EUROPEAN HISTORY - DBQ on the Romans

(Suggested writing time __________ minutes) Directions: The following question is based on the accompanying documents. (Some of the documents have been edited for the purpose of this exercise.) This question is designed to test your ability to work with and understand historical documents. Write an essay that:

Has a relevant thesis and supports that thesis with evidence from the documents. Uses a majority of the documents. Analyzes the documents by grouping them in as many appropriate ways as

possible. Does not simply summarize the documents individually. Takes into account both the sources of the documents and the authors’ points of

view. You may (should!) refer to relevant historical information not mentioned in the documents.

Historical Background: The central location of Rome helped the Romans unite Italy and the entire Mediterranean world under their rule. Through skillful diplomacy and military victories, they created a vast empire. Through gradual reforms, they made their republican form of government more democratic. Roman expansion brought about new economic classes, corruption, and attempted reforms. After a period of civil wars, the republic ended and the reign of Augustus ushered in the Pax Romana. Since Rome absorbed ideas from the lands it conquered, Roman civilization became a blend of Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman traditions. The Romans made important advances in architecture, engineering, and practical science.

The Romans also made significant contributions in literature, history, philosophy, and law. The Romans tolerated the different religions of the peoples they conquered but also required loyalty to their gods and emperor. Rome's tolerant attitude toward religions did not extend to the new religion of Christianity. Yet, despite persecution, Christianity spread quickly throughout the empire, reshaping Roman beliefs. Political turmoil marked the end of the Pax Romana. Emperors Diocletian and Constantine attempted to solve the empire's problems through reforms, but the results were mixed and the gradual decline of the empire continued.

Foreign invasions, the division of the empire, corruption, poverty, and the breakdown of moral values contributed to the decline and downfall of the Roman empire.

In your essay do NOT use signal phrases like: Document 1 shows… Document 4 proves As seen in Document 5…

In your essay DO USE signal phrases like:

Images found in frescos at Pompeii suggest… Graffiti found on walls at Pompeii reveal that Romans...

Question: What do the following sources say about the Romans living in Pompeii? Who were these people? What did they “know”? (Recall that Mr. Van Doren’s chapter is called “What the Romans Knew.”) What did they do day in and day out? What did they care about and what were their values? Do they appear any different than Romans living say, in Rome? Gaul? Briton?

Question will be give on test day....

Document 1

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 2

Source: Various graffiti found at various locations in Pompeii

[Bar of Salvius; over a picture of a woman carrying a pitcher of wine and a drinking goblet.]

Whoever wants to serve themselves can go on and drink from the sea

What a lot of tricks you use to deceive, innkeeper. You sell water but drink unmixed wine

Rufus loves Cornelia Hele

If anyone does not believe in Venus, they should gaze at my girl friend

Romula hung out here with Staphylus

Successus was here

Gaius Julius Primigenius was here. Why are you late?

Lovers, like bees, lead a honey-sweet life

I don't want to sell my husbandBurglar, watch out!

Someone at whose table I do not dine, Lucius Istacidius, is a barbarian to me

The fruit sellers ask you to elect Marcus Holconius Priscus as aedile (local representative)

I am amazed, o wall, that you have not collapsed and fallen, since you must bear the tedious stupidities of so many scrawlers

Oppius, clown, thief, petty crook

In the Arrius Pollio block owned by Gnaeus Alleius Maius, to lease from the fifteenth of next July, shops with their stalls, high-class second-story apartments, and a house. Prospective renters may apply to Primus, the slave of Gnaeus Alleius Maius

I ask you to elect Gaius Polybius aedile (local representative). He gets good bread for us.

I ask you to elect Marcus Cerrinius Vaia to the aedileship. All the late drinkers [in this town] support him.

Twenty pairs of gladiators…will fight at Pompeii on April 8, 9,10, 11 and 12. There will be a full card of wild beast combats. Aemilius Celer painted [this sign] all alone in the moonlight.

[A prostitute's sign] I am yours for 2 asses cash

A copper pot is missing from the shop. 65 sesterces reward for anyone who brings it back.

Document 3

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 4

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 5

Source: Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 6

Source: (The bake shop) frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 7

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 8

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 9

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 10

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 11

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum

Document 12

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum (these are walnuts, roasted)

Document 13

Source: Book - Pompeii Awakened: A Story of Rediscovery by Judith Harris, 2007 plus a fresco found at Herculaneum

From the earliest findings at Herculaneum, the first Vesuvian site to be rediscovered, and subsequently at Pompeii, the sexual representations, from grave marker in the shape of a phallus to vulgar graffiti and elegant marble carving, were inescapable.

Document 14

Source: frescos found at Pompeii and Herculaneum (A BBC scholar notes: The panels of the fresco appear to show a series of consecutive events, and their interpretation is much debated. Most commonly, it is thought that the fresco illustrates the initiation of a woman into the secret rites of Dionysus - the god of wine, the inspirer of ritual madness and ecstasy - and it is this theory that gave rise to the name of the Villa of the Mysteries. In the scene pictured here, the initiate is flogged, while another woman dances beside her.)