Ancient+Rome

=In the Beginning = The Etruscans lived mainly in northern Italy. Because they were learning from the Greeks and the Phoenicians, they learned how to do a lot of things that the Latins living around Rome didn't know how to do yet. The Etruscans built cities with stone walls. They built big stone temples and they put big statues in them. They dug canals and ditches to irrigate (bring water to) their fields. They had organized governments with kings. Soon some of the other people in Italy began to copy the Etruscan ways of doing things. About the same time as the Etruscans, a lot of Greeks also came to make Greek colonies. At first they were probably mainly trading posts, but later Greek people settled down there and began farming. The Greeks settled in southern Italy, where they took over most of the Etruscan land there. The Greeks founded the city of Naples, which became an important port (and it still is today)..

The Etruscans traded a great deal with the Greeks and with the Phoenicians. The Etruscans sent lumber, furs, and probably slaves to the East. They bought jewelry, spices, perfume, and Greek vases from the East. Most of the Greek vases we have in museums today were found in Italy, in the tombs of the Etruscans! The city of Rome lay between the northern and southern parts of Italy where the Etruscans lived. Because it was a good place to cross the Tiber river, the Etruscans wanted to control it. For a while, Rome may have been under the rule of Etruscan kings. These kings, like other Etruscan kings, made people build strong stone walls and stone temples and canals for water.

=Romulus and Remus = The ancient Romans loved to hear the story of Romulus and Remus. In their eyes, this story explained why Rome had the right to rule. According to the legend, Romulus and Remus justified their right to rule because their mother was a princess and their father was the war god Mars.

The legend of Romulus and Remus Rhea was married to Mars, the Roman god of war. Rhea had twin sons. She loved her boys, but there were plots afoot by other gods and goddesses to harm her father, herself, her husband, and her children. To protect the boys, she set them adrift on the river, hoping someone would find them. Who would not love such beautiful boys?

Sure enough, first they were found by a she-wolf who fed them. Then a shepherd and his wife,Lupa, adopted the boys. As the twins grew older, they decided they did not want to take care of sheep. They wanted to be kings. They decided to build a city on the shores of the Tiber. They both wanted to be the only king. They quarreled. In a fit of rage, Romulus picked up a rock, killed his brother, and made himself king. That’s how Rome started.

=Government = About 50 years after the Roman Republic was formed, the leaders of the Republic wrote down many of the old laws, to make sure everyone understood them. History refers to this group of laws as "The Twelve Tables" because the written laws were organized into 12 sections.These laws talked about property, crime, family, theft, marriage and inheritance. It does not really matter what they said, although the laws did try to be fair. What matters is that these laws were written down. They were engraved on tablets of metal and put on display at the Forum in the city of Rome, so that everyone could see them. Each law applied to every Roman citizen, be he rich or poor. That was a huge change for the better! Under the Republic, two (2) elected consuls shared the head of government. Consuls were members of the Senate, who had been elected to serve for a one year term in the position of Consul, the highest position in government under the Republic. The consuls most important power was that they controlled the army. The Senate was composed of leaders from the patricians, the noble and wealthy families of ancient Rome. They were the law makers. They controlled spending. Members of the Senate were not elected. They were chosen by the Consuls. Once chosen, they served for life. There were 300 seats in the Senate. When a seat opened, a new Senator was selected by the current Consuls.

The Assembly was composed of all the plebeian citizens of Rome, the common man. The Assembly did not have a building. It was the right of the common man to assemble in the Forum and vote. In the beginning, the Assembly had very limited power. They could vote for or suggest laws, but the Senate could block their decisions. The Assembly could vote to declare war, but again, the Senate could override them. However, the Assembly had one power that was very impressive - it was the Assembly who voted each year on which two members of the Senate would serve as Consuls. As a noble, if you wanted to rise to the level of Consul, the highest position in government under the Republic, you needed to gain the support of the plebeian class. Since it was the Consuls who filled empty seats in the Senate, if the Assembly chose their Consuls well, they could slowly gain power in government by putting people in charge who were sympathetic to their needs. Some members of the Assembly became quite powerful in government in their own right. Some tradesmen were very wealthy. There is an old expression - money talks - which means the rich seem to be heard more easily than the poor.

In ancient Rome, certainly money talked, but so did those who had the power of speech. The Romans loved a great orator. When the Assembly met, down at the Forum, many speeches were going on at the same time. One speaker might say, "Rome's roads need repair!" Another speaker might say, "We need to stop crime in the streets." If you wanted your speech to have an impact, it did not matter how rich or poor you were. What mattered was how persuasive you were as a speaker.

=Religion = Like the Greeks, Romans practiced polytheism. There were many thousands of Roman gods. The ancient Romans believed that gods lived everywhere - in trees, under a bush, by the side of the road, in a burrow, in a flower, in a stream, under the bed, and perhaps even in the stove in your house. There was even a deity who lived inside the latch that opened the door to each home. In ancient Rome, everything had a spirit in charge of it. Remember Io, the little spirit that Jupiter turned into a little white cow? Io’s job, before her run in with the gods, was to guard the creek where she lived.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Temples: There were impressive temples all over the Roman Empire. Every day, the ancient Romans brought offerings of meat and other items to at least one nearby temple. Usually they visited more than one temple every day.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Household Gods: Each home had a personal household god that kept things running smoothly at home. Some ancient Romans kept a whole room of their house for a grand display to honor their personal household god. Others had a small display somewhere in the kitchen. Whenever the ancient Romans prepared a meal, they ate it in honor of the household god.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">New Gods: Not all of the gods that the ancient Romans worshiped were originally Roman gods. The Romans did a lot of traveling as they expanded their empire. Each time the Romans heard a myth about a god or goddess or spirit or deity from the people they met (and conquered), if they liked it, they adopted it and made it their own. When they heard about the Greek gods, they adopted nearly all of them! The Roman changed many of the Greek god names to Roman names. Zeus became Jupiter. Hera was renamed Juno. But the Romans left their personalities intact.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">Roman Gods: The Romans had many gods of their own. There was a festival nearly every day for one god or another. Pax, for example, was the Roman goddess of peace. Her festival is January 3. Fornax is the Roman goddess of bread-making. Her festival is February 17. Juturna is the goddess of wells and springs. Her festival is January 11. Consus was the Roman god of good advice. He was so important that he had two festival days - August 21 and December 15, and a temple in the Circus Maximus.

<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; font-size: 16px;">The Rise of Christianity

During the first century CE, a new religion took hold in Rome. It was called Christianity. The followers of Christianity were called Christians. Christians believed in one god. They refused to worship the Roman gods. In ancient Rome, that was against the law. Christians were hunted as criminals. In spite of persecution, Christians grew in numbers rapidly. Christians actively looked for converts. They told others about the benefits of being Christian. Christians came from every walk of life in ancient Rome, but Christianity had great appeal to Rome's poor.

Life After Death: Christianity promised life after death in heaven. In the Roman religion, only gods went to heaven. Emperors were considered gods. Everyone else went to the underworld.

Equality: Christianity promised equal opportunity. You had to be born into the nobility. You could join Christianity and be equally a Christian.

After nearly 300 years of persecution, in 313 CE, Emperor Constantine ruled that Christianity was legal and that Christians would no longer be persecuted for their beliefs. This does not mean that Rome finally had religious freedom. It meant only that it now legal to worship Roman gods or to be Christian. Every other religion was still illegal.

The lack of religious freedom in ancient Rome contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire.

After the Pax Romana, the Roman Empire started to decline. The reasons were political and economic, and they had problems with foreigners. After the guard killed Commudus, they sold power to the highest bidder. This led to chaos every time a leader died. All leaders became dictators, and almost all were killed by their guards. The Roman Empire had 26 leaders in the next 50 years.

A leader had to pay his army well to keep them happy so that they would fend off invasions. This led to high taxes and inflation. Borders were left open as Romans fought among themselves. Germanic tribes invaded, Persians took Roman lands, and Gaul tried to become independent.

**Reforms**

Diocletian (elected by the army) and Constantine each set up strong one-man rule during their times as leader. They initiated many reforms: Farmers had to stay on their farms; ones who left were hunted down. Town officials had to collect taxes, and pay the difference between what the state wanted and what they collected. Government workers had to keep their jobs for life, and their children had to do the same job. The Roman Empire was split by Diocletian, into west and east. The new capital was Constantinople because the east was richer than the west.

Vandals, a really barbaric German tribe, took Rome (came from the south). The Romans had hired Germanic soldiers to fight for Rome. These soldiers eventually overthrew the Western Roman leader Romulus Augustulus, and made the German Odoacer ruler in 476 AD. This was the end of the Roman empire in the West. The Eastern part of the empire would keep going for another 1000 years.

The Republic ||  ||  || Twelve Tables ||  ||  || You Wouldn't Want To Be A Gladiator! ||  ||  || Greek and Roman Gods Religion and Mythology ||  ||  || ||
 * March 20-22 ||  || Notes: Ancient Rome ||   || [[file:skeletal notes ancient rome.docx]][[file:Ancient Rome.pptx]] ||
 * March 20- 22 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * March 23 ||  || Notes: Roman Government
 * March 20- 22 ||  ||   ||   ||   ||
 * March 23 ||  || Notes: Roman Government
 * March 26 ||  || The Patricians and The Plebeians
 * March 26 ||  || The Patricians and The Plebeians
 * March 27 ||  || The Republic Sections 1 and 2 ||   || [[file:section 1 review.pdf]][[file:section 2 review.pdf]] ||
 * March 28 ||  || Quiz
 * March 29 ||  || Wrap Up ||   ||   ||
 * March 30 ||  || The Roman Army ||   || [[file:roman army.pdf]] ||
 * April 2 ||  || The Punic Wars ||   || [[file:Punic Wars and decline of rome.docx]] ||
 * April 3 ||  || The Decline of the Republic ||   || [[file:The Decline of the Republic.docx]] ||
 * April 4 ||  || Julius Caesar ||   || [[file:Julius Caesar.docx]] ||
 * April 5 ||  || Spring Break ||   ||   ||
 * April 6 ||  || Spring Break ||   ||   ||
 * April 9 ||  || Spring Break ||   ||   ||
 * April 10 ||  || Spring Break ||   ||   ||
 * April 11 ||  || Section 3 Review ||   || [[file:Roman Republic Section 3 Review.docx]] ||
 * April 12 ||  || Quiz
 * April 11 ||  || Section 3 Review ||   || [[file:Roman Republic Section 3 Review.docx]] ||
 * April 12 ||  || Quiz
 * April 13 ||  || Notes: A New Religion ||   || [[file:skeletal notes A New Religion.docx]][[file:A New Religion.pptx]] ||
 * April 16 ||  || Christianity ||   || [[file:702-Christianity.doc]] ||
 * April 17 ||  || Notes: The Fall of Rome ||   || media type="custom" key="14597622"[[file:skeletal notes the fall of rome.docx]] ||
 * April 18 ||  || After Caesar Augustus ||   || [[file:after Caesar Augustus.doc]] ||
 * April 19 ||  || Study Guide ||   || [[file:Ancient Rome Study Guide.docx]] ||
 * April 20 ||  || Jeopardy Review Game ||   || http://www.superteachertools.com/jeopardy/usergames/Mar201010/game1268234355.php ||
 * April 23 ||  || Notebook Test ||   ||   ||
 * April 24 ||  || Unit Test ||   ||   ||
 * April 25 ||  || Review Test ||   ||   ||
 * April 26 ||  || Court Procedures Review ||   ||   ||
 * April 27 ||  || 6th grade Law Day ||   ||   ||
 * April 30 - May 4 ||  || Scrapbook Project ||   || [[file:Biographical Scrapbook.doc]]
 * April 27 ||  || 6th grade Law Day ||   ||   ||
 * April 30 - May 4 ||  || Scrapbook Project ||   || [[file:Biographical Scrapbook.doc]]
 * April 30 - May 4 ||  || Scrapbook Project ||   || [[file:Biographical Scrapbook.doc]]