Chapter 5 - Rome

  

Roman aqueducts allowed water to be moved into cities.

      As legend goes, Rome was founded by an orphan named Romulus, raised by wolves. However, no one knows what really happened.
     The centers of the government were the Forum (civic center) and the Senate with its Council of Elders. In the Republic (from 507 - 31 BCE), the Consul, the top two elders of the Senate, lead many decisions.
     Land was the basis of wealth in Rome, with the elite (called "patricians") owning most of the land and the common people getting smaller parcels. Women in Rome had a lot more freedom than their Greek counterparts, and played important roles in society. Religion at first focused on numina, the natural forces, and was practiced in natural areas. It was believed that there was a pax decorum, literally "peace of the gods" in place... this was believed to be a covenant between the gods and the people granting safety if the priests offered regular sacrifices. Soon the Greek deities were equated with (Zeus = Juno, ex.), and the pantheon expanded.
     Rome reached its peak in the 2nd and 3rd centuries BCE, when it had a powerful army which conquered the surrounding tribes and accepted them (unlike Greece's plan of conquer-and-enslave). Rome fought Carthage twice and came out as the undisputed ruler of the Mediterranean, conquering Sicily, Sardinia, Spain and Gaul. Officials were chosen there by political connections with the capital city.
     Latifundas, broad estates/ranches were important to the empire, but they declined when military service became required. Gauis Marius took soldiers into the army and promised them land, which soon brought work back to farms.
     The emperors Sulla, Pompey, Caesar, Antony and Octavian fought many civil wars, resulting in the Roman Principate (31 BCE - 330 CE), which was really just a fancy name to disguise Octavian's (he was also called Augustus) military dictatorship. Augustus brought Egypt, parts of the Middle East and Central Europe into the empire and formed a core of merchants (called equites) who helped to pay for the running of the empire. This created the first bureaucracy.
     Emperors were chosen by the Senate, but in all actuality, it was really the military who selected them. During the Principate, the Emperor was one of the main sources of laws, and he held a lot of power.
     Upper-class Romans lived in huge homes in the cities, and they owned villas elsewhere for vacation. The poor, however, built slums in the cities and tended to "tenant farm" in the country. The country was a far cry from the filled-to-the-brim-with-politicians cities... the only official who was regularly seen was the tax collector.
     In 212 CE, Emperor Caracalla gave citizenship to all free men, but persecution still occurred. After the death of Jesus (prophet, messiah, politician, or crazy man, it's up to you to decide) the spread of Christianity was lead by a man named Paul, who brought it to Rome. Emperor Constantine eventually converted the empire.
     During the Third Century Crisis (235 - 284 CE), political, economical and military turmoil, frequent shifts in power, civil wars and invasions caused the near-destruction of Rome, but all was saved by Emperor Diocletian, who reformed the economy and put people back to work.
     The Western half of the empire fell in 476, but the eastern empire continued their control of the area.
Some words to know:

• Pax Romana - "Roman peace"; safety and stability given by Roman power in the area
• Romanization - the spread of Latin and the Roman culture, which was strong in the Western provinces (Greek culture was more common in the East)
• Aqueducts - long conduits that carried water 
• Parthia - the heirs to Mesopotamia and the Persian Empire; the long-standing enemy of Rome