Roman Culture

1
Roman Culture Society

• 2.02 Identify the roots of Greek civilization and
  recognize its achievements from the Minoan era
  through the Hellenistic period.
• 2.03 Describe the developments and achievements
  of Roman civilization and analyze the
  significance of the fall of Rome.

2
Art Architecture

• Art
• Adopted many features of the Greek style
• Showed people in a more realistic fashion
• Painted on walls of villas
• Architecture
• Used curved forms
• Arch
• Vault
• Dome
• 1st to use concrete on a massive scale

3
Literature

• Augustan Age called the golden age of Latin
  literature
• Virgil
• Poet
• Horace
• Poet
• Satires
• Livy
• Historian

4
Family Life

• Family was heart of Roman social structure
• Paterfamilias
• Dominant male
• Children raised at home
• Boys and girls educated
• Most girls married at 14
• Divorce was ok
• By the AD 100s women had more power

5
Slavery

• Romans heavily relied on slave labor
• Originally seen as part of the family
• Eventually began to be treated badly as slaves
  became easily available

6
Slave Revolts

• Spartacus
• 73 BC
• Gladiator
• Involved 70,000 slaves
• Managed to defeat several Roman armies
• Spartacus was trapped and killed
• 6000 of his followers were crucified

7
Living Conditions in Rome

• Rome was the center/capital of the empire
• Had close to 1 million people by the time of
  Augustus
• City was overcrowded and noisy
• Could be dangerous at night
• Lack of sanitation

8
Living Conditions in Rome

• Rich
• Comfortable villas
• Poor
• Badly built apartments
• Fire was a constant threat
• High rents caused many families to live in one
  room

9
Living Conditions in Rome

• Government assistance
• Free grain
• Free entertainment
• Religious festivals
• Circus Maximus (horse chariot races)
• Gladiatorial shows

10
Discovery Channel Show on Gladiators

• http//www.youtube.com/watch?vyaxbxaog_pkfeature
  PlayListp0085268988C0BE47index0

11
Religion in Rome

• Roman Religion
• Polytheistic
• Tolerant of other religions
• Judaism in Rome
• Jewish area of Judea was ruled by Rome
• Many differed on how they felt about Roman
  occupation
• Revolt in AD 66 caused the Jewish temple in
  Jerusalem to be destroyed

12
Christianity in Rome

• Not tolerated by all Romans because Christians
  did not worship the state gods and emperors
• Romans saw this as being an act of treason
• Roman government began to persecute Christians

13
The Decline of the Empire

• A series of problems
• Several civil wars occurred after Marcus Aurelius
  died in AD 180
• Invasions by Persians and Germanic tribes also
  caused serious damage
• 3rd century a plague caused a severe labor
  shortage

14
The Decline of the Empire

• Reforms by Diocletian Constantine
• Diocletian
• Divided empire into 4 sections
• Constantine
• Constructed a new capital city in the east
  (Constantinople)
• Kept 2 part division
• Changed religion to Christianity
• Reforms by both
• Set wage and price controls
• Forced people to stay in their jobs
• Most policies eventually failed

15
The Fall of the Empire

• Germanic Tribes
• Visigoths
• Visigoths moved into the area of the Danube River
  after being displaced by the Huns
• Revolved against Rome in 378
• Romans could not defeat them
• 410 AD Visigoths sacked Rome
• Vandals
• Poured into Spain Africa
• 476 AD Romes western emperor was taken off of
  this throne by the Germans
• Marks the end of the Western Roman Empire