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ANCIENT HISTORY
INTRODUCTION 1 Greek civilization: general concepts 1/2 Roman empire: general concepts 2/3
GREEK CIVILIZATION The Greek world Growing up in Greece The Olympic Games Greeks war Gods Culture,art and theatre ROMAN EMPIRE
City of Rome The story of Rome Invasion of the Iberian Peninsula Family and children Religion
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In this dossier we are going to present the information about Ancient History, starting with the general concept of the Greek civilization and the Roman Empire
Some Greeks lived in busy towns or cities. Others lived far out in the countryside. This is how a small Greek town might have looked.
Temples and other important buildings stood on hills. Greek houses were made of wood and mud bricks. The Greeks liked to wear simple, loose clothes that kept them cool. Women always wore long
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tunics called chitons .Men wore long or short tunics, often with a cloak.
In 45 B.C. Julius Caesar took over the Roman Republic and made himself the supreme dictator. This was the end of the Republic. A few years later, in 27 B.C., Caesar Augustus became the first Roman Emperor and this was the start of the Roman Empire. Much of the lower level government stayed the same, but now the Emperor
had
supreme
power.
The Roman Forum was the center of government
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Ancient Greece is called “the birthplace “of western civilization. About 2500 years ago, the Greeks created a way of life that other people admired and copied. The Romans copied Greek art and Greek gods. The Ancient Greeks lived in mainland but also in what is now Turkey and in colonies scattered around the Mediterranean sea coast. There were Greeks in Italy, Sicily, North Africa and as far west as France
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Many Greek parents wanted boy children. A son would look after his parents in old age. This could be expensive, if a family had lots of daughters. A father could decide whether or not the family kept a new baby. Anyone finding an abandoned baby could adopt it and take it home
RUNNING This is the oldest event and the one that opened the Games. The stadium was 192m (640 feet) long and the races were run over one length,
two
lengths
and
20
lengths.
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PENTATHLON
This was made up of five events to find the best all-round athlete. These were a 180-m (590-foot) sprint, long jump, wrestling, discus and javelin. Athletes used a leather throwing-strap to launch the javelin, and held a weight in each hand as they longjumped.
WRESTLING There were two types of matches: one in which a fighter had to be thrown to the ground three times, and a more dangerous event
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where
anything
but
biting
and
eye-gouging
was
allowed.
CHARIOT AND HORSE RACING These took place in the hippodrome (hippo means horse).In the horse races, the jockey was naked and rode bareback. Up to ten four-horse chariots completed in dangerous races that were battled
out over 12 laps.
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OLYMPIC WINNERS The winners were crowned with laurel wreaths and became stars. When they returned home, they were given presents and were often freed from paying taxes. In Sparta, winners were given the dubious honor of fighting on the front lines in the next war. GAMES FOR WOMEN As the Olympic Games were only for men, women had their own running events. These were also held every four years, in honor of
the goddess Hera, Zeus´s wife.
THE PERSIAN WARS (499-478BC) When the Persians invaded Greece with a huge army, various city states joined up with Athens to defeat them. At the battle of Marathon, Athens was victorious, losing just 200 soldiers to Persia´s 6.000.The runner, Pheidippides, ran 42 km (26 miles) from
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Marathon to Athens to deliver the good news about the battle. Almost 2.400 years later, a 42-km race was named after his famous feat SPARTAN SOLDIER
Spartan men were all soldier-farming and trading, they were done for them by slaves. Soldiers trained from the age of seven, and were never allowed to show any weakness
HOPLITE
The foot soldier´s most important piece of equipment was the leather shield (hoplon). This protected him and the soldier next to him when in a phalanx. He wore a bronze helmet, a bronze and
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leather breastplate, and leg guards. He fought with 3-m (10-foot) spear and short sword. PHALANX
Soldiers fought in rows of men eight deep, called a phalanx. They had to be well trained to keep together during a battle. If a man in front died, the soldier behind him stepped into his place
Athena
Poseidon
Hermes
Ares
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Zeus
Aphrodite
Hera
Artemis
Hades
Apollo
Hephaestus
Hestia
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Most Greek cities had a theatre. It was in the open air, and was usually a bowl-shaped arena on a hillside. Some theatres were very big, with room for more than 15,000 people in the audience. All the actors were men or boys. Dancers and singers, called the chorus, performed on a flat area called the orchestra. Painting the walls of the hut made the first scenery.
PLATO Plato wrote much of his philosophy in conversations called
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dialogues. The dialogues feature Socrates as one of the speakers. Plato's most famous work is called the Republic. In this work Socrates discusses the meaning of justice and how cities and governments should be ruled. He describes his ideal society in the conversations. This work is still studied today and has had an impact on both philosophy and political theory throughout history. ARISTOTLE Aristotle was a student of Plato, but didn't necessarily agree with all that Plato said. Aristotle liked to focus on more practical areas of philosophy including science. He founded his own school called the Lyceum. He thought that reason was the highest good and that it was important to have self control. Aristotle was a tutor for Alexander
the
Rome is now the of the Roman
capital city
Empire.
Great
of Italy. 2,000 years ago it was the centre
Building started in 753 BC. The Romans had a
story to explain how Rome began. Romulus and Remus are the mythological twin brothers who founded
the
city
of
Rome.
Here
is
their
story.
Romulus and Remus were twin boys born to a princess named
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Rhea Silvia. Their father was the fierce Roman god of war, Mars. The king where the boys lived was scared that someday Romulus and Remus would overthrow him and take his throne. So he had the boys
left
in
a
basket
on
the
Tiber
River.
The boys were found by a she-wolf. The wolf cared for them and protected them from other wild animals. Eventually some shepherds happened across the twins. One shepherd took the boys home and raised them as his own children.
The boys are found by a shepherd As the boys grew older they became natural leaders. One day Remus was captured and taken to the king. He discovered his true identity. Romulus gathered some shepherds to rescue his brother. They ended up killing the king. When the city learned who the boys were, they offered to crown them as joint kings. However, they turned down the crowns because they wanted to found their own city. The twins eventually came to the place where Rome is located today. They both liked the general area, but each wanted to place
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the city on a different hill. Romulus wanted the city to be on top of Palatine Hill while Remus preferred Aventine Hill. They agreed to wait for a sign from the gods, called an augury, to determine which hill to use. Remus saw the sign of six vultures first, but Romulus saw twelve. Romulus went ahead and started building a wall around Palantine Hill. However, Remus was jealous and began to make fun of Romulus' wall. At one point Remus jumped over the wall to show how easy it was to cross. Romulus became angry and killed Remus. With Remus dead, Romulus continued to work on his city. He officially founded the city on April 21, 753 BC, making himself king, and naming it Rome after himself. From there he began to organize the city. He divided his army into legions of 3,300 men. He called his 100 most noble men the Patricians and the elders of Rome the Senate. The city grew and prospered. For over 1,000 years Rome would be one of the most powerful cities in the world.
In about 1000 BC a tribe from northern Europe built village on a hill near the Tiber river in the country now known as Italy. They began to farm, and gradually the village grew into a city covering seven hills. Rome was ruled by kings. In about 509BC, the people got rid of their king. They decided they would choose two men to rule each year instead. By 264BC they have the conquered all of Italy for themselves, but war, also broke out with
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In about 1000BC, a tribe from Northern built a village on a hill near the Tiber river in the country now known as Italy. Rome was ruled by kings. In about 509BC, the people got rid of their king. They decided they would choose two men to rule each year instead. These men were called consult. The Romans fought other tribes to protect their land, and captured more and more territory. But in 264BC, war also broke out with a sea-going people from Carthage, a city in what is now North Africa. The Romans built a huge fleet of ships and won great sea battles. A Carthaginian soldier named Hannibal gathered a huge army. Many of the Romans´ enemies joined him. Hannibal won many victories. The Romans attacked Carthage in 204BC.The Romans besieged Carthage and completely destroyed it. In 73BC, a slave named Spartacus led a revolt. He escaped to mount Vesuvius, joined by 90,000 other slaves. The fought off the roman army, led by the general Pompey, until Spartacus was killed in 71BC. Peace was restored in Rome by a great general, Julius Caesar. But the government was becoming too powerful. In 48BC,Caesar defeated Pompey´s army , and Pompey escaped to Egypt , but he was murdered. Caesar followed him there and helped Cleopatra become Queen of Egypt. After more victories, he
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returned to Rome. By, 45BC, he was the most powerful man in Rome. But his enemies were afraid he would try to become king of Rome, so they murdered him in 44BC. Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra in a great sea battle in 31BC,and the couple killed themselves. Octavian became Rome´s first emperor. In 27BC he took the name Augustus, which means "deeply respected". Although he was defeated by German tribes, he extended Rome´s territories; it was a time of peace throughout the empire. Augustus died in AD14.Members of Augustus´s family took over. But an emperor wasn´t like a king. Anyone who had enough support could come to power. In one year there were even men who were not Roman by birth became emperors. In AD 117, a great general named Hadrian became emperor. He realizes the huge size of the empire might make its borders weak. In the 2nd century AD, the empire reached its greatest extent. But barbarians were attacking its frontiers. In the 3rd century, the army dominated the government and chose the emperors. The empire was too vast control, and there were many civil wars. In AD284, Diocletian, an army general, was declared emperor by his troops. He made the empire easier to control by dividing it into two halves with two emperors, one in the east and one in the west. Not long afterwards, Diocletian retired, and Constantine was proclaimed emperor by his troops. In AD410, some barbarians ransacked the city of Rome itself, and invaded Italy. The western empire came to an end in AD476, when a barbarian became ruler of Italy.
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The arrival of the Romans in Iberia in 219/8 BC was no accident. They landed there as a military force determined to defeat their rivals, the Carthaginians. The Carthaginians were already well established in the Iberian Peninsula. The war in Iberia lasted some 12years. We can divide the conquest into two general periods the first following the defeat of the Carthagininans (205 BC) and ending with the fall of the town of Numancia/Numantia 133 BC, and the second extending from 29 to 18 BC.
Life for women in Roman times was often hard. Mother was less important than father in the family. Father had the power of life or death over everyone. When a new baby was born it would be laid at its father's feet - if the father picked the baby up it would live, but if he ignored the baby it would be taken away to die.
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Women were expected to run the home, cook meals, and raise children. If they were wealthy, women were lucky; they had slaves to do the work. Many girls were married at the age of 14. Marriages were often arranged between families. A man could divorce his wife if she did not give birth to a son. Many women died young (in their 30s), because childbirth could be dangerous, and diseases were common. Most children in Roman times did not go to school. Only quite rich families could afford to pay a teacher. Most schools were in towns. Not many girls went to school, but some were taught at home by tutors, who were often educated slaves. Boys from rich families learned history, math, and literature at school, to prepare them for jobs in the army or government. In poor families, girls and boys had to work, helping their parents.
At first, Romans believed in many different gods and goddesses. These gods were like people, but with magical powers. The Roman gods were part of a family. Each god or goddess looked after different people or things. These are a few of the old Roman gods:
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SATURN: once king of the gods, his place was taken by his son (Jupiter). Saturn was the god of seed-sowing. JUPITER: god of the sky, he was the most important god. JUNO: Jupiter's wife, she looked after women. NEPTUNE: Jupiter's brother, he was the god of the sea. MINERVA: goddess of wisdom and women's work. Mars: god of war, though originally god of farming. VENUS: goddess of love, she was the lover of Mars.
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