1-3 Roman Civilization

1-3 ROMAN CIVILIZATION

ROMAN REPUBLIC

• Romans first conquered the area around Rome, then moved on to Italy and the Mediterranean world.
• At the height of their empire stretched from North Africa to Hadiran’s Wall in England
• The Roman Empire, like the Greek Empire, has had a lasting impact on the world today

THE ROMAN STATE

• Early Rome was divided into 2 groups:

• PATRICIANS: landowners; the ruling class

• PLEBEIANS: poorer landowners, merchants, and small farmers

• The very poor peasants did not qualify for either group

• 509 B.C. - Rome overthrew the king and created a republic

• A republic is a government with no king where certain citizens can vote.

• In Rome, the patricians and plebeians could vote, but only the patricians could sit in office

PATRICIANS

- rich

- noble families

- could vote

- could hold office

PLEBEIANS

- lower classes

- merchants, farmers, artisans, and soldiers

- could vote

- couldn’t hold office

THE ROMAN SENATE

Chief Officers of the Republic:

- 2 Consuls: like the President; they ran the government and the army

- Praetor – in charge of the law (like the Chief Justice of the Supreme Court)

The Senate: 300 landowners who at first advised the officers, but became the law themselves

Other Assemblies:

- Centuriate assembly: elected chief officials

the wealthy were the majority

- Council of Plebes: created to help plebeians gain a voice in the government

THE STRUGGLE OF THE ORDERS

Conflict!

The division between patricians and plebeians caused conflict

- plebeians wanted political and social equality with the patricians

- the creation of the council of the plebes gave them some equality

-they were allowed to become consuls and pass laws by 287 B.C.

Were all people actually equal?

§ Remember, by 287 the plebeians had the power to elect consuls and make laws, just like the patricians.

§ So were they equal within the state?

– No.

– The majority of the people in the Senate and in assemblies were still patricians, and everything was done by majority rule, so the wealthy landowners maintained the power

– There was not a democracy to give everyone an equal vote

ROMAN LAW

§ The Roman system of law is one of Rome’s major gifts to the world

§ 1st law = Twelve Tables

§ Roman law only applied to citizens

§ As the Romans conquered more areas, issues about the laws as they applied to Romans and non-Romans

§ Special rules were created to address these issues

This revised law became the Law of Nations

– It became identified with natural law (laws based on reason)

– They applied to everybody (citizen and non-citizen)

Similarities to modern law

- people were innocent until

proven guilty

- people could defend themselves before a judge, who would use the evidence to make a decision

INFLUENCE OF THE ROMANS

• 502-264 B.C – Romans took over all Italy
• 264-135 B.C. – Rome conquered most of the Mediterranean
• 14 B.C.-180 A.D. – The Roman Empire
• 200A.D. – Roman power started
• to decline
• 476 A.D. – the Fall of the Roman
• Empire
• The Roman Empire was one of the largest Empires
• Their administration was adapted to effectively rule a large area of diverse people
• It influenced all areas it ruled
• People in areas Rome took over were made citizens and adopted western ways
• City layouts and aqueducts were also used all over
• Latin became the language for all educated people
• Other languages became Latinized
• The romance languages (French, Spanish..) are the result of this Latinization

THE DEVELOPMENT OF CHRISTIANITY

§ Christianity was born in the Roman Empire

§ It was the first official religion of the Roman Empire (even though at first it was opposed)

§ Christianity was started by the followers of Jesus

§ Jesus taught that you should love everyone and follow the one god

§ He was seen as a possible revolutionary and executed

§ At first Romans saw Christianity as a part of Judaism, but then they started to see it as treason

§ Why? The Christians wouldn’t participate in public rituals honoring Roman gods because it went against their beliefs

§ Christian persecution began with Emperor Nero

§ He blamed them for the fire that destroyed most of Rome

§ By the 2nd century A.D, Christianity was accepted

§ In the 4th Century, the Emperor Constantine became a Christian

§ The Edict of Milan was created to promote tolerance

*Theodosius the Great made it the official religion

ROMAN AND CHRISTIAN VALUES

• Encouraged virtue
• Encouraged duty to the community and the state
• Christianity had a conflict, between the duty to the Christian community and its ideals and the duty to the state
• Many martyrs died because they stood up to the state in defense of their ideals

Review Questions

• What American document promotes many of the same legal principles from the Roman Law of Nations?
• What elements of Western culture did the Romans help to shape?
• Why do you think the Romans eventually decreed Christianity their official religion?