6th+hour+2011-2012+Rome



Ancient Rome was famous for many legends. For example: Horatius. He held off many attackers by himself and saved Rome from an invading Etruscan army. Rome wasn’t just famous for its stories, it was also known for many other things, like how they went from a republic to having an empire, their big achievement, how Christianity spread across the land, and the “Long Decline”. Read on to learn more about Ancient Rome! 
 * Introduction **

~Artist unknown, 2011,Crystalinks 

The gods and goddesses of Rome were like the gods and goddesses of the Elruscans and Greeks. The roman god Jupitar, like the Greek god Zeus, rules over the sky and other gods. Romans also pray to Neptune, the god of the sea. His powers were the same powers as Poseidon, a Greek god. The Roman calendar was full of feasts and celebrations to honor the gods. To inspire the sense of community, the Romans would participate and celebrate these festivals. Especially for women, “Mystery religions,” were popular. An example of this would be that the cult of Isis promised life after death. He also offered women equal status with men. (Ellis&Elser, 1997)
 * Religion **

Artist unknown, 2011,Crystalinks [] Pages 139-140 The government in Rome began as a Republic. Two brothers wanted to reform so they took the government’s funds and fed the poor. That led into many Civil Wars because the government didn’t agree with doing that. Julius Caesar, who was the leader of the army, was determined to be dictator. When he was ordered back to Rome, he made Senate make him dictator. On March 15th Caesar was stabbed to death by his enemies. Caesar’s two best men, Octavian and Antony were sent out to find the murderers of their ruler. Antony ended up defeated by Octavian, whom was the new king, except he didn’t call himself king. The Republic was gone when he became king, the Roman Empire had begun. Octavian didn’t have any family so a problem was who would be the next Emperor. There was two who were evil and insane; Caligula and Nero. Then there was another two who were better and nicer; Hadrian and Aurelius. In the end, Aurelius came out on top. Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 139-140
 * Government **

~Dowling, Mike. "Caesar Augustus at mrdowling.com" www.mrdowling.com. Updated August 8, 2011. Web. Date of Access. []

Rome started off as a small city in Italy, but over time it ended up ruling the whole Mediterranean world. If you looked on a map, next to the Mediterranean Sea, you’d see a peninsula that looks a lot like a boot. That’s Italy. Rome is in the center of Italy. This helped the Romans expand. Greece is broken up into small, isolated valleys, located just south and south west of Rome.
 * Cities **

~Artist unknown, August 1st, 2004, WordPress.com,  Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 130-131 When art began to come to Rome, it was mostly Greek art. From the Greeks Romans got ideas for gardens, statues and buildings. They adapted works from Hellenistic pieces of art. The Romans were the first to get the idea to put faces on coins and portraits out of stone. Architecture in Rome consisted of immense palaces, temples, stadiums and victory arches. Romans improved on the structure of arches and domes. They also introduced new buildings such as Baths of Caracalla, which is a structure which is supported by arches.
 * Art and Architecture **

~Artist unknown, 1995-2011, PlanetWare Inc.  Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 135-141

Girls and boys in any social class in Rome were taught to read and write. Such was proven by graffiti, jokes, and messages written on the walls that archeologists found around the ancient city. The Roman alphabet was derived from the Greek and Phoenician alphabets, although slightly altered. (Ellis&Elser, 1997)
 * Written Language **

~Artist unknown, 2011, AbsoluteAstronomy <[]> Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 136 and 107

During the expansion, there were many farmers who fell into debt. Many people who didn’t have jobs were put to work by building roads and temples. Women didn’t work much, but when they did it was at home, cooking and raising their kids. Other men who were unoccupied were to farm land. Besides these, there weren’t many jobs for people to do.
 * Job Specialization **



~Artist unknown, 2011 <[] Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 135-137

During the beginning of Rome, dictators—rulers who have complete control of the government—were at the top of the social chain. They had the power to rule for 6 months before handing off their power to the next dictator. Patricians and Consuls had the second hand in society, as Patricians were landholding, upper-class members of the Senate, and Consuls were elected by Senators to supervise the business of the government and command the army. The bottom of the social scale consisted of Plebeians; farmers, merchants, artisans, and traders that made up the bulk of the population. In 450 B.C., the Plebeians had a breakthrough when they protested that they couldn’t know what the laws were as they were not written down. From there, 12 tablets were set up in the marketplace with the laws inscribed on them, Plebeians gained the right to elect officials called Tribunes, and eventually the Plebeians had the ability to be elected members of the Senate. (Ellis&Elser, 1997)
 * Social Class **

~Artist unknown, April 14th, 2010, Roman Everyday Life [] Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Page 137

Rome started many things, like the first road, or the first hospital. But from England to Spain to North Africa to the Middle East, you can see tons of Roman buildings. Roman builders used Greek columns. The most famous dome structure is the pantheon, it is a temple to all roman gods, and is still standing in Rome today. Romans also started newer buildings like the Baths of Caracalla; it was a big structure, with vaulted roofs that were supported by arches. Romans were good at building roads, bridges, and harbors throughout the empire. Engineers also built many immense aqueducts, which were bridgelike stone structures that brought water from the hills into roman cities. (Ellis&Elser, 1997)
 * Public Works **

~Artist unknown, year unknown, The Pantheon Rome, USAWelcomeLLC <[] Ellis, E., Esler, A. (1997). World History: Connections to Today. Prentis Hall. Upper Saddle, New Jersey and Needham, Massachusetts. Pages 130-131

Think you’ve learned enough about Ancient Rome? Think again. There are plenty of books and websites out there like this one to give you so much more information on Rome and how they developed. We hope you enjoyed this website and learned a lot about Ancient Rome and Italy!
 * Conclusion **

~Artist unknown, Thursday, July 21st, 2011, The Inquisitive Loan 