This document provides an overview of ancient Rome, including famous sights and structures like the Colosseum, Circus Maximus, aqueducts, and forums. It then discusses the transition from Roman Republic to Empire, highlighting figures like Julius Caesar, Augustus, and Constantine. The rise of Christianity in the empire and reasons for Rome's eventual fall are also examined.

1. Rome
“The Eternal City”
Caput Mudi
Capital of the World
Ch 6
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2. Famous Roman Sights
Buildings / Architecture
The Romans were the Great Builders of the Ancient World

3. Look these Sights up Online
Explain & find at least one fact about the famous structure
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The Cloaca Maxima
The Pantheon
Flavian Amphitheatre – Colosseum
Circus Maximus
Aqueducts
The Appian Way – Via Appia
Roman Baths
The Forum
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4. Cloaca Maxima
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5. Pantheon “Temple to the Gods”

7. The Roman Colosseum
Flavian Amphitheatre

8. The Colosseum Interior

9. Wild Animals could appear from
the trap doors

10. Circus Maximus - then

11. “Ben Hur”
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12. Circus Maximus - now

13. Roman Aqueducts

15. Rome’s Early Road System

16. Roman Roads:
The Appian Way

17. Roman Baths

19. The Roman Forum

20. 20

21. 21

22. Roman Society &
The End of the Republic
PART 1 --- # 32
- Government of the Republic
- Roman Society
- Civil Wars
- Julius Caesar
Roman Republic : 509 – 27 BCE
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23. Gaius Julius Caesar
• Gaius – Name
• Julius – Clan Name
groups of families with a:
Common Mythological Ancestor
• Caesar – Family Name
The Individual wasn’t important
- Family / Clan / State : That was Important
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24. Patricians vs. Plebeians
-Plebeians have no say in the
government
- Eventually get to elect their
own officials called tribunes
in 494 B.C.
- For 84 years, (421-337 B.C.)
plebeians fought to have a
role in each part of the
government
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25. The Twelve Tables, 450 BCE
 Providing political and social
rights for the plebeians. – hung in the Forum

26. Social Structures
-A man was the head of the household and his wife
and children did not question his authority
- Paterfamilias: Family Father
-Over centuries, women received more rights.
These included:
-Owning property
-Running businesses
-All children were taught to learn to read and write
-Wealthy had private tutors for their children
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27. Economics
-Conquests brought much wealth to Rome
-Wealthy families bought huge estates called latifundia.
-Romans forced the people they conquered to work as
slaves on the latifundia
-Slave labor hurt the small farmers because it cost them
more to produce food, and the price was driven down by
the immense quantities coming into Rome
-Farmers fell into debt, sold their land, and moved to the
city looking for work
-gap between rich and poor widens=riots and chaos
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28. The Gracchus Brothers
-Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus
elected tribunes
•They also worked to
get the state to buy
grain to feed the poor
•The brothers worked to
get the state to
distribute the land to the
poor farmers
•Senate felt they were a
threat to its power, and
hired thugs to kill them
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29. Military Reformer
 Gaius Marius
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recruited an army
from the poor
and homeless
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professional
standing army
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He is eventually
defeated-exciled
– Caesar learns

30. Republic to Empire
-Civil wars break out to decide who should hold power.
The senate wanted to keep the status quo; political
leaders wanted to weaken the senate and enact reforms
-Slave uprisings throughout the republic “Spartacus”
-Armies became loyal to their commanders because they
gave them benefits such as captured land / Paid them
Personally - Caesar
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31. The First Triumvirate
 Julius Caesar
 Marcus Licinius Crassus
 Gaius Magnus Pompey

32. Crossing the Rubicon, 49 BC
The Die is Cast!

33. Beware the Ides of March!
44 BCE - Brutus

34. The Second Triumvirate
 Octavian
 Marc Antony
 Marcus Lepidus
Battle of Philippi
Battle of Actium

35. Antony & Cleopatra
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37. The Pax Romana
“Roman Peace”
27 BCE – 180 AD
PART 2
- Period of Unprecedented Stability & Prosperity
- Initiated by Octavian (Caesar Augustus)
- The Principate
- Princips “First among Equals”
- “I found Rome Brick & I turned it Marble”
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38. 38

39. Octavian -Augustus:
Rome’s First Emperor

40. The First Roman Dynasty

41. Pax Romana: 27 BCE – 180 CE

42. The Greatest Extent of the
Roman Empire – 14 CE

43. To commemorate the birth of Augustus (63 BCE) two thousand
years earlier(1937), Mussolini commissioned a model of Rome as
it appeared at the time of Constantine (AD 306-337)
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44. The Rise of Christianity
PART 3
•Jesus / St. Paul
44

45. Birth of Jesus
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46. Nero Fiddled while Rome Burned
- then he blamed the Christians
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47. The Rise of Christianity

48. St. Paul:
Apostle to the Gentiles

49. Imperial Roman Road System

50. The Spread of Christianity

51. “In This Sign, Conquer”
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52. Constantine:
Edict of Milan
313 AD
Legalized
Christianity in the
Empire
312 - 337

53. Constantinople:
“New Rome” ( 330 AD)

54. Diocletian Splits the
Empire in Two: 294 AD

55. Constantinople:
“New Rome” ( 330 AD)

56. The Later Roman Empire
PART 4
The Fall of Rome & The Legacy of Rome
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57. Reasons for the Fall of Rome
1. War with the Germanic Tribes & Huns
- Germans were pushed by the Huns
- the still glowing splendor of Rome
Maximus “Rome is the Light, the rest of the
World is Darkness”
2. Internal Strife in Rome
- civil war / unstable & poor leadership(corruption)
3. Loss of Moral Standards & Virtues
- Commodus
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58. The Empire in Crisis: 3c

59. Barbarian Invasions
Battle of Adrianople – Visigoths – 378 AD

60. Alaric the Visigoth
Sacks and Burns Rome in 410 AD
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61. Attila the Hun:
“The Scourge of God”

62. Battle of Chalons – 451 AD
• Combined Roman and
Visogoth armies defeat
Attila the Hun
• Attila Presses on toward
Rome itself
• Only knowledge of the
Plague in Rome
prevented him from
destroying the city
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63. Western Rome Falls to the
“Barbarians” in 476 AD
• Odoacer (Ostrogoth)
overthrew the Emperor
Romulus Augustulas
• The Western Empire
was over
• The Eastern Empire will
live on for another
1,000 years
(Byzantine)
Constantinople
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64. The Legacy of Rome
Life of Brian – 1:30
Republic Government
Roman Law – Rule of Law
Latin Language – Romance Languages
Roman Catholic Church – Preserving &
Spreading Christianity
 City Planning & Road Building
 Romanesque Architectural Style
 Roman Engineering & Building
• Aqueducts / Sewage systems
• Dams / Cement / Bridges / Arch
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65. Gladiator plays off Old & New
Rome
Republican Virtues (Maximus)
Rome in the Empire (Commodus)
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66. Typical Roman virtues shown by
Maximus
1.Farmer / Soldier --- like Cincinnatus
2.Simplistic Living – “Spartan Lifestyle”
3.Religious Devotion
4.Obedience
These are prized virtues during the Republic
Period
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67. Gladiator
Setting – 180 AD – Final Year of the Pax Romana
Main Characters______________
Maximus
Marcus Aurelius
Commodus
_General_________Emperor_________Emperor___
“Cincinnatus”
Died of the
Fought in the
Virtues
Plague
arena(sand)
Gladiatorial Competitions go back to the Etruscans
- 264 BCE was the first recorded - Commodus
Fought in the Colosseum over 700 times(never lost)
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