Christianity in the Pax Romana

Christianity in the Pax Romana

- A new religion in the empire
- Christianity: roots
- It all begins with Jesus.....

• Most of what we know of Jesus comes from the Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John
• "Gospel" means "good news"

Who's Jesus?

- Jesus was a Jewish itinerant preacher in Judea who set himself apart from the other "Messiahs"

- Jesus taught God's personal relationship to each human being

- Message of love

More Roots

- Jesus' followers believed he was the "Messiah" who had come to end the world and bring the truly faithful into the Kingdom of God

- Jesus was believed to be both man and the son of God; both human and divine 

- Jesus was deemed a threat to Roman rule and was crucified, though his followers believed he rose from the dead and ascended to heaven

- The 12 followers of Jesus who attempted to spread the word of his teachings were known as apostles 

Start Spreading the News

- Paul of Tarsus was a Jew who became a follower of Jesus after a miraculous vision on the road to Damascus 

- Paul talked of "predestination" which meant that God chose who was to be saved and who was to be damned 

- Paul was well-traveled, he helped find churches in many places, and he kept in touch with these new Christians by letters (Corinth, Thessalonia, Rome, Ephesus)

From outlaw to cult to actual religion 

- "A reading from the letter of Paul to the....."

• Romans
• Corinthians 
• Ephesians 
• Philippians  
• Colossians 
• Thessalonians 
• Hebrews 

Emperors Attempt Reform

Emperors Attempt Reform

- In A.D. 284, Diocletian, a strong-willed army leader, become the new emperor
- He divided the empire into the Greek-speaking East (Greece, Anatolia, Syria, and Egypt) and the Latin-speaking West (Italy, Gaul, Britain, and Spain)
- When he retired in AD 305 his plans for succession failed
- Civil War broke out immediately
- Constantine gained control of the western part of the empire in AD 312
- He moved the capitol from Rome to the Greek city of Byzantium (what is now called Turkey)
- Constantinople: the city of Constantine

The Western Empire Crumbles

- Around AD 370, all that changed when a fierce group of Mongol nomads from central Asia, the Huns, moved into the region and began destroying all in their paths
- Romans called all invaders "barbarians" (a term that they used to refer to non-Romans)
- In 444, they united for the first time under a powerful chieftain named Attila
- The last Roman emperor, a 14-year-old boy named Romulus Augustus

The Fall of the Roman Empire

The Fall of the Roman Empire

- The end of the reign of the emperor Marcus Aurelius (A.D. 161-180) marked the end of two centuries of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana
- Hostile tribes outside the boundaries of the empire and pirates on the Mediterranean Sea disrupted trade
- The economy soon suffered from inflation, a drastic drop in the value of money coupled with a rise in prices
- Eventually, serious food shortages and disease spread, and the population declined
- Over time Roman soldiers in general had become less disciplined and loyal
- To defend against the increasing threats to the empire, the government began to recruit mercenaries, foreign soldiers who fought for money

Emperors Attempt Reform

The Rise of Christianity

The Rise of Christianity

- Roman power spread to Judea, the home of the Jews, around 63 B.C.
- Sometime around 6 to 4 B.C., a Jew named Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea
- At the age of 30 he began his public ministry
- The 12 men that followed Jesus are called the apostles
- Christos is a Greek word that means "messiah" or "savior"
- The name Christianity was derived from "Christ"
- Despite political and religious opposition, the new religion of Christianity spread slowly but steadily throughout the Roman Empire
- Paul: a Jew who had an enormous influence on Christianity's development
- In 70 A.D., the Romans stormed Jerusalem and destroyed the Temple complex
- The dispersal of the Jews is called the Diaspora
- Romans exiled, imprisoned, or executed Christians for refusing to worship Roman deities
- Thousands were crucified, burned, or killed by wild animals in the circus arena

Christianity grew because....

- it embraced all people
- gave hope to the powerless
- appealed to those who were repelled by the extravagances of Imperial Rome
- offered a personal relationship with God
- promised life after death

- bishop: also a priest, supervised several local Churches
- Peter: first Pope - the father or leader of the Christian Church

Test today

In class we took an open blog test and I was so happy. I thought it was really easy except for 2-3 questions that i couldn't find on my blog. I didn't know what Gaul was now known as today so i just guessed and got it wrong but that's ok. Besides that I thought it was an easy test and I hopefully got an A. Once I finished the test I worked on my English project and almost finished it but there was only five minutes left in class. I am just glad I got another test over with this week.

Review

Review:

Etruscans

• came from north-central part of the peninsula
• metalworkers, artists, architects
• two foundation myths: Virgil’s Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy - sound familiar?); the story of Remus and Romulus

Greeks

• they had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
• Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as:
• religious beliefs
• alphabet
• much of their art
• military techniques and weaponry

the Latins!

• descendants of Indo-Europeans
• settled on the banks of the Tiber
• situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further
• a commercial port, but not susceptible to attack and... built on seven hills (esp. Palatine)

many streams flowed into the Tiber

• there was a marshy area called the Forum,  between Palatine and Capitoline Hills
• Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber
• urban legend says Washington DC was built on a swamp - but only about 2% was actually swampland - however, Constitution Avenue is located on what used to be called Tiber Creek

Lucius Tarquinias Superbus

• the seventh and final king of Rome
• known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to as Tarquin the Arrogant)
• a true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word
• Tarquin seized power like an old school tyrant (see if you can follow this horrible story...)
• ...Tarquin’s grandfather (the fifth king) dies… his widow names Servius Tullias king, since she liked him more than her own sons… S.T.’s daughters marry two brothers (one is Tarquin)… one of the daughters (Tullia) kills her husband and her own sister… this leaves her free to marry Tarquin

but wait, there’s more...

Tullia persuades Tarquin to seize the throne from her father… he sits on the throne and declares himself king… S.T. objects, and Tarquin throws him down the steps and into the street, then has him assassinated… Tullia hails Tarquin as the new king, but he sends her home for safety… on her way home she sees the body of her father in the street, seizes the reins, and drives her chariot over his corpse...Tarquin refuses to bury his body, and assassinates senators who object

years later, Tarquin’s son Sextus and his friends are drinking when Sextus tries to force himself on a matron, Lucretia… she refuses, and he threatens to kill her and says he will say he found her in the arms of a slave… she gives in to the blackmail, then confesses the ordeal to her family, and commits suicide… Tarquin tried to sweep it all under the rug, but the people rose up against the son, the father, and had the whole family expelled from Rome

the people’s shock at this horrible family and their terrible behavior made them NEVER want to be subject to the rule of kings EVER again - this was an attitude that lasted for centuries

Rule of kings is replaced by rule of two consuls (“gotta be better than one”)

• consuls are elected officials
• term of office: one year
• always aristocrats (patricians)
• patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor, or pater (“father”)
• duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army
• one consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)

fifth century BCE - patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs (“people”)

• plebs were 98% of the population
• how did the patricians dominate?
• plebs had to serve in the army, but could not hold office

• plebs were threatened with debt slavery
• plebs had no legal rights

• plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials
• Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs
• patricians could interpret these to their own advantage

So, plebs refused to serve in the military until…

• laws were written out (The Law of the Twelve Tables)
• these laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)
• tribunes (“tribal leaders”) were elected

SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanum

• designates any decree or decision made by “the Roman Senate and People”

brand new republic, ready to run

• democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes
• aristocracy (the Senate - approx. 300 members)
• plus monarchy (the consuls)
• not a tyranny (eww… too scary… a mistake the Romans did not care to repeat)

originally, the US modeled their new government on the model used by the ancient Romans

• is it exactly the same?  not quite…
• but both have three branches of government
• executive
• legislative
• judicial
• and both have a legal code

Executive- Rome

• two consuls
• one year terms
• each has veto power
• controls the military
• could appoint a dictator in a crisis for a six-month term

Executive- US

• President (plus VP)
• four year terms
• can veto proposed laws
• Commander-in-Chief of the military

Legislative- Rome

• Senate - 300 people - aristocrats - members for life
• Assemblies (either Centuriate or Tribal) 193 members (later 373) - members for life

Legislative- US

• Senate - 100 senators (two from each state) - six-year terms
• House of Representatives - 435 members (55 from Cali; MD has 8; AK, DE, MT, ND, SD, VT, WY have 1) - two-year terms

Judicial- Rome

• Praetors
• chosen by the Centuriate Assembly
• one-year terms

Judicial- US

• Supreme Court
• nine members
• lifetime terms
• appointed by the President, confirmed by the Senate

Article Two of the United States Constitution requires the President of the United States to nominate Supreme Court Justices and, with Senate confirmation, requires Justices to be appointed.

Twelve Tables

• Publicly displayed in the Forum
• gave rights to plebeians, not just aristocrats
• only protected free-born male citizens (not women)

Bill of Rights

first ten amendments to the Constitution

1 - free speech/press/religion

2 - bear arms

3 - no quartering

4 - no search and seizure

5 - no self-incrimination

6 - right to fair trial

7 - jury trials

8 - no cruel or unusual punishment

9 - right to privacy, +rights are assumed

10 - states have power where fed doesn’t

5000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)

• the Roman army’s elite heavy infantry
• recruited exclusively from Roman citizens
• group of eighty’s a century
• on horseback is the cavalry
• shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

The Punic Wars (264 - 146 BCE)

Rome vs. Carthage

three wars

First Punic War

(264 - 241 BCE)

• naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily
• Rome wins this one

Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE)

• 29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome
• attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps
• lays siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he never can get to Rome Rome 2, Carthage 0

Third (and final) Punic War (149-146 BCE)

• Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage
• Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attacked the city
• Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed
• when the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery
• the rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

Economic change, social upheaval

• slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,000 Greek POWs, etc.)
• by the end of the second century BCE there were over a million slaves in Italy
• small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles
• slaves did the work on the farms for the rich
• the big farms became massive estates called latifundia

How do you keep the plebs happy (or at least keep them from revolting)?

• the poet Juvenal said Rome “anxiously hopes for two things: bread and circuses”
• bread (free grain from the state) and entertainment (Circus Maximus, Colosseum), partly to keep them alive, and partly to keep them quiet, distracted, and docile

A Change in rule

• Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)
• military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils

• soldiers’ loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

Julius Caesar (100 - 44 BCE)

• a highly successful general
• he conquered the huge territory of Gaul
• made common folks happy
• made friends in high places
• Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)
• Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history
• these three men formed the First Triumvirate (“rule of three men”)

Caesar seizing Power

• Serves as consul (one year)
• Appoints himself governor of Gaul
• Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival
• Caesar’s armies clash with Pompey’s in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt (Caesar - winning!)
• In 44BC he is named dictator - first for six months, then for life

Caesar’s Reforms

• Granted citizenship to people in provinces
• Expanded the Senate, adding his friends
• Created jobs for the poor, especially through public works projects
• Increased pay for soldiers
• Started colonies where those without land could own property

Assassination

• Why? The senators saw Caesar’s rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability
• How? They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved
• Who? Even Brutus, Caesar’s ally (“et tu, Brute?”)
• Senators were not punished

• Octavian was named Julius Caesar’s sole heir

• Basically, this is the end of the republic

Aftermath to the Murder

• Julius Caesar’s grandnephew - and adopted son - Octavian takes over at the age of 18! with his own triumvirate
• Mark Antony is an experienced general
• Lepidus is a powerful politician
• This is the Second Triumvirate

A Doomed Alliance

• Octavian forces the weak Lepidus to retire
• He and Mark Antony become rivals
• Mark Antony partners up with Cleopatra of Egypt
• Militarily
• Personally
• Politically
• Economically
• Octavian defeats them at the Battle of Actium

Octavian on his own

• He is now the unchallenged ruler of Rome
• He was given the honorific “Augustus”
• “Exalted one”
• He was also given the title “imperator”
• Supreme military commander
• This is where we get the word “emperor”
• Now Rome is an empire, not a republic

Octavian ain’t no Tarquin

• 40 years of ruling as emperor (27 BC to AD 14)
• He began a stable era of peace and prosperity known as the Pax Romana (Roman peace)
• Pax Romana was 207 years long
• 27 BC to AD 180

Some Accomplishments...

• Expanded the Roman Empire further into Africa
• He set up civil service to run the government/empire
• Building a network of roads
• Collecting taxes
• Establishing a postal service
• Administering the grain supply
• Building awesome public facilities
• Buildings, aqueducts
• Setting up a police department
• Running a fire-fighting organization
• Finally died of natural causes
• After Octavian’s death, power was passed down to emperors

Some were good, some were horrible, some appeared to be completely insane

Let’s review some of the emperors…

Tiberius

• Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37
• an excellent general, but a reluctant emperor
• after the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge
• died at age 77

Caligula

• Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years!)
• won a power struggle after Tiberius' death
• known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant
• assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the im

• perial court, trying to re-establish the Republic
• but it didn't work…

Claudius

• Ruled from AD 41 to AD 54
• suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering... possibly because of cerebral palsy
• took over because he was the last adult male in the family
• ruled well - built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain
• died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

Nero

• ruled from 54 to 68
• emphasized the arts
• huge fire in 64 (although he DIDN'T fiddle)
• he wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic
• he hugely overspent, and even raided the temples for money
• historians do not look kindly on him