Monarchy – Republic – Empire

Contents
1) Location
2) Historical evolution
a) Monarchy
b) Republic
c) Empire
d) The Germanic peoples.
3) Economy
4) Society
5) Culture and religion
6) Art: architecture and sculpture
 1. Location
• Roman civilisation began in the Italian
Peninsula. It is surrounded by the
Mediterranean sea.
• At the beginning, this territory was
occupied by a several groups of people.
Even the greeks had territories here as
well as Etruscans and Latins.

When we talk about Rome, we are talking about

a huge civilisation not only a city.
 ROMULUS AND REMUS

HOMEWORK

Complete the
legend
2. Historical evolution
• Rome was an agricultural village situated on the area of
the Seven Hills, along the banks of the Tiber River.
• According to the legend, Romulus and Remus, the twin
sons of the god Mars that were raised by a wolf,
founded the city of Rome. Romulus killed his brother
and became its first king.
• The fact is that a number of Latin tribes settled at the
foot of seven hills close to the Tiber River.
 MONARCHY REPUBLIC EMPIRE GERMANICS

476 a.D
Founding of Popular revolt Octavio Augusto Division of the Fall of the
Rome Empire Western
Empire.

King with Expansion Pax romana

absolute Punic wars Romanisation
power

753 b.C 509 b.C 27 b.C 395 a.D 476 a.D

a) Monarchy (753 – 509 b.C.)
Rome had seven kings that ruled with absolute power.
The Senate wich was an advisory group of wealthy and
powerful people known as the patricians, gave him advice.
The rest of the population were plebeians and they don’t
have political rights.
During this period Rome became a powerful city.
Finally in 509 b.C the social discontent made that the last
king of Rome was deposed and Rome became a Republic.
The Senate is going to hold the power now.
 b) The Republic (509 – 27 b.C.)
• During this period the power was divided between three
institutions:

PLEBEIANS GOVERMENT PATRICIANS

 Between Carthage and Rome for the control of the
Punic Mediterranean sea and some of its islands.
Wars By the end of the third war, Rome had conquered
Carthage's empire, and became the most powerful state of
the Mediterranean.
Territorial expansion

During the Republic and thanks to its well-organised army, Rome

conquered a lot of territories.
They began with the Italian Peninsula, then the Western
mediterranean (Punic Wars) and finally the Eastern mediterranean.
AFTER ALL THESE
CONQUESTS, ROMA
CONTROLLED THE
ENTIRE
MEDITERRANEAN,
WHICH WAS CALLED
Consequences of the conquests
Economic Political Social
All these consequences resulted in more power being
given to the army generals as Julius Caesar. They
became dictators.
Finally, after a period of civil wars, Octavius Augustus
ended the Republic and established the Empire.
c) The Empire (27b.C – a.D 476)
The first emperor was Octavius Augustus. He held all the
power. The rest of political institutions continued but
without power.
In order to control the huge territory they decided to divide
it in provinces.
The conquests continued during this period. Rome reached
its greatest extension. The roman frontiere or limes was
defended by a long line of fortifications.
PAX ROMANA ROMANISATION

Process through which

Long period of peace the conquered
and prosperity peoples of the Empire
between the 1st and gradually adopted the
the 2nd centuries. Roman way of life, the
Economy and culture languaje, the political
developed and the system and became
Empire’s cities grew. part of the Roman
road network.
In the 3rd century, the Empire went into political and
economic decline.
Civil wars, attacks by the Germanic
peoples, end of the conquest…

The emperor Theodosius divided the Empire in two:

• The Western Empire  Rome
• The Eastern Empire  Constantinople

This division didn´t stop the invasión of the Germanic

peoples. They invaded the Western Empire and deposed the
last emperor.
 d) The germanic peoples.
The romans referred to all the people outside the boundaries
of the Empire as barbarians. They included the Germanic.

The Germanic came from North Europe

(Denmark and Scandinavia). They were
organised intro tribes. They were
peasants and shepherds. They were
polytheists and they worshiped warrior
gods.
From the 3rd century onwards they began to invade the
Roman Empire.

In the 5th century they deposed the emperor of the Western

Empire and created a territory made up of several
independent kingdoms.
 Consequences
The economy of these kingdoms was based on agriculture.

The cities fell into decline and trade drascatically

decreased. The population started living in the countryside.
The kings had a group of loyal men arround him and he paid
their loyalty with lands.
The people obtained protection from the nobles in
exchange for their obedience.
 The Eastern Roman Empire survived another thousand
years and its known as the Byzantine Empire. Its capital was
Constantinople.
 3. Economy
Their economy was based on agriculture.
They improved irrigation methods. The
agricultural production increased due to
new tools and techniques.
Most land was owned by the patricians who
used slaves.

Artisan production reached a high degree of

technical perfection. The artisans formed
profesional associations called collegia.
Trading was really intense during this
period.
They also obtained gold, silver, iron, cooper and salt from de mines.
4. Society. - Rights
- Participate in politics
- Patricians
- Women
- Plebeians
- Slaves
- Any rights
- Property
- Freedmen
• Exercise:
Write some characteristics about each social group.
- Patricians
- Plebeians
- Freedmen
The city.
Cities were very important in Rome. They were the center
of political, economic and cultural life.
The romans extended the existing cities and founded new
ones.

Roman cities had two main streets  cardo (north to

south) and decumanus (east to west). At the point where
they crossed there was a large square called the FORUM.
 DOMUS
Houses for
wealthy families.
Its rooms
surrounded an
atrium or indoor
courtyard.
 INSULAE
They were
buildings with
small apartments.
There were often
shops and
workshops on the
ground floor.
 BUILDINGS FOR ENTERTAINMENT

AMPHITHEATRE CIRCUS THEATRE

Gladiator Chariot
combats races
ROMAN BATHS
 5. Culture and religion.

The romans were polytheists. They adopted the Greek gods

and change their names.

They worshipped the emperors too  Imperial cult.

They practised public and private worship. They worshipped

gods which protected the home and the family. These
included:
• Lares 
• Manes 
• Penates 
Greek God Roman God Role

Ares Jupiter God of sea

Zeus Pluto Goddess of wisdom

Hera Mars God of underworld

Aphrodite Juno God of war

Athens Neptune Chief god

Hades Minerva Wife of chief god

Poseidon Venus Goddess of love

In the first century a new religion appeared called
Christianity. Christians followed the teachings of
Jesus that proclaimed the existence of a single
God.
Christians believe that all men are equal.
Jesus denied the divinity of the emperor and he
was condemned to death.
At the beginning christians were persecuted.
They had to meet in secret places and they were
buried in catacombs.
Later Emperor Theodosius made christianity the
official religion of the Empire.
Two of the most important things that roman
culture gave to us were:
 Latin
 The law.

Roman culture produced great works in many

areas including philosophy, literature, history and
science.
 6. Art: architecture and sculpture
Roman art was influenced by the Greeks.

Architecture  roman architecture had a practical purpose. They

built useful public infrastructures. They used stone, brick and cement.
They used the Greek architectonic orders and they added two
more:
- Tuscan as the Doric but with base.
- Composite with both volutes and acanthus leaves.
UNLIKE THE GREEKS,
THE ROMANS USED
ARCHES AND VAULTS
The most important type of buildings:

Religious: the temples could be rectangular (the most

common) o circular. It only had stairways on the main facade.

Civil: basilicas, public thermal baths, theatres, amphitheatres

used for fights between animals and gladiators, and circuses
for chariot races.

Roman also constructed bridges, aqueducts, roads, reservoirs…

 Commemorative monuments: they were built to record

important events like columns and triumphal arches.
RELIEFS
Sculpture  many art works were copies of Greek originals.
Romans created more realistic portraits than the greeks, and
were less interested in ideal beauty.

• Painting  They decorated walls inside the houses. They were

produce in fresco and with bright colours.

• Mosaics  made with tesserae o pieces of coloured marble.

They were used to decorate the floors.
Complete each sentence.
1) Rome is a city in ___________________
2) The story of how Rome got its name is a ____________________
3) Who was Rome’s last dicator? ______________
4) People that were considered citizens but they were poor ____________
5) __________ and ___________ couldn´t be citizens
7) __________ is a slave that had obtained its freedom
8) People that lived outside the limits of the Empire were known as ________
9)The _____________ were the boundaries of the Empire
10) ___________________ was a period of peace.
11) During the Punic Wars, ________ fought against _______________. They
wanted to obtain the control of the _________________ _______.
Greek or Roman?