A New Master: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon

 

 

A New Master: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon

 

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History summaries and notes

 

A New Master: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon

 

Greek History:

Persian Wars (490 – 480 B.C):

  • Conflict – Greece Vs Persia
  • Greece was on the edge of the Persian Empire and Persians tried to expand their empire by invading Greece.
  • Kings ruled Persian Empire. Greece was divided up into city-states (King Vs city-states).
  • Fragmented Greek forces Vs strong united Empire.
  • Greece wins against all odds.
  • Persian Invasions of Greece:
  • 490 B.C – Battle of Marathon – Darius I (Persian King) Vs Athens. Athenians won.
  • 480 B.C – Central Greece – Xerxes (Persian King) Vs Hellenic League (combination of Greek cities). First time in Greek world that there was a coherent united force.
  • Significance of Persian Wars – Philip united Greek city-states with the long-term aim of invading Persia to gain revenge for Persian invasion of Greece. Alexander the great invaded Persia.

 

Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 B.C):

 

  • Athens (+allies) Vs Sparta (+allies). (Superpowers of Greece).
  • Causes of war - Expansionism of Athens both across the Aegean and on the Greek mainland.
  • Resistance of other poleis (cities) Boetia, Megara and Corinth to Athens.
  • Sparta leads war against Athens claiming it was a war for the “liberation” of the subjects of the Athenians from Athenian tyranny.
  • 431 – 421 B.C - 10 years of fighting – stalemate.
  • 421 – 415 B.C - Peace of Nikias - “Hollow peace” between Athens and Sparta.
  • Then overconfident Athenians try to bring Sicily under their control.
  • 415 – 404 B.C – End of war. Sparta takes initiative and attacks Athens. Spartans obtain support form the Persian King (fickleness of alliances).
  • Note – Persians are never far away.
  • Defeat of Athens in 404 B.C.
  • 404 – 371 B.C – Sparta dominates the Greek world.
  • Significance of the Peloponnesian War – shows internal conflicts in Greece, which Philip later exploits and becomes ruler of all of Greece (huge achievement).

 

Philip and the rise of Macedonia:

  • 359 B.C – Philip becomes King of Macedonia.
  • Macedonia – was ruled by Kings, unlike Greece, which was divided into democratic city-states.
  • Macedonia lies to the North of Thessaly.
  • Up to now it had played a relatively small part in the affairs of the Greek world.
  • Greeks regarded Macedonians as non – Greeks (barbarians).
  • Yet kings of Macedonia claimed they were Greek (Philip and Alexander are both Greek names).
  • Main resources in Macedonia – harbours, extensive agricultural lands, timber, sheep, horses, gold, silver, iron and people.

 

Philip’s rule:

  • Philip became involved in Greek affairs:
  • When he came to power he had to secure his throne (as did Alexander) as the Paeonians and Illyrians were trying to seize power.
  • Philip was an expansionist and a military man. He conquered his first Greek city Amphipolis (near Macedonia) in 357
  • He continued to conquer Greek territory – Potidaia (356) and Methone (354).
  • In 349 he conquered Olynthos. He attacked Olynthos because they refused to hand over two of his half brothers.
  • Philip’s ruthlessness – he destroyed the whole city and enslaved the population. Terrorization of the Greeks. Philip did this in order to make an example of Olynthos.
  • Alexander later did the same to Thebes.
  • 340’s further expansion – Euboia, Byzantion.
  • Battle of Chaironeia 338 – Other superpowers wanted to stop the rise of Philip in the Greek world. Athens and Thebes Vs Macedonia. Philip won.
  • By 337 Philip is master over Greece.
  • Note – when Philip took over Greece he didn’t change the political running of the states.
  • Philips intentions -
  • Short term – unification of Greece (not for moral reasons but for reasons of expansion).
  • Long term – an all-Greek attack on Persia. (expansion and revenge for the invasion of Greece in 480 B.C)
  • Pausanius assassinated Philip in 336 BC. Alexander carried out the Persian invasion.
  • The triumph of kingdom over polis (city).
  • The individual genius of Philip.

 

  • The legacy of Philip II :
  • A united and powerful Macedonian kingdom
  • A tried and tested powerful army with well trained generals (e.g. Antigonos).
  • Conquered Greek poleis (cities) – Alexander was easily able to re-establish power (crush Greek revolts) when he came to the throne in 336 BC.

 

Main points about Philip:

  • He was  a diplomat.
  • An expansionist and a military man.
  • He didn’t change political systems in the territories he took over.
  • His rapid rise to power.
  • His short-term aim was to get Northern Macedonia under control and then to unify Greece.
  • Balance of powers in Greece – Superpowers were Thebes, Athens and Sparta. Macedonia
  • His long term aims – a conquest of Persia by a unified Greece becomes a superpower under Philip.

 

Relevant Leaving Certificate Questions:

Q.2003 - What do you think was Alexander’s debt to his father Philip?

Q.1999 – From your reading of Plutarch and Arrian, what influence would you say that each of the following people had on Alexander: his mother Olympias; his father Philip; his teacher Aristotle.

Q.1996 – From your reading of Plutarch and Arrian, assess the importance in Alexander’s life of his father Philip.

Q.1994 – Why did Alexander invade the Persian Empire?

 

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A New Master: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon

Chapter 4 Overview

Stearns

Classical Civilization in the Mediterranean: Greece and Rome

  • Classical past- govt., architecture, philosophy

The Persian Tradition

  • Classical Mediterranean civilization- rise of city-states in Greece.  Expansion of Hellenistic Period.  Rome emerged as separate republic.  Roman expansion led to a decline of republican forms and rise of a great empire
  • Persians in the Middle East
  • 550BCE- Cyrus the Great- Persian empire from Middle East to northern India
    • Tolerant of local customs
    • Advanced iron technology
    • Developed Zoroastrianism

Patterns of Greek and Roman History

  • City-states in Greece- around 800BCE- high point in 5th c. BCE (Golden Age of Athens)
  • Greek values spread during Hellenistic Period begun by Alexander the Great
  • Greek rise and decline, Hellenism, Roman Republic, Roman Empire

Greece

  • Crete 2000BCE (Minoan culture)
  • Mycenae in Southern Greece around 1400BCE
  • Trojan War in Homer’s Iliad
  • Rise of Greek civilization 800-600 BCE- creation of strong city-states- each with own govt.
  • Monarchy- Oligarchy- Tyranny- Democracy
  • Geography- mountainous terrain prevented unification
  • Trade important
  • Alphabet from Phoenecians
  • Olympic games
  • Sparta: military, oligarchy, Hellots (slave population)
  • Athens: slavery, trade, colonies
  • Reasons for colonization: overcrowding, not enough arable land
  • 5th c BCE Pericles- Athenian politician- ruled w/ negotiation
  • Peloponnesian Wars (431-404 BCE)- Sparta vs. Athens- Sparta won- then Thebes, weakened the Greeks and paved the way for Philip II of Macedon to invade in 338BCE and then Alexander the Great took over.
  • Spread of Hellenistic culture: Greek=Hellenes
  • Use of aristocratic assemblies
  • Aristocracy: Greek meaning “rule of the best”

Rome

  • Republic 1stc BCE to Empire
  • Representative democracy- elect officials

Republic

  • Senate: composed mostly of aristocrats- held most executive offices in Roman State
  • 2 Consuls: ruled jointly- except in times of crisis/ war, then rule by Dictator
  • Importance placed in ethics, duties of citizens, incorruptible service, and oratory
  • Key Roman writer: Cicero- emphasized participation in deliberate bodies that would make laws and judge the actions of executive officers
  • Empire: maintained Senate, but not powerful
  • Hierarchy of Roman Army- officers had great political power
  • 63CE: forced dissolution of the independent Jewish state after a major local rebellion- temple was dismantled, leaving only the Western Wall in Jerusalem
  • Legal codes important for administration of empire
  • Tolerance of local customs and religions and strong military organization
  • 450BCE- Roman republic- introduced 12 Tables:
    • Purposes: restrain upper classes from arbitrary action and subject all to common legal principles
    • Roman law: emphasized judges and common-sense fairness

Classical Mediterranean in Comparative Perspective

  • India/China/Greco-Roman
  • Each developed empires, relied primarily on agricultural economy
  • Greco-Roman science emphasized theory more
  • Each had clear social hierarchy
  • Roman law as regulation of social life
  • Access to Roman citizenship
  • Athens and Rome placed great premium on importance of military conquest.
  • Rome: Control of masses w/ entertainment “bread and circuses”- cheap food and gladiator contests to prevent popular disorder
  • Government supported religion w/ gods and goddesses
    • Ex: Pantheon added gods as Roman Republic expanded
  • Roman Empire: persecution of Christians (ex: Nero), eventual tolerance and then it was made official religion of Empire
  • Sparta- extreme militaristic control- even down to raising children

Religion and Culture

  • Emphasis on philosophy and science an strong artistic tradition
  • Pantheon of Gods:

Greek

Roman

Function

Zeus

Jupiter

Head God/father

Hera

Juno

Wife of King of Gods

Apollo

Apollo

Regulated sun

Poseidon

Neptune

Oceans

Ares

Mars

God of War

Aphrodite

Venus

Love/Beauty

Athena

Minerva

Goddess of wisdom

Artemis

Diana

Goddess of Hunting
  • Gods were believed to be flawed and human-like
  • Development of “mystery cults and religions”
  • Philosophers- Aristotle emphasized balance in human behavior (ex: felt Middle-class was ideal group to rule)
  • Stoics: Hellenistic Period: inner moral independence
    • Strict discipline of body and personal bravery
    • Influenced Christianity
  • Athens: Socrates (469BCE) encouraged pupils to question- Socratic Method- accused of corrupting the youth- chose suicide over exile b/c believed in absolute rather than relative truth (contrary to Sophists)
  • Plato: student to Socrates- human reason could approach an understanding of three perfect forms: absolutely True, Good, and Beautiful
    • Believed Philosopher-Kings should rule
  • Geometry: Ex: Pythagorean Theorem
  • Hellenistic Period: Galen (medical treatises)
    • Euclid: Geometry
    • Ptolemy: Geocentric Theory- fixed wisdom in Western Thought
  • Roman Achievements: great roads, aqueducts, arches
  • Greek drama: comedy and tragedy
  • Sophocles: Oedipus Rex- called most perfect example of tragedy by Aristotle
    • Oedipus is fated to kill his father and marry his mother
  • 8th c BCE: Iliad and Odyssey by Homer
  • Vergil (Virgil): The Aeneid- sought to link Roman history to mythology w/ Greek forerunner
  • 5th c BCE: Phidias (sculptor)
  • Greek monumental architecture (Doric, Ionic, Corinthian columns)

Economy and Society in the Mediterranean

  • Featured commercial agriculture, trade, and slavery.  Patriarchal family structure was characteristic
  • Most Greeks and Romans were farmers
  • Roman Republic: many tenant farmers forced to work for patrician landholders
    • Latifundia System
    • Many small farmers forced to become tenants or move into cities causing overcrowding
  • Need for grain led to colonization
    • Soil more suited to grapes and olives
  • Slavery was key ingredient of the classical economy
    • Athens: household and silver mines
    • Sparta: agricultural work (Helots)
    • Roman: household, mines, agricultural work (part of latifundia system)
  • Greece and Rome: importance of paterfamilias
    • Cases of female infanticide

Toward the Fall of Rome

  • Rome began to decline after 180CE
  • Fell in some parts more than other (ex: West before East: Byzantines)
  • Greek historian: Herodotus and Thucydides
  • Germanic tribes: invasion: disloyalty of outsiders: overexpansion

 

Chapter 4 Overview

Duiker & Speilvogel

 

  • Pericles: Funeral Oration- ideals of democracy and importance of the individual
  • Early Greece
    • Geography- mountainous terrain- isolating, sea trading
  • Minoan Crete
    • 2000-1450 BCE = height
    • Around 2800 BCE Bronze tools/ weapons
    • Palace at Knossos
    • Bull-leapers (gymnasts)
    • Why did they decline?  Invasion?
  • Mycenaeans
    • 1600-1100 BCE= height
    • Homer
    • Invasion by the Dorians?
  • Dark Age (1100-750BCE)
    • Migration due to declining population and falling food production
    • Iron replaced bronze
    • Adoption of Phoenecian alphabet
  • Homer
    • Based Iliad and Odyssey on oral tradition of the Trojan War
    • “the gods strong and incalculable; that the quality of a man matters more than his achievement, that violence and recklessness will still lead to disaster, and that this will fall on the innocent as well as on the guilty.”
    • Homer gave an idealized past- cornerstone of education
  • Greek City-States (c750-500BCE)
    • Polis= small but autonomous political unit, town and countryside
      • Acropolis= fortified hill
      • Agora= market and assembly (AGORAPHOBIC)
      • Classes w/in polis: Adult males (full political rights), women and children (citizens w/ no political rights), noncitizens (slaves and resident aliens)
      • New Military- hoplites (heavily armed) Phalanx formation
  • Colonization (750-550BCE)
    • Causes: poverty, land hunger, growing gulf between rich and poor, overpopulation and development of trade
    • Effects: Establishment of colonies, spread of culture throughout Mediterranean region, increased trade and industry
  • Govt.
    • Monarchy-Oligarchy-Tyranny-Democracy
    • Tyrants- usurpers of power in a coup d’etat- upheld public works projects to enhance their popularity
  • Sparta
    • Peloponnesus- conquered the Laconians and subjected theme to serfdom “HELOTS”- bound to the land
    • Created a military state to control Laconian and Messenian Helots
    • Babies judged at birth- defective- left to die
    • Boys- wet-nursed- taken away at 7 to military barracks- military training- joined army at 20, lived at Barracks until 30-could retire at 60. 
    • Could marry and visit wife at night, but couldn’t get caught
    • Spartan women unique- had more rights- trained in wrestling and gymnastics to make them strong and bear healthy children- married later
    • Spartan Govt. (oligarchy)
      • 2 kings- military affairs and supreme priests
      • Gerousia= council of elders
      • Ephors= supervised education
      • Apella= assembly of all male citizens
    • isolationist
    • Leader of Peloponnesian League
    • Spartans valued their strength as justification for their militaristic ideals and regimented society
  • Athens
    • Monarchy-Oligarchy (7thcBCE)-Tyranny-Democracy
    • 7thcBCE- political and social discontent- rival factions w/in aristocracy- many farmers sold into slavery when they couldn’t pay debts
    • 594BCE- Solon- reforms- cancelled land debts, outlawed new loans based on human collateral and freed people from slavery
    • Tyrants: Pisistratus & Clisthenes
      • Created new Council of 500 chosen by lot
  • Classical Greece (500-338BCE)
    • Greece vs. Persia
      • Ionian colonies revolt against Persians 499BCE aided by Athenian navy
      • 490BCE Persian king Darius attacked Greece Battle of Marathon
      • Xerxes renewed plans for invasion of Greece
      • Battle of Thermopolae- Leonidas (Spartan king) 9,000 Greeks and 300 Spartans held off Persians for 2 days
      • 479BCE Persian army defeated at Platea
    • 478-477BCE Delian League founded w/ Athens
    • “Age of Pericles”- height of Athenian power and the culmination of its brilliance as a civilization
    • Athens was sacked and burned, Greek naval fleet won decisive victory over Persian navy at Salamis. 
    • 479BCE Greeks defeated the Persians at Plataea
  • Athenian Empire
    • Athens formed the Delian League
  • Age of Pericles
    • Assembly “will of the people”= all male citizens over 18- passed all laws and made financial decisions on war and foreign policy
    • Direct Democracy
    • Pericles expanded suffrage: lower-class citizens eligible for public offices formerly closed: state pay for office-holders
    • City magistrates chosen by lot
    • “Generals”=directors of policy (10 officials)= elected by public vote
    • Ostracism- person receiving 6,000 votes could be exiled for 10 years
    • Used treasury of Delian League to rebuild Athens
  • The Peloponnesian War (431-404 BCE)
    • Sparta v. Athens
    • Athen’s plan to stay behind walls but plague struck
    • Athens defeated= walls torn down, navy disbanded, empire destroyed
    • Interfighting b/w Athens, Sparta, and Thebes weakens the Greek city-states while Macedonia became stronger.
  • Culture of Classical Greece
    • Herodotus (484-425BCE) History of the Persian Wars
      • Central theme struggle b/w Greeks and Persians for greek freedom
      • Divine intervention in Greek victory
    • Thucydides (460-400BCE)
      • Greatest historian of ancient world
      • Scientific, methodical, and objective account of Pelop. War
    • Greek Drama
      • 1st were tragedies- suffering of hero (tragic flaw) ex: Hubris
    • Aeschylus (525-456BCE)
      • 1st tragedian
      • Oresteia Trilogy- evil acts breed evil acts- Reason Triumphs
    • Sophocles (496-406BCE)
      • Oedipus Rex- man is fated to kill father and marry his mother
    • Euripedes (485-406BCE)
      • The Bacchae   
      • Critical of view that war was glorious- showed war as brutal and barbaric
  • Greek Comedy
    • Aristophanes (450-385 BCE)
      • The Clouds, Lysistrata
      • Comic but effective message against the Peloponnesian War (women have sex strike until war is ended)
  • The Arts: The Classical Ideal
    • Architecture- the Temple
    • Doric- Ionic- Corinthian columns
    • Parthenon- Temple of Athena
  • Sophists
    • Wandering teachers
    • Truth is relative to everyone
  • Socrates
    • Socratic Method
    • Sentenced to death for corrupting the youth of Athens- hemlock
  • Plato
    • The Republic
    • Ideal state: Population divided into 3 groups
    • Upper-class – Philosopher-Kings
    • Men and women have same education and equal access to all positions
  • Aristotle
    • Student of Plato, tutor to Alexander the Great
    • Book: Politics: constitutional govt.
    • Marriage impt for mutual support
    • Women biologically inferior to men and therefore should be subordinate to men in marriage
  • Greek Religion
    • Social and practical
    • Civic cult necessary for well-being of state
    • 12 Olympian gods (Zeus, Hera, Athena, Apollo, Aphrodite, Poseidon, etc)
    • Each polis had a patron god
    • Afterdeath spirits to a gloomy underworld- Hades
    • Ritual important along w/ prayer and sacrifices
    • Oracles (at Delphi)
  • Daily Life
    • Males part of public life
    • Slavery common
    • Limited arable land- trade very important especially for grain
    • Women as wives, primary duty to have children
    • Homosexuality accepted

 

  • The Rise of Macedonia
    • Philip II (359-336BCE)- King of Macedonia
      • Built efficient army and conquered the Greeks
      • He was assassinated
    • Alexander the Great (336-323BCE)
      • Became king of Macedonia at 20
      • Invaded the Persian Empire
      • Asia Minor-Syria, Palestine, Egypt- Mesopotamia (Babylon)-Persepolis-Indus River
      • His troops mutinied at Indus River, forced to turn back
      • On return trip, Alexander died in Babylon
      • Legacy: Hero or Villain?

 

  • Hellenistic Era “to imitate Greeks”
    • “Hellenic” culture= Greek culture
    • Extension of Greek language and ideas to non-Greek world of Middle East
    • Spreading of Greek language, art, architecture, and literature
    • Urban centers key for diffusing Greek culture
      • Non-Greeks restricted from high positions so that Greeks could maintain their dominance
        • Ex: Alexandria in Egypt
      • Many Greek colonists moved to the Middle East
  •  Economic and Social Trends
    • Agriculture
    • Commerce increased trade between west and east
    • Key trade item= grain
    • New opportunities for women
    • Education for upper class women
    • Ptolemaic rulers in Egypt= return to kings marrying own sisters
  • Culture in Hellenistic World
    • Hellenistic sculptures tried for more emotional and realistic art rather than idealized
    • Menander (342-291BCE)= New Comedy “Pretty Woman” Stories
    • Polybus (203-120BCE)= chief historian of Hellenistic Age
  • A Golden Age of Science
    • Separation of science from philosophy
    • Archimedes (287-212 BCE)= famous scientist
      • Worked on geometry in spheres and cylinders
      • Pi
      • Science of hydrostatics
      • Archimedian screw
  • Philosophy
    • Epicurus (341-270BCE)- founder of Epicureanism
      • Human beings were free to follow self-interest as a basic motivating force. 
      • Happiness was goal of life- pursuit of pleasure
      • Pleasure= freedom from emotional turmoil, freedom from worry
      • Remove from public activity
      • Friendship important
    • Stoicism- founded by Zeno (335-263BCE)
      • Happiness, the supreme good, could only be found by living in harmony with the will of God
      • You could bear whatever life offered
      • Public service important and noble
  • Religion in Hellenistic World
    • Decline in population of traditional Greek Olympian Religion
    • Mystery cults= individuals could pursue a path to salvation and achieve eternal life by being initiated into a union with a savior god or goddess who had died and risen again.

 

Duiker & Spielvogel

 

Chapter 5: The World of the Romans

  • Similarities b/w Rome and China= empires lasted for centuries, remarkable success in establishing centralized control over their empires, and throughout their empires they maintained their law and political institutions, their technical skills, and their languages. 

Location:

  • Italian peninsula had good arable land & important trade route on Med. Sea
  • Rome built on 7 hills, easy to defend

Early Rome:

  • Legend of Romulus and Remus
  • Influence of Greeks and Etruscans on Early Rome

Roman Republic:

  • Livy: History of Early Republic
  • Roman Confederation: Latins=full citizenship, other groups could eventually gain citizenship
  • Established colonies w/ fortified towns in strategic locations connected by roads
  • Govt: 2 consuls chosen annually “right to command”-administered govt. and led army into battle. 
  • Praetor- execution of justice and “right to command” when consuls were away
  • Roman senate: 300 men served for life
  • Struggle of orders: b/w the plebeians and patricians- result= Council of Plebs
  • Patricians= aristocratic governing class
  • Plebeians= majority of population, could vote, but couldn’t hold office
  • Tribunes= office to represent the plebeians
  • Eventually pats and plebs could intermarry- new aristocratic class

Roman Conquest in Mediterranean

  • Punic Wars
  • Cato “And I think Carthage must be destroyed”
  • Eventually took over Macedonia and Greece
  • 3 Stages: Conquest of Italy, conflict w/ Carthage and expansion into western Med., involvement w/ and domination of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the eastern Med.

Decline and Fall of Roman Republic

  • Disparity b/w rich and poor
  • Elite class called Nobiles (nobles)
  • Latifundia were large plantations using slave labor that forced small farmers out of business.  Many farmers moved to cities resulting in overcrowding.  Also, membership in the Roman army declined
  • Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus worked for land-reform for small farmers, but both were assassinated.
  • Marius: general that recruited army by offering land, army swore allegiance to him= more power in the hands of individual generals
  • Sulla- used his army to seize power in Rome, purge, and strengthen the Senate
  • Jostling for power by a number of powerful individuals and civil wars generated by these conflicts.
  • 60BCE: First Triumvirate: Julius Caesar, Crassus, Pompey
  • Crassus dies, Caesar’s forces vs. Pompey’s forces after J.Caesar “Crossed the Rubicon” J.Caesar won
  • 47BCE J. Caesar= dictator 44 BCE Dictator for life
  • Land reforms, increased senate to 900 members, new calendar, citizenship
  • March 15th 44BCE “ides of march” Caesar was assassinated
  • 2nd Triumvirate: Octavian, Marc Antony, Lepidus
  • Battle of Actium, Octavian won and Marc Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide
  • END of REPUBLIC

The Age of Augustus 31BCE-14CE

  • Augustus- 1st Emperor
    • Stable frontiers
  • Social stratification
    • Senatorial
    • Equestrian
    • Lower classes
      • Free grain and public spectacles to keep them distracted

The Early Empire (14-180CE)

  • Augustus-to Stepson Tiberius (Julio-Claudian Dynasty)
  • Emperors took more power
  • Nero(54-68): murdered mother “played fiddle while Rome burned”
  • The Five Good Emperors (96-180)
  • Trajan 98-117- alimentary program (state funds to assist poor parents in raising and educating their children)
  • Trajan and Hadrian: Building projects
  • Large Empire= difficult to defend
  • Cities were important for the spread of Roman culture, law and the Latin language
  • Development of towns and cities- based upon agricultural surpluses of the countryside

Culture and Society in the Roman world

  • conflict over Greek Culture- pervasive, but controversial
  • Roman Literature
  • Cattilus “best lyric poet”- letters to Lesbia
  • Cicero- great prose writer and oratory
  • Virgil: The Aeneid- moral Rome was on a divine mission to rule the world
  • Horace: Satires- “follies and vices of his age”
  • Ovid: Amores: The Art of Love
  • Livy: History of Rome- human character was the determining factor in history
  • Seneca- Stoicism
  • Tacitus: Annals & Historia & Germania= history had moral purpose
  • Roman Art: realistic sculptures and architecture projects (roads, aqueducts)
  • Roman Law
    • 450BCE Twelve Tables: 1st code of laws
      • influenced by Stoicism
      • Innocent until proven otherwise
      • People could defend themselves before a judge
  • Roman Family
    • Led by paterfamilias (dominant male)
    • Divorce eventually allowed and became extensive
    • Legal min age for girls to marry was 12 but 14 was common
    • Roman women eventually gained more freedom
  • Roman conquest of Med. Brought drastic change in use of slaves- large #’s of foreign slaves were brought back to Italy
    • Cato the Elder “cheaper to work slaves to death, and then replace them than to treat them favorably.”
    • Murder of master by slave could mean the execution of all other household slaves
  • 73BCE Spartacus Rebellion: Led by a Thracian slave- managed to defeat several Roman armies before he was finally trapped and killed in southern Italy-6,000 of his followers were crucified along the Appian Way
  • Imperial Rome
    • Gap b/w living conditions for rich and poor
    • Gladiatorial Games- fought to the death
    • Trajan- spectacles are necessary for the “contentment of the masses”
  • The Development of Christianity
    • Greco-Roman gods
    • Polytheistic- tolerant of other religions
    • Jewish background
      • Divided Sadducees, Pharisees, Essenes, Zealots
      • Jewish revolt 66-70CE crushed by Romans and Jewish temple in Jerusalem destroyed (Western Wall remained)

The Rise of Christianity

  • Jesus of Nazareth (6BCE-29CE)
  • Reassured fellow Jews- did not plan to undermine their traditional religion: fulfill the prophesies
  • Jesus was crucified
  • Belief in Jesus’ resurrection became an important tenet of Christian doctrine
  • Important figure: Paul of Tarsus
    • Jewish Roman citizen- preached to Jews and Gentiles
    • Founded Christian communities throughout Asia Minor
    • Accept Jesus as savior, they could be saved
  • Early Christians suspicious b/c of their secret meetings
    • Accused of cannibalism
    • Christians refused to participate in the worship of the state gods & imperial cult= act of treason= death
  • Nero- fire in Rome- Christians scapegoated- used as human torches
  • Christian church created a well-defined hierarchical structure in which bishops and clergy were salaried officers separate from the laity, or regular church members
  • Christianity- promise of salvation- initiation w/ baptism
  • New roles for Woman in Christianity
  • Constantine (306-337) 1st Christian Emperor
    • Edict of Milan- tolerated the existence of Xty
  • Theodosius 378-395
    • Christianity made official religion of Roman Empire

Decline and Fall of Roman Empire

  • 235-284: Roman Empire in continuous Civil War
    • 50 years: 22 Emperors!
  • Invasions: Persians and Germanic Tribes
  • Military dependent upon mercenary soldiers and not as loyal
  • Diocletian 284-305: Divided empire into 4 administrative units
  • Constantine 306-337 new capital city in Byzantium (Constantinople)
    • Basic jobs hereditary

Fall of Western Roman Empire

  • 2nd ½ 4th Century- Huns (Xiongnu)-to- Eastern Europe-Visigoths to south and west
  • 410 Visigoths attached Rome
  • 476: Western Roman Emperor Romulus Augustulus deposed- series of Germanic kingdoms
  • Factors
    • Christianity’s emphasis on spiritual kingdom
    • Traditional Roman values declined
    • Lead poisoning
    • Plague
    • Rome hindered technologically by slavery
    • Didn’t achieve a working political system
    • Key Factor: INVASION in West

 

 

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A New Master: Philip II and the Rise of Macedon