1. Ancient Rome

2. Italian Geography Different than Greece
Not made up of islands or isolated valleys
Much easier to unify
Broad, fertile plains
Plains supported growing population

3. Roman Government Republic- Thing of the people.
Government in which officials are elected by the people.
Thought it would keep any one person from gaining too much power
Patrician- Members of landowning class.
Senators who served for life.
Consuls- Elected by senators (2 yearly).
Supervise the business of government, command armies.
Serve only 1 term, also patrician- created checks and balances.
Dictator- Elected in time of war. Had complete control of government for 6 months.

4. Plebeians- Merchants, farmers, traders made up bulk of population
Plebeians- Merchants, farmers, traders made up bulk of population. Had little influence.
450 BC- laws on 12 tablets placed in marketplace so public knew the laws, made it possible for plebeians to appeal judgment.
Tribunes- Officials elected by plebeians to protect their interests. Tribunes could veto unfair laws.

5. Roman Conquest
Punic Wars- Carthage, a city-state on the northern coast of Africa. Between 264 – 146 BC Rome fought 3 wars against Carthage. Rome won all 3.
Hannibal- Carthaginian General 218 BC In Second Punic war- never able to capture Rome and had to return to Carthage (Africa) to defend against Roman invaders.

6. Roman Conquest Rome fought Carthage in west
Expanding in East: Macedonia, Greece and parts of Asia Minor
Egypt allied with Rome
By 133 bc Roman power extended from Spain to Egypt

7. New class of landowners emerged from new trade routes
Bought huge estates and used forced labor
Latifundia- Large estates worked by slaves. Hurt small farmers who could not produce food as cheaply.

8. Gracchus Brothers
Tiberius and Gaius hoped to improve the lives of the plebeians with reforms
Distributing land to poor farmers
Using public funds to buy grain to feed the poor
Senators did not like these reforms
*Brothers along with thousands of their followers were killed by street violence set off by senators

9. Augustus Caesar
Augustus- Republic came to an end and Roman empire dawned.
Reforms: Kept senate
created an efficient civil service charged with law enforcement
made tax system more fair with census
created postal service

10. Roman Law Two systems: 12 Tablets led to civil law (for citizens)
Law of Nations: suited Roman sense of justice for new conquered lands and peoples
Came from Stoic philosophy and concept of natural law

11. Roman Law Common principles- 1) People of same status equal before law
2) innocent until proven guilty
3) accused shall face accuser
4) guilt must be clearer than daylight
5) decisions based of fairness allowing judges to interpret the law

12. Justinian’s Code Ruled from 527 – 565 in east (Byzantine empire)
Revised all laws of Rome
“Body of Civil Law” or Justinian’s Code
Code reached Western Europe in 1100’s

13. Greco-Roman Civilization
Culture- Rome borrowed from Greek.
Greek art, literature, philosopher and scientific genius seen as height of cultural achievement
Philosophy- Hellenistic philosophy of Stoicism impressed Roman thinkers, importance of duty
Christian church, Byzantine empire and Muslims preserved culture after empire collapsed

14. Causes of the Fall of the Roman Empire
Military) Germanic invasions weakened Roman empire, hired disloyal mercenaries, or soldiers for hire.
Political/economic) Government was increasingly oppressive, people less supportive of corrupt officials, heavier taxes, wealth dwindled, population declined with war and disease.
Social) Decline in values, upper class devoted to luxury and self interest.