A Brief History of Rome

1. Founding

a. The Romans believed that their city was founded in the year 753 BC.

b. Modern historians though believe it was the year 625 BC.

2. Early rule by kings

a. Succession of 7 kings

b. Romans took charge of their own city

3. The Roman Republic

a. A council was appointed called the Senate

b. They appointed a consul who ruled for one year with the powers of a king

c. The consul could be punished by Senate after his rule was finished

4. There were four classes of people

a. Slaves, no rights

b. Plebeians, free people with little say

c. Equestrians, given a horse to fight for Rome, required wealth

d. Patriarchs who ruled Rome

5. Carthage, in North Africa, was the Republics greatest enemy

a. Hannibal invaded Italy over the Alps

b. In 146 BC the Romans defeated Carthage

6. The Rise of Julius Caesar

a. General and Politician, conquerored vast lands for Rome with no orders

b. Returned to Rome and took over the city as a dictator

c. Managed to get the Senate to agree to make him king, however, he was murdered in the Senate before it happened.

7. The Roman Empire

a. Julius’ nephew, Octavius ruled with other generals before taking sole leadership of Rome and establishing Emperors.

b. Rome itself was conquered by the Visigoth Odoacer and his men in the year AD 476.

c. The eastern empire survied with Constantinople until 1453 when conquerored by the Turks.

Some of the Roman Emperors:

AugustusRome's first emperor. He also added many territories to the empire.

Claudius He conquered Britain.

Nero He was insane. He murdered his mother and his wife and threw thousands of Christians to the lions.

Titus Before he was emperor he destroyed the great Jewish temple of Solomon in Jerusalem.

TrajanHe was a great conqueror. Under his rule the empire reached its greatest extent.

HadrianHe built 'Hadrian's Wall' in the north of Britain to shield the province from the northern barbarians.

DiocletianHe split the empire into two pieces - a western and an eastern empire.

ConstantineHe was the first Christian emperor. He united the empire again chose his capital to be the small town Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople.

Romulus AugustusHe was the last emperor of Rome, nicknamed Augustulus which means 'little Augustus'.

Justinian He was the last 'great' emperor. He conquered many territories, created the 'Justinian Code' and built the fantastic church Santa Sophia. Constantine XI The last emperor of Constantinople. He died defending his great city against the Turks.

Roman Thought and Evaluation of Roman History:

1. Rome had no infinite God. They used the religion of the Greeks.

a. This left the Romans with no reference point for truth

b. Their gods were human like gods

2. Their government was unable to rule as a republic

a. The Senate was unable to control Rome, giving way to armed bands

b. Caesar was named dictator for life in an attempt to give continuity to their culture

c. Augustus took a similar position, become even the center of religion and attempted to mandate morals into the culture.

d. These new man-gods were arbitrary in their decisions and often cruel.

3. Christianity was a threat to the Empire

a. It laid an exclusive claim to truth, where the Romans held dear an all encompassing view of truth…everyone is right.

b. The Christians had an absolute which judged the state

4. Roman collapsed because of its worldview, leaving Christianity behind. People did not want to work and the government tried to be everything.