Roman Post 1: 6 Lists of 5 Facts

Section 1: Founding the Roman Republic

1. The Forum was the center of all Roman business
2. Praetors were officials who oversaw the Roman legal system.
3. Patricians were  powerful landowners controlled the government and inherited their power
4. Plebians were farmers and workers who made up the majority of the population.
5. Legionaries were citizens who made up the major unit of the Roman army.

Section 2: Rome Expands its Borders

1. Carthage was a powerful city on the north African coast, was a great commerical power that Rome feared would control the Mediterranean.
2. Sparticus, a Roman slave, led a revolt in 73 B.C. in which more than 70,000 slaves took part.
3. During the Third Punic War, Rome completely destroyed the city of Carthage.
4. One of the greatest generals of all time, Hannibal, a Carthaginian, assembled a huge army and harried the Roman countryside for years.
5. the Roman general Scipio defeated the Hannibal and his army and forced Carthage to give up its colonies in Spain.

Section 3: The Birth of the Roman Empire

1. Together, the Five Good Emperors - Nerva, Trajan, Hadrian, Antoninus Pius and Marcus Aurelius - ruled Rome well for almost 100 years.
2. Caesar, Licinius Crassus, and Gnaeus Pompey formed a political alliance called the First Triumvirate in 60 B.C.
3. The Julio-Claudian Emperors, relatives of Julius Caesar, ruled for 54 years.
4. Marc Antony helped Caesar's grandnephew, Octavian, inherit Rome and ruled with him in the Second Triumvirate.
5. Brave leaders such as the Gracchi tried to implement reforms that would save the Roman Republic.

Section 4: Roman Society and Culture

1. The government passed new laws as needed and judges reinterpreted old laws to fit new circumstances.
2. Growing trade, good transportation, a strong government, revised laws, and a strong army all helped to unify and strengthen the Roman Empire.
3. For centuries people thought Galen was the greatest authority on medicine.
4. The Aeneid tells the story of Aeneas, the prince of Troy.
5. Roman engineers were masters at building roads, bridges, arenas, and public buildings.

Section 5: The Rise of Christianity

1. Rabbis were Jewish scholars who interpreted scriptures and were learned in Jewish laws, and became the leaders of Jewish congregations.
2. The emperor Hadrian banned all Jews from Jerusalem, which resulted in Jewish communities outside of Jerusalem.
3. Many Christians became martyrs - people put to death for their beliefs.
4. Today the Trinity is a central belief of Christians.
5. The Latin word "pope" means "father" in English. Any decisions made by the pope were equivalent to those coming directly from the disciples, who had received their authority from Jesus.

Section 6: The Fall of the Western Empire

1. Inflation, a rise in prices caused by a decrease in the value of money, became so severe that people stopped using money.
2. The Huns, nomadic people from central and southwestern Asia, posed an ever-growing threat to Rome in the late empire.
3. Although the A.D. 476 overthrow of Romulus Augustulus is often seen as the "fall" of the Empire, the empire in the East remained until AD 1453
4. The Vandals, a Germanic tribe, proved to be a serious threat and sacked Rome around A.D. 455.
5. In AD 324, Constantine became the sole emperor again and built a beautiful capital city in the East.