Chapter 12 Notes

Rome
 The Forum was in the center of Rome and served as a
marketplace and public square. Gladiators were men
who fought animals and each other.
The father was the man who headed the family.
Wealthy childrenboys and girlsreceived an education
through hired tutors. Some boys went to school.
Women had few rights but were influential in the family.
Wealthy women had more freedom than poor women.
 They had a strong influence on their families, however,
and often advised their husbands in private. When Rome
was an empire, the wives of emperors began to exercise
more power. For example, while the emperor Septimius
fought rebels in distant parts of the empire, the empress
Julia Domna administered, or was in charge of, political
affairs in Rome.
 Most Romans were poor. Many did not have jobs, while
others performed unskilled labor, such as delivering
goods.
 They lived in crowded, noisy, dirty neighborhoods in
wooden apartment buildings six or seven stories high that
often collapsed or caught on fire. People tossed garbage
in the street and thieves prowled the night.
 Slaves were not uncommon in the Roman Empire. Slaves
suffered many hardships and were treated poorly.
Sometimes slaves revolted against the Romans.
Spartacus was a gladiator who led a slave revolt.
 Romans worshipped their gods and goddesses by praying
and offering food to them.
 The Romans also adapted ideas from Greek philosophy,
such as the philosophy of Stoicism. For the Greeks,
Stoicism was about finding happiness through reason.
Romans, however, believed Stoicism was about learning
to live in a practical way. Stoic philosophers urged people
to participate in public affairs, to do their civic duty, and
to treat conquered peoples well.
 The Greek doctor Galen brought Greek medical ideas to
Rome. He explained the importance of anatomy- the
study of the human body.
Ptolemy was a famous scientist who studied and mapped
the stars.
Engineers created an advanced road system and
aqueducts that provided water.
 The Romans admired the Greeks and copied some of
their ideas, though they often changed what they
borrowed.
Roman statues and art portrayed people with flaws,
whereas Greek art and statues portrayed ideal people.
Romans incorporated Greek ideas in their architecture,
such as columns and porches. They also used their own
ideas, such as arches, domes, and vaults which are
curved ceilings.
 Two famous buildings still
stand today: the Pantheon
which was built to honor
Romes gods, and the
Colosseum.
 The Roman writer Virgil wrote the Aeneid.
The poet Horace wrote satires which are works that poke
fun at human weaknesses, and odes, which express strong
emotions about life.
 After Aureliuss death, Commodus and the Severans
ruled Rome. During this time, Rome's government grew
weak, while the army became very powerful. To stay in
office, an emperor had to pay increasingly higher wages
to the soldiers who supported him. When these payments
could not be made, soldiers would turn against the
emperor.

Sect.2
 To stop this economic decline, the government produced
more coins. In order to get the same profit for their
goods, farmers and merchants continued to raise their
prices. These actions led to inflation, or a steep rise in
prices with a matching decline in the value of money. As
the value of Roman coins decreased people began to
barter, or to exchange goods instead of money.
 Emperor Diocletian tried to establish reforms that would
improve the political situation. He built forts along the
frontiers, divided the empire into four parts, he set
minimum prices for wages and goods, ordered workers to
remain in the same job for life.
Emperor Constantine tried to stop the empires decline.
He moved the capital city to Byzantium, and the city later
became known as Constantinople.
 Theodosius became emperor after Constantines death.
Theodosius split the empire into two separate empires: the
Eastern Roman Empire and the Western Roman Empire.
The Visigoths feared the Huns and asked Rome for
protection. In exchange, Rome required the Visigoths to be
loyal to them.
The Visigoths rebelled against the Romans in a.d. 378 and
beat the Romans at the Battle of Adrianople.
The Visigoth leader Alaric and his soldiers captured the
city of Rome and burned it.
 The Visogoths overpowered Romes territories in Spain and
northern Africa. Then they entered Rome and destroyed
buildings.
Odacer was a Germanic leader who took control of Romes
government from the emperor Romulus Augustulus. This event
marked the end of the Western Roman Empire.
A band of Visigoths killed Odoacer and set up a kingdom in
Italy.
The Eastern Roman Empire continued to prosper after the fall
of the Western Roman Empire. It became known as the
Byzantine Empire and lasted nearly 1,000 years.
 The law and government of the American legal system
today is influenced by the laws and government of the
ancient Romans.
Many European languages stemmed from Latin. Many
English words come from Latin.
 Christianity is a major world religion. It began in the
eastern part of the Roman Empire and was adopted by
Rome's emperors in the a.d. 300s. Those emperors helped
the new religion grow and spread.
 The Eastern Roman Empire thrived and was known as
the Byzantine Empire. It included Greeks, Egyptians,
Arabs, Armenians, Jews, Persians, Slavs, and Turks.
Constantinople was the capital of the Byzantine Empire.

Sect.3
 Constantinople was located between the
Black Sea and the Aegean Sea. This was good
for fishing, trading ships and warships. It was
at the crossroads of trade routes between
Europe and Asia, making it easy to trade. It
also was easy to defend because three sides
was surrounded by the sea and the fourth side
had a large wall to protect it.
 Over time the Roman influence on the Byzantine Empire
faded and became more Greek.
 Justinian was the emperor of the Byzantine Empire
from A.D. 527 until A.D. 565.
Empress Theodora,Justinians wife, helped her
husband rule Byzantine. She gave him advice and
advocated more rights for Byzantine women.
Tribonian was a legal scholar who worked with his
colleagues to simplify the law code, so it could be more
easily understood.
 The code helped officials and businesspeople better
understand the empire's laws. Throughout the centuries, the
Justinian Code has been the basis for the legal systems of
almost every country in the Western world.
The Hagia Sophia was the religious center of the Byzantine
Empire and was a great architectural accomplishment.
Mosiacs are pictures made from many bits of colored
glass or stone.
Most mosaics showed saints or Christian holy people.

 The Byzantine government supported education. Boys

studied academic subjects in Byzantine schools. Girls did
not attend school but were taught at home.
Most written literature was written in Latin.
 Justinian wanted to restore the Roman Empire and bring
back the glory of Rome. Led by a general named
Belisarius the Byzantine army was strengthened and
reorganized. Instead of relying on foot soldiers, the new
army used cavalrysoldiers mounted on horses.
Byzantine cavalry wore armor and carried bows and
lances, which were long spears.
 Between a.d. 533 and a.d. 555, the Byzantine military
conquered territories that were once part of the great Roman
Empire. These territories included Italy and parts of Spain and
northern Africa. They also defeated the Persians, which
increased the security of the eastern borders of the empire.
However, the conquests of Justinian's army were short-lived.
During the mid-500s, a deadly disease known to historians as
Justinians Plague swept through Asia and Europe. The plague
killed millions of people, including many men in Justinian's
army. The loss of so many soldiers severely weakened the
Byzantine Empire's ability to fight wars.