Chapter 6 Lesson 1 Notes: DAY 1

• Where is Rome?

• What is the name of the peninsula on which

Rome is located?

• Where is Greece & on what peninsula is she located?

• Into which sea do both the Italian and Balkan Peninsulas jut?

Rome

Italian Peninsula

Mediterranean

Greece

Balkan Peninsula

Geography

• located in center of the Italian Peninsula which is approx. mid-point in the Mediterranean Sea on Europe• Apennine Mountains run the length of most of the peninsula • Roman ancestors, the Latins, settled along the Tiber River

Geographical benefits

• ideal location for trading & colonizing & practicing imperialism (conquering other lands and peoples for raw materials and markets)• mountains provided fertile land & grazing pasture, supporting a growing population• the Tiber became a centralized location for trade up and down the river; the city of Rome eventually developed as the center of the Tiber

These geographical features benefited Rome because:

A. with no major rivers for irrigation, the Romans relied on the sea

B. Rome was centrally located on the Balkan Peninsula

C. the Romans were forced to go to war with other civilizations

D. the Romans were required to rely on their hunting and gathering skills

A

Rome’s republic

• in 509 B.C. the Romans drove out the Etruscans, after having adopted their alphabet (from the Phoenicians) and technology• pledging never to be ruled by kings again who abused their power, the Romans set up a republic, whereby some officials are chosen by the people• in the early republic, the Senate dominated the government. Its members were patricians, or the aristocratic citizens of Rome. Two consuls were chosen for one-year terms each. In times of crisis, a dictator would be chosen for a 6-month term only.

Roman dictator Lucius Cincinnatus handing back the rods of power [called the “fasces”] to the city fathers [served general & consul; resumed role as farmer; appointed dictator to rid Rome of invading tribes from the east; completed this task in 17 days; immediately returned to farming]

• Little by little, the plebeians, or common Roman citizens, gained some political power. They received the Twelve Tables in Rome’s Forum. They gained the right to elect their own officials called Tribunes. The tribunes could veto, or block, laws that they felt harmed plebeians. • the United States’ Constitution would adopt Roman ideas of government, such as the senate, the veto, & checks & balances on political power.

Rome’s Forum that housed all government and religious

buildings and Rome’s code of laws: the Twelve Tables,

inscribed on 12 ivory tablets

Rome’s practice of imperialism

• by about 270 B.C., Rome controlled most of the Italian Peninsula• Rome’s expansion in Italy was successful because of Rome’s:

• skilled diplomacy (art of tactful negotiations)• a loyal, well-trained army of citizen-soldiers collectively called legions• fair treatment of defeated enemies (like the Persians) giving them citizenship rights

• after gaining control of the Italian Peninsula, Rome began to build an empire around the Mediterranean• the Romans followed a policy of imperialism, establishing control over foreign peoples and lands

• Carthage (a Phoenician trading giant colony that is now called Tunis and an enemy in the Punic Wars), Macedonia, Greece, and parts of Asia Minor became Roman provinces, or lands under Roman rule.

Carthage lost 3 (Punic) wars to

Rome, losing control

of the Med.

Where is Carthage?

Where is France?

Where is the Bosporus?

The Romans distrusted “rule by a monarchy” because

A. “all men are born to desire power for power’s sake”

B. their Etruscan rulers governed with autocratic power

C. they believed all men had the right to govern themselves

D. kings are always unfair, selfish, and have no manners.

B

Which code of laws gave more and more power to the plebeians?

A. Code of Hammurabi

B. Draconian Code

C. Torah

D. Twelve Tables

D

Which of the following was not a Roman idea adopted by the U.S. Constitution?

A. a system of checks and balances

B. the power of the veto

C. a direct democracy

D. a legislative branch of government

C

Which of these is considered the legislative branch of the Roman republic?

A. Senate

B. Supreme Court

C. Dictator

D. Consul

A

Why did Rome and Carthage fight each other in the three Punic Wars?

A. to gain control of all of North Africa

B. to gain a trade monopoly in the Mediterranean

C. to capture classical Greece

D. to take control of all of the Italian Peninsula

B

Which of the following was not a way the Persian and Roman empires were similar?

A. They both built roads to improve government efficiency.

B. They both were tolerant of their defeated enemies.

C. They both first developed their empires from a single city-state.

D. They both established a kind of government by which it conquers other lands and peoples.

C

Rome’s civil wars DAY 2

• Julius Gaius Caesar forms a consulate known as the [First] Triumvirate (rule by three), eventually taking complete power when Caesar forces the Senate to make him dictator• Caesar institutes reforms to try to save Rome’s many poor plebeians [Caesar’s popularity sky-rockets!]• Caesar is killed by Senate enemies on the Ides of March in 44 B.C. because some of its members feared he planned to make himself king.• More civil wars break out with Caesar’s assassination

• A Second Triumvirate is formed to avenge the death of Caesar. • Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Egypt’s queen Cleopatra VII at the Battle of Actium off the coast of Greece in a struggle for power.• The Roman senate bestows Octavian with the title of Augustus, or “Exalted One” in 31 B.C.• The 500-year old “republic” comes to an end. The age of the Roman Empire begins.

versus

Octavian Antony

+

Rome’s empire and the reforms of Emperor Augustus

• Augustus laid the foundation for a stable government that would function well for over 200 years. This period is called the Pax Romana (Roman Peace)• created efficient civil service (government employees) to enforce the laws• opened up high-level jobs to men of merit rather than according to birth• ordered a census, or population count, in order to make the tax system fairer.• set up a postal service (like the Persians)• first to use a material called concrete to construct buildings to save money (but over-laid the new buildings with decorative marble to make the new constructions appear expensive and extravagant)

The Julio-Claudian Emperors follow the rule of Augustus

• added lands, including Britannia• opened the Colosseum (Rome’s sporting arena) and the Circus Maximus (Rome’s largest race course) to entertain the jobless masses and provided free bread to the poor• persecuted Christians to encourage a sense of loyalty to the Roman gods and, therefore, to the emperors

The Good or Adoptive Emperors

• built the Pantheon temple in Rome’s [marketplace] Forum (the showplace of the ancient world)

• built Hadrian’s Wall in Britannia to keep out barbarians in the Roman Empire’s northern frontier (outer boundaries of empire)

The wall was approximately 75 miles long & 16-20 feet high

• introduced the practice of common law (laws, based on previous judges’ decisions that have been passed down from one generation to the next and adopted by the •U.S. and other countries • death of Marcus Aurelius ends Pax Romana and Rome’s Golden Age around [the year] 240

Caesar was assassinated by a group of Roman Senators because:

A. he had been appointed dictator for 10 years instead of 6 months.

B. his conquests were making Rome a target by other empires.

C. he was the first to weaken the Roman republic.

D. he was so popular that the Senate feared he could become king. D

Which of the following is NOT true of Augustus?

A. The “Exalted One” ruled as an autocratic god rather than as a trusted Roman citizen.

B. Augustus began a Roman era known as the Pax Romana or Roman Peace.

C. Augustus developed allegiance by appointing civil service jobs based on worth, not birth.

D. Augustus established a census to fairly tax the Roman citizens.

A

Which religious group was most persecuted during the rule of the Julio-Claudian emperors to increase their prestige among Roman citizens?

A. Jews

B. Christians

C. Muslims

D. all of these

B

What kind of laws are based on previous judges’ decisions?

A. civil

B. criminal

C. common

D. jury

C

• What is the term for “rule by three?”

Triumvirate

• When was Julius Caesar assassinated?

Ides of March (March 15) 44 B.C.

• Term for the practice of “conquering and controlling other peoples and lands?”

Imperialism

• This African city was established by the Phoenicians and lost 3 Punic Wars.

Carthage

• What does “Pax Romana” mean?

Roman Peace

• Which emperor built a wall in Britannia to keep barbarians out?

Hadrian

• With whose rule did the Pax Romana begin?

Augustus

• Whose rule ended the Roman republic and began the Roman empire?

Augustus

• What Egyptian family was defeated at the Battle of Actium by Octavian (soon to be Augustus)?

Ptolemy