Introduction

The History of Ancient Rome

Why Study Roman History?

1. "We are heirs of Roman Culture whether we like it or not."
2. What do we have in common with the ancient Romans?
3. In what ways are we fundamentally different from the ancient Romans?
1. Romans were fundamentally agricultural.
2. They were pre-industrial.
4. What in particular do you wish to learn from or about the ancient Romans? 

Course Overview

Chronology

                                                                                                                                        Justinian - Byzantine Empire

1000 BCE        750 BCE           500BCE             250 BCE                                           250 CE           500 CE      1000 CE

   |---------------------|-------------------------|--------------------------|--------------------------|----------------------------|--------------------|--------------------|                                                                                                                                     

                        |------Monarchy---  | -------------------- Republic ------------- | -------------Empire-------------------------- |

Geography

1. Rome as a city: has the geographic advantage of a river, and hills which make it more defensible.
2. These geographic features allowed it to expand into Italy and Mediterranean world.
3. Rome's relationship with Italy was very important. It was pivotal in the development of her empire.
4. The seven hills of Rome

   1. Quirinal

   2. Viminal

   3. Esquiline
   4. Caelian
   5. Aventine
   6. Capitoline
   7. Palatine, which was originally a cemetery
5. The Roman empire would span great distances, time zones, climates, and native languages, ethnicities, and races, in a part of the world that today is almost impossible to unite politically.

Sources for Roman History

1. Roman Historiography
1. Polybius mid 2nd c. BCE
2. Caesar 106-44 BCE
3. Sallust c. 86-35 BCE
4. Livy c. 60 BCE-15 CE
5. Tacitus c. 56-115 CE
6. Suetonius c. 69-130 CE
7. Plutarch c. 50-120 CE (Greek)
2. Roman Literature
1. Oratory -- Cicero 106-43 BCE
2. Letters -- Cicero, Pliny the Younger c. 61-112 CE
3. Poetry, Drama
3. Coins and Inscriptions
4. Roman Art and Archaeology
1. City remains, e.g. Pompeii
2. Surviving monuments, e.g. the Colosseum in Rome
3. Statuary and wall-painting

Peoples of Rome by 500 BCE

• Latins in Latium, who were less urbanized and less technologically advanced than the following two groups.

1. The Etruscans in Eturia
2. The Greeks in southern Italy.

• Therefore, Rome united a culturally diverse Italy.

Etruscans in Eturia	Greeks in southern Italy, a.k.a. Magna Graecia
These two maps were prepared to accompany the book The Romans from Village to Empire by Mary T. Boatwright, Daniel Gargola and Richard J.A. Talbert, Oxford University Press, 2004. Copyright 2004, Ancient World Mapping Center: These items may be reproduced and redistributed freely for non-profit, personal or educational use only. For all other uses, you must obtain prior, written permission from the copyright holder(s). The authorship, copyright and redistribution notices may not be removed from the map or altered.