ANCIENT ROME
ENGLISH 4
ANCIENT ROME
Ancient Rome begin as a group of villages along the Tiber River in what
is now Italy.
Around 750 B.C. these villages united to form the city of Rome.
Advantages of Rome’s geographical position:
Fertile land
Good land for farming
able to trade by sea
EARLY HISTORY OF ROME
Rome was settled by the Etruscans who had moved to the Italian
peninsula from Asia Minor
The religion of Ancient Rome was polytheistic.
Rome’s first government was a monarchy.
In 509 BC, the Romans overthrew the Etruscans and established a
republic (Roman Republic).
ROMAN SENATE
Most powerful governing body of Rome
ROMAN REPUBLIC
Patricians – upper class
Plebeians – middle class
Slaves – lower class
ANCIENT ROME
The rights of citizens in Rome were protected by the Twelve Tables
Aspects of the Twelve Tables that serve as the basis for western law
include:
Equal protection under the law
Innocent until proven guilty
Rules of evidence
ANCIENT ROME
Due to the strength of its military, Rome was able to conquer areas
through the Mediterranean world and beyond.
Punic Wars – Rome versus Carthage (Northern Africa)
RISE OF JULIUS CAESAR
Due to his military prowess and success,
the Senate appointed Caesar “Dictator for
life,” which he turned into absolute power.
Due to Caesar’s absolute power, he was
assassinated by senators who wanted to
return to the ideals of the Republic.
SECOND TRIUMVIRATE
Octavian (Julius Caesar's heir), Marc Antony, and Lepidus.
ROMAN EMPIRE
Caesar’s appointed successor was his adopted grandnephew Octavian.
Octavian took the name Emperor Augustus as his new name.
Beginning with the rule of Augustus, Rome entered a two hundred year
period of relative peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana.
(Roman peace).
ROMAN EMPIRE
Accomplishments of Rome during
the Golden Age included:
The Coliseum
Aqueducts
Stable government
Roads and improved
infrastructure
Expansion of the empire
THE RISE OF CHRISTIANITY
Jewish Diaspora
At first it took hold in the eastern half of the Roman Empire.
By 200 A.D. this religion had spread throughout the empire.
Constantine was the first Roman emperor to legalize Christianity.
ROME’S DECLINE
Germanic Tribes
The government taxed its citizens heavily in order to pay for the defense
of the borders
Many citizens were apathetic and indifferent towards the empire
The quality of Roman soldiers had deteriorated.
ROMAN LITERATURE
ROMAN LITERATURE
Was written in Latin language
Drew heavily on other traditions, mostly Greek traditions
One of the more earlier extents are historical epics about early military
history of Rome, and as the Republic expanded, followed by poetry,
comedies, histories, and tragedies.
LATIN LANGUAGE
Latin was brought to Italy by about 1,000 B.C. by Indo-European
immigrants from Northern Europe, and was the official language of the
Roman Empire.
The people of Latium, a small territory on the banks of Tiber River,
developed in an organized community, which eventually founded the city
of Rome around 753 B.C.
AUGUSTUS AGE
Golden age of Roman Literature
The poets had an advantage over most writers, like wealthy patrons who
afforded the leisure to write and read since there was a library to read
from.
Wrote in many forms, varying from epics, love elegy, satire, which is a
literary book from others, history, and didactic poetry.
VIEWS OF ROMAN LITERATURE
Positive:
Had stable laws and economics.
Had a stable social context to let people study.
Had a need in society for people with higher educations.
Benefitted individuals by pursuing higher levels of education and knowledge.
Had cultural backgrounds which gives value to production and making of literature.
Negative:
Literature was a copy of Greece
HISTORY OF ROMAN LITERATURE
First Period.
The sixth and seventh centuries of the city of Rome (240 B.C. – 80 B.C.) This makes up
the history of drama, early epos and satires, and the beginning of the prose actions. Its
marked by its adolescence of art and language.
Second Period.
The Golden Age, from Cicero to Ovid (80 B.C. – 14 A.D.) Has the highest improvements
in prose and poetry. The prose era came first, and is marked by Cicero, Sallust, and Caesar.
Third Period.
Around the decline of Rome, from the accession, or rise to power, of Tiberius to the
death of Marcus Aurelius (14 A.D. – 180 A.D.) Mostly made up of political writings, epochs,
and religious phenomena.
ANCIENT ROMAN WRITERS
Caesar –had written Bellum Gallicum, and Bellum Civile. He was born
c. 100 B.C. – 44 B.C.
Horace – had written odes and poetry, and had lived around 65 B.C. – 8
B.C.
Ovid – had lived around 43 B.C. – 17 B.C., and had written
Metomorphoses, Fasti, and love poetry.
Quintus Ennius – (239 B.C. – 169 B.C) Was an epic poet, dramatist,
satirist, which is a person whom ridicules other people’s stupidity. Wrote
Annales, a narrative poem of Rome from a wanderers point of view.
Gnaeus Naevius – (c. 270 B.C. – c. 200 B.C.) Epic poet, dramatist, historical
plays on Rome or legendary figures and events. Wrote Romulus and
Clastidium.
Marcus Pacuvius – (220 B.C. – c. 130 B.C.) A Roman tragic dramatist.
Plautus – (c. 254 B.C. – 184 B.C.) Was a Roman comic dramatist, which
established true Roman drama in the Latin language.
Terence – (c. 195 B.C. – c. 159 B.C.) Was a comedy of manners writer, which
is comedy that criticizes a particular social group.
AENEID
VIRGIL
VIRGIL
Complete name: Publius Vergilius Maro
Greatest Roman poet who wrote Rome’s national epic, Aeneid.
