Roman Civilization

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Roman Civilization

• The Pre-Christian Centuries

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Getting Our Bearings
How did a small city on the banks of the Tiber
come to dominate the known world?
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The Legacy of Rome

• For other peoples will, I do not doubt,
• will cast their bronze to breathe with softer
  features,
• or draw out of marble living lines,
• plead causes better, trace the ways of heaven
• with wands and tell the rising constellations.
• Aeneid, Book VI

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The Legacy of Rome

• Tu regere imperio populos, Romane, memento(hae
  tibi erunt artes), pacisque imponere morem,
  parcere subjectis et debellare superbos."
• Aeneid, Book VI

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The Legacy of Rome

• Language
• Legal codes
• Educational ideals/curricula
• Trivium (grammar, logic, rhetoric)
• Quadrivium (arithmetic, geometry, music,
  astronomy)
• Architecture (domes, rounded arches, vaulting,
  amphitheaters, victory columns)
• Sculpture
• Literature
• Philosophy
• Government of multiracial/multiethnic society

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Background

• Roman civilization developed parallel to Greece,
  but reached its peak later
• Legendary founding by Romulus and Remus in 753
  BCE is supported by archeology settlement dates
  to 8th century
• Gibbons Question about reasons behind Decline
  and Fall is interesting
• But what prompted rise of Rome is even more so

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Background

• Two basic theories on Romes rise
• Conscious policy of imperialism
• Accidental empire emerging from demands of
  self-defense
• Answer may lie in combination of both factors

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Characteristics of Roman Civilization

• Book attributes greatness to Roman character
  stemming from agrarian roots
• Practicality
• Moral sense/gravitas
• Sanctity of family
• Broader (but still limited) role for women
• Gift for governing
• True enoughBut are these characteristics
  unique/determinative?

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Characteristics of Roman Civilization
The stern faces of the Head of a Roman and the
Patrician with Busts of his Ancestors show the
sternness and lack of vanity of many Romans. The
inscription on the statue of Eumachia shows the
role women could play in business.
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Romes Founding

• Legendary founding of Rome based on militarism
  and violence
• Fall of Troy
• Aeneas vs. Turnus
• Romulus/Remus fratricide
• Rape of the Sabines

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Historical Eras Regal and Republican Periods

• The Etruscan and Greek Connections
• Rome in the Age of Kings, 753-509 B.C.E.
• The Roman Republic, 509-31 B.C.E.
• The Early Republic, 509-264 B.C.E.
• The Middle Republic, 264-133 B.C.E.
• The Late Republic, 133-31 B.C.E.

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Etruria and Rome
Rome was likely founded as an outpost on Tiber
to contain Etruscans a sophisticated people of
obscure origin in northern Italy. History of
regal period (753-509 BCE) tells of conflicts
with/conquest by Etruscans. Under Etruscans,
Rome prospered became commercial/transportation
hub.
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Etruscan Contributions
Etruscan temples owed much to Greece, but the
Etruscan temperament comes through in the
differences in design note especially the
placement of narrative statuary on the roof.
The very symbol of Rome the she-wolf suckling
Romulus and Remus is an Etruscan work (the
infants are late additions by the Renaissance
sculptor Antonio Pollaiuolo). In the archaic
period, in fact, Rome was essentially an Etruscan
city
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The Age of Kings

• Regal Period 753-509 BCE
• Ends with ouster of Tarquin the Proud by L.
  Brutus
• Themes of Roman government emerge
• Hatred of kings (Etruscan domination)
• Class conflict

Reubens, The Rape of Lucretia
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The Early Republic 509-264 BCE

• Series of Wars in Italy (Samnite, Latin, and
  Pyrrhic wars)
• Rome emerges as head of federation of Italian
  states/peoples (Latin League)
• Had large pool of manpower to draw on
• Provided rights to colonies/allies

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The Middle Republic 264-133BCE

• Punic Wars transform Rome
• Provide first provinces outside Italy
• Lead to internal problems culminating in the rise
  of the Gracchi

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The Late Republic 133 31 BCE

• Rome copes with consequences of Punic Wars
• Rise of the Gracchi
• Rise of Equites
• Rise of Generals
• Social Wars
• Mithridatic Wars
• Civil War
• Rise of Caesar and collapse of Republic

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The Problems of the Punic Wars

• Punic Wars created empire and problems
• Rise of latifundia/Urgent need for land reform
• Unrest in city states
• Dispossessed including veterans flood Rome
• New political equation
• Nobiles
• Equites
• Plebs
• Optimates vs. Populares

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Optimates and PopularesKeys to the Conflict

• Involves three groups nobiles, equites, and
  plebs
• Optimates and Populares represent temporary
  coalitions, not political parties
• Distinguished by methods Authority of Senate vs.
  popular assemblies
• But boils down into struggle between
  conservatives and reformers

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A High-Stakes Game

• The nobiles and equites had a difficult
  relationship
• While interests often overlapped, they frequently
  found themselves in competition
• Wealthy senators were appointed as provincial
  governors, overseeing the business activities of
  the equestrian class, who were engaged in
  business ventures
• Both motivated by profit and conflict was
  inevitable

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A New Army
Caius Marius

• In course of events, the nature of the army also
  changed
• Professionalized
• Loyalties shift away from state and to individual
  commanders

L. Cornelius Sulla Felix
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The Result Caesar

• Equites x-factor in politics now siding with
  Senate, now with plebs
• As career of Gracchi showed, politics much more
  volatile, with only way to overcome roadblocks a
  resort to violence
• Stage is set for Civil War, culminating in J.
  Caesar

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Imperial Rome 31 BCE 284 CE

• Growing Autocracy
• Conclusion of Civil War
• Philippi (conspirators), Actium (Antony)
• Pax Romana, 31 B.C.E.-193 C.E.
• Augustus to Marcus Aurelius
• Period of high achievement in arts
• Civil Wars, 193-284 C.E.
• Commodus to Diocletian
• Division of Empire in East and West

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The Style of Pre-Christian Rome From Greek
Imitation to Roman Grandeur

• Roman Religion
• Language, Literature, and Drama
• The First Literary Period, 250-31 B.C.E.
• The Second Literary Period The Golden Age, 31
  B.C.E.-14 C.E.
• Vergil
• Horace
• Ovid
• The Third Literary Period The Silver Age, 14-200
  C.E.
• Seneca
• Juvenal
• Tacitus

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The Style of Pre-Christian Rome From Greek
Imitation to Roman Grandeur

• Philosophy
• Stoicism
• Neo-Platonism
• Science and Medicine
• Law natural law

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The Style of Pre-Christian Rome From Greek
Imitation to Roman Grandeur

• The Visual Arts
• Architecture
• the Pantheon
• forum
• ampitheaters the Colosseum
• aqueducts

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The Style of Pre-Christian Rome From Greek
Imitation to Roman Grandeur

• Sculpture
• First phase influenced by death masks
• Second phase realistic
• Third phase symbolic idealism
• Painting and Mosaics
• Music

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EncounterRoman Conquests and Romance Languages

• As the Romans expanded their empire, they
  encountered the Dacians and other peoples, making
  them part of the Roman world. Over time,
  political, commercial, and military needs led to
  the creation of hybrid languages that blended
  Latin with native tongues. Thus, in the sounds,
  words, and syntax of these new hybrid languages,
  the legacy of ancient peoples survives in the
  world today.

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TechnologyWarfare

• Warfare
• Army professionalized under Marius
• New weapons
• New equipment
• New organization/training
• Navy ruled Mediterranean
• Corvus key innovation
• Decked galley, Liburnian ship were additional
  innovations

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Technology Construction

• Rounded arch/vaulting

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TechnologyConstruction

• Rectilinear temple

Maison Carree in Nimes, France incorporates both
Etruscan and Greek ideas (Etruscan raised
platform, central stairway, deep porch, engaged
columns Greek Corinthian columns, low gable,
mathematical harmony.) Reproducing architecture
in the provinces was one way Romans spread their
culture across conquered lands.
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Technology Construction

• Fora and Symbolic Structures

The Forum at Rome symbolized Roman power and
civilization, as did architectural innovations
including the triumphal arch (like the arch of
Titus, built in 81 CE to celebrate Romes
conquest of Jerusalem, and Trajans column
(106-113 CE), a structure borrowed from
Mesopotamia and used to celebrate the victory
over Dacia (modern Romania).
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TechnologyConstruction

• Amphitheaters

The amphitheater stood as Roman monuments to
themselvesand gifts to the people. The Flavian
amphitheater, or Colosseum, is one of Romes most
enduring landmarks, created by joining two Greek
semicircular theaters, featuring three tiers of
rounded arches, and Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian
columns.
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Technology Construction

• Aqueducts

The aqueduct at Pont du Gard near Nimes, France,
is part of a water-delivery system that spanned
31 miles and delivered approximately 100 gallons
of water per inhabitant per day to the city.
Modern water systems deliver roughly the same
amount
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Sculpture
Roman sculpture moves through three distinct
periods. The first, shown by the Head of Brutus,
is based on the Etruscan death mask and shows
stern and resolute leaders the second, shown by
the Bust of Caesar, is realistic, often with a
sense of unease in the third, led by Augustus,
sculpture reverts to Greek idealism.
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Sculpture
The Ara Pacis, funded by the Senate as an
offering of thanks to Augustus for his
peacekeeping missions, blends idealism and
realism in its relief style and its power as a
propaganda tool was picked up on triumphal arches
and victory columns.
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Sculpture
The Ara Pacis, funded by the Senate as an
offering of thanks to Augustus for his
peacekeeping missions, blends idealism and
realism in its relief style and its power as a
propaganda tool was picked up on triumphal arches
and victory columns.
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Sculpture
Relief sculptures from the Ara Pacis, the Arch of
Titus, and Trajans column.
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Sculpture
The last great sculpture from this period shows a
falling away from Augustan idealism to a rugged,
individualized style.
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Painting and Mosaic
These pictures show the progression in painting
styles and villas from Pompeii, from geometric to
stylized representa-tions of myth.
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Painting and Mosaic
This mosaic, perhaps depicting a scene from a
comedy, was found in the villa of Cicero at
Pompeii
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Painting and Mosaic
This garden scene represents the architectural
fresco style paintings were divided into three
horizontal planes, separated by columns to give a
sense of wall opening or a view through a window.

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Painting and Mosaic
This calendar mosaic, with religious/rural
depictions of the months, was found in El Djem,
North Africa. The Roman year began in March and
ended in Fedruary.
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The Legacy of Pre-Christian Rome

• Profound impact on Western civilization
• Languages
• Legal codes
• Educational ideals
• Shining image of a healthy civilization