PASCO HERNANDO COMMUNITY COLLEGE
WESTERN CIVILIZATION (EUH 1000) CLASS NOTES
. Instructor: Dave Tamm / Term: Spring 2008 .
ROME
Today at the Capitoline Hill, one can see a field of broken ruins-
monuments and buildings, and see the heart of what was once an
emormous empire stretching from England to Iraq and Morocco to the
Black Sea.
It grew up on the Palatine Hill, that village, from village to city to
imperial epicenter. a remarkable story in the history of the west. it
conquered celts, carthaganians and the hellenistic kingdoms- all of
them, and incorporated them into itself. this process overwealmed the
city center and its republic... it became an empire.
Tiber river and its flow into the mediterranean helped the site grow.
500-400
Etruscans rules in northern Italy, but pressure from Celts up north
weakened them. Rome was able to, under their Eutruscan king Tarquinus
Supurbus, expel him (due to the rape of a roman noblewoman, Leucretia,
by his son sextus). Rome became an oligarchy under two consuls, each
checking the other, like in Sparta. The Senate governed while the
consuls led in war. Patricians and plebians became distinct classes.
Rome battled endlessly vs its neighbors, no monarchy would be
restored. Plebians grew restive and thretened to secede and form a
separate city, so patiricians made reforms. Tribunes could now guard
plebian rights with a veto.
450 rome lays down a law code. While rome grew more stable, Eutruscans
grew less, being harried by the Gauls and others. they were fading
rapidly, and Rome countered their Eutruscan condederation of the north
with a Latin League in the south, by 400.
The Gauls came in and crushed the Etruscans, and the Romans took the
spoils, Veii. Then Rome was sacked by the Gauls in 390, league fell
apart. The archives in Rome were destroyed. Ten years later a wall was
begun around Rome.
TAKING OF ITALY
Legion, a flexible fighting unit, was developed for the Italian
countryside. By 300, they were in protraced conflicts with the
Samnites for control of central Italy. They defeated them. Also,
Romans began beating the Gauls in the north, and taking Greek cities
of Magna Grecia. Tarentun in the south had good cause to fear Rome's
expansion, in the boot. They called Pyrrhus of epirus for help. This
Greek entered Italy with 25k soldiers, and 26 elephants (ever since
alexander, elephants were an ornament to a hellenistic army).
Phyrrus defeated Rome in 280 in such a tough battle, that he said he
would return without a man to Epirus. (Phyrric victory is one that
costs way too much and amounts to a defeat).
Rome took the cities in Italy, and set its eyes on Syracuse and
Sicity, where Carthage reigned supreme.
CARTHAGE
Phoenician (Canaanite) semites biggest colony. 'New City' survived the
persian swallowing of the phoenician lands because of location, and
grew on its own to be powerful. it even had its own colonies. its
prosperty was cut short by Rome. they dont talk much about carthage
today. as the ultimate losers for supremecy, and looked down as
idolators of Baal, by the Romans, their thousand year old civilization
has been little studied and is unknown. their story may be another
form of anti-semitism.
In 264 the 1ST PUNIC WAR. Fifteen years later, Rome was a world power,
having defeated a Hellenistic army and now defeated carthage. Rome
took Sicily (except syracuse).
2ND PUNIC WAR: 238 Carthage had a revolt in the army due to bad
payouts, and Rome took advantage of the situation by taking Sardenia
and Corsica. Carthage responded by expanding its Iberian holdings.
Hamilcar Barca supervised it. His grandson, was Hannibal. Rome
demanded Carthage stop developing colonies in northern Iberia, and
leave alone the old Greek colonies there. Hannibal responded by
burning a Greek colony and marching with a huge army over the alps,
50k infantry, 9k cavalry and 37 elephants. Roman legions in the north
were defeated. Cannae wiped out the Romans, killing 50k out of 86k
army. Hannibal thought Rome defeated, but the Romans held on but did
not attack directly. Hannibal faced opposition in Carthage too, the
Barca family was disliked. Finally, Publius Cornelius Scipio tried
something daring. instead of defending Rome, he went to North Africa
and threatened Carthage itself. Hannibal returned to stop him.
Hannibal faced Scipio at Zama and lost his first battle (202).
CONQUEST OF GREECE
Macedonian king Philip V helped Hannibal at Cannae, but Roman navy
stopped him. Now it was time to go to Macedonia. Greeks revolted and
joined Rome because they tired of Macedonia. Rome recognized Greek
"independence" but really Roman seuzentariy. Antiocus III of Seleucid
Empire was threatened. He invaded greece and was defeated by Rome in
Thessaly. Hannibal, who was hiding in The Seleucid Empire, committed
suicide in 183. Macedonia made one last try, fighting and Legion met
Phalanx in 168 for the last time. Legion won. After 200 years of
Hellenistic Macedonia, now all was Roman.
TRIBULATIONS OF ROMAN CULTURE
Rome never developed the culture greece did. And Greece never
reflowered under Roman rule. Terentius (Terence) wrote dramas in Latin
though. Shakespeare enjoyed them, and based A Comedy of Errors and A
funny thing happened on the way to the forum on Plautus, another Roman
poet.
Road building. all roads lead to rome, cause they fanned out from
rome. an inevitable result is 'all roads...' these were built out in
this time.
Devotion to the Law, to organization. extention of roman law and
rights of citizenship to non roman italians... all was new, and is the
foundation of European law. Through the power of the law and property
rights, rome became much more stable than earlier peoples. yes there
was imperfect adherence, but in all, a quieter and saner society. Its
memory would remain, ghost like, to animate later peoples.
By 150 Hellization was going on in rome, thaks to Scipio, who brought
it back with him. Polybius (150) a greek historian, wrote a history of
rome. romans began writing too.
AROUND ROME: SELEUCID ASIA AND EGYPT
Antiochus III the Great died and the S Empire fell apart. Parthia,
Bactria and Armenia were all free. Only Mesoptoamia and Syria
remained. Antiochus IV Ephines (175) went into Egypt, abandoning the
eastern provinces. Alexandria was saved however, when a Roman
ambassador told him to get out or face Rome. The manner in which the
ambassador made him decide is worth of note: Antiochus tarried, asking
for more time. So the Roman ambassador drew a circle and told him to
make up his mind before he stepped out of the circle. The humiliation
of Selecucid Asia was completed. Antiouchus went to the east after
all. In Egypt, Ctseibus the greek engineer invented the water clock:
regular drips made a floating device mark the passing of the hours.
In Judea, Antiochus III wanted hellenization. Some Jews did, creating
a tear in the province. Antiochus IV was worse, for he was humiliated.
So, he decreed that the temple in Jerusalem was to be Greek, and a
statue of Zeus was to be placed in it. Copies of the Bible were to be
destroyed. Jewish dietary regulations ended. Sabbath abolished,
circumcision forbidden. Resistance- book of Daniel and Esther written.
tyranny and persecution were fought. Violence in 168: Mattathias, an
aged rabbi, and his five sons called the Hasmoneans, were well
respected. One son was Judah Makkabi, or Maccabeus. He led the
conservative Jews against the Seleucid forces and took Jerusalem back,
and rededicated the temple in 165. Antiochus IV died two years later,
and the Jews fought his successor, who inhereated a rump state.
East in Parthia, Antiochus IV fought Mithradates, but when he died,
Parthia claimed all of the eastern 2/3 of old Persia. It was a
zoroasterian empire, Persian was lingua franca. IN 141 it would
capture Mesopotamia from the Seleucids, and build a new capital at
Ctesiphon across the river from Seleucia. The Seleucids, now confined
to the Levant, had their capital at Antioch (an increasingly worthless
throne).
The rebirth of Lydia came in Anatolia, called Pergamum. Attalus II
built the 2nd best library in the world (only to Alexandria), and
since the Egyptians would not let them have papayrus, they used
stretched animal skins, called parchment (a bastardization of
pergamum). In the Aegean, Rhodes was the lone independent Greek place,
and the colossus was there, but the Romans made Delos a tax free
trading zone, to end its joy. Hipparchus of Nicaea of lived on Rhodes,
measured the distance to the Moon, invented longitude and latitude,
divided stars into classes of brightness called magnitude, drew a star
map, discoverd precession. And predicted planetary motion on the
assumption that they all revolved around the Earth.
3RD PUNIC WAR: Rome was being Hellenized too. Scipio loved Greek
culture, and brought more of it, including Greek writers like
Polybius. Some people did not like this. Cato the Censor did not like
Greek culture, nor Carthage. Fueled hatred for C. In 149 they demanded
carthage be abandoned, and the people settle inland. No, didnt work.
Rome attacked. Heroic years for carthage's defense, but it fell and
was burned , population enslaved, territory annexed to rome. After 600
years, Carthage was gone, and the Phoenicians, as a people, were gone.
AROUND ROME: "CONQUEST" OF GREECE, PERGAMUM, PONTUS, ARMENIA
General Quintus Flavius Rome sacked the city of Corinth in 146,
annexing all Greece. 133 Iberia was taken, and over in Anatolia, in
Pergamum, the king Attalus III had no heirs and left his kingdom to
Rome in his will, because he wanted his last gift to be the avoidance
of a war. It worked, and the east was Roman. In Pontus, on the black
sea coast, Mithradates the great annexed the crimea and its greek
settlements. They were happy to do this, as Scythians were threatening
them from the north, and Pontus could help. Clashes with Rome in the
west make the two dislike each other. In 88, Pontus surprise attacked
Rome and drove them out of Anatolia, killing as many Roman citizens as
possible. Perhaps 80k, an enormous figure. Greek cities rose with him,
but General Sulla of Numidia fame went on the march, taking Athens and
smashing Mithradates in Greece, sending the Pontine king out for good,
and giving him the burden of a tribute.
Armenia was a reborn Urartu, which was destroyed by Assyria in 700s.
Armenians were subject to Persia, Alexander and Selucids. In 95, an
independent kingdom emerged. Tigranes I the Great expanded against
Parthia. Armenia was now powerful for the first and last time, with
Tigranes marrying daughter of Mithradates of Pontus. Tigranocerta was
the capital. When in 63 Mithradates died in Crimea, Tigranes
surrenndered to Rome's new general: Pompeius. Armenia became a loyal
subject. As for Seleucid, it was all but dead: Antiouchus XIII ruled
over only Antioch. Pompey saw fit to, on his way back from Armenia,
end the charade. He also took Judea, and the Levant was Roman. Now
Egypt was the only Hellenistic kingdom left.
BEYOND THE GOBI AND HIMALAYAS: CHINA
Under the Hans around 100 BC, Chinese culture was as attractive in the
east as Greek was in the west. Wu Ti annexed southern China and Korea.
Explorer Chang Chien wnet to Bactria to get help against the Huns in
the north of the Great Wall. This was the first contact between China
and the West. The West liked Chinese silk.
TROUBLE IN RIVER CITY
As slaves and pows came into Italy, the dignity of labor was lost. Now
only slaves did the hard jobs, and romans did not. "Jobs Romans will
not do". Small farmers were forced off the land, not able to compete
against big farms worked by slaves. Some slaves revolted in 135 (and
why shouldn't they?), and 200,000 were fighting, put down by the
legions, and 20,000 crucified.
POLITICAL PARTIES
Political parties formed in Rome like in Athens during Solon's time.
Optimates (republicans) and Populares (democrats). Money was used to
bribe voters. violence sometiems. Rome dissolved into anarchy! time
for a reform. Tiberius Gracchus and brother Gaius put through land
reform, limited size of farms. smooth out the wealth a little. Well,
Optimates hired thugs and they were assassinated.
More Expanion: southern Gaul taken, west of dead carthage lay Numidia
(algeria) taken (althouh roman generals were bribed to lose by the
ruler of Numidia- proving decadence is a poison that affects all
segments of society). They were paid off temproarily but then Gaius
Marius and Lucius Sulla went in and annexed it anyway in 108.
Danger: Germanic tribes- existing in Germany and scandinavia since at
least 500, were coming south and west at the expense of the Gauls. the
Cimbri and Teutones moved into the Alps, and defeated two legions.
They were on the march and so Rome turned to Gaius Marius, conquerer
of north africa and he raised a new army, low born people who found
life in the army better than that at home. they became professional
soldiers. they were loyal to Marius not to the state. In 101 he wasted
the Teutones. So in 100, Rome was master of the mediterranean despite
troubles inside and out.
CLASS WAR INTENSIFIES
Rome granted citizenship to all Italians in 88 BC to keep them happy.
reforms were tried, failed. Marius had the lower classes on his side,
and the Populares, Sulla became champion of the aristocrats, the
Optimates. Both had armies loyal to them. Both hurt the other sides: A
civil war came, and Sulla, out on campaign in Parthia, came back to
win at the gates of rome in 79. A conservative dictatorship granted
the senate renewed powers. After Sulla the strongman died, a vacuum
appeared.
Roman historian Appian: pg 124 (great analogy to usa)
THE FIRST TIRUMVERATE
A great slave revolt led by spartacus, the gladiator from Thrace. Two
Roman leaders took arms against it, finally destroying it. Pompey, who
crushed a revolt in Iberia, and Crassus, wealthiest man in Rome and
former liutenenant of Sulla, in 71. Crassus gained his wealth so
questionably he would have felt right at home on Wall St. The two made
themselves consuls. Pompey rid the sea of pirate infestation, and set
off to fight Pontus and Armenia.
Crassus and Pompey were now joined by Gaius Julius Caesar, who made
money looting Iberia. Caesar is assigned governor of the Gaullic areas
in N. Italy. He intended to conquer Gaul.
In 58 he began. 44 and without war experience, he turned otu to be of
the first rank, and after 7 years, he conquered all gaul. all to the
Rhine was Rome, and he never lost a battle. He even crossed the
channel to Britain. Now Rome was stronger physically now, than ever.
Only Parthia remained- and it was the only target left. As Caesar went
to Gaul for glory, Crassus went to Parthia. He was tricked on the
Euphrates River by a Parthian agent, and fell into a trap where the
Parthian cavalry defeated him and killed Crassus.
SCIENCE
Hero of Alexandria in the 1st BC invented a steam engine.
Galen (175) was the greatest dr. of antiquity, organized all
Hellenistic medical knowledge and produced accurate real descriptions
of anatomy, and formulated the notion of blood moving from liver to
veins- not bettered until William Harvey (17th).
write bobby's biography
write your autobiography as a letter to mcclain or someone else.
someone who cares. explaining.