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The Rise and Fall of the Roman Empire – Outline

I. What was the Roman Empire?

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a. There were two periods of Roman government

i. Roman Republic
1. 509-30 BCE
ii. Roman Empire
1. 30 BCE-476 CE
b. Rome technically had an “empire” under the Roman Republic
i. But the term “Roman Empire” refers to the time period, beginning with Augustus, when
Rome was ruled by emperors

II. Octavian becomes Augustus

a. Octavian was sole ruler of Rome after his forces defeated Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of
Actium
b. The Senate gave him the name “Augustus,” meaning “most high”
c. 23 BCE – Octavian, now referred to as Augustus, was made consul for life by the Senate
i. Also made “Princeps,” meaning “first citizen”
1. Origin of the word “prince”
ii. Also made “Imperator,” meaning “successful general”
1. Origin of the word “emperor”
iii. Also made “Pontifex Maximus,” or “chief religious leader”
1. Origin of the word “pontiff” (used to describe the pope today)
iv. Also made a tribune
v. He had the power to call the Senate, veto the Senate’s laws, and make laws himself
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III. Primus inter pares

a. “First among equals”
b. Augustus and later emperors tried to maintain the façade that they were elected officials rather than
dictators
c. Being “first among equals” gave the illusion that an emperor was the most prestigious and important
member of the Roman Senate, but that each senator was simultaneously equally important
d. In reality, the Roman emperors ruled with little input from anyone else

IV. Rome under Augustus – a golden age

a. Attempted to reform public morals by promoting family life (largely unsuccessful)
b. Began the practice of declaring emperors gods, and of picking their own successors
i. He called Haley’s Comet the spirit of Caesar
c. Built and maintained the empire’s infrastructure (e.g., roads)
d. Encouraged the growth of business
e. Established fire and police departments for Rome
f. Established a strong money system

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g. Extended citizenship to more and more provincials

h. Said he “found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble”
i. Jesus, the founder of Christianity, was born in the Roman province of Judea during the reign of
Augustus

V. Pax Romana – Roman peace

a. Rome controlled the entire Mediterranean region and beyond
i. Complete control = almost no warfare
b. This peace lasted nearly 200 years
c. More and more provincials were granted official Roman citizenship

VI. Roman emperors after Augustus

a. Great variety in the quality of those emperors who succeeded Augustus
b. The office of emperor was initially designed to be hereditary
i. But from the start, there was confusion as to which family member would inherit the throne
ii. Some emperors proved to be cutthroats, or insane, or both
iii. The military came to play an enormous role in selecting who would become emperor

VII. Tiberius (14-37 CE)

a. Stepson of Augustus
b. Abolished the Assembly
c. Capable general who extended the frontier in the north
d. Strengthened the empire
e. Appeared to dislike ruling, and gradually retired to the island of Capri

VIII. Caligula (37-41 CE)

a. Son of famed military leader Germanicus, the nephew and adopted son of Tiberius
b. Earned his name “Caligula,” meaning “little boots,” by the Roman army as a child (he was dressed as a
soldier)
c. Two years of good, effective rule, interrupted by a severe illness, and followed by two years of
horrible rule
d. Members of family and perceived enemies
i. Exiled some, killed some, and forced others to commit suicide
e. Assassinated in 41 CE by members of the Praetorian Guard

IX. Claudius (41-54 CE)

a. Brought southern Britannia (what later became Great Britain) under Roman control, as well as
several kingdoms in the east
b. Opened the Senate up to provincials
c. Became emperor because he was the last adult male of his family (brother of Germanicus and uncle of
Caligula)
d. Conducted a census of the empire in 48 CE
i. 5,984,072 Roman citizens

X. Nero (54-68 CE)

a. Considered a tyrant
b. Came to power after his mother allegedly poisoned his predecessor, Claudius
c. Murdered his mother, his stepbrother, and two of his wives
d. Also killed his teacher, the famous philosopher, Seneca
e. Fire in Rome (64 CE)

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i. Nero was accused of setting the fire, and of fiddling while the city burned
ii. Nero blamed the fire on the new religious group known as “Christians”
f. Forced to commit suicide

XI. Year of the Four Emperors (69 CE)

a. Brief period of civil war after the death of Emperor Nero
b. Four emperors ruled in quick succession
i. Galba
ii. Otho
iii. Vitellius
iv. Vespasian
c. Illustrated the problems of imperial succession

XII. Vespasian (69-79 CE)

a. Built the Colosseum in Rome
i. Place where gladiatorial combats were held
b. First Jewish Revolt (66-70 CE)
i. Destruction of the Temple in Jerusalem, in the Roman province of Judea
ii. Carried out by Vespasian’s son, Titus
iii. This was the Second Temple (516 BCE-70 CE)
1. First Temple (believed to have been built by King Solomon, circa 960 BCE0 had been
destroyed in 586 BCE when the Babylonians conquered the Jews and embarked on
what became known as the 70-year Babylonian Captivity
c. Succeeded by son Titus, then by son Domitian

XIII. Trajan (98-117 CE)

a. Born into a non-patrician family in what is now Spain
b. Massive public works program in Rome
i. Trajan’s Column, Trajan’s Forum, Trajan’s Market
c. Oversaw the expansion of the empire to its greatest extent
d. Considered to have been a great emperor

XIV. Hadrian (117-138 CE)

a. Strengthened the empire’s defenses
i. Hadrian’s Wall separated Roman territory in Britannia from the Picts (in what is roughly
now Scotland)
b. Under Hadrian, the Romans put down the Second Jewish Revolt (Bar Kokhba Revolt), 132-136 CE
i. Also known as the Second Jewish-Roman War
ii. Led by Simon Bar Kokhba, a man many believed to be the messiah
iii. Jews forced to leave Jerusalem after defeat
1. Many historians date this as the official start of the Jewish Diaspora

XV. Review questions

a. What are the dates for the Roman Republic and the Roman Empire?
b. Explain the meaning of the Latin phrase primus inter pares.
c. Describe the accomplishments of Augustus.
d. What was the Pax Romana?
e. How do Caligula and Nero represent the problems of hereditary succession?
f. Describe the First and Second Jewish Revolts, including their causes and effects.

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XVI. Marcus Aurelius (161-180 CE)

a. Stoic philosopher
i. Wrote book Meditations
b. Succeeded by his son, Commodus (180-192 CE)
i. The characters in the Russell Crowe film “Gladiator” are very loosely based on Marcus
Aurelius and Commodus
c. The end of the reign of Marcus Aurelius was the end of the Pax Romana (27 BCE-180 CE)

XVII. Diocletian (284-305 CE)

a. Rome had a century of chaos following the death of Marcus Aurelius
i. The “Crisis of the Third Century”
ii. Diocletian was the first emperor in 100 years to properly restore order and end the violence
b. Absolute ruler who ended all personal liberties
c. Administration
i. Increased the bureaucracy for more effective administration
ii. Divided the empire into two administrative realms (east and west) in 285 CE
1. This was the first step in the creation of what would become two separate empires
a. Roman (Western) Empire
b. Byzantine (Eastern) Empire

XVIII. Constantine (312-337 CE)

a. Moved the capital from Rome to Byzantium
i. Renamed the city Constantinople
1. Today the city is Istanbul (in modern Turkey)
b. Constantine and Christianity
i. His mother, Helena, had converted to Christianity
ii. Edict of Milan (313 CE)
1. Christianity legalized (religious toleration)
iii. Converted to Christianity on his deathbed

XIX. Justinian (527-565 CE)

a. Powerful emperor of the Eastern (Byzantine) Empire headquartered at Constantinople
i. Married Theodora, an intelligent courtesan
b. Managed to reunite the Eastern and Western empires for a time, but this did not last
c. Rewrote Roman law (Corpus Juris Civilis, or the Justinian Code)
i. Still the basis for civil law in several countries
d. Plague of Justinian (541-542 CE)
i. Bubonic plague severely hurt the Byzantine Empire
ii. Emperor Justinian became sick, but recovered
iii. Recovery for the Byzantine Empire took hundreds of years

XX. The two empires

a. Emperor Diocletian had believed that dividing the empire for administrative purposes would
strengthen the empire
i. He was wrong
ii. Once Constantine set up Constantinople as a capital city, the east/west split deepened
b. Western (Roman) Empire
i. Ended officially in 476 CE when the last emperor, Romulus Augustus, was deposed by a
barbarian, Odoacer
c. Eastern (Byzantine) Empire

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i. Lasted until 1453 when the empire was conquered by the Ottoman Turks

XXI. Why did Rome fall?

a. Economic reasons
i. Gap between rich and poor
ii. Impoverished workers became tied to the land as coloni (sold as the land was sold)
iii. As fewer members of the lower classes could afford to buy goods (no purchasing power),
manufacturing and trade declined
iv. Large estates became self-sufficient, further hurting manufacturing and trade
b. Military reasons
i. Roman Republic
1. Armies were servants of Rome
ii. Roman Empire
1. Armies made and unmade emperors
iii. Reliance on barbarian troops
1. Not ultimately loyal to Rome
2. Could not be counted on to fight their fellow barbarians
3. Interested in obtaining booty, not defending Rome or furthering Rome’s interests
c. Political reasons
i. Decline in patriotism
1. Democracy did not exist in reality
2. Citizens lost their tie (voting rights) to the state
3. Patriotism became based on loyalty to an emperor, not to Rome
a. Most emperors did not inspire respect or loylty
ii. East/West split
1. Two empires created problems regarding loyalty
iii. No orderly succession
1. Murders, forced suicides, and civil wars frequently accompanied the transition from
one emperor to the next
d. Social reasons
i. Population decline
1. Hunger
2. Plagues
3. War
ii. Decline in intellectual culture
1. People did not dedicate themselves to public service and intellectual pursuits
2. People instead spent their leisure time watching chariot races and gladiatorial
contests
iii. Religious divisions
1. Eastern and Egyptian cults took away the popularity and status of traditional
Roman religion
2. New faiths like Christianity directly questioned and challenged concepts such as
imperial divinity

XXII. Why is ancient Rome so important to global history?

a. Administration of a vast empire
b. Christianity
c. Architecture
d. Engineering
e. Historians
f. Jewish Diaspora

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g. Literature
h. Roman law
i. Romance languages
j. Transmission of Greek (Hellenistic) culture
k. Romans did not necessarily create and invent everything that they are commonly given credit for
i. What the Romans were best at was taking something (like the Etruscan arch), adapting it,
and putting it to great use (such as in the construction of aqueducts)

XXIII. Administration of a vast empire

a. Empire included over 100,000,000 people of diverse backgrounds, cultures, and places
i. Rome learned to adapt its policies on a local level to fit the people of a given area
ii. Citizenship gradually extended to all free men of the empire
b. Solid, strong bureaucracy that kept things running smoothly the majority of the time
i. Empire’s administration run by countless proconsuls, procurators, governors, and minor
officials
ii. Four prefectures, further divided into dioceses, then into provinces
c. Strong infrastructure
i. Facilitated movement by officials, soldiers, traders, travelers, etc.

XXIV. Christianity
a. Christianity started in the Roman province of Judea
b. Pax Romana and Roman infrastructure
i. Early Christians, as residents/citizens of the Roman Empire, could travel freely throughout
the empire
ii. There was a significant number of Christians in Rome by 64 CE, the year Nero blamed them
for the fire (circa 30 years after Jesus died)
iii. According to tradition, Paul of Tarsus (St. Paul) used his Roman citizenship to have his
criminal trial relocated to Rome from Caesarea (in Judea-Palestine) in the 60s CE
c. Christianity finally gained acceptance with the Edict of Milan (313 CE) and Constantine’s conversion
i. Future Roman emperors were Christians
ii. As the Western Roman Empire fell apart, the city became the headquarters of the Roman
Catholic Church
1. The Pope used the imperial title “Pontiff”
2. The Church ended up ruling the city of Rome and surrounding areas
3. Church used Roman administrative districts, such as dioceses, in its administration

XXV. Architecture and engineering

a. A large part of Rome’s success was due to the importance Rome placed on building and maintaining
the empire’s infrastructure
i. Aqueducts, bridges, dams, harbors, roads
b. Public buildings
i. Amphitheaters (e.g., Colosseum), basilicas (oblong halls), government offices, palaces, public
baths, theaters, etc.
c. Architecture
i. Basic style was copied from the Greeks
ii. Arch copied from the Etruscans
iii. Dome
iv. Vault

XXVI. Historians and historical writings

a. Julius Caesar (100-44 BCE)

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i. Commentaries on the Gallic Wars

b. Cicero (106-43 BCE)
i. Letters and orations
ii. Called the “father of Latin prose”
c. Livy (59 BCE-17 CE)
i. Annals, history of Rome from beginnings to Augustus
d. Plutarch (46-120 CE)
i. Parallel Lives, comparison of Greek and Roman heroes
ii. Moralia, a collection of essays, etc., on customs and mores
e. Tacitus (ca. 56-ca. 117 CE)
i. Germania, about the Germanic tribes of Europe
ii. Annals and Histories, about the emperors of his time

XXVII. Literature
a. Playwrights
i. Plautus and Terence
ii. Mostly a copy of the Greek style
1. But Greek plays were designed to instruct
2. Roman plays were designed merely to entertain
b. Poets
i. Virgil (70-19 BCE)
1. Aeneid, epic poem based on Homer’s Iliad
ii. Horace (58-8 BCE)
1. Odes
2. Lyric poetry praising an idyllic, simple time in early Roman history

XXVIII. Jewish Diaspora

a. Judea-Palestina (roughly modern Palestine or Israel) was a Roman province
b. The Romans put down a series of uprisings
c. The future Emperor Titus destroyed the Second Temple of Jerusalem and carried its spoils to Rome
(70 CE)
d. After the Bar Kokhba Revolt (132-136 CE), the Jews were forced to migrate from the area around
Jerusalem
i. Jews were never again a large presence in Israel-Palestine until the 20th century

XXIX. Roman law

a. Started with the Twelve Tables (450 BCE)
b. Developed over a thousand years
i. Included decisions of judges, ideas of the Republic and Empire, and rulings of emperors
ii. Public law
1. Relationship of citizen to state
iii. Private (civil) law
1. Relationships between people
iv. Peoples law (jus gentium)
1. Rights of foreigners
c. Justinian Code (6th century CE)
i. Encapsulated the previous 1000+ years of Roman law
ii. Still used as the basis of civil law in many parts of Europe

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XXX. Romance languages

a. “Romance” meaning “Roman”
b. Romance languages developed from Latin
i. French
ii. Italian
iii. Portuguese
iv. Romanian
v. Spanish
c. English
i. Old English was a Germanic language
ii. William the Conqueror, of Normandy (in France), brought French (a Romance language) to
England in 1066
iii. Middle English (the forerunner of the English spoken today) is a mixture of these old
Germanic and French languages
iv. About half of modern English can be traced to Latin
d. Law, medicine, and science
i. Scientists have traditionally used Latin as a “universal language”
ii. Our scientific names, and most legal and medical terminology, is Latin
e. Religion
i. The Catholic Church preserved the Latin language
ii. Catholic masses were said in Latin until the 1960s

XXXI. Roman science

a. The Romans were not great scientists like the Greeks had been
i. Little original thought
b. Pliny the Elder (23-79 CE)
i. Natural History, a collection of all known botanical, geographical, medical, physiological, and
zoological information available
ii. But Pliny never verified his information
c. Galen (131-201 CE)
i. Summarized all Greek medical knowledge
ii. His work was almost the entire basis for anatomy and physiology studies for centuries to
come
d. In science, as in all else, the Romans were practical
i. Public health and sanitation were important
ii. Aqueducts brought fresh water and sewers took away dirty water
iii. Hospitals served soldiers (triage), etc.

XXXII. Transmission of Greek (Hellenistic) culture

a. Preserved and transmitted Greek culture to the west
b. Greek texts, etc., were popular in Rome
c. When Rome fell, the Catholic Church (monks) continued to preserve and transmit Greek texts and
ideas

XXXIII. Review questions

a. Who split the empire into two halves, and why?
b. Explain the relationship between Emperor Constantine and Christianity.
c. Describe the accomplishments of Emperor Justinian.
d. When did the Western (Roman) and Eastern (Byzantine) empires officially end, and why?
e. Explain the economic, military political, and social reasons for the fall of the Western Roman Empire.
f. Name and describe at least three contributions of Roman civilization to world history.

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