Roman History

 The Beginnings of Rome 

 Rome was situated near the Tiber River in Italy on seven hills between the Etruscan and Greek cultures (Sayre, 84). There is one main Etruscan myth about how the city of Rome was founded. It is described how two twin babies, Remus and Romulus, were abandoned on the banks of the Tiber River. They were suckled by a shewolf and raised by a shepard. The two brothers built a city on Palatine Hill. Romulus and Remus fought over who would rule the city. Remus was killed and Romulus took over and ruled Rome(Sayre, 84).

This is a statue of a shewolf suckling the abandoned babies Remus and Romulus. The wolf is by the Etruscians in the 5th century and Remus and Romulus were added in 15th century ("Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia").

 Etruscan Kings Rule over Rome

 According to "rome.info", in 616 BCE the Etruscians took over Rome. Etruscan rule lasted through seven kings. The last king was Tarquinis Superbus and he was overthrown by the Romans in a revolt. Neelin, author of the Ancient Roman History Timeline website, describes how the revolt started because the son of Superbus, Sextus Tarquin, raped a well known and respected woman in the community, Luceita. After the king was overthrown in 509 BCE, a Roman Republic was set up.

 The Struggle Between the Plebians and the Patricians

The free male population was separated into two main classes based on their wealth. Plebians were the "poorer class (of) craftspeople,merchants, and laborers;" while the Patricians were the "landowning aristocracy who held jobs such as priests, magistrates, lawyers, and judges (Sayre, 84)." The Patricians had their own law making body called the Senate (Sayre, 85). However, Plebians were not allowed to participate in this law making body. In the year 494 BCE, according to Neelin, the Plebians rebelled and created the Plebian tribunate. 

The textbook Discovering the Humanities describes how the Plebians created a law making body called Consilium Plebis. The laws they made did not affect the Patricians until 287 BCE (Sayre, 85). The Roman government became more of a republic where the citizens held the power. This more equal model would be later looked upon by the American Colonists during their revolution.

Over time, more laws were passed that helped promote equality between the two classes. According to Neelin, in 449 BCE the one of the earliest law codes, the Laws of 12 Tables, was passed. Then in 445 BCE the law Lex Canuleia  allowed Patricians and Plebians to intermarry (Neelin). Also the same site describes how in 300 BCE the Ogulnian law ended the Patrician monopoly over making laws and legal processes. With this law, Plebians could also now become priests.

This is a picture of the Senate. This is where the Patricians would meet to make laws and meet about legal matters (Rosario).

 The Beginnings of the Roman Empire and Military Expansion

 This is a picture of the expanse of the Roman Empire in 1 century AD (Brown). 

 By the end of the first century, the Republic declared itself an empire and Rome was ruled by emperors (Sayre, 85). 

One major military expedition was the three Punic Wars from 264 BCE to 146 BCE ("History.com"). These wars were fought between Rome and Carthage, North Africa. By the end of the wars, Rome controlled the Northern area of Africa ("History.com").

"The First Punic War broke out in 264 B.C. when Rome interfered in a dispute on the Carthaginian-controlled island of Sicily; the war ended with Rome in control of both Sicily and Corsica and marked the empire's emergence as a naval as well as a land power. In the Second Punic War, the great Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy and scored great victories at Lake Trasimene and Cannae before his eventual defeat at the hands of Rome's Scipio Africanus in 202 B.C. left Rome in control of the western Mediterranean and much of Spain. In the Third Punic War, the Romans, led by Scipio the Younger, captured and destroyed the city of Carthage in 146 B.C ("History.com")."

This is a map of the different battles of the Punic Wars ("bible-history.com").

Another military expedition of Rome was the Macedonian Wars from 215 BCE to 148 BCE. Basically, the Romans helped out the Greeks against the Macedonians. By the end of the Macedonian Wars, Rome controlled Greece and Macedonia ("About.com Ancient/Classical History").

Sayre describes how as the Romans conquered an area, they would distribute land to veteran soldiers. After an area was conquered, the soldiers would do infrastructure projects to help improve the area. This helped gain the trust and respect of the foreign areas that they controlled. People that were loyal to Rome were given citizenship (Sayre, 85). 

The Rise of Caesar

According to Sayre,"when the General Pompey the Great,
returned from a victorious campaign against rebels in Asia
Minor in 62 BCE, the Senate refused to ratify the treaties he
had made in the region and refused to grant the land allot-
-ments he had given his soldiers. Outraged, Pompey joined
forces with two other successful military leaders (Sayre, 85)." 

So Pompey joined Julius Caesar and another general and formed the First Triumvirate to rebel against the Senate. (Sayre, 85)This group soon took over political power in Rome.

According to Sayre, in 49 BCE Caesar gained control of Gaul (present day France) (Sayre, 85).

However, relations soon broke down between the members of the First Triumvirate. When Caesar was asked to return to Rome they told him to leave his army at the Gallic side of the Rubicon River but he did not. He later chased Pompey out and took control of the Roman Empire (Sayre, 85-86).

However, Caesar and his policies were not popular and he was later murdered by members of the Senate on the Ides of March. After that there was a civil war and eventually Octavian gained control of the Roman Empire. 

This is a bust of Julius Caear from ("Jay's Analysis")

This is a portrait of the Ides of March. from (Smith).

 Emperor Augustus

At the end of the civil war, Octavian was victorious. He went before the Senate where he was made emperor and his name was changed to Augustus (Sayre, 87). He maintained the image that Rome was a republic but he acted like an emperor and ruled over the citizens. He did many service works and worked to improve the infrastructure of Rome (Sayre, 88 to 91). 

After Augustus many other emperors took over the empire and there were numerous wars that followed. Rome continued as a big empire until about 284 AD when the Roman empire split into the East Roman empire adn the west Roman empire (Neelin)

This is a statue of Augustus. this statue is known as Augustus of Prima Porta ("Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia").

 Roman Architecture

Basic Facts

This is the Arch de Triumph. ("Crystalinks").

A major period of architecture achievement was under Augustus.He worked to improve the infrastructure of Rome. According to Sayre, Rome was not laid out in a military grid structure like other cities. They also had scarce water and housing was crowded and pitiable. So Augustus did many public works like public baths and aqueducts to help with Rome's infrastructure (Sayre,91-92). After this each successive emperor would do architecture works to try to not only leave their mark on Rome and show how great and powerful they were but to also earn the loyalty of the people.

Arch Types and Famous Arches

 Arches were built throughout the Roman Empire. They were used to not only to advertise Rome's power. There were also triumphant arches that were used to celebrate Rome's triumphs in battle. There are three arch types in Roman architecture from this period: round, barrel, and groin arch (Sayre, 92). 

The round arch could be used to cover wider spans of area. There is an example below. Its a simple arch type.

The Arch of Titus ("maItaly").

 A Barrel arch according to Sayre is, "when a round arch is extended, it forms a barrel vault (Sayre, 92)." So it is just an extended round arch. Below is a picture.

This is a barrel arch. The flat area near the top of the arch is called the buttress according to our book page 92. This picture is from("ARTH Courses").

The final arch type is the groin arch. According to our book,  "when two barrel vaults meet

one another at a right angle, they form a groin vault (Sayre, 92)."  Below is a picture.

This is a groin vault from ("ARTH Courses").

Famous Aqueducts

Aqueducts were built to help bring water into the cities. They had arches underneath them to support them. This water was not only for private use but also for the public baths and fountains.Below is an example of one of the more famous aqueducts. 

This is a Roman aqueduct in Spain ("Blogspot").

The Colosseum

The Colosseum was where the gladiator fights and shows in Rome took place. It was a great meeting place. According to Sayre, it was built with barrel and groin vaulting. It was built by Vespasian from 69 to 79 CE. This was only possible because of the invention of concrete. There were wooden floors and a maze of tunnels underneath for the gladiators and animals. There was even an awning system on the top floor. Also each level had a different architectural style. It is truly one of the greatest architectural feats (Sayre, 92).

This is a picture of the Colosseum ("About Roma").

 In Conclusion

Rome was a fascinating empire that expanded and went through many different stages. There was experimentation with different types of government and architecture. This empire was an inspiration to many countries and architects. Rome is still fascinating us today and there is still much more to learn about this fascinating empire. 

Works Cited

"Architecture in Ancient Rome." Crystalinks. N.p.. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.crystalinks.com/romearchitecture.html>.  
 

. "Arches and Vaults." ARTH Courses. N.p.. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://employees.oneonta.edu/farberas/arth/arth109/arch_vaults.html>.  
 

"Augustus." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia , 3 2012. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Augustus>.
 
Brown, Robert. "Mediterranean Civilizations to AD500." The University of North Carolina at Pembroke.N.p., 11 2009. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.uncp.edu/home/rwb/lecture_med_civ.htm>. 

"Collosseum in Rome." About Roma. N.p.. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.aboutroma.com/colosseum.html>.  
 

"History of Rome." rome.info. rome.info, 6 2012. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.rome.info/ancient/history/>.
 
"Julius Caesar." Jay's Analysis. N.p., 31 2012. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://jaysanalysis.com/tag/julius-caesar/>.

"Lorem Ipsum: roman aqueduct in Spain." Blogspot. N.p., 6 2011. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://loremipsum10.blogspot.com/2011/05/roman-aqueduct-in-spain.html>.
 
"Macedonian Wars." About.com Ancient/Classical History. About.com, n.d. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://ancienthistory.about.com/od/romebattles/g/082007MacedWars.htm>.

"Map of Punic Wars in Ancient Rome." bible-history.com. bible-history.com. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.bible-history.com/rome/Romerome00000148.htm>.  
 

Neelin, David. "Ancient Roman History Timeline." exovedate.com. N.p.. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html>.  
 

"Rome, maItaly." maItaly. N.p., 18 2011. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://maitaly.wordpress.com/tag/rome/>. 


Rosario, J.V. "The Ancient Rome ." History Now and Then. Blogspot, 25 Nov 2011. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://historynowandthen.blogspot.com/2009/11/ancient-rome.html>. 

"Punic Wars." History.com. History.com, n.d. Web. 25 Oct. 2012. <http://www.history.com/topics/punic-wars>. 


 "Romulus and Remus." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, 3 11 2012. Web. 24 Oct 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Romulus_and_Remus> 

Sayre, Henry. Discovering the Humanities. 2nd. Pearson, 2013. 81-116. eBook. 

Smith, Eric. "Beware the Ides of March: Some of Our Favorite Literary Backstabbers." Quirkbooks. Quirkbooks, 15 2012. Web. 25 Oct 2012. <http://www.quirkbooks.com/post/beware-ides-march-some-our-favorite-literary-backstabbers>.