BY: April Yee and James Holeman

•Hills, mountains, plains

•Separated by Apennine Mountain range creating a east and west

•Main rivers (Tiber, Arno, Po)

•Climate very mild due to the Mediterranean Sea

•The Alps lock off the peninsula from the rest of Europe

•The Alps were impassible during the winter months

•Rome traded with many countries

•China and far east for silk

•Cotton and spices from India

•Ivory and wild animals from Africa

•Mined metals from Spain and Britain

•Most of trade was conducted by sea rather than land

•Roman army consisted of heavy infantry (based on wealth)

•First two lines of Roman infantry consisted of a heavy javelin

•First The hastati would engage the enemy

•If things got to bad they fell back to regroup while the next line engaged

•Consisted of mainly wheat , olives, and grapes

•Also grew turnips and apples in cooler climates

•Rich people usually ate meat such as pork, chicken or rabbit

•Poorer Romans usually ate bread with either olives or cheese

•Slaves and domestication of animals became a big part of roman farming

•Big farms were big and small farms were scarce

•Cassis- helmet usually made out of bronze

•Lorica Segmentata- armor usually layered upon a roman soldier

•Gladius- a short sword usually used for thrusting

•Scorpio- almost like a crossbow

•Ballista- Like a catapult but hurled smaller rocks

•Patricians- wealthy and the well educated

•Knights- Merchants and businessmen

•Freemen- born free (farmers and laborers)

•Freedmen- born as slaves and were freed (artisans, musicians, shopkeepers)

•Slaves- no legal rights

•Architecture: use of domes and columns

•“[Triumphal paintings” commemorating war victories

•Influenced by the Etruscans and Greeks

•Statues (often of people in power)

•Literary tradition based on stories of the Gods

•Latin (written and spoken)

•Virgil: Poet—well known for his work, “The Aeneid”

•Petronius and Juvenal: satirists

•Republic assemblies to elect magistrates or vote to approve/disapprove legislation

•The senate had the most power

•The republic was actually the aristocracy

•Empire: the emperor has the most power while the Senate lost power

•Pater familias: the male head of the household

•By law men had control of his children (i.e. giving in marriage, selling to slavery)

•Families were “blended” (with step/half siblings) due to the short expected life span

•Women were expected to be concerned primarily with domestic affairs

•Basic if no education at all

•Highly dependent on males ( fathers, husband, son)

•Pantheon of Gods and Goddesses “regulating human life" (polytheistic)

•Roman Gods: Jupiter, Apollo, Minerva, Mars

•Not so much about spirituality as advancement in this lifetime

•The need to please the Gods so that things might go well for them

•Temples constructed, statues made, various rituals performed

•Localized religion (in rural areas) had elements of animism (certain Gods pertaining to specific needs)