The Romans

509 BC 476 AD

Vocabulary
Latins
Etruscans
Republic
Roman Senate
Patricians
Plebeians
Tiberius Gracchus
Consuls
Praetor
Triumverate

Julius Caesar
Dictator
Nero
Pax Romana
Insulae
Gladiator
Christianity
Jesus Christ
Constantine
Barbarians

Italy: the Home of the

Latins
Italy was home to
the ETRUSCANS an
d the LATINS (or R
omans.) Greeks a
nd Carthaginians a
lso lived near Italy.

The Latins learned

most of their cultur
e from the Etrusca
ns and Greeks.

Rome
The Romans
believed that RO
MULUS and REMU
S, twins raised by
wolves, founded t
he city.
Rome was built
on seven hills nea
r the TIBER river.

Rome Takes Over

In 509 BC, the
Romans fought a
gainst the Etrusc
ans, and threw o
ut their king.
By 264 BC, the
Romans had take
n all of Italy.

How did Romans dress?

Roman people
wore a TOGA, or
long dress, and S
ANDALS, like the
Etruscans.
Women wore
longer and often
more colorful clot
hing than men.

Roman soldiers dressed very

much like Greek soldiers.
They had heavy armor, large
shields, and used spears and
swords.

Roman Religion
The Romans learned
their religion from the
Greeks.
They changed the
names of the Greek go
ds to sound more Rom
an.
The Romans built
temples to the gods an
d had oracles, just like
the Greeks did.

Roman Art
The Romans
copied Greek art,
but also made it
more realistic.
Romans often
painted the walls
in their homes, a
nd artists were v
ery popular.

Roman Architecture
The Romans
were well known
for the many dif
erent buildings t
hey made.
Roman
Architecture was
much like the Gr
eeks, but the Ro
mans made it be
tter.

Curved Construction
The Romans
were the first to
perfect the ARCH
, and used it to
make strong and
beautiful building
s.
They also used
the VAULT and th
e DOME.

Roads and Aqueducts

Romans built
many roads to m
ove their armies
very quickly all a
round their land.
Aqueducts were
built to bring wat
er to far away citi
es.

Citizenship
Romans were divided into
CITIZENS and NONCITIZENS.
Citizens could own land,
vote, and had better lives.
Even non-Romans could b
e citizens!
Non-citizens were free to
do what they liked, but th
ey had to help Rome in wa
r, and were not allowed to
do many things citizens co
uld do.

Two Classes
Romans were also
divided into 2 classes.
PATRICIANS were
wealthy and powerful f
amilies. They often liv
ed in large villas.
PLEBEIANS were the
workers, and were mos
tly poor. They mostly li
ved in smaller insulae.

Roman Government
Rome had no king.
It was a REPUBLIC.
(A government
where the people V
OTE for people who
REPRESENT them.)
The idea was that
no one person
would have too mu
ch power.

The Roman Republic

The First Punic War

(264-241 BC)
Rome and
Carthage started
fighting over Sicil
y in 264 BC.
Carthage lost,
and Sicily was ta
ken by Rome. C
arthage promise
d revenge.

The Second Punic War

(219-201 BC) The

Carthaginians
sent HANNIBAL,
a powerful gener
al, to destroy Ro
me.

His war
elephants were
more powerful th
an the Roman ar
my. Rome bega
n to lose.

The Second Punic War

However, Hannibal
lost many of his
elephants in the Al
pine Mountains.
While Hannibal
was stuck in Italy,
SCIPIO, a Roman g
eneral, attacked C
arthage, and Hanni
bal had to retreat.

The Third Punic War

(149-146 BC)
In 149 BC, Rome fought
Carthage for a third time
.
This time, Carthage was
completely destroyed.
The Romans renamed th
e land Africa.
Rome then took Greece
and Macedonia. By 100
BC, Rome was the most
powerful country in the
world.

Growing Corruption
Over time, rich
families
(ARISTOCRATS) contro
lled more and more of
Roman government.
Many small farmers
were pushed of their l
and by aristocrats. Th
e aristocrats passed u
nfair laws in governm
ent.

Tiberius Gracchus (165

133BC)

Tiberius and his

younger brother Gai
us were Patricians
who wanted to help
the Plebeians.
Tiberius tried to
take land from the c
orrupt and rich sena
tors and give the la
nd back to the poor.

Murder in Public
The corrupt senators
hated Tiberius and m
urdered him in the st
reet, where everyone
could see.
Gaius was murdered
the next year.
The people were
afraid and angry at t
he rich patricians.

Civil War!
For the next 50
years, Rome fell i
nto civil war.
The Government
was controlled by
the Senate.
Rome was falling
apart.

The First Triumvirate

Three leaders took
control of Rome:
Crassus: The richest
man in Rome
Pompey: a retired
general who was very p
opular
Julius Caesar: a
powerful general who
had his own army.

Julius Caesar
When Crassus
died, the Senate tri
ed to give Pompey
the power.
Caesar decided to
attack Rome inste
ad of giving up.
He beat Pompey in
45 BC and became
DICTATOR.

Death of Caesar
The Senate
feared that Julius
would not give u
p power, so they
murdered him in
44 BC.
Again, Rome was
falling apart.

The Second Triumvirate

A new Triumvirate took
over, and killed the sena
tors who murdered Julius
. The new leaders were:
Octavian: Caesars
nephew and heir.
Mark Antony: Caesars
friend and a general.
Lepidus: Commander of
Caesars cavalry.

More Civil War

The second triumvirate
failed. All three
members fought for pow
er.
Antony, like Julius
Caesar, allied with CLEO
PATRA VII, the last phara
oh of Egypt.
Octavian beat Lepidus,
then Antony and Cleopat
ra, and became AUGUST
US CAESAR.

The Roman Empire

Although
Augustus never
called himself E
mperor, he was
the one true rule
r.
Rome would
never again be a
republic.

Pax Romana
For the next 200
years, Rome was pe
aceful and powerful.
We call this time the
Pax Romana. or
Roman Peace.
However, the royal
family still had many
problems.

The Julio-Claudian
Emperors
Augustus
declared that
rule of Rome wo
uld be passed int
o the royal family
.
The rest of his
family sufered
from insanity. Ti
berius, Gaius (Ca
ligula), and Nero

The Roman Games

Romans loved sport.
The COLOSSEUM was
built by emperor
Vespasian and his son
Titus in 80 AD.
Romans loved chariot
racing and gladiator
fights most.
Gladiators were super
stars who fought each
other. (Sometimes to
death!)

Jesus of Nazareth
Jesus was a poor
Jew who lived du
ring the time of e
mperor Tiberius.
Many Jews
believed Jesus
was the MESSIAH
, a Jewish King o
f Kings.

Jesus Crucified

Jesus was
betrayed by the
leaders of the Je
ws. They said he
wanted to fight R
ome.
He was beaten,
whipped, and
CRUCIFIED by th
e Roman govern
ment.

Christianity
After Jesuss
death, his
followers spread
his teachings
around the world
.
Christians
believed in only
ONE god, and th
at Jesus was the
son of God.

Rome and Christianity

In the time of Nero,
Rome began to
punish and kill Christ
ians.
Even so, Christianity
became more
popular every year.
By 300 AD, Christian
ity was the most pop
ular religion with the
plebeians.

Rome Splits
Civil Wars,
disease, and
religious change
weakened Rome.
In 293, Diocletian
split the Roman
Empire into 4 kin
gdoms, each rule
d by diferent em
perors.

Constantine and the

Byzantine Empire

Emperor Constantine was

the first Roman Emperor to
become Christian.
He built a great city in the
east. He called it Constan
tinople.
The west was ruled from
Rome. The east was ruled f
rom Constantinople.
The Eastern Empire
became known as the
BYZANTINE EMPIRE.

The Fall of Rome

During the 400s,
Rome was attacked
by many barbarians s
uch as the Visigoths,
Huns, and Vandals.
In 476, the Western
Roman Empire ended
.
The Byzantine Empire
continued until 1453.