Ying Wa College

S.1 History
Ancient Roman Civilisation

Name:
Class: No.:
Learning Objectives

Students are expected to be able to:

 understand how the Roman civilisation started, and developed into an empire;
 explain how the Roman Republic was set up and was it transformed to a monarchy (Roman Empire);
 understand how the Roman Empire was divided into the two and their decline;
 explain the impact of the ancient Roman civilisation; and
 compare the ancient Greek and Roman civilisations in terms of various aspects including religion, architecture,
political system, impact, etc.

A. The Development of the Roman Civilisation

1. Origin of Civilisation
Between 2000 BC and 1000 BC, a tribe called the Latin settled in Italy. They built many
villages along River Tiber. These villages later united to form the city of Rome. Since then,
the Romans, based in Rome, expanded northwards and southwards in Italy.

Roman Kingdom
(753BC to 509 BC)  Roman Republic
(509 BC to 27 BC)  Roman Empire
(27 BC to AD 476)

2. Republic in ancient Rome

a. The Roman Kingdom started in about 753 BC. At that time, Rome had been a country,
ruled by a king. The Etruscans from the north brought to Rome the ancient Greek
civilisation and taught the Romans how to dig channels and build arches.
b. In 509 BC, the Romans forced the Etruscan king to leave. They replaced the Roman
Kingdom with the Roman Republic.
c. Under the republican system, leaders were chosen by election instead of hereditary
kingship. Therefore, the political system of the Roman Republic was different from
that of earlier kingdom and the later Roman Empire.

3. Politics of the Early Roman Republic

Executive body Legislative body: Senate

Chief Executives: Formed by 300 nobles.

Nominated every year
two Consuls. Responsible for making laws.

Change in legislative body in Roman Republic

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 In the early Roman After the commoners An assembly was added
Republic, only nobles fought for participation, later. Its members were
could be Consuls and they could finally elect elected by the
 
Senators. two tribunes to join the commoners. They could
Senate. participate in making
laws.

In such ways, the Roman Republic became a government ruled by two houses (Assembly
and Senate).
4. Dictatorship of Julius Caesar in the late Roman Republic
Julius Caesar was one of the most famous military dictator. In 59BC, he was elected as
a Consul and ruled Rome.


Under the leadership of Julius Caesar, Rome became more powerful and people’s lives
improved.


After defeating his general Pompey and some senators who went against him, he made
himself “dictator for life” in 44BC.


In the same year, Julius Caesar was assassinated by the senators. His adopted son
Octavian and his general Antony ruled the Roman Republic together.

5. From Republic to Monarchy

a. In 31BC, a civil war broke out and Antony was defeated. Since then, Octavian became
the sole ruler of the Roman Republic.
b. In 27BC, the Senate offered Octavian the title Augustus, meaning the ‘supreme ruler’,
and he called himself Augustus Caesar in memory of Julius Caesar.
c. This was the end of the Roman Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire.
Augustus ruled for more than 40 years and the Roman Empire was strong and peaceful.
d. The Roman Empire followed the imperial system. The emperor was not elected by
citizens. He held executive and judicial powers but the nobles held no powers.

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6. Expansion into a world power
a. Since 3rd century BC, the Romans started invading other regions. By 270 BC, the
Romans had conquered the whole of the Italian Peninsula.
b. After Rome defeated Carthage in the Punic Wars (246BC-146BC), the Romans
conquered most of the regions around the Mediterranean Sea and claimed the
Mediterranean Sea as ‘our inland sea’. The Romans won a lot of treasures through their
conquests, enhancing their economic power too.

7. The Development of the Roman Empire

a. The first two centuries of the Roman Empire (27 BC – AD 180) was called “Pax
Romana” meaning “Roman Peace”. It was the golden age of the ancient Roman
civilisation.
b. In AD395, the Roman Empire was divided into the Eastern Roman Empire and the
Western Roman Empire.

Prolonged wars led to the

decline of the classical
civilisation.

In AD476, the Germanic

peoples overthrew the
Western Roman Empire.

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B. The Legacy of Ancient Rome
The Romans were good learners. They borrowed many ideas from the Greeks and improved on these
ideas. They made important achievements in many areas, such as politics, law and architecture. The
Romans left behind many treasures, and their civilisation continues to influence modern lives.

1. Language and numbers

The Romans spoke and wrote Latin. They used the Greek
alphabet, but changed some of the letters. Latin was used
all over the Roman Empire. It was also used by the
Catholic Church.

During the medieval times, all educated people in Europe read and
wrote Latin. It became the basis of many modern European
languages, such as Italian, French and English.

The Romans also developed their own numbers. These Roman

numbers are still in use today.

2. Governance and Law

a. The Romans took the Greek idea about democracy and developed a kind of
government that had an upper house and a lower house, the Senate and the Assembly.
Today, many countries still have governments with two houses.

b. The Romans built a large empire and ruled it by laws. Roman laws were fair and just.
Every one was equal before the law. The nobles and the commoners obeyed the same
laws.

c. Roman laws protected people’s right to their properties. Nobody could take land away
from a poor farmer. If a Roman citizen who lived outside Rome believed that he had
not been tried fairly, he could appeal to Rome. Today, the laws of many countries are
based on Roman laws.

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3. Calendar

When Julius Caesar ruled Rome, he

asked a Greek mathematician to improve
the Roman calendar. The new calendar
had 365 days in a year, and every fourth
year had an extra day. It was called the
Julian Calendar. Later, it was improved
to become our modern calendar.

4. Architecture

a. The Romans built many palaces, temples, theatres, circuses and forums. They took
ideas from the Greeks and supported their buildings with tall columns. They also
invented their own method to build very large arches and domes. Columns, arches
and domes became the typical style of Roman architecture.

Roman Towns Public Bath

Aqueduct Temples

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 Stadium Road network

b. Today, large Roman buildings, such as the Colosseum and the Pantheon, are still
standing in the city of Rome. Modern architects continue to copy the look of these
Roman buildings.

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