5/12/2014

Rome Fades Away

Diocletian 

• he rules from 284-303
• it's cool to persecute Christians
• Rome needs a strong army (400,000 strong)
• Rome need a big government (20,000 officials)
• divides Rome into 2 parts the Byzantine empire which had more money and was too the East 
• push off the part that was doing very well

Constantine

• rules from 306-337
• it's cool to be a Christian 
• conversion to Christianity (bc of the cross in the sky)
• 313- his Edict of Milan proclaims freedom to worship
• built a new capital in the East 
• Byzantium, soon became known as Constantinople 

The Edict of Milan was established so Christians and people of other religions could worship whoever they pleased and it was made when Constantine and Licinius got in an argument and came up with the Edict of Milan. So they established a religious toleration. It's a proclamation a law backed up by blood.

Life in the Fourth Century 

• counrty dwellers are getting bankrupted by endless tax collection 
• new farming system: peasants work for elite landlords on large farms
• peasants can avoid paying taxes, but they are getting hit just as hard by landlords
• paying off debts and being "allowed" to live on the land, in exchange for endless back-breaking work 
• landowners hold local power as counts and bishops, wielding more real power than the faraway empire 
• foreshadowing feudalism 

1. Rome's power is decreasing, while nomadic barbarians gain power
2. Western Empire is too poor, begins to be neglected
3. Huns migrate from China to eastern Europe 
4. Visigoths take over Spain, and actually capture and loot Rome itself in 410
5. Vandals control Carthage and the Western Mediterranean 

other barbarian tribes:

• Ostrogoths in Italy
• Franks in Gaul
• Angles and Saxons in Britain 

From the beginnings...

• 500BC- the monarchy is abolished
• 450BC- the Twelve Tables are established 

...through the glory days...

• 44BC- end of the line for Julius Caesar 
• 27BC- 108AD- the Roman Peace (Pax Romana)

to the bitter end...

• constant fifth century invasions by barbarian tribes left the western Roman Empire shattered and crumbling
• the last emperor was a teenage boy installed in 475 by his father
• barbarians deposed Romulus Augustus without bothering to kill him

5/9/2014: The Decline of the Roman Empire

Rise of Christianity 

• center figure 
• killed by Roman leaders 
• 3 years of preaching
• small number of people believe he is messiah 
• Saul- persecutor becomes Paul the evangelist 
• spreads Jesus' message all over the place
•   Christians and Jews are monotheistic 
• Romans believe in many gods
• differences:
• jews have been around longer than the Romans
• christians; small group that was like a strange cult 
• eventually some of the leaders started to believe in Christianity
• in AD 313: Constantine has a battlefield conversion
• the edict of Milan- no more persecuting Christians 
• Christianity ends up becoming the official religion of Rome
• The Emperor and the Pope and Bishops worked together

The Changing World of Rome

"Instead of dying, the Mediterranean Civilization of Greece and Rome began to spread among many still-barbarian northern peoples, until it became the christian Europe of the Middle Ages."

• As long as Rome prospered the emperors barely noticed Christianity's growth.
• Christianity and the empire formed a partnership
• barbarian attacks began to weaken and demolish the empire

5/7/2014

In western civilization today we took a test so we didn't really do much and I got a hundred which was nice since I haven't done well on anything else this week. I can't wait for the week to be over because I am so exhausted.

5/6/2014

1. Specifically where did the first indo- Europeans settle around 750BC?

On the shores of the Tiber river, in the low lying "seven hills" of central Italy. Perfectly located! In the middle of Italy, in the middle of the Mediterranean sea, which was (thought to be) the center of the world. Its fate!

2. What three groups of people dominated the culture of early Rome?

Latins(first settlers)- Etruscans(came from the east)- Greeks

3. Who was Tarquin the Proud, and what was so significant about him?

Last Etruscan King, his son raped a women

4. Rome moved from monarchy to a republic?

Ruled by etruscan kings who were advised by righ patricians

After tarquin, government became res publica or republic

5. Patricians and plebeians?

Plebeians- farmers who didn't have power

Plebeians- upper-class, powerful, landowning

6. Senate- a group of people who help make laws

Consuls- could veto each other's laws, people with the most power, one year terms

Tribunes- leaders of the plebian assembly

7. Twelve tables

Laws posted in the forum to keep order

8. Modern document and the modern government?

The constitution and the senate/assembly- US senate/house of reps-consuls/dictator-president of the US- senate could act like judges- like our supreme court

rich serving in the senate?

• members were not paid, but worked their way up from low-ranking magistrates to higher ones. they spent a lot.

the kings who ruled between 600 and 500 BC ordered the building of the Forum, Rome's political center. 

5/5/2014

Who's the first emperor?
ceasar augustus
Pax Romana- a period of peace and prosperity

Caligula- Tiberius's adopted grandson so he is part of Ceasars family
- gave a bonus to the army
- gave people freedom of speech
- put transparency on the how the government spent their money
- first seven months were blissful
- starts to fight with the senate
- claims to be a god and has statues put in public places even the Jewish temple
- slept with other men's wives and even tried to make is horse a consul and a priest
- assassinated by his own aides, AD 41 (age 28)

Claudius- part of the Caesar's family who was disabled
- he rose to the occasion and he conquered Britain and renovated Circus Maximus
- awful marriage to Messalina who was planning to have him killed so that Silius could rule so Claudius had them both killed

Religion:
Romans had many God's but had these emperors that were viewed as gods
- some Jews started to rebel
- half a million Jews died
- burn the temple and destroy 3 quarters of it

Persecution of Chritians
-Romans were harsh towards those who would not worship the emperors
-often put in the Colosseum
-Christianity spread anyway

5/2/2014

Assassination and Another Caesar:

• He received enough votes from the people to become a dictator for life 
• the senate did't like how much power he had and they didn't have
• his murder brought civil wars and war-lords
• Octavian and Antony fought a war for power in Italy
• they ended up joining forces against the senate
• They took over power in different areas but soon this turned to rivalry
• power was swinging towards Octavian 
• Octavian defeated Antony in a naval battle near Actium
• Cleopatra and Antony returned to Egypt where they both committed suicide 
• Octavian turned the government to Monarchy 

"THE ERA OF THE ROMAN PEACE WAS ONE OF MASSIVE SOCIAL, RELIGIOUS, AND CULTURAL CHANGES THAT WOULD FORM A NEW PATTERN OF WESTERN CIVILIZATION"

• the era of the Roman Peace was one of a massive social, religious, and cultural changes that would form a new pattern of Western Civilization.

The Rule of the Emperors:

• after Octavian triumph they gave him the new name Augustus(the revered one)
• he considered himself a "princeps" not a dictator 
• princeps- "first citizen," a traditional Roman name for prominent leaders who were considered indispensible to the Republic that came to be used by Augustus and the other early emperors.
• named a commander and chief in the armed forces
• he reformed the government by bringing people under his control
• he showed respect to local institutions 
• encouraged leaders to fulfill their responsibilities 
• he re organized the army 
• his soldiers were voluntary 
• augustus settled on Tiberius as the next ruler 
• nero was over-thrown
• normally the leader was elected by the senate 
• caesar- the imperial title given to the designated successor of a reigning emperor
• augustus- the imperial title given to a reigning emperor 
• Roman Peace- a term used to refer to the relative stability and prosperity that Roman rule brought to the Mediterranean world and much of western Europe during the first and second century.

4/30/2014

Today in Western Civilization we watched a video on Niro after taking the first MOD trying to find the correct video without subtitles in another language. It was interesting learning about some of the different emperors in Rome and how they fixed Rome or made it worse.