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Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was a civilization that existed in Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East between 753 BC and its downfall in AD 476. For several centuries, the Romans controlled the whole of Western Europe, as well as the entire area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea and some of the area surrounding the Black Sea. Black Sea]]

History

Monarchy

Black Sea The city of Rome grew from settlements on and around the Palatine Hill, approximately eighteen miles from the Tyrrhenian Sea on the river Tiber. At this location the Tiber has an island where the river can be forded. Because of the river and the ford, Rome was at a crossroads of traffic and trade. In Roman legend, Rome was founded on 21 April 753 BC, by Romulus who, along with his brother Remus was suckled by a she-wolf. Romulus killed Remus in a quarrel over where their new city should be located. Romulus, whose name is said to have inspired Rome's name, was the first of seven Kings of Rome, the last of whom, Tarquin the Proud, was deposed in 510 BC or 509 BC when the Roman Republic was established. The mythical or semi-mythical kings are (in chronological order): Romulus, Numa Pompilius (Good King Numa), Tullus Hostilius, Ancus Marcius, Tarquinius Priscus, Servius Tullius, and Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud).

Republic

Tarquinius Superbus The Roman Republic was established around 509 BC, according to later writers such as Titus Livius (Livy), when the king was driven out, and a system based on annually elected magistrates was established in the monarchy's place. The most important were the two consuls, who between them exercised executive authority, but had to contend with the Senate, which grew in size and power with the establishment of the Republic. The magistracies were originally restricted to patricians but were later opened to plebeians. The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, mostly related Italic tribes (of Indo-European stock) such as the Samnites and Sabines, but also the Etruscans. The last threat to Roman hegemony in Italy came when Tarentum, a major Greek colony, enlisted the aid of Pyrrhus of Epirus in 282 BC. The Romans secured their conquests by founding Roman colonies in strategic places. In the second half of the 3rd century BC, Rome clashed with Carthage in the first two Punic wars. These wars resulted in Rome's first overseas conquests, of Sicily and Iberia, and the rise of Rome as a significant imperial power. After defeating Macedon and the Seleucids in the 2nd century BC, the Romans became the undisputed masters of the Mediterranean. Internal strife now became the greatest threat to the Republic. The Senate, jealous of its own power, repeatedly blocked important land reforms. An unintended consequence of Gaius Marius's military reforms was that soldiers often had more loyalty to their commander than to the city, and a powerful general, such as Marius or his rival Lucius Cornelius Sulla, could hold the city and Senate to ransom. In the mid-1st century BC three men, Julius Caesar, Gnaeus Pompeius Magnus, and Marcus Licinius Crassus, formed a secret pact (the First Triumvirate) to control the Republic. After the conquest of Gaul a stand-off between Caesar and the Senate led to civil war, with Pompey leading the Senate's forces. Caesar emerged victorious and was made dictator for life. After Caesar's assassination a Second Triumvirate, consisting of Caesar's designated heir Octavian and his former supporters Mark Antony and Marcus Aemilius Lepidus, took power, but its members soon descended into a struggle for dominance. Lepidus was exiled to Circeii after attempting to coerce the highest position in the government through empty threats against Rome. When Octavian defeated Antony and queen Cleopatra of Egypt at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC he became the undisputed master of Rome. He assumed almost absolute power while retaining the pretence of Republican form of government. His designated successor, Tiberius, took power without bloodshed.

Empire

Tiberius, in AD 14, and in AD 117.]] After the reign of the first emperor, Augustus, the Empire was ruled by his relatives, the Julio-Claudian dynasty until the death of Nero in 69. The territorial expansion of the state continued and the empire remained secure despite some incompetent emperors. Their rule was followed by the Flavian dynasty. During the reign of the Five Good Emperors (AD 96-180) the Empire reached its zenith in terms of territory, economy and culture. The state was secure from both internal and external threats and the Pax Romana created prosperity. With the conquest of Dacia during the reign of Trajan the Empire saw the peak of its territorial expansion, at which point it covered 2.5 million square miles. The period between 180 and 235 was dominated by the rule of the Severan dynasty. The period saw some of the most incompetent rulers in the history of the Empire, Elagabalus being one of the most notorious ones. This and the increasing influence of the army to imperial succession were among the main reasons for a long period known as the Crisis of the 3rd Century. The crisis was ended by the competent rule of Diocletian, who in 293 divided the Empire into four parts ruled by two co-emperors, both aided by a junior emperor. This period is known as the Tetrarchy, and was the basis of the later East-West division of the Empire. The various co-rulers of the Empire competed and fought for supremacy for more than half a century. In 330 emperor Constantine I moved the capital to Byzantium. The empire was permanently divided into Eastern (Byzantine) and Western Empire in 364. The Western Empire was constantly harassed by barbarian invasions. In 410 the city of Rome itself was sacked. In 476 the Germanic chief Odoacer forced the last Roman emperor in the West, Romulus Augustus, to abdicate. Having lasted for approximately 1200 years the rule of Rome in the West came to an end. The Empire survived in the East as the Byzantine Empire.

Causes for the downfall of the Empire

:Main article: Decline of the Roman Empire The study of the Decline of the Roman Empire is a classic field of study in History. There are numerous theories as to the main cause for the decline, many of which are not mutually exclusive.
- According to a classic theory presented by Edward Gibbon in his book "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" (1788), Rome succumbed to barbarian invasions because of a loss of civic virtue among its citizens.
- Henri Pirenne published the "Pirenne Thesis" in the 1920s which holds that the Empire continued, in some form, up until the the Arab conquests, which disrupted trade routes, and thereby the European economy.
- A theory pioneered by Peter Brown maintains that the Empire never "fell", but transformed in a gradual process into medieval Europe.
- Historians such as Arnold J. Toynbee and James Burke argue that the Empire itself was a rotten system from its inception. The Romans had no budgetary system and relied on booty from conquered territories or on a pattern of taxation that bankrupted small-scale farmers. Financial needs continued to increase, but the means of meeting them steadily eroded.
- The historian Vegetius theorised and has recently been supported by Arther Ferrill that the Empire declined and as a result fell, due to a combination of increasing 'barbarization', as well as a surge in decadence and the following lethargy.
- Peter Turchin in War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations (2005) contends that empires, including Rome, fell because of inequalities within society resulting a lack of internal cooperation.

Legacy

Rome produced great generals, lawyers, and engineers, but no mathematicians or scientists and few artists of note. The legacy of Rome is primarily in the areas of language, law, warfare, and engineering.

Successor states

After the fall of the city of Rome and the Western Empire the state continued its existence as the Byzantine Empire, which is conventionally treated as a separate entity in history books. In addition, the Holy Roman Empire and Russia have claimed the "Roman" legacy after the fall of Constantinople (See Third Rome).

Military legacy

Before Rome, armies generally fought on the field of battle nature provided. The Romans built roads for troop movement, dug trenches, built seige engines, and introduced many other improvements in the art of war. It made them invincible, for a time. Generals today still study the Roman methods of waging war.

Linguistic legacy

One of the most enduring legacies of Rome is linguistic: Romance languages that evolved from Latin spoken in the Roman Empire are now spoken widely in Europe and Latin America, such as Portuguese, Spanish, French, Italian, Romanian, and Moldovan amongst others. Although English is a Germanic language, many English words derive from Latin roots, either directly from Roman occupation or through intermediary successor languages such as French. Latin remains the official language of the Vatican City and is studied and understood by scholars around the world. However, fluent speech in Latin is very rare in present day. This is mainly due to the differences between Latin's reliance upon inflection of words and modern Romance languages' reliance upon syntax, in addition to lack of use.

Cultural legacy

The art of Rome borrows heavily from Greece -- the Romans themselves looked to the Greeks as their artistic superiors, and stole or copied more than they created. Virgil's Aneid, by common consent the greatest Roman literary work, borrowed or plagarized from Greek epics. Thus most of our cultural legacy from Rome is Greek culture passed on. The only generally recognized original Roman contribution to our culture is comic theater, which has given us not only A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum but also the Three Stooges. Another Roman artform will be revived only if our extreme sports eventually go so far as to include battles to the death.

Legal legacy

The Roman law formed the basis of most of the legal systems of Europe and her colonies for hundreds of years and has been the direct inspiration for the Senate of the United States and other modern nations. In the Byzantine Empire, the codes of Justinian preserved the codes of Roman law and formed the basis of legal practice in Greece even after the fall of the Byzantine empire. In the West, Justinian’s codes were forgotten, but rediscovered in the 11th century. From that time, scholars began to study the ancient Roman legal texts, especially in Bologna. Many provisions of Roman law were better suited to regulate complex economic transactions than the customary rules of that time. Therefore Roman law began to be re-introduced into legal practice. By the middle of the 16th century, the Roman law dominated the legal practice in most European countries. The practical application of Roman law came to an end when national codifications were made. In the course of the 19th century, many European states either adopted the French civil code model or drafted their own codes. In some parts of Germany, Roman law continued to be applied until late 19th century.

Religion

19th century] Main articles: Roman mythology, Roman religion

Early Roman Religion

Archaic Roman "mythology", at least concerning the gods, was made up not of narratives, but rather of interlocking and complex interrelations between and among gods and humans. Gods were not personified, unlike in Ancient Greece. Romans also believed that every person, place or thing had their own genius (such as "Lares Familiares" - the family guardian spirits). Therefore the early Roman cult could be described as polydaemonism instead of polytheism. The Romans distinguished two classes of gods, the di indigetes and the de novensides or novensiles. The indigetes were the original gods of the Roman state (see List of Di Indigetes). The novensides were later divinities whose cults were introduced to the city in the historical period, usually in response to a specific crisis or need. At the head of the earliest pantheon were the triad Jupiter, Mars, and Quirinus. Their priests, or flamens, were senior to others. Later this triad was supplanted by the Capitoline Triad, Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva. During the Roman republic there was a strict system of priestly offices, of which the Pontifex maximus was the most important. Flamens took care of the cults of various gods, while augurs were trusted with taking the auspices. The rex sacrorum, or "sacrificial king" took on the religious responsibilities of the deposed kings.

Late republic and the empire

As contact with the Greeks increased, the old Roman gods became associated with Greek gods. Therefore Jupiter was perceived to be the same deity as Zeus. Mars was associated with Ares and Neptune with Poseidon. The Roman gods also assumed the attributes and myth of these Greek gods. The transference of the anthropomorphic qualities to Roman Gods, and the prevalence of Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the 1st century BC the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance and political influence remained. Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to center on the imperial house, and several emperors were deified after their deaths.

Spread of Eastern Religions

Under the empire, numerous foreign cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian Isis and the Persian Mithras. Also, starting from the second century, Christianity began to spread in the Empire. Despite persecutions, Christianity steadily gained converts. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under Constantine I. All cults except Christianity were prohibited in AD 391 by an edict of Emperor Theodosius I.

Society

Classes

The free citizens of Rome were divided into two classes: patricians and plebeians. The patricians were the dominant social class, the plebeians much more numerous. Originally, only patricians could be elected to office. Intermarrying between the classes was forbidden and the patrician title could only be inherited, not earned. During the Roman Republic, a series of struggles led to increased rights for the plebeians, who were represented by tribunes. Tribunes had veto power over acts of the Senate. However, since voting was by tribes rather than by individuals, the vote of a plebeian never counted as much as the vote of a patrician. The patrician tribes voted first, and if they were united could attain a majority vote (by tribe) in which case the plebeian vote was not counted. Late in the Republic, the distinction between patricians and plebeians became less important, due to the rise of citizens whose power depended on wealth rather than family. Crassus, at one time the richest man in Rome, became council in spite of his plebeian birth. A new ruling class, the optimates, were those families, patrician or plebeian, who had produced a consul. The conservatives, led by Cicero, decried the power of the "upstarts" and spoke with contempt of anyone not born into the patrician class. A particular target of their wrath was Pompey, who dispite his great wealth, popularity, and military victories, was mocked for his crude manners and outlandish accent. During the empire, the class division fell into disuse and was largely forgotten. In the early Republic, citizens were also divided into classes according to the armament they could afford to buy for themselves for military service. The richest class was the equestrians or knights, who could afford a war horse. There were both patrician and plebeian equestrians. Later in the Republic, fixed amounts of wealth replaced military equipment as the basis of classification. Higher classes had more political power and prestige than lower classes. This system also lost its meaning after the abolition of the Republic. In the Late Republic, and under the Principate and emperors, Roman society was stratified according to wealth. The highest class was the Senatorial class, membership of which was maintained by the Censors and had a minimum property qualification of 1'000'000 Sesterces. It is worth noting that membership of the Senatorial class did not entail membership of the Senate. Members of the Senatorial class were prohibited from engaging directly in business and trade. They were permitted to receive an income from the possession of large agricultural estates. With a few exceptions, all political posts were filled with men from the Senatorial class. The second tier were the Equites. A through back to a military class of the Early Republic, membership of the Equites later required a property qualification of 400'000 Sesterces. Equites were allowed to engage in commerce and were often extremely wealthy. Petronius satirizes the wealth of the Equites class in the Satyricon. He descibes in details a sumptuous dinner party hosted by the disagreeable Knight Trimalchio. Certain political positions were filled by Equites: most notably under Principes, the head of the Praetorian Guard.

Family

The basic units of Roman society were households and families. Household included the head of the household (paterfamilias), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes slaves and servants were also part of the household. Romans certainly did not see the family as those of the suburban West do today - their family was more far reaching in definition. The head of the household had great power over those living with him: could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery and possibly even had the right to kill family members (this has been recently disputed in academic circles). This particular manifestation of familial power was called "patria potestas", literally "fathers power". One interesting point of note is that wives did not always count as family, as they could choose to continue recognising their father's family as their true family, and not necessarily adopt their husband's family. Groups of related households formed a family (gens). Families were based on blood ties (or adoption), but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the Roman Republic some powerful families, or Gentes Maiores came to dominate political life. Ancient Roman marriage was often regarded more as a financial and political alliance than as a romantic association, especially in the upper classes. Fathers usually began seeking husbands for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride. While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women often married in their late teens or early twenties.

Economy

Ancient Roman marriage, a standardized silver coin (See also Roman currency).]] The early economy was largely dependent on slave labour, and slaves constituted around 20 percent of the population. A slave’s price was dependent on their skills, and a slave trained in medicine was equivalent to 50 agricultural slaves. In the later period, hired labour became more economical than slave ownership.

Finance

Although barter was common (and often used in tax collection) the monetary system was highly developed, with brass, bronze, and precious metal coins in circulation throughout the empire and beyond (some have been discovered in India). Before the 3rd Century BC, copper was traded by weight (in unmarked lumps) across Central Italy. The original copper coins (As) had a face value of a Roman pound of copper, but weighed less (according to Mommsen early coins weighed at most 312 g, but late second century BC As contained only 19 g of copper). Hence, Roman money's utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its intrinsic value as metal; after Nero began debasing the silver Denarii, Mommsen estimated its legal value at one third greater than intrinsic (it was an offence to refuse payment in Denarii).

Trade

Horses were too expensive, and other pack animals too slow, for mass trade on the roman roads, which connected military posts (rather than markets) and were rarely designed for wheels. Therefore, there was little transport of commodities between Roman regions, until the rise of Roman maritime trade in the second century BC. During that period a trading vessel took less than a month to complete a trip from Gades to Alexandria via Ostia, spanning the entire length of the Mediterranean. The agricultural free trade changed the Italian landscape, and by the first century BC vast grape and olive estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers who were unable to match the imported grain price. The volume of trade was so great that a single mound of cargo pottery vessel fragments is over forty metres high and a kilometre around.

Culture

Literature

Roman literature was from its very inception influenced heavily by Greek authors. Some of the earliest works we possess are of historical epics telling the early military history of Rome. As the republic expanded, authors began to produce poetry, comedy, history and tragedy.

Epic Poetry

Virgil represents the pinnacle of Roman epic poetry. His Aeneid was produced at the request of Maecenas and tells the story of flight of Aeneas from Troy and his settlement of the city that would become Rome. Lucretius, in his On the Nature of Things, attempted to explicate science in an epic poem. Some of his science seems remarkably modern, other ideas, especially his theory of light, are no longer accepted. Later Ovid produced his Metamorphoses, written in hexameter verse, the meter of epic, attempting a complete mythology from the creation of the earth to his own time. He unifies his subject matter through the theme of metamorphosis. It was noted in classical times that Ovid's work lacked the gravitas possessed by traditional epic poetry.

Shorter Poems

Catullus and his set of neoteric poets produced poetry following the Alexandrian model, which experimented with poetic forms challenging tradition. He was also the first Roman poet to produce love poetry, seemingly autobiographical, which depicts an affair with a woman called Lesbia. Under the Emperor Augustus, Horace continued the tradition of shorter poems, with his Odes and Epodes. Martial, writing under the Emperor Domitian, was a famed author of epigrams, poems which were often abusive and censured piblic figures.

Drama

The genre of satire was traditionally regarded as a Roman innovation and satiric plays were written by, among others, Juvenal. Some of the most popular plays of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of Terence, a freed Roman slave captured during the First Punic War.

Letters

A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The rhetorical works of Cicero, in particular, were popular.

Visual arts

Most of the first styles of Roman painting came from the Etruscan influences. The Etruscan practice of painting for political reasons continued in Rome. In the 3rd century BC as the Romans contact with Greece continued Greek art was taken as booty from wars. The Greek art became popular with the Romans. Many landscapes from Greek artists decorated many of Roman houses. Although Greek influence was popular in Roman Paintings discoveries in Pompeii showed that Romans used a wide variety of styles for thier paintings. One of first roman style was known as "Incrustation", where interior walls of houses were painted like colored marble. Another style was to paint the interiors like open landscapes with higly detailed scenes of plants, animals, and buildings. Although the Romans acquired their artistic traditions from Greece, they also played a very important role in the development of art. The Romans created an atmosphere with an appreciation of the arts that allowed for the continuation of artistic development, inspiration, and ideas. Portrait sculpture during the period depited youthful and classical porportions. Later the sculptures were a mixture of realist and idealist. During the Antonine and Severan periods deeper cuts and drilling creded more ornate hair and beards. Advancements were made in relief sculptures and usually depicted in victories of the Romans.

Education

The goal of education in Rome was to make the students effective speakers. School started on March 24^th each year. Every school day started in early morning and continued throughout the afternoon. Originally, boys were taught to read and write by their father, or by educated slaves, usually of Greek origin. Village schools were also established. Later, around 200 BC, boys and some girls were sent to schools outside the home around age 6. Basic Roman education included reading, writing, and counting, and their materials consisted of scrolls and books. At age 13, students learned about Greek and Roman literature and grammar in school. At age 16, some students went on to rhetoric school. Poorer people did not go to school, but were usually taught by their parents because school was not free.

Architecture and technology

Construction technology and engineering

Roads

rhetoric to the Southern parts of Italy remains usable even today.]] The Romans primarily built roads for military purposes. They allowed the legions to be rapidly deployed in far reaches of the realm. However, their economic importance was also significant. At its largest extent the total length of the Roman road network was 85 000 km (53 000 miles). Way stations providing refreshments were maintained by the goverment at regular intervals along the roads. A separate system of changing stations for official and private couriers was also maintained. This allowed a dispatch to travel a maximum of 800 km (500 miles) in 24 hours by using a relay of horses. The roads were constructed by digging a pit along the length of the intended course, often to bedrock. The pit was first filled with rocks, gravel or sand and then a layer of concrete. Finally they were paved with polygonal rock slabs. Bridges were constructed over waterways. The roads were resistant to floods and other environmental hazards. After the fall of the Roman empire the roads were still usable and used for more than 1000 years.

Aqueducts

bedrock is a Roman aqueduct built in ca. 19 BC. It is one of France's top tourist attractions and a World Heritage Site.]] The Romans constructed numerous aqueducts to supply water to cities and industrial sites. The city of Rome itself was supplied by eleven aqueducts with combined length of 350 km (260 miles). Most aqueducts were constructed below the surface with only small portions above ground supported by arches. The longest Roman aqueduct, 141 km (87 miles) in length, was built to supply the city of Carthage. Roman aqueducts were built to remarkably fine tolerances, and to a technological standard that was not to be equaled until modern times. Powered entirely by gravity, they transported very large amounts of water very efficiently. Sometimes, where depressions deeper than 50 m had to be crossed, inverted siphons were used to force water uphill.

Baths

The baths served hygienic, social and cultural functions. The baths contained three main facilities for bathing. After undressing in the apodyterium or changing room, Romans would proceed to the tepidarium or warm room. In the moderate dry heat of the tepidarium, some performed warm-up exercises and stretched while others oiled themselves or had slaves oil them. The tepidarium’s main purpose was to promote sweating to prepare for the next room, the caldarium or hot room. The caldarium, unlike the tepidarium, was extremely humid and hot. Temperatures in the caldarium could reach 40 degrees Celsius (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Many contained steam baths and a cold-water fountain known as the labrum. The last room was the frigidarium or cold room, which offered a cold bath for cooling off after the caldarium.

Government

Roman Kingdom

Initially Rome was ruled by elected kings. The exact nature of the King's power is uncertain. He may have held near-absolute power, or may also have been just the chief executive of the Senate and the people. At least in military matters, the King's authority (imperium) was probably absolute. He was also the head of the state religion. In addition to the authority of the King, there were three administrative assemblies. The Senate acted as an advisory body for the King. The Curiate Assembly could pass laws suggested by the King and may have provided advise on succession. The Comitia Calata was mainly an assembly of the people to witness certain acts and hear proclamations.

Roman Republic

The class struggles of the Roman Republic resulted in an unusual mixture of democracy and oligarchy. Roman laws traditionally could only be passed by a vote of the Popular assembly. Likewise candidates for public positions had to run for election by the people. The Roman Senate represented an oligarchic insitution, which acted as an advisory body and issued its desicions in Senatus Consulta. The Republic had no fixed bureaucracy and only collected war taxes. Private citizens aspiring to high office largely paid for public works. In order to prevent any citizen gaining too much power, new magistrates were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions the highest authority was held by two consuls. In an emergency, a temporary dictator could be appointed. During the Republic, the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end, it proved inefficient for controlling the vastly expanded empire. This was one of the reasons for the birth of the Roman Empire.

Roman Empire

Central government

In the early Empire the pretence of a republican form of government was maintained and the emperor was portrayed as only a "first citizen". Initially the Senate retained a degree of influence. However, the rule of the emperors became increasingly autocratic and the Senate was reduced to an advisory body appointed by the emperor. The Roman Empire did not inherit a set bureaucracy from the Republic, since the Republic did not have any permanent governmental structures apart from the Senate. The Emperor appointed assistants and advisors, but the state lacked many institutions, such as centrally planned budget. This is cited by some historians as a significant reason for the Decline of the Roman Empire.

Local government

The territory of the Empire was divided into provinces. The number of provinces increased with time as new territories were conquered, but also as provinces were divided into smaller units to discourage rebellions by powerful local rulers . Initially the provinces were divided into imperial and senatorial provinces, depending on which institution had the right to select the governor. During the Tetrarchy, the provinces of the empire were divided into 12 dioceses, each headed by a praetor vicarius. The civilian and military authority were separated, with civilian matters still administred by the governor, but with military command transferred to a dux.

Senate

The Roman Senate was an advisory body consisting of some of the most influential citizens. In the Roman Republic, it held great authority (auctoritas in Latin), but no actual legislative power (imperium). However, as the senators were individually very influential, it was difficult to accomplish anything against the collective will of the Senate. In the Roman Republic the Censors chose new members for the Senate among the most accomplished citizens. They could also remove a senator from his office if he was found morally corrupt. Later, membership in the Senate followed from the election as a quaestor. In the Roman Empire, the Emperor appointed senators, although for much of the time of the Empire, elections were still held, and the results followed. However, this veil of democracy, created by Augustus at the beginning of the transformation from Republic to Empire, was deceiving. In reality, no one disliked by the Emperor could stand. Furthermore, when there was a competitive election, the Emperor would issue his opinion on who should be elected, usually sealing the outcome.

Military

The early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states, a citizen force where the bulk of the troops fought as hoplites. The soldiers were required to supply their own arms and would return to civilian life once their service was ended. The first of the great army reformers, Camillus, reorganized the army to adopt manipular tactics and divided the infantry into three lines: hastati, principes and triarii. The middle class smallholders had traditionally been the backbone of the Roman army but, by the end of the 2nd century BC, the self-owning farmer had largely disappeared as a social class. Faced with acute manpower problems, Gaius Marius transformed the army into a fully professional force and accepted recruits from the lower classes. The last army reorganization came when Emperor Constantine I divided the army into a static defense force and a mobile field army. During the Late Empire, Rome also became increasingly dependent upon allied contingents, foederati.

External links

- [http://www.crystalinks.com/rome.html Ancient Rome info]
- [http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html Ancient Roman History Timeline]
- [http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_rome.htm Ancient Rome pictures, art, and info] Link: [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html The Private Life of the Romans by Harold Whetstone Johnston]

References

Ancient sources

# "Vitae Caesarum" by Suetonius, 2nd century # "Ab urbe condita" by Titus Livius, ca. AD 5 # [http://www.uvm.edu/~rrodgers/Frontinus.html "De Aquaeductu Urbis Romae"] by Sextus Julius Frontinus (On the water management of the city of Rome, translated by R. H. Rodgers, 2003, University of Vermont) (retrieved November 22, 2005)

Pre-20th century sources

# "The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire" by Edward Gibbon, 1788

Modern sources

# "The Penguin Historical Atlas of Ancient Rome" by Chris Scarre, Penguin Books 1995 # [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_intro.html "The Private Life of the Romans"] by Harold Whetstone Johnston, 1903 (retrieved November 13, 2005) # "The Punic Wars" by Nigel Bagnall, Thomas Dunne Books 1990 # "Rooman konsulit" ("The Consuls of Rome") by Pekka Tuomisto, Karisto 2002 # "War and Peace and War : The Life Cycles of Imperial Nations" by Peter Turchin, Pearson Education/PI Press (2005) # "Cäsar" by Christian Meier, Severin und Siedler 1982 (English translation "Caesar", HarperCollins Publishers 1995) # [http://www.waterhistory.org/histories/rome/ "Waterhistory.org"], website maintained by the ([http://www.iwha.net International Water History Association]) (retrieved November 22, 2005)
- ja:古代ローマ

Civilization

The word civilization (or civilisation) has a variety of meanings related to human society. The term comes from the Latin civis, meaning "citizen" or "townsman". Latin Latin civilization.]]

Senses of the word

1: Literal and technical definitions

By the most minimal, literal definition, a civilization is a complex society. Technically, anthropologists distinguish civilizations in which many of the people live in cities and get their food from agriculture, from band and tribal societies in which people live in small settlements or nomadic groups and subsist by foraging, hunting, or working small horticultural gardens. When used in this sense, civilization is an exclusive term, applied to some human groups and not others.

2: Broader sense

In a broader sense, civilization often can refer to any distinct society, whether complex and city dwelling, or simple and tribal. This sense is often perceived as less exclusive and ethnocentric than the first. In this sense, civilization is nearly synonymous with culture.

3: Human society as a whole

"Civilization" can sometimes refer to human society as a whole, as in "A nuclear war would wipe out Civilization" or "I'm glad to be safely back in Civilization after being lost in the wilderness for 3 weeks". Additionally, it is used in this sense to refer to the potential global civilization.

4: A standard of behavior

Civilization can also mean the standard of behavior, similar to etiquette. "Civilized" behavior is contrasted with "barbaric" or crude behavior. In this sense, civilization implies sophistication and refinement.

5: Superior vs. less complex societies

Another use of civilization combines the first and fourth meanings of the word, implying that a complex society is naturally superior to less complex societies. This point of view has been used to justify racism and imperialism; powerful societies have often believed it was their right to "civilize," or culturally dominate, weaker ones ("barbarians"). This act of civilizing weaker peoples was sometimes called the "White Man's Burden". This article will mainly treat civilizations in the first, narrow, sense. See culture, society, etiquette, and ethnocentrism and for topics related to the broader senses of the term. See also Problems with the term.

What characterizes civilization

Problems with the term Literally, a civilization is a complex society, as distinguished from a simpler society. Everyone lives in a society and a culture, but not everyone lives in a civilization. Historically, civilizations have shared some or all of the following traits:
- Intensive agricultural techniques, such as the use of human power, crop rotation, and irrigation. This has enabled farmers to produce a surplus of food that is not necessary for their own subsistence.
- A significant portion of the population that does not devote most of its time to producing food. This permits a division of labor. Those who do not occupy their time in producing food may obtain their food through trade as in modern capitalism or may have the food provided to them by the state as in ancient Egypt. This is possible because of the food surplus described above.
- The gathering of some of these non-food producers into permanent settlements, called cities.
- A social hierarchy. This can be a chiefdom, in which the chieftain of one noble family or clan rules the people; or a state society, in which the ruling class is supported by a government or bureaucracy. Political power is concentrated in the cities.
- The institutionalized control of food by the ruling class, government or bureaucracy
- The establishment of complex, formal social institutions such as organized religion and education, as opposed to the less formal traditions of other societies.
- Development of complex forms of economic exchange. This includes the expansion of trade and may lead to the creation of money and markets.
- The accumulation of more material possessions than in simpler societies.
- Development of new technologies by people who are not busy producing food. In many early civilizations, metallurgy was an important advancement.
- Advanced development of the arts, including writing. By this definition, some societies, like Greece, are clearly civilizations, whereas others like the Bushmen clearly are not. However, the distinction is not always clear. In the Pacific Northwest of the US, for example, an abundant supply of fish guaranteed that the people had a surplus of food without any agriculture. The people established permanent settlements, a social hierarchy, material wealth, and advanced artwork (most famously totem poles), all without the development of intensive agriculture. Meanwhile, the Pueblo culture of southwestern North America developed advanced agriculture, irrigation, and permanent, communal settlements such as Taos. However, the Pueblo never developed any of the complex institutions associated with civilizations. Today, many tribal societies live inside states and under their laws. The political structures of civilization have been superimposed on their way of life, so they too occupy a middle ground between tribal and civilized.

Civilization as a cultural identity

"Civilization" can also describe the culture of a complex society, not just the society itself. Every society, civilization or not, has a specific set of ideas and customs, and a certain set of items and arts, that make it unique. Civilizations have even more intricate cultures, including literature, professional art, architecture, organized religion, and complex customs associated with the elite. Civilization is such in nature that it seeks to spread, to have more, to expand, and it has the means by which to do this. Nevertheless, some tribes or peoples remained uncivilized even to this day (2005). These cultures are called primitive. They do not have hierarchical governments, organized religion, writing systems or controlled economy exchange for that matter. The little hierarchy that exists, for example respect for the elderly, is mutual and not instituted by force, rather by a sort of mutual agreement. Government does not exist, or at least the civilized version of government which most of us are all familiar with. The civilized world is spread by introducing agriculture, writing system, and religion to primitive tribes. The un-civilized people adapt to the civilized behavior. Civilization is also spread by force, if a tribe does not wish to use agriculture or accept a certain religion it is forced to do so by the civilized people, and they usually succeed due to their more advanced technology. Civilization often uses religion to justify its actions, claiming for example that the un-civilized are savages, barbarians or the like, which, for their own good, should subjugate to the civilization, or their God(s). It is difficult for the un-civilized world to mount any such assault on civilization since that would mean complying to civilizations standards and concepts of advanced violence (war). They would need to become civilized in order to engage in any sort of war. Thus, the intricate culture associated with civilization has a tendency to spread to and influence other cultures, sometimes assimilating them into the civilization (a classic example being Indian civilization and its influence on China, Xanadu, Korea, Japan, Tibet, Southeast Asia and so forth). Many civilizations are actually large cultural spheres containing many nations and regions. The civilization in which someone lives is that person's broadest cultural identity. A female of African descent living in the United States has many roles that she identifies with. However, she is above all a member of "Western civilization". In the same way, a male of Kurdish ancestry living in Iran is above all a member of "Persian civilization". Many historians have focused on these broad cultural spheres and have treated civilizations as single units. One example is early twentieth-century philosopher Oswald Spengler, even though he uses the German word "Kultur", "culture", for what we here call a "civilization". He said that a civilization's coherence is based around a single primary cultural symbol. Civilizations experience cycles of birth, life, decline and death, often supplanted by a new civilization with a potent new culture, formed around a compelling new cultural symbol. This "unified culture" concept of civilization also influenced the theories of historian Arnold J. Toynbee in the mid-twentieth century. Toynbee explored civilization processes in his multi-volume A Study of History, which traced the rise and, in most cases, the decline of 21 civilizations and five "arrested civilizations". Civilizations generally declined and fell, according to Toynbee, because of moral or religious decline, rather than economic or environmental causes. Samuel P. Huntington similarly defines a civilization as "the highest cultural grouping of people and the broadest level of cultural identity people have short of that which distinguishes humans from other species." Besides giving a definition of a civilization, Huntington has also proposed several theories about civilizations, discussed below.

Civilizations as complex systems

Another group of theorists, making use of systems theory, look at civilizations as complex systems or networks of cities that emerge from pre-urban cultures, and are defined by the economic, political, military, diplomatic, and cultural interactions between them. For example, urbanist Jane Jacobs defines cities as the economic engines that work to create large networks of people. The main process that creates these city networks, she says, is "import replacement". Import replacement is the process by which peripheral cities begin to replace goods and services that were formerly imported from more advanced cities. Successful import replacement creates economic growth in these peripheral cities, and allows these cities to then export their goods to less developed cities in their own hinterlands, creating new economic networks. So Jacobs explores economic development across wide networks instead of treating each society as an isolated cultural sphere. Systems theorists look at many types of relations between cities, including economic relations, cultural exchanges, and political/diplomatic/military relations. These spheres often occur on different scales. For example, trade networks were, until the nineteenth century, much larger than either cultural spheres or political spheres. Extensive trade routes, including the silk road through Central Asia and Indian Ocean sea routes linking the Roman Empire, India, and China, were well established 2000 years ago, when these civilizations scarcely shared any political, diplomatic, military, or cultural relations. Many theorists argue that the entire world has already become integrated into a single "world system," a process known as globalization. Different civilizations and societies all over the globe are economically, politically, and even culturally interdependent in many ways. There is debate over when this integration began, and what sort of integration - cultural, technological, economic, political, or military-diplomatic - is the key indicator in determining the extent of a civilization. David Wilkinson has proposed that economic and military-diplomatic integration of the Mesopotamian and Egyptian civilizations resulted in the creation of what he calls the "Central Civilization" around 1500 BCE. Central Civilization later expanded to include the entire Middle East and Europe, and then expanded to global scale with European colonization, integrating the Americas, Australia, China and Japan by the nineteenth century. According to Wilkinson, civilizations can be culturally heterogeneous, like the Central Civilization, or relatively homogeneous, like the Japanese civilization. What Huntington calls the "clash of civilizations" might be characterized by Wilkinson as a clash of cultural spheres within a single global civilization. Others point to the Crusades as the first step in globalization. The more conventional viewpoint is that networks of societies have expanded and shrunk since ancient times, and that the current globalized economy and culture is a product of recent European colonialism.

The future of civilizations

Political scientist Samuel P. Huntington has argued that the defining characteristic of the 21st century will be a clash of civilizations. According to Huntington, conflicts between civilizations will supplant the conflicts between nation-states and ideologies that characterized the 19th and 20th centuries. Currently, world civilization is in a stage that has created what may be characterized as an industrial society, superseding the agrarian society that preceded it. Some futurists believe that civilization is undergoing another transformation, and that world society will become an informational society. The Kardashev scale classifies civilizations based on their level of technological advancement, specifically measured by the amount of energy a civilization is able to harness. The Kardashev scale makes provisions for civilizations far more technologically advanced than any currently known to exist.

Negative views of civilization

Religious ascetics in many times and places have attempted to curb the influence of civilization over their lives in order to concentrate on spiritual matters. Over the years many members of civilizations have shunned them, believing that civilization restricts people from living in their natural state. Monasteries represent an effort by these ascetics to create a life somewhat apart from their mainstream civilizations. In the 19th century, Transcendentalists believed civilization was shallow and materialistic, so they wanted to build a completely agrarian society, free from the oppression of the city. Karl Marx "believed that the beginning of civilization was the beginning of oppression". As more food was produced and the society's material possessions increased, wealth became concentrated in the hands of the powerful. The communal way of life among tribal people gave way to aristocracy and hierarchy. As hierarchies are able to generate sufficient resources and food surpluses capable of supplying standing armies, civilizations were capable of conquering neighboring cultures that made their livings in different ways. In this manner, civilizations began to spread outward from Eurasia across the world some 10,000 years ago - and are finishing the job today in the remote jungles of the Amazon and New Guinea. In addition, some feminists believe that civilization is the source of men's domination over women. Together, these ideas make up modern conflict theory in the social sciences. Many environmentalists criticize civilizations for their exploitation of the environment. Through intensive agriculture and urban growth, civilizations tend to destroy natural settings and habitats. This is sometimes referred to as "dominator culture". Proponents of this view believe that traditional societies live in greater harmony with nature than civilizations; people work with nature rather than try to subdue it. The sustainable living movement is a push from some members of civilization to regain that harmony with nature. Primitivism is a modern philosophy totally opposed to civilization for all of the above reasons: they accuse civilizations of restricting humans, oppressing the weak, and damaging the environment. A leading proponent is John Zerzan. Published October 21, 2002.

Problems with the term "civilization"

As discussed above, "civilization" has a number of meanings, and its use can lead to confusion and misunderstanding. However, "civilization" can be a highly connotative word. It might bring to mind qualities such as superiority, humaneness, and refinement. Indeed, many members of civilized societies have seen themselves as superior to the "barbarians" outside their civilization. Many 19th-century anthropologists backed a theory called cultural evolution. They believed that people naturally progress from a simple state to a superior, civilized state. John Wesley Powell, for example, classified all societies as Savage, Barbarian, and Civilized; the first two of his terms would shock most anthropologists today. The early 20th century saw the first cracks in this worldview within Western Civilization: Joseph Conrad's 1902 novel "Heart of Darkness", for example, told a story set in the Congo Free State, in which the most savage and uncivilized behavior was initiated by a white European. This hierarchical worldview was dealt further serious blows by the atrocities of World War I and World War II and so on. Today most social scientists believe at least to some extent in cultural relativism, the view that complex societies are not by nature superior, more humane, or more sophisticated than less complex or technologically advanced groups. This view has its roots in the writings of Franz Boas. A minority of scholars reject the relativism of Boas and mainstream social science. English biologist John Baker, in his 1974 book Race, gives about 20 criteria that make civilizations superior to non-civilizations. Baker tries to show a relation between the cultures of civilizations and the biological disposition of their creators. Many postmodernists, and a considerable proportion of the wider public, argue that the division of societies into 'civilized' and 'uncivilized' is arbitrary and meaningless. On a fundamental level, they say there is no difference between civilizations and tribal societies; that each simply does what it can with the resources it has. In this view, the concept of "civilization" has merely been the justification for colonialism, imperialism, genocide, and coercive acculturation. For all of the above reasons, many scholars today avoid using the term "civilization" as a stand-alone term; they prefer to use urban society or intensive agricultural society, which are much less ambiguous, more neutral-sounding terms. "Civilization" however remains in common academic use when describing specific societies, such as "Mayan Civilization".

Early civilizations

The earliest known civilizations (as defined in the traditional sense) arose in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, the Nile valley of Egypt, the Indus Valley region of modern-day Pakistan, the Huang He (Yellow River) valley of China, and on the island of Crete in the Aegean Sea. The inhabitants of these areas built cities, created writing systems, learned to make pottery and use metals, domesticated animals, and created complex social structures with class systems.

Mesopotamia

The earliest settlement in Jericho (9th millennium BC) in modern-day Palestine, was a PPNA culture that eventually gave way to more developed settlements later, which included in one early settlement (8th millennium BC) mud-brick houses surrounded by a stone wall, having a stone tower built into the wall. In this time there is evidence of domesticated emmer wheat, barley and pulses and hunting of wild animals. However, there are no indications of attempts to form communities (early civilizations) with surrounding peoples. Nevertheless, by the 6th millennium BC we find what appears to be an ancient shrine and cult, which would likely indicate intercommunal religious practices in this era. Findings include a collective burial (with not all the skeletons completely articulated, jaws removed, faces covered with plaster, cowries used for eyes). Other finds from this era include stone and bone tools, clay figurines and shell and malachite beads. Around 1500 to 1200 BC Jericho and other cities of Canaan had become vassals of the Egyptian empire. Several miles southwest of Ur, Eridu was the southernmost of a conglomeration of early temple-cities, in Sumer, southern Mesopotamia, with the earliest of these settlements carbon dating to around 5000 BC. The Sialk ziggurat of Kashan, Iran, also dates to this era. By the 4th millennium BC, in Nippur we find, in connection with a sort of ziggurat and shrine, a conduit built of bricks, in the form of an arch. Sumerian inscriptions written on clay also appear in Nippur. By 4000 BC an ancient city of Susa, in Mesopotamia, seems to emerge from earlier villages. Sumerian cuneiform script dates to no later than about 3500 BCE. Sumer, which was Mesopotamia's first civilization in what is now Iraq, is recognized as the world's earliest civilization. Other villages begin to spring up around this time in the Ancient Near East (Middle East) as well.

Egypt

Anthropological and archaeological evidence both indicate a grain-grinding culture farming along the Nile in the 10th millennium BC using sickle blades. But another culture of hunters, fishers and gathering peoples using stone tools replaced them. Evidence also indicates human habitation in the southwestern corner of Egypt, near the Sudan border, before 8000 BC. Climate changes and/or overgrazing around 8000 BC began to desiccate the pastoral lands of Egypt, eventually forming the Sahara (c.2500 BC), and early tribes naturally migrated to the Nile river where they developed a settled agricultural economy and more centralized society. Domesticated animals had already been imported from Asia between 7500 BC and 4000 BC (see Sahara: History, Cattle period), and there is evidence of pastoralism and cultivation of cereals in the East Sahara in the 7th millennium BC. The earliest known artwork of ships in ancient Egypt dates to 6000 BCE. By 6000 BC predynastic Egyptians in the southwestern corner of Egypt were herding cattle and constructing large buildings. Symbols on Gerzean pottery, c.4000 BC, resemble traditional hieroglyph writing [http://www.touregypt.net/ebph5.htm]. In ancient Egypt mortar (masonry) was in use by 4000 BC, and ancient Egyptians were producing ceramic faience as early as 3500 BC. There is evidence that ancient Egyptian explorers may have originally cleared and protected some branches of the Silk Road. Medical institutions are known to have been established in Egypt since as early as circa 3000 BC. Ancient Egypt gains credit for the tallest ancient pyramids and early forms of surgery, mathematics, and barge transport (see Ancient Egypt: Ancient Achievements).

India

The earliest known farming cultures in South Asia emerged in the hills of Balochistan, Pakistan, which included Mehrgarh in the 7th millennium BC. These semi-nomadic peoples domesticated wheat, barley, sheep, goat and cattle. Pottery was in use by the 6th millennium BC. Their settlement consisted of mud buildings that housed four internal subdivisions. Burials included elaborate goods such as baskets, stone and bone tools, beads, bangles, pendants and occasionally animal sacrifices. Figurines and ornaments of sea shell, limestone, turquoise, lapis lazuli, sandstone and polished copper have been found. By the 4th millennium BC we find much evidence of manufacturing. Technologies included stone and copper drills, updraft kilns, large pit kilns and copper melting crucibles. Button seals included geometric designs. By 4000 BC a pre-Harappan culture emerged, with trade networks including lapis lazuli and other raw materials. Villagers domesticated numerous other crops, including peas, sesame seed, dates, and cotton, plus a wide range of domestic animals, including the water buffalo which still remains essential to intensive agricultural production throughout Asia today. There is also evidence of sea-going craft. Archaeologists have discovered a massive, dredged canal and docking facility at the coastal city of Lothal, India, perhaps the world's oldest sea-faring harbor. Judging from the dispersal of artifacts the trade networks integrated portions of Afghanistan, the Persian coast, northern and central India, Mesopotamia (see Meluhha) and Ancient Egypt (see Silk Road). Archaeologists studying the remains of two men from Mehrgarh, Pakistan, discovered that these peoples in the Indus Valley Civilization had knowledge of medicine and dentistry as early as circa 3300 BC. The Indus Valley Civilization gains credit for the earliest known use of decimal fractions in a uniform system of ancient weights and measures, as well as negative numbers (see Timeline of mathematics). Ancient Indus Valley artifacts include beautiful, glazed stone faïence beads. The Indus Valley Civilization boasts the earliest known accounts of urban planning. As seen in Harappa, Mohenjo-daro and (recently discovered) Rakhigarhi, their urban planning included the world's first urban sanitation systems. Evidence suggests efficient municipal governments. Streets were laid out in perfect grid patterns comparable to modern New York. Houses were protected from noise, odors and thieves. The sewage and drainage systems developed and used in cities throughout the Indus Valley were far more advanced than that of contemporary urban sites in Mesopotamia and Egypt and also more advanced than that of any other Bronze Age or even Iron Age civilization.

China

Developed agriculture appears in the 7th millennium BC in the Peiligang culture (discovered in 1977) of Henan, China, including storing and redistributing crops, millet farming and animal husbandry (pigs). Evidence also indicates specialized craftsmenship and administrators (see History of China: Prehistoric times). This culture is one of the oldest in ancient China to show evidence of pottery-making. China's first historical dynasty, the Xia Dynasty, emerged in 2033 BC and may have been a late Neolithic or early Bronze Age culture. Attributed to a later Chinese culture, in the Shang Dynasty (1600-1046 BC), are bronze artifacts and oracle bones, which were turtle shells or cattle scapula on which are written the first recorded Chinese characters and found in the Huang He valley, Yinxu (a capital of the Shang Dynasty).

North Africa

North Africa is a region generally considered to include:
- Algeria
- Egypt
- Libya
- Mauritania
- Morocco
- Sudan
- Tunisia
- Western Sahara The Azores, Canary Islands, Ethiopia, Eritrea, and Madeira are sometimes considered to be a part of North Africa. The Maghreb (also called Northwest Africa or Tamazgha) is the portion of North Africa that consititutes Morocco, Western Sahara, Algeria, Tunisia, Libya, and Mauritania (thus excluding the Nile Valley). In common usage - particularly in French - the term is often restricted to the first three countries, as all are former French colonies. In Arabic, the term can also refer to Morocco alone. Some countries in northern Africa, particularly Egypt and Libya, often get included in common definitions of the Middle East, since they in some respects have closer ties to western Asia than to the Maghreb. In addition, the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt is part of Asia, making Egypt a transcontinental country.

People

The people of North Africa can be divided into roughly three, distinct groups: the Berbers of the Maghreb; the Tuareg and other, original black Berbers; and the Nilotic blacks of the Nile Valley. Maghreb Berbers are generally fairer-skinned than the Berbers to the west. They are considered indigenous to the area, and are believed be the descendants of black Berbers mixed with Asiatic and Caucasoid peoples who spread westward, laterally across the continent. Berbers predominate in the northwestern part of Africa, but the area also hosts various black Berber peoples and equatorial Africans, as well. Over the centuries, there has been some intermariage between Maghreb Berbers, who generally are classified as "Caucasoid," with black Africans, producing a population with a wide range of phenotypical characteristisc, including skin color and hair texture. Most Maghreb Berbers outside much of Morocco and parts of Algeria, identify themselves as Arabs and no longer speak Tamazight, their original language, and speak Arabic. Far more Tuareg Berbers speak Tamazight, an Afro-Asiatic language; but they, too, have been Arabized culturally, though to far a lesser extent than have the Maghreb Berbers.

Culture

North Africa is naturally divided into three rather distinct cultural regions: the Maghreb (Northwest Africa), the Sahara, and the Nile Valley. The culture of the Maghreb and the Sahara combines indigenous Berber and Arab elements. Most Maghrebis and Saharans have mixed Berber, Arab, and sometimes also black African, ancestry. They speak either Arabic or Berber, and follow Islam; however, the dialects of the Sahara (Arabic and Berber) are in general notably more conservative than those of the coast. These two languages are related, both being members of the Afro-Asiatic language family. The Maghreb (Northwest Africa) is believed to have been inhabited by Berbers since the beginning of recorded history. However, Berbers were influenced by other cultures that came in contact with them: Nubians, Greeks, Phoenicians, Egyptians, Romans, Vandals, Arabs, and lately Europeans. In the Sahara, the distinction between sedentary oasis inhabitants and nomadic Bedouin and Tuareg is particularly marked. The Nile Valley, tracing its heritage back to the Pharaohs, has more recently been inhabited by Arabic-speakers, most of them Muslims, though some - the Copts - are Christians. In Nubia, straddling Egypt and Sudan, a significant population retains the Nubian language. Further down the Nile Valley, in the southern Sudan, the culturally entirely distinct world of the largely non-Muslim Nilotic and Nuba peoples begins. North Africa formerly had a large Jewish population, a large portion of which emigrated to France or Israel when the North African nations gained independence. Prior to the modern establishment of Israel, there were about 600,000-700,000 Jews in North Africa, including both Sfardīm (immigrants from France, Spain and Portugal from the Renaissance era) as well as indigenous . Today, less than fifteen thousand remain in the region, and are mostly part of a French-speaking urban elite. (See Jewish exodus from Arab lands.)

History

After the Middle Ages the area was loosely under the control of the Ottoman Empire, except Morocco. After the 19th century, it was colonized by France, the United Kingdom, Spain and Italy. During the 1950s, 1960s and into the 1970s, all of the North African states gained independence, except for a few small Spanish colonies on the far northern tip of Morocco, and the Western Sahara, which went from Spanish to Moroccan rule.

753 BC

Centuries: 9th century BC - 8th century BC - 7th century BC Decades: 800s BC 790s BC 780s BC 770s BC 760s BC - 750s BC - 740s BC 730s BC 720s BC 710s BC 700s BC ----

Events and trends

- 756 BC - Founding of Cyzicus.
- 755 BC - Ashur-nirari V succeeds Ashur-Dan III as king of Assyria
- 755 BC - Aeschylus, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 23 years and is succeeded by Alcmaeon.
- 753 BC - Alcmaeon, King of Athens, dies after a reign of 2 years. He is replaced by Harops, elected Archon for a ten-year term.
- April 21, 753 BC - Rome founded by Romulus (according to tradition). Beginning of the Roman 'Ab urbe condita' calendar.

Significant people

- Shoshonq V, Pharaoh of the Twenty-Second Dynasty (767 - 730 BC).
- Osorkon III, Pharaoh of the Twenty-Second Dynasty (787 - 759 BC).
- Takelot III, Pharaoh of the Twenty-Third Dynasty (764- 757 BC).
- Rudamun, Pharaoh of the Twenty-Third Dynasty (757 - 754 BC).
- Iuput, Pharaoh of the Twenty-Third Dynasty (754 - 715 BC).
- Niumateped, King of the Libyans (775 - 750 BC).
- Titaru, King of the Libyans (758 - 750 BC).
- Ker, King of the Libyans (750 - 745 BC). Category:750s BC

476

Events
- August - The usurper Basiliscus is deposed and Zeno is restored as Eastern Roman Emperor.
- September 4 - Romulus Augustus, the last Emperor of the Western Roman Empire, is deposed when Odoacer proclaims himself King of Italy. Conventional date for the fall of the Roman Empire, and widely considered the end of ancient history. However the Eastern Roman Empire survives the event.
- Peter the Fuller is restored as Patriarch of Antioch. Births
- Aryabhata, Indian astronomer Deaths
- August 28 - Flavius Orestes, master of soldiers of the Western Roman Empire. Category:476 ko:476년

Mediterranean Sea

The Mediterranean Sea is a part of the Atlantic Ocean almost completely enclosed by land, on the north by Europe, on the south by Africa, and on the east by Asia. It covers an approximate area of 2.5 million km² (965 000 mi²). It is also called the Eurafrican Mediterranean Sea or the European Mediterranean Sea in oceanography to distinguish it from other mediterranean seas in the world. It was a superhighway of transport in ancient times, allowing for trade and cultural exchange between emergent peoples of the region — Egyptians, Greeks, Romans, and the Middle-East (Arab/Persian/Semitic) cultures. The history of the Mediterranean is important in understanding the origin and development of Western Civilization.

Name

The term Mediterranean derives from the Latin mediterraneus, 'inland' (medius, 'middle' + terra, 'land, earth'), in Greek "mesogeios". The Mediterranean Sea has been known by a number of alternative names throughout human history. It was, for example, commonly called Mare Nostrum (Latin, Our Sea) by the Romans. In the Bible, it is referred to as the Great Sea or the Western Sea. In modern Hebrew, it is called "ha-Yam ha-Tichon" (הים התיכון), "the middle sea", a literal adaptation of the German equivalent Mittelmeer. In Turkish, it is Akdeniz, "the white sea". In Arabic, it is Al-Bakhr Al-Abiad Al-Muttawasit, "the middle white sea". Currently, "The Med" is a common English language contraction for the Mediterranean Sea and its surrounding regions when employed in informal speech.

Geography

Turkish The Mediterranean Sea is connected to the Atlantic Ocean by the Strait of Gibraltar on the west and to the Sea of Marmara and Black Sea, by the Dardanelles and the Bosporus respectively, on the east. The Sea of Marmara is often considered a part of the Mediterranean Sea, whereas the Black Sea is generally not. The man-made Suez Canal in the south-east connects the Mediterranean Sea with the Red Sea. Tides are very limited in the Mediterranean as a result of the narrow connection with the ocean. The Mediterranean climate is generally one of wet winters and hot, dry summers. Special crops of the region are olives, grapes, oranges, tangerines, and cork. The region has a long history of civilization. Large islands in the Mediterranean include:
- Cyprus, Crete, Euboea and Rhodes in the eastern Mediterranean
- Sardinia, Corsica, Sicily, and Malta in the central Mediterranean
- Ibiza, Majorca and Minorca (the Balearic Islands) in the western Mediterranean

Bordering countries

Modern states bordering the Mediterranean Sea are:
- Europe (from west to east): Spain, France, Monaco, Italy, the island state of Malta, Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, Albania, Greece, Turkey, and the island state of Cyprus.
- Asia (from north to south): Turkey,

Ancient Rome

History

Monarchy

Republic

Empire

Causes for the downfall of the Empire

Legacy

Successor states

Military legacy

Linguistic legacy

Cultural legacy

Legal legacy

Religion

Early Roman Religion

Late republic and the empire

Spread of Eastern Religions

Society

Classes

Family

Economy

Finance

Trade

Culture

Literature

Epic Poetry

Shorter Poems

Drama

Letters

Visual arts

Education

Architecture and technology

Construction technology and engineering

Roads

Aqueducts

Baths

Government

Roman Kingdom

Roman Republic

Roman Empire

Central government

Local government

Senate

Military

See also

External links

References

Ancient sources

Pre-20th century sources

Modern sources

Civilization

Senses of the word

1: Literal and technical definitions

2: Broader sense

3: Human society as a whole

4: A standard of behavior

5: Superior vs. less complex societies

What characterizes civilization

Civilization as a cultural identity

Civilizations as complex systems

The future of civilizations

See also

Negative views of civilization

Problems with the term "civilization"

Early civilizations

Mesopotamia

Egypt

India

China

See also

Further reading

North Africa

People

Culture

History

See also

753 BC

Events and trends

Significant people

476

Mediterranean Sea