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According to a Roman story a princess name Rhea Sylvia had 2 twin boys by Mars, the god of war. A jealous uncle who had stolen the throne from her father ordered her twins to be drowned in the river.


 But a servant took pity on the boys, put them in a basket and let them float down the river. Hopefully someone would find and care for them.
Down the river they floated until they came to rest at the foot of a hill. There a wolf found the crying orphans and cared for them.
 Later, a shepherd found the children and took them home to raise as his own.
He named them Romulus 
and Remus.

Years later, the two brothers decided to build a city. This would be a city where others who were homeless, as they once were, could come to live. But the brothers argued over where to build the city. One night Romulus and Remus agreed to watch for an omen, a sign from the gods, to settle their argument.
    At dawn , Remus saw six vultures flying overhead. However, as the sun rose higher in the sky, Romulus saw 12 vultures.
The brothers quarreled and began fighting over the meaning of the vultures in the sky, and in a rage, Romulus killed Remus.

   
Romulus then began to build his city on the spot he had chosen-the hill where the tiny basket containing the two babies had come to rest years before. He named his new city after himself- Rome. According to this legend, the date was 753 B.C. and Romulus was the first of seven kings. He was believed to be a great warrior-king and started Rome’s first army and its first government.
Rome’s Early Kings
    Rome’s 2nd king was Numa Pompilius. He brought peace to Rome and began the Roman religion.
The early kings got advice from a group of men known as the Senate (from the Latin word for “old men”) .They came from Rome’s wealthiest and most important families. 
                                                             
   
At the time of the early kings, government and religion went together.
The king was also the Chief Priest. He chose other priests from members of the Senate, and they all performed religious duties and interpreted omens.
( Imagine today in America if there was only 1 religion, one church and the  President of the United States was also the President of that American Church !!)
                                                       The Etruscans
 During the rule of the early Roman kings, Rome had powerful neighbors to the north called Etruscans. They wanted the Roman's land. The Etruscans were good at trading and had  many wealthy cities . About 575 B.C., the Etruscans moved into the city of Rome and ruled Rome for the next 60 years.
    The Etruscans came from an older, more advanced civilization.  Rome learned quickly from them.

The Etruscans taught Romans the alphabet 
and new building techniques, such as the arch

The Etruscan kings helped Rome grow from a village of straw-roofed huts

 into a walled city with paved streets.
 The Romans learned so well, they became the teachers.The Romans built the Circus Maximus, an arena that seated thousands,

and the Temple of Jupiter in honor of their highest god.
They also built a sewer that is still in use today.
Romans drained a marshy valley and built a beautiful town center known as the Forum.

Rome  grew under the Etruscans, until Tarquin the Proud came to power. He was the seventh and last Roman king.

He was a cruel ruler who ignored the Senate and terrorized the people.

In 509 B. C., the people rebelled against him and sent him into exile (which means he had to live somewhere outside of  Roman territory). 

Romans decided that they would never again be ruled by a king.

Midpoint of the Mediterranean   


Rome became powerful because its location offered 3 advantages. First, Rome was built on several hills, so it was  difficult  for enemies to attack.
 Second, the Tiber River allowed food and goods from inland to be brought to Rome.

And third, Rome is in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, which allows it to trade or expand in all directions - toward Greece in the east,  Spain to the west, 
and the  coast of Africa to the south. 
   Eventually, the Romans would rename the Mediterranean Mare Nostrum- which in English means “our sea.”

The Rise of the Republic  
The common people of Rome were very angry over harsh treatment by the rich and people of Rome.
    
"There was great panic in the city, and everyone was afraid. 
 The rich and powerful people wondered how long  the crowds in Rome would remain peaceful? And what would happen if an army was needed to fight foreign invaders?"

The leaders knew that their city was in serious danger.  So they agreed to give the people more rights. 

Patricians and Plebeians
    When the last Etruscan king was thrown out of Rome in 509 B.C., Roman leaders decided to begin a very new form of government - a republic.  In a republic, citizens elect leaders to run their government.  In Rome, the leaders chosen to replace the king were called consuls. The consuls received  advice from a group of rich people known as the Senate.  Citizens were divided into two classes, patricians and plebeians.
A Roman was born into their class.
 
    Patricians (puh TRISH uhns) were members of the small amount of wealthy Roman families.


Plebeians (plih BEE uhns)  were the majority of the population –workers, shopkeepers, and peasants.


Both groups had the right to vote, but only patricians had the right to become leaders in Rome. So, All power was in the hands of the patricians.
Plebeians believed that was unfair. When a poor plebeian had to borrow money from the rich to survive,  he became his servant . He was treated almost like a slave, and, without getting paid, he could never get the money he needed to buy his freedom. The government did nothing to end this cruel practice. 
Roman society was also divided into two groups: citizen and slave. Adult male citizens had the right to vote and to own property.       
But women citizens could not vote or take part in the government although they were protected by Roman laws.              
Slaves which were war captives, were owned by citizens and had no rights.

Struggle for rights

     By 494 B.C., the plebeians had suffered long enough. They formed their own assembly, known as the Council of Plebeians. They also elected their own leaders, called tribunes to protect their rights.  Now the plebeians could vote against any bad law passed by the Senate. Next, the plebeians demanded that the laws be changed . Since Rome’s laws had never been written down,  judges often ruled unfairly against plebeians.
THE TWELVE TABLES
Finally in 450B.C. the laws were engraved on 12 bronze tablets called the Twelve Tables. These laws were displayed in the Forum, Rome's marketplace, so all citizens could see the rights given to them. But few people could actually read them.
         Plebeians gained more and more rights, and eventually even become members of the Senate. But the plebeians and patricians still held their meetings in different places. (America too has two groups of lawmakers who meet in two different places in one building)
The laws passed by the patrician senate applied to everyone.

However, the laws passed by the plebian assembly applied only to plebeians.
EQUALITY FOR PLEBIANS
The plebeians demanded that the laws passed by their assembly apply to all citizens, and in 287 B.C.the patricians agreed .  Plebeians and patricians were finally equal under roman laws.
Roman Government
As the plebeians gained power, Rome became more democratic.

    The government was ruled by two consuls, and one of those consuls had to be a plebeian. The consuls were like kings, but they could serve only one year, and each consul could veto the other's decisions. Our word veto is from the Latin word "I forbid". So, one consul could forbid the decision of the other ! 
    The consuls took care of the daily business of the government and of the army. They got advice from a senate made up of 300 citizens. Though the consuls changed each year, Senators were chosen for life. 
    The senate controlled the treasury
( the money !) and Roman laws.  Most of the senators were members of wealthy Roman families.  The Senate was the most powerful group in the Government of the Roman Republic.
But the citizen assemblies were also important. They had to agree to the laws and any changes. In this way the government  spread its power among different groups. This is called "Checks and Balances" because it balances power between many people.

    Early Expansion
While the patricians and plebians struggled for power within the city’s walls, there were other battles on the outside. Year after year, the Roman army marched off to war against its neighbors to control more and more land and people. 
    The army did not always win.  In 390 B.C., Rome itself was attacked and destroyed by the Gauls, warlike people from the north who were part of a larger group called Celts.
But Rome rebuilt and continued to grow.
By 275 BC, Rome ruled all of Italy !

 Rome had more citizens and well-trained soldiers than any other people in the Mediterranean area. During the next 100 years, Rome used those soldiers to conquer the Mediterranean world.
   
Rome was successful for 3 reasons: 1. Conquered people became Rome's  allies, or friends and had to help Rome in any future wars. In return, 2. Rome promised them protection and a share in the profits from future victories (part of the loot they stole would be given to them). 3.  Rome even gave some conquered people citizenship (the right to be called a Roman and to vote in elections).
        OVERSEAS EXPANSION
    In the 200's B.C.  Rome ruled Italy. But on the opposite side of the Mediterranean was another power, Carthage . It was a wealthy  city located on the coast of North Africa trading with cities all around the Mediterranean. Carthage and Rome became fierce enemies and fought 3 long and bloody wars over which power would control the Mediterranean.
     THE 1st PUNIC (PYOO nihk) WAR
      Carthage controlled some towns on Sicily (the large island at the toe of Italy). That was too close for the Romans ! Rome was afraid Carthage would eventually try to control Italy and Rome itself.  In 246 B.C., they went to war.  This war became known as the first Punic war.  "Punici" was the Roman word for "people of Carthage".
    They fought on land and sea.  Rome had a stronger army,  but Carthage had a stronger navy.  At the beginning of the war, Rome did not have many ships or experience at sea. But the Romans found a clever answer to their problem.

They invented a device called a "crow" which was a kind of wooden walkway with a sharp spike at the end.  The crow was held upright until the Romans pulled their ship up next to an enemy ship. 
Then they quickly lowered the crow so the spike stuck on the enemy ship's deck.  The crow served as a bridge for the Roman soldiers to get on to the enemy ship easily. This invention helped Rome win the war against Carthage.
The first Punic war lasted 23 years. Carthage had a hard time, but Rome could handle the heavy losses of men because of it's huge army and loyal allies. Eventually Carthage surrendered.
 Rome began to take over the Mediterranean world.
At the end of the 1st Punic War an important event occurs. The time is 238 BC., Carthage has just been defeated by Rome. The place is Carthage. The Carthaginian general, Hamilcar Barca, is preparing to leave for Spain. He is hoping to raise a new army to fight another war against Rome. He is angry and humiliated that Carthage lost the war with Rome.
 He is making sacrifices to the god Moloch , so that it will give him good luck in Spain.

His young son Hannibal watches.
The historian Livy describes the event:
 "Hannibal, then about 9 years old, was teasing his father.
"Take me with you, take me with you to Spain!"
 His father, still angry , led Hannibal to the altar and made him swear to be the enemy of Rome as soon as he grew up."
Hamilcar took his son Hannibal to Spain with him and taught him to be a soldier. Twenty years later, Hannibal honored his promise to his father. He became a brilliant general and became one of Rome's greatest enemies !
                                                 THE 2nd PUNIC WAR
     Carthage may have been beaten by Rome, but it was still an important power.  General Hamilcar took an army to Spain and began to conquer it.  But In 229 B.C. Hamilcar was killed in battle.

The army elected Hamilcar's son, Hannibal, to be the new commander.
Hannibal was only 26 years old, but it was time for him to fufill the oath he had made as a child. Rome was nervous as Hannibal continued to conquer Spain, including one of Rome's allies in Spain.
 
Rome declared war, again, on Carthage. This one was called the Second Punic War, and it would last 18 years !
The Romans sent soldiers to Spain, but Hannibal wasn't there.

    He was heading for Italy, through the Alps! He gathered an army of about 70,000 soldiers, 12,000 horses, and 37 elephants. They marched across the Pyrenees Mountains in Spain and through southern Gaul (modern France), crossed the Rhone River (the elephants on rafts) ,
and reached the Alps five months later, in winter. Only one half of the army was left, and they still had to cross the rocky, wind-whipped Alps to reach Italy. Imagine the scene as it was described by the historian Polybius:
"After nine days' climb Hannibal's army reached the snowcovered summit of the pass over the Alps--all the time being attacked by mountain tribes. 
However, when the enemy attacked the army , the elephants were of great use to the Carthaginians. The enemy was so terrified of the animals' strange appearance that they dared not come anywhere near them."
Hannibal crossing the Alps during the Winter of 218 B.C.

    Finally, Hannibal and his army entered Italy and began fighting the Romans. Although all of Hannibal's elephants died except one, Hannibal continually defeated the Romans in battle after battle.
 

  
At the Battle of Cannae, Hannibal surrounded the Romans and destroyed their entire army, killing 70,000 Romans and selling the rest as slaves.

But Rome's people did not give up. They continued fighting until a general came who could defeat Hannibal. That was the Roman general Scipio Africanus. First, Scipio made a secret agreement with one of Carthage's allies in North Africa. Then, while Hannibal was still in Italy, Scipio attacked Carthage.
    Since most of its army was in Italy, Carthage was in  trouble. But just as it was ready to surrender to the Romans, Hannibal returned from Italy. Scipio fought Hannibal at Zama, a town near Carthage and won. Scipio was given the name "Africanus" in honor of his victory over Hannibal in northern Africa.
Hannibal survived the Battle of Zama but had to run away. Finally in 183 B.C. Romans found him in Asia Minor (modern day Turkey) and forced him to surrender. As they guarded him, he secretly took poison and ended his life.
Carthage's empire was over. Carthage was forced to give up 3 things: its territories,  its ships, and to pay Rome huge amounts of money.
    In 149 B.C., Carthage got tired of paying the Romans and being ruled by them. They rebelled against Rome, and began the Third Punic War!
 Rome once again defeated Carthage. This time, as punishment, Rome sold all of the surviving Carthaginians into slavery and completely destroyed the city.
Conquest of the Eastern Mediterranean     With Carthage out of the way, Rome became the most important power in the western Mediterranean. So, Rome turned to the east.  They conquered Greece as well as the country to the north of Greece called Macedonia. By 50 B.C., Rome controlled all the land around the Mediterranean Sea.
    How was it possible for Rome to conquer so much so quickly?
 
    First,  the Roman people were a proud and determined people.
    Second, conquered people became friends of Rome and citizens, and they provided Rome with more soldiers.
    Third, Rome's army became stronger because of years of war. Few other armies could match its strength.
    Fourth, Romans rewarded success, giving successful generals power in the Roman government.
    Fifth , wars brought a lot of money and treasure. Roman soldiers were rewarded with conquered lands.
Loot made the government and individuals rich. Prisoners became slaves. So, Roman leaders were eager to go to war year after year, conquering more and more people and countries.(America can learn a lesson from the Romans : keep our government strong and balanced, and inspire pride in the people. Treat those who are defeated by us as future friends. Always keep our military strong and ready .)
   The highest honor for a general was a "triumph," a grand parade through the streets of Rome. The victorious general, dressed up to look like the supreme god Jupiter, rode in a chariot. Behind him marched the soldiers, carrying the many valuables taken from the enemy and leading the prisoners of war.
Trouble at Home    
Before the Punic Wars, Italy was a land of small farms and farmer soldiers. Wars were fought nearby.
In 458 B.C., Cincinnatus, a citizen farmer, laid down his plow to lead the Roman army. His fellow citizens made him "dictator" or "highest ruler".
According to legend, within 16 days he had defeated the neighboring tribe. But then Cincinnatus did something different which the Romans admired; he gave up being the highest ruler, and went back to his farm!
    But as Rome expanded, wars were fought farther away, and farmers were gone for longer periods of time. Many of them were killed in battle.
 
The Second Punic War had destroyed many Roman farms. Farmers who served as soldiers did not have  the money needed to begin farming again. Wealthy Romans bought up the land, 
and created plantations run by slave labor.
    Many farmers moved to the city, but there weren't many jobs.  Slaves, captured in Rome's many wars, provided cheap labor.
     There were more and more  unemployed people , and they were angry ! Roman leaders were afraid the violent mobs would demand a solution to their troubles.

Some Roman leaders tried to help the poor, but they were stopped by wealthy senators who didn't want to spend money to help them. Two tribunes (elected by the plebeians) who tried to help the poor were murdered by the rich politicians !
.
    Rome's large population of slaves caused other problems. Most slaves were treated terribly by their Roman masters. Desperate for freedom, the slaves rebelled.
     In 73B.C., a slave named Spartacus, who was being trained to be a gladiator, gathered an army of more than 100,000 escaped slaves.  They fought and defeated the Roman army for two years. 
In 71 B.C., the Romans surrounded the slave army, killed Spartacus, and crucified 6,000 slaves.
  Fall of the Roman Republic
By 50 B.C., Rome ruled an area about the size of the United States.  But there were changes in the Republic. The rich were getting richer, the poor were getting poorer, and there were far more slaves than ever before.  Roman leaders had gotten greedy.
    Dishonest leaders ignored the poor.  As a result, the poor felt no loyalty to a government that was keeping them poor.   There would be conflicts between the rich and the poor.

The emblem for the army was the eagle surrounded by a victory wreath. Underneath are the letters SPQR which are Latin for The Senate and People of Rome.
 The army was made up of professional soldiers , mostly poor citizens who couldn't find any other work .  They were fighting for money, not for Rome, but only if they won !
These soldiers were only loyal to the generals who hired them and payed them with land and money.  Power-hungry generals fought one another for control of the government.
One of those generals was Julius Caesar.
Caesar came from an old patrician family,
and he was very ambitious. He wanted to rule all of Rome. In 59 B.C., Caesar was elected consul.
 But he knew he must win wars if he was to become Rome' leader.
He took command of a Roman army and left Italy to fight the Gauls (modern day France).
 
 It took him  9  years and many thousands of Gauls and Roman soldiers were killed. Then he was ready to return to Rome.
Caesar's success in Gaul made some senators in Rome fear that Caesar was becoming  too powerful.
    The Senate ordered Caesar to return to Rome without his army. But Caesar was afraid that if he did, he would be killed. Instead, Caesar and his army crossed the Rubicon River, which divided Northern Italy from the rest of Italy and marched to the city of Rome.
 For a general to leave his assigned province and bring his army to Rome was treason, a crime against Rome. This was a serious action. Caesar knew he must win against the Senate or die.
 The senators sent an army led by General Pompey against Caesar, and that meant civil war ! It lasted for 3 years. 

                                                   Eventually, Caesar defeated Pompey,
                                                                 
and in 46 B.C. declared himself dictator. A Dictator is a ruler who has absolute power. Earlier Roman dictators had been chosen for emergencies. The farmer,  Cincinatus, you remember, went home 16 days after saving the city. But when Caesar made himself dictator he planned to be the absolute ruler for life!   Julius Caesar ended the republican system.
    As absolute ruler, one of Julius Caesar's actions was to make the Roman calendar fit the seasons of the year. He added 3 months to the calendar. Because this was a good thing, the Senate named the month of July after him.
                              THE EARLY EMPIRE

ESTABLISHING  PEACE AND ORDER

      As a dictator, Julius Caesar seemed to have little respect for the Roman laws.  He was supposed to share power with the senators.  But many senators thought Caesar acted as if he did not have to obey the law.  He treated them as servants.  They saw his behavior as proud and insulting.
 
Many began to think of him as an enemy.
    There was even a rumor going around that Caesar intended to make himself king. If he did , his family line would rule the Roman world even after his death, and the Senate would not be able to choose the next leader. Sixty angry senators met secretly. They planned to assassinate Caesar- murder him for political reasons. One leader of the group was Brutus, a friend of Caesar.
It was early in the year 44 B.C . " Beware the ides of March," the fortuneteller whispered in Julius Caesar's ear."I have seen many warnings of danger in your future." But Caesar, confident of his power, simply went on about his business. He even dismissed his bodyguards. However, March 15, which in the Roman calender is the "ides" of March, turned out to be the day of Caesar's death!
 
    As Caesar walked confidently into the senate that day , a  group of men gathered around him as if to pay their respects. One of them took hold of  Caesar's robe and said, "Friends, what are you waiting for?"
That was the signal to attack. Several men drew daggers from their robes and began stabbing Caesar. He tried to defend himself, but then he recognized one of the men. It was Brutus, a man Caesar thought was his friend. "Et tu, Brute?"
 ("You too, Brutus?") Caesar asked. 		 Realizing that even  his friend had turned against him, he stopped resisting. Caesar fell to the floor and died. He had been stabbed 23 times.

Brutus jumped up, waving his bloody knife. He announced that he and his men had saved the Roman Republic by killing Caesar. But they had not saved Rome .
    By the end of that day, Brutus and the other assassins had to hide from the angry mobs of Roman citizens.
Many Roman citizens were angry about Caesar's murder. The Roman people liked Julius Caesar because he made the government work better and he lowered taxes. He conquered new lands and gave Roman people that land to farm. He had new temples and public buildings built . He allowed more people to become Roman citizens .
    No, the murderers had not saved Rome. Instead, it caused 13 years of civil war as  groups struggled to control Rome.
Before Julius Caesar died he adopted his grandnephew Octavian and made him his son! Octavian was the leader of one group that was fighting to control Rome. He defeated Caesar's murderers and  brought peace to the Roman Empire. He became a popular leader. In 27 B.C.,the senate voted to give him the name "Augustus", meaning "respected one." From then on Octavian was known as Augustus Caesar. He ruled the empire until 14 A.D.

THE EMPIRE OF AUGUSTUS

Augustus learned from Julius' mistakes.He continued what Julius Caesar did to make the people happy. He knew that people wanted a republic, so he always said he was not going to change the government. But Augustus kept the real power. He controlled almost all of the army. He chose all the important people in the government- the governors. He never called himself " king" . Instead, he called himself "First citizen" to show that he was just a regular person.
Augustus ruled Italy and all the countries which Rome conquered. It was an empire. Romans didn't like being ruled by a king, but an emperor was ok ! They were proud of their conquests, and proud of Augustus - the first Roman emperor. The people liked  him because they desperately wanted a strong leader,  they wanted peace, and and they wanted order after the  terrible wars that came after Caesar's death.
ORDER IN THE CITY
Augustus once bragged, "I found Rome built of sun-dried bricks. I leave her covered in marble."
 During the 41 years of his rule, Augustus built or restored 82 temples. Most of them were covered in  smooth marble which came from the rock quarries (open mines)  north of Rome.
But people were hungry and poor. Rome had  nearly one million people. Violence, disorder, and crime were major problems, and fires often swept through the city- sometimes 100 fires a day in the city! So,  Augustus created a police force and a fire department . He also made a Welfare Department to supply food to the city's poor people.
People liked AUGUSTUS !
GROWTH IN THE PROVINCES

    The Roman Empire beyond Italy was divided into about 40 provinces, or territories. Each province had a governor. The governor kept order and collected taxes.

The empire got larger by conquering new territories. By A.D.117, the Roman empire had a population of about 60 million. This was more than one-fifth of the total population of the world at that time.
THE  "PAX  ROMANA"
     For more than 200 years, the Roman Empire was united and strong.  Rome had more wars and some very cruel rulers, but the empire was strong. This period is called the Pax  Romana ( paks roh MAH nuh), which means the "Peace of Rome."
RULING THE EMPIRE
     Augustus wanted his grandsons to take over after his death, but they both died.
    That left his stepson Tiberius (ty BIHR ee uhs)  to be the next emperor.
     Augustus began to share his power with Tiberius. When Augustus died in A.D.14, Tiberius became the next Roman Emperor. 
    In that way, Augustus established a new way of choosing emperors. Each emperor chose his successor from his family or adopted someone he thought would make a good emperor.

But Tiberius didn't turn out to be a good emperor, his guards smothered him with a pillow as he slept !
    
THE DYNASTIES
    After Tiberius died in 37 AD , his young nephew Caligula became emperor.

The boy was popular at first like many new emperors, but it soon became obvious he was insane ! He removed all the heads of the statues of the gods and replaced them with ones that looked like him, he wandered around his palace at night commanding the sun to rise, he even joked that he was going to make his favorite racehorse a consul of Rome !
His guards murdered him in broad daylight.
Caligula's uncle - Claudius -an older man with physical problems, became the next emperor - a fairly good one, until he was killed by his wife ! Her son became the next emperor -  Nero !

Nero came to power when he was just a boy of 17. But the senators and the army didn't respect him. They complained that he was more interested in being an entertainer than being an emperor !
  
He became an actor-

and charioteer

performing for the Roman people.
He was also extremely cruel, killing his mother, wife, stepbrother, hundreds of senators, and finally all the members of his family.
He was thought to have been responsible for the burning of the city of Rome in order to build a new palace for himself !

A Roman writer said Nero played music and sang while Rome burned.		 Nero blamed the Christians for the fire and cruelly murdered hundreds of innocent people, including the Christian leaders Paul and Peter.

The senate declared him a criminal and, in 68 AD,  Nero committed suicide. He was the last descendent of Julius Caesar.

   Three Roman generals each tried taking the throne, but they didn't last long.
  
Roman general Vespasian came from Judea
                                    where he had been crushing a revolt by the Jews. 
                                       
When he got to Rome, Vespasian tore down Nero's palace and built the Colosseum on the same site.
He began the Flavian dynasty and ruled Rome peacefully .
Vespasian's son, Titus  took over after him - he attacked the beautiful city of Jerusalem,


 and completely destroyed the famous Jewish Temple. He took back to Rome its gold, its famous candelabra, and thousands of Jewish slaves.

After Vespasian died Titus became emperor. After he died his brother Domitian, took over . He was a cruel and ruthless leader, and he was  assassinated.

The second dynasty lasted only 26 years.

    The 3rd dynasty became known as the dynasty of the "good emperors". It included five talented emperors.
Trajan  expanded the empire. He gave low-cost loans to farmers
 
and gave money to poor children and orphans.		 Hadrian was the 1st emperor to create borders using walls. The most famous is Hadrian's Wall separating Britain and Scotland.
  Towns and cities later grew up around these walls.
  
Another emperor, Marcus Aurelius, protected the borders against more and more invading tribes.
When he died so did the "Pax Romana".
(In the movie "Gladiator" he is the emperor fighting off the Germans)
   
Later emperors could not control the huge empire. They even lost the respect of the Roman army.  In A.D. 235, it  was the start of 50 years of civil war within the empire !
REBELLION IN THE PROVINCES
    Most of the Roman provinces lived in peace during the "Pax Romana".
However, a few areas resisted Roman rule.
 
The Roman army had to put down continuous rebellions in Gaul (modern day France) and Germany.
and Britain. This is Queen Boudicca - a British warrior queen !
The greatest resistance, came from the Jews in Judea. Earlier, in A.D. 66 the Jews rebelled and their cities were destroyed. It happened again in A.D. 132.  The Roman army crushed the Jewish resistance, and forced the Jews to scatter to many different countries.
UNIFYING the EMPIRE
Keeping the empire together was a big job.
Millions of people spoke many different languages,
had different customs,
and worshiped different gods.
 The Roman emperors unified the empire (kept it all together) in 3 ways: 
1. They encouraged the conquered people to build cities.
2. They made these people Roman citizens,  and
3. They involved them in the government of Rome.
(By the way - this is how America was able to grow as it expanded too.)
POLICIES FOR THE PROVINCES
These new cities looked like Rome.  The city center surrounded a main square called the forum, like the one in Rome.

The new cities also had temples for Roman gods,
 
                                      public baths
and an amphitheatre for games.

Roman ideas,  customs, and their Latin language spread all over the empire.

Rome allowed officials in the provinces to govern their own cities.
They collected taxes

and kept order.
 Rome also allowed some of these officials to become senators !
By A.D. 200, more than half of the 600 senators came from the provinces.
Some of these senators even became emperors.
Emperor Trajan,
 
for example, came from Spain.
Septimius Severus, who ruled from A.D. 193 to 211,
 
came from North Africa.
People who lived in the provinces felt that they were a part of the empire. So,  most of them did not have any reason to rebel.
                                                  ROME AT ITS PEAK
One of Rome's greatest poets described the  empire in this way:
  
 "Remember, Roman, that it is for you to rule the nations. This shall be your task: to enforce peace,  to spare the conquered and to tame the proud by war."

For 200 years, Rome did just that. The "Pax Romana" is remembered as the period during which Rome reached its highest  achievements

                                         SOCIAL RANK IN THE EMPIRE
   
It's a beautiful day in A.D.150.  The people of ancient Rome are heading eagerly to the Colosseum - 4 stories tall, on 71/2 acres with 80 entrances to allow 50,000 people to find their seats in 10 minutes !
They are going to watch an afternoon of games in which professional fighters called gladiators will fight each other as well as lions, bears, and other wild beasts, brought up from cages under the floor.  "Such a large group of people rushed to all these shows" wrote Suetonius, "that many were crushed to death." 
  
Like sports fans today, the Romans pass through the gates and head for their seats.  Where they sit, however, depends on who they are.The emperor and his guests are seated nearest to the field on a magnificent platform.

In the first row sit senators and wealthy Romans called "the elite" wearing flowing white robes called togas trimmed with purple borders.

Above the elite are ordinary citizens, dressed in plain white togas because only the elite are allowed to wear the purple border. Crowded near the top of the stadium, are the poor people and slaves in dull grey clothes.They have no seats and stand for hours waiting for the games to begin.
THREE SOCIAL CLASSES
    Who you were determined what you could wear, where you could sit and even what your job could be.
 Roman society was divided into three major classes---
1. the elite  2. the "more humble" and 3. the slaves.
Birth and wealth determined which social class you were in.
The Elite Class
 This group included senators, government officials, and wealthy citizens. The elite made up less than 2 percent of the people, but they were the most powerful. They even had special legal rights. If they were guilty of a crime, they could not be punished as severely as ordinary citizens or slaves. Only a few jobs were acceptable for a man of the elite class. The emperor appointed them to serve as government officials. They could also be lawyers and own farms. Jobs in business were not acceptable. If a man of the elite class wanted to make money, someone of the "more humble" class would do it for him.
The "More Humble" Class
     The more humble class included free men and women, soldiers, farmers, and shopkeepers. Some of the more humble were fairly wealthy. Others justed barely survived. They had little chance of becoming rich. Soldiers had a better chance. Some soldiers earned promotions and wealth during long military careers. When they retired, they were rich and respected enough to join the elite class.
The Slaves
    They were human property that could be bought and sold. Slaves could not own property.  Slaves made up as much as a third of the people of Roman Italy during the empire.
    They worked in homes and farms, in offices,  in mining , shipping, road building, and construction.  They were treated well in some cases and cruelly in others. Farm slaves worked long hours in fields.  Sometimes they were chained together. They had little chance of gaining freedom or improving their lives.
    City slaves usually worked as servants in the homes of wealthy masters, with an easier life than farm slaves.  Some had a chance to better themselves and become supervisors.   Through a master's kindness, a city slave might be set free as a young adult. His master might even set him up in business, and then he might join the "More Humble" class.
    But all slaves were at the mercy of their masters, who could beat, torture, or even kill them! The Roman writer Seneca wrote that "slaves are not allowed to move their lips, let alone talk. If they cough, sneeze, or  hiccup they are flogged (whipped)!"  Some Romans complained about the mistreatment of slaves. But no one in power in the ancient world thought seriously about ending slavery.  Apparently, people saw slavery as a necessary part of life.

THE IMPORTANCE OF SOCIAL LEVEL
Social level was important to all Romans .  Let's visit the home of an elite Roman to see the role it played at a dinner party.
A ROMAN DINNER PARTY
As the guests arrive, they are led into a special dining room. 

Couches, not chairs surrounded the table because Romans prefer to lean back as they eat.  Eating while lying down is considered a mark of elegance.  Only children and slaves sit up when they are eating.  On holidays, slaves in the house are allowed to lie down like their masters.
Soon an usher announces the guests and shows them to their places at the tables.  Elite Romans are seated according to their social status.  The most honored guests may even be served better food than other guests. One writer complained about favoritism shown by a host: "...very elegant foods were served up to himself and a few more of the guests; but food given to the rest of us was cheap and small." The host even served his guests wine of three different qualities, depending on each guest's social status.
One sure way to improve your position in society was to get more money, slaves, or land and become wealthier. Then you would gain more powerful and important friends who would help you to get even wealthier !

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