Part 1: Roman Empire Part 2: Medieval Europe Lesson 18
Part 1: Roman Empire Theme: Republic and Empire Lesson 18
ID & SIG: Augustus (Octavian), dictators, empire, Julius Caesar, patricians, plebeians, latifundia, pax romana, republic
Origins of Rome Rome was founded in the 8 th Century B.C. and was originally a small city-state ruled by a single king Late in the 6 th Century B.C., the city s aristocrats deposed the king, ended the monarchy, and instituted a republic A republic is a form of government in which delegates represent the interests of various constituents The Roman republic survived for over 500 years and at one time dominated the Mediterranean basin
Mediterranean Basin
Legend of Rome s Founding Aeneas migrated from Troy to Italy Two of his descendants, Romulus and Remus, were abandoned by an evil uncle in the flooded Tiber River A kindly she-wolf found them and nursed them to health The boys grew strong and courageous and in 753 B.C., Romulus founded the city of Rome and established himself as its first king Romulus and Remus being nursed by the she-wolf
Rise of Rome From humble beginnings, Rome grew into a strong commercial center, in part because of its geographic location Rome enjoyed easy access to the Mediterranean via the Tiber River, but because it was not on the coast, it was safe from invasion or attack by the sea By the 6 th Century B.C., trade routes from all parts of Italy converged in Rome
Establishment of the Republic When the aristocracy deposed the king in 509 and established a republic, they instituted a republican constitution Executive responsibilities were entrusted to two consuls who wielded civil and military power Consuls were elected by an assembly dominated by hereditary aristocrats and wealthy classes Consuls served one year terms
Establishment of the Republic The Senate was composed mostly of aristocrats with extensive political experience They advised the consuls and ratified all major decisions Roman Senate house
Patricians versus Plebeians Both the consuls and the Senate represented the interests of the patricians the hereditary aristocrats and wealthy classes This caused tension between the patricians and the common people the plebeians In honor of the Roman plebeians, freshmen at West Point are called plebes
Patricians versus Plebeians In the early 5 th Century, tensions got so bad that the plebeians threatened to secede from Rome and establish a rival settlement In order to maintain the integrity of the Roman state, the patricians granted the plebeians the right to elect officials known as tribunes to represent their interests
Patricians versus Plebeians Originally the plebeians were authorized two tribunes, but that number eventually rose to ten Tribunes had the power to intervene in all political matters and to veto measures they thought were unfair Still the patricians continued to dominate Rome
Increased Representation for Plebeians During the 4 th Century, plebeians became eligible to hold almost all state offices and gained the right to have one of the consuls come from their ranks By the early 3 rd Century, plebeian-dominated assemblies won the power to make decisions binding on all of Rome Republican Rome was gradually broadening the base of political participation
Dictators In times of civil or military crisis, the Roman constitution allowed for the appointment of a dictator who wielded absolute power for a term of six months Cincinnatus, shown here handing the rods of power back to the city fathers, served as dictator of Rome twice
Expansion of the Republic Rome expanded from central Italy, to the Italian Peninsula, to the Mediterranean basin Defeated the Carthaginians in the Punic Wars between 264 and 146 B.C. Territory under Roman control near the end of the republic, 44 B.C.
From Republic to Empire Imperial expansion brought wealth to Rome, but the wealth was unequally distributed which aggravated class tensions Conflicts arose over political and social policies During the 1 st Century B.C. and the 1 st Century A.D., Roman civil and military leaders will gradually dismantle the republican constitution and replace it with a centralized imperial form of government
Problems with Conquered Lands Conquered lands usually fell into the hands of wealthy elites who organized enormous plantations known as latifundia The owners of latifundia enjoyed great economies of scale and used slave labor to drive the owners of smaller holdings out of business
Problems with Conquered Lands Tiberius and Gaius Gracchi worked to limit the amount of conquered land an individual could hold They met strong resistance from the wealthy and ruling classes and were both assassinated
Bigger Problem The problem of land distribution was a symptom of a bigger problem The constitution of the Roman republic had been designed for a small city-state It was not suitable for a large and growing empire Roman politicians and generals began jockeying for power and several raised personal armies for support
Civil War The two most important generals were Gaius Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla Marius sided with social reformers who favored redistribution of land Sulla sided with the conservative and aristocratic classes Marius Sulla
Civil War In 87 B.C., Marius marched on Rome, placed the city under military occupation, and began hunting down his enemies When Marius died the next year, Sulla moved to replace him In 83, Sulla seized Rome and began slaughtering his enemies
Sulla Sulla initiated a reign of terror that lasted almost five years until he died in 78 During that period he killed some ten thousand individuals He imposed an extremely conservative legislative program that weakened the influence of the lower classes and strengthened the hand of the wealthy
Julius Caesar Sulla s program did not address Rome s most serious social problems The latifundia continued to crush small farmers and poverty was rampant There were many social eruptions when times were especially hard Julius Caesar stepped into the chaos and inaugurated a process that replaced the Roman republican constitution with a centralized imperial form of government
Julius Caesar Caesar was a nephew of Marius and he favored Marius liberal policies and social reform In the 50s B.C., Caesar led an army that conquered Gaul and made him very popular Gaul (now mostly France)
Julius Caesar In 49 Caesar marched his army to Rome and by early 46 he had named himself dictator But instead of the constitutional six month term, Caesar claimed to be dictator for life
Julius Caesar Caesar centralized military and political functions and brought them under his control He confiscated property from conservatives and distributed it among veterans of his army and other supporters He launched large scale building projects to provide employment for the poor He extended Roman citizenship to people in the imperial provinces
But Caesar s reforms alienated many of Rome s elite who considered him a tyrant In 44 B.C. they assassinated him However it was too late to return to the old conservative ways and a new round of civil crisis ensued for thirteen years Octavian emerged in power Julius Caesar
Octavian Octavian was a nephew, protégé, and adopted son of Julius Caesar He defeated his principal rival, Mark Anthony, and Anthony s ally Cleopatra at Actium, Greece in 31 B.C. Anthony and Cleopatra by Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema
Augustus Octavian consolidated his rule and in 27 B.C., the Senate bestowed upon him the title Augustus Augustus has religious connotations suggesting a divine or semidivine nature Augustus ruled virtually unopposed for 45 years in a monarchy disguised as a republic
Augustus centralized political and military power like Julius Caesar did, but he was careful to preserve traditional republican offices and forms of government and included members of the Roman elite in his government Augustus
Government under Augustus Accumulated vast powers for himself and ultimately took responsibility for all important governmental functions Placed individuals loyal to him in all important positions Reorganized the military system Created a new standing army with commanders who owed allegiance to him Eliminated the personal armies of earlier years Stabilized the land after the years of civil war and allowed the institutions of empire to take root
Mare Nostrum After Augustus, the Roman Empire continued to grow to the point that it surrounded the Mediterranean Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum ( our sea ) Expansion brought Roman soldiers, diplomats, governors, and merchants throughout the region Trade flourished Roman Empire, 117 A.D.
Pax Romana By stopping the civil wars, Augustus inaugurated an era known as pax romana ( Roman peace ) which greatly facilitated trade and communication Lasted from 27 B.C. to 180 A.D. Also included applying standards of justice and a basic code of law throughout the empire
How were populations controlled by Under the republic? the Romans? Under the empire?
How were populations controlled by the Romans? Under the republic Representation (consuls and Senate) Resolution of conflicts between the patricians and plebeians (tribunes) Dictators Under the empire Julius Caesar centralized authority but alienated elite Augustus continued centralization but placated elite and ensured loyalty through patronage Pax romana stabilized region through trade, communication, and law
Part 2: Medieval Europe Theme: Order in the absence of empire Lesson 18
ID & SIG chivalry, feudal system, lords, manors, serfs, three estates
Regional States Germanic invaders toppled Rome s authority in the late 5 th Century A.D. but no clear successor to centralized authority emerged The Franks temporarily revived empire; the high point of which was the reign of Charlemagne from 768-814 Charlemagne
Regional States After Charlemagne, his successor Carolingians had no effective means of defending against Magyars, Muslims, Vikings, and other invaders In response, European nobles sought to protect their lands and maintain order in their own territories Political authority in early medieval Europe thus devolved into competing local and regional jurisdictions with a decentralized political order Feudalism Viking long ship
Feudalism There really was no feudal system if that implies a neat hierarchy of lords and vassals who collectively took charge of political and military affairs Because the feudal hierarchy arose as a makeshift for defense against invaders, it always had a provisional, ad hoc, and flexible character There was no system However, medieval European society was characterized by: Fragmentation of political power Public power in private hands Armed forces secured through private contracts
Medieval Society Early Middle Ages (450-1050) The country was not governed by the king but by individual lords who administered their own estates, dispensed their own justice, minted their own money, levied taxes and tolls, and demanded military service from vassals Usually the lords could field greater armies than the king In theory the king was the chief feudal lord, but in reality the individual lords were supreme in their own territory Many kings were little more than figurehead rulers
Retainers The nobles maintained their armies by offering grants, usually land, to armed retainers In exchange for the grants, the retainers pledged their loyalty and military service to their lords The retainers gained increased rights over their land, to include the prerogative to pass on their rights to the heirs
Political-Military Relationship A close relationship between political and military authorities developed As a result, political authorities and military specialists merged into a hereditary noble class which lived off the surplus agricultural production that it extracted from the cultivators Only by tapping into this surplus could the lords and their retainers secure the material resources necessary to maintain their control over military, political, and legal affairs
Serfs Free peasants sought protection from a lord and pledged their labor and obedience in exchange for security and land to cultivate Beginning in the mid 17 th Century, this category became recognized as serfs neither fully slave nor fully free Not chattel slaves subject to sale by their master But still owed obligations to the lords whose lands they cultivated
Serfs Obligations Had the right to work certain lands and to pass those lands on to their heirs In exchange they had to perform labor services and pay rents in kind (a portion of the harvest, chickens, eggs, etc) Male serfs typically worked three days a week for their lords with extra services during planting and harvesting times Women serfs churned butter, spun thread, and sewed clothes for their lords and their families
Serfs Obligations Since the lord provided the land, the serfs had little opportunity to move and had to get the lord s permission to do so Even had to pay fees to marry someone who worked for a different lord
Manors were large estates consisting of fields, meadows, forests, agricultural tools, domestic animals, and serfs The lord of the manor and his deputies provided government, administration, police services, and justice for the manor Many lords had the authority to execute serfs for serious misconduct In the absence of thriving cities in rural areas, manors became largely self-sufficient communities Manors
Transition to the High Middle Ages (1050 to 1400) The regional stability of the early middle ages allowed local rulers to organize powerful regional states Holy Roman Empire Capetian France Norman England Papal States etc The kings of England and France used their relationships with retainers to build powerful, centralized monarchies Still no one could consolidate all of Europe under a single empire
Three Estates of Medieval Society Those who pray The clergy of the Roman Catholic Church Those who fight Nobles Those who work Peasants The result was a society marked by political, social, and economic inequality
Church officials originally proposed a chivalric code to curb fighting within Christendom By the 12 th Century, the ritual by which a young man became a knight commonly included the candidate placing his sword upon an altar and pledging his service to God Chivalry
Chivalry With chivalry, warriors were encouraged to adopt higher ethical standards and refined manners and become cultivated leaders of society The chivalric code called for a noble to devote himself to the causes of order, piety, and the Christian faith rather than seeking wealth and power
How was order maintained in the Early Middle Ages?
How was order maintained in the Early Middle Ages? In the absence of a strong centralized authority, local political and military elites worked out various ad hoc ways to organize and protect their territories Lords and retainees Manors Serfs
How was order maintained in the High Middle Ages?
How was order maintained in the High Middle Ages? The regional stability of the Early Middle Ages allowed powerful regional states to be built, but there was still no single European Empire The code of chivalry helped provide some order and protection for those who otherwise would be most vulnerable to unchecked power
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