Greece, Rome, & Byzantium

Bellringer

• On a piece of paper in your 3 pronged folder, draw a circle map to brainstorm what you know about Greece and another circle map for Rome

Different types of Governments

• Monarchy• Aristocracy• Oligarchy• Tyrants• Democracy

Timeline of Democracy• Draco came to power in 621 B.C.E.

– Draco’s code = all Athenians equal under the law. – Punishment for criminals = death– Upheld debt slavery

• Solon came to power in 594 B.C.E.– Outlawed debt slavery– Four social classes based on wealth and the poor could not hold

political office, but everyone could participate in assemblies• Cleisthenes created more reforms

– Broke up the power of the nobility– Council of Five Hundred – members were chosen at random

• Citizenship = free adult male property owners born in Athens

Famous Philosophers

• Socrates– Encouraged his students to examine their own beliefs

• Plato– The Republic– Ideal society is not democracy, but rather the most

intelligent person would be a philosopher-king

• Aristotle– Developed rules of logic

Fall of Greece

• Peloponnesian War weakened the city states• Philip of Macedonia took over Greece• Alexander the Great follows in his father’s

footsteps and takes over Persia

Hellenistic Culture

• Blending of Greek, Egyptian, Persian, and Indian culture– Ptolemy = the sun revolves around the Earth– Euclid = geometry– Archimedes = displacement theory, pi, law of the

lever– Pythagoras = Pythagorean Theorem

Roman Republic

• Rome was founded by the twins Romulus and Remus to honor their mother a she wolf

• Good place for trade (olive oil, wine, textiles, raw materials)

• They were ruled by a king at first

Roman Republic

• Power rested with citizens who have the right to vote (free born male citizens)

• Two social classes– Patricians– Plebians

• 12 tables: Written laws– Patricians cannot manipulate laws to suit their

needs

Military

• All landowners had to serve• Legions: 5000 foot soldiers• Century: 80 men• Fought in the Punic Wars against the

Carthaginians– 23 years for control over Sicily

• Rome proved their dominance

The Roman Empire

• Lead by a Triumvirate– Julius Caesar– Crassus– Pompey

• Julius Caesar– Kicked the other two out of power– Became Roman Dictator for life – Reforms– Murdered on the Ides of March

Second Triumvirate

• Octavian• Mark Antony• Lepidus• Took over ruling Rome for 10 years. Octavian

and Antony kicked Lepidus out of power and then Octavian defeated Antony

• Octavian changed his name to Augustus

Pax Romana (Roman Peace)

• Lasted 207 years (27 BCE – 180 CE)• Government Stability– Jobs created– Civil Service– Common coinage throughout the empire– Christianity becomes a bigger deal

The Fall of Rome

• What factors do you think led to the fall of Rome?– Political– Economic– Social– Military

• Immediate cause– Germanic Barbarians invade

Constantine

• Constantine gained control of the Western Empire (Rome) in 312 CE

• What did he do in 313 CE?• In 324 CE, he gained control of the Eastern

Empire (Byzantium)• He moved the capital from Rome to

Byzantium (Constantinople)

Legacy of the Roman Empire• Greco-Roman culture• Literature and Language– Epic– Latin

• Language of the Church• Basis of Romance languages

• Buildings and Architecture– Concrete, Roads, Aqueducts

• System of Law– Citizens rights, equality under the law, basis of the

modern justice system

Byzantium

• In 395 Rome had been divided.• The Eastern Emperors saw themselves as ruling

all of Rome• Justinian– 527 he gained the throne after his uncle died.– 533 – his general, Belisarius, recovered North Africa

from the barbarians– 535 – Belisarius reclaimed Rome from the Ostrogoths– Rome changed hands constantly, but Justinian’s

armies took back most of Italy and parts of Spain

Justinian Code

• Single, uniform code created by a panel of legal experts.

• Served the empire for 900 years• Consisted of four works– The Code: 5000 Roman laws– The Digest: Quoted and summarized the opinions

of Rome’s greatest legal thinkers– The Institutes: textbook for law students– The Novellae: legislation passed after 534

Famous Buildings

• Hagia Sophia– Holy Wisdom– Church that Justinian rebuilt

• Hippodrome– Horse and racecourse– Chariot races and performance acts

Theodora

• Empress Theodora was Justinian’s wife• She was an actress• Justinian loved her and wanted to marry, but

could not until he repealed a law that prohibited the emperor from marrying an actress

• She was the most powerful women in the history of the Byzantine Empire

Nika Rebellion

• The people were angry with Justinian and the fact that a riot had been put down in the Hippodrome earlier.

• Justinian was afraid and planned on fleeing Constantinople

• Theodora, however, urged him to stay and this saved Justinian’s rule

Fall of Byzantine Empire

• In the late years of Justinian’s rule, the plague hit Constantinople and thousands of people died. This destroyed a huge percentage of the population

• The Empire itself fell to different groups of people by 1350

• However, the city of Constantinople held out until 1453 when it fell to the Ottomans

The Great Schism of 1054

• Roman Catholics follow the Pope and the Eastern church follow the Patriarch

• Disagreements about wealth and the Church and the use of icons led to tensions between the West and East

• In 1054, tensions became very high and the Pope and the Patriarch excommunicated each other.

• Why is this schism so important?