Ancient_Rome古罗马

Romulus & Remus
• They were the children of Rhea Silvia and the god Mars. Rhea Silvia was a Vestal Virgin and was the daughter of King Numa, who ordered the two children to be drowned. The king’s shepherd found them near a river, where they were being cared for by a she-wolf, and he brought them up. Later when the brothers were building a city that became Rome, Romulus killed Remus.
The Republic
• Rome was initially under the Etruscans(伊 特鲁里亚人), who controlled the north of Italy. • In 506 BC King Tarquin was expelled and the Romans established a republic ruled by the Senate. • Each year two consuls(执政官), the chief magistrates, were elected to hold supreme power
The effect on Rome
• The invasion of Greece and North Africa had a major cultural impact on Rome. The treasures of Macedonia and Corinth poured in. The large numbers of Greek scholars, teachers, artists and slaves, who came to Rome, changed the outlook of Romans. Rome was becoming an imperial city with magnificent buildings, a large population and a sophisticated aristocracy.
• Pax Romana 罗马和平 • The empire flourished with more shipping and trade in the Mediterranean then there was until 1500 AD. Roads, public buildings were better than at any time until the 19th century.
Ancient Rome
-- Empire and Law
• The history of Rome • Society and daily life
• Roman law • Literature and historical writing • The arts
• 753BC foundation of Rome • 506BC Republic established • 27BC Roman Empire began • 395 AD Empire divided into the Eastern & Western Empires • 490 AD the Western Empire collapsed
Destabilization of the Republic
• In the 2nd and 1st centuries BC wealth, corruption, a new underclass, slave revolts and the rise of the army under powerful generals led to civil war. • In 74 BC a serious slave revolt occurred under the gladiator Spartacus, which lasted two years and devastated Italy. It took an army of 90,000 to defeat it. When it ended 6,000 slaves were crucified along the great southern highway.
New morality
• Augustus’ main aims were to re-establish harmony, reasonable government and to end corruption. He introduced new men to the Senate, controlled the tax gatherers and set standards of good government. He reduced the army and set up colonies of retired soldiers, whose purpose was to Romanise the empire.
• Mark Antony then took a lead as a supporter of Caesar, aided by the teenaged Octavian (屋大维), who was Caesar’s adopted son, and who had sworn to take vengeance on Caesar’s assassins. • In 30 BC Mark Antony lost the war and committed suicide with the Egyptian Queen Cleopatra. Octavian was given supreme power by a tired Senate.
The growth to empire
• The Punic(迦太基) Wars (264-241&218202 BC) • War in Greece • Alliances with states
• By the middle of the 2nd century BC Rome was the strongest Mediterranean power. It had territory from Spain to Asia Minor and influence in Egypt and North Africa; it had become an empire.
Emperors
• Tiberius 14-- 37 AD • Nero 54-- 68 AD • Constantine 312– 337 AD
• Innovation and thought were stopped. The Principate turned into a dictatorship(专政) under subsequent Emperors. The lack of a political role for anyone, meant that there could be no real discussion, which caused long-term sterility in art and cynicism in literature.
• The first civil war was between Julius Caesar and Pompey(庞培) the Great. • Pompey lost and was murdered in 48BC as he stepped ashore in Egypt. • Caesar, having introduced many reforms to the Senate, to Rome and to the government of provinces, was assassinated in 45 BC, because he was suspected of wanting to destroy the Republic by making himself king.
The founding of Rome
• Aeneas, a prince of Troy and son of the goddess Venus, who was ordered by the gods to escape from Trojan War. After many adventures and dangers, including visiting the Underworld, he arrived in Italy, where he fought to establish Rome.
• The consuls and the senators always came from a very few powerful families called patricians(贵族), so that for many years the rest of the population, the plebeians(平民), could not influence law making or policy. • In 337 BC all offices were made open to plebeians by election. The people now elected tribunes(护民官), who had the power to veto laws proposed by the Senate.
Ruling the Empire
• Place provinces in the hands of ex-consuls, who were called pro-consuls. They were nominated by the Senate and were exmagistrates who had experience of lawmaking and , in nearly every case, were also military men who had commanded armies when they were consuls or beforehand.
The Principate (元首统治)
• Octavian was called princeps, which means the first, and he was supreme and revered. • He had the powers of tribune and also of consul, so he kept the power himself while continuing to use the old forms of government. He had become the first emperor of the Romans.
• Years later Romulus came to a violent end just as his brother had. He was murdered by Senators and cut up in pieces. Subsequently, however, they made him a god as the founder of Rome.