Summer 2020

HIS 102: Introduction to World Civilization

Department of History and Philosophy
North South University

LECTURE 9:
RISE AND FALL OF ROMAN CIVILIZATION

DR. KAZI MARUFUL ISLAM

kazi.islam07@northsouth.edu
8 August 2020
TALKING POINTS
§ Ancient Roman
§ Geography and Landscape
§ Formation of Roman Republic
§ Roman Monarchy
§ Social Classes in Romna Society
§ Expansiona nd Struggle of Power
§ Slavery in Rome
§ Roman Thoughts and Philosophy
§ Roman architecture
§ Roman Laws
§ Roman Science, Technology and literature
§ Fall of Romans
INTRODUCTION
§ Early Roman Civilization
§ Three historical periods:
§ The Roman Monarchy (753 BCE to 509 BCE)
§ The Roman Republic (509 BCE to 31 BCE)
§ The Roman Empire (31 BCE to 248 AD)
 LESSON ONE: ROME’S BEGINNINGS

ANCIENT ROME: THE I.a.LEGEND

Legend
Roman legend claimed that brothers, Romulus a
Remus founded Rome after they were raised by a
she-wolf.
a. Roman legend claimed that brothers,
Romulus and Remus founded Rome
after they were raised by a she-wolf.
b. Ancient Rome begin as a group of
villages along the Tiber River in what
is now Italy.
c. Around 750 B.C. these villages united
to form the city of Rome.
THE BEGINNING
§ In the 8th century B.C., the inhabitants of some small
Latin settlements on hills in the TIBER VALLEY united and
established a common meeting place, the FORUM,
around which the city of Rome grew.
§
GEOGRAPHY AND LANDSCAPE
§ a. Mountainous (like Greece)
§ b. Longest coastlines: it became a center
of trade because of its many harbors
and ports with access to the
Mediterranean Sea.
§ c. Surrounded by Mediterranean Sea,
Tyrrhenian Sea, and Adriatic Sea
 CONNECTION
§ Rome was considered a
bridge between Western
Europe, North Africa, and
Western Asia.
FORMATION OF ROMAN REPUBLIC
§ For more than 200 years, kings ruled Rome.
§ In 509 B.C. Rome became a republic.
§ The Roman Senate was an assembly of elected
representatives. It was the single most powerful ruling
body of the Roman Republic.
ROMAN MONARCHY
§ According to tradition, early Rome was ruled by KINGS elected
§ by the people.
• The king's executive power was conferred by a POPULAR
ASSEMBLY made up of all arms-bearing citizens.
• The king turned for advice to a council of nobles, called the
SENATE.
§ Each senator had lifelong tenure and the members of this group
and their families constituted the PATRICIAN class.
§ The other class of Romans, the PLEBEIANS (commoners)
included small farmers, artisans, and many clients (dependents
of patrician landowners). In return for a livelihood, the clients
gave their patrician patrons political support in the ASSEMBLY
THREE SOCIAL CLASSES
§ During Roman Republic and Empire, there were three
distinct social
§ classes:
§ The patrician (aristocracy)
§ The equestrian (army)
§ The plebian (common people)
PATRICIANS & PLEBEIANS
§ In the beginningmost of the
people elected to the Senate
were patricians.
§ Patricians controlled the law
since they were the only
citizens allowed to be judges.
§ Plebeians had the right to
vote, but could not hold public
office until 287 B.C, when they
gained equality with
patricians.
ROMAN REPUBLIC
§ The Early Republic (509-264 BCE): division of society into
two classes, the aristocratic patricians and the plebeians
§ The Middle Republic (264-133 BCE): the challenge of
Carthage; the Punic Wars (264-146 BCE).
§ The Late Republic (133-31 BCE): the rise of the
equestrian order, a social class who gained wealth during
the Punic Wars.
EARLY REPUBLIC 509-133 B.C.
§ In 509 B.C., according to tradition, the PATRICIANS
expelled the last Etruscan king and established a
REPUBLIC.
§ The power to rule was transferred to two new officials
called CONSULS.
§ Elected annually from the patrician class, the consul
exercised their power in the interests of that class.
THE LATE REPUBLIC: JULIUS CAESAR, I
§ Julius Caesar, an equestrian, was a major political figure
from 60 to 44 BCE.
§ He took his authority from the many titles and powers he
held: dictator for life, consul, and head of the armies.
§ Future Roman emperors recognized him as their
predecessor by calling themselves Caesar, or ruler.
THE LATE REPUBLIC: JULIUS CAESAR, I
§ On march 15, 44 BCE, a band of senatorial assassins
murdered Caesar and Rome plunged into chaos.
§ Caesar’s nephew and adopted son, Octavian, emerged
as a new leader in 31 BCE.
§ He was later called Augustus Caesar.
§ With Octavian, we have the beginning of Pax Romana
(Roman Peace) and the Roman Empire.
§ During Octavian’s rule, patrician’s power decreased
and equestrian power increased.
ROMAN EXPANSION
§ Under the leadership of ambitious generals, Rome’s
highly trained soldiers took over most of the land
surrounding the Mediterranean.
§ The ancient Romans called the Mediterranean mare
nostrum, meaning “our sea”.
EXPANSION AND STRUGGLE OF POWER
§ Alexander died in 323 B.C.
§ Rome dominated most of the Italian peninsula
§ Expansion southward brought Rome into collision with
Carthage, the greatest power in the western
Mediterranean
§ Second Carthaginian war (218-201 B.C.): Rome’s
southern Italian allies defected to Hannibal
§ Third war with Carthage in 201 B.C.: Rome emerged not
merely victorious but a world power
PLEBEIAN STRUGGLE FOR EQUAL RIGHTS
§ For more than two centuries following the establishment of the
Republic, the plebeians struggled for political and social
equality.
§ Outright civil war was averted by the willingness of the
patricians to compromise.
§ Much of the plebeians’ success in this struggle was also due to
their tactics of collective action and to their having organized a
corporate group within the state.
§ The unofficial body was known as the PLEBEIAN COUNCIL.
§ It was presided over by plebeian officials called
TRIBUNES, whose job was to safeguard the interests of the
plebeians and to negotiate with the consuls and the Senate.
§ The advancement of the PLEBEIANS during the early Republic
• The
took two advancement
main lines: of the
the PLEBEIANS during
safeguarding of the early
their Republic took
FUNDAMENTAL
RIGHTS two
andmain
thelines: the safeguarding
progressive of their FUNDAMENTAL
enlargement RIGHTSof
of their share
and the
POLITICAL progressive enlargement of their share of POLITICAL
POWER.
POWER.
SLAVERY IN ROME

SLAVERY IN ANCIENT ROME

ROMAN THOUGHTS AND PHILOSOPHIES
§ The Romans were attracted to two Hellenistic ethical
philosophies:
§ EPICURIANSIM taught that the wise man could achieve
happiness simply by freeing his body from pain and his
mind from fear -- particularly the fear of death. To reach this
goal, men must AVOID BODILY EXCESSES, including those of
pleasure, and accept the scientific teaching of Democritus
that both body and soul are composed of atoms which fall
apart at death. Thus, BEYOND DEATH THERE IS NO
EXISTENCE and nothing to fear.
ROMAN THOUGHTS AND PHILOSOPHIES
§ STOICISM argued that THE UNIVERSE IS CONTROLLED by
some power -- variously called Reason, World Soul, Fortune,
and God -- which determines everything that happens. The
wise man conforms his will to the World Will and
“STOICALLY" ACCEPTS whatever part fortune allots him in
the drama of life.
§ Stoicism had a humanizing effect on Roman law by
introducing such concepts as the LAW OF NATURE, the LAW
OF BROTHERHOOD OF MEN (including slaves), and the view
that a man is INNOCENT UNTIL PROVED GUILTY.
 THE END OF THE ROMAN REPUBLIC
§ A successful Roman general and famous speaker, Julius
Caesar, was a governor of the territory of Gaul and
managed to take control of many nearby territories.
§ Fearing him the Roman Senate ordered him to
resign…but he had other ideas.
§ Caesar fought for control and won, becoming the dictator
of the Roman world, ending the Roman Republic.
 THE ROMAN EMPIRE
§ Less than a year after gaining power a group of angered
Senators stabbed Caesar to death on the floor of the Roman
Senate. (March 15, 44 B.C.)
§ This caused a civil war that lasted several years.
§ In 27 B.C., Caesar’s adopted son, Octavian was named the
first emperor of Rome.
ROME 117 A.D.
ROMAN ART AND LITERATURE
ROMAN ARCHITECTURE
ROMAN LAWS
THANKS