The Roman Empire A Story of Rising and Falling

Transcription

1 The Roman Empire A Story of Rising and Falling by Joe Waite The Roman Empire How Did It Get Started? According to an old legend, Rome was started by two twin orphans who were raised by a she-wolf. Their names were Romulus and Remus, and they wandered around the woods in Central Italy. Anyway, the boys mysteriously could speak Latin, and led a group of people to one of the hills of the city. They got into a fight about who should name the new city. Romulus stabbed Remus through the heart. That it is why we call it Rome today, and not Reme. What probably really happened is that groups of nomadic tribesmen decided to make a permanent settlement on the Tiber River. They didn t want to be right on the sea because of the risk of getting attacked by pirates and storms. The Tiber constantly flooded, and life in the new settlement was hard. Why is Rome So Cool? Rome is called the Eternal City because people think that it will always be there. They may be right. Rome has existed for 2500 years, and it is still used as the capital of Italy today. People visit there because you can still see the old Roman ruins. Throughout this unit, you will see pictures of some of the places that the Romans built about 2000 years ago. The map in the next column shows you where Italy is located in southern Europe, Rome being the capital city of modern Italy. 1 Rome was lucky, like Greece, because it had lot s of coast line and was protected by mountains. The Italian Peninsula looks like a boot, and the top of the boot is covered with the Alps Mountains, one of the highest ranges in the world. In addition to this, the low lying Appennine Mountains run down the boot of Italy, like a long spine. These aren t as tall, but still offered some protection. The Mediterranean became Rome s link with the world.. Like Greece, it was protected by natural defenses, and like Greece, was dry and hot. Therefore they found it necessary to trade with other cultures if they wanted new things. Rome Becomes a Class Society The early Romans divided into socialeconomic classes. The poor people were called plebeians (plee-bee-ans). They didn t have any power and they felt just like poor and deprived people feel today. The upper class was called the patricians (pa-trish-ans). They, like many rich folks, had all the power. The plebians made the patricians worry when many of them began leaving Rome and starting new lives. Soon the patricians learned

2 that they had better be nice or there would be nobody left to do the scummy jobs. All power rested with the patricians. They had a bunch of patrician men in the Senate that made all of the laws. They let the Plebians have just enough power to think that they actually could make some decisions. Most of the time, the patricians controlled Roman society. Rome Becomes Strong Growing Roman power in the Mediterranean put them in direct competition with the North African city of Carthage. The Romans, during what would become called the Punic Wars, built a strong navy and defeated the Carthagians in the first war. Carthage s greatest general, Hannibal, wanted to make the Romans pay. In what would become one of the greatest marches of all time, Hannibal crossed into Spain, around Gaul (France) and into the Alps, with elephants (like the one pictured above)! He was going to use these elephants like tanks. Anyway, he had a bad time crossing the Alps because of blizzards and angry tribesmen rolling boulders down onto their heads. But he eventually made it into Northern Italy with 25,000 men remaining. The Romans 2 tried to attack him, but he stopped them at a crucial battle and slaughtered 50,000 Romans. He did this by pretending to have his middle retreat, or run away. What they really did was to trap all the Roman soldiers into a circle, and closed the circle in on them. Anyway, the Romans got Hannibal to leave by attacking Carthage and Spain. Hannibal rushed back through Spain, only to find crabby Roman troops waiting for him. His men were trampled by their own elephants when the Roman soldiers blew trumpets during the attack. Carthage got strong again just 50 years later. The Roman Senate decided enough was enough and ordered the final destruction of Carthage. Salt was put on the soil so that no crops could ever grow there again. Rome was now the most powerful empire in the Mediterranean. They had goods and taxes pouring in from all over the place. This made them stronger and stronger. The Rise of Julius Caesar Rome was becoming very powerful, militarily. And like many countries with a strong army, Rome had problems from the inside. The rich got richer and the poor got poorer. Common Romans wanted leaders who represented them, and not the rich. Julius Caesar would become the person that the common people looked up to the most. He knew that military power was a great way to take over the world. So he took over an army that was fighting in Gaul, which is in modern day France. Rome was still a Republic, like our country, but Julius was threatening to make it a dictatorship, in which one person made all the decisions (like the pharaohs of Egypt). What system would the Romans choose?

3 THE BEAUTIFUL CLEOPATRA-- QUEEN OF EGYPT--GIRLFRIEND OF JULIUS Julius easily defeated and mistreated the tribes of France, England, Belgium, and Germany. And he bragged, and bragged and bragged. He was the type of guy who went around saying I m number one and your scum! Anyway, the people who were powerless, thought he was good. He became a dictator, or absolute ruler of Rome. He was a strong leader who picked on people that didn t like what he was doing. The Senate hated him because he had too much power. Rome became a dictatorship. They were also angered because fell in love with an Egyptian princess named Cleopatra. She was a real fruitcake, but was considered to be the most beautiful woman of her time. She had Caesar eating out of her hands. This made most of the Romans really mad because he was usually at her place in Egypt, and not at home in Rome tending to their business. Anyway, a bunch of Senators led by Brutus and Crassus, got together and decided that Caesar must go--he had too much power. He was stabbed on the steps of the Senate in the year 44 B.C. by several Roman Senators. There was a power vacuum in Rome, and they were on a leaderless, dangerous course. 3 The Triumvirate Three people came to the front of the power struggle. They were Mark Antony, a young general who was strong and usually drunk, Lucius, an old man and somewhat of a chicken, and Octavian, an adopted son of Julius Caesar, and only a frail 18 year old boy. These three men had troops loyal to them, so rather than start a civil war and make a blood bath, they agreed to share the power. Lucius was the first to mess this up. He secretly tried to have his army attack Octavian s. Lucius men knew he was a chicken, so when it came time to fight, they gave up to Octavian. His soldiers joined Octavian s army, leaving only Antony and Octavian left to share power. Octavian was smart, and he knew that he would be most successful if he would Octavian was small but very smart. be patient. Meanwhile, Octavian made his sister, Octavia get married to Mark Antony. This lasted a couple of years. But silly old Mark Antony fell in love with that lovable fruitcake from Egypt, Cleopatra, and sent Octavia back to Octavian, bawling her eyes out. He then took his men to Egypt and was ready to fight Octavian for control of the Roman Empire. Octavian got really mad. Octavian and Mark Antony spread lies around about each other, but most Romans agreed that they didn t want their leader sharing power with a weird Egyptian. They backed Octavian.

4 OCTAVIA, SISTER OF CAESER AUGUSTUS, WAS SAD AFTER GETTING DUMPED BY MARK ANTONY FOR CLEOPATRA. What Happens to Antony? Octavian gathered his troops and sailed to war on the Nile River. Antony and Cleopatra were stuck inside of Egypt, trapped by the Roman Navy. When Antony came out to attack, Octavian s superior forces slaughtered them rather quickly. A rumor was started that Antony was killed in battle. When Cleopatra heard this, she poisoned herself to death. When Antony heard that Cleopatra was dead, he killed himself. Octavian felt bad. He was really a sensitive guy who cared about people and his country, but it didn t matter. He was now the sole ruler of Rome, and at about age 28, he had become the strongest person in the world. antony was mad! 4 Octavian Changes His Name to Caesar Augustus Octavian changed his name so people would think he was more important, but he was brilliant because he made other people feel important. He was genuinely interested in the well- being of Rome. He killed few political enemies, and only when his life was in danger. The Senate wanted Rome to be democratic again. Augustus tricked them into thinking they had more power than they did, but in reality, he had it all. Augustus needed to worry about the Senate, because they, after all, were the ones who murdered Julius Caesar. After a while, the Senate begged him to remain in power because they were sure that they couldn t rule Rome as well as he could. He continued to lead Rome for 45 years. This time period is called the Pax Romana which means Roman Peace. A favorite saying of the time was that Augustus found Rome stone, and left it marble. This was true. He concentrated on building up Rome s infrastructure. This word means a countries roads, schools, public places, etc. He spent less on the army, although he made sure that it stayed very strong. They already controlled most of the known world as it was. A diary of Augustus was found in Greece in the 14th Century. Most scholars agree that it is indeed the genuine thing. In this diary, Augustus tells about all the things that made him happy, and about the things that bothered him. He died of old age, at about age 76. He never felt that he succeeded, although history has shown him to be brilliant, and to be one of the greatest rulers of one of the greatest nations ever to appear on earth. What s Next? Some of the emperors that followed Augustus were good, while others were crazy. Rome, like all dictatorships, was at the mercy of it s leaders. There was a saying that Rome would always rule the world. This would have been true, except that Roman society started to decay. Crime increased, greed increased, violence increased. People tried to get away with cheating rather than working hard for the betterment of themselves and their country. Rome still had strong armies, but it was rotting from the inside. It s schools got weaker. It s politicans became corrupt. Public works started to decay because nobody cared about their country--only themselves. 4

5 dals, and Huns and Visgoths. They over-ran Rome, and Rome as we knew it, ceased to exist. Roman culture and customs would be kept alive by just a few people through the next 500 years. Slave Labor Romans used slaves as their primary labor force. This started to backfire on them when there became more slaves than Romans. There were revolts, and slaves and non-slaves alike died by the thousands. Some slaves could buy their own freedom, and even become Roman officials. There were gangs. The family became less important as people left and went their separate ways. Many Americans compare ancient Rome to the United States now. Our country is the most powerful nation on the earth. At this point, we fear no other country on earth. Rome didn t either. But Rome did not take care of it s society. It got weaker on the inside. Many Americans fear that this happening here, and now. What do you think? Luckily, many Roman ideas did survive the test of time. Today we use the Roman alphabet for writing, and many of our words come from the Latin language, which was used by the Romans. Romans invented currency, which made trading a lot easier. No longer did they have to trade goods for goods, but could use coins as a symbol of wealth. Roman roads are still used today, so strong were they built. The idea of having all roads linked to a capital is used in our own capital city of Washington DC, in which the White House is the featured center-piece of the city. Roman art and architecture are still used. Roman concepts of government are still used, like the Senate in the United States, for example. Rome today is the capital city of the country of Italy. Inside of Rome is the nation of the Vatican City, which is a tiny country ran by the Pope, leader of the Catholic Church. Many of ancient Rome s wonders are still standing today. You can get a real good idea of what the Roman way of life was like just by walking through this great city. FEROCIOUS BARBARIANS DESTROYED ROME. Rome Is Split, Christianized, Then Sacked The Romans always believed in several gods. Mars was the god of war, Venus the goddess of love, Neptune the god of the sea. At the time of Augustus, Christianity started in the Eastern Roman Empire, with he teachings of Jesus. It took many years for the teachings of this man to reach Rome. The first Roman emperors picked on and often killed the Christians. But after awhile, the Christian Church became the official church of Rome. Unfortuantely for them, the changes in religious practice had no effect on Roman society. The decay of Rome continued. Rome became weak--and now they had enemies. Barbarians with primitive customs and habits were attacking Rome from all sides. There were Van 5