Ancient Rome: From Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth Invasion (The Britannica Guide to Ancient Civilizations)

226 Pages·2010·6.81 MB·english

by  Kathleen Kuiper

Published in 2011 by Britannica Educational Publishing
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First Edition
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Ancient Rome: from Romulus and Remus to the Visigoth invasion / edited by Kathleen
Kuiper.—1st ed.
p. cm.—(The Britannica guide to ancient civilizations)
“In association with Britannica Educational Publishing, Rosen Educational Services.”
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-1-61530-207-9 (eBook)
1. Rome—History. I. Kuiper, Kathleen.
DG209.A55 2010
937—dc22
2009045443
On the cover: A phalanx of statues, currently housed in the Vatican Museum, stand as
silent witnesses to the grandeur of ancient Rome. Ian Shive/Aurora/Getty Images
Photo credit pp. 17, 39, 77, 104, and 153 Hulton Archive/Getty Images
19
CONTENTS
Introduction 10
Chapter 1: Rome from its Origins
to 264 BC 17
Early Italy 18
Historical Sources on Early Rome 19
Rome’s Foundation Myth 20
The Regal Period, 753–509 BC 21
The Foundation of the Republic 23
The Struggle of the Orders 24
The Consulship 26
The Dictatorship 26
The Senate 27
48
The Popular Assemblies 27
The Plebeian Tribunate 28
The Twelve Tables 30
Military Tribunes with Consular Power 30
Social and Economic Changes 31
The Latin League 33
Roman Expansion in Italy 34
The Samnite Wars 35
The Pyrrhic War, 280–275 BC 37
Chapter 2: The Middle Republic
(264–133 BC) 39
First Punic War (264–241 BC) 39
Between the First and Second Punic Wars
(241–218 BC) 41
Second Punic War (218–201 BC) 42
Campaigns in Sicily and Spain 45
The War in Africa 47
The Establishment of Roman Hegemony in the 54
Mediterranean World 48
Roman Expansion in the Eastern
Mediterranean 49
Roman Expansion in the Western
Mediterranean 53
Explanations of Roman Expansion 56
Beginnings of Provincial Administration 57
Transformation During the Middle Republic 58
Citizenship and Politics in the Middle
Republic 58
75
Culture and Religion 61
Economy and Society 66
Social Changes 72
Rome and Italy 74
Chapter 3: The Late Republic
(133–31 BC) 77
Aftermath of Victories 77
Changes in Provincial Administration 78
Social and Economic Ills 78
The Reform Movement of the Gracchi
(133–121 BC) 78
The Program and Career of Tiberius
90
Sempronius Gracchus 79
The Program and Career of Gaius Sempronius
Gracchus 81
War Against Jugurtha 82
The Career of Gaius Marius 83
Events in Asia 85
Developments in Italy 86
Civil War and the Rule of Lucius Sulla 87
The Early Career of Pompey 90
Pompey and Crassus 92
Political Suspicion and Violence 94
The Final Collapse of the Roman Republic
(59–44 BC) 95
Political Maneuvers 96
Civil War 97
The Dictatorship and Assassination of
Caesar 98
The Triumvirate and Octavian’s Achievement
of Sole Power 98 99
Intellectual Life of the Late Republic 100
Grammar and Rhetoric 101
Law and History 102
Philosophy and Poetry 102
Chapter 4: The Early Roman Empire
(31 BC–AD 193) 104
The Consolidation of the Empire Under the
Julio-Claudians 104
109
The Establishment of the Principate Under
Augustus 105
The Roman Senate and the Urban
Magistracies 107
The Equestrian Order 109
Administration of Rome and Italy 110
Administration of the Provinces 111
Emperor Worship 112
The Army 113
Foreign Policy 115
Economic Life 117
Augustan Art and Literature 118
Appraisal of Augustus 120
136
The Succession 121
Growth of the Empire Under the Flavians and
Antonines 124
The Flavian Emperors 124
The Early Antonine Emperors: Nerva and
Trajan 127
Hadrian and the Other Antonine
Emperors 129
The Empire in the Second Century 132
Trend to Absolute Monarchy 133
Political Life 134
Rome and Italy 135
Developments in the Provinces 137
The Army 148
Cultural Life 149
Chapter 5: The Later Roman Empire 153
The Dynasty of the Severi (AD 193–235) 153 142
Septimius Severus 153
Caracalla 157
Macrinus 157
Elagabalus and Severus Alexander 158
Religious and Cultural Life in the Third
Century 159
The Rise of Christianity 161
Cultural Life from the Antonines to
Constantine 163
181
Military Anarchy and the Disintegration of the
Empire (235–270) 164
The Barbarian Invasions 166
Difficulties in the East 167
Economic and Social Crisis 168
The Recovery of the Empire and the Establishment
of the Dominate (270–337) 170
Diocletian 172
Struggle for Power 177
The Reign of Constantine 178
The Roman Empire Under the Fourth-Century
Successors of Constantine 181
The Reign of Julian 183
190
The Reign of Valentinian and Valens 184
The Reign of Gratian and Theodosius I 186
Social and Economic Conditions 188
The Remnants of Pagan Culture 190
The Christian Church 191
The Eclipse of the Roman Empire in the West
(c. 395–500) and the German Migrations 193
The Beginning of Germanic Hegemony in
the West 194
Barbarian Kingdoms 195
Analysis of the Decline and Fall 196
Appendix A: Table of Roman Emperors from
27 BC through AD 476 198
Appendix B: Ancient Italic Peoples 202
Glossary 213
Bibliography 215
Index 221 192