The World of Rome & The Rise of Christianity

750 BCE-400 CEHI 101

Major Themes of Roman History

1.  Create a Republic and achieve domination over Italy south of the Po River by the early fourth century BC

2.  Achieve domination over the Mediterranean world and Europe to the Rhine and Danube Rivers by AD 100 

3.  Created institutions and a legal system (code of law) that allowed Rome to govern this empire effectively

Major Themes of Roman History

4. Crisis of the Third Century almost brought about the collapse of Rome

5. Rome recovered and was converted to Christianity

6. Explaining the fall of Rome in 476 has interested thinkers every since.

The Roman Empire

Timeline of Roman History 753-27 BC (Roman Civilization to end of the Republic)

• Early Italy and the Roman Monarchy, 753-509 BCE.

• The Roman Republic, 509-27 BCE • The Creation of the Republic and the Conquest of Italy, 509-264 BCE

• The Punic Wars (with Carthage) and the Overseas Expansion of Rome, 264-146 BCE

• The Crisis of the Late Republic, 133-27 BCE

Timeline of Roman History 27 BCE-476 CE(Creation of Empire to Fall of Empire)

• The Principate (Early Empire), the Pax Romana, and the Five Good Emperors, 27 BCE-CE 180.

• The Crisis of the Third Century, 180-284 CE. • Late Antiquity, 284-610 CE

Roman Conquest of Italy & Creation of the Roman Republic

• People from Rome (Romans) took over the Italian Peninsula through a series of wars with the Etruscans (1st settlers to the Italian Peninsula)

• A Republic and a System of Government was created for the captured Lands within Italy. – Based on an unwritten constitution and controlled by the Patrician 

elite (the landowning aristocracy)• Social classes within the Republic:

– Patricians at top—held most of the social and political advantages– Plebeians (free citizens who could vote)

The Roman Republic• Led by 2 Consuls:

– 2 elected executive officials from Patrician class – Advised by a senate

• The senate: (300-600 Patricians)– Advised the Consuls (but over time, the senate became the real force

behind the law)– Controlled finances & foreign affairs

• The Assembly—Plebeians – Legislative branch– All citizens could cast ballots for or against legislation

Republican Government• Flexible– over time the Plebeian class gained a measure of

political, legal, and social equality, including the: • creation of the office of Tribune (had a veto to protect

the Plebeians)• the Law of the 12 Tablets (450 BCE)—achieved by

Plebeians walking out Rome & refusing to serve in Army• and the opening of the office of consul to the Plebeians.

– Captured lands were allowed independence and autonomy in exchange for loyalty• rebels received swift and brutal punishment

Ruins of the Roman Curia (place of Senate meetings)

Curia interior (simulated)

Overseas Expansion of Rome

•  264-146 BCE– Rome fought the three Punic Wars with Carthage• Carthage: a powerful city-state on the northern African

coast, was a Mediterranean trading empire challenged by Roman power• the high point for the Carthagians was the campaign of Hannibal during the second war• by the end of the Punic Wars, Rome dominated the

Mediterranean world. – Rome had to develop a system of government for the new

territories– also Roman civilization transformed by contact with Hellenic and Hellenistic culture (Greek)

Punic Wars Map

The Crisis of the Late Republic, 146-27 BCE.  

• Republican government proved incapable of transforming itself into a government for an empire–  the result was a struggle for power between the

Patrician and Plebeian classes. • Powerful generals with private armies emerged and

fought openly for power– one of the most successful was Julius Caesar (49-44 BCE), who

"crossed the Rubicon" and became dictator in 49 BCE. » Within five years, he was dead. The civil wars went on

until Octavian defeated the last of his rivals, Mark Antony and Cleopatra (Queen of Egypt) at Actium in 31 BC.

Julius Caesar

Cleopatra & Marc Antony

Creation of the Roman Empire• Octavian (after 27 BCE: Augustus)– restored peace, provided fair, orderly, and efficient

government, and peace within Rome and its territories– his government was a monarchy with a republican

façade—formed Empire– the army was professionalized (20 year enlistment;

good pay and pensions).– Augustus pushed for Roman expansion into Europe

and established a network of roads that linked Roman settlements together.

Emperor Augustus (Octavian)

Roman Centurion

Roman Legionare

Roman Legion in formation

Roman Empire, 1st Century CE (AD)

• Four emperors after Augustus were members of his family (the Julians); none were great, and some, like Caligula, were so bad that they were assassinated.  Evident was a key problem:  succession.  

• Reign of the Five Good Emperors (96-180 CE):–  temporarily solved the succession problem –  the Senate became an effective legislative and administrative body

– an imperial bureaucracy administered the empire– Roman culture spread throughout the empire–  the empire ceased expanding and began building defenses (Hadrian's Wall in Britain).

Hadrian’s Wall (boundary of Roman Empire in Britain)

Roman Civilization(model of imperial Rome)

Roman Civilization

• Law:  – an early codification was the Law of the Twelve

Tablets (c. 450 BCE)• supplemented over the centuries by edicts and judicial

decisions

– also a "law of the peoples" for those conquered; two systems combined in 212CE

– notable codifications: Theodosian Code (438 CE) and the Justinian Code (6th century CE).

Roman Civilization

• Science and Engineering:  – favored compilations of encyclopedias, like the Pliny the Elder's Natural Science, over original research.

– Engineering: roads, bridges, aqueducts like the Pont du Gard (France), which brought millions of gallons of fresh water into Roman cities.

– Romans also excelled at urban planning

Pont du Gard (France)

Planned Roman Military Camp

Roman Civilization• Architecture: – Much borrowed from the Greeks, i.e. form of the

temple– excelled in the use of concrete• the arch, the vault, and the dome• important buildings: the basilica, the Colosseum (sat

50,000), the Pantheon (a domed temple to all the gods), public baths and theaters, triumphal arches and columns, such as Trajan's Column.

– The Roman style emphasized: grandeur, magnificence, size, and solidity.

Colosseum

Pantheon

Pantheon Interior

Trajan’s Column

The Crisis of the Third Century, 180-284 CE.

• Characterized by succession crises:– civil war (between 235-284 CE, there were 22 emperors, and all but

two were murdered)– economic hardship, including declining production, inflation, and high

taxes– threats on Rome's frontiers from the Goths and others; and the

growing popularity and spread of Christianity.

The World of Late Antiquity, 284-610 CE

• The slow, almost unnoticeable transition from the classical civilization of Rome to the emergence of separate barbarian kingdoms following the collapse of the Roman Empire

• It thus includes the transformation of the Roman Empire by the emperors Diocletian and Constantine

• the shift in the governing center of the Empire east to cities like Constantinople, the legalization and triumph of Christianity (Emperor Constantine and the Edict of Milan, AD 313),

• the barbarian invasions by Visigoths, the Vandals, the Ostrogoths

• the "fall of Rome”– traditionally assigned the date of 476 CE– and the replacement of the political unity imposed

by the Roman Empire with separate and often warring Germanic kingdoms like the Franks. • From the ambitions of these latter kingdoms emerged

the nations of modern Western Europe

– urban decline, decline of government and culture. – Meanwhile, Christianity emerged as a unifying and

civilizing force.

Barbarian Invasions

The Coming of ChristianityFactors Behind the Rise of Christianity•1. The Jews began to organize opposition to Rome’s authority. A group identified as the Zealots fought to rid Judaea of Roman control.•2. The failure of pagan religions (many gods) to satisfy many people’s spiritual needs helped pave the way for the rise of Christianity.

The Life and Teachings of Jesus:•1. Born c. 4 BCE, from Nazareth, His message was based on Jewish moral traditions, He was an apocalyptic Jew

– Meaning that he thought & taught that the world would soon end, and God’s kingdom would appear on earth

•His teachings aroused the Jewish population, which caused Roman concern.•Roman authorities were concerned about insurrection throughout the empire.

– Pontius Pilate (local Roman leader) was in charge of maintaining peace in Jerusalem. – Pilate condemned Jesus to death in an effort to avoid outbreaks of violence.

• According to Jesus’s followers, on the third day after his crucifixion Jesus rose from the dead. The resurrection became the cornerstone for the newly developing faith recognized as Christianity.

Palestine at Time of Christ

• Ruled by Roman empire for 64 years

Christianity Following the Crucifixion: 

• Followers of Jesus, believing that he was the Son of God and had risen from the dead, set out to convert the Roman Empire– they created a theology (=systematic body of

religious belief) – and broadened the appeal of Christianity by

proclaiming it a universal religion, not just a Jewish religion

– key role played by the convert Paul• who-as author of the epistles [letters] -may be called

the founder of Christian theology• many converts, especially among the urban population

of the eastern Empire• Paul beheaded in Rome during one of Nero's (Roman

Emperor) persecutions of Christians

Christianity after Paul•  Church develops as an institution– the sacraments (baptism and the Eucharist)– a separate priesthood to administer the sacraments– the organization of a church hierarchy modeled on

the government of the Roman Empire• office of bishop; over time, the Bishop of Rome

recognized as head of the church, or Pope. • This organization allowed the Church to survive the

collapse of Rome and helped it to convert the barbarian Germans.