History of Ancient Rome Notes EXAM 2 PDF

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History of Ancient Rome Notes   Society and Culture- Impact of Greek and Foreign Culture after 200 BCE ● Religion-the Romans were fascinated by the culture of the greeks ➢ The Roman religion began with gods who didn’t have a legitimate shape that they made contracts with ● Anthropomorphic gods-these gods have human shape ● “Mystery” cults: Goddess Isis, God Bacchus (Dionysus)-Eastern religions that promised people no matter how miserable their life might be in the world, they should always look forward to the afterlife. They are called “mystery cults” because there is a secret and they have to learn it before entering the afterlife ➢ Cult of Isis-genteel initiation rite. Isis can bring you back to life. If you want to be initiated, they have to be pure ➢ Cult of Dionysus (Bacchus)- initiation was “wild in the woods”, discarding rules of society. A little more wild and crazy because it involved only women and wine, and this is how you get initiated into the cult. ➢ Cult of “Great Mother” (Cybele)-her lover was Attis (vegetation god). Attis made the mistake of messing around with another women, and Cybele got so mad that and Attis castrated himself with a knife and died. Attis was a metaphor for the vegetation, and every spring, there was a big festival (The Day of Blood) for Cybele, and the worshippers would have a orgiastic frenzy. Some of the most enthusiastic men would castrate themselves, becoming priests of Cybele ● Some Romans were not happy about these cults, and in 186 BCE the Senate investigated into Bacchus Worship → the meetings occurred at night and the government was concerned about this ● Bacchus Worshippers were accused of crime, counterfeiting, and murders and they were sent to be executed ● Philhellenes-lovers of Greek culture ● Scipio Aemilianus-organized a group of Senators who enjoyed and sponsored Greek culture and they were called “Scipionic Circle” ➢ Greek Philosophy- another form of religion. Used by individuals as a means of having guidelines on how they can understand and guide their lives. 2 schools of philosophy: stoicism and epicureanism ➢ Stoicism-the universe is seen as a great machine, very structured. No free will; all you can do is fulfill the role that the universe has assigned to you (doing your duty) → the Roman way of life. In this kind of universe, there is no place for gods because it’s predictable and structured, except there is one god who gets everything started

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➢ Epicureanism-the universe is seen as atoms falling through space. Exactly the opposite of stoicism → completely unstructured and the whole universe is just random atoms. Every so often, something causes the atoms to swerve and some of the atoms would clump together and form the material universe. Believed in living a life of quiet retirement, study and enjoying themselves, but not overdoing it. Does not have any room for god's either Drama- the Romans loved entertainment. They liked plays, comedies, tradejies and greek drama. Many politicians would sponsor comedies in order to make a name for themselves. The Romans liked comedy more than tragedy History-a literature genre invented by the Greeks and up until this time, the Romans haven’t written down their history. About the year 200 BCE, the Romans start writing down their history. When they first started to write their history, the wrote it down in Greek. ➢ Polybius-a greek hostage. Wrote the history of Rome → one of the earliest historians of Rome, traveled around with Scipio Aemilianus Increasing Roman Backlash-Cato the Elder → was a “new man” senator and was elected consul and censor. He marketed himself by being very conservative by restoring old Roman values. He wrote literary works in Latin Satire-humorous perceptions of society; use of humor to expose people’s vices Blood Sports-funeral games borrowed from the Etruscans.

 Roman Republican Coin Denominations as of 211 BCE ● Copper (as)-initially one pound of copper; very conservative ● Silver (denarius)- 10 as’s; issued after the Battle of Cannae ● Silver (quinarius)- 5 as’s ● Silver (sestertius)- 2.5 as’s ● Gold (aureus)-60 as’s ● Economic Sophistication-“fiduciary coinage” → from “fides” based on “faith”. Romans realized that the value of the copper money is not based on the value of the metal in it, but in the people's trust that it can be exchanged for silver money and used to buy something just as if it were real silver. This allows government to “float a loan” on the people ● When the Romans finally agreed to make a change, they did it willingly. In the case of coinage, they issues copper, silver, and gold coins. When they make changes, they do it effectively and fast ● Roman coinage takes over the Mediterranean  Society and Culture- Social Change ● Expansion in the roles and rights of women ● Increasing social consciousness

● Sumptuary Laws-laws against excessive consumption and display (showing off too much of your wealth, spending lots of money on entertainment and feasts) → after the Battle of Cannae, Romans didn’t want people to show off their wealth  Social Change of Women Oppian Law-Women could not appear in public wearing more than a half of an ounce of gold, could not wear multi-colored clothing, or ride around in carriages ➢ In 195 BCE there was a repeal on the Oppian Law ➢ Women got organized and staged protests in the forums ➢ Cato the Elder: “Our freedom is conquered by female fury, we let them meddle in the forum” → damaging Roman morality ➢ Marriage “without authority”- a woman just marries a man and when her father died, she’s under her own legal authority (has rights to buy property and could carry out the same business transactions that a man could carry out) ➢ The Romans have a love for tradition and will hold on to it for dear life  Social Change- New Social Class ● Knights or the Equestrians → in the Servian Reform, Knights were at the highest in the social class. These knights are different ● Increasing use of war captives as agricultural slaves  Social Structure as of 145 BCE Citizens ● Senators (land, officer corps) → only respectable way to invest their money was in land. It was their goal to get as much land as they could ● Knights (commerce) → Took advantage of this Roman expansion to the Mediterranean. Took advantage of Roman law on their behalf to expand their business dealings among the Mediterranean ● Plebeians (⅓ of the army = Roman legions) Non-Citizens ● Italian Allies (⅔ of the army) → under Roman authority ● Provincials (not in army) ● Slaves (they could become a Roman citizen if their masters set them free → doing their duty will set them free) ➢ Using agricultural slaves as Rome expands and Senators gain more land ➢ By 100 BCE, Rome has become a more “cosmopolitan” society  Fall of the Roman Republic ● There was 4 main problems as of 145 BCE

1.) Provinces (“benign neglect”)→ Romans acquired more provinces and the Senate has done nothing to incorporate the provinces into Roman life. The administration of the provinces was very minimal 2.) Agricultural-Military Crisis (military recruitment)→ throughout previous wars, many Romans were killed in battle, so it was hard for their families to keep up with the family farm. Often times, the wife of the fallen soldier will sell the farm to Senators. More and more land is being consolidated in the hands of senators, and fewer recruits for the Roman army. Senators acquired more and more property and developed estates. They could have taken all the public land and redistributed it to plebeians who didn’t have any land and they could have served in the army → but the Senate didn’t do this. 3.) Italian allies (they want citizenship) → they govern themselves, don’t pay taxes, still independent but they have to provide soldiers when they go to war. They have no Roman benefits 4.) Ambitious Senators→ in the past, Roman Senators could always work among themselves to represent a united front. Then they would meet together and collaborate on decisions. Now that Roman’s have expanded, some Senators became so ambitious and put their own interests in place of the Roman government (violating Roman traditions in pursuit of their own goals)  Provinces in 120 BCE ● Provinces in Spain, Africa, Sicily, Sardinia, Macedonia, Greece, Asia scattered in the full length of the Mediterranean  Roman Provincial Administration ● Responsibilities- defense (only raise a military force in a province if the province was under attack), system of justice, and tax collection ● Governor’s- 3 kinds (Praetors, Proconsuls = Ex-Consuls, Proprietors = Ex-Praetors) → elected every year ● Governor’s Staff- Governor, Quaestor, and maybe some Legates (individuals that could delegate their authority to) → very small (could not govern the all the provinces all by themselves) ● Local Administration- done by city councils, Civitas (city) ● Tribute (a fixed tax → every year, each citizen knew how much they had to pay in taxes), Tithe (one-tenth of harvest → taking crops), “publicans” = tax collectors → the local people collect the taxes, not the governor ● In 149 BCE, the Senate did the first thing they could to help extortion in the provinces → The Extortion Court  Agricultural Military Crisis ● Fewer Roman citizens to serve in the military army

● Only an issue if they are confronted with large wars ● The Romans acquired Spain in 2 provinces and they gradually expanded to the in-lands of Spain that used to be occupied by Celts ● There was a drain of Roman man power in Spain ● The Celts of Spain had a very unique culture of their own, very different from Roman or Greek culture ● The Romans encounters with the Celts had a big effect on Roman military tactics. Lead to a change in military practices. ➢ Celts were headhunters (decapitate the enemy and bring the head home) ➢ When the Romans fought Celts, they would also engage in headhunting ➢ Romans are fighting what they consider a barbarian enemy  Graveyard of the Roman Republic ● Spain is known as the graveyard of the Roman Republic because their military men keep dying in battle in Spain ● Viriathus, a charismatic leader, lead the Celts and a major rebellion against the Romans ➢ The Romans were unable to defeat the Celts by themselves, so they bribed a Celtic traitor to assassinate Viriathus ➢ The Fort of Numantia is where the Romans fought the Celts → they had very little success, and it took them a while to find a competent general ➢ Scipio Aemilianus, who captured Carthage is 146 BCE, was put in charge of the Roman army in Spain in 133 BCE and captured Numantia and sold the inhabitants into slavery. He put the war to an end  Tiberius Gracchus ● Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus- sons of Cornelia, and they chose to be political reformers ● Cornelia- the daughter of Scipio Aemilianus, was the most virtuous women in Rome. After her husband died, she had to take care of 13 children, and not many of them survived ● Tiberius Gracchus- he served as Quaestor (financial officer) and served in Spain (137 BCE). He traveled around Italy and saw huge senatorial estates being worked on by thousands of estates. Tiberius understood why there are no soldiers to recruit and in 133 BCE, he was elected as a Tribune of the Plebs. He proposed a law that distributed public land to landless Plebeians to allow them to serve in the army. The senators were opposed to this law since they have been renting that land for many generations and thought of it as their own, even though it belonged to the Roman state ➢ Proliferation of Latifundia- large estates run by senators and worked on by slaves ➢ Tiberius tried to sweeten the law by saying each senator could have a certain amount of acreage from the estates. Even though he didn’t have a lot of support, he didn’t want to take any chances of having a law that wouldn’t get votes from the senate

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➢ Tiberius decided he was going to propose his law to the Council of the Plebs instead of to the Senate → the Senate was not happy about this Two kinds of politicians- optimates and populares ➢ Optimates- work within the Senate ➢ Populares-bypass Senate and go directly to the people Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus addressed the Council of the Plebs → they were very good speakers The Secret Ballot Law was passed in 139 BCE- the votes in the popular assemblies were by secret ballot (nobody knew who you voted for). The Senators are even more scared because they aren’t able to run the Secret Ballot Tiberius takes his law to the people and it is passed → land is now distributed to the Plebeians ➢ He ran for a second term as a Tribune of the Plebs, which went against tradition ➢ The Senate knows Tiberius has other agendas on his mind ➢ While the elections went on, some riots when beating and clubs, and Tiberius and a hundred of his supporters were killed → first use of violence in Roman politics ➢ This shows how concerned the Senators were about their rights being violated and threatened ➢ One of the consequences of this is that the use of violence will become another weapon of the Roman people ➢ Tiberius violated Roman Tradition

 Gaius Gracchus ● After his brother Tiberius dies, he becomes the leader of the Plebs ● His agenda is to get even with the Senate because of the murder of his brother ● Extortion Court-putting governors on trial → being tried by the Senate and it was easy to sway the jury. It was hard to get a conviction ● Gaius introduced a law to put Knights (commercial/financial class) as the jury in the court → the Knights were the ones who engaged in the extortions and Gaius put them in the Extortion Court ➢ Gaius really thought he was getting even with the Senate ➢ After a while, Gaius’s success gets to his head ➢ He was elected a second term for the Tribune of the Plebs ➢ His plan was to find a colony on the cursed site of Carthage → some Romans thought this wasn’t right because it was a cursed area ➢ In a look to expand his own support base, Gaius promised to give citizenship to the Italian Allies ➢ One of the members of the Italian Alliance tried to succeed from the alliance, but the Romans wouldn’t let him ➢ If you were in the Italian Alliance, you had to stay in the Italian Alliance

➢ Gaius tried to expand his base, and eventually he lost his base and ran for Tribune of the Plebs for the 3rd time and didn’t get re-elected → now he was open to prosecution. There were rumors that he tried to overthrow the government ➢ Gaius and 3 thousand of his followers were murdered in 121 BCE, and the use of violence becomes an accepted procedure in Rome ● The Last Decree of the Senate-let the consuls to do whatever they see fit to restore order in Rome. Authorizes to use violence in terms of crisis  Significance of the Gracchus Brothers (133-121 BCE) ● Self-interest of Senators - put ambitions agendas first ● Violence in politics- both brothers were murdered ● Loss of senatorial unity- optimates and populares ● Loss of cohesion among Plebs- will sell their votes to the highest bidder ● Agricultural-Military crisis won’t be solved by land distributions  From one Crisis to the Next ● Big demand on Roman military recruitment ● Cimbri and Teutones-from Denmark, they left home and started to migrate South to find new places to settle on ➢ In 112 BCE, they defeat the Roman army and they continued to wander around ➢ Battle of Arausio (107 BCE), the Romans raised a double consular army and lost 80,000 soldiers (two generals that didn’t get along) ● Jugurtha, Numidia (107-104 BCE)-the north African king of Numidia, Jugurtha murders his two brothers (one of them in Rome) ➢ The Romans declared war on Numidia ➢ Jugurtha was good at guerilla warfare because he had a cavalry ● Slave revolt in Sicily (104-101 BCE) ● Marius and the “Volunteer Army” (107 BCE)- he promised that if he is elected Consul, then he’ll defeat Jugurtha in Numidia. He was elected consul and was aware that the recruiting army was not very good ➢ He creates the Volunteer Army which consisted of Roman citizens that had no property at all. They expected to be paid and rewarded- created a paid, professional army → they looked at this as a career opportunity ➢ Marius reorganized the army and made it look more professional and brought in new weapons- gladius (short sword), pilum, fortification stake → everyone had the same armour ➢ The senate refused to take up these responsibilities and expected the generals to pay the troops ➢ Marius provides additional training to the army and made it more organized

➢ He got rid of the old legion (maniples- 120 soldiers) and created Cohorts (larger fighting units with 600 soldiers in each of the the three rows). The Cohorts were so large that they could operate independently. He did this because he thought the 120 man units were too small and couldn’t do much on their own ➢ “Marius’ Mules” ➢ In 106, Marius went to Africa and had a hard time capturing Jugurtha ➢ The romans have learned that if you can’t defeat the foreign enemy, you have to get someone else to do it ➢ Marius’ lieutenant, Sulla, induced another North African King to take Jugurtha captive → the Romans were able to capture Jugurtha and imprison him. Later on he was strangled and died  Battles of Aquae Sextia (102 BCE) and Vercelli (101 BCE) ● The Teutones and Cimbri prolonged a 2 year long attack on Italy ● General Aquila defeated the slaves in Italy ● Marius deats the Teutones (102 BCE) ● Marius defeat the Cimbri (101 BCE) ● Tens of thousands of cheap slaves were placed on the market (they used to be warriors)  Results of Marius’ Military Reforms ● Property requirement abandoned ● A professional “volunteer” army- the army must be paid and rewarded ● Army will be loyal to whomever provides the rewards ● Patron-Client relationship (general is the patron and soldiers are the clients)  Fall of the Roman Republic as of 100 BCE 1.) Agricultural-Military Crisis (military recruitment) → this problem has been solved because of the Volunteer Army ➢ The Volunteer Army expected to be rewarded after the war was over → standard form of a reward was acquiring land 2.) Provinces (“benign neglect”) 3.) Italian Allies (they want citizenship) ➢ Druses the Tribune (91 BCE) ➢ The Romans are adamant on not giving the Italians citizenship ➢ “Revolt of the Italian Allies” (90-89 BCE)- the “Social War” (from “socii” = “allies”) → has nothing to do with society ➢ The rebels, the Samnites, were prepared because they established “Italia” (country of Italy) → they established their own laws and government and they looked a lot like Rome (kind of like what the Plebeians did when they threatened to succeed)

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They even issued their own coins Various nations had symbols they identified by The symbol of Rome was the wolf who suckled Romulus and Remus The symbol of Italy was the bull goring the Roman wolf (Italy wanted to defeat the Romans) ➢ Plautia-Papirian Law (89 BCE)- the Italian Allies were given Roman citizenship → even the Italian Allies who revolted were given citizenship ➢ The Romans became very flexible and imaginative ➢ Result- no more Italian Allies 4.) Ambitious Senators  Social Structures as of 88 BCE Citizens ● Senators (officer corps) → have to be elected to office (Tribune of the Plebs, Quaestor) ● Knights (officer corps) ● Plebeians (all of army = Roman legions) Non-Citizens ● Provincials (not in army) → have no rights in Rome, no established way for them to become citizens ● Slaves → the class of slaves have changed a lot. In the beginning of the Republic, they were domestic slaves and were members of the family. But as the result of Roman Expansion and more wealth/more land, there’s floods of war captives sold as slaves that weren’t treated very well and had to work on the land. They were no longer domestic slaves ➢ 2 class slaves system in Rome → domestic slaves and agricultur...