What century is ancient rome. A Brief History of Ancient Rome in Dates for Schoolchildren

The report on the topic "Ancient Rome" will tell about the culture and life in this country. "Ancient Rome" report grade 5 can present in the history lesson.

"Ancient Rome" report

Ancient Rome- a powerful ancient civilization that got its name from the capital - Rome. His dominions stretched from England in the north to Ethiopia in the south, from Iran in the east to Portugal in the west. The legend prescribes the founding of the city of Rome to the brothers Romulus and Remus.

The history of ancient Rome dates back to 753 BC. e. and ends in 476 AD. e.

In the development of the culture of Ancient Rome, the following main periods can be distinguished:

1. Etruscan VIII-II century BC e.
2. "royal" VIII-VI century BC. e.
3. Roman Republic 510-31 BC e.
4. Roman Empire 31 years. BC e. - 476 AD e.

What did the ancient Romans do?

Rome was originally a small city-state. Its population consisted of three estates:

• patricians - indigenous people who occupied a privileged position in society;
• plebeians - later settlers;
• foreign slaves - they were captured during the wars waged by the Roman state, as well as their own citizens who became slaves for breaking the law.

Slaves did housework, hard work in agriculture, worked in quarries.
The patricians received servants, talked with friends, studied law, military art, visited libraries and entertainment establishments. Only they could hold government positions and be military leaders.
The plebeians in all spheres of life were dependent on the patricians. They could not govern the state and command the troops. They had only small plots of land at their disposal. The plebeians were engaged in trade, various crafts - processing of stone, leather, metal, etc.

All work was done in the morning hours. After lunch, the residents rested and visited the baths with thermal waters. Noble Romans could go to libraries, to the theater.

The political system of ancient Rome

The entire 12-century path of the Roman state consisted of several periods. Initially, it was an elective monarchy headed by a king. The king ruled the state, and performed the duties of the high priest. There was also a senate, which included 300 senators, chosen by the patricians from among their elders. Initially, only the patricians participated in the popular assemblies, but in a later period, the plebeians also achieved these rights.

After the expulsion of the last king at the end of the VI century. BC, a republican system was established in Rome. Instead of a single monarch, 2 consuls were elected annually, who ruled the country together with the Senate. If Rome was in serious danger, a dictator with unlimited power was appointed.
Having created a strong, well-organized army, Rome conquers the entire Apennine Peninsula, defeats its main rival - Kargafen, conquers Greece and other Mediterranean states. And by the 1st century BC, it turns into a world power, the borders of which passed through three continents - Europe, Asia and Africa.
The republican system could not maintain order in an overgrown state. Several dozen of the richest families began to dominate the Senate. They appointed governors who ruled in the conquered territories. The governors shamelessly robbed both ordinary people and wealthy provincials. In response to this, uprisings and civil wars began, which lasted for almost a century. In the end, the victorious ruler became emperor, and the state became known as an empire.

Education in ancient Rome

The main goal of the Romans was to raise a strong, healthy, self-confident generation.
Boys from low-income families were taught by their fathers to plow and sow, and were introduced to various crafts.
Girls were prepared for the role of wife, mother and mistress of the house - they were taught to cook, sew and other women's activities.

There were three levels of schools in Rome:

• elementary schools, gave students basic skills in reading, writing and mathematics.
• Grammar schools taught boys from 12 to 16 years old. Teachers of such schools are more educated and occupied a fairly high position in society. Special textbooks and anthologies were created for these schools.
• The aristocrats sought to educate their children in rhetorical schools. Boys were taught not only grammar and literature, but also music, astronomy, history and philosophy, medicine, oratory and fencing.

All schools were private. The tuition fees in rhetorical schools were high, so the children of rich and noble Romans studied there.

Roman heritage

Ancient Rome left a great cultural and artistic heritage to mankind: poetic works, oratorical works, philosophical works of Lucretius Cara. Roman law, Latin language - This is the legacy of the ancient Romans.

The Romans created age-old architecture. One of the great buildings Coliseum. Heavy construction work was carried out by 12,000 slaves from Judea. They used a new building material created by them - concrete, new architectural forms - a dome and an arch. The Colosseum held over 50,000 spectators.

Another architectural masterpiece is Pantheon, i.e. temple complex of the Roman gods. This structure is in the form of a dome with a height of about 43 m. At the top of the dome there was a hole with a diameter of 9 m. Sunlight penetrated through it into the hall.

The Romans were rightly proud of the aqueducts - water pipes through which water flowed into the city. The total length of the aqueducts leading to Rome was 350 km! Some of them went to public baths.

To strengthen their power, the Roman emperors widely used a variety of mass spectacles. Caesar in 46 ordered to dig a lake on the Campus Martius, on which a battle was organized between the Syrian and Egyptian fleets. 2000 rowers and 1000 sailors took part in it. And the emperor Claudius staged a battle of the Sicilian and Rhodes fleets on Lake Futsin with the participation of 19,000 people. These spectacles impressed with their scale and splendor, convincing the audience of the power of the rulers of Rome.

Why did the Roman Empire fall? Scientists believe that the state and military power of the Romans was not able to manage such a huge empire.

Rome created its own civilization based on a special system of values

On the question of the independence of Roman civilization

The question of whether it is possible to speak of the existence of an independent Roman civilization has been repeatedly discussed in science. Such well-known culturologists as O. Spengler, A. Toynbee, singling out ancient culture or civilization as a whole, denied the independent significance of Rome, believed that the entire Roman era was a crisis stage of ancient civilization. When its capacity for spiritual creativity fades away, only opportunities for creativity in the field of statehood (the creation of the Roman Empire) and technology remain. Everything that was done in science, philosophy, historiography, poetry, art during the long centuries of Roman domination in the Mediterranean was borrowed from the Greeks, primitive and reduced to a level accessible to the mass consciousness, which never rose to the heights of the creators of Hellenic culture.

Other researchers (S. L. Utchenko did a lot in this direction in Soviet historiography), on the contrary, believe that Rome created its own original civilization based on a special system of values ​​that developed in the Roman civil community in connection with the peculiarities of its historical development. These features include the establishment of a democratic form of government as a result of the struggle between patricians and plebeians and the victories of the latter, and the almost continuous wars of Rome, which turned it from a small Italian town into the capital of a huge power.

Features of Ancient Rome

Red-figured crater depicting scenes from the myth of Iphigenia in Tauris. Apulia (Southern Italy). 4th century BC.

Under the influence of these factors, the ideology, the system of values ​​of Roman citizens took shape. It was determined primarily by patriotism - the idea of ​​​​the special God's chosen people of the Roman people and the very fate of the victories intended for them, of Rome as the highest value, of the duty of a citizen to serve him with all his might, sparing no effort and life. To do this, a citizen had to have courage, steadfastness, honesty, loyalty, dignity, moderation in lifestyle, the ability to obey iron discipline in war, the law approved by the people's assembly and the custom established by the "ancestors" in peacetime, to honor the patron gods of their families, their rural communities and, of course, Rome. When slavery began to spread in Rome, reaching its highest development for antiquity, the opposition between a slave and a free-born citizen began to play a significant role in ideology, for whom it began to be considered shameful to be suspected of “slave vices” (lie, dishonesty, flattery) or “slave occupations”, which included here, unlike in Greece, not only the craft, but also performing on stage, composing plays, the work of a sculptor and painter.

Only politics, war, agriculture, the development of law - civil and sacred, historiography were recognized as deeds worthy of a Roman, especially from the nobility. On this basis, the early culture of Rome was formed. Foreign influences, primarily Greek, which had long penetrated through the Greek cities of southern Italy, and then directly from Greece and Asia Minor, were perceived only insofar as they did not contradict the Roman value system or were processed in accordance with it. In turn, Rome, having subjugated the countries of the Hellenistic culture, had a significant influence on them. This is how the synthesis of Greek and Roman cultures was formed. The Romans mastered Greek philosophy, forms and styles of Greek literature and art, but put their own content into them, developed their ideas and worldview in these new forms.

And the natives of the Hellenic and Hellenized provinces of the Roman state perceived Roman political thought, Roman ideas about the duty of a citizen, politician, ruler, about the meaning of the law. The rapprochement of Roman and Greek cultures became especially intense with the establishment of the empire, when the philosophical and political theories that developed among the subjects of the Hellenistic kings became close to the Romans. This Late Antique Greco-Roman culture, in which both components played an equal role, spread to both the eastern and western half of the empire. It was she who formed the basis of the civilization of Byzantium, the Slavic states of Western Europe.

early rome

Myths and reality

Until recently, the early history of Rome was known mainly from the writings of late ancient authors, and therefore most historians of the 19th and first half of the 20th century. considered her unknowable. The successes of archeology and linguistics in recent decades have made it possible to overcome the hypercritical attitude to the information of ancient writers and expand our understanding of the history and culture of archaic Rome. They showed that a number of legends contained in the books of these authors have a real historical basis.

According to legend, after the death of Troy, the descendant of the Illyrian king Dardanus, the Trojan hero Aeneas with his son Ascanius, came to Italy, defeated the Italic tribes in the war, married the daughter of the king Latina Lavinia, founded the city named after her, and after his death was ranked among the gods. His descendants, Romulus and Remus, founded Rome, and his son became the progenitor of the Julius family. Excavations have shown the authenticity of a number of details of this seemingly fictitious legend.

Etruscan influence

Information about the ethno-cultural environment in which Rome arose, about the degree of its influence on the formation of Roman culture itself, also expanded. Previously, the decisive influence on Rome was attributed to the Etruscans, who inhabited the Po Valley and part of Campania with the city of Capua. Indeed, their influence on Rome is undeniable. Skillful metallurgists, shipbuilders, merchants and pirates, they sailed all over the Mediterranean, assimilated the traditions of various peoples, while creating their own high and unique culture. It was from them that the Romans borrowed the architecture of temples with cladding, handicraft techniques, the practice of building cities, the secret sciences of haruspex priests who divined from the liver of sacrificial animals, a flash of lightning and a thunderclap, and even the custom of celebrating the victory of commanders with a triumph. Young men from noble families were sent to Etruria to study, Greek cults and myths penetrated Rome through Etruria.

Greek influence

Red-figured pelika depicting the Judgment of Paris. 4th century BC.

However, the Etruscan influence was not the only and earliest. Quite close ties between Italy and Greece have been established since the Mycenaean era, when the Achaeans founded their colonies on the Apennine Peninsula, ties that were strengthened in the 8th century. BC. In the VIII-VI centuries. BC. the cities of southern Italy and partly Latium are already connected with many centers of Greece and Syria.

In 508 BC Rome concluded an agreement with Carthage, which had its own trading post in the city of Pirgi (a dedicatory inscription to the goddess Astarte in Punic and Etruscan was found here). According to legend, when the Romans in the middle of the 5th century. BC. first recorded their right (the so-called right of the XII tables), they sent a commission to Greece to familiarize themselves with the local laws. In 433 BC in connection with the plague, they sent a request to the Delphic oracle and, on his advice, established the cult of Apollo the healer. Very early they began to adopt some Greek religious customs and rituals. One should not underestimate the role of the all-Italian cultural fund, which was formed even before the appearance of the Etruscans in Italy. Such a fund can include, for example, legends about the founding of cities.

The legend of the founding of Rome and the reign of Romulus

The myth of the foundation of Rome has been preserved in the most detail: the twins Romulus and Remus (according to one version, the sons of the slave of the king of the city of Alba Longa Amulia and the deity of the hearth, according to another and more common, the daughter of the brother Numitor deposed by Amulius and the god Mars) were on the orders of Amulius put in a basket and thrown into the Tiber. But when the water subsided, the babies were found and fed by the she-wolf. Picked up and raised by the shepherd Faustul and his wife Akka Larenzia, they grew up and, having learned about their origin, restored their grandfather to the throne of Alba Longa, and themselves, with a crowd of shepherds who joined them, founded Rome in the place where they were once found. Romulus, who was the first augur, that is, a priest who recognized the will of the gods by the flight of birds, saw 12 kites that foreshadowed Rome 12 centuries of glory. Having quarreled with Remus, he killed his brother and became the first king of Rome.

Since the neighbors did not want to marry off their daughters to the notorious inhabitants of the new city, Romulus invited the Sabine community to a feast in honor of the god of the underground granary of Consus, Consualia, during which the Romans kidnapped the Sabine girls. The war that began with the three cities where the abductees came from ended in peace at their request. Romulus shared power with the Sabine king Titus Tatius, and both peoples merged into one - the Quirites - with common cults, priests, and customs. After the death of Titus Tatius, Romulus began to rule alone, and it is to him that tradition ascribes the most important establishments in the life of the new city:

• the division of the people into three tribes, 30 curia and each curia into 10 clans with the obligation to supply soldiers to the legion, numbering 3 thousand infantrymen and 300 horsemen,
• establishment of the Senate
• regulation of relations between patrons and clients,
• introduction of fundamental laws.

According to tradition, after a 37-year reign, Romulus suddenly disappeared and, under the name Quirinus, was ranked among the gods. It is difficult to say to what extent real events were reflected in the history of Romulus and Titus Tatius, but it is significant that echoes of the myths about the founding of other Italian cities, strikingly similar to the Roman one, have come down to us.

Etruscan antefix depicting the head of the Gorgon Medusa. 4th century BC.

Along with the influence of the Etruscans and Greeks, the Italics also created their own traditions in art. So, in Campania, where Fortuna was revered as a mother goddess, statuettes of women with children were found; the Samnites were dominated by Mars and Hercules in the form of warriors. In ceramics and jewelry, the Italians achieved significant success. So, the early art of Rome absorbed various influences: Italic, Etruscan, Greek.

Archeology about the founding of Rome

New excavations also shed light on such a controversial issue as the date of the very emergence of Rome. According to legend, it was founded on April 21, the day of the feast of the shepherd goddess Palea, in 753 BC. Indeed, the first traces of a settlement on the Palatine are dated by archaeologists of the 8th century BC. BC. The inhabitants of Latium, including the future Romans, were then part of the union of Latin tribes, united by the cult of Jupiter Latiaris in Alba Long and Diana on Lake. Nemi at Arricius. Like other Italics, they lived in clans, settled in territorial communities - pagas, from the union of which Rome arose. The communities retained their independence for a long time, but gradually their public lands merged, common cults and common priestly colleges were created.

The social structure of early Rome

The structure of life in archaic Rome was simple. At the head was an elected king, who combined the functions of the high priest, commander, legislator and judge, under whom the senate consisted. The most important matters, including the election of the tsar, were decided by the people's assembly. The clan continued to play a large role, but the surname became the main socio-economic unit - the totality of property and people under the authority of the father: wives, sons, grandchildren with their wives, unmarried daughters, slaves, clients. The father had the right to life and death of members of the family, he could sell them, except for his wife, and manage their labor. Everything acquired by them belonged to the father, only he could enter into contractual relations.

He was also the high priest of the Lar family cult - the guardians of the house, estate, land of the family, the guardians of justice in intra-family relations. After the death of the father, the sons inherited the property and became legally full-fledged heads of families. According to tradition, Romulus distributed two yugers (0.5 hectares) of land to the heads of the families, apparently constituting household plots. On public land, everyone could occupy a plot and, having begun to cultivate it, became its owner. If he did not cultivate it, then the land was returned to the general fund, and any other citizen could take it. This rule was in effect throughout Roman history.

Religious and mythological beliefs of the ancient Romans

The mythological and religious ideas of that era were simple. So, the two-faced god Janus was revered as the creator of the world that arose from chaos, the creator of the vault of heaven (a double arch covered with bronze was erected at the Forum), as a god multiplying the human race. The king himself was considered its priest. Fire and water were especially revered, and it is no coincidence that the oldest formula for expelling a person from a community was his “excommunication from fire and water”, which symbolized the unity of communities. Of the most ancient gods, in addition to Jupiter, Mars and Quirinus, others were honored. Special holidays were dedicated to Saturn, the god of crops, the goddess of the earth, who bore different names (Tellus, Telumo, Ops), the deities of crops, cereals and fruits - Ceres, Liber, Pomona, Flora, Robigo, Palea; celebrating the feast of Palea, the shepherds jumped over the fires and fumigated with gray sheep to cleanse themselves of filth.

Musicians. Fresco from the Etruscan necropolis in Tarquinia. 5th century BC.

The forest deities were fauns and sylvans; water - the nymphs Kamena and the prophetess Carmenta. Curia and Pagi had their own cults. Of great importance in the life of the Romans were military campaigns against neighbors in the struggle for land and booty. They started in March and ended in October. The fetial priests declared war and made peace. At the beginning and end of campaigns, a horse was sacrificed to Mars, ritual purification of weapons and battle pipes was performed, and hymns to Mars were sung.

Etruscan rulers of Rome

In the VI century. BC. under the last three Roman kings, who came from Etruria, many Etruscans moved to Rome. A special Etruscan quarter even arose here. Sources attribute drainage work, paving streets, building bridges, a circus where games were held in honor of the gods, and the temple of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva on the Capitol to the Etruscan kings. It was to the Capitol that the procession of the triumphant headed, where he, dressed in the clothes of the Etruscan kings, laid his golden wreath at the feet of Jupiter and offered sacrifices to him. The territory of the city expanded, and the population increased so much that Rome could already equip 600 horsemen and 6 thousand infantrymen, that is, two legions, acting on the model of the Greek phalanx. Rome became the head of the Latin Union, which included 47 communities. The cult of the goddess of the Latin Union Arritsian Diana was transferred here, a temple on the Aventine was dedicated to her.

Reforms of Servius Tulia

The most striking figure of the Roman kings was Servius Tullius, revered as a great reformer and benefactor of the people. Servius Tullius was credited with the introduction of qualifications and the organization of territorial tribes. The census divided citizens into property classes, which formed the army and popular assemblies (centuriate comitia). 18 centuries were riders, the most noble and rich, who fought on horseback, 80 were people whose property allowed them to buy heavy weapons. Then followed 90 centuries from 4 property classes, which were lightly armed for the war. To them were added 2 centuries of trumpeters and artisans, and the last was the centuria of the poor, "proletarians" who did not join the army, since they could not purchase weapons for themselves.

In the national assembly, each centuria had one vote, the decision was made when the majority of the centurias voted for it. The entitlement was intended to ensure, in the words of Aristotle, "geometric" or "proportional" equality: the "sum" of the rights of citizens was to be equal to the "sum" of their duties. The nobler and richer a citizen was, the more he was obliged to spend money for the common good. The Romans themselves assessed the reform of Servius Tullius as democratic, because it made it possible for an unborn person, who had made a fortune with talent and labor, and moved to a higher property class, to advance. This reform weakened the influence of the tribal nobility. Even more important in this regard was the division of the territory of Rome into tribes - 4 urban and 16 rural. Thus, the tribal organization gave way to the territorial one. As Rome conquered new lands, the number of tribes grew, eventually reaching a significant figure - 35.

The activities of Servius Tullius received the support of the lower classes, but aroused the hatred of the senators - the "fathers", who organized a conspiracy and killed him. However, his son-in-law and successor Tarquinius, nicknamed the Proud, continued the policy of Servius. He sought to develop crafts, trade and construction, filled the Senate with representatives of less noble families.

Establishment of the Republic and formation of the Roman civil community

Detail of a fresco from the Etruscan necropolis at Tarquinia. 4th century BC.

The overthrow of Tarquinius the Proud and the establishment of the power of aristocrats

In 510 BC (traditional date) Tarquinius was expelled by the rebels led by Junius Brutus "zealots of freedom", defenders of the power of the senate, and the monarchy was replaced by an aristocratic republic. At this time, the process of constituting the estates of patricians and plebeians - the aristocracy and the common people - was especially intensified. The overthrow of the monarchy was the triumph of the patricians and led to the struggle between the estates. Only from the patricians were elected consuls for a one-year term, who had the highest power - empires - both in peacetime and as commanders-in-chief in time of war. From the patricians, assistants to the consuls were also elected - praetors and quaestors, dictators, who, in special cases, were given absolute power for six months. Only patricians could be priests who knew which days of the calendar are considered suitable for convening a popular assembly; only they knew the casuistry of legal proceedings, which made both the people's assembly and the plebeians in court dependent on them.

The political dominance of the patricians strengthened their economic position. They occupied large parts of the public land, while the plebeians, due to constant wars, crop failures, the loss of livestock, the reduction of foreign and domestic trade and crafts, were ruined, and insolvent debtors turned into bonded or sold into slavery across the Tiber. Estates turned into classes of large landowners, dependent farmers and slaves, a state was formed where political power was concentrated in the hands of the ruling class. This process was accompanied by the struggle of the plebeians against the patricians. The plebeians demanded that the conquered lands be divided among them, while the patricians wanted to add them to public lands; the plebeians insisted on the destruction of debt bondage and debt slavery, sought access to the magistracies and the priesthood, while the patricians stubbornly held on to their privileges. This struggle was intertwined with the constant wars of Rome with its neighbors. The patricians could not ignore the fact that the plebeians were legionary infantry, and this forced them to satisfy the demands of the plebeian masses.

First plebeian secession

When in 494 BC. a war began with the Latin communities, the plebeians refused to fight, retired to the Sacred Mountain (the so-called first secession of the plebeians) and agreed to return only when they received the right to choose from among their tribunes the people's tribunes - the defenders of the plebs. The people's tribunes received the right to veto the orders of the magistrates (with the exception of the dictator), to call the plebeians to meetings, to protect from injustice any plebeian who took refuge in their house. The personality of the tribune was considered inviolable; whoever encroached on the people's tribune was cursed, and anyone could kill him. The reconciliation of patricians and plebeians had important results: the Romans defeated the Latins and restored the dominance of Rome.

Adoption of the "Laws of the XII Tables"

However, the struggle between patricians and plebeians continued. The center of the plebs was the temple of Ceres, Liber and Libera - a triad, as if opposing the Capitoline triad of patricians. The plebeians demanded written laws to deal with the abuses of the patricians. They managed to achieve the election of a commission of decimvirs. The laws written down and approved by the people's assembly ("Laws of the XII Tables") formed the basis for the further development of Roman law. To a large extent, they were based on customary law, although they also introduced a lot of new things.

Dance. Fresco from the Etruscan necropolis in Tarquinia. 5th century BC.

The right of debt was confirmed, but an article was introduced in favor of the clients, which cursed the patron who deceived the client. It was forbidden to grant anyone personal privileges, which affirmed the equality of citizens before the law. According to a special law, the territory of the Roman community was to remain only under its control. It was forbidden to transfer land to temples, which prevented the formation of an economically, and hence politically, strong priesthood in Rome. The laws confirmed the right of citizens to occupy an abandoned site, the owner of which they became after two years of use. This rule did not apply to foreigners: only a Roman citizen could own land in Rome. The alienation of family property was also regulated. Inheritance usually passed to sons, the closest male relatives or relatives.

If a person wanted to make a will and deprive his son of an inheritance, it had to be approved by the people's assembly. All this indicates the control of the community not only over public, but also over private property. Throughout the centuries, in Rome, it was believed that a citizen, for the common good, should conscientiously cultivate his land (a good farmer was synonymous with a good citizen), provide children, give daughters a dowry so that they marry and give birth to new citizens for the good of society. The "Laws of the XII Tables", under the influence of the most conservative patricians, prohibited marriages between patricians and plebeians, but this prohibition was abolished after a new secession of the plebs. To weaken the struggle of the plebeians for land, Rome began to establish colonies on the conquered lands, distributing plots there to the plebeians. In the 5th century BC. 10 colonies were founded, in the IV century. BC. - 15. The colonies were subject to the laws of Roman or Latin law, but their inhabitants could acquire Roman citizenship by moving to Rome. The colonies became conductors of Roman influence.

The war with the Gauls and the growth of qualifications

Successful wars confirmed the power of Rome throughout Latium and in the south of Etruria. But now he faced a new danger. Celtic tribes advancing into northern Italy, by 390 BC reached Latium, defeated the Romans at the river. Allii, moved to Rome and took the city, robbing the property of the inhabitants and burning buildings. Only the garrison of the Capitol, under the command of Manlius, nicknamed the Capitoline, held out for seven months, until the Gauls, having learned that the Veneti were advancing on their land, left, taking a ransom from Rome. The Roman victories gave them access to the grain and metals of Etruria, which strengthened their position. According to the qualification of the middle of the IV century. BC. there were already 255 thousand Roman citizens who could field 10 legions. Judging by the fact that in 357 BC. a tax was introduced on manumissions (leaving the will of slaves), their number was significant, and they were used in various jobs. Freedmen became Roman citizens, but without the right to hold magistracies and were obliged by various duties to the former master - patron.

Apollo from Wei. Terracotta. Etruria. 6th century BC.

Italian wars and the expansion of the territory of Rome

Wars made it necessary to make concessions to the plebs. In 367 BC in connection with new unrest, a law was adopted, proposed by the popular tribunes Gaius Licinius and Lucius Sextius. According to him, one consul was to be chosen from among the plebeians; the situation of debtors was eased, it was forbidden to occupy more than 500 yugers (125 hectares) on public land, to graze more than 100 bulls and 500 sheep. According to the law of L. Genutius from 341 BC. both consuls could already be elected from the plebeians.

The entire second half of the 4th c. BC. was occupied by the wars of the Romans with the Lucanian and Samnite tribes who captured Capua.

By the end of the IV century. BC. Rome in Italy owned a territory of 20 thousand square meters. km, which made it possible to establish more and more colonies and increase the army of peasants who were ready to fight for new lands and booty. The combat readiness of the Roman army also stood the test in the war with the king of Epirus, Pyrrhus, who was called to help the Greek cities of southern Italy. In subsequent years, the Romans captured all the cities of Magna Graecia. Although they were granted a certain autonomy, they were obliged to supply warships to Rome. The Samnites and Etruscans were finally conquered.

Rome became the undisputed head of the federation of Italic cities and tribes. Gradually, the Italian cities adopted the Roman structure, mastered the language, and followed new cults. But the Romans also perceived the cults of the vanquished, following the ancient custom of ecocacia - inviting the deity of a hostile city to go over to the side of the Romans, promising to build a temple for him.

New victories of the plebs and the limitation of the power of aristocrats

The plebs won one victory after another. In 326 BC the law of Petelia and Papirius prohibited the enslavement of citizens and debt bondage. The insolvent debtor now answered with his property. His personality remained inviolable. It was forbidden to subject Roman citizens to torture and corporal punishment. Under the law of Publius Philo of 339 BC, confirmed by the law of Quintus Hortensius in 287 BC, decisions taken by assemblies of the plebs (plebiscites) received the force of law. The centuriate comitia were supplanted by assemblies by tribes (tributary comitia), in which there were no differences in qualifications. Law 311 BC gave the people the right to choose 16 out of 24 military tribunes. According to the Ogulniev plebiscite (300 BC), the plebeians were given access to the priestly colleges, the elective position of the head of the college of pontiffs became the great pontiff, who oversaw the administration of public and private cults.

The transformation of Rome into a civil community

As a result of the victories of the plebs, Rome by the beginning of the 3rd century. BC. turned into a civil society. This was the most important historical event, which predetermined the further history of Rome. The main features of the Roman civil community were the combination of collective and private land ownership in the presence of the supreme property of the community, the connection between the concepts of "citizen", "warrior" and "farmer", the equality of political and legal rights of citizens, the power of the people's assembly in all the most important issues related as a collective of citizens , and an individual citizen, observance of the principle of "geometric equality" - the labor of each for the common good, understood as the benefit of every citizen. Opportunities for the exploitation of fellow citizens as dependent workers, and even more so as slaves, were significantly narrowed. This accelerated the transformation of foreigners into slaves. The slaves were divided into separate families, where the masters watched them; clients were released, now equal citizens and owners of land. These measures hindered the process of constituting the classes of large landowners and dependent farmers and the formation of a strong state apparatus.

The army, which consisted of citizens, served only to suppress resistance from outside; there were no police and prosecutors: bringing a citizen to court was a private matter for the plaintiff, who himself had to ensure the appearance of the defendant and witnesses in court and the execution of the sentence. The punishments prescribed by the "Laws of the XII Tables" were gradually replaced by fines or exile. In addition, the people's tribune could personally intervene in the trial at any stage, veto and release the accused. Iron discipline reigned only in the army.

Religion

Religion played an important role in the life of the Roman civil community. She demanded the observance of established rites, insisting that no business in public and private life should be started without asking the will of the gods. Every citizen was obliged to participate in the ceremonies of his family, the neighboring community and the civilian community. But unlike many other peoples, the Romans did not believe that their social order was sanctified by religion or that the gods set moral standards and punished for their violation. The highest sanction, the highest judge was the approval or condemnation of fellow citizens. The role models were the "ancestors", primarily the ancestors of noble families who performed feats for the glory of Rome.

Rome's exit from Italy

A new era in the history of Rome began with the Punic Wars, when Rome went beyond Italy. This process expressed the inevitable trend towards the political and economic unification of the slave states and the vast tribal world. The noted trend was dictated by the need to gain access to resources (metals, agricultural products) and to facilitate the exchange between regions. In addition, Rome sought to strengthen its economy through the exploitation of the tribes, turning them from the "outer periphery" into the "inner".

The Formation of the Roman Power and the Crisis of the Republic

Brutus head. Bronze. 3rd century BC.

First Punic War, capture of Sicily, Sardinia, Corsica

The peoples and tribes that Rome came into contact with were at different stages of socio-economic, political and cultural development. The war with Carthage (the first Punic War - 264-241 BC) was fought mainly for dominance over the lands of Sicily and access to the metals of Spain. It lasted more than 20 years and ended in 241 BC. Roman victory over the Punic fleet under the command of Hamilcar Barca. Part of Sicily passed under the rule of the Romans and became the first overseas Roman province, ruled by the Roman governor - the commander of the occupying troops, and was obliged to pay Rome a tenth of the harvest and taxes on pastures. The Greek cities of Sicily were declared free and paid no taxes. Soon Rome captured Sardinia and Corsica, which became the second province.

The losses of the Romans in this war were great. They lost a total of 600 ships, the number of citizens for 30 years has decreased by 20 thousand people. And yet in 229 BC. Rome was able to send 200 ships against the Illyrian pirates, capture the island of Kerkyra and force the cities of Apollonia and Epidamnus to recognize their protectorate. For 225-218 years. BC. The Romans managed to defeat the Ligurian and Celtic tribes in northern Italy, form a new province - Cisalpine Gaul and establish colonies there, allocating land to the poorest citizens. In the interests of the plebs, a secret ballot was introduced in the national assembly. But, despite internal democratization, the basis of Rome's foreign policy was the support of the aristocracy of those tribes and peoples with whom he fought. The victories were facilitated by the support of the pro-Roman nobility, who often betrayed the interests of their fellow citizens.

Second Punic War 218-201 BC.

Meanwhile, the Carthaginians sought revenge. The son of Hamilcar Barca, one of the most talented commanders and diplomats of antiquity, Hannibal, was actively preparing for the war with Rome. He gathered forces in Spain and counted on an alliance with the Gauls and all those dissatisfied with Roman rule in Italy and Sicily, as well as an alliance with the king of Macedonia, Philip V, who feared the strengthening of Rome's influence in the Adriatic.

The turning point in the history of the Mediterranean and of Rome itself was the second Punic War. She demonstrated the ability of the Romans to recover from the most crushing defeats. The victories of Hannibal who invaded Italy at Ticino, Trebia and especially at Cannae on August 2, 216 BC, where 50 thousand Roman troops fell, the transition to his side of Capua, Tarentum and other cities of southern Italy and Sicily, the defeat of the Roman army , sent to Spain, seemed to make the position of Rome hopeless.

But the Romans managed to emerge victorious, acting both as skilled warriors (under the command of Fabius Maximus, they switched from open battles to the tactics of small skirmishes and "scorched earth", exhausting Hannibal's army), and as diplomats. They forged an alliance of the cities of Greece against Macedonia and part of the Iberian kings against the Carthaginians. Philip V was forced to make peace with them. The cities of Italy and Sicily were gradually recaptured. The young, exceptionally talented commander Publius Cornelius Scipio (the future winner of Hannibal, nicknamed the African), having landed in Spain, took New Carthage, which was considered impregnable, and expelled the Carthaginians from the Iberian Peninsula. In 204 BC he took the war to Africa, where he made an alliance with the king of Numidia, Masinissa. Recalled from Italy, Hannibal met with Scipio at the battle of Zama (autumn 202 BC), was defeated and fled to King Antiochus III. The Carthaginians had to accept peace on any terms: for 50 years they had to pay 600 million denarii, they gave out war elephants and a fleet (except for 10 ships), they were forbidden to fight on their own without the sanction of Rome.

Results of the Second Punic War

According to modern estimates, the second Punic War cost the Romans 200 million denarii, three times more than the first. During this war, when the Romans had to maintain 36 legions and 150 ships, prices rose very much. 400 Italian settlements were destroyed, many of the lands of Lucania and Apulia were turned into pastures. True, now the whole of Sicily and the south of Spain with its silver mines have become a Roman province. A brutal reprisal began against those who supported Hannibal. Capua lost its land and city status, 32,000 residents of Tarentum were sold into slavery, and 40,000 Ligures were evicted in the vicinity of Benevent. New colonies were founded in northern Italy, and the lands of local communities were added to Roman public land. They were opened to occupation for a rent of 1/10 of cereals and 1/5 of timber crops and a tax on pastures. The colonists received from 5 to 50 yugers, and in the colonies of veterans commanders were assigned 100-140 yugers. Land surveying, construction of roads, bridges, and cities took place throughout Italy. Colonization and displacement of the population accelerated the Romanization of Italy, the spread of Roman cults, language, urban structure with the Senate and magistrates.

Changes in the economic structure of society

The head of a man. Bronze. 1st century BC.

New sources of enrichment have opened up. The absence of a state apparatus led to the introduction of a system of tax farming from the provinces, rent from public lands, the development of Spanish silver mines, where 40 thousand slaves were employed, for construction work. Since all this required capital investments beyond the capacity of a single tax-farmer, tax-farmers and contractors formed companies, which included poor people, receiving income in accordance with contributions. Judging by the words of Polybius, almost the entire Roman people constituted something like a joint-stock company for the exploitation of the provinces and Italy itself. The Roman economy began to develop rapidly. Rich not only large, but also medium-sized entrepreneurs who invested money mainly in the acquisition of land. Wealthy people bought up estates - villas in different parts of Italy. The growth of the urban population created a market for agricultural products. The pursuit of profit has become universal. The need for money grew, which led to the development of usury, which was a heavy burden for the province.

The result of these processes was the spread of medium-sized villas (100-250 jugers) and large pastures throughout Italy.

• The first produced grain, grapes, olives, vegetables, fruits;
• the second - meat, milk, wool, processed by urban artisans.

Rapid growth in the number of slaves

Cities specialized in the production of certain handicrafts. Additional labor force was required, the number of slaves grew. Since that time, in Rome and Italy as a whole, the slave-owning mode of production has been rapidly developing, reaching the highest flourishing for antiquity. Slaves and slave owners become the main antagonistic classes of Roman society.

Changes in agriculture

A villa with 10-15 slaves was described by Cato in his treatise on agriculture. Everything is strictly regulated with him: the number and ration of slaves, production rates, the duties of the manager - fork, the conditions for hiring temporary labor in a bad time and for construction, the advantages of buying inventory in a particular city. Some historians have thought that Cato's villa was some kind of analogue of a capitalist enterprise, but his treatise clearly shows a sharp difference between simple commodity and capitalist production. Setting the goal not to accelerate the turnover of capital, not to expand reproduction, but to accumulate, a good owner should sell, not buy, Cato taught. The owner tried to produce everything on his estate. It is unlikely that such a villa gave an income comparable to the income from maritime trade, farming, usury. But in comparison with a small peasant economy, the slave-owning villa had a number of advantages. Simple cooperation and division of labor increased its efficiency. It was possible to buy the best tools - plows, presses for olives and grapes, etc. The spread of villas contributed to the rise of agriculture.

The position of the slaves

Slavery began to penetrate into the craft. The increasing role of slaves in production affected their position. According to the law of Aquilia, they were equated with cattle: for the damage caused by the slave, the master was responsible in the same way as for the damage caused to the quadrupeds; for the crimes of a slave, committed by order of the master, the master was responsible. Family ties of slaves were not recognized: a slave could have a concubine, but not a wife. It was believed that he did not have a father. The owner of the villa supported the working capacity of the slaves, as well as working cattle, but the slave was not considered a person. In the cities, the position of the slaves was somewhat better. The gentlemen sometimes gave them small property (peculium), allowed them to be hired on the side; they could even save money for the ransom. Urban slaves communicated more easily with the free, attended spectacles, participated in the colleges of the plebeians, but even here the slaves were despised, and they generally remained outside society.

New conquests of territory by Rome

The benefits gained from the war with Carthage pushed the Romans to further expansion to the east and west. In the east, the Romans intervened in the affairs of the Hellenistic states. Having lured the Illyrians and Greek cities to their side, the Roman troops under the command of Titus Quinctius Flamininus defeated Philip V in 197 BC. Flaminin at the Isthmian Games declared "freedom" to the Greek cities, for which the Greeks ranked him among the gods.

In 189 BC Antiochus III was defeated. In 148 BC, having crushed the uprising in Macedonia, the Romans turned it into their province. Two years later, M. Mummii destroyed Corinth. Freedom was retained only by Athens, Sparta and Delphi, the rest of the Greek cities were subordinate to the governor of Macedonia. Finally, in the same year 146, after a short third Punic war, the grandson of Scipio Africanus, Scipio Aemilianus, destroyed Carthage, cursing the land of this eternal rival of Rome. All possessions of Carthage made up the Roman province of Africa. According to the will of a friend of Rome, the Pergamon king Attalus III, the Romans received his kingdom - the province of Asia. 2nd century conquests BC. revolutionized the life of Rome. Despite military spending, the influx of booty and taxes was so great that the government stopped resorting to tribute.

New changes in the socio-political structure of society

Fresco of the Villa of the Mysteries in Pompeii. Second half of the 1st c. BC.

The socio-political structure of society is changing. The nobility stands out - a circle of noble families who appropriated monopolies for magistracy; the second privileged class, the horsemen, is gradually being constituted. Rich and noble people belonged to him. Sometimes military tribunes, prominent citizens of Italian cities, famous speakers, and lawyers were also included here. Although senators and horsemen belonged to the same class of large proprietors (often to the same noble family), rivalry began between them for the right to exploit the provinces - the opportunity to rob them as farmers or governors.

At the same time, differentiation among the plebeians also increased. The rural plebs, distracted from their farms by constant wars and suffering from the seizure of their plots, went bankrupt, lost land, fell into debt bondage. The combat effectiveness of the army was undermined, discipline was falling. The urban plebs, occupied with handicrafts, petty trade, construction work, were less interested in land than in the cheapness of food, in lowering high housing costs. For him, it was extremely important to strengthen the power of the people's assembly and people's tribunes in order to limit the power of the senate and the nobility.

Changes in the culture of ancient Rome

Great changes took place in the culture of Roman society. The complication of economic and political life created a need for educated people who could become assistants and agents of the magistrates - governors of the provinces, and lead the multiplying craft workshops. These needs were met by "importing" educated Greek slaves. Relations with all areas of the Mediterranean have expanded and strengthened. At the same time, opposition to Rome in the conquered countries led to the spread of prophecies predicting the imminent fall of Rome and the conversion of the Romans into slavery. The Greeks secretly despised the Romans, regarding them as cruel barbarians. The most far-sighted Roman politicians, among whom the Scipios and their entourage (“philhellenes”) played a leading role, understood that such a reputation undermined the authority of the Romans.

They began to study the Greek language, literature, philosophy. They bought educated Greek slaves (it is known, for example, that the Greek grammarian Daphnidus was bought for 700,000 sesterces, while the average slave cost about 2,000) to educate their children. Many of these slaves then received freedom, becoming famous as orators, grammarians, writers, opened schools for the children of the plebeians. Literacy began to spread among the people and even among the slaves. Rich people sent their sons to Athens, Ephesus and other cities of Greece and Asia Minor to listen to the lectures of famous orators and philosophers. Some of them moved to Rome, such as the historian Polybius, the philosophers Posidonius and Panetius, who were friendly in the circle of the Scipios who headed the "philhellenes". Roman nobles began to write for the Greeks and in Greek the history of Rome in order to prove the virtues of the Romans, the kinship of the Romans with the Trojans, which goes back to Aeneas, and thereby with the Greek world. Trojan and Greek heroes were credited with founding a number of Italian cities. In turn, the Greeks, reconciled to the dominion of Rome, proved the commonality of Greek and Roman institutions, cults, and customs.

Historian Polybius

Polybius did much to propagate the great mission of Rome. He wrote a "World History", or rather, the history of Roman wars and victories, due not only to Roman virtues, but also to their perfect political system, combining the advantages of a monarchy (represented by magistrates), aristocracy (represented by the senate) and democracy (represented by the popular assembly). An ideal political system that unites citizens, granting everyone their proper rights while observing duties, reverence for the gods, honesty, patriotism make Rome, according to him, invincible, the only one capable of creating a vast power and ruling it for its own benefit.

The thoughts of Polybius responded to the unflagging interest of the Greeks in questions of the political system and attracted their attention. For the Romans, they formed the basis of their political concepts. Educated Romans got acquainted with the Greek philosophical schools. Along with philosophy, Hellenistic science was also mastered. According to Polybius, every military leader should know astronomy in order to determine the time, the length of day and night from the constellations, and be able to predict solar and lunar eclipses. Varro, in his agronomic treatise, pointing out which constellation should rise with one or another work, believed that not only the owner, but also the fork should be able to determine the rise of the constellations.

Oratory

Under the influence of the Greeks, oratory was improved, which was necessary to win disputes in public assemblies and courts. The ability to convince involved knowledge of logic and psychology to influence the emotions of listeners. Interest in psychology became one of the hallmarks of Roman culture. Law was developed, which has become very complicated since the time of the “Laws of the XII Tables”. The pontiffs developed and refined the details of worship and ritual.

Fresco of the Villa of the Mysteries. 1st century BC.

worship of the gods

During the second Punic War, partly to encourage citizens with the hope of the help of the gods, vows were made, games were instituted; partly in order to get closer to their Greek allies, the senate began to include foreign gods in the pantheon - Venus Erucina, named after her famous temple on Mount Eryx in Sicily, the great mother of the gods Cybele, revered in Pergamon on Mount Ida, the god of healing Aesculapius. The festival in honor of Saturn - Saturnalia - was modeled after the Greek Kronii, reminiscent of the golden age of abundance and equality. The masters treated their slaves, who, along with the free ones, participated in the carnival festival. Gladiator games were growing in popularity.

Theatrical performances

Stage performances were rebuilt according to the Greek model. A whole galaxy of talented playwrights and poets appeared in Rome, mainly from foreigners, scapegoats and the common people. The authors usually took Greek tragedies and comedies as models. Of the large number of works, unfortunately, only fragments have come down to us. True, the comedies of Plautus and Terentius have been completely preserved. Terentius (circa 195-159 BC) was a freedman, but, despite this, he was accepted into the Scipio circle. His comedies, written in refined language, seemed boring to the general public. The comedies of Plautus (circa 254-184 BC) from the lower classes were extremely popular. He, like Terence, took Greek comedies as a basis, filling them with many details borrowed from Roman folklore, everyday life, judicial practice, amusing the audience with jokes. The main character of Plautus' comedies was a clever, inexhaustible slave, who usually helped the owner's son to deceive his stingy father, to lure money from him. Each comedy character was supposed to perform in a suit and wig that matched his character. The performances were accompanied by flute playing. Plays were also staged from Roman life - the so-called togata, in contrast to the Greek "palliat". In the "palliats" the slave could be smarter than the master, in the "togat" - no. On Italian soil, “atellani” (from the name of the Campanian city of Atella) arose with masked characters: a fool, a glutton, a rogue, a miser.

There were numerous tragedies written on the plots of Greek myths. Tradition has preserved for us the name of one of the first tragedians, a native of Tarentum, a freedman, Livius Andronicus (circa 284-204 BC), who also translated the Odyssey into Latin. The tragedies of Ennius, Pacuvia, Action, etc. are known. While reading and listening to their works, the Romans became acquainted with Greek myths, began to identify their gods with Greek ones, and resorted to brief aphorisms borrowed from Greek philosophers. A participant in the first Punic War, Nevius (circa 270-200 BC) wrote an epic poem about the war, starting with the wanderings of Aeneas. The work of a native of the city of Rudia Ennius was diverse. He wrote many tragedies, "Annals" - the history of Rome in verse, full of patriotism, translated the "Sacred Chronicle" of Euhemerus, which proved that the gods are ancient kings and heroes. The poet Lucilius (circa 180-102 BC), close to the "philhellenes", wrote satires, ridiculing the passion for luxury and the pursuit of profits.

For acquaintance with Greek culture, not only the nobility, but also the people, the accumulation in Rome of paintings and statues taken from Greek cities, which were exhibited in squares and temples and served as models for Roman masters, was of great importance. Books were also imported to Rome: Aemilius Paul, for example, brought the library of King Perseus. The cultural horizon expanded, Rome got acquainted with the traditions of other peoples and assimilated them.

Contradictions and split in the cultural environment

However, not only in the socio-economic and political spheres, but also in the field of culture, a split began. Contempt for the common people grew in the upper strata. Lucilius defined virtue as knowledge accessible only to an educated person. This concept, recognized at the top, was expressed by the following aphorism: "Virtue is wisdom, but the plebs don't have it".

Lucilius argued that one should seek approval only from refined and educated people, and not from the crowd. Poets and playwrights, as people without full rights, sought patronage from noble families, became their clients, accompanied their patrons on campaigns and glorified their victories. Thus, Scipio Africanus was credited with descent from Jupiter himself. Ennius dedicated poems to him, expressing enthusiastic admiration. Roman commanders became patrons of various cities and tribes in the provinces, temples were dedicated to them, inscriptions were carved in their honor. Arrogance and individualism grew among the nobility.

All this could not but provoke a reaction both among the upper classes and among the plebs. The opposition considered one of the forms of struggle to be against the Hellenic culture. The opposition was led by Cato, one of the few people from the common people who managed to rise, achieve a consulate and the position of censor. Among the plebeians, he enjoyed the fame of an unbending zealot of the "mores of the ancestors." His personal and political feuds with the Scipios were supplemented by a struggle against luxury and vanity. He actively opposed the opposition of his own good to the public good. Cato and his like-minded people were especially hostile against Greek philosophy and rhetoric. They believed that these sciences "corrupt young men." Greek philosophers and rhetoricians were repeatedly expelled from Rome, but these measures, of course, could not stop the penetration of Hellenistic culture, just as they could not stop the natural historical process.

Feature of the culture of Rome

The culture brought to Rome from the cities of Greece and Asia Minor was no longer Hellenistic, formed on the basis of the classical policy, but rather Hellenistic, formed in states with monarchical rule, which destroyed the collective, communal worldview characteristic of the policy. Rome, although it became the head of a vast state, still retained the features of an ancient civil community. At least, in the minds of most of its citizens, there were still values ​​consecrated by the “Roman myth”. And neither the Stoic doctrine of the equality of all people could agree with them, since the Romans did not recognize their equality not only with slaves, but also with Peregrines, nor the doctrine of indifference to everything except virtue and vice, since a Roman citizen could not neglect the fate of Rome , and virtue and vice were determined not by the personal judgment of the "sage", but by public opinion, corresponding to the establishment of the "ancestors".

The Epicurean thesis of "living inconspicuously", away from public life, could not be accepted, since it was the duty of the Roman to participate in the life of society, as befits a citizen, warrior, father of a family, obliged to increase its wealth as part of the wealth of all citizenship. The skepticism of the New Academy of Platonists, who denied the criteria of truth and the possibility of being sure of something, could undermine faith in enduring values. And therefore, it was not for nothing that Cato expelled from Rome the Platonist Carneades, who demonstrated his ability to prove the exact opposite (he delivered a speech “for” and “against” justice), and the Senate sometimes closed rhetorical schools, where, as many thought, Greek rhetoricians taught young men the ability to prove something false, in order, speaking in court, to save the criminal from a well-deserved punishment. Alien to the then ideology of the people was Pythagoreanism with its aristocratism, complex mathematical theories of the universe accessible only to the “chosen ones”. The opposition to Hellenistic influences was essentially the opposition of communal, collectivist ideology against the ethic of individualism. The latter, however, found sympathy with those nobles who, like victorious commanders, claimed a special position and in Rome felt constrained by the narrow and harsh norms of their “ancestors”.

Slave uprisings

The contradictions between the social strata became even more aggravated when, with the growth in the number of slaves and the intensification of their exploitation, the resistance of the slaves began to take dangerous forms. Several outbreaks of unrest among them occurred in the first half of the 2nd century. BC. In the 80s. shepherd slaves rebelled in Apulia, but were suppressed. The real threat to the slave owners was the outbreak that began in 138 BC. slave uprising in Sicily. The landowners of this province especially cruelly exploited the slaves, mostly from Syria and Asia Minor. Under the leadership of the Syrian Evn, they revolted.

Eunus was considered a prophet, and he was elected king under the name of Antiochus. Another uprising was led by the Cilician Cleon, who joined forces with Evnus. The cities of Enna and Tauromenium became the centers of the uprising. The rebel detachments grew rapidly, as the peasants joined them. The Roman armies sent against Evnus and Cleon were defeated. Only in 132 BC. they managed to take the rebellious cities, and then at the cost of betrayal.

Slaves revolted on Delos, Chios, in Attica. Only with great effort did the authorities succeed in suppressing their protests.

Social reforms of the Gracchi

Revolts by slaves and the rural poor threatened the stability of the Roman Republic. Some of the nobles began to understand the need for reforms that could revive the peasant army and rally the citizens. Among them was Tiberius Gracchus, a nobleman, maternal grandson of Scipio Africanus, a student of the Greek philosopher Blossius, a participant in the wars in Spain, where he was personally convinced of the deplorable state of the Roman army. Elected for 133 BC tribune of the people, he proposed a bill according to which no more than 500 yugers could be occupied on public lands (plus another 250 yugers for two adult sons). The surplus was confiscated and distributed in plots of 30 yugers among the poor. In essence, the bill did not run counter to the tradition that recognized the supreme ownership of land and the right to dispose of it by the civil community. But he ran into resistance from large landowners represented by the Senate.

However, the people's assembly, which was attended by many peasants, passed the law and chose a commission to implement it. But when Tiberius put forward his candidacy for the people's tribunes for a second term, his opponents mobilized all their forces, accusing Gracchus of intending to become king. On the day of the vote, his enemies brought their supporters and clients. The case ended in a real massacre. Tiberius and 300 of his defenders were killed.

In 124 BC. Gaius Gracchus, brother of Tiberius, was elected tribune of the people. He tried to create a broad front from various social strata, opposing it to the Senate. In favor of the urban plebs, he passed the so-called frumentary law to reduce the price of wheat for the poor; the new road construction project was supposed to give earnings to contractors and employees; in favor of tax-farmers and horsemen, a law was passed on the farming of tithes from the new province of Asia and on the participation of horsemen in the courts. The peasants also had to be satisfied with the law, which limited military service to 17 years, provided weapons at the expense of the state, and extended the right of appeal to the people's assembly to the soldiers. Gaius also proposed establishing colonies in Capua, Tarentum, and Carthage, allocating plots of 200 jugers to the colonists.

Finally, he came up with a proposal to give citizenship to the allies. But this is exactly what the Roman plebs did not like, who did not want to share their rights and advantages with the "foreigners" - the Italics. The opposition began campaigning against Guy, accusing him of neglecting the curse imposed on the land of Carthage. At the people's meeting there was a clash between supporters and opponents of Guy. Consul Opimius, endowed with emergency powers, led a detachment of hired Cretan archers against the Gracchanians. Three thousand supporters of Guy were killed, he himself ordered his slave to kill himself.

The commission, having managed to allocate land plots from 50 to 75 thousand families, was dissolved, and according to the law of 111 BC. the land, both received from the commission and occupied by that time in Italy and the provinces, was declared private, regardless of the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe estate, that is, not subject to rent and not subject to redistribution. Frumentary and judicial laws survived, and the involvement of the equestrians in the courts made lawsuits a weapon in the struggle of various groups.

But it was no longer possible to restore the Roman community of peasants and warriors, to which the efforts of the Gracchi were ultimately directed.

The reforms of Gaius Marius, who raised the army and destroyed the civil community

Started in 111 BC. the war with the grandson of Masinissa Jugurtha, who claimed the Numidian throne, showed how far the decay of the Roman army and its command staff had gone. During this war, Marius and Sulla came to the fore, who played a huge role in the fate of the Roman Republic. Guy Marius was from a small village near the city of Arpin and began his military career under the auspices of Caecilius Metellus, whose client was his father. The help of Metellus, personal courage, and then marriage to a woman from a noble family of Julius (the sister of Julius Caesar's father) - all this helped Mary to make a career that seemed impossible for an ordinary person. Having passed all the magistracies, he in 107 BC. e. was elected consul (then he was elected consul 7 more times) and carried out a military reform. From now on, everyone could join the army, regardless of qualifications, so that in addition to salaries and military booty, soldiers, having retired after 20 years of service, had a land allotment. The agrarian question received a new color: the poor who served in the army fought for land plots, and the army defended its interests much more effectively than the people's assembly. At the same time, the veterans expected to receive land allotments from their commander, and not from the Roman people. The connection between the soldiers and the civilian community was weakening. On the other hand, their dependence on the army commander, who defended their interests before the government, became stronger. The traditional connection between the concepts of "warrior" and "citizen" was broken: now not every citizen was obliged to be a warrior. All this testified to the crisis of Rome as a civil community. The only real power was the army. Previously, it was directed outward, the reform of Mary made it capable of operating inside Rome.

Marius introduced iron discipline into the army and changed its order, defeated Jugurtha, who fled to the Moorish king Bocchus. Quaestor Maria, a descendant of the noble family of Cornelius Sulla, was sent to negotiate the extradition of Jugurtha. He achieved the extradition of Jugurtha, thus starting his dizzying career. The army of Mary withstood another test with honor - the war with the German tribes of the Cimbri and Teutons who invaded Gaul and Northern Italy, who inflicted a number of defeats on the Romans, but in the end were defeated by Mary, who took 150 thousand prisoners.

The formation of two camps in Roman society - the optimates and the popular

In 101 BC Maria's consular colleague Aquilius crushed a new slave uprising in Sicily that lasted three years.

Like the first, a new uprising in Sicily led to a revival of the plebs movement. In the 1st century BC. there are two directions in the political life of Rome, called

• optimates (analogous to the Greek term "aristoi" - the best), they defended the power of the senate and the nobility
• popular (corresponding to the Greek concept of "leaders of the people") stood up for agrarian and other laws in favor of the plebs, for strengthening the power of the people's tribunes and the people's assembly

The speeches of the populace found a response in various strata. Among the plebs, legends came to life about the Roman kings-lovers of the people, and especially about Servius Tullius, who freed the people from dependence; Fortune began to be especially revered, humiliating high-ranking and elevating ordinary people, and Lara - guarantors of justice, defenders of the little man and slaves. In the quarterly colleges dedicated to their cult, plebeians and slaves united.

At the end of II and beginning of I century. BC. Marius was the leader of the populace. His demand for land grants to veterans ran into Senate opposition that threatened to nullify his military reform and undermine his personal authority. New unrest broke out. Thanks to the voices of veterans in 100 BC. the popular assembly passed a law establishing colonies for them in Gaul, Sicily, Macedonia and Africa. But Marius' participation in the suppression of unrest undermined his popularity, and he had to retire to Asia.

Allied war and obtaining Roman citizenship by Italics

The Optimates temporarily won, but the tense situation persisted. Italics began to demand Roman citizenship. Rejected by the Senate, they revolted. The so-called Allied War began, lasting from 91 to 88 BC. The poor tribes of Italy took the side of the rebels; Large landowners, citizens of the colonies and Greek cities remained loyal to Rome. The rebels, taking possession of the colonies, killed the Romans and the local nobility; common people and freed slaves were enrolled in their army, which already numbered up to 100 thousand people. Rome had to resort to hiring detachments of the Spaniards, Gauls, Numidians. The Roman army failed to succeed, and Rome had to make concessions. In 89 BC all of Italy south of the Po received Roman citizenship.

All the inhabitants of Italy now became Roman citizens, which meant that the popular assembly of Rome had practically lost its role. The connection between citizenship in a community and the right to own land on its territory also disappeared. Now every inhabitant of Italy could own land anywhere. Service in the legions became available to new citizens, for which they received land, and the influence of the commanders-in-chief spread throughout Italy. She is completely romanized.

First war with Mithridates Eupator

But the situation remained difficult in the provinces. A war began with the king of Pontus, Mithridates Eupator. He captured almost the entire Black Sea coast and a significant part of Asia. Mithridates was received in the provinces as a liberator. At his call, the inhabitants of Asia Minor in one day killed 80 thousand Romans, Italics, their freedmen and slaves living there.

The question of who would command in the war with Mithridates led to civil war in Rome itself. The Senate wanted to entrust the command to Sulla, who had already established himself as a talented commander. The populace nominated Maria. A war broke out between the supporters and armies of both, during which Rome changed hands many times, and each time the capture of the city was accompanied by reprisals against opponents. Finally, Sulla achieved command in the war with Mithridates, defeated his army, returned the lost provinces, made peace with Mithridates, returned to Italy and captured Rome.

Sulla's reprisals

Appointed dictator, he published lists of persons who were subject to execution, and their property - to proscription. Those who denounced the hiding proscript received a reward, and the slaves received freedom. Of the 10 thousand such slaves freed by Sulla (they received the name Cornelius), he organized his personal guard. The confiscated property was sold at auction to the supporters of Sulla (between them were also Crassus and Pompey), who amassed huge fortunes for themselves. Supporters of Mary (he himself had died by that time) were executed on the Field of Mars, many cities were destroyed. 120 thousand veterans of Sulla received the lands of the repressed persons and cities. The number of senators increased from 300 to 600 at the expense of the Sullans.

The power of the people's tribunes was limited, but the power of the provincial governors became absolute. The riders were suspended from participation in the courts. Sulla introduced emergency courts that tried and punished grave crimes. Sulla's dictatorship was a step towards the creation of a state apparatus. But the social base of Sulla's dictatorship was narrow: horsemen, businessmen, plebeians, landowners who lost their estates, and provincials were opposed to him. According to Cicero, even the very name "Romans" was hated in the provinces. The war with Mithridates showed that the population of the province was ready to revolt at the first opportunity.

It is no coincidence that immediately after the death of Sulla in 79 BC. new turmoil began. In Spain, the Marian Sertorius, who was popular among the Spanish tribes, established himself. With an army consisting of the Spaniards and the Marians who fled to him, Sertorius inflicted a series of defeats on Pompey. Only after the treacherous assassination of Sertorius was his army utterly defeated. But in 73 BC. a new war with Mithridates began. The commander of the Roman army, L. Lucullus, initially won a number of victories, took the capital of Mithridates Sinop and huge booty. However, further progress was stopped due to the outbreak of mutinies in his army.

Rise of Spartacus

In 74 BC. during the failures on the external fronts and in the midst of internal unrest, an uprising of slaves broke out under the leadership of Spartacus, a Thracian who was sent to the gladiators for refusing to serve in the Roman auxiliary troops that the kings of Thrace supplied to Rome. Ancient writers characterized Spartacus as a talented commander and a brilliant organizer. With seventy comrades, he fled from the gladiatorial school in Capua; soon rural slaves began to flock to him from Campania, and then from other regions of Italy. The army of Spartacus grew rapidly, reaching a huge number - 80, and according to other estimates, even 100 thousand people. Roman troops suffered one defeat after another. Roman historians believed that the goal of Spartacus was to bring the slaves beyond the Alps, into free Gaul.

And indeed, at first Spartacus victoriously made his way to the north of Italy. Under the city of Mutina (modern Modena), he defeated the army of the governor of Cisalpine Gaul, opening his way to the Alps. But then, instead of crossing them, he turned back. The reasons for this decision are unclear. Some modern historians believe that divisions began among the rebels, others believe that Spartacus intended to take Rome from the very beginning. In any case, he moved south and defeated the army of both consuls at Picenum. Then the Senate sent against him the praetor M. Licinius Crassus, endowed with extraordinary powers, to whose aid Lucullus and Pompey from Spain were called. Spartacus went further south, hoping with the help of pirates to cross to Sicily and raise slaves there. However, the pirates deceived him, and in the spring of 71 BC, despite the courageous resistance in Apulia, the rebels were defeated by the army of Crassus. Spartacus himself died in battle, the remnants of his troops were finished off by the soldiers of Pompey, 6 thousand people were crucified along the Appian Way. The uprising of Spartacus showed that slaves, primarily rural ones, had become a numerous and hostile class to the masters, the suppression of which required strong state power.

The complication of the social structure of society

The struggle was not only between slave owners and slaves, but also between peasants and large landowners, united in the estates of senators and horsemen. The focus was again on the agrarian question, which at that time took on somewhat different forms. Veterans and the poor demanded allotments and guarantees against the seizure of their plots. Large owners opposed the redistribution of land. Their estates, many thousands of yugers, were cultivated mainly by colonial tenants, who were in their clientele, indentured debtors chained by slaves.

Agriculture

From the work of the Roman scientist Varro devoted to agriculture, we know how much more complicated his organization was in comparison with the time of Cato. The accumulation of experience and knowledge, the division of labor in various branches of agriculture, the system of punishments and rewards, the separation of the functions of the significantly increased administrative staff of the villa had an effect.

Craft

In the cities, especially in Rome, the number of craftsmen of various specialties, working on order and for sale, grew, craft colleges multiplied, and rather large workshops arose. The demand for luxury items was satisfied by jewelers, chasers, perfumers, and fabric dyers. These industries employed many slaves and freedmen, often Greeks. Free-born plebeians worked in the original crafts - blacksmithing, carpentry, fulling. Numerous architects, painters, construction workers from free and slaves were employed in the construction of public and private buildings.

Construction

Construction technology has improved significantly. The Romans learned to erect arches and domes, which made it possible to increase the size of buildings. The discovery of a method for making concrete made it possible to give the walls a smooth surface and paint it with frescoes with monumental figures and landscapes. Specially trained slaves surrounded the houses of wealthy people with gardens. Multi-storey buildings were also built. They traded not only luxury goods, but also food, clothing, footwear, wood and metal products. The achieved level of socio-economic development has become incompatible with the order of the old, peasant Rome, which has become the center of a huge power.

Growing Crisis in Roman Society

A republic ruled by a nobility that grew rich by plundering the provinces and a few visitors to popular assemblies, could neither solve the pressing issues of the time, nor create a broader base of Roman power in the provinces. Nor could it incorporate a new army into the old system. The Senate, realizing that it was necessary to keep the old and conquer new lands in obedience, at the same time constantly came into conflict with the commanders in chief, and consequently with the army, when it came to allocating land to veterans. The commander-in-chief, in order not to lose his authority, had to rely on the people's assembly in this matter, which means making concessions to the plebs.

Fall of the senatorial republic

Rise of Pompey

Another conflict flared up in 70 BC, when Pompeii's optimate and Crassus from Sullan achieved the consulate. Interested in supporting the plebs, they repealed Sulla's laws, removed 64 Sullans from the Senate, restored the power of the people's tribunes, and transferred the courts to a commission of senators, horsemen, and rich plebeians chosen by tribes of erar tribunes. Popularity revived again. One of their leaders was Marius' nephew, who returned from exile, Gaius Julius Caesar. At the funeral of his aunt, his wife Marius, he delivered a speech about his merits, and then restored the trophies of Marius removed by Sulla at the Forum. In 63 BC Caesar was elected great pontiff; in the position of praetor, he generously treated the people and spoke at trials against prominent Sullans. At the same time, Cicero began his career with a speech against the governor of Sicily, Verres.

Julius Caesar. Marble. First half of the 1st c. BC.

But events developed in such a way that a reconciliation of the Senate with Pompey was required. In 67 BC he was given emergency powers to fight the pirates, and then to end the war with Mithridates. In 63 BC he ended the war victoriously and began to arrange business in the East. The province of Syria was formed; Pompey arbitrarily dismissed the kings of other eastern regions, and appointed new ones in their place. He founded 40 policies, increasing the powers of their magistrates. As a result of Pompey's conquests, the income of the Roman treasury increased by 70%. He became a true hero; in Asia, even his freedmen were honored as kings. In 62 BC Pompey returned to Italy.

Struggle in Rome and the first triumvirate

In the meantime, the place was unsettled. In 64 BC Cicero became consul. His rival L. Sergius Catilina, already previously suspected of behind-the-scenes activities, organized a conspiracy. It involved different segments of the population.

• the aristocrats and urban plebeians who owed money to usurers wanted the cassation of debts;
• the peasants who organized a detachment in Etruria under the command of a certain Manlius demanded the abolition of debt bondage.

Cicero knew about the conspiracy, but he did not have enough evidence to not only make speeches against Catiline, but also go into action. But nevertheless, a letter from the Catilinarians to the ambassadors of the Allobroges who were in Rome with a call for an uprising fell into his hands. This was already a betrayal of the fatherland, and Cicero ordered the arrest of the active leaders of the conspiracy. Catiline himself joined Manlius, but died in the battle. The case of the conspirators was heard in the Senate, and, despite the protests of Caesar, they were sentenced to death.

We know about Catalina only from the speeches of Cicero and from the writings of Sallust, who considered Catiline to be the representative of a completely corrupted nobility. Therefore, it is difficult to form a true picture of him and his movement. In any case, a part of the plebs followed him, and his failure testifies most likely to the weakness of the latter. The plebs could not even oppose the dissolution of the colleges prescribed by the Senate. On the other hand, the strength of the Senate's resistance also weakened. When Pompey was denied the allotment of land to his veterans and the approval of his orders in the East, he entered into an agreement with Crassus and Caesar, who had returned from his governorship in Spain.

In this alliance, which later became known as the first triumvirate, they united against the Senate -

• Pompey's army
• big businessmen close to Crassus
• populares who recognized Caesar as their leader

The triumvirs secured the election for 59 BC. consul of Caesar, who, despite the opposition of the Senate, led by Marcus Cato, great-grandson of Cato the Censor, passed a law to allocate plots of public lands to the veterans of Pompey. After the end of the consulate, Caesar was granted governorship in Cisalpine Gaul and Illyricum for a five-year period with the right to recruit five legions.

Activities of Clodius

Apparently, by this time, Caesar was convinced that only the army, and not a poorly organized plebs, could be the support of a politician. Even more than the failure of Catiline, the weakness of the plebs was evidenced by the movement of Clodius, who was elected tribune of the people in 58 BC. Starting his career by sedition of the soldiers of Lucullus, Clodius returned to Rome and joined Caesar. With his help, he passed from the patricians to the plebeians and was elected tribune of the people. According to Cicero, Clodius acted as a demagogue and candidate for tyranny. Having restored the plebeian colleges of the Lares cult, he recruited plebeians, freedmen and slaves into them, terrorized the optimates and Pompey himself. He passed a law according to which 300 thousand plebeians were to receive grain for free, and achieved the expulsion of Cicero for the illegal - without appeal to the people's assembly - execution of the Catilinarians. Frightened optimates surrounded themselves with gladiator guards, and the election of magistrates was often disrupted. However, Clodius achieved almost nothing. He gradually retired and in 52 BC. was killed by the slaves of his enemy Milo.

Breaking traditional surname ties

The plebs, split into rural and urban, could not justify the hopes placed on it by popularists like Sallust. All these events and social class shifts reflected changes in all spheres of life. Luxury has reached its limit. In the houses of the nobility there were several hundred slaves - servants, artisans, accountants, librarians, secretaries, readers, musicians. Each slave had his own specialty: one set the table, the other invited guests to the master's feast, the third baked pies, the fourth prepared dishes for the table, etc. Slaves and slaves taught the craft of barbers, bath attendants, maids, etc. It was considered bad taste to entrust one slave with different duties. Huge amounts of money were spent on clothes and jewelry of "secular ladies". The old ways have changed radically. Divorces became more frequent, noble women started love affairs. The authority of the fathers weakened, the sons actually disposed of their property themselves. Even the slaves, who now received shops and workshops in the peculia, lived independently, broke away from their surnames, and drew closer to the urban plebs.

Roman cultural life in the 1st c. BC.

Greek culture was gaining new positions. Sculptors and painters, following Greek models, depicted scenes from Greek myths on frescoes, but developed their own style in the field of portraiture. Unlike the Greeks, who embellished the originals, the Romans tried to accurately convey the appearance and inner essence of the person they depicted. Cicero, and then Horace in his "Art of Poetry" asserted the theory of realistic art, whose task was to reflect real life in all its diversity, to accurately describe the characters, habits, views on the life of people of different ages and social status. They condemned the deviation from the truth of life.

Meanwhile, the magistrates tried to surpass each other in the pomp of their spectacles. Along with comedies and tragedies, which sometimes already seemed outdated, there are funny scenes - mimes. The migraph Publilius Syr was especially famous. Many of the sayings of his characters have become popular proverbs.

Education

At the expense of slaves and freedmen, whom the gentlemen considered it necessary to educate, the intelligentsia grew. Many representatives of the "slave intelligentsia" wrote essays on history, linguistics, and literary criticism. But now both noble and high-ranking people did not consider it shameful to engage in mental work. The Greek language became not only literary, but also colloquial. Greek and Latin books were widely sold. The need for education has become universally recognized. So, the architect Vitruvius wrote that the builder must know not only architecture, but also astronomy, medicine, philosophy, mythology. The owner of the estate and vilik had to understand medicine and astronomy.

Philosophy

Varro was a versatile scientist. He wrote on many topics, from agriculture to the history of Roman cults, civil and religious institutions, and studied the etymology of Latin words. An outstanding thinker was Lucretius Car, the author of the famous poem "On the Nature of Things." Based on the theory of connection and separation of ever-moving atoms, he wrote about the natural, without the intervention of the gods, the origin of the Universe, the Earth, plants, animals and people. Human society, in his opinion, was formed and developed not by the will of higher powers, but due to the observation of nature and a reasonably understood common benefit, formalized by customs and laws, which can change if the understanding of the common benefit changes.

Numerous disasters from external and civil wars pushed people to find ways out of the impasse, they looked for an answer in the teachings that offered a variety of recipes in accordance with the views of various Greek philosophical schools.

The teachings of the Stoics and Pythagoreans

Thus, the Stoics taught that a person will be happy if he values ​​virtue above all else, fulfills his duty to society, but does not attach importance to such worldly circumstances as wealth, nobility, honors, health. According to Cicero, writings were circulating that proved that neither slavery, nor even the death of the homeland, was evil in itself. Among the upper classes, Pythagoreanism was popular, in which there was a lot of mysticism borrowed from the East, secret rites. Many took initiations into the Eleusinian and Samothrace mysteries. At the same time, contempt for the traditional Roman religion grew in the same environment. Cicero in his treatise "On Divination" ridiculed the traditional ways to find out the will of the gods, and in the treatise "On the Nature of the Gods" in the mouth of the great pontiff Aurelius Cotta he put arguments about the dubious existence of the gods: religion is obligatory for ordinary people, while an educated person can believe in it or do not believe.

The same was the opinion of Varro, who divided religion into the religion of poets, the religion of philosophers, and the religion obligatory for citizens. The Epicureans recognized the existence of gods leading a blissful life and not interfering in worldly affairs. The Stoics proceeded from the divine principle penetrating all things. In man, such a “divine spark” is his soul, spirit, mind, bringing him closer to the deity. Sometimes they identified God with nature, sometimes they spoke of a single god, while other deities revered by the people are his separate powers and properties or his assistants. Based on the unity of the world and the mutual influence of all its parts, the Stoics substantiated the reliability of astrology and the possibility of magic. The old faith was replaced by faith in fate. Astronomical information mixed with astrological information was presented in the poem "Astronomicon" by Manilius. Everyone believed in astrology, from slaves to Marius, Sulla and Pompey, whose horoscopes were compiled by astrologers.

Strengthened individualism. Indicative in this regard is the work of the so-called neotherics, to whom one of the best Roman poets, Catullus, belonged. The "neoterics" followed Hellenistic patterns, wrote fanciful poems for the elite on mythological themes and, from the point of view of Cicero, were useless for society. For Catullus, the main theme was his love for his sister Clodia, a "socialite" called Lesbia in his poems. With extraordinary power, the joys and sufferings of this high feeling are conveyed, which to a large extent pushed the events of the surrounding world away from it. The development of individualism was also reflected in the appearance of the memoirs of such figures as Sulla and Caesar.

Cicero

Cicero did a lot to develop the culture of his time. His speeches, letters to friends, philosophical treatises in which he tried to acquaint Roman readers with Greek philosophical and political thought, writings on oratory serve as a source not only for history, but also for the ideology and culture of those years.

A student of the Stoics Panetius (under his influence he wrote his treatise On Duty) and Posidonius Cicero, borrowing something from their positions, at the same time inclined towards the skepticism of the New Academy. He expounded his generally eclectic views in the treatises “Paradoxes”, “Academicians”, “Tuskulans”, as well as in such works as “On the Republic”, “On Laws”, “On Duty”, linking politics and philosophy. Cicero sought to combine Greek theories with native Roman ones. Like Cato, he emphasized that the greatness of Rome was created by the entire Roman people. The ideal for him was the Roman political system established by the "ancestors", the Roman Republic with its "mixed form of government", characterized by Polybius.

The life of the republic is governed by some higher law, established not by people, as the Epicureans believed, but by nature itself, by the “divine mind”, which created the law. All nature, the whole cosmos obeys him, even the gods obey him, and people, ignorant and vicious, should not change him at their discretion. Such admiration for the law forever remained a characteristic feature of the ideology of the Romans - the creators of the developed law. And later, they saw the main difference between a good emperor and a “tyrant” in that the first put the law above his own will, while the second trampled it. The Romans never shared the concept of the Greek sophists, who believed that the law was created by the weak and not binding on the strong. For them, the republic was the highest value, the primary, eternal unity with the law cementing it, while the society of citizens was a secondary, transient multitude.

Even the most powerful city, if it was not governed by a just law, could not be considered a republic, that is, the highest form of a community of people. So in political doctrines, collectivism opposed Hellenic individualism. Accordingly, Cicero adapted the image of a stoic sage indifferent to everything to the Roman ideal - a “worthy husband”, to whom the good of the motherland cannot be alien. He ends his treatise "On the Republic" with a story about "Scipio's dream". The young Scipio Aemilianus had a dream of his grandfather Scipio Africanus. He showed and explained to his grandson the divine structure of the cosmos and announced the blessed posthumous fate of the heroes who glorified Rome. The idea of ​​the immortal soul, borrowed from Hellenistic teachings, was thus combined with the idea of ​​the supreme duty of an outstanding citizen, and service to Rome became service to the divine universal principle.

The oratorical art of Cicero had a huge influence on his contemporaries and descendants. He devoted several theoretical works to him, which were illustrated by brilliant speeches. Cicero spoke in lawsuits, in the senate and popular assembly for his like-minded people and against his enemies. The most famous are his speeches against the governor of Sicily, Verres, against Catalina and Philippics against Antony. He called for rallying "all the best", in other words - loyal to the existing system, people - senators, equestrians, just wealthy citizens - against the populace and the "rebellious mob". However (although this question is debatable), it is possible that he was ready to recognize the sole rule of a certain “princeps”, a perfect optimate, similar to the enemy of the Gracchi Scipio Aemilianus, since, in his understanding, both the monarchy, and the aristocracy, and democracy were compatible with the republic, if they acted lawfully and for the common good.

Returning triumphantly from exile in September 57 BC, he actively engaged in literary activity, which he continued in subsequent years.

Meanwhile, the transition to autocracy was practically prepared by the dictatorship of Sulla, the emergency powers of Pompey, and the rule of the triumvirs. For Cicero and the optimates, such a sole ruler could be a certain “princeps” - a defender of the interests of the nobility; for the plebeians - the successor of the people-loving kings, who freed the plebs from the power of the "fathers"; for the army - a victorious, beloved commander. The question was only about who would become such a head of the republic. The general situation suggested that he would be the one who was supported by the army.

The collapse of the triumvirate and the rise of Caesar

Pompey, who began to approach the Senate again, could be a candidate for rulers, especially after Crassus died in the war with Parthia and the triumvirate collapsed. But it was this rapprochement that undermined his popularity. The role of Caesar grew. He possessed an exceptional personal charm, which even his adversary Cicero recognized. But the main thing was his military and diplomatic talents, which ensured his success in Gaul, which was conquered in 10 years. Caesar turned Gaul into a province, took the richest booty and 1 million prisoners. Thanks to the talent of the commander, attention to the needs of the soldiers with whom he shared the hardships of campaigns, oratorical talent, Caesar created a disciplined and, most importantly, loyal army.

In the eyes of the Romans, he was now not only the conqueror of a vast and rich region, but also the avenger for the humiliation of Rome during the Gallic invasion of 390 BC. The Senate, led by extreme optimates, including Cato's great-grandson Cato the Younger, was dissatisfied with the rise of Caesar and demanded that he disband his army. The Senate pinned its hopes on Pompey, who was appointed consul without a college. War became inevitable. On January 10, Caesar crossed the Rubicon with an army, separating Cisalpine Gaul from Italy. Italian cities passed to him; even the soldiers of Pompey stationed in Italy went over to the side of Caesar. Pompey with his supporters, among whom was Cicero, crossed over to Greece.

Thus, the war spread to the provinces and vassal kingdoms. The main theater of operations were Spain, Greece, Africa, Egypt. The outcome was largely decided by the position of the provincials. Pompey (and in his person - the party of the Senate) was supported mainly by the top of the secular and priestly nobility, Caesar - the urban layers of old and new, romanized policies that suffered from Senate proteges and received from Caesar various privileges and Roman citizenship, given to individuals or the whole city .

As a result, Caesar won a complete victory. Pompey, defeated in Thessaly at Pharsalus, fled to Egypt and was killed there.

Caesar's victory and his policies

Caesar became the sole head of the Roman Empire. He was granted perpetual dictatorship, lifetime power of a tribune, the title "emperor" was added to his name, usually given on the battlefield by soldiers to the commander, he was proclaimed the "father of the fatherland", he could independently decide questions of war and peace, manage the treasury, nominate candidates for magistrates and observe morals. The external attributes of power included a purple toga, a laurel wreath. Caesar's opponents accused him of intending to take the title of tsar, traditionally imputed to all active opponents of the power of the senate.

Caesar, who acted so talentedly, decisively, sometimes cruelly on the way to power, having gained it, failed to use it. Forgiven by Caesar and returning to Rome, Cicero, continuing to hate Gaius Julius in his soul, wrote: "We are all Caesar's slaves, and Caesar is a slave of circumstances". In his policy, Caesar was not consistent. He limited himself to half measures, which alienated many former supporters from himself, but did not win the sympathy of the Senate. Refusing to proscribe and confiscate the lands of large owners, he was unable to satisfy the claims of veterans; the plebs were dissatisfied with the reduction in grain distributions, the new prohibition of collegiums.

More consistent were Caesar's measures to expand the social base in the provinces. Cisalpine Gaul received Roman citizenship and ceased to be considered a province. A special municipal law unified the system of colonies and municipalities, which reproduced with modifications the structure of the Roman civil community (it is known to us from inscriptions containing city charters). The people's assembly of citizens elected magistrates: duumvirs, quaestors, judges - from those who owned real estate and established qualifications. After the departure of the post, they were members of the city senate - the council of decurions. The city received a territory divided into private allotments and public lands. If a city was founded in a province, the land for it was taken away from the local tribe, some of whose members could be settled in the city territory (they were called Incols), others were pushed back to the worst lands.

Public lands, like the city treasury, were managed by magistrates, who were responsible for the conduct of business with their property. They also leased plots on the land of the city, workshops, contracts and various works that belonged to it, commanded the city militia, and in case of danger they could impose labor duties on citizens. Their duties included monitoring the priests' worship of the patron gods of the city, they monitored the supply of food to the citizens, the organization of games, etc. Subsequently, the decurions became, along with horsemen and senators, a privileged class, consisting of urban land and slave owners. They were the conductors of Roman culture.

Assassination of Caesar and pogroms in Rome

During the dictatorship of Caesar, this layer was still only taking shape and could not serve as a sufficiently strong support for him. The nobility took advantage of Caesar's half-hearted policy, conducting intensified agitation against him. Caesar was called a tyrant, a strangler of freedom, they remembered the ancient Brutus and appealed to his descendant, Cicero's friend Junius Brutus, urging the latter to restore "freedom". Brutus, who enjoyed the patronage of Gaius Julius, hesitated for a long time, but in the end was involved in a conspiracy organized by the Pompeian Cassius. The conspirators were in a hurry, because they knew about Caesar's intention to leave Rome and start a war with Parthia. March 15, 44 BC Caesar was killed near the Curia of the Senate.

However, this act of terrorism could no longer save the republic of nobility. The conspirators counted on the fact that when they announced the death of the "tyrant" and the restoration of "freedom", the people would proclaim them their saviors and throw the corpse of the murdered man into the Tiber. But for the veterans and the plebs, Caesar, despite the inconsistency of his policy, remained a victorious emperor, the leader of the popular, a hero who died at the hands of the senate. The indignant plebs rushed to smash the houses of the optimates, and on the site of Caesar's funeral pyre, they began to offer sacrifices to him as to a god, believing that the comet that appeared these days is the soul of Caesar, who ascended to heaven.

The frightened optimates locked themselves in their houses, the conspirators took refuge on the Capitol. In the end, they were forced to agree with Antony. At the meeting of the Senate, a compromise agreement was reached:

• Anthony and his colleague Dolabella restore order in the city
• Caesar is not declared a tyrant, his orders remain in force, but his murderers are not punished - Brutus and Cassius were escorted out of Rome, giving them the provinces of Crete and Cyrenaica
• Pompey's son Sextus was allowed to return to Italy and receive his father's property
• dictatorship abolished forever

The rise of Octavian and the second triumvirate

At this time, his great-nephew Octavius, adopted and appointed by Caesar as heir, came forward, taking the name of Gaius Julius Caesar Octavian. 18-year-old Octavian was undergoing military training with his friend Vipsanius Agrippa in the Epirus city of Apollonia when he received news of the events in Rome. Caesar's soldiers stationed in Apollonia and Agrippa himself persuaded Octavian to accept Caesar's inheritance and move to Italy. When Octavian arrived there, veterans and wealthy freedmen of Caesar began to flock to him, calling for revenge for his father. In Rome, Octavian appeared to Antony and demanded that Caesar's treasury be given to him so that he could carry out his will. Antony rudely replied that Caesar's treasury was empty, and Octavian should not demand, but rejoice that, thanks to Antony, he was no longer the son of a disgraced tyrant.

Then Octavian began to play a surprisingly subtle game for a young man of his age. He began negotiations with Cicero, called him "father", asked for advice. Cicero, realizing that Octavian could be opposed to Antony, praised the young man, allegedly sent by Jupiter himself to save Rome from the tyranny of Antony. At meetings with his supporters, Octavian admitted that his relationship with Cicero was only a trick, to which Antony's behavior forced him, and that, having gained strength, he would avenge Caesar's death. With the money received from the Senate through the mediation of Cicero, he lured Antony's soldiers, paying them higher salaries.

At the end of 44 BC. Antony left for Gaul. The Senate sent an army against him, with which the soldiers recruited by Octavian went. Near Mutina Antony was defeated. The Senate decided that it could now do without Octavian, and refused the promised consulship. Then Octavian teamed up with Antony and the governor of Narbonne Gaul, Caesarian Aemilius Lepidus. They entered into the so-called second triumvirate and took Rome without difficulty. Octavian was elected consul, the triumvirs, by the decision of the people's assembly, were endowed with emergency powers "for the restoration of the republic." The decree on amnesty for the assassins of Caesar, who in the meantime was gathering troops and funds in the eastern provinces, was canceled, and it was decided to start a war with them.

Octavina's activities

To punish the murderers of Caesar, declared enemies of the fatherland, and those who supported them, proscriptive lists were drawn up, in which Cicero was named one of the first at the request of Antony. December 7, 43 BC he was killed by the centurion commanding the military detachment. Allotment of land to veterans began: 18 Italian cities were allocated, whose inhabitants were deprived of land, slaves and equipment in favor of new owners, they were also given lands confiscated from the proscribed. More than 300 senators died, 2 thousand horsemen, for a reward, wives denounced their husbands, children - their parents, slaves - their masters. This time remained in the memory of the Romans as a time of horror and chaos. Deprived of land, the townspeople cursed the "impious warriors" who had deprive them of their wealth. The situation was no better in the eastern provinces, where Brutus and Cassius demanded people and money. But the war ended in their defeat.

Anthony set out to restore order in the East. Lepidus was soon removed from business. Octavian, who received the western provinces, remained in Italy. Sextus Pompey fortified himself in Sicily, enrolling optimates and slaves in his fleet. His ships interfered with the delivery of grain to Italy; the Parthians, using the weakening of Rome, captured Syria, and only with great exertion of their forces were they driven back by Vantidius Bassus.

In 36 BC Agrippa managed to put an end to Sextus Pompey. Octavian promised to preserve the freedom of the slaves who fought on the side of Sextus Pompey, but then, having sent them to the provinces, in secret letters he ordered the governors to disarm and capture them. 30 thousand slaves were returned to their owners, and if they could not determine whose slave, he was executed. With this act, Octavian began reconciliation with the propertied classes. Marriage with Livia, the divorced wife of the enemy of the triumvirs Tiberius Claudius Nero, also brought him closer to the Senate nobility. Proscriptions have ceased, confiscations have ceased. Octavian's popularity grew: all of Italy swore allegiance to him.

War with Antony

However, in the East, Antony continued to be the ruler. He became close to Cleopatra, proclaimed himself a new god - Dionysus, and her - the goddess Isis and the "queen of kings", enthroned and deposed vassal kings, distributed provinces to his children from Cleopatra. In Rome, an intensified campaign was waged against him, his behavior was regarded as unworthy of a Roman, he was also accused of adherence to the "dark" gods of Egypt.

War with Antony was becoming inevitable. It began in 31 BC. and ended on September 2 of the same year with the defeat of the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra at the Battle of Cape Action in Western Greece. Antony and Cleopatra fled to Egypt, and Antony's soldiers went over to Octavian, who promised to reward them along with his soldiers. In 30 BC. e. Octavian arrived in Egypt, conquered it without difficulty and turned it into a Roman province, subordinate to him personally. Antony and Cleopatra committed suicide.

Egyptian booty gave Octavian the opportunity to no longer take away, but to buy allotments for veterans. Approximately 300 thousand people received them. The commanders and close associates of Octavian were given estates of hundreds of yugers, which contributed to the spread of latifundia. Private small and medium landownership, based on the labor of slaves, also strengthened. The supreme right to dispose of the land passed to the head of state, and the owners no longer feared the new agrarian laws adopted by the plebs. Their ownership of the land became as secure as the ownership of a master to a slave.

Revolution or evolution? Transition from republic to empire

Thus began a new period in the history of Rome - the period of sole rule,. In modern scientific literature, the question of the essence of this transition, whether it can be called a revolution, has often been discussed. Some historians believe that the events of that time should be regarded as signs of a revolution. Others, objecting, cite various arguments and emphasize that society has not changed its structure, it has remained slave-owning. However, as S. L. Utchenko noted, revolutions also occur in societies without a radical transformation of the dominant mode of production (for example, the revolution of 1848 in France). At the same time, as a result of broad movements in the structure of the ruling class, in the political structure, in the general direction of politics, significant changes are taking place.

In this sense, one can speak of fundamental changes in character compared to the old structure. The establishment of the empire was a victory for the municipal land and slave owners (of Italy and partly of the provinces) over the top of the large landed aristocracy, whose predatory domination ruined the economy of the provinces, hindered the development of small and medium landownership in Italy, the conditions of which were most favorable for the progress of agriculture based on slave labor. and, accordingly, related to this type of agriculture, crafts and trade. Therefore, characterizing the transition to empire, a process that was accompanied by fundamental changes in property relations, a sharp struggle between the army representing the interests of the plebs and supporters of the Senate, and the involvement of slaves in the struggle between different classes, we can conditionally use the term "revolution", meaning revolutionary shifts in the general structure of Roman society and the "climate" of that era.

The Romans considered 753 B.C. date of foundation of the city, and Romulus and Remus - its founders. However, the true history of Rome begins in the X century. BC. - when the first settlements appeared on the Palatine Hill. After the expulsion of the Etruscan kings in 509 BC. and the formation of the Roman Republic, Rome systematically pursued a policy of expansion. At the same time, significant temples and civil structures were erected, for example, the temple of Saturn and the Servian wall. In 312 BC the first water supply and the first paved road were laid - Appneva road. Complex internal political problems found a way out in civil wars and slave uprisings, which ended only with the establishment of the empire. The peaceful reign of Emperor Octavian Augustus (27 BC - 14 AD) was marked by a real building boom: the Forum of Augustus was erected and Rome was proclaimed the most beautiful and largest city in the world. After a great fire under Emperor Nero, other imperial forums and the Colosseum appear in Rome - which has become a symbol of the city. Most of the city's millionth population lived in rented high-rise buildings. The people were cajoled by free distribution of food and bloody games. In the "happy age" of the reign of the "five good emperors" - from Nerva (96-98) and Trajan (98-117) to Marcus Aurelius (161-180) - the empire grew to its largest size in history. The constant threat on its borders strengthened the role of the army, from the ranks of which emperors were increasingly promoted. The turbulent time of such emperors ended only with the transformation of the empire under the emperor Diocletian (284-305). The support of influential representatives of Christianity allowed Emperor Constantine to become the sole ruler (306-337). With the transfer of the center of power to Byzantium, Rome gradually lost the functions of the capital. In 476, the fall of the Roman Empire occurred, which is usually dated as the day of the overthrow of the last emperor of the Western Roman Empire, Romulus Augustus, by the German leader Odoacer.

Rise of Christianity in the Middle Ages

Despite the centuries-long German-Byzantine struggle for the Roman heritage, the Bishop of Rome managed to consolidate his dominant position in the city. Even Theodosius proclaimed in 381 Christianity the state religion. Soon there were twenty-five parish churches in Rome and four patriarchal basilicas sparkling with mosaics - the latter were directly subordinate to the Pope. These are the churches: St. John Lateran, St. Peter in the Vatican, St. Paul outside the city wall and Santa Maria Maggiore. These four basilicas, as well as the basilicas of Santa Croce in Gerusalemme, San Lorenzo fuori le Mura, and San Sebastiano fuori le Mura, make up the seven pilgrimage churches of Rome. The secular power of the pans and their dominance over Rome was established in the 8th century, after they received a gift of land from the Lombard king Luitprand (727) and the king of the Franks Pepin (755), which made it possible to lay the foundations of the papal ecclesiastical state. Pope Leo III (795-816) on Christmas Day 800 crowned Charlemagne with the imperial crown, which meant the restoration of an empire that lasted another thousand years, at least under the name of the Roman Empire. A deep decline begins with the expulsion of the popes to Avignon (1305-1377); in the same period, Cola di Rienzo makes an unsuccessful attempt to restore the Roman Republic according to the ancient Roman model (1347).

The Papacy and the Development of the Arts in Rome

After the end of the schism of the Roman Catholic Church (1417), the city experienced a new upsurge. Popes and aristocrats, inspired by the ideas of humanism and the Renaissance, are increasingly acting as patrons of the arts and customers of construction work. But only under Popes Julius II (1503-1513) and Leo X (1513-1521) did Rome become the center of the High Renaissance. From this period, the work of Bramante (1444-1514), Michelangelo (1474-1564) and Raphael (1483-1520) determine the development of art throughout the 16th century. In 1506, the construction of a new St. Peter's Cathedral begins. It took a long time for Rome to come to its senses after it was sacked by the soldiers of the German emperor Charles V in 1527. However, under the popes of the Counter-Reformation era, Rome becomes a place of the triumph of Christianity, which is embodied in baroque architecture. The architects of the period, most notably Gian Lorenzo Bernini (1598-1680) and his artistic rival Francesco Borromini (1599-1667), Carlo Maderano (1556-1629) and Carlo Rainaldi (1611-1691), created magnificent churches and palaces that still define the architecture of the Old City. The painting of Caravaggio (circa 1573-1610) is considered the pinnacle of genius in the early Baroque. Among the representatives of opposite currents, first of all, we should mention the native of Bologna Annibale Carracci (1560-1609) and his students Gwndo Renn (1575-1642), Domenichino (1581-1641) and Guercino (1591-1666). Typical examples of Baroque spatial painting are the monumental ceiling paintings in the churches of Sant'Ignazio and Il Gesu.

Third Rome

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Rome is a center of attraction for artists and art lovers of all nations. After the proclamation of Rome in 1871 as the capital of the Kingdom of Italy, the era of the capital of the country and the residence of the kings begins - the era of the Third Rome. Representative buildings of the new era appeared: the Bank of Italy of the Ministry of Finance, the Palace of Justice, etc. Power passed to Mussolini after the march on Rome. In 1929, an agreement was concluded between the Italian state and the papal throne, according to which the Vatican, some other extraterritorial regions, and 2 billion lire would go to the pope. Under Mussolini, in connection with the World Exhibition planned for 1942, a monumental quarter was built, and the main avenue of Via dei Fori Imperiali was laid right through the ancient center. After the arrest of the Duce and the capitulation of Italy in 1943, German troops occupied Rome; many Jews were deported from the city. In a referendum on June 2, 1946, the Italians voted in favor of declaring a republic. In 1957, the Treaty of Rome was signed in the capital of Italy, laying the foundation for the formation of the EEC and the European Atomic Energy Commission (EURATOM). Under Pope John XXIII, who advocated the peaceful coexistence of states, the Second Vatican Council (1962-1965) was convened to reform and modernize the Catholic Church. Pope John Paul II, who took the throne of St. Peter in 1978, was the first non-Italian pope in 453 years, and in 2005 he was succeeded by German Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger - Pope Benedict XVI.

The Roman Empire (ancient Rome) left an incorruptible trace in all European lands, where only its victorious legions set foot. The stone script of Roman architecture has survived to this day: walls that protected citizens along which troops moved, aqueducts that delivered fresh water to the townspeople, and bridges thrown over stormy rivers. As if all that wasn't enough, the legionaries were building more and more structures - even as the empire's frontiers began to recede. During the era of Hadrian When Rome was much more concerned with the consolidation of the lands than with new conquests, the unclaimed military prowess of warriors, cut off from home and family for a long time, was wisely directed in another creative direction. In a sense, the whole of Europe owes its birth to the Roman builders, who introduced many innovations both in Rome itself and beyond. The most important achievements of urban planning, which had the goal of the public good, were sewerage and water pipes, which created healthy living conditions and contributed to the increase in population and the growth of the cities themselves. But all this would not have been possible if the Romans had not invented concrete and did not begin to use the arch as the main architectural element. It was these two innovations that the Roman army spread throughout the empire.

Since stone arches could withstand enormous weight and could be built very high - sometimes two or three tiers - engineers working in the provinces easily overcame any rivers and gorges and reached the farthest edges, leaving behind strong bridges and powerful aqueducts (aqueducts). Like many other structures built with the help of Roman troops, the bridge in the Spanish city of Segovia, through which the water passes, has gigantic dimensions: 27.5 m in height and about 823 m in length. Extraordinarily tall and slender pillars, built of roughly hewn and unfastened granite blocks, and 128 graceful arches leave an impression not only of unprecedented power, but also of imperial self-confidence. This is a marvel of engineering, built around 100 tons. e., steadfastly withstood the test of time: until recently, the bridge served as the water supply system of Segovia.

How it all began?

Early settlements on the site of the future city of Rome arose on the Apennine Peninsula, in the valley of the Tiber River, at the beginning of the 1st millennium BC. e. According to legend, the Romans are descended from the Trojan refugees who founded the city of Alba Longa in Italy. Rome itself, according to legend, was founded by Romulus, the grandson of the king of Alba Longa, in 753 BC. e. As in the Greek policies, in the early period of the history of Rome, it was ruled by kings who actually enjoyed the same power as the Greeks. Under the tyrant Tsar Tarquinius Gordom, a popular uprising took place, during which the royal power was destroyed and Rome turned into an aristocratic republic. Its population was clearly divided into two groups - the privileged class of the patricians and the plebeian class, which had much less rights. A member of the oldest Roman family was considered a patrician, only the senate (the main government body) was elected from the patricians. A significant part of its early history is the struggle of the plebeians for the expansion of their rights and the transformation of members of their class into full Roman citizens.

Ancient Rome differed from the Greek city-states, because it was in completely different geographical conditions - a single Apennine peninsula with vast plains. Therefore, from the earliest period of its history, its citizens were forced to compete and fight with the neighboring Italic tribes. The conquered peoples submitted to this great empire either as allies, or simply included in the republic, and the conquered population did not receive the rights of Roman citizens, often turning into slaves. The most powerful opponents of Rome in the IV century. BC e. there were Etruscans and Samnites, as well as separate Greek colonies in southern Italy (Greater Greece). And yet, despite the fact that the Romans were often at enmity with the Greek colonists, the more developed Hellenic culture had a noticeable impact on the culture of the Romans. It got to the point that the ancient Roman deities began to be identified with their Greek counterparts: Jupiter - with Zeus, Mars - with Ares, Venus - with Aphrodite, etc.

Wars of the Roman Empire

The most tense moment in the confrontation between the Romans and the South Italians and Greeks was the war of 280-272. BC e., when Pyrrhus, the king of the state of Epirus, located in the Balkans, intervened in the course of hostilities. In the end, Pyrrhus and his allies were defeated, and by 265 BC. e. The Roman Republic united all of Central and Southern Italy under its rule.

Continuing the war with the Greek colonists, the Romans clashed in Sicily with the Carthaginian (Punic) power. In 265 BC. e. the so-called Punic Wars began, which lasted until 146 BC. e., almost 120 years. Initially, the Romans fought against the Greek colonies in eastern Sicily, primarily against the largest of them - the city of Syracuse. Then the seizures of already Carthaginian lands in the east of the island began, which led to the fact that the Carthaginians, who had a strong fleet, attacked the Romans. After the first defeats, the Romans managed to create their own fleet and defeat the Carthaginian ships in the battle of the Aegates. Peace was signed, according to which in 241 BC. e. all of Sicily, considered the breadbasket of the Western Mediterranean, became the property of the Roman Republic.

Carthaginian dissatisfaction with the results First Punic War, as well as the gradual penetration of the Romans into the territory of the Iberian Peninsula, which was owned by Carthage, led to a second military clash between the powers. In 219 BC. e. the Carthaginian commander Hannibal Barki captured the Spanish city of Sagunt, an ally of the Romans, then passed through southern Gaul and, having overcome the Alps, invaded the territory of the Roman Republic itself. Hannibal was supported by part of the Italian tribes, dissatisfied with the rule of Rome. In 216 BC. e. in Apulia, in a bloody battle at Cannes, Hannibal surrounded and almost completely destroyed the Roman army, commanded by Gaius Terentius Varro and Aemilius Paul. However, Hannibal could not take the heavily fortified city and was eventually forced to leave the Apennine Peninsula.

The war was moved to northern Africa, where Carthage and other Punic settlements were located. In 202 BC. e. The Roman commander Scipio defeated the army of Hannibal near the town of Zama, south of Carthage, after which a peace was signed on the terms dictated by the Romans. The Carthaginians were deprived of all their possessions outside Africa, they were obliged to transfer to the Romans all warships and war elephants. Having won the Second Punic War, the Roman Republic became the most powerful state in the Western Mediterranean. The Third Punic War, which took place from 149 to 146 BC. e., was reduced to finishing off an already defeated enemy. In the spring of 14b BC. e. Carthage was taken and destroyed, and its inhabitants.

Defensive walls of the Roman Empire

The relief from Trajan's Column depicts a scene (see left) from the time of the Dacian wars; legionnaires (they are without helmets) are building a camp camp out of rectangular pieces of turf. When Roman soldiers found themselves in enemy lands, the construction of such fortifications was common.

“Fear gave birth to beauty, and ancient Rome miraculously changed, changing the previous - peaceful - policy and starting to hastily build towers, so that soon all seven of its hills sparkled with the armor of a continuous wall”- so wrote one Roman about the powerful fortifications built around Rome in 275 to protect against the Goths. Following the example of the capital, large cities throughout the Roman Empire, many of which had long "stepped over" the boundaries of the former walls, hastened to strengthen their defensive lines.

The construction of the city walls was an extremely labor-intensive work. Usually, two deep ditches were dug around the settlement, and a high earthen rampart was heaped between them. It served as a kind of layer between two concentric walls. External the wall went into the ground by 9 m, so that the enemy could not dig, and at the top was provided with a wide road for sentinels. The inner wall was raised a few more meters to make it difficult to bombard the city. Such fortifications were almost indestructible: their thickness reached 6 m, and blocks of stone were fitted to each other with metal brackets - for greater strength.

When the walls were completed, it was possible to proceed with the construction of the gate. Above the opening in the wall, a temporary wooden arch was constructed - formwork. On top of it, skillful masons, moving from both sides to the middle, laid wedge-shaped slabs, forming a curve of the vault. When the last stone was laid - the castle, or key - stone, the formwork was removed, and next to the first arch, they began to build a second one. And so on until the entire passage to the city was under a semicircular roof - the Box Vault.

Guard posts at the gates, guarding the peace of the city, often represented real small fortresses: there were military barracks, stocks of weapons and food. In Germany, the so-called one has been perfectly preserved (see below). Instead of windows, there were loopholes on its lower logs, and round towers rose on both sides - so that it would be more convenient to fire at the enemy. During the siege, a powerful lattice fell on the gate.

The wall built in the 3rd century around Rome (19 km long, 3.5 m thick and 18 m high) had 381 towers and 18 gates with descending bars. The wall was constantly renovated and strengthened, so that it served the City until the 19th century, that is, until the improvement of artillery. Two-thirds of this wall is still standing today.

The majestic Porta Nigra (that is, the Black Gate), rising 30 m in height, personifies the power of imperial Rome. The fortified gates are flanked by two towers, one of which is significantly damaged. Once the gate served as an entrance to the city walls of the 2nd century AD. e. to Augusta Trevirorum (later Trier), the northern capital of the empire.

Aqueducts of the Roman Empire. Imperial City Road of Life

The famous three-tiered aqueduct in Southern France (see above), thrown across the Gard River and its low valley - the so-called Garde Bridge - is as beautiful as it is functional. This structure, stretching 244 m in length, daily delivers about 22 tons of water from a distance of 48 km to the city of Nemaus (now Nimes). Garda bridge is still one of the most wonderful works of Roman engineering.

For the Romans, who were famous for their achievements in engineering, they were especially proud of aqueducts. They brought about 250 million gallons of fresh water to ancient Rome every day. In 97 AD e. Sextus Julius Frontinus, superintendent of the water supply system of Rome, rhetorically asked: "Who dares to compare with the idle pyramids or some worthless - albeit famous - creations of the Greeks, our water pipes - these great structures, without which human life is unthinkable?" At the end of its greatness, the city acquired eleven aqueducts, through which water ran from the southern and eastern hills. Engineering turned into real art: it seemed that graceful arches easily jumped over obstacles, besides decorating the landscape. The Romans quickly "shared" their achievements with the rest of the Roman Empire, and you can still see the remnants of numerous aqueducts in France, Spain, Greece, North Africa and Asia Minor.

To provide water to the provincial cities, whose population had already depleted local supplies, and to build baths and fountains there, Roman engineers laid channels to rivers and springs, often tens of miles away. Draining at a slight slope (Vitruvius recommended a minimum slope of 1:200), the precious moisture ran through stone pipes that ran through the countryside (and were mostly hidden into underground tunnels or moats, repeating the outlines of the landscape) and eventually reached the city limits. There, water was safely supplied to public reservoirs. When rivers or gorges crossed the path of the pipeline, the builders threw arches across them to maintain the former soft slope and maintain a continuous flow of water.

In order to keep the angle of incidence of the water constant, surveyors again resorted to thunder and chorobate, as well as to a diopter, which measured horizontal angles. Again, the main burden of the work fell on the shoulders of the troops. In the middle of the II century AD. one military engineer was asked to understand the difficulties that arose in the construction of the aqueduct in Salda (in present-day Algeria). Two detachments of workers began to dig a tunnel in the hill, moving towards each other from opposite directions. The engineer soon realized what was the matter. “I measured both tunnels,” he wrote later, “and found that the sum of their lengths exceeded the width of the hill.” The tunnels just didn't meet. He found a way out by drilling a well between the tunnels and connecting them so that the water began to flow as it should. The city honored the engineer with a monument.

Internal position of the Roman Empire

The further strengthening of the external power of the Roman Republic was simultaneously accompanied by a deep internal crisis. Such a large territory could no longer be governed in the old way, that is, with the organization of power characteristic of a city-state. In the ranks of the Roman military commanders, commanders emerged who claimed to have full power, like the ancient Greek tyrants or the Hellenic rulers in the Middle East. The first of these rulers was Lucius Cornelius Sulla, who captured in 82 BC. e. Rome and became a sovereign dictator. Sulla's enemies were ruthlessly killed according to the lists (proscriptions) prepared by the dictator himself. In 79 BC. e. Sulla voluntarily relinquished power, but this could no longer return him to his former administration. A long period of civil wars began in the Roman Republic.

External position of the Roman Empire

Meanwhile, the stable development of the empire was threatened not only by external enemies and ambitious politicians who fought for power. Periodically, slave uprisings broke out on the territory of the republic. The largest such rebellion was the performance led by the Thracian Spartacus, which lasted almost three years (from 73 to 71 BC). The rebels were defeated only by the combined efforts of the three most skillful commanders of Rome of that time - Mark Licinius Crassus, Mark Licinius Lucullus and Gnaeus Pompey.

Later, Pompeii, famous for his victories in the East over the Armenians and the Pontic king Mithridates VI, entered into a fight for supreme power in the republic with another well-known military leader - Gaius Julius Caesar. Caesar from 58 to 49 BC e. managed to capture the territories of the northern neighbors of the Roman Republic - the Gauls, and even carried out the first invasion of the British Isles. In 49 BC. e. Caesar entered Rome, where he was declared a dictator - a military ruler with unlimited rights. In 46 BC. e. in the battle of Pharsalus (Greece), he defeated Pompey, his main rival. And in 45 BC. e. in Spain, under Munda, he crushed the last obvious political opponents - the sons of Pompey, Gnaeus the Younger and Sextus. At the same time, Caesar managed to enter into an alliance with the Egyptian queen Cleopatra, in fact subordinating her vast country to power.

However, in 44 BC. e. Gaius Julius Caesar was assassinated by a group of Republican conspirators led by Marcus Junius Brutus and Gaius Cassius Longinus. Civil wars in the republic continued. Now their main participants were the closest associates of Caesar - Mark Antony and Gaius Octavian. First, together they destroyed the killers of Caesar, and later they entered into a fight with each other. Antony was supported by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra during this last stage of the civil wars in Rome. However, in 31 BC. e. at the battle of Cape Actium, the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was defeated by the ships of Octavian. The queen of Egypt and her ally committed suicide, and Octavian, finally to the Roman Republic, became the unlimited ruler of a gigantic power that united almost the entire Mediterranean under its rule.

Octavian, in 27 BC e. who took the name Augustus "blessed", is considered the first emperor of the Roman Empire, although this title at that time meant only the supreme commander, who won a significant victory. Nobody officially abolished the Roman Republic, and Augustus preferred to be called a princeps, that is, the first among senators. And yet, under the successors of Octavian, the republic began to more and more acquire the features of a monarchy, closer in its organization to the eastern despotic states.

The empire reached its highest foreign political power under the emperor Trajan, who in 117 AD. e. conquered part of the lands of the most powerful strong enemy of Rome in the east - the Parthian state. However, after the death of Trajan, the Parthians managed to return the occupied territories and soon went on the offensive. Already under Trajan's successor, Emperor Hadrian, the empire was forced to switch to defensive tactics, building powerful defensive ramparts on its borders.

Not only the Parthians disturbed the Roman state; raids by barbarian tribes from the north and east became more and more frequent, in battles with which the Roman army often suffered painful defeats. Later, the Roman emperors even allowed certain groups of barbarians to settle in the territory of the empire, on the condition that they would guard the borders from other hostile tribes.

In 284, the Roman emperor Diocletian made an important reform that finally transformed the former Roman Republic into an imperial state. From now on, even the emperor began to be called differently - “dominus” (“lord”), and at the court a complex ritual was introduced, borrowed from the eastern rulers. At the same time, the empire was divided into two parts - Eastern and Western, each of which was headed by a special ruler who received the title of Augustus. He was assisted by a deputy called Caesar. After some time, Augustus was supposed to transfer power to Caesar, and he himself retired. This more flexible system, along with improved provincial administration, saw this great state endure for another 200 years.

In the IV century. Christianity became the dominant religion in the empire, which also contributed to strengthening the internal unity of the state. Since 394, Christianity has been the only permitted religion in the empire. However, if the Eastern Roman Empire remained a fairly strong state, then the Western weakened under the blows of the barbarians. Several times (410 and 455), barbarian tribes captured and ravaged Rome, and in 476 the leader of the German mercenaries, Odoacer, overthrew the last Western emperor, Romulus Augustulus, and declared himself the ruler of Italy.

And although the Eastern Roman Empire was preserved as a single country, and in 553 even annexed the entire territory of Italy, it was still a completely different state. It is no coincidence that historians prefer to call him and consider his fate separately from history of ancient rome.

>A brief history of states, cities, events

A Brief History of Ancient Rome

Ancient Rome was one of the most powerful civilizations in the history of mankind. Its history dates back to the founding of Rome in the 8th century BC. and lasts until the fall of the Roman Empire in the 5th century AD. This centuries-old period is divided into three parts: royal, republican and imperial.

Rome itself was founded by Italic tribes near the Tiber River and was at first a small village. To the north of it lived the Etruscan tribes. According to legend, the Vestal Rhea lived there, who by chance gave birth to two sons from the god Mars - Romulus and Remus. By order of Rhea's brother and father, the children in a basket were thrown into the river and nailed to the Palatine Hill, where they were fed by a she-wolf. Subsequently, on this hill in 753 BC Romulus built Rome, and the she-wolf became a sacred animal for the city.

At times Tsarist period(VIII century BC - VI century BC) Ancient Rome was ruled by seven kings in turn. In the VIII century, the Romans became friends with the Sabines and their king Tatius ruled jointly with Romulus. However, after the death of Tatius, Romulus became the king of the united peoples. He created the Senate and strengthened the Palatine. The next king was Numa Pompilius. He was famous for his piety and justice, for which he was elected by the Senate. The third king, Tullus Hostilius, was distinguished by militancy and often fought with neighboring cities.

After his death, the Sabine Ankh Marcius came to power, who significantly expanded the city to the sea coast. During the Royal period, Rome was alternately ruled by Latins, Sabines or Etruscan rulers. One of the wisest rulers was Servius Tullius of Corniculum. Once he was captured by the Romans, became the successor of Tsar Tarquinius the Ancient and married his daughter. After the death of the king, he was unanimously elected by the Senate. At the beginning of the VI century BC. through the efforts of the Latin-Sabine patricians, the royal power in Rome fell and came Republican period, lasting up to about 30 BC

This period was quite long, so it is customary to divide it into two parts: the Early Roman Republic and the Late Roman Republic. The early period was marked by the struggle of the patricians (tribal aristocracy) and the plebeians (descendants of the defeated people). Patricians were born with privileges of the highest caste, and plebeians were not even allowed to enter into legal marriages or carry weapons. The republic was ruled by two consuls from the patrician caste. This state of affairs could not last long, so the plebeians organized a riot.

They demanded the abolition of debt interest, the right to participate in the senate and other privileges. Due to the fact that their military role in the country increased, the patricians had to make concessions and by the end of the 3rd century BC. the plebeians had the same rights and opportunities as the "higher caste". During this same period, the Romans were involved in a series of wars that resulted in the conquest of Italy. To 264 BC Rome became the leading power in the Mediterranean. The late period of the formation of the Republic was marked by a series of Punic Wars, during which the Romans took Carthage.