The assassination of Julius Caesar, the Roman dictator, in 44 BC led to two decades of civil war as rival leaders tried to take control of Rome. Eventually, Caesar’s great nephew, Augustus, defeated his rivals and united Roman-controlled lands as the Roman Empire. He expanded Rome’s borders to cover most of Europe and the areas of Asia and North Africa surrounding the Mediterranean Sea.
ROMAN MEDICINE
Bigyan Mainali
HY101-2D: Wester Civilization I
November 11, 2014
Ancient Rome was a flourishing civilization that started around 800 BC and existed for approximately 1200 years. It started off in Rome, and grew into one of the largest and most powerful empires in ancient history.
In 509 B.C. the Romans declared themselves a republic, free from rule of the Etruscan kings. (“The Rise of…”) From that point on, the Roman’s form of government would never include the title of “king”, in fear that a single person would gain absolute power. The republic included a dictator (in emergencies), the senate, two consuls, and several other positions. (Bishop) Although the goal of creating a republic was to have a government that represented the wishes of its people, the Roman senate consisted of men of wealth or power, leaving most of the plebeians, or common people, out of the picture. Many of the emperors’ policies strengthened the power of the government, and therefore weakened the power of the plebeians. By the end of Sulla’s rule in 78 B.C., grain prices had risen substantially and there was large gap between the rich and poor. (“The Rise of…”) When Julius Caesar took power, he initiated several reforms that were much needed at the time. Caesar spent large volumes of money on entertaining the citizens, while expanding citizenship to people of conquered lands and lessening the power of the senate. His policies threatened the method of income of senators and around 60 senators, in the name of saving the republic, murdered Julius Caesar at a senate hearing in 44 B.C. Civil war then erupted in Rome and lasted over a decade. At the end of the blood brawl, it was Octavian who emerged victorious; he would be the first Roman Emperor and would be known as Augustus. (Morey) Although the “Liberators” (Julius Caesar’s assassins), might not have realized it, the day that Julius Caesar died was the same day that the republic died; t...
The Roman Empire lasted from 27 B.C.E. to 393 A.D. Rome developed their culture by influence. Romans developed arts and architecture like the Greeks. Additionally, the Romans stole the alphabet from them. Despite the fact, they later developed their own culture from the things they learned. Democracy is one of the things that sets Roman culture apart from the rest. The Roman government said that conquered people got freedom of speech, trial, religion, and government if they paid taxes to Rome. Their empire survived because it was well organized and successfully conquered many lands (How the Ancient Rome Survived and Flourished, 2010).
The Roman Empire was one of the most powerful empires in world history. Although they were the most powerful empire of their time they still collapsed. Many researchers believe that the main reason due to Rome falling was that they over expanded their territory. This also cause them to invade barbarian territories which cause wars and battles. Rome at its finest covered a vast area from north western europe to near east and all lands of the mediterranean.
Ancient Rome was the center of one of the largest and most powerful empires in history. With its center in today’s Italy the Roman Empire conquered the whole Mediterranean and spread its influence to the Middle East, Northern Africa, Western and Central Europe. It reached the height of its power between 100 and 200 A.D. Afterwards the Roman Empire began to fall because it became too big to rule. And the three topics that I’m going to talk about is politics, military and religion
Rise of the Roman Empire
The legend about Rome’s origins puts the founding of the city at around 735 B.C. It is said that a Vestal Virgin gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus, and claimed that they were the sons of the god Mars. The Vestal Virgin was the sister of a king. The king believed that she was lying and imprisoned her. He put her two boys in a basket and threw it into the Tiber River.
The time when Rome was looked at as the world’s capitol, many new things began to come around. Literature was being spread around at this time from places like Greece and Rome. The plays that were written over two thousand years ago are still used as a source for our literature of today. Ancient Rome has a lot of history to it, formed a basis for theater lifestyle that is used today, and produced many great works of literature.
Systems of writing
Roman boys were allowed to go to school and learn how to do music, history, geography, astronomy, mathematics, reading, writing, Latin and Greek. However girls weren’t allowed to learn all of these subjects. They were only allowed to learn Greek, Latin and domestic skills, such as spinning cloth and weaving. Latin was one of the first languages ever spoken, meaning that the ancient Romans weren’t the first group of people to speak that language. Romans also used metal or wood tools to carve messages on wood and stone for each other.
This was achieved by the Roman’s military prowess. Romans were able to conquer their neighbors by building roads and being at near constant war as they expanded their territory and wealth. This expansion caused social issues and civil war. Over time, Rome had transitioned from an initial Monarchy to a Republic, which was ruled by a Senate and two Consuls. When Julius Cesar was assassinated, his death ended the Republic. The Empire was ruled by an Emperor who controlled the consul and the Senate. Under Augustus, the first Roman Emperor, Rome grew to it’s greatest size and there was a long period of peace and stability(Acrobatiq, 2014).