What did Rome ever do for us?

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What did Rome ever do for us?

• List as many things as you can think of, which
  are part of our culture today because of Rome.
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ROME

• Rome is the last of the four ancient Empires
  Mesopotamia, Egypt, Greece and Rome.
• Rome was built almost entirely upon Greek ideas
  and advances, with some thrown in from everywhere
  else in the ancient world.
• Rome is important to us for two reasons
• 1 Since it was the most recent, it has the most
  direct influence on us. Our Language, Government,
  Laws, and more were created by Rome.
• 2 Rome was the largest of the Ancient Empires.
  Unlike the other three, who mostly stayed in
  their local area, The Roman Empire covered most
  of Europe, North Africa, and parts of then Middle
  East and Asia. Thus, many different people owe
  their heritage to Rome.

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Romes Timeline

• Romes Timeline is easy. It has three stages,
  each one related to the type of Government at
  that time. You can also easily round off the
  dates to remember them, though I have given the
  specific dates in parentheses.
• Roman Kingdom, 750-500 BC (753-509)
• Roman Republic, 500-25 BC
• (509-27)
• Roman Empire, 25 BC 500 AD
• (27-476)

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Italys Geography

• Just like the other Empires, we must learn about
  Romes geography before we can learn about its
  history, since geography makes history.
• Rome is a city in the middle of Italy. Italys
  geography can be described like this
• 1 Isolated. Italy is a peninsula. There is only
  one way in, from the north. Along this route lies
  the large Po River, which is difficult to cross,
  and the Alps, which are the highest and most
  rugged mountains in Europe. Thus Italy, like
  Egypt, was protected from invaders.
• 2 Mountainous. The Apennine Mountains run right
  down the middle of the Peninsula, and are called
  the Spine of Italy. They are very difficult to
  cross, but have large deposits of minerals in
  them, in particular Iron.
• 3 Fertile. The land on each side of the
  peninsula, near the oceans, is excellent for
  growing food, and this land was used to feed the
  Empire.

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The Latins

• The Latins were a very small tribe of people who
  lived in the Tiber River Valley in central Italy.
• The Latins were not large, advanced or rich.
• To the North of the Latins lived the Etruscans
  a large and advanced group of people who
  controlled Northern Italy.
• To the South of the Latins were several Greek
  Poleis colonies that had taken over Southern
  Italy during the time of Greek colonization.
• Thus, the Latins were a small nation, with only
  one city (Rome) wedged between two larger powers.

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The Etruscans

• At this time (around 750 BC) the Latins were not
  the only people living in Italy in fact, they
  were the smallest and least advanced.
• To the south lived Greeks who had colonized
  southern Italy.
• To the North lived an advanced race of people
  known as the Etruscans.

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Etruscan Civilization

• The Northern part of Italy was home to the
  Etruscans, a mysterious and advanced people.
  Because their writing has never been deciphered,
  we do not know much about them, apart from this
• 1 They were rich, and very advanced, especially
  in the fields of metalwork and city building.
• 2 They were excellent artists, some of the best
  who ever lived. Etruscan art if still highly
  prized today. Most Etruscan art shows the
  subjects smiling the Etruscan Smile.
• 3 They had very advanced womens rights, which
  was very unusual for the time. The genders would
  eat, sit, and party together, which was unheard
  of, even among people who treated women equally.
• 4 They enjoyed music, and were excellent
  musicians.

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Rome is Created

• No one is sure how the City of Rome got its
  start, and there are many myths, but the most
  common goes like this
• After Troy was defeated, one of its princes,
  named Aenies, fled the city with a few survivors.
  Eventually, he settled in a small valley in
  central Italy, along the banks of the River
  Tiber.
• In time, the survivors multiplied and started to
  establish small towns on the seven hills that
  surround the Tiber River Valley. These people
  were known as the Latins.
• Two Latin twin brothers, the princes Romulus and
  Remus, were left to die in the woods when their
  uncle seized power. The uncle did not want to
  kill them outright because their father was Mars,
  the God of War.
• The babies were found and raised by a wolf.
  Eventually, they grew up, killed their uncle, and
  founded a new city in the Tiber Valley. In a
  dispute over who would get to rule it (or perhaps
  name it), Romulus killed Remus, and named the
  city after himself.

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So, whats going on in Rome?

• Rome was in a strange and unusual position
  literally. It was wedged between the advanced
  Etruscans to the North, and the advanced Greeks
  to the South. Over time, they learned everything
  there was to know about civilization from these
  people. From each they took
• Etruscia Art, ironwork, urban planning, blood
  sport, superstition, numerals, perhaps music.
• Greece Art, architecture, religion, math,
  literacy, science, philosophy, most forms of
  culture.

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The Rise and Fall of the Roman Kingdom

• By 616 BC, Etruscia had conquered the tiny city
  of the Latins, Rome. Etruscan Kings ruled it for
  about 100 years.
• At first, these Kings ruled well, and used the
  technology and wealth of Estruscia to help the
  Latins. They taught them many things, and built a
  complicated water and sewer system in Rome
  meaning that with fresh water and no disease,
  Rome could become much larger. They also built
  massive temples, as they, the Latins, and the
  Greeks all shared the same religion.
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• By 509 BC the city of Rome was quite large. It
  filled most of the Tiber valley, and even had its
  own villages nearby.
• By this point, the Etruscan Kings had started to
  mistreat Rome. In 509 BC the citizens of Rome
  rose up against Tarquin the Proud, over the fate
  of a woman named Lucretia - and won. Rome became
  an independent city.

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What Happens Now?

• Rome had been free when it was only a village,
  but now that it was a modest city with its own
  hinterland, it found itself free again, and with
  no idea what to do. Freedom raised several
  questions, such as
• What type of Government to use?
• How to deal with other nations, in particular the
  Greeks and Etruscans who lived nearby.
• How should the economy be set up?
• What sort of culture should they pursue the
  Greek, Etruscan, or a mix?
• What is the future of the city to stay in its
  own territory, or to expand?
• If it does expand, how? Through force, trade, or
  politics?

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QUIZ TIME!
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Roman Kingdom Questions

• 1 Which three words did we use to describe
  Italy's Geography?
• 2 What two brothers founded Rome in myth?
• 3 Almost all Etruscan art shows the subjects
  doing what?
• 4 What small group of people founded the city
  of Rome (the name of the tribe).
• 5 Name two things the Romans learned from the
  Etruscans.

• 6 Name two things the Romans learned from the
  Greeks.
• 7 Name one of the things the Etruscans built
  for the Romans while they ruled that city.
• 8 Which Etruscan King was the last to rule
  Rome, the one whom the Romans rebelled against?
• 9 They did this to protest the fate of a woman
  what was her name?
• 10 Myth says that the first people in the Tiber
  valley descended from Aeneis from what city did
  he come, originally?

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• 1- Mountainous, Fertile, Isolated
• 2 Romulus and Remus
• 3 Smiling
• 4 the Latins
• 5 - Art, ironwork, urban planning, blood sport,
  superstition, numerals, perhaps music

• 6 - Art, architecture, religion, math, literacy,
  science, philosophy, most forms of culture
• 7- sewers (plumbing) and temples
• 8 Tarquin the Proud
• 9 Lucretia
• 10 - Troy