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The Rise of Rome
• What do you know about the Roman Empire?
• When did it exist?
• What region of the World was The Roman Empire located on?
• What do you think happened to the Empire?
• Italy is an important location in the middle of the Mediterranean
region of Europe.
• It is a long, narrow peninsula with a distinctive shape…it looks like a
high heeled boot jutting into the Sea...
• Historians know little about the first people to live in Italy.
• There is evidence however, that groups from the north slipped through
Italy’s mountain passes between 1500 B.C.E and 1000 B.C.E.
• They were attracted by the mild climate and rich soil, a small but steady stream
of new comers settled in the hills and on the plains of the small country.
• Among these peoples were a Latin speaking people who built the City of Rome
on the Plain of Latium (LAY-Shee-Uhm) in central Italy
• Geography played a major part in the location of Rome.
• The site chosen for Rome was about 15 miles up the Tiber River from
the Mediterranean Sea.
• The Tiber River gave the Romans a source of water and a way to the rest of
the Mediterranean world.
• At the same time, Rome was far enough from the sea to escape raids from
violent pirates.
• Questions
• 1) What sea does Italy stick out into?
• 2) Where did the early Latin people of Italy build the City of
Rome?
• What river was the City of Rome built on?
• Questions
• 1) What sea does Italy stick out into?
• Mediterranean Sea
• 2) Where did the early Latin people of Italy build the City of
Rome?
• The Plain of Latium (LAY-Shee-Uhm)
• What river was the City of Rome built on?
• Tiber River
• In addition, Rome was built of seven hills…which was done on
purpose by the Romans.
• The hills were very steep, making it easy to defend the city against
enemy attacks.
• Rome was also located at a place where people could not easily cross the
Tiber River.
• As a result, Rome became a stopping place for people traveling north and
south in western Italy and merchant ships sailing along the Mediterranean.
• How did Rome begin???
• Two different legends describe how Rome began.
• The traditional story is that twin brothers named Romulus and Remus
founded the city.
• As babies, the boys were abandoned near the Tiber River… they
were then rescued by a wolf and raised by a shepherd and
eventually built the city of Rome in 753 B.C.E.
• The twins quarreled because Remus was making fun of the walls that
his brother was building.
• Romulus lashed out in a fury and killed his brother…he then went on
to become the first King of Rome, naming the city after himself.
• Now there is a second tale that tell the story of Rome’s
beginnings…told through the famous Roman Poet Virgil.
• Virgil - Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest
poets…Virgil appears as Dante's guide through hell and purgatory.
• Now Virgil wrote a story called the Aeneid and it told the tale of a
Trojan Hero Aeneas (Ih-ee-Uhs)
• He and his band of followers are said to have sailed the
Mediterranean Sea after the Greeks Captured the city of Troy.
• What was the Battle of Troy?
• In Greek mythology, the Trojan War was waged against the city of
Troy by the Achaeans (Greeks) after Paris of Troy took Helen from
her husband Menelaus king of Sparta.
• After many adventure together Aeneas and his Trojans landed at the mouth of the Tiber
River…
• Through War and finally marriage to the local King’s daughter, Aeneas united the Trojans
and the Latin people living in Italy and became the father of the Romans
• Questions
• 4) Who were Romulus and Remus?
• 5) What happened to Aeneas and his followers after the Trojan
War?
• 6) Who was Virgil
• 7) Which one of the Rome creation stories do you seem to find
more reasonable.
• Questions
• 4) Who were Romulus and Remus?
• Legend says they were abandoned and then rescued by a wolf and raised by a
shepherd and eventually built the city of Rome
• 5) What happened to Aeneas and his followers after the Trojan War?
• Legend says that they could have been the creators of the City of Rome.
• 6) Who was Virgil
• Virgil is traditionally ranked as one of Rome's greatest poets
• 7) Which one of the Rome creation stories do you seem to find more
reasonable.
• Opinion
• Historians are not sure how Rome truly began…however the believe
that Latin’s lived in the area of Rome as early as 1000 B.C.E.
• They build huts on Rome’s hills, tended herds and grew crops…
• Sometime between 800 B.C.E. and 700 B.C.E., they decided to band
together for protection.
• It was this early band society that eventually becomes known as Rome.
• Early Influences…
• After about 800 B.C.E., other groups joined the Romans in Italy …the
two most important of which were the Greeks and the Etruscans.
• Many Greeks came to southern Italy and Sicily because the Greek Empire
was busy building overseas colonies.
• From the Greeks the Romans learned to grow olives and grapes…crops
that will eventually become very important to the Roman culture and trade.
• The Romans also adopted the Greek alphabet and really embraced
their cultures very much.
• Skills such as architecture, sculptures and literature were all learned
from the Greek culture.
• Rome’s very early growth was influenced most, however by the Etruscans…who
lived north of Rome in the Etruria (Ih-Trur-ee-uh) region of Italy.
• The Etruscans were skilled metalworkers who became rich from mining and trade.
• They forced enslaved people to do the heaviest work and concentrated on
making there own lives very comfortable.
• Their tomb paintings show men and women feasting, dancing and playing
music and sports.
• Some murals also show bloody battle scenes, revealing a massive
pride in their military.
• The Etruscans changed Rome from a village of straw roofed huts into
a city of wood and brick buildings.
• They laid out streets, temples and public buildings around a central
square…which is also how modern cities are laid out.
• The Etruscans also taught the Romans a new style of dress featuring
short cloaks and togas…loose garments draped over one shoulder.
• Togas
• The most important aspect that the Etruscans left on the Romans would be their model for
their military…which would inspire the Romans to assemble a massive army later on.
• Questions
• 8) After about 800 B.C.E., what two important groups of
people joined the Romans in Italy ?
• 9) What Important crops did the Greeks teach the Romans to
grow?
• 10) What was the new clothing that the Romans adopted from
the Etruscans?
• Questions
• 8) After about 800 B.C.E., what two important groups of people
joined the Romans in Italy ?
• Greeks and The Etruscans
• 9) What Important crops did the Greeks teach the Romans to grow?
• Olives and Grapes
• 10) What was the new clothing that the Romans adopted from the
Etruscans?
• Togas and Cloaks