LESSON 7 Living together in the Roman Empire Conquerors and rulers of a Great Empire Roman politics - 400 BC - 200 AD
Research questions 1. How did Rome become a Great Empire? 2. How did the Romans govern (=rule) the Roman city-state? 3. How did the Roman government change because of the conquests?
Research question 1 1. How did Rome become a Great Empire?
The Roman conquests.
OPDRACHT VRAAG 13 Research: How did the Romans control the conquered territories? a) Divide and rule (= divide and conquer)! - playing a game - What does divide and rule or divide and conquer mean? Divide and rule = divide and conquer! In politics, divide and rule (also known as divide and conquer) is a strategy to gain and maintain power based on the fact that many smaller opponents are easier to manage than one larger one. The strategy includes: * breaking up groups into smaller chunks that are easier to manage * preventing small power groups from teaming up and becoming more powerful Gloss: - to gain and maintain power: macht verwerven en behouden - to prevent = voorkomen - an opponent: een tegenstander
OPDRACHT VRAAG 13 b) Highlight the correct answer(s). 1 Which of the following are Roman civil rights? - the right to marry (= matrimonial law) - the duty to serve in the army - the right to own something (house, land, ) - the right to take part in politics (carry out a political function) - the duty to pay taxes 2 Which of the following are Roman civil duties? - the right to marry (= matrimonial law) - the duty to serve in the army - the right to own something (house, land, ) - the right to take part in politics (carry out a political function) - the duty to pay taxes 3 Answer the question: What s the difference between a right and a duty?.
OPDRACHT VRAAG 13 c) Are the statements true or false? Explain your answers. Statement True/False Explanation All the conquered territories had the same rights and duties. When a city rebelled against Rome, it was easy for them to find allies. The strategy Divide and rule reduced the rebellions.
OPDRACHT VRAAG 13 Explain in your own words what Divide and Rule means. My own words:
Transparency of words: Read the text on the following slide and find the correct English words. French word English word Dutch word succéder successeur (same word as in Latin) opvolgen opvolger se rebeller oppresser paix (in Latin: pax) onderdrukken; onderwerpen vrede
Research: How did the Romans try to maintain a great empire? a) Read the text. Then answer the questions. Roman emperors Hadrian succeeded Trajan ( he was Trajan s successor) as emperor of the Roman empire. He put a lot of effort into maintaining (= keeping) peace in the Roman empire. Supposedly there wasn t anything else he could do. The peoples Trajan had suppressed before him, tried to rebel against the Roman rulers on numerous occasions. Hadrian decided to stop the Roman conquests and he gave the territories near the Tigris river back to its original inhabitants. Source: adapted from Hadrian s life - 4th century AD
Hadrian s wall Reconstruction drawing
Reconstruction of a watch tower along Hadrian s wall
Remains of Hadrian s wall today
Situating Hadrian s wall in Great Britain
Hadrian s wall path
a) Which decisions did Hadrian take for the Roman empire? b) Why did Hadrian take these decisions?
This is a reconstruction drawing of a length of Hadrian's Wall known as Winshields Wall. It is built along the Winshields Crags; the highest point on the Wall. Hadrian's Wall was built by the Romans between AD122-128. It stretched 117km across Northern England from the river Tyne to the Solway Firth. At every Roman mile (approx 1.5 km) along the wall a mile castle was built. These were small forts for up to 50 men. Between each of these were two turrets. There were also at least 16 major forts such as Wallsend, Housesteads and Vindolanda on or near the wall. Around 2,000 soldiers were needed to patrol the wall.
c) Cross out what doesn t fit: - Most Roman legions were stationed at the borders (frontiers) of the empire. - Most Roman legions were stationed in the centre of the empire. The cause was: - expansion of the empire - defense of the empire d) What type of buildings protected the borders of the empire?. e) What landscape features went together with these borders?. f) Give one advantage (benefit) of these natural borders:.
g) Use the sources to answer the question. What was the most expensive cost in the Roman empire?.. Source 1 Four times a year, a soldier received a "donative" greater than the pay he got for a whole year.! Additionally, soldiers received an annual "annona" (subsidy = subsidie) for grain purchases. The best soldiers were recruited to the Praetorian Guard, the soldiers who guarded the emperor. These soldiers were paid roughly 3 times more than an ordinary soldier. Soldiers' Base Pay: 1800 Denarii per year Praetorian Guard: 5500 Denarii per year Annual Grain Annona: 600 Denarii per year Donative (4 per year) 2500 Denarii Source 2
h) Think! The costs made for the army didn t only consist of paying the soldiers. Give three examples of costs the Roman government also had to make to keep the army going. 1.. 2.. 3..
i) Cross out what doesn t fit: - Warfare (going to war) was cheap / expensive j) Conclusion: Highlight three reasons why the emperors after Trajan stopped the Roman conquests and started defending the borders. - The Roman people rebelled. - Suppressed people rebelled. - The Roman empire had good natural borders which could be defended. - The Roman empire didn t have good natural borders which could be defended. - The conquests and warfare were expensive. - The conquests and warfare were cheap.
Wat VRAAG onderzochten 1 we? 1. How did Rome become a Great Empire? Rome started as a small settlement on the Tiber river. When the city-state started growing, Rome needed more farmland. The Romans conquered more farmland in wars with their neighbouring peoples in Italy. It took the Romans two centuries to control the Italic peninsula (Italy). After the Roman conquest of Italy, the Romans continued conquering other territories by battling and going to war aggressively. They were out to get the rich grain areas in the Mediterranean world and they wanted to control trade in raw materials in the Mediterranean world. But the Romans also wanted power and glory. After centuries of war Rome gained control over a great Empire that stretched from modern day Spain and Iraq to England and Egypt in the 1st century BC. The Romans didn t treat all the conquered territories in the same way (= equally). Some territories got more rights than others. It helped the Romans to control the inhabitants of the conquered territories. We call this system: Divide and Rule! (= Divide and conquer!) From the middle of the second century AD Rome started understanding that expansion of the empire was no longer possible. The wars were expensive and hostile peoples started rebelling. The Romans started defending their great empire. They built defenses along their natural borders to keep the empire together.