Introduction to World Civilization Dersi 6. Ünite Özet

Introduction

The city of Rome was born at a ford upstream from where Italy’s Tiber River empties into the Mediterranean Sea. Originally a market town dominated by the Etruscans, migrants who most likely were originally from Anatolia, the city state in 509 BCE overthrew the last of the ruling Etruscan kings and created the Roman Republic as a replacement. Rome was built on the worship of civic virtue, the dominance of military issues, the oppression of slaves, social stratification, and leadership by a small group of the wealthy and powerful. Following extensive wars against Carthage, domestic struggles for power brought on the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Empire. The empire was split in two, and under attack by barbarians, the power of the mighty Western Roman Empire vanished when the last emperor was forced by a Germanic leader, Odoacer, to abdicate in 476 CE.

The Origin Of The Roman Civilization

Rome was the first civilization to embrace and help form virtually all that has become Western civilization. Rome taught mankind throughout the Western world how to establish the rule of law, advance engineering and science, and create a powerful military force, thus generating practical details which enabled the rise of Western civilization. Latin went on to become mother to dozens of Romance languages spoken to this day (such as Italian, French, Spanish, Portuguese, Catalan, Rhaeto-Romansch, Romanian, and Ladino); it is also related, if distantly, to other Indo-European languages such as Russian and other Slavic languages, and such as Sanskrit and its offshoots across South Asia.

The True Original Setting of Rome: In the middle of a fertile plain, then called Latium or the Latin plain, just south of where Rome was to rise, farmers had thrived for centuries. Most were surely descendants of the early arrivers, Indo- Europeans who had migrated westward across the mountains that lie to the east of Rome in roughly 2,000 BCE. The Indo-Europeans were among the earliest people to migrate to Italy.

• The village of Rome was in one of several thriving Etruscan cities in central Italy. It was founded at a point 14 km from the Mediterranean, far enough up the river for boats to travel from the sea but also where there was originally a ford, a shallow place where the Tiber could be crossed. Its distance from the coast also meant that it could not be easily attacked by marauders from the sea. Thus, it was an ideal place for a market town to arise, a crossroads, a spot for trade to be carried on between the Latin farmers and the Etruscans.
• The Etruscans were a people with probable origins in Anatolia, in Asia, perhaps migrating west at the end of the Hittite empire, but of whom little is known to this day. Their language was derived from Greek and remains untranslated, and much about them remains covered in mystery. They dominated wide swaths of Italy between the eight and the fifth centuries before Christ and spurred on great growth, only to be defeated by the Greeks at sea and because of attacks over land from the region that is now France.
• In the origin myth one of the twins, Romulus, is said to have built his settlement on the Palatine Hill, the other some distance away, on the Aventine; as a result, they competed over where the center of the new settlement should be located, and in that struggle Remus was killed by Romulus. In fact, Rome was built upon a set of hills.
• The new city attracted a great many settlers, in part because, it is said, the king built a temple honoring the god Janus and then declared that any person entering the temple would be entitled to asylum in the city. So, Rome became a city of refuge for those seeking a new life.

Was Ancient Rome a Civilization?: At one point most of our ancestors left off following the hunter-gatherer lifestyle. Instead, they started living in settled communities, becoming part of what we may label civilization. Once in a civilization, people built a complex society and culture. Once civilized, they also began to develop social stratification, which generally has meant a scale of gradations established among people in the community, with a few rich and powerful men such as nobles or clerics and many others poor, dependent and ordered about by the few on top. Humanity in civilization has invented a formal knowledge system, with individuals able to speak and exchange ideas, constituting an enclosed group, a single cultural organism, a community. One civilization rises, expands, succeeds, reaches its peak, and then grows weak and erodes. It falls by the wayside. If this rise and fall pattern of civilizations marks the movement of human history since the dawn of recorded time, then there is no greater example throughout the Western world of a single civilization being born and then rising to encompass gigantic areas of the known world, to exert all power, to rule virtually the full length and breadth of the West, to lay the foundations of the Western world, before then collapsing in a heap – lasting for century after century after century in the process – than the civilization that can be summed up in a one single, short word: Rome.

Rome’s Geographic Boundaries

In the process of the huge second Punic War, Rome expanded its direct control over much of Italy. The defeat of the old enemy Carthage brought Spain and northern Africa under Roman control. Around the time of Julius Caesar, just before the empire replaced the republic, military conquests had expanded the reach of Rome. It had lost much of its old identity; now it was Roman.

As a result, although the Romans held that territory for only 168 years, the effect was to be indelible, permanent, lasting in some ways until the present day.

Rome And Religion

The Roman Empire is often remembered for its religion. However, the Roman religion went through at least three major stages, although they overlapped each other.

First, in the early years of the Republic, Romans believed in ancient myths and worshipped spirits that they thought governed their households. Generally, the deities were agricultural in nature, such as Robigo, the averter of plant rust. There were two interesting classes of Roman deities:

• The lares were guardian deities who would protect whatever was in their immediate vicinity.
• There were also penates, household deities useful for rituals. These deities, originally associated with the sources of food, supposedly protected the inner core of people.

Second , by the third century BCE, as the Republic aged, the public religion grew to absorb more cosmopolitan, especially Greek, ideas of the deities. Thus, among the prominent gods of the later Republic years were six male gods: Jupiter, the all- important sky god, resembled the Zeus of Greece. During this era, gods were worshipped for specific purposes. They often represented ideas that the Roman society respected, including patriotism, dignity, piety, peace, loyalty, and manliness.

Gradually, other religious forces entered the culture, a third wave. Astrology, for example, became a very popular belief system. There was the worship of Dionysius, originally a Greek god; his followers were highly emotional celebrants. Initiates of the Mysteries of Eleusis were convinced that they would be given a pleasant afterlife by Demeter, the goddess of grain. Among the most interesting religious practices of this wave was the orgiastic cult of Dionysus that, along with the mystery religions, were generally imported from neighbors and gradually supplanted the original religious observances.

In the Bacchanalia, which may have its origin in a dedication to a fertility god, beginning about 200 BCE, Romans engaged in frenzied, orgiastic, ecstatic festivals. The cult of Cybele entered Roman life, also just after 200 BCE, based on the belief that the goddess had ensured victory at Zama, ending the Second Punic War, because she protected those who were besieged.

Another new religion was Mithraism, probably brought back to Rome by soldiers who traveled to the east and perhaps related to astrology; only men were admitted as members. The cult believed in a powerful god who could move the heavens, it advanced the idea of fatalism and avowed a lack of personal responsibility for what happens in life. When the Empire superseded the Republic, the old, competing cults and religions fell away to be replaced with one, all-encompassing religion: the new cult of emperor worship.

Rome’s Attack Upon, Acceptance, and then Embrace of Christianity : Most important of all for civilizational history was the arrival of Christianity, an offshoot of the Jewish religion, destined to become a major world religion via Rome. In the beginning, the Romans were tolerant toward Christianity. But when the Christians, like the Jews, refused to pay homage to Roman gods and the dead emperors, now seen as gods by the Romans, the empire turned against them and advocating Christianity was punishable by death.

The Civilizing Society Of Rome

Early Institutions of Roman Society: The Republic (in Latin: res publica, which means a public entity) rested on the rule of law and was based on an understood constitution. Rome was to be led by Senators who legislated. The importance of the Senate for Roman history cannot be emphasized enough; look around Roman monuments that still survive and one will see stamped on them SPQR – Senatus Populusque Romanus (the Roman Senate and People).

The elected consuls were to be the military leaders of Rome, but only for the year they were elected to power. This meant that military leadership was to be temporary in nature. The Roman Republic built its society – at least in theory – to rest upon the basis of political equality. There was a system of promotion to consulship; first, individuals had to be elected as questors (a title still used in much of Europe) and praetors to be eligible for election to the top posts. Rome did not want what on-the-job training. This led to the rise of a strong oligarchy, of men who were destined to rule their society.

The Plebeians: In the early years, roughly 80 % of the citizens were not patricians but rather plebeians, the lower classes. As the power and extent of Roman republican rule expanded, so did the total number of citizens.

Civic Virtue: To the ancient Romans, civic virtue was central. Thus, the citizenry was expected to serve their country temporarily, when needed. An illustration of the noble type of citizen became one of the most famous military heroes of Rome. Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus was a patrician down on his luck, rather poor. He gained eternal fame, however, for (1) his selfless devotion to the Republic when it needed him at a time of crisis and for (2) his willingness to give up power as soon as the crisis had ebbed. He was famously depicted as a model for all the Romans to emulate, “Cincinnatus at the Plow” by the prominent Roman orator Cicero.

Military Prowess: The Example of the Punic Wars: The Punic Wars were the most important institution underlying Rome’s expansion to include societies east and west. Of all the wars involving Rome, none were more important than the three on-and-off outbursts of fighting known collectively as the Punic Wars.

The Punic Wars together amounted to a long-lasting conflict between Rome and Carthage, a powerful rival  city- state and society to the south, founded originally by the Phoenicians, that arose in what is now Tunisia, on the southern coast of the Mediterranean. The wars began over a conflict on the huge, triangle-shaped island of Sicily in the south. Rule of Sicily at the time the wars commenced was divided between the Greeks, living in the city of Syracuse on the east of the island, and the Carthaginians, settled on the west. Pirates threatened the trade of Syracuse as well as its peace and security. So, Carthage moved to help Syracuse and to suppress the pirates. The pirates, in response, turned to Rome for aid, and the Romans sent an expedition to help them. The first of the three great wars ended with a Roman fleet taking Sicily.

Part II of this macabre drama commenced in 218 BCE and ended in 201 BCE; it was militarily the greatest of the three sets of battles. This second Punic War began in Spain because of conflict between Greek and Carthaginian settlements there. Carthaginian victory in Spain was followed by a dramatic drive of the great general, Hannibal, sweeping on from Iberia up through the south of France. He led his army in a huge attack on Italy, flanking the Roman heartland from the west and north. Hannibal brought with him an immense military force, complete with elephants. The Romans pressed their might under Scipio’s leadership, and they defeated Hannibal at the battle of Zama, not far from his home city of Carthage, in 202 BCE. In 146 BCE, the siege proved to be too much for the unfortunate Carthaginians; the destruction of the city of Carthage led to the final scene of the third Punic War . Out of an estimated half a million people in Carthage, only 50,000 survived. They were taken away as slaves. The city was burnt to the ground and the ruins ploughed over. A new Roman province, named Africa, was created in the area.

The social, political, and ethical institutions of the Roman Republic lasted in Rome for about 500 years (or more, as a shadow of itself). But the ideas of the republic – governmental checks and balances, social stratification, leadership class balanced with rights for all, civic virtue, and military prowess – have since been imitated in one form or another all around the world.

The Civilizing Culture Of Rome

Rome, while not a cultural desert, did not innovate in art, drama, or philosophy. But they did have a culture that grew to be evident all over the lands bordering on the Mediterranean – and remains so today. We can see it in the great constructions of beautiful buildings, massive water works, roads that ran long distances, bathhouses everywhere. It was evident, too, in all areas of formal culture, which spread throughout the Western world and which, while emanating from Rome, was fundamentally Greek in origin. Among other results:

• There also came the Roman rule of law, a gift that keeps on giving to civilized humanity to the present day.
• The Roman religion, as well, with its various gods, was in evidence around the empire, often serving as a device to unite people with Rome.
• A uniform system of administration came with the spread of Rome’s domains, bringing tax collectors and others over the huge distances that often separated the capital from the provinces.
• And, very dramatically, with the vast expanse controlled by Rome there came the great mixing of peoples. Individuals were on the move throughout the empire.

Three Great Roman Institutional Innovations:

Roman Law: Written law began as early as 450 BCE, with promulgation of the Twelve Tables. This was a basic legal code. The basic law was not written down in a single constitution. However, it was accumulated: legislation by the Senate, the decisions of judges; the writings of the philosophers; the decrees of emperors (when the Republic no longer stood), and the opinions of leaders of the society all contributed to this significant development. Law in Rome was ostensibly based on the principle of justice for all and “separating the fair from the unfair, discriminating between what is allowed and not allowed.”

Science and Technology was another great Roman innovation. The Romans, always practical, made few theoretical innovations but applied across their empire advances in public health and hygiene. In medicine they were exceptional, and one of the outstanding physicians and medical philosophers of history – Galen – became an expert on anatomy, physiology, pathology and pharmacology. His written works were read and followed well into the seventeenth century CE. The Romans developed important surgical instruments and often conducted sophisticated medical procedures – on the tonsils, for example. Even more significantly, they learned to deliver newborns via the Caesarean method (named after one beneficiary of it, Julius Caesar).

Architecture and Sculpture: The Roman innovations in these fields include one that is found throughout the world – the round arch. This was used to build bridges, baths, amphitheaters, and arches (especially the triumphal arch). The Romans advanced arches to the barrel vault, a series of arches that could provide a ceiling for huge public buildings. They also specialized in designing domes for buildings; the Pantheon features a dome 142 feet in diameter, elevated to 142 feet above the ground.

Unlike the Greeks, who had used architecture mostly for temples, the Romans tended to spread their work to constructions serving practical needs and the public welfare.

Great Roman Writers:

• Virgil caught the spirit of the Roman civilization.
• Cicero, who held political and legal positions at an early age, was a prolific writer.
• Horace, a contemporary of Virgil, examined matters of everyday life in a gentle and amusing, ironic manner.
• Juvenal wrote poems denouncing pride, and he satirically examined the vanity of human wishes.
• Livy was the last Roman to write a full history from the origins of the Roman Republic through 9 BCE in Latin.
• Lucretius, an Epicurean, was the author of “On the Nature of Things.”
• Emperor Marcus Aurelius was a Stoic who believed in private virtue and continuous public service.

The Infrastructure of the Roman Civilization:

The reach of the Roman civilization expanded in size under the emperors. Along with the expansion of the Roman Empire went the concept of Roman peace, Pax Romana, and thus mammoth building projects to provide protection for all within the borders against depredations by the barbarian hordes. Among the features:

• Great money-making farming estates were founded. These estates were called latifundia and run by slaves.
• Enormous public baths were built for the poor. However, as time went by the status of the poor deteriorated.
• Although some were given land, the conditions were so terrible that many left the empire altogether to live elsewhere.
• On the other hand, trade expanded all the way to China and it was carried on vigorously throughout the empire.
• Perhaps most impressive of all, Roman law, built on reason and natural law, considered to serve the cause of justice, spread across Europe, Africa and Asia.

The Fall Of Rome

Social Forces of Disintegration in the Roman Republic: Sic transit gloria mundi is a Latin phrase. It translates as “Thus passes the glory of the world.” This is what happened – even to Rome – after hundreds of years.

Despite its complex social, economic, and political structures, the checks and balances, the people of Rome faced the inevitable domestic changes brought on by the cresting wave of new wealth and power after the Punic Wars. For one, the Senate became ever more important. Those ambitious for power sought to be named governors of the new provinces, all for a one-year term; the Senate controlled the appointments.

Decline of Equality and Rise of Overarching Personal Ambition Amidst Growing Wealth: It was the glaring absence of equality in the life of the Romans that led, during the last century BCE, to the break out of a civil war in Rome.

The Republic, With Its Old Values, Collapses: The first of the two combatants was a general named Pompey the Great. Born in 106 BCE, Pompey started off as an important soldier. Among his exploits was defeating (or rather, claiming to defeat) the army of slaves led by Spartacus. Next, he moved into politics and was elected consul. Dramatically, he left Rome to fight against pirates in the Mediterranean Sea.

The second of the two contestants was Julius Caesar, a young consul; he was elected as part of a triumvirate with Pompey and another man, Crassus in 60 BCE. Enemies called this a “three- headed monster.” He created an efficient provincial administration to govern the vast territories and he wrote a well-received history called The Gallic Wars. He famously proclaimed: veni, vidi, vici – I came, I saw, I conquered.

Having consolidated power, as of 45 BCE the great military leader, and lavish spender, Julius Caesar was clearly supreme ruler of Rome.

Civil conflict reigned for thirteen years after the assassination.

Thus, it was because of a failure of the Roman culture to remain faithful to its origins; the inability to satisfy all social classes, especially the poor and the enslaved; an excess of wealth and the maldistribution of it; and overweening personal ambition and greed for power that the Roman Republic collapsed.

Timeline of Main Events- Rome

• Mythic Founding of Rome 753 BCE
• Etruscan Kings Overthrown, Republic Established 509 BCE
• Punic Wars 264 to 146 BCE
• Assassination of the Gracchi Brothers 132 and 121 BCE
• Caesar Crosses the Rubicon 49 BCE
• Caesar Named Dictator 46 BCE
• Caesar Assassinated 44 BCE
• Octavian Becomes Augustus, Pax Romana 27 BCE
• Rome Empire at its Height 117 CE
• Jews Lose Wars with Rome, Expelled from Jerusalem 135 CE

11.Christianity Legalized in Roman Empire

313 CE 12.Christianity Becomes the Only Religion

Allowed 392 CE 13. Roman Empire Divided in Two 395 CE 14. Rome Falls 476 CE 15.Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine) Falls

1453 CE