ROMAN SOCIETY STRUCTURE

HOW DO YOU THINK THEIR SOCIETY WAS STRUCTURED?

Society structure of the Roman Empire Se

nate (politicians)

Patrician (Rich)

Equestrian (Army Cavalry)

Plebeian (Poor)

Free men (freed slaves)

Slaves (captured in battle)

HOW DO YOU THINK ROME WAS GOVERNED?

Government structure • Under the Republic two

Consuls were elected from the Senate to run Rome

• The Senate was composed of patricians

• The assembly was composed of plebeians

More than 300 years after the founding of Rome, it grew into a Republic.In the early republic, different groups of Romans struggled for power.

There were two main groups:

Patricians

Plebeians (Plebs)

Learning Questions:

1) Are there any differences about the way the Patricians and Plebs are dressed? Why?

2) Why do you think the Patricians had the most power? Was this fair?

Aristocratic Landowners were a small group of people who inherited their wealth and had most of the power

Plebs were the common farmers, artisans, and

merchants who made up the majority of the population

ASSEMBLIES (All citizen-soldiers were members, led by the Plebs. Common laws

were passed)

SENATE(300 Members, mainly Patricians)

CONSUL(1 person, 1 year rule)

CONSUL(1 person, 1 year rule)

In the first century B.C., Roman writers boasted that Rome had achieved a balanced government.

Monarchy – The 2 consuls were similar to Kings

Aristocracy – rule by the wealthy

Democracy – rule by the people

For 1 vivo…

what type of

government(s)

do we have?

Government structure 2 Consuls Head of Government

Senate Members Assemble

Patricians Patricians Plebeians

1 year term Life term Life term

Consuls chose the senators

Elected the 2 Consuls

Over saw the government officials

Advised the consuls and assembly

Elected government officials

Commanded the army

Over saw spending and taxes

Acted as judges Approved or disapproved laws made by assembly

Voted on laws

Fill in the blanaks and complete the following sentences in your books:

There were two consuls, they were like kings. They were in charge of the _____ and the _______________. A consul could only be in power for ___________.

There were ______ members in the Senate and they were mainly from the _______ class of society. Membership of the Senate was for life.

The assemblies were made up of the ______________. The assemblies made laws for the common people and every Roman citizen could be in the assembly.

The Twelve Tables

In 450 BC the Romans decided to agree and publish a set of laws that everyone in Rome

should follow.

They had these laws put onto 12 bronze tables that were put in the Roman Forum for

everyone to see.

The Twelve tables were used to decide all the future laws in the Roman Republic and

even laws we have today!

Learning Question:

Why was it important when the republic was growing for the Romans to come up with laws?

Rules to becoming a Roman Citizen:

Birth: every child born from a legal marriage of a Roman citizen had citizenship

Manumission: the act by which a slave was freed; children of former slaves were Roman citizens

Military service: upon enrollment in the army, or upon honorable discharge.

Imperial grants: the emperors could grant citizenship to individuals or to entire communities

Task: In pairs come up with 3 rules that make you a ‘Citizen’ of Dublin…2 minutes and

share with the class

What did being a Roman Citizen mean?

Right to vote (suffragium)

Right to make contracts (commercium)

Right to contract a legal marriage (conubium)

Right to sue

Right to stand trial

Right not to be subject to torture or scourging.

A Roman citizen could not be condemned to death unless found guilty of treason.

As a Roman Citizen you were expected

to…complete

Military Service AND

Pay Taxes

ROMAN SLAVES:

• People became slaves in different ways. Some were captured in battle while others were bought and sold by traders that captured them from far away lands.

• Criminals were sentenced to a life of slavery as punishment for a serious offence.

• Many others became slaves simply because they were born to slave parents.

Work carried out by slaves

• Slaves were expected to do all kinds of work and some were lucky enough to have kind owners and were treated well.

• Some slaves were skilled and could be trusted as child carers, teachers, cooks or doctors.

• Greek scholars were bought as tutors for the private education of rich children.

• Slaves with these types of skills were treated with respect and could often earn their freedom within a certain period of time.

• Sometimes a master could state in their will that their slaves should be set free upon their death.

Slave Market

• Slaves were usually bought at a slave market. Here they were paraded in front of masters in order to be bought or rejected. The younger and stronger slaves were always more expensive. Some of these were chosen to become gladiators and offered the path to freedom if they won a certain amount of contests.

• Life was pure misery for the slaves. They were forced to work in the salt mines and quarries carrying out tough manual labour. Conditions were so bad that these slaves often died at a very young age.

Manumission•This was a special ceremony held to mark the freedom of a slave.

Vindicta•Slaves were set free by being touched with a special stick called a vindicta.

Cap of Liberty•The cap of liberty was a strange looking straw cap and was also a sign of their freedom.

SLAVE REBELLION• Slaves rebelled many times against their harsh

treatment.• Spartacus led the most serious rebellion• In 73BC he led an army of about 90,000 slaves and it

took the Roman army nearly two years to defeat him.

Roman Emperors• In the beginning Rome was ruled by kings. However

as the city’s power grew senators and army generals fought to control the lands.

• Eventually one person took over, the emperor.

Roman Emperors• Many people thought thefamous Roman General JuliasCaesar would be the first RomanEmperor.• Caesar was a powerful general.He extended the Roman Empire through Europe and

into Britain.• Unfortunately Caesar was murdered by a group of

people who did not like his decisions.

Roman Emperors• A few years after Caesars death in 27 BCE, his nephew

Augustus (Octavian) Caesar became the first of 49 emperors of Rome.

• Augustus ruled from 27 BCE to 14 BCE.

What happened after the murder of Julius Caesar?

After Julius Caesar died in 44 BC, his friend Mark Anthony seemed poised to become the next Roman ruler.

Julius Caesar’s adopted son and heir, Octavian, was seen as too young (18).

Mark Anthony had many enemies in the Senate – they convinced Octavian to fight him.

He defeated Mark Anthony at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC, which made him the ruler of Rome at only 18 years old.

He wanted to rule for longer without threat from others in the Senate

After the Senate meeting in 27BC he became Absolute Ruler (or Emperor).This meant he was now in charge of the Army.

Rome now changed from a Republic to a Principate (Empire).

How did Augustus (Octavian) do things differently?

Army

1) Increased pay

2) Increased length of service

Civil Service and Tax

1) Everyone paid taxes all over the Empire (not just in

Rome)

2) Everyone had to follow the same laws

Building Program

1) Built lots of temples

2) Encouraged all Romans to follow the

Roman Religion

How did Augustine do things differently?

How did Augustus (Octavian) do things differently?

Entertainment1) Built lots of

Theatres and sports arenas2) Free

entertainment for everyone

3) Paid for many pieces of art to be

made

Roads1) A massive road network was built which gave people

jobs2) More goods were

exported and imported

Public Services and Utilities

1) He created the first police force2) He built water

drainage and Sewers3) He created the first fire brigade

Augustus was very keen to promote family life and virtues so made infidelity illegal and promoted marriage. Augustus wanted to recreate the idea of a model citizen that all Romans should aim to be. He used art and Literature to make himself popular and the Roman people proud of their identity. He paid people to write stories about him that painted him in a positive light. He was a very popular Emperor and the Roman Empire entered a Golden Age.

Learning Questions

Answer the following questions in FULL sentences:

1) How did Augustus become Emperor of Rome?

2) What do you think were the two most important changes he made? Why? 3) What do you think a role model Roman Citizen would have been like?

4) What do you think a ‘Golden Age’ is?

Roman Emperors• Roman emperors were very powerful. The emperors

head was stamped on Roman coins.• Emperors were worshipped like gods. Temples were

built to them all over the empire.

Roman Emperors• Emperors were not kings and they did not wear

crowns. They wore wreaths made from Laurel to celebrate victory and power.