Introduction Roman Civilization

Ancient Rome was a thriving civilization that began growing on the Italian Peninsula
as early as the 8th century BC. Located along the Mediterranean Sea and centered
on the city of Rome, it expanded to become one of the largest empires in the
ancient world.
In its approximately twelve centuries of existence, Roman civilization shifted from a
monarchy to an aristocratic republic to an increasingly autocratic empire. Through
conquest and assimilation, it came to dominate Southern Europe, Western Europe,
Asia Minor, North Africa and parts of Eastern Europe.
Rome was preponderant throughout the Mediterranean region and was one of the
most powerful entities of the ancient world. It is often grouped into "Classical
Antiquity" together with ancient Greece, and their similar cultures and societies are
known as the Greco-Roman world.
The Romans are still remembered today, including names such as Julius Caesar,
Cicero, and Augustus.
Plagued by internal instability and attacked by various migrating peoples, the
western part of the empire broke up into independent kingdoms in the 5th century.
This splintering is a landmark historians use to divide the ancient period of universal
history from the medieval era ("Dark Ages" of Europe).
Political Life
The Roman Government was a Republican form of government. In a republic,
citizens can choose their leaders. The republic was established in 509 B.C. and
lasted nearly 500 years.
One difference between the Roman republic and the Greek democracy was that in
Greece all men could vote, but in Rome, only men with money and property could
vote.
Another difference between the Roman republic and the Greek democracy was that
in Greece all men voted on every law and in Rome the wealthy elected
representatives to make laws for everyone.
This type of democracy is called a representative democracy.
Since the Romans did not want one man to make all of the laws, they decided to
balance the power of the government between three branches:

the executive branch

the legislative branch
the judicial branch

The two leaders of the executive branch, the consuls, were elected for just one year
by the upper class. They supervised the Senate and ordered the Roman army during
wars. Other members of the executive branch were the tax collectors, mayors, city
police, and other people in positions of power in cities.
The most powerful part of the legislative branch was the Senate.

The Senate was a group of about 300 male citizens who owned land.
They could tell the consuls how much money they could spend and on what.
These men were appointed by the consuls.
The judicial branch had six judges who were elected every two years.
They were in charge of deciding punishments that criminals would receive.
Their job was similar to the job that judges have today in the United States.

In ancient Rome, you were not allowed to vote on laws or elect leaders of the
government until you were an adult. Even then, only men who owned land were
allowed to have a say in the laws.

Roman Administrators
Augustus Caesar
Julius Caesars 18 year old nephew named Octavian. Formed an alliance with Mark
Antony and Marcus Lepidus, and defeated Brutus and Cassius. He was given the
title Augustus or highest one.
Achievements

Defense: established the Praetorian Guard (nine cohorts of 500 men who
acted bodyguards for the emperor and his family).

New administrative system for the large expanding empire (Senate controlled
settled provinces, Emperor new frontier provinces). Continued granting
citizenship to people in the provinces

Introduced a more uniform tax system to promote equal and fair treatment of
the provinces.

Established a civil service to enhance the workings of government.

Encouraged religion, using it to encourage the simple life and to strengthen

morality which he felt was slipping.

Beautified Rome - he found it in brick and left it in marble.

Vespasian (69 AD 79 AD)

Consolidated the Empire which had begun to fragment.

He reformed the financial system at Rome, Stabilized government spending

and Replenished the treasury.

Vespasian forced through an improvement in army discipline.

Built roads and the Colosseum.

Domitian (81 CE 96 CE)

As Emperor, Domitian strengthened the economy by revaluing the Roman

coinage

He expanded the border defenses of the Empire, and

Initiated a massive building program to restore the damaged city of Rome.

Trajan (98 CE 117 CE)

A Great ruler, and the first Roman emperor of non-Italian origin (Spanish). He
extended the Empire to its greatest extent

Kept the Senate informed about his campaigns, and waited for their approval
before signing treaties

Popular with the public because he greatly increased Romes wealth through
military conquest

Also popular because spent large sums on building aqueducts, temples and
public baths

Also very popular with the army

Buried under his column in the Roman Forum

Social Life
Roman Social Structure

Extremely class-conscious society

Based on HIERARCHY with no definite middle class
People were born into a particular social class and it was difficult to change
classes
Factors that determined ones place in society included:
- citizenship status
- place of birth
- level of wealth
- living in country or city
- freedom
The powerful and privileged
- These were the senators, equestrians and the provincial elite
The Upper Strata
o When P&H came under Roman control, the form of government was a
republic in which the Senate and the magistrates held power
o Their position was based on birth and wealth
o When Augustus came to power in 28BC, Rome underwent a significant
change
o Power was now in the hands of one man the emperor, although
senators and magistrates continued to function
Senators
o Qualifications: property qualifications of one million sesterces.
o Duties: served emperor in offices throughout the empire
o Most gained their wealth from large estates
o The position was hereditary
o Distinguished by their clothing a toga with a broad purple stripe

Equestrians (Equites)
o Qualifications: property qualifications of 400 000 sesterces.
o Duties: served the emperor in important posts such as commanders of
the fire service, grain supply and as military officers. For example, Pliny
the Elder was an equestrian and held the post of commander of the
fleet at Misenum
o Gained their wealth from public office, trade and banking
o Their position was NOT hereditary
o Wore a toga with a narrow purple strip and a gold finger ring
o Imperial period - increased in numbers & importance
Freedmen (Liberti)
o Qualifications: were slaves who had been given their freedom by
various means.
o Gained wealth from trade, banking, manufacturing and land ownership.
o Were excluded from entering the senatorial order, but some were able
to become equestrians.
Lower Strata
o There was great diversity among the lower strata of Roman society.
o This stratum consisted of poor freeborn citizens, poor freedmen and
slaves.
o These people were city dwellers or urban plebian.

o
o

o
o

They were generally despised and their lives were hard:

- they suffered squalid living conditions
- unpleasant working conditions
- inferior food and clothing
Occupations varied: legal advisers, doctors, scribes, actors, engineers,
working in small businesses, crafts and trade.
Craftsmen and artisans belonged to guilds called COLLEGIA. These
guilds were controlled by the state and the members paid dues for
meals and a decent burial.
One way to improve social standing was through their membership of
the trade or religious guilds.
It was possible for members of the lower social strata to hold office and
titles within these collegia. In wider society they could not hold much
authority.

Slaves
o Performed most of the work in agriculture and manufacturing, and
upper class Romans drew most of their wealth from exploiting slave
labor
o Romans saw the ownership of slaves as a valid expression of power,
but they regarded slavery as a state of living death (K. Bradley)
o Slaves were generally looked down on in society (even after they were
freed)
o Slaves were those who had been defeated in war, or were free citizens
who had sold themselves to pay their debts
o The state often purchased and used slaves
Women
o Typical role of women was to perform tasks such as running a
household, bringing up the children and controlling the finances
o Evidence provides a valuable insight into the lives of women in all
social classes
o Women appeared to have had more freedom than their counterparts in
Rome
o Wall paintings, inscriptions and frescoes show Pompeian women
actively engaged in public life and moving freely around the city

Art & Architecture

Colosseum
The Colosseum is an elliptical amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy,
the largest ever built in the Roman Empire. It is considered one of the greatest
works of Roman architecture and Roman engineering.
Occupying a site just east of the Roman Forum, its construction started in 72 AD
under the emperor Vespasian and was completed in 80 AD under Titus, with further
modifications being made during Domitian's reign (8196).

Capable of seating 50,000 spectators, the Colosseum was used for gladiatorial
contests and public spectacles such as mock sea battles, animal hunts, executions,
re-enactments of famous battles, and dramas based on Classical mythology. It was
later reused for such purposes as housing, workshops, quarters for a religious order,
a fortress, a quarry, and a Christian shrine.
Although in the 21st century it stays partially ruined because of damage caused by
devastating earthquakes and stone-robbers, the Colosseum is an iconic symbol of
Imperial Rome. It is one of Rome's most popular tourist attractions.

The Colosseum in 1757

The Interior of the Colosseum

Aqueducts
The Romans constructed aqueducts to bring a constant flow of water from distant
sources into cities and towns, supplying public baths, latrines (public toilets),
fountains and private households.

Waste water was removed by the sewage systems and released into nearby bodies
of water, keeping the towns clean and free from noxious waste. Some aqueducts
also served water for mining, processing, manufacturing, and agriculture.
Aqueducts moved water through gravity alone, along a slight downward gradient
within conduits of stone, brick or concrete. Most were buried beneath the ground,
and followed its contours; obstructing peaks were circumvented or less often,
tunneled through. Where valleys or lowlands intervened, the conduit was carried on
bridgework, or its contents fed into high-pressure lead, ceramic or stone pipes and
siphoned across. Most aqueduct systems included sedimentation tanks, sluices and
distribution tanks to regulate the supply at need.
By the 3rd century AD, the city had eleven aqueducts, to sustain a population of
over 1,000,000 in a water-extravagant economy; most of the water supplied the
city's many public baths.
Most Roman aqueducts proved reliable, and durable; some were maintained into the
early modern era, and a few are still partly in use.
Methods of aqueduct surveying and construction are given by Vitruvius in his work
De Architectura (1st century BC).
Notable examples of aqueduct architecture include the supporting piers of the
Aqueduct of Segovia, and the aqueduct-fed cisterns of Constantinople.

One of the more interesting features of Roman aqueducts was the occasional use of
inverted siphons to cross low points. An inverted siphon consisted of a closed pipe
laid along the valley floor. Because the water at one end of the pipe was at a higher
elevation than the water at the other end, a pressure difference forced the water
through the pipe to the lower end, enabling the flow to continue uninterrupted, and
relieving the need to build an arcade.

Roads

Roman roads were a vital part of the development of the Roman state. Roman roads
enabled the Romans to move armies and trade goods and to communicate. The
Roman road system spanned more than 400,000 km of roads, including over 80,500
km of paved roads. When Rome reached the height of its power, no fewer than 29
great military highways radiated from the city. Hills were cut through and deep
ravines filled in. At one point, the Roman Empire was divided into 113 provinces
traversed by 372 great road links. There were footpaths on each side of the road.

The Romans became adept at constructing roads, which they called viae. They were
intended for carrying material from one location to another. It was permitted to walk
or pass and drive cattle, vehicles, or traffic of any description along the path. The
viae differed from the many other smaller or rougher roads, bridle-paths, drifts, and
tracks. To make the roads the Romans used stones, broken stones mixed with
cement and sand, cement mixed with broken tiles, curving stonesso the water
could drain, and on the top they used tightly packed paving stones.

The Roman road networks were important both in maintaining the stability of the
empire and for its expansion. The legions made good time on them, and some are
still used millennia later. In later antiquity, these roads played an important part in
Roman military reverses by offering avenues of invasion to the barbarians.

Pantheon
The Pantheon is a building in Rome which was originally built as a temple to the
seven deities of the seven planets in the Roman state religion, but which has been a
Christian church since the 7th century.
It is the best-preserved of all Roman buildings and the oldest important building in
the world with its original roof intact. It has been in continuous use throughout its
history.

The original Pantheon was built in 27-25 BC under the Roman Empire, during the
third consulship of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa. In fact, Agrippa's Pantheon was
destroyed by fire in AD 80, and the Pantheon was completely rebuilt in about 125,
during the reign of the Emperor Hadrian, as date-stamps on the bricks reveal.
Hadrian was a cosmopolitan emperor who traveled widely in the east and was a
great admirer of Greek culture. He seems to have intended the Pantheon, as a
temple to all the gods.
Since the Renaissance the Pantheon has been used as a tomb. Among those buried
there is the painter Raphael.
The building is circular with a portico of three ranks of huge granite Corinthian
columns (eight in the first rank and two groups of four behind) under a pediment
opening into the rotunda, under a coffered, concrete dome, with a central opening
(oculus), the Great Eye, open to the sky.
A rectangular structure links the portico with the rotunda. In the walls at the back of
the portico were niches for statues of Caesar, Augustus and Agrippa. The pediment
was decorated with a sculpture in bronze showing the Battle of the Titans - holes
may still be seen where the clamps which held the sculpture in place were fixed.
The height to the oculus and the diameter of the interior circle are the same (43
metres), so the whole interior would fit exactly within a cube. The dome is the
largest surviving dome from antiquity. It was covered with gilded bronze plates.
The interior of the roof is intended to symbolize the heavens. The Great Eye, 27 feet
across, at the dome's apex is the source of all light and is symbolic of the sun.
As the best preserved example of monumental Roman architecture, the Pantheon
was enormously influential on European and American architects from the
Renaissance to the 19th century. Numerous city halls, universities and public
libraries echo its portico-and-dome structure. Examples of notable buildings
influenced by the Pantheon include Thomas Jefferson's Rotunda at the University of
Virginia, Low Library at Columbia University, New York, and the State Library of
Victoria in Melbourne, Australia.

Pantheon Front View

Pantheon Aerial View

Pantheon Interior View

The original Greek Parthenon

Forum
The forum was the center of political, commercial and judicial life in ancient Rome.
The largest buildings were the basilicas, where legal cases were heard.

Other Achievements