Ancient Rome

A condensed, point-by-point summary of the module, for reviewing right before a test or exam.

1. The legendary founding of Rome and the Monarchy. Tradition places the founding of Rome in 753 BCE and the Monarchy of seven kings lasting until 509 BCE.
2. The Roman Republic: institutions and how they worked. The Republic organized power through the Senate, the consuls, and the magistracies, with mutual checks between them.
3. Territorial expansion and the Punic Wars. Rome defeated Carthage in the three Punic Wars (264-146 BCE), establishing itself as the dominant power in the Mediterranean.
4. Crisis of the Republic: the Gracchi, the civil wars, and Caesar. The reforms of the Gracchi and the civil wars, culminating with Caesar, eroded the institutions of the Republic.
5. Augustus and the birth of the Empire. Octavian, after his victory at Actium, received the title of Augustus in 27 BCE and inaugurated the Principate and the Pax Romana.
6. Society, economy, and daily life in the Empire. Imperial society was hierarchical and slave-based, with an economy built on trade and a vibrant urban life.
7. Early Christianity in the Roman Empire. Christianity, initially persecuted, was tolerated by Constantine in 313 and declared the official religion in 380.
8. The Crisis of the Third Century and the fall of the Western Roman Empire. The Crisis of the Third Century and the Germanic invasions led to the fall of the West in 476 CE; the East endured.