WELCOME

II.EMPIRES
(3) An Empire Across Three Continents

Prepared By
HARIDASAN.NADUVALATH
HSST HISTORY, GHSS KOTTILA, KANNUR
THE Roman Empire
In the Beginning…

• Ancient Rome
begin as a group
of villages along
the Tiber River in
what is now Italy.
• Around 750 B.C.
these villages
united to form the
city of Rome.
 AREA
• Most of Europe
• Large part of the Fertile Crescent
• North Africa
• Europe & Africa – separated by Mediterranean
Sea – expanded to all directions – north and
south.
• North – bounded by Rhine and Danube
• South – Sahara Desert
 sources
Roman historians have a rich
collection of sources to go on, which
we can broadly divide into three
groups:
(a) texts,
(b) documents
(c) material remains
 Sources
• 1.Texts: Contemporary History(Annals), letters,
speeches, sermons, laws.
• 2. Documents: Inscriptions-cut on stone
(Greek & Latin) and documents on papyrus
scrolls-contracts, accounts, letters and official
documents.
• 3. Material remains: Buildings, monuments,
pottery, coins, mosaics etc.
1.The two most powerful empires.

• The two empires that ruled between

the birth of Christ and 630 CE were
Rome and Iran. The Romans and
Iranians were neighbours, separated by
narrow strip of land that ran along the
river Euphrates. They were
rivals and fought against each other for
much of their history.
2.The areas controlled by the Romans and
the Iranian Empire.

• The Roman Empire stretched from Spain in

Europe to Syria in the East along the
Mediterranean Sea in to Africa's desert. In
the north its boundaries were marked by the
river Rhine and Danube. In the South by the
Sahara desert.
• Iran controlled the entire area south of
Caspian Sea to eastern Arabia and at times
large parts of Afghanistan.
3.The Phases of Roman Empire

• The Roman Empire can broadly

divided into two phases-Early Roman
Empire and Late Roman Empire.

• The whole period down to the

main part of the 3rd century can be
called the 'early empire'. The period
after 3rd century can be called the 'late
4.Difference between the Roman Empire and Iranian Empire
Major difference between the Roman and Iranian Empires were:
• Roman Empire had a diverse population as compared
to that of Iran.
• The Parthians and Sasanians dynasties, that ruled Iran
in this period ,ruled largely over the Iranian
population .
• Whereas the Roman Empire was a variety of territories
and cultures bound by the common system of govt.
• Many languages were spoken in the Roman Empire,
but for the administrative purposes only Greek and Latin
were used. The upper class of east spoke Greek and
those in the western part spoke Latin.
• All the people in the Roman Empire were subjects of
single ruler, the emperor, irrespective of where they lived
and what language they spoke.
 5.The three main players in the political history
of the empire.
The three main pillars of Roman Empire were,
• The Emperor who was known as Principate.
• The Senate which represented the wealthy families of
Rome and Italian descent, mostly land owners,and
• The Army which was a paid and professional army
where soldiers had to put up twenty five years of service.
The existence of paid army was a distinctive feature of
the Roman Empire. The army was the largest single
organised body of the Roman Empire. It had the power
to decide the fate of the emperors. The army was hated
by the Senators. Thus, it can be said that the emperor,
the aristocracy, and the army were the three players in
the political history of the empire.
6.Succession to the throne in the Roman Empire.
• Family descent, either natural or adoptive, was
the decisive factor in the succession to the
throne in the Roman Empire. The army was
also wedded to this concept. For e.g. Tiberius
was not the natural but adopted son of
Augustus.
7.The Augustan age.
• The Augustan age is remembered as the age
of peace. It brought peace after decades of
internal strife and centuries of military
conquest. External warfare was also much less
common in the first two centuries.
 8.Administration of the vast Roman Empire
• The vast Roman Empire was controlled and
administered with the help of urbanisation.
• All the territories of the empire were organised in to
provinces and were subject to taxation.
• Carthage,Alexandria,Antioch that lined the shores
of Mediterranean were the foundations of the
imperial system.
• It was through these cities that the government was
able to collect tax from the provincial countryside
which generated much of the wealth.
• This shows that the local upper class was actively
involved with the Roman state in administering their
own territories and collecting taxes from them.
 8.Administration of the vast Roman Empire
• Throughout the second and third century the
provincial upper classes provided experienced
officers that administered the provinces and
commanded the army.
• Thus, they became the new elite of the Roman
Empire. They controlled the army and looked after
the provincial administration. They became much
more powerful than the senatorial class because
they had the backing of the Emperors.
• Emperor Gallienus consolidated their rise to power
by excluding senators from military command. He did
this in order to prevent control of the empire from
falling in to their hands.
 ROMAN CITIES
Major cities
• Carthage
• Alexandrea
• Antioch
• City: villages+ Magistrate+ Municipal Council
etc
 Meaning of Roman city
 An Urban centre with its own magistrates, city
council and a 'territory' containing villages under
its jurisdiction. The villages could be upgraded to
the status of city and vice-versa generally as a
mark of favour from the emperor.
9.Advantages of living in the city of Roman Empire
 The advantage of living in the city was that it
might be better provided for during food
shortages and famines in the countryside.
The cities had public baths and the urban
population enjoyed a higher level of
entertainment.
 10.The Third- Century Crisis
• The first and second centuries were a period of
peace, prosperity and economic expansion. But the 3rd
century was a period of crisis.
• In 225 ,new dynasty called Sasanians emerged in
Iran. They were more aggressive and expanding
rapidly in the direction of the Euphrates.
• The Germanic tribes(barbarians) began to move
against the Rhine and Danube frontiers. From 233 to
280 saw repeated invasions. The Romans were forced
to abandon much of the territory beyond the Danube.
•The quick succession of emperors (25 emperors in 47
years) is a sign of strain faced by the empire in the 3rd
century.
Rome 117 A.D.
 11.Gender, Literacy, Culture
(a) Structure of Family
• There was widespread prevalence of nuclear family. Adult sons did not live
with their parents and it was exceptional for adult brothers to share a
common household. Slaves were however included in the family.
(b) Status of women
• The women enjoyed considerable legal rights in owning and managing
property. They were married off in the late teens or early thirties.
• Arrange marriage was the general norm
• Women were often subject to domination by their husbands wives were
even beaten up by their husbands.
• The typical form of marriage was one where the wife did not transfer to her
husband's authority but retained full rights in the property of her natal
family.
• Women remained a primary heir to father's property after marriage. They
could become independent property owners after their father's death.
• Divorce was easy for both men as well as women.
 (C) Literacy
• The rate of literacy varied greatly between
different parts of the empire.
• Literacy was widespread in army
officers,estate managers and soldiers
• Casual literacy existed and it varied from place
to place.
• There was a wall in Pompei which carried
advertisements and graffiti, which indicates
high level of casual literacy.
 (d) Cultural diversity
• The cultural diversity was reflected in many ways and at
many levels.
• There was a vast diversity of religious cults and local
deities, the plurality of languages that were spoken, the
styles of dresses that were worn.
• The food the people ate, their forms of social
organisation and their types of settlement, all reflected
cultural diversity.
• Different languages were spoken in different areas.
Most of the linguistic cultures were purely oral, at least
until a script was invented for them.
• As late as 5th century, Armenian began to be used as
written form of language.
• In other areas the spread of Latin displaced the other
widespread written form of languages.
12. Economic activities of the Ancient Roman Empire
• The Roman Empire had substantial economic
infrastructure of harbours, mines, quarries,
brickyards, olive oil factories etc.
• Goods for trade consisted mainly wheat, wine and
olive oil and they came from Spain, the Gallic
provinces, North Africa, Egypt and Italy. These areas
had conditions best suited for these crops.
• Spanish olive oil was a vast commercial enterprise
that reached its peak in the years 140-160.
• The Roman Empire included regions that had a
reputation for exceptional fertility. E.g.Compania.
Economic activities of the Ancient Roman Empire
• Italy,Sicily,Fayum in Egypt, Galilee, Byzacium
(Tunisia), southern Gaul, Baetica (southern Spain).
These area had best conditioned crops.
• The large expenses of Roman territory were in a
much less advanced state.
• Transhumance was widespread in the country side
of Numidia(Modern Algeria)
• As Roman estates expanded in North Africa, the
pastures of those communities were drastically
reduced and their movements more tightly
regulated.
Economic activities of the Ancient Roman Empire
• Even in Spain the north was economically much less
developed. In these areas peasantry who were
Celtic speaking lived in hilltop villages known as
castella.
• In the Roman Empire water power was very
efficiently used around Mediterranean and there
were advances in the water powered milling
technology, the use of hydraulic mining techniques
in Spanish gold and silver mines.
• Well organised commercial and banking networks
existed.
• Widespread use of money indicates that the Roman
Empire had sophisticated economy.
 13. Controlling of Workers in the Roman Empire
• Slavery was an institution deeply rooted in Ancient Roman
world.
• Though slavery was institutionalized and was greatly used as
labour but it was not always slaves that performed labour in
the Roman economy.
• As peace was established in the first century ,the supply of
slaves declined and users of slave labour had to turn to slave
breeding or cheaper substitutes such as wage labour which
were easily dispensable.
• Most of the time free labour was used ,as slaves had to be
provided with food and maintained throughout the year which
proved expensive. This is the reason that the slaves were not
employed in the agriculture. On the other hand, slaves and
freedmen were extensively used in jobs where labour was not
required in large number that is as business managers.
 13. Controlling of Workers in the Roman Empire
• There was a presumption that without supervision no
work would ever get done .So supervision was most
• important for both freed slaves and slaves. For a better
supervision the slaves were grouped into gang of ten.
So that it could be easy to see who is putting in effort
and who is not.
• This method was criticised by Pliny the Elder. He was of
the opinion that the slave gangs were the worst
method of organizing production because slaves who
worked in gangs were usually chained together by their
feet.
• Although all this look harsh yet similar principles of
labour control are being enforced in most of the
factories in the world today.
13. Controlling of Workers in the Roman Empire

• Debt contracts were a type of agreements

between the private employees and their
workers. In these debt
• contracts it was claimed that the employees
were in debt to their employers and as a result
were under tighter
• control. A large number of families went in to
debt bondage in order to survive.
 ‘Principate’
The regime established by Augustus, the first
emperor, in 27 BCE was called the ‘Principate’.
‘leading citizen’ (Princeps in Latin).. not the
absoluteruler. This was done out of respect for
the Senate. External warfare was also much less
common in the first two centuries. The empire
inherited by Tiberius from Augustus was already
so vast that further expansion was felt to be
unnecessary. In fact, the Augustan age’ is
remembered for the peace.
Pax Romana (Latin for "Roman peace") was
the long period of relative peace and
minimal expansion by military force
experienced by the Roman Empire in the
1st and 2nd centuries AD. Since it was
established byAugustus, it is sometimes
called Pax Augusta. Its span was
approximately 206 years (27 BC to 180 AD)
Augustus Caesar
Tiberius: AD 14-37, adopted son of
Augustus.
 Family
• Easy divorce
• Marriageable Age
• Male – 20-30
• Female-13-20
• Male domination?
 Roman family
• Bishop St.Augustine (354-430)

• His mother was regularly beaten by his father

• Unwanted children: leaving them out in the

cold to die
 Economy
• They used water power for milling
and for mining.
• There existed well organized
commercial and banking net works.
• They used money.
• So Roman economy was a strong
economy.
 TRANSHUMANCE

• Transhumance is the herdsmen's

regular annual movements between
the higher mountain regions and
low lying ground in search of
pasture for sheep and other flocks.
 Controlling workers
• Slavery was an institution deeply
rooted in ancient world.
• It existed both in the Mediterranean
and in the near east.
• But roman labour completely not done
by the slaves.
• During republican period there was
many slaves.
 Controlling workers
• Slaves were considered as an investment.
• Roman upper class was brutal towards
slaves.
• Agricultural writers advised land owners not
to use slaves in context where too many
might be require where their health could be
damages.
• This sympathy not in consideration but on
economic calculation.
 Controlling workers
• Ordinary showed much more compassion
towards slaves.
• As warfare became less the supply of slaves
declined.
• Because war captives were used as slaves.
• So the users of slave had two choices.
• Use slave or use wage labour.
• Free labours was used extensively used on
public works of roman empire.
 Controlling workers
• Extensive use of slave labour was too
expensive.
• Slaves had to be fed and maintain
through out the years.
• So in later period slaves were not used
in agriculture.
• So freedmen were extensively used as
business managers.
 Controlling workers
• Masters often gave their slaves or freedmen
the capital to run the business or business of
their own.
• Roman agricultural writers paid great
attention to the management of labour.
• Masters believed that without supervision
no work would get done.
• So both slaves and freed workers must be
supervised.
 Controlling workers
• To make supervision easier workers
were sometimes grouped in to
gangs or smaller squads of 10
• It was easier to tell who was not in
work and who was put in work.
• This shows consideration of the
management of labour.
 Controlling workers
• Pliny the author of NATURAL
HISTORY condemned the use of
slave gangs as the worst method.
• Because slaves who worked in
gangs usually chained together by
their feet.
• The ways adopted for management
of labour were draconian.
 Controlling workers
• A seal put up on the workmen’s aprons.
• They have to wear a mask or a net with a
close mesh on their head.
• Before they leave the premises they have to
take off all their cloths.
• Law of 398 referred to workers being
branded so they could be recognized if and
when they run away or tried to hide.
 Controlling workers
• Many employers cast their agreement with
workers in the form of debt contracts in
order to control them.
• So many slaves surrender themselves to
work although they are free.
• A lot of poor families went in to debt
bondage inorder to survive.
• Rural indebtedness was even more crucial.
 Controlling workers
• In 66 BCE Jewish revolutionaries destroyed
money lenders bonds for popular support.
• Be we should not conclude that all the works
done by slaves.
• In late 5th century ANASTATIUS emperor
build city DHARA with labour offering high
wages.
• Wage labourers become widespread.
 14.Social Hierarchies
• 14.Social Hierarchies
• Tacitus,a Roman historian has described the social
hierarchy of the early empire.
• To him,in the early Roman empire Senators were at the
top.
• Next were the leading members of equestrian classes.
• Respectable section of the people who were attached
to the great houses was next in the social order
• Then was the untidy lower classes and slaves came to
the bottom
• In the fourth century by the time of Constantine I, the
Senators and equities had merged in to an expanded
aristocracy and at least half of the families were of
Eastern or African origin.
 14.Social Hierarchies
• Like Senators, most 'knights' were land owners, but
unlike Senators many of them involved in business
activities like shipping, trade and banking.
• This late Roman aristocracy was very wealthy but
was less powerful than purely military elites who
came entirely from non-aristocratic background.
• Next in the social hierarchy was the middle class. It
consisted of persons working in bureaucracy and
army, prosperous merchants and farmers.
• According to Olympiodorus, a historian of the early
5th century, the aristocracy based in the city of
Rome received annual incomes up to 4,000 pounds
of gold from their estates.
 14.Social Hierarchies
• They also consumed grain, wine and other produce
which, if sold, would have amounted to 1/3 of the
income in gold. The income of the households at Rome
of the second class was one thousand or fifteen
hundred pounds of gold.
• Below the middle class were the vast class collectively
known as humiliores. Literally it means 'lower'.
• They consisted of rural labourers ,workers in industrial
and mining establishments; migrant workers who
worked for the grain and olive harvests and building
industry; self employed artisans, who were in better
condition than the wage workers; a large number of
casual labourers employed in big cities, and finally the
slaves.
 SOCIAL DIVISIONS
• SENATORS
• EQUESTRIAN CLASSES
• RESPECTABLE SECTION
• LOWER CLASSES AND SLAVES.
 SENATORS
• MOST POWEFUL
• They were land owners.
• There were 1000 senators during the
beginning of 3rd century.
• Most of them came from Italy.
 KNIGHTS
• MIDDLE CLASS.
• Second most powerful group.
• They also land owners.
• During the late Roman empire both senators
and knights merged and became unified
ARISTOCRACY.
• THEY ENORMOUSLY WEALTHY.
• But in many ways less powerful than military
elites.
 Middle class
• Person in imperial service, and military.
• Prosperous merchants.
• Peasants.
• They were part of great senatorial house.
• Government service and dependence on the
state that sustained these families.
 Humiliores
• Rural labour force.
• Many were permanently employed in
estates.
• Workers in industry and mines.
• Migrant workers
• labour for grain and olive harvest and
building industry
• Casual labours.self employed artisans
 Slaves
• Slaves is the lowest class of roman empire.
• Olympiodorus 5th century historian –
Aristocracy got much income.
• Late roman bureaucracy got much gold in the
form of salary.
 Monetary system
• Monetary system existed.
• It declined later.
• Silver from Spanish mines exhausted.
• So there was lack of silver.
• CONSTANTINE introduced GOLD COINS.
 The monetary system
The monetary system of the late empire
broke with the silver-based currencies of the
first three centuries because the Spanish silver
mines were exhausted and government ran out
of sufficient stocks of the metal to support a
stable coinage in silver.
Constantine founded the new monetary
system on gold and there were vast amounts of
this in circulation throughout late antiquity.
 Innovations of Constantine
 His chief innovations were in the
monetary sphere, where he introduced a
new denomination, the solidus, a coin of
4½ gm of pure gold.
 He founded a second capital at
Constantinople (at the site of modern
Istanbul in Turkey, and previously called
Byzantium)
 He decided to make Christianity as the
official religion of the Empire.
 16.Roman bureaucracy of the late Roman empire

• The bureaucracy of the late Roman empire

both at higher and middle level was affluent
as it drew much of its
salary in gold and invested in buying land.
• There was corruption in the administration
of judiciary and military supplies.
• The extortion by higher bureaucracy and
the provincial governors was common.
• But the government intervened repeatedly
to stop these forms of corruption.
 16.Roman bureaucracy of the late Roman empire

 Laws were made to put and end to corruption.

• Historians and other members of intelligentsia
denounced such practices.
• The Roman emperors were not free to do
anything as they liked.
• By the 4th century the tradition of Roman law
acted as a brake and was actively used to protect
civil rights.
• Because of these laws powerful bishops could
deal with powerful emperors when they were
extremely harsh
on civilian population.
 17.Late Antiquity
• Late antiquity is the term used to describe the final,
fascinating period in the evolution and break-up of the
Roman empire and refers from the fourth to seventh
centuries.
• The period saw considerable changes in cultural,
economic,and administrative levels.
Changes effected by the Emperor Diocletian in administration
• The emperor Diocletian abandoned territories with little
strategic and economic importance. He fortified
frontiers,recognised provincial boundaries and separated
civilian from the military functions. He granted
greater autonomy to the military commanders who became
powerful. Constantine consolidated some of these
changes and added others of his own.
 Innovations of Constantine
 His chief innovations were in the
monetary sphere, where he introduced a
new denomination, the solidus, a coin of
4½ gm of pure gold.
 He founded a second capital at
Constantinople (at the site of modern
Istanbul in Turkey, and previously called
Byzantium)
 He decided to make Christianity as the
official religion of the Empire.
Changes in economic life.
• The late Antiquity period witnessed
considerable change in economic life.
Monetary stability and an
expanding population stimulated economic
growth. Archaeological record shows
investments in rural
establishments,including industrial
installations like oil presses and glass
factories,in newer technologies such
as screw presses and multiple water-mills.
The period also saw a revival of the long-
distance trade. All this
led to strong urban prosperity.
 Changes in the religious life
• There were significant changes in the religious life.
Emperor Constantine declared Christianity as official
religion of the Roman empire.(4th century)Seventh
century was associated with the rise of Islam
• The traditional religious culture of the classical
world ,both Greek and Roman, had been polytheist.
The other religions in the empire were Judaism and
Islam.
• During the late antiquity period ,the general
prosperity was especially marked in the East.
• In the Eastern Roman empire, population was still
expanding till the 6th century.
• Meanwhile the western Roman empire had fallen to
the Germanic tribes.
 RELIGION
• They believed in polytheism.
• JUPITER, JUNO, MINERVA, MARS were their
gods.
• They worshipped these gods in temples and
shrines.
• JUDAISM also existed.
• The ‘Christianisation’ of the empire in the
fourth and fifth centuries was a gradual and
complex process. Powerful Bishops lead the
Church.
 Key words
• Republic : The name for a regime in which the reality
of power lay with the Senate.
• Senate : A body dominated by a small group of wealthy
families.
• Civil war : Armed struggles for power within the same
country.
• Transhumance : Herdsman's regular annual
movement between the higher mountain regions and low
lying
ground in search of pasture.
• Draconian :Harsh(so-called because because of early
sixth century BCE Greek law maker,Draco who
prescribed death as the penalty for most crimes
• Dressel 20/Amphorae:oil containers especially olive oil.
 Decline of the Empire
• In AD 4thC. The empire was divided in to two
parts-Eastern and Western Empire.
• Eastern Roman empire developed where
population was still expanding till the 6th C,
despite the impact of Plague which effected the
Mediterranean in the 540s.
• But Western roman empire was attacked by
Germanic tribes like GOTHS, VANDALS,
LOMBARDS..etc.
• They took major part of Roman empire.
Attacks from north by Germanic groups
• VISIGOTHS IN SPAIN.
• FRANKS IN GAUL.
• LOMBARDS IN ITALY-Captured power.
• The emergence these new kingdoms marked
the beginning of a new period in history that
is MEDIEVEL PERIOD.
 East and west
• The general prosperity • In the West, by
was especially marked • contrast, the empire
in the East where fragmented politically as
• population was still Germanic groups from
expanding till the sixth the
century, despite the • North (Goths, Vandals,
impact of the plague Lombards, etc.) took over
which affected the all the major provinces
Mediterranean in the • and established
540s kingdoms that are best
described as ‘post-
Roman’
 Decline of the empire
• Under emperor JUSTINIAN empire was
united in the East.
• Later war started between Rome and IRAN.
• SASSANIANS ATTACKED ROME.
• Expansion of Islam was a great political
revolution.
• Arabs conquered many places.
• Thus Roman empire declined.
 Expansion of Islam
 The expansion of Islam from its beginnings
in Arabia has been called ‘the greatest
political revolution ever to occur in the
history of the ancient world’. By 642, barely
ten years after Prophet Muhammad’s
death, large parts of both the eastern
Roman and Sasanian empires had fallen to
the Arabs in a series of stunning
confrontations.
 Fun Facts About Rome
• The Romans were the
first to build aqueducts.
• The running water,
indoor plumbing and
sewer system carrying
away disease from the
population within the
Empire wasn't
surpassed in capability
until very modern
times.
 Fun Facts About Rome
• The Romans built thousands of miles of road
to connect the entire empire.
• These roads were used up until about 100
years ago when technology advanced!
Roman amphitheatres are amphitheatres –
large, circular or oval open-air venues with raised
seating – built by the Ancient Romans. They were
used for events such as gladiator combats, chariot
races, venationes (animal slayings) and executions.
About 230 Roman amphitheatres have been found
across the area of the Roman Empire. Early
amphitheatres date from the Republic Period,
though they became more monumental during the
Imperial Era.
 The Fall of the Roman Empire
• Rome had quite a
run…First a monarchy,
then a republic, then an
empire – all roads led to
Rome for over 1200 years.
• In the Mediterranean,
Rome was in charge.
• Rome had some
wonderful emperors.
Rome also suffered from a
series of bad, corrupt and
just plain crazy
emperors.
 The Fall of the Roman Empire
• The empire was too large to
govern effectively.
• The army was not what it
used to be. There was
corruption in the military -
dishonest generals and non-
Roman soldiers.
• Civil wars broke out
between different political
groups.
• Emperors were often
selected by violence, or by
birth, so the head of
government was not always
a capable leader.
• The increased use of slaves
put many Romans out of
work
• The rich became lazy and
showed little interest in trying
to solve Rome problems.
• The poor were overtaxed and
overworked. They were very
unhappy.
• Prices increased, trade
decreased.
• The population was shrinking
due to starvation and disease.
That made it difficult to
manage farms and
government effectively.
• The Empire starting shrinking.
The Huns, Visigoths, Franks,
Vandals, Saxons and other
barbarian tribes overran the
empire.
 The Fall of the Roman Empire
• The ancient Romans tried to solve some of their problems
by splitting the Roman Empire in half, hoping that would
make the empire easier to manage.
• Each side had an emperor, but the emperor in charge was
the emperor of the western half, the half that included the
city of Rome.
• The Western Roman Empire did not do well. Instead of
getting stronger, they became weaker. By 400 AD, it was
pretty much over. The Huns, Franks, Vandals, Saxons,
Visigoths – any of these barbarian tribes might have been
the group that finally brought Rome down.
• They were all attacking various pieces of the Western
Roman Empire. In 476 AD, the Visigoths sacked Rome.
Europe entered the Dark Ages. The eastern half of the
Roman Empire received a new name – the Byzantine
Empire. The Byzantine Empire did fine. It lasted for another
1000 years!
 Fun Facts About Rome
• One of the things the
Romans are most famous
for is their architecture.
• The Romans brought a lot
of new ideas to
architecture, of which the
three most important are
the arch, the baked brick,
and the use of cement
and concrete.
• Roman architecture
inspired the design of the
U.S. Capitol building!
St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome
 Ovid’s Metamorphoses

• This picture
depicts the
moment when
the statue of
Galatea created
by Pygmalion
comes to life
Metamorphoses
Bernini’s Apollo and Daphne
Io and Jove
Io and Jove
Europa and Jove
Europa and Jove
The Rape of Europa by Zeus
Iphis and Ianthe
Zeus and Europa
Rubens, Abduction of Europa
THE ROMAN EMPIRE
THANK YOU