until they got a say in government.
Slaves
• Slaves were used a lot in the later years of the empire.
• The slaves did labor for no money at all.
• The slaves put many farmers out of business because people just used slaves to do there gardening instead of hiring farmers to garden.
The most important idea that I learned about ancient Rome
• The idea I think is most important was the Roman’s achievements because the inventions in Rome made life better and more comfortable in ancient Rome.
• Today, some of our inventions are made from the same concept of the Roman invention, ours are just more modern.
• Their system of laws were fair and applied to all citizen not just one class.