HIST 1000 : INTRODUCTION TO HISTORY & CIVILIZATION KIRKHS, IIUM

1. ROMAN CIVILIZATION
800 BC – 500 AD

2. ORIGIN
 A civilization that grew out of the city of
Rome.
 8th
cent BC – 5th
cent AD (the beginning
of the Middle Ages in Europe).
 Often grouped with ancient Greek
civilization – Greco-Roman civilization or
period.
 Adopted Greek law, art, literature,
language, architecture, ideas, etc.

3. ORIGIN
 European definition of “classical
antiquity’.
 Roman Empire – Italian peninsula,
Western Europe and the entire area
surrounding the Mediterranean sea.
 The master of Mediterranean sea.

4.
The Roman Empire reached its greatest extent under Trajan.

5. ORIGIN
 Tiber River – the first settlements of the
city of Rome in 9th
cent BC.
 2 Italian tribes – Latins and Sabines.
 Roman legend – Rome was founded in
753 BC by a twin, Romulus and Remus.

6. ORIGIN

7. GOVERNMENT
 From monarchy oligarchic republic
Roman empire.
 Monarchy – 7 kings of Rome.
 The first king – Romulus.
 The last king – Tarquin the Proud.

8. GOVERNMENT
 510 BC, Roman republic – a system of
annually elected magistrates / consuls /
assemblies.
 Senate - patricians
 Consuls (two) – patricians & plebeians
 Council of Plebs - plebeians

9. GOVERNMENT
 1st
Triumvirate – Julius Caeser, Pompey
and Crassus.
 2nd
Triumvirate – Augustus Caeser, Mark
Anthony and Lepidus.

10. JULIUS CAESAR

11. The Roman World During the Reign of Augustus Caesar, 8 C.E.

12. AUGUSTUS CAESAR

13. GOVERNMENT
 Augustus Ceaser – the 1st
emperor.
 Maintained the republican system of
government, yet the emperor had
absolute power.
 The expansion of Roman empire.
 “Pax Romana” – “Roman Peace” (27BC –
180 AD).
 A long period of relative peace
experienced by the Roman empire.

14. GOVERNMENT
 “Five Good Emperors” - (Vespasian,
Titus, Trajan, Hadrian and Marcus
Aurelius).
 No major civil wars or serious invasions,
and flourishing Roman trade.
 Due to enforcement of Roman legal
system.

15. VESPASIAN

16. HADRIAN

17. MARCUS AURELIUS

19. GOVERNMENT
 3rd
cent AD, the decline of the empire.
 Diocletian divided the empire into four
parts with two emperors (co-emperors).
 330 AD – Emperor Constantine I made
Constantinople a new capital.
 Permanent division of the Roman
Empire; eastern Byzantium
(Constantinople) and western Roman
Empire (Rome).

20. GOVERNMENT
 Western Roman Empire invaded by
German tribes in 410 AD.
 Eastern Byzantium lasted till 13th
cent.
AD.

21. CONSTANTINE 1

24. Alaric, leader of the Visigoths

25. Attila, King of the Huns

26. Hannibal, leader of Carthaginians

27. SOCIETY
 Strictly hierarchical.
Free-born citizens
Freedmen (liberti)
Slaves (servi)
Free citizens

28. SOCIETY
Free citizens – sub-divided into 3 groups:
 Patricians (ruling class / aristocrats).
 Senators, army commanders,
governors, high priests.
 Hereditary posts.
 Knights.
 Plebeians (commoners).
 Soldiers.

29. SOCIETY
 Plebeians vs patricians.
 Reduction of the power of the patricians
by 5th
cent BC.
 Other groups; equestrians (equites)
wealthy businessmen; nobles (nobiles);
foreigners with Latin right (peregrini).

30. A Roman soldier

31. A young Roman woman

32. Slaves serving wine

33. Gladiator and leopard from a Roman mosaic

34. RELIGION
 Influenced by Greek mythology – Roman
gods associated with Greek gods.
 Jupiter (king of gods), Neptune (sea),
Pluto (underworld), Venus (love), Apollo
(sun), Diana (moon), Cupid (love), Mars
(war).
 Yet, unlike Greek mythology, Roman
gods were sacred spirits (numina).

35. RELIGION
 Every person, place or thing had its own
guardian spirit.
 A strict system of priestly offices;
Pontifex Maximus.
 Foreign cults; Egyptian and Persian
religions.
 2nd
cent AD, the spread of Christianity.
 Became official state religion under
Constantine I.

36. RELIGION
 Prohibition of all religions except
Christianity by 391 AD.

37. The Capitolium at Sbeitla, in modern Tunisia

38. A Roman temple

39. LANGUAGE AND WRITING
 The native language – Latin (Vulgar
Latin and Classical Latin).
 Latin alphabets based on Greek
alphabets.
 23 alphabets (except J, U, W).
 Well educated elite – spoke Greek
language and studied Greek literature.
 The expansion of Roman empire – the
spread of Latin throughout Europe.

40. LANGUAGE AND WRITING
 The evolution of Vulgar Latin into
different Roman languages.
 Latin as lingua franca in western Europe
during European middle ages and early
modern period.
 Academic and diplomatic language.
 Replaced by French (19th
cent) and
English (20th
cent).

41. LANGUAGE AND WRITING
 Latin however, continues to be used in
religious, legal and scientific
terminology.

42. Latin Bible from AD 1407.
LANGUAGE AND WRITING

43. ROMAN LAW
 Rooted in the law of the twelve tablets
(from 449 BC) to the codification of
Emperor Justinian I (530 AD).
 Known as “Justinian codes” – 3 groups
of law.
 Jus Civile (Citizen Law) – common
laws applied to Roman cirizens.
 Jus Gentium (Law of Nations) –
common laws applied to foreigners.

44. ROMAN LAW
 Jus Naturale (Natural Law) – laws that
were considered common to all
beings.
 Became the foundation of the legal
practices in the Byzantium Empire and
Western Europe until 18th
cent.

45. ENGINEERING & ARCHITECTURE
 Roads, bridges, aqueducts, baths,
theaters and arenas.
 Monuments e.g. the Colosseum, Pont du
Gard and Pantheon.
 Roman architecture – influenced by
Greek architecture.
 Developed concrete, a powerful cement
– chief Roman building material.
 Efficient and durable travel network.

47. The Colosseum in Rome, Italy: an exterior view of the best-preserved section.

48. Arch of Constantine, panel depicting the Battle of Milvian Bridge

49. Diocletianic period fortifications, Portchester, Hampshire.

50. Vindolanda fort

51. Pont du Gard in France is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one
of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site.

52. The Appian Way (Via Appia), a road connecting the city of Rome to the
southern parts of Italy, remains usable even today.

53. Roman Walls

54. A Roman column

55. INNOVATION
 Advancement in sanitation.
 Public baths – hygienic and social
purposes.
 Flush toilets and indoor plumbing, and a
complex sewer system.
 Roman abacus.

56. Vindolanda bath house

57. Vindolanda bath house

58.
The Roman abacus, the first portable calculating device, helped
speed up the use of Roman arithmetic.