ancient+rome+notes

ccording to one [|legend], Rome was [|founded] on April 21, [|753 BC] by twin brothers descended from the [|Trojan]prince [|Aeneas].[|[2]] **[|Romulus]** and **[|Remus]** were the grandsons of the Latin King, [|Numitor] of [|Alba Longa]. The King was ejected from his throne by his cruel brother [|Amulius] while Numitor's daughter, [|Rhea Silvia], gave birth.[|[3]][|[4]]Rhea Silvia was a [|Vestal Virgin] who was raped by [|Mars], making the twins [|half-divine]. The new king feared that Romulus and Remus would take back the throne, so they were to be drowned.[|[4]] A she-wolf (or a shepherd's wife in some accounts) saved and raised them, and when they were old enough, they returned the throne of Alba Longa to Numitor.[|[5]][|[6]] The twins then founded their own city, but Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over which one of them was to reign as the [|King of Rome], though some sources state the quarrel was about who was going to give their name to the city.[|[7]] Romulus became the source of the city's name.[|[8]] As the city was bereft of women, legend says that the Latins invited the [|Sabines] to a festival and stole their unmarried maidens, leading to the integration of the Latins and the Sabines.[|[9]] Another legend recorded by Greek historian [|Dionysius] says that Prince Aenas led a group of Trojans on a sea voyage. After a long time in rough seas, they landed at the banks of the Tiber River. Not long after they landed, the men wanted to take to the sea again, but the women who were traveling with them didn't want to leave. One woman, named Roma, suggested that the women burn the ships out at sea to prevent them from leaving. At first, the men were angry with Roma, but they soon realized that they were in the ideal location to settle. They named the settlement after the woman who torched their ships.[|[10]] The city of [|Rome] grew from settlements around a ford on the river [|Tiber], a crossroads of traffic and trade.[|[11]] According to [|archaeological] evidence, the village of Rome was probably founded sometime in the [|8th century BC], though it may go back as far as the 10th century BC, by members of the [|Latin tribe] of Italy, on the top of the [|Palatine Hill].[|[12]][|[13]] The [|Etruscans], who had previously settled to the north in [|Etruria], seem to have established political control in the region by the late [|7th century BC], forming the aristocratic and monarchial elite. The Etruscans apparently lost power in the area by the late [|6th century BC], and at this point, the original Latin and Sabine tribes reinvented their government by creating a [|republic], with much greater restraints on the ability of rulers to exercise power.[|[14]] Roman tradition, as well as archaeological evidence, points to a complex within the [|Forum Romanum] as the seat of power for the king and the beginnings of the religious center there as well. [|Numa Pompilius] was the second [|king of Rome], succeeding [|Romulus]. He began Rome's great building projects with his royal palace the [|Regia] and the complex of the [|Vestal virgins].

** Republic **
//Main article: [|Roman Republic]// According to tradition and later writers such as [|Livy], the [|Roman Republic] was established around [|509 BC], when the last of the seven kings of Rome, [|Tarquin the Proud], was deposed, and a system based on annually elected [|magistrates] and various representative assemblies was established.[|[15]] A [|constitution] set a series of checks and balances, and a [|separation of powers]. The most important magistrates were the two [|consuls], who together exercised executive authority in the form of //[|imperium]//, or military command.[|[16]] The consuls had to work with the [|senate], which was initially an advisory council of the ranking nobility, or [|patricians], but grew in size and power over time.[|[17]] Other magistracies in the Republic include [|praetors], [|aediles], and [|quaestors].[|[18]] The magistracies were originally restricted to patricians, but were later opened to common people, or[|plebeians].[|[19]] Republican voting assemblies included the //comitia centuriata// (centuriate assembly), which voted on matters of war and peace and elected men to the most important offices, and the //comitia tributa// (tribal assembly), which elected less important offices.[|[20]] The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, including the [|Etruscans].[|[21]] The last threat to Roman [|hegemony] in Italy came when [|Tarentum], a major [|Greek]colony, enlisted the aid of [|Pyrrhus of Epirus] in [|281 BC], but this effort failed as well.[|[22]][|[23]] The Romans secured their conquests by founding [|Roman colonies] in strategic areas, establishing stable control over the region.[|[24]] In the second half of the [|3rd century BC], Rome clashed with [|Carthage] in the first of three [|Punic Wars]. These wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests, of [|Sicily] and [|Hispania], and the [|rise of Rome] as a significant imperial power.[|[25]][|[26]] After defeating the [|Macedonian] and [|Seleucid Empires] in the [|2nd century BC], the Romans became the dominant people of the [|Mediterranean Sea].[|[27]][|[28]] [|Gaius Marius], a Roman general and politician who dramatically reformed the[|Roman military] Foreign dominance led to internal strife. Senators became rich at the [|provinces]' expense, but soldiers, who were mostly small-scale farmers, were away from home longer and could not maintain their land, and the increased reliance on foreign [|slaves] and the growth of //[|latifundia]// reduced the availability of paid work.[|[29]][|[30]] Income from war booty, [|mercantilism] in the new provinces, and [|tax farming] created new economic opportunities for the wealthy, forming a new class of[|merchants], the [|equestrians].[|[31]] The //[|lex Claudia]// forbade members of the Senate from engaging in commerce, so while the equestrians could theoretically join the Senate, they were severely restricted in terms of political power.[|[11]][|[32]] The Senate squabbled perpetually, repeatedly blocking important [|land reforms] and refusing to give the equestrian class a larger say in the government. Violent gangs of the urban unemployed, controlled by rival Senators, intimidated the electorate through violence. The situation came to a head in the late 2nd century BC under the [|Gracchi] brothers, a pair of [|tribunes] who attempted to pass land reform legislation that would redistribute the major patrician landholdings among the plebeians. Both brothers were killed, but the Senate passed some of their reforms in an attempt to placate the growing unrest of the plebeian and equestrian classes. The denial of [|Roman citizenship] to allied Italian cities led to the [|Social War] of 91–[|88 BC].[|[33]] The military reforms of [|Gaius Marius] resulted in soldiers often having more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general could hold the city and Senate ransom.[|[34]] This led to civil war between Marius and his protegé [|Sulla], and culminated in Sulla's [|dictatorship] of 81–79 BC.[|[35]] In the mid-1st century BC, three men, [|Julius Caesar], [|Pompey], and [|Crassus], formed a secret pact—the [|First Triumvirate]—to control the Republic. After Caesar's [|conquest of Gaul], a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to [|civil war], with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious, and was made [|dictator] for life.[|[36]] In 44 BC, Caesar was [|assassinated] by senators who opposed Caesar's assumption of absolute power and wanted to restore constitutional government, but in the aftermath a [|Second Triumvirate], consisting of Caesar's designated heir, [|Octavian], and his former supporters, [|Mark Antony] and [|Lepidus], took power.[|[37]][|[38]] However, this alliance soon descended into a struggle for dominance. Lepidus was [|exiled], and when Octavian defeated Antony and [|Cleopatra] of [|Egypt] at the [|Battle of Actium] in 31 BC, he became the undisputed ruler of Rome.[|[39]]

** Empire **
//Main article: [|Roman Empire]// With his enemies defeated, Octavian took the name //Augustus// and assumed almost absolute power, retaining only a pretense of the Republican form of government.[|[40]] His designated successor, [|Tiberius], took power without serious opposition, establishing the [|Julio-Claudian dynasty], which lasted until the death of [|Nero] in 68.[|[41]] The territorial expansion of what was now the [|Roman Empire] continued, and the state remained secure,[|[42]] despite a series of emperors widely viewed as depraved and corrupt (for example, [|Caligula] is argued by some to have been insane and [|Nero] had a reputation for cruelty and being more interested in his private concerns than the affairs of the state[|[43]]). Their rule was followed by the [|Flavian dynasty].[|[44]] During the reign of the "[|Five Good Emperors]" (96–180), the Empire reached its territorial, economic, and cultural [|zenith].[|[45]] The state was secure from both internal and external threats, and the Empire prospered during the [|Pax Romana] ("Roman Peace").[|[46]][|[47]] With the conquest of [|Dacia] during the reign of [|Trajan], the Empire reached the peak of its territorial expansion; Rome's dominion now spanned 2.5 million square miles (6.5 million km²).[|[48]] The [|Antonine Plague] that swept through the Empire in 165–180 AD killed an estimated five million people.[|[49]] The [|Roman Empire] at its greatest extent under [|Trajan] in AD 117. The period between 193 and 235 was dominated by the [|Severan dynasty], and saw several incompetent rulers, such as[|Elagabalus].[|[50]] This and the increasing influence of the army on imperial succession led to a long period of imperial collapse and external invasions known as the [|Crisis of the Third Century].[|[51]][|[52]] The crisis was ended by the more competent rule of [|Diocletian], who in 293 divided the Empire into an eastern and western half ruled by a [|tetrarchy] of two co-emperors and their two junior colleagues.[|[53]] The various co-rulers of the Empire competed and fought for supremacy for more than half a century. On May 11, 330, Emperor [|Constantine I] firmly established [|Byzantium] as the capital of the [|Roman Empire] and renamed it [|Constantinople].[|[54]]The Empire was permanently divided into the Eastern Roman Empire (later known as the [|Byzantine Empire]) and the [|Western Roman Empire] in 395.[|[55]] The Western Empire was constantly harassed by [|barbarian] invasions, and the gradual [|decline of the western Empire] continued over the centuries.[|[56]] In the [|4th century], the westward migration of the [|Huns] caused the [|Visigoths] to seek refuge within the borders of the Roman Empire.[|[57]] In 410, the [|Visigoths], under the leadership of [|Alaric I], sacked the city of Rome itself.[|[58]] The[|Vandals] invaded Roman provinces in Gaul, Hispania, and northern Africa, and in 455 [|sacked Rome].[|[59]] On September 4, 476, the Germanic chief [|Odoacer] forced the last Roman emperor in the west, [|Romulus Augustus], to abdicate.[|[60]] Having lasted for approximately 1200 years, the rule of Rome in the [|West] came to an end.[|[61]] The Eastern Empire would suffer a similar fate, though not as drastic. [|Justinian] managed to briefly reconquer [|Northern Africa] and [|Italy], but Byzantine possessions in the West were reduced to [|southern Italy] and [|Sicily] within a few years after Justinian's death.[|[62]] In the east, partially resulting from the destructive [|Plague of Justinian], the Byzantines were threatened by the rise of [|Islam], whose followers rapidly conquered territories in [|Syria] and [|Egypt] and soon presented a direct threat to Constantinople.[|[63]][|[64]] The Byzantines, however, managed to stop Islamic expansion into their lands during the [|8th century], and beginning in the [|9th century] reclaimed parts of the conquered lands.[|[11]][|[65]] In [|1000 AD] the Eastern Empire was at its height: [|Basileios II] reconquered Bulgaria and Armenia, culture and trade flourished.[|[66]] However, soon after the expansion was abruptly stopped in 1071 at the [|Battle of Manzikert]. This finally led the empire into a dramatic decline. Several centuries of internal strife and [|Turkic] invasions ultimately paved the way for Emperor [|Alexius I Comnenus] to send a call for help to the West in 1095.[|[63]] The West responded with the [|Crusades], eventually resulting in the [|Sack of Constantinople] by participants in the [|Fourth Crusade]. The conquest of Constantinople in 1204 would see the fragmentation of what little remained of the empire into successor states, the ultimate victor being that of [|Nicaea].[|[67]] After the recapture of Constantinople by imperial forces, the empire was little more than a Greek state confined to the [|Aegean] coast. The Eastern Empire came to an end when [|Mehmed II] conquered Constantinople on May 29, 1453.[|[68]]

Society
The imperial city of Rome was the largest urban center of its time, with a population of about one million people (about the size of London in the early 19th century, when London was the largest city in the world), with some high-end estimates of 14 million and low-end estimates of 450,000.[|[69]][|[70]][|[71]] The public spaces in Rome resounded with such a din of hooves and clatter of iron [|chariot] wheels that [|Julius Caesar] had once proposed a ban on chariot traffic during the day. Historical estimates indicate that around 20 percent of the population under jurisdiction of ancient Rome (25–40%, depending on the standards used, in Roman Italy[|[72]]) lived in innumerable urban centers, with population of 10,000 and more and several [|military settlements], a very high rate of urbanization by pre-industrial standards. Most of these centers had a [|forum] and temples and similar style buildings, on a smaller scale, to those found in Rome.

** Class structure **
//Main articles: [|Social class in ancient Rome] and [|Status in Roman legal system]// Area under Roman control [|Roman Republic] [|Roman Empire] [|Western Empire] [|Eastern Empire] Inheriting countries of the[|Byzantine Empire] Roman society is largely viewed as [|hierarchical], with [|slaves] (//servi//) at the bottom, [|freedmen] (//liberti//) above them, and free-born citizens (//cives//) at the top. Free citizens were themselves also divided by class. The broadest, and earliest, division was between the [|patricians], who could trace their ancestry to one of the 100 [|Patriarchs] at the founding of the city, and the [|plebeians], who could not. This became less important in the later Republic, as some plebeian families became wealthy and entered politics, and some patrician families fell on hard times. Anyone, patrician or plebeian, who could count a consul as his ancestor was a [|noble] (//nobilis//); a man who was the first of his family to hold the consulship, such as [|Marius] or [|Cicero], was known as a //[|novus homo]// ("new man") and ennobled his descendants. Patrician ancestry, however, still conferred considerable prestige, and many religious offices remained restricted to patricians. A class division originally based on military service became more important. Membership of these classes was determined periodically by the[|Censors], according to property. The wealthiest were the Senatorial class, who dominated politics and command of the army. Next came the[|equestrians] (//equites//, sometimes translated "knights"), originally those who could afford a warhorse, who formed a powerful mercantile class. Several further classes, originally based on what military equipment their members could afford, followed, with the //proletarii//, citizens who had no property at all, at the bottom. Before the reforms of Marius they were ineligible for military service and are often described as being just barely above freed slaves in terms of wealth and prestige. Voting power in the Republic was dependent on class. Citizens were enrolled in voting "tribes", but the tribes of the richer classes had fewer members than the poorer ones, all the //proletarii// being enrolled in a single tribe. Voting was done in class order and stopped as soon as a majority of the tribes had been reached, so the poorer classes were often unable even to cast their votes. Allied foreign cities were often given the [|Latin Right], an intermediary level between full citizens and foreigners (//peregrini//), which gave their citizens rights under [|Roman law] and allowed their leading magistrates to become full Roman citizens. While there were varying degrees of Latin rights, the main division was between those //cum suffragio// ("with vote"; enrolled in a[|Roman tribe] and able to take part in the //comitia tributa//) and //sine suffragio// ("without vote"; unable to take part in Roman politics). Some of Rome's Italian allies were given full citizenship after the [|Social War] of 91–88 BC, and full [|Roman citizenship] was extended to all free-born men in the Empire by [|Caracalla] in 212. Women shared some basic rights with their male counterparts, but were not fully regarded as citizens and were thus not allowed to vote or participate in politics.

** Family **
A group portrait depicted on glass, dating from c.250 A.D., showing a mother, son and daughter. It was once considered to be a depiction of the family of[|Valentinian III]. The basic units of Roman society were [|households] and [|families].[|[73]] Households included the head (usually the father) of the household, //[|pater familias]//(father of the family), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes, slaves and servants were also part of the household.[|[73]] The head of the household had great power (//patria potestas//, "father's power") over those living with him: He could force marriage (usually for money) and divorce, sell his children into slavery, claim his dependents' property as his own, and even had the right to punish or kill family members (though this last right apparently ceased to be exercised after the [|1st century BC]).[|[74]] //Patria potestas// even extended over adult sons with their own households: A man was not considered a //paterfamilias//, nor could he truly hold property, while his own father lived.[|[74]][|[75]] During the early period of Rome's history, a daughter, when she married, fell under the control (//manus//) of the//paterfamilias// of her husband's household, although by the late Republic this fell out of fashion, as a woman could choose to continue recognizing her father's family as her true family.[|[76]] However, as Romans reckoned [|descent] through the male line, any children she had would belong to her husband's family.[|[77]] Groups of related households formed a family (//[|gens]//). Families were based on blood ties or [|adoption], but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the [|Roman Republic], some powerful families, or //[|Gentes Maiores]//, came to dominate political life. [|Ancient Roman marriage] was often regarded more as a financial and political alliance than as a romantic association, especially in the upper classes. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride. While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women often married in their late teens or early twenties.

** Education **
//Main article: [|Roman school]// In the early Republic, there were no public schools, so boys were taught to read and write by their parents, or by educated [|slaves], called //[|paedagogi]//, usually of Greek origin.[|[78]][|[79]][|[80]] The primary aim of education during this period was to train young men in [|agriculture], [|warfare], [|Roman traditions], and public affairs.[|[11]] Young boys learned much about civic life by accompanying their fathers to religious and political functions, including the Senate for the sons of nobles.[|[11]] The sons of nobles were apprenticed to a prominent [|political figure] at the age of 16, and campaigned with the army from the age of 17 (this system would still be in use among some noble families well into the imperial era).[|[11]] Educational practices were modified following the conquest of the Hellenistic kingdoms in the 3rd century BC and the resulting Greek influence, although it should be noted that Roman educational practices were still significantly different from Greek ones.[|[11]][|[81]] If their parents could afford it, boys and some girls at the age of 7 were sent to a private school outside the home called a //[|ludus]//, where a teacher (called a //litterator// or a [|//magister ludi//], and often of Greek origin) taught them basic reading, writing, arithmetic, and sometimes Greek, until the age of 11.[|[11]][|[80]][|[82]] Beginning at age 12, students went to secondary schools, where the teacher (now called a //grammaticus//) taught them about [|Greek] and [|Roman literature].[|[11]][|[11]] At the age of 16, some students went on to[|rhetoric] school (where the teacher, almost always Greek, was called a //[|rhetor]//).[|[11]][|[11]] Education at this level prepared students for legal careers, and required that the students memorize the laws of Rome.[|[11]] Pupils went to school every day, except religious festivals and market days. There were also summer holidays.

** Government **
//Main articles: [|Roman Constitution] and [|History of the Roman Constitution]// Initially, Rome was ruled by [|kings], who were elected from each of Rome's major tribes in turn.[|[83]] The exact nature of the king's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may also have merely been the [|chief executive] of the [|Senate and the people]. At least in military matters, the king's authority (//[|Imperium]//) was likely absolute. He was also the head of the [|state religion]. In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies: the [|Senate], which acted as an advisory body for the King; the [|Comitia Curiata], which could endorse and ratify laws suggested by the King; and the [|Comitia Calata], which was an assembly of the priestly college which could assemble the people in order to bear witness to certain acts, hear proclamations, and declare the [|feast] and holiday schedule for the next month. Representation of a sitting of the [|Roman Senate]: [|Cicero]attacks [|Catilina], from a 19th century fresco The [|class struggles] of the [|Roman Republic] resulted in an unusual mixture of [|democracy] and [|oligarchy]. The word republic comes from the Latin //res publica// which literally translates to public business. [|Roman laws] traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly ([|Comitia Tributa]). Likewise, candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. However, the [|Roman Senate] represented an oligarchic institution, which acted as an advisory body. In the Republic, the Senate held great authority (//auctoritas//), but no actual legislative power; it was technically only an advisory council. However, as the Senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate. New Senators were chosen from among the most accomplished [|patricians] by [|Censors] (//Censura//), who could also remove a Senator from his office if he was found "morally corrupt"; a charge that could include [|bribery] or, as under [|Cato the Elder], embracing one's wife in public. Later, under the reforms of the dictator [|Sulla], [|Quaestors] were made automatic members of the Senate, though most of his reforms did not survive. The Republic had no fixed [|bureaucracy], and collected [|taxes] through the practice of [|tax farming]. Government positions such as[|quaestor], [|aedile], or [|praefect] were funded from the office-holder's private finances. In order to prevent any citizen from gaining too much power, new [|magistrates] were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions, the highest authority was held by two [|consuls]. In an emergency, a temporary [|dictator] could be appointed. Throughout the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the ever-expanding dominion of Rome, contributing to the establishment of the [|Roman Empire]. In the early Empire, the pretense of a republican form of government was maintained. The [|Roman Emperor] was portrayed as only a //[|princeps]//, or "first citizen", and the Senate gained legislative power and all legal authority previously held by the popular assemblies. However, the rule of the emperors became increasingly [|autocratic] over time, and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the emperor. The Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisers, but the state lacked many institutions, such as a centrally planned [|budget]. Some historians have cited this as a significant reason for the [|decline of the Roman Empire].

** Law **
//Main article: [|Roman law]// The roots of the legal principles and practices of the [|ancient Romans] may be traced to the law of the [|twelve tables] (from [|449 BC]) to the [|codification] of Emperor [|Justinian I] (around 530 AD). Roman law as preserved in Justinian's codes continued into the [|Byzantine Empire], and formed the basis of similar codifications in continental [|Western Europe]. Roman law continued, in a broader sense, to be applied throughout most of Europe until the end of the 17th century. The major divisions of the law of ancient Rome, as contained within the Justinian and Theodosian law codes, consisted of //Ius Civile//, //Ius Gentium//, and //Ius Naturale//. The //Ius Civile//("Citizen law") was the body of common laws that applied to Roman citizens.[|[84]] The [|//Praetores Urbani//] (//sg. Praetor Urbanus//) were the individuals who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens. The //Ius Gentium// ("Law of nations") was the body of common laws that applied to foreigners, and their dealings with Roman citizens.[|[73]] The [|//Praetores Peregrini//] (//sg. Praetor Peregrinus//) were the individuals who had jurisdiction over cases involving citizens and foreigners. //Ius Naturale// encompassed natural law, the body of laws that were considered common to all being.