70 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
70 lines
4.3 KiB
Plaintext
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Rome is an ancient city located on the western coast of Italy by the
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Meditterranian Sea.(3:289)
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The city of Rome was founded, according to the legend, by Romulus in 753 BC.
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Remus and Romulus were two mythological sons of Mars, the god of war. "T
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hrough military expansion and colonizations, and by granting citizenship to
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conquered tribes, the city joined all of Italy south of the Po in the 100-year
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period before 268 BC." First, the Latin and other tribes were joined, then the
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Etruscans (a civili zed people north of Rome) and the Greek colonies in the
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south. "With a large army and several hundred thousand in reserve, Rome
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defeated Carthage in the 3 Punic Wars, 264-241, 218-201, 149-146, (despite the
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invasion of Italy by Hannibal, 218), therefore gaining territory in Spain and
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North America."(1:721)
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New provinces were added in the East as Rome exploited local disputes to
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conquer Greece and Asia Minor in the 2d century BC and Egypt in the first
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(after the defeat and suicide of Antony and Cleop atra, 30 BC). All the
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Mediterranean civilized world up to the disputed Parthian border was now Roman,
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and remained so for 500 years. " Less civilized regions were added to the
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Empire: Gaul (conquered by Julius Ceaser, 56-49 BC), Britain (43 AD) and Dacia
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, NE of the Danube (117 AD)."(1:721)
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" The original republican government, with democratic features added in the
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fourth and fifth centuries BC, deteriorated under the pressures of empire and
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class conflict (Gracchus brothers, social reformers, murdere d 133,121; slave
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revolts 135,73). After a series of civil wars (Marius vs. Sulla 88-82, Caeser
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vs. Pompey 49-45, triumvirate vs. Caesar's assassins 44-43, Antony vs.
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Octavian 32-30), the empire came under the rule or a defined monarch (first
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emperor, Agu stus, 27 BC-14 AD). Provincials (nearly all granted citizenship
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by Caracalla,212 AD) came to dominate the army and cival service. Traditional
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Roman law, systmatized and interpreted by independant jurists, and local
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self-rule in provincial cities were su pplanted by a vast tax-collecting
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bureaucracyin the 3d and 4th centuries. The legal rights of women, children,
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and slaves were strenghtened."(1:721)
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Roman innovations in civil engineering included water mills, windmills, and
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rotary mills and the use of cement that hardened under water. Monumental
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architechture (baths, theaters, apartment houses) relied on the arch and dome.
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"The network of roads (some still standing) stretched 53,000 miles, passing
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through moutain tunnels as long as 3.5 miles. Co nceived in 312 BC, the 360
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mile Appian Way was a superhighway that the Romans traveled from Rome to Caupa,
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in Campania...The road took about 10 to 15 days to travel...It was considered
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the Queen of roads by the Romans, but it is a "l'il ole road" by moder n
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standards." Aqueducts brought water to cities, underground sewers removed
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waste. Some of the sewers were so well built, they are still in use
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today.(2:715)
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Roman art and literature were derivative of Greek models. Innovations were
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made in scul pture (naturalistic busts and equestrian statues), decorative wall
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painting (as at Pompeii), satire (Juvenal, 60-127), history (Tacitus, 56-120),
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prose romance (Petronius, d. 66 AD). Violense and torture dominated mass
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public amusements, which were suppo rted by the state.
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"Rome was first settled around 800 BC. Most of the streets in the time of
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the Roman Empire were narrow and crooked. Some were very dirty. Some parts of
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the city were wide and beautiful with white marble buildings, great columne d
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pourches, and triumphal arches. Anciant Rome had the population of modern
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Rome. The centers of Roman life were open places where public meetings were
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held. Such a meeting place was called a forum. One of these was so much more
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important than the oth ers that it was called the Roman forum. The long,
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narrow Roman Forum was also the market place of the city. The temple of
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Jupiter Capitolinus was the oldest and most sacred temple of Rome.
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"Historians beleive that Rome once had as many as three hund red temples.
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The best known of these was the Pantheon, which was the temple to all the gods.
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The Pantheon became the Christian Church of Santa Maria Rotonda in 608 AD.This
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circular domed church is today is the most perfectly preserved of all the
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anciant roman building."(1:721)
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