Egypt,
Greece and Rome Highlights
Civilization
and the control of food surpluses go hand in hand, 463
successful
city states of the Ancient Near East grasped a territory around them and
consolidated their position through the control of trade, often over routes
which remained unchanged for centuries.
481
Mesopotamia
and the First Cities 497
Rainfall
was limited, and what water there was rushed across the plain in the annual
flood of melted snow. As the plain fell only 20 metres in 500 kilometres the
beds of the rivers shifted constantly. It was this which made the organization
of irrigation, particularly the building of canals to channel and preserve the
water, essential. 504
Once
this was done and the silt carried down by the rivers planted, the rewards were
rich: four to five times what rain-fed earth would produce. It was these
conditions that allowed an elite to emerge, probably as an organizing class,
and to sustain itself through the control of surplus crops which could be used
in exchange for the raw materials which it lacked. 505
urban
settlements. The earliest, that of Eridu, which grew up in the fifth millennium
BC, 508
impressive
temple complex built of mudbrick (these mounds of accumulated remains are known
as `tells'), within a small depression which allowed water to accumulate. 509
gave
the site access to farmland and fishing with some scope for pastoralism but it
was its constant supply of water which appears to have given it a sacred
quality. 510
thousand-year
period to the beginning of the fourth millennium is known as the Ubaid period, 513
Babylonian
texts talk of the creation of Eridu by the god Marduk as the first city, `the holy
city, the dwelling of their [the other gods] delight. 516
The
assumption is that this elite was somehow associated with the maintenance of
the temples and gained privileges as a result. Eridu, which was the
southernmost of the Mesopotamian settlements, may have been, in fact, primarily
a centre for pilgrimage. 519
most
significant period in Uruk's history is between 3800 and 3200 BC for which
there is a mass of evidence of monumental building, 522
primitive
form of writing, again inscribed on damp clay, was used to record goods,
administrative decisions, and the use of labour.
528
about
3100 BC its trading links disappear, perhaps, it is suggested, because the
water supplies around Uruk began to dry up or the land was so intensively cultivated
that the rural economy necessary to support the city collapsed. 541
use
of writing had now become a feature of many of these Mesopotamian city states. 544
About
3000 BC1 however, writing is found expressed in Sumerian. 547
for
centuries texts written in Sumerian were considered superior to those in other
languages. 548
By
2300 BC Texts dealing with
economic matters predominated, as they always had done, but now works of
theology, literature, history, and law appear.
553
Gradually
the signs diverged from their pictorial roots and became more abstract but it
is remarkable that the changes spread uniformly between cities 555
an
indication that naming an object is seen as a way of keeping control of it,
putting it in a manageable order and thus creating psychological security. 560
Other
innovations of the late fourth millennium include the wheel, probably developed
first as a more efficient way of making pottery and then transferred to
transport. 562
the
discovery, again about 3000 BC, that if copper, which had been known in
Mesopotamia since about 3500, was mixed with tin, a much harder metal, bronze,
would result. 564
bronze
was far more successful in creating sharp edges
use
of bronze requires access to copper and tin sources and these now became
important. 568
busy
network of trade routes, some running north and south along the rivers, others
eastwards through the city of Susa on the edge of the Iranian plateau to
Afghanistan, 569
age
of increasing inter-city rivalry and conflict.
582
the
city of Kish which has one of the first recorded kings, one Mesilim, who ruled
in about 2400 BC. 584
palaces
now become more prominent in the cities.
585
evidence
of growing inequality in society.
586
Slavery
makes its first appearance in the historical record, 587
image
of society in which the ruler is upheld as the chosen one of the gods, who
maintains peace and security for all and sustains prosperity, not least as an
overseer of irrigation. 589
The
earliest surviving code, that of Urukagina, ruler of Lagesh about 2350 Bc,
seems aimed at restricting the power of the bureaucrats and wealthy landowners.
The poor are protected against their excesses and there is evidence from Sumer in
general that a system of law, with courts and respected local citizens sitting
as judges, operated. 592
The
Akkadians 601
about
2330 BC southern Mesopotamia was conquered by history's first recorded emperor,
Sargon of Akkade. Sargon's origins were among the Semitic-speaking peoples of
the north. 602
Uruk
was among the cities subdued by his armies, its walls broken down and its
ruler, Lugalzagesi taken off north in triumph. The walls of Ur too were
destroyed. 611
Sargon's
empire was a personal conquest but it was preserved by his successors for
another seventy years. It eventually fell apart during the rule of his
great-grandson, Shar-kali-sharri, when invaders, the Gutians, swept down the
Zagros mountains to destroy the rich city of the plain. 613
southern
cities of Mesopotamia now able to regain their independence. 617
Third
Dynasty of Ur (c.215o-2004 Bc) a highly efficient bureaucratic state emerged in
southern Mesopotamia under one Ur-Nummu and his son Shulgi. The dynasty is
remembered for its ziggurats, 618
ziggurats
speak of the dominance of the gods who, as has been seen, are linked to the
survival of the rulers 621
Third
Dynasty is also remarkable for its literature, which included the earliest
recorded epic, that of Gilgamesh, a warrior king of Uruk. 625
Ur
was sacked by invading Elamites in 2004
649
The
Old Babylonian Period (2000-1600 Bc) 651
Hammurapi,
a king of the city of Babylon. broke free and defeated the major cities of the southern plain,
Isin, Nippur, Ur, and Uruk, thus making himself overlord of the region. 653
Late
in his reign (it may have been inscribed just two years before Hammurapi died),
the king wishes to proclaim himself as a benign ruler who has secured justice
for his peoples.
documentation
of religious life with details of local prophets (on the model of Israel) and
the skilled art of liver divination,
673
Babylonian
society allowed more freedom of enterprise than that of Sumer. Trade was
conducted by individuals rather than the state and landowners were free to
exploit their land. 679
a
time of prosperity and also a period of rich cultural and intellectual
development in Mesopotamia. 684
evidence
of multiplication, division, the calculation of squares and cubes, and even
some logarithms.
The
most striking innovation was positional notation, two numbers following each
other (as in 12, the i standing for the base of ten, the 2 for the extra
units). The Babylonians used 60 as their base.
694
The
Invention of the Alphabet 698
extract
all the consonantal signs and create an alphabet from them. This was done by a
Canaanite about 1500 BC.
At
some point (scholars have put forward dates as early as 1300 Bc and as late as
1000 BC), the Phoenician cities developed their own alphabet, and probably
transmitted it to the Greeks in the ninth or eighth century BC. 710
The
Assyrians and the Hittites 712
The
early prosperity of Ashur rested on its success as a trading centre whose
tentacles reached into Anatolia for silver, into Babylonia for textiles, and
perhaps as far east as Afghanistan for its tin.
715
although
the Assyrian kings of this period were important ceremonial figures (described
in formal texts as viceregents of the god Ashur) day-to-day administration of
Ashur was in the hands of a committee apparently of the heads of the merchant
families. 718
An
important moment seems to have been the overthrow of Kanesh by another
principality, Kussara. The dynasty of Kussara then appear, about 1830, to have
taken over the ruined city of Hattusas and transferred their archives here.
This was the genesis of what became the empire of the Hittites, 725
It
was only under the rule of Suppiluliuma I (c.138o-1345) that the Hittites
overcame Mitanni and installed a puppet ruler there, using the state as a
buffer between themselves and Assyria, which by now had revived and become the
most powerful nation of northern Iraq.
737
As
the Hittites expanded southwards into Syria towards the Euphrates they met the
Egyptians. The two states clashed at the major battle of Qadesh (1275 Bc: seep.
74). The outcome was the consolidation of a border between Egypt and the
Hittites in southern Syria. 739
The
Hittites dealt lightly with neighbouring cultures. and it was also
multicultural in that it seems to have borrowed freely from the other cultures
around it and it may have in its turn transmitted its borrowings to the eastern
Mediterranean. 746
While
the core of the Hittites' prosperity seems to have rested on agriculture and
the exploitation of metal resources in Anatolia itself, it was, like every
state of the period, linked into wider trading networks. 755
Yet
a hundred years later this complex network of trade and traders was disrupted.
The end of the thirteenth century BC saw a cataclysmic collapse of the
societies of the eastern Mediterranean.
762
The
economic networks of the eastern Mediterranean and Near East are broken up so
comprehensively that a so-called `Dark Age' sets in and continues for some
centuries. 766
The
Nile started to rise in May, and from July to October was high enough to flow
out over the flood plain of the valley. This was akhet, the time of inundation.
Four months later, by the beginning of November, the waters had begun to fall.
The land could be marked out and ploughed and sowed. This was peret, the time
`when the land reappeared' The final four months of the year, shemu, from March
to June, brought the harvest. 796
Beginnings
808
One
of the most persistent Egyptian creation myths relates how at the beginning of
all things was the sun, Ra. Ra scattered his semen and out of it sprang Shu,
the god of dryness, and Tefnut, the goddess of humidity. Shu and Tefnut
produced a new generation of gods, the sky goddess Nut and the earth god Geb.
They in their turn gave birth to four children, Isis and Osiris, Seth and
Nepthys. 808
Isis
and Osiris, husband and wife, became the first rulers of Egypt. However, Seth
overthrew his brother, cutting him into pieces. Isis devotedly put him together
again, adding a new penis (the original having been eaten by fish) with such
success that she was able to conceive a son, Horus. She kept Horus hidden in the
marshes until he was strong enough to overthrow Seth. 811
Osiris
meanwhile had become god of the underworld, where he acted as a symbol of
rebirth. Seth continued in Egyptian mythology as a potential threat to order,
while Horus remained as the protector of the earthly kings who were his
successors. 813
The
`family' was a composite one, made up of early gods from different cult centres
along the Nile, while the conflict between Horus and Seth may well have echoed
memories of a real struggle between two early states. 814
The
valley was thin, often only a few kilometres wide in some areas, and stretching
for i,ooo kilometres from the Nile Delta to the first cataract at Aswan. 816
Egypt
was made up of two distinct kingdoms, one in the north on the Delta, the other
south along the valley, lasted in Egyptian tradition long after the first
unification in about 3000 Bc. 817
The
Unification of Egypt 826
Emmer
wheat, barley, and flax, the staples of Egyptian farmers, were being cultivated
well before 4000 BC. 827
During
the second half of the fourth millennium, the four to five hundred years before
the first recorded unification of Egypt, the scattered agricultural communities
of the valley grew larger. 829
The
Nile valley provided clay for pottery and mudbricks but little wood. Flint was
the only immediately accessible stone. Anything else, the fine white limestone
from the rocks which lined the valley, the hard stones, granite and diorite,
gold, copper, or semi-precious stones, had to be quarried or mined from the
surrounding desert or traded from further afield. This required an ordered
society able to organize expeditions across the inhospitable desert. 833
By
the end of the fourth millennium contact had been made as far as Mesopotamia. 836
The
story of Horus and Seth seems to represent an actual struggle between
Hieraconpolis, a cult centre for Horus, and Naqada, whose cult god was Seth.
There was probably no one moment of unification but in later tradition it was from
this disorder that a king named Narmer finally achieved some kind of dominance
over Egypt just before 3000 BC. 845
Narmer's
successors established their capital at Memphis, strategically placed at the
junction between the Delta and the valley. 848
Horus
continued throughout Egyptian history as the special protector of the kings. He
was always portrayed as a falcon.
855
The
First Dynasties 865
The
appearance of writing, the unification of the country, and the establishment of
a capital at Memphis, mark the beginning of what is known as the Early Dynastic
period, the First to Third Dynasties (c.3000-2613 Bc). 865
the
world's first stable monarchy 867
By
2500 the myth had developed that the king was the direct heir of the sun god
Ra. 868
In
essence the king had a dual nature, the divine emanating through his human
form. 872
Although
the ideology of the divine king was imposed in Egyptian life from the earliest
times, his survival rested on being able to keep order (any loss of control was
traditionally rationalized as a sign that the gods had withdrawn their
support), and this involved bureaucratic expertise. 877
From
early times taxes were collected in kind by the court and then stored in
granaries before being rationed out to support building projects and the
feeding of labourers. The sophistication of the system can be shown by the
annual records of the height of the Nile floods from which the expected crop
yield for the year seems to have been calculated. It was these developments
that must have encouraged the development of a writing system. 879
The
king may also have controlled foreign trade, as it was the court which was the
main consumer of raw materials and centre of craftsmanship. 881
The
administrative complex around the royal court at Memphis was known as Per Ao,
The Great House, a name used eventually, from about 1400 BC, for the king
himself, pharaoh. Heading the administration was the vizier, whose roles
included overseeing the maintenance of law and order and all building
operations. 882
From
the earliest dynasties it was believed that at the death of a king his divinely
created spirit, the ka, would leave his body and then ascend to heaven, where
it would accompany his father, the sun god, Ra, on the boat on which Ra
travelled through each night before reappearing in the east. 887
so
there developed the process of embalming to fulfil the requirement that the
body should be preserved. 896
The
need to provide fine goods for the king's and his courtiers' survival in their
afterlife appears to have been the catalyst for a major explosion in the arts
during the Early Dynastic period. 904
a
rectangular building over the tomb at ground level. These constructions have
been nicknamed `mastabas; after the benches which are found outside modern
Egyptian houses. The mastabas of early tombs, royal and otherwise, were often
constructed in the form of a model palace.
906
2650
Bc Third Dynasty king Djoser at Saqqara, 911
Imhotep,
Above
ground the tomb started as an ordinary mastaba (in other words was a
continuation of earlier models), but this was extended and built upon so that
eventually a stepped `pyramid' of six layers emerged. On the southern side were
two courtyards, the earliest known large stone monument built
anywhere in the world. 919
For
the first time, too, the reliefs show the king not as a conqueror, as is the
earlier convention, but as undertaking the rituals of kingship. 924
With
the Fourth Dynasty (c.2613) begins the Old Kingdom proper, which was to last to
about 2130 BC. The Old Kingdom is dominated by the building of the Pyramids, 930
the
Old Kingdom was a period of prosperity and stability, with power focused
overwhelmingly on the king. 933
transition
from a stepped to a true pyramid may have been the
result of changing religious beliefs. 942
Recent
experiments at Giza with stone blocks suggest a workforce of some 25,000 would
have been able to complete the Great Pyramid in twenty years. 960
The
whole operation, stretching, as it would have to, over many years, needed
organizers of vision. It also required total confidence in the labour force.
What incentives were needed to keep so many men toiling for so long can only be
guessed at. 976
By
the Fifth Dynasty there is some slackening of this intense concentration on the
king. Pyramids continue to be built, but these are much smaller and more human
in scale. Some Fifth Dynasty kings now transferred their energies to building
temples to Ra, 985
The
Sixth Dynasty and the Collapse of the Old Kingdom 988
most
important development of all in the Fifth Dynasty was the growth of the power
of provincial nobles. 989
administrative
posts became hereditary and their holders began to live on estates in the
provinces 990
a
new philosophy began to emerge which focused on the relationship of the
deceased with the god Osiris. Osiris had originally been associated with
agriculture and the reviving power of the annual flood and he now became linked
to continuing life of the deceased who, it was said on their tombs, were
`honoured' by Osiris as reward for their good behaviour on earth. 994
The
word for honour, imakhu, came to mean the sense of respect and protection that
a man would feel for those inferior to him and thus an important ethical
concept in Egyptian society. 996
collapse
in central authority in the next dynasty, the Sixth, about 2180 BC. 997
The
First Intermediate Period 1002
First
Intermediate Period (c.216o-2o55 Bc). Central government was less assertive 1003
rival
dynasty established itself in the south of the kingdom at what was then a
remote provincial capital, Thebes.
1004
The
Emergence of the Middle Kingdom 1024
In
about 2055 BC one of the Theban princes, Mentuhotep II of the Eleventh Dynasty,
launched a campaign north and defeated the kings of Heracleopolis. 1025
The
Middle Kingdom: The Years of Stability 1046
For
the next 200 years (c.1985-1795 BC) Egypt enjoyed a period of equilibrium.
These were the great years of the Middle Kingdom. The reassertion of royal
authority 1046
The
kings imposed their influence well beyond the traditional boundaries of Egypt.
They controlled Nubia more effectively than ever before and opened up new areas
of cultivation in the Fayum, a large oasis area to the west of the river,
through an impressive system of dikes and canals. They made the first
significant contacts with Asia and the east through expeditions by boat and overland
across the Sinai desert. 1053
There
was meticulous supervision by the state over every aspect of life. 1062
The
rulers of the Middle Kingdom evolved an ideology which underpinned their rule.
It centred on the concept of ma'at, harmony achieved through justice and right
living.. 1064
For
the individual administrator the key to personal contentment lay in moderation, 1071
the
lesson is that the state will uphold justice and even support the oppressed
during their ordeals. 1079
Hieroglyphs
were a formal script used mainly for carving sacred texts on stone. 1083
The
Middle Kingdom was seen as the classical age of literature, 1095
From
earliest times the framework of order and a shared sense of community was
maintained by religion. The Egyptians were sensitive to the complexity of
spiritual forces and the need to propitiate those gods who could protect them
against disorder, destruction, or everyday misfortune. 1102
At
the level of popular religious belief the Middle Kingdom is the period of
Osiris. His story, his death and suffering, and rebirth as a saviour who
welcomes those who have lived by his rules to another world, is grounded in the
ancient ritual of annual renewal
1107
Osiris
judges each soul as it comes to him after death. In the texts which explain
what is required of a good man, there is the same emphasis on behaviour centred
on moderation and harmony with the natural world.
1111
it
represents what has been described as a `democratization of the afterlife'
(John Wilson) in that the afterlives of pharaohs and subjects are no longer so
distinct. 1114
there
is no doubt that the Middle Kingdom does represent one of the pinnacles of
Egyptian civilization. 1120
The
'Hyksos' and the Second Intermediate Period 1123
The
Twelfth Dynasty came to an end about 1773 BC, and then there was a succession
of kings with short reigns. As they have different lineages, it is possible
that power circulated among leading families. Slowly they began losing their
grip on the borders of Egypt. 1123
By
the late eighteenth or early seventeenth century a ruling elite which combined
Egyptian and Asian cultural traits took charge of the city of Avaris on the
eastern Delta, 1126
The
Egyptians to the south called the new ruling dynasty the `Hyksos, literally
`chiefs of foreign lands, thus stereotyping them as invaders, 1127
In
Tell el-Dab'a (Avaris) one Nehesy, who was probably Egyptian but may have been
Nubian, appears to have seized power
1134
The
`Hyksos' kingdom of Nehesy and his successors mixes features of both Egyptian
and Syro-Palestinian cultures and gained immense prosperity from trade. 1136
Avaris
kings appear to have established links across the desert into Nubia, where the
weakening of Egyptian power had led to the emergence of the independent kingdom
of Kush. 1141
at
some point about 1550 BC, the Theban kings marched north. They first broke the
links between the `Hyksos' and Nubia, then Ahmose I entered the Delta itself,
capturing first Memphis and isolating Avaris from Palestine so that he could
capture it. The archaeological evidence shows that the `Hyksos' were armed only
with copper weapons while the Thebans had the much harder bronze. 1146
The
Emergence of the New Kingdom 1163
There
was a very different atmosphere to the New Kingdom (c.155o-1o69 BC). ...the
rulers of the New Kingdom becoming warrior kings...an empire in Asia which at
its height reached as far as the Euphrates. ... Thutmose I (1504-1492 BC)
reached the Euphrates and defeated the state of Mitanni in Syria.. 1164
Egyptian
rule was imposed further south than ever before, ... For the first time the
Egyptians could now directly control the trade routes with their rich harvest
of exotic goods coming from central Africa. The Nubian gold mines were also
worked so intensively that by the end of the New Kingdom they had become
exhausted. 1170
the
dynasty produced a rarity in Egyptian history, a ruling queen....Hatshepsut ruled for over twenty years. It was a successful and
stable reign 1195
Thutmose
led no less than seventeen campaigns in Asia, ... One of his most famous
battles was at Megiddo, where the king, against all professional advice, took
his armies through a difficult mountain pass to emerge behind his enemies and
defeat them. 1217
The
Administration of the New Kingdom 1233
The
reign of Amenhotep III marked the zenith of the New Kingdom. 1233
Ultimately
the Egyptians depended on military force to sustain their rule, and for the
first time in Egyptian history the kings raised a large army, of perhaps
between 15,000 and 20,000 men. 1242
In
practice most kings contented themselves with punitive raids into Asia or Nubia
early in their reigns, as much for propaganda purposes as for suppression of
rebels. 1245
Kings
and Temples 1258
The
god native to Thebes was Amun. He was an unseen god of the air (the word Amun
means `the hidden one'), though in his `animal' form he was portrayed as a
human being. 1263
An
estimate of the land belonging to the temple of Amun at Karnak alone in the
late New Kingdom is 2,400 square kilometres, almost a quarter of the total
cultivated land of Egypt. A labour force of over 80,000 is recorded. 1281
The
Cult of Aten 1283
By
the end of the reign of Amenhotep III (c.135o Bc), the temples were so rich
that they had become political and economic rivals of the king. 1283
For
the first time in Amenhotep's reign a new cult appears, the worship of the sun
in its physical form, Aten. It was Amenhotep's successor, Amenhotep IV, better
known as Akhenaten, `Pious Servant of Aten' (1352-1336 BC), who was to attempt
a religious and social revolution, installing Aten as a single god in place of
the traditional gods of Egypt. 1286
Aten
was always used to emphasize the positive aspects of life, day rather than
night, rebirth rather than death, light rather than darkness. 1303
The
failure of Aten does not make the reign of Akhenaten any less interesting. He
was a strong king who focused the kingdom on himself as the only mediator with
his god. By confiscating the goods of the temples he strengthened his political
position and he appears to have been well in control of the administration. 1314
When
Akhenaten died in about 1336 BC the country was left in some confusion.
Tutankhaten, the son of Akhenaten by another wife, who succeeded. .... within a
year the king's name had been changed to Tutankhamun 1327
With
Akhenaten now being presented as having betrayed his people and the cosmic
order, it is possible that no pharaoh was ever given the same degree of respect
as his predecessors. 1331
The
god Amun becomes a universal transcendent god manifested through the other gods
of Egypt but approachable by those who believe in him. 1332
The
Nineteenth Dynasty: The Last of the Great Egyptian Dynasties 1337
it
was a general, Horemheb, who eventually succeeded...saw himself as the restorer
of traditional order. 1338
passed
on the kingdom to a fellow general who, as King Rameses I, was to be the
founder of the Nineteenth Dynasty, the last to see Egypt as a great power. 1341
centre
of power now shifted back towards the north.
1342
The
family had no royal blood, and when Rameses' son Sety I succeeded him about
1294 Bc he shrewdly tried to conceal this by having himself portrayed on a
stone relief (from the Temple of Abydos and now in the British Museum)
alongside sixty-nine predecessors in a line stretching back to Narmer, 1343
Conflict
along the northern boundaries of the Egyptian empire seemed certain, and
already in the reign of Sety I new campaigns had to be launched into Asia to
reimpose Egyptian control there. 1349
The
most famous battle against the Hittites was that waged in about 1275 Bc by Sety
I's son, Rameses II (c1279-1213 BC), at Qadesh,
1350
the
Egyptian army was lucky to escape intact from the mass of Hittite chariotry. 1352
Rameses
is remembered because of the vast building programme he carried out during his
long reign. Nearly half the temples which still stand in Egypt date from his
reign. 1354
The
Disintegration of the New Kingdom 1359
After
the death of Rameses external pressures on Egypt grew. The Sahara continued to
become drier, encouraging the raids of land-hungry nomads on the wealth of the
valley. Raids from the west by Libyans are mentioned for the first time 1365
The
temples appear to have been accumulating land at the expense of the state,
eventually controlling a third of all cultivable land in Egypt, with a
consequent fall in tax revenues. This may reflect the shift, begun after the
Amarna period, of trust away from earthly rulers to the supreme god Amun. 1369
in
a rare bureaucratic breakdown, grain rations failed to arrive for the craftsmen
working on the royal tombs. In retaliation the workmen organized the first
recorded strike in history. 1373
The
resources available to the kings were also contracting. The gold mines of Nubia
were exhausted by the end of the New Kingdom. ...As central government faltered
under ageing kings with diminishing resources, the empire disintegrated. 1377
The
Villagers of Deir el-Medina 1445
The
walls had niches for the household gods.
1460
a
relaxed attitude to religion....suggest that there was quite a range of
attitudes among the villagers, from those who were deeply pious to those who were
sceptical about the mythology of the gods and were even ready to question the
utterings of oracles. 1479
Egyptian
Medicine 1513
average
life expectancy for those who survived childhood is calculated at 29 with few
individuals surviving beyond 60. Life expectancy was longer for the elite, 1515
Many
Egyptians were afflicted with parasites, acquired probably from polluted water
sources, while lungs suffered from sand and coal dust 1517
Homer
wrote in the Odyssey that medicine in Egypt was more developed than anywhere in
the world, and Herodotus, writing some three centuries later, agreed with him. 1521
profound
empirical knowledge of different kinds of injuries with recommendations for
treatment. It contains the earliest known description of a brain. 1525
Egyptian
medicine operated in a context in which empirical approaches (sometimes, as
with the effects of snake bites, accurate, sometimes as with the internal
workings of the body, hopelessly misguided) mixed with what could be called
magic. 1534
Astronomy
and Mathematics 1541
Arithmetic
and geometry, which were not distinguished, were used to add up wages, to
calculate the volumes of granaries and the areas of fields...to collect taxes
and to calculate the number of bricks needed for a planned building. The basic
procedures appear to have been in place as early as 3500 Bc and remained
essentially undeveloped until the arrival of the Greeks more than 3,000 years
later. 1559
Egyptian
mathematics always focused on the solution of specific administrative and
architectural problems. 1570
Home
and Family 1574
Marriage
took place for women at the onset of puberty, between 12 and 14, while men seem
to have been older, 1578
both
families had to provide goods before a marriage contract could be made, another
incentive for gathering wealth. 1579
Women
normally followed what would now be seen as a highly traditional pattern of
life, running the household and being expected to produce a male heir to carry
on the family and to take responsibility for the family tomb. 1582
When
boys reached the age of 14 they passed into adult life after a religious
ceremony which included circumcision.
1593
The
Rituals of Death 1616
growing
sense of personal piety found in the New Kingdom after the disruption brought
by Akhenaten. It is ultimately the gods, not a strong pharaoh, who will protect
and so they must be petitioned to do so. There is a rise in the use of oracles
in an attempt to find out the will of the gods. 1622
planning
one's own tomb from about the age of 20.
1625
The
deceased hoped that he would be accepted by Osiris as worthy of life in the
Field of Reeds, a lush fertile land somewhere beyond the western horizon. The
life he would lead there would be a more carefree version of what he had
already endured, 1628
meeting
of the dead man with Osiris, who presided over the trial which decided his
future in the afterlife...High standards were
expected and covered every area of moral behaviour. ... At the end of the trial
the heart of the dead man, the seat of the emotions and the intellect, was
weighed against a feather. If it was too heavily weighed by sin and the scale
tilted downwards the heart was devoured by a monstrous animal. If not, the way
was open to the Field of Reeds. 1633
There
was no possibility of an afterlife without a preserved body. 1637
funerary
mask, in the case of a king in gold, placed over it. The hope was that this
would allow the body to be recognized by the ka, the spirit, on the occasions
it returned to the tomb. 1642
The
tomb would also be stocked with the possessions a man might need in the next
life. 1648
Neo-Assyrian
Empire 1667
it
was the Assyrians who were the beneficiaries of the collapse of the Hittites
and the weakening of Egypt at the end of the New Kingdom. 1667
myth
of an extensive Assyrian state survived throughout Assyrian history so that in
their campaigns kings usually did not see themselves so much as conquerors as
simply reasserting their right to their own territory. 1670
the
ninth century kings
...Assyrian state
god, Assur, now proclaimed the right of the state under its king, his
representative on earth, to expand its borders without limit. 1673
By
now iron had superseded bronze as the metal of war (see further p. 129), but
the real strength of the Assyrians lay in their cavalry, made up of faster and
heavier horses bred and pastured on the rich grazing lands of the plain. 1682
Yet
at its height, under kings such as Tiglath-pilaser III (745-727 Bc) and his
successors Sargon II and Sennacherib in the late eighth and early seventh
centuries, the empire reached as far as Cyprus and southern Anatolia, Palestine
and Syria, Mesopotamia and the routes leading to the Iranian plateau. 1686
Tiglath-pilaser
III reformed the Assyrian army so that it was maintained as a standing
professional force of foot soldiers backed by mounted forces, chariots, and
cavalry. This gave it an immense advantage over its rivals who were raised year
by year. 1691
Much
of its reputation rested on fear of its brutality. 1692
The
plundering of cities and the crushing of peoples was followed by the
deportation of the survivors. 1696
Plunder
was brought back to the Assyrian heartland and distributed freely. 1706
deliberate
policy of agricultural expansion, the bringing into cultivation of new areas,
and a state-sponsored distribution of iron ploughs to the peasantry. 1710
settling
deportees in depopulated parts of the empire.
1711
new
capital was created at Nineveh 1713
at
the end of the seventh century the Assyrian empire succumbed to the combined
forces of the Medes and Babylonians and as an empire disappeared suddenly and
completely from the historical record.
1727
The
Neo-Babylonian Empire 1735
Babylonian
king Nabopolassar (626-605) recorded his triumph in an inscription. `I
slaughtered the land of Assyria,
1735
Babylon
enjoyed its finest period as an independent state between 625 and 539 BC. 1737
The
Land of Israel 1746
virtually
no mention of them as a people before the ninth century BC 1748
many
of the events recorded as history in the Hebrew scriptures have no separate
archaeological or documentary evidence to confirm them. 1749
In
722 BC the Assyrians annexed the northern kingdom and extinguished its national
identity. Judah survived, but as a subject kingdom of the Assyrian empire. 1773
Woven
into Deuteronomy is a concern for social justice. All men are brothers and
there should be special concern for the poor. The development of an ethical
tradition is an essential element of the Hebrew scriptures and is underpinned
with a concern for ritual purity
1787
In
its earliest recorded form it presents Yahweh as the protector of Israel who
will remain faithful to his people for ever. Later, from Moses onwards, the
covenant is seen as dependent on the good behaviour of the people of Israel. 1790
Nebuchadrezzar
.... Jerusalem appears to have been conquered twice by him, in 597 and 587, and
according to the Book of Kings lo,ooo inhabitants were carried off to Babylon.
Although recent research suggests that the depopulation might not have been so
great as the Hebrew sources suggest, from the psychological point of view this
exile was a crucial moment in Jewish history and underlined the new image of
Yahweh as one who could abandon his people to their suffering. 1794
The
Jews had created the world's first sustained monotheistic religion....a concept
which left many unsolved philosophical problems about the nature of the one
God. 1800
The
lesson of the Babylonian exile was that only through the admission of guilt and
the acceptance of just punishment could the relationship be restored in a new
covenant. 1803
The
Phoenicians 1810
During
the disruptions associated with the sea peoples, the original inhabitants of
Canaan lost much of their coastline and inland territories so that by the tenth
century they controlled only 200 kilometres of coast and the narrow strip of
land which ran between the coast and the mountains 1813
The
city which is to take the lead in expanding trade is, however, Tyre. ...t is
clear that it is individual merchants from Tyre who have, through their agents,
set up outposts in Babylonia. 1819
It
is certainly true that by the ninth century the Canaanites were penetrating
deep into the Mediterranean, and it was here that they came into contact with
another trading people, the Greeks,
1826
Egypt
in the First Millennium 1831
By
the mid-eighth century southern Egypt was controlled by a foreign dynasty
originating from Nubia. 1834
In
the early seventh century the Assyrian king Esarhaddon was able to invade Egypt
across the Sinai desert. Memphis was sacked in 671, 1843
In
664/663 the Assyrians attacked again, and this time reached as far as Thebes.
The religious capital of Egypt, sacred and inviolate for so many long
centuries, was sacked. This was a humiliating blow to the Kushites and they
withdrew south 1844
Psamtek
eventually established his rule over the whole of Egypt, founding a new
Dynasty, the Twenty-Sixth...period of unity,
wealth, and cultural renaissance.
1851
About
620 Bc Greek traders were allowed by Psamtek I to set up a trading centre at
Naucratis on a branch of the Nile near Sais. Greek mercenaries soon formed part
of the Egyptian army 1854
The
Rise of the Persian (Achaemenid) Empire 1857
In
the mid-sixth century an empire finally arose which managed to conquer and
consolidate its hold over the entire Ancient Near East, ... known as the
Achaemenid empire, 1857
The
empire was remarkable for establishing a stable system of government which held
together a wide range of subject peoples and cultures for 200 years. 1859
The
Persian empire was founded by one of the great conquerors of history, Cyrus II
(ruled 559-530 BC). Cyrus was descended from a line of kings which had emerged
at Persis (modern Fars) on the Iranian plateau in the late seventh century out
of the earlier Elamite state. 1873
In
550 the Medes attacked Cyrus possibly as a reaction to his growing power. Their
defeat led to the incorporation of the Medes and their wealthy capital,
Ecbatana, within the Persian state.
1878
King
Croesus of Lydia, a state which had been consolidated in the seventh century in
western Anatolia, attacked the Persians in the mid-540s but he too was defeated
and his capital, Sardis, brought into what was now an empire. The prosperous
Greek city states of the coastline of Anatolia were bullied into accepting
Persian control. 1880
Confronted
by Cyrus, the Babylonian state fell after one major battle (Opis in 539 BC),
and Cyrus found himself master as far west and south as the borders of Egypt. 1885
So
long as the ultimate authority of himself as `King of Kings' and the Persian
god Ahura-Mazda were recognized, local cultures and religions were free to
thrive. 1894
On
his death his successor, his son Cambyses, was successful in extending the
empire yet further through the conquest of Egypt and Cyprus. ... the last of
the native Egyptian kings was, according to some sources, carried off in
triumph 1899
in
522 there was a coup by one of his generals, Darius...Darius legitimized his
rule through the one god, Ahura-Mazda, who was prepared to preside benignly
over the lesser gods of the peoples Darius controlled. King and god reinforced
each other's legitimacy. 1912
The
empire was divided into twenty satrapies, or administrative regions, each under
an imperial appointee, normally a Persian.
1918
In
499 BC the western part of the empire was shaken by a major revolt by the Greek
cities of the Ionian coast. Darius was forced into confrontation with a people
who were to prove the match of his empire.
1932
For
the Greeks another important psychological element of life in the Mediterranean
was the constant awareness of the great civilizations of the east. The
Phoenicians acted as middlemen through which the rich cultural heritage of
these states was passed on 1992
The
Greeks were visiting and settling in Egypt by the seventh century. Here was a
link to the very distant past and by the time of the Greek historian Herodotus,
mid-fifth century BC, Egypt is being credited as the fount of ancient wisdoms
... Egyptians, he goes on, were the first to define the relationships between
man and the gods and the Greeks had absorbed their own religion from them. They
had invented writing and mathematics (according to Aristotle) and were the most
learned of doctors. Yet Egypt was something other-the dependence of the
Egyptians on the pharaohs made them `barbarian' rather than Greek to a
fifth-century `intellectual' like Herodotus
1996
The
Mediterranean is a relatively sheltered environment and what gives it its focus
is the possibility it offers of unrestricted communication, from the mouth of
the Black Sea to the Straits of Gibraltar
2011
by
the second millennium BC there is widespread trading activity as confidence
among the peoples of the sea grows.
2015
For
half the year the Mediterranean was unsailable. Between the September and March
equinoxes the Atlantic spreads depressions across the Mediterranean, unsettling
the climate and causing troublesome winds such as the bora. 2033
In
settled times trading routes were defined by wind and currents. As ships in the
ancient Mediterranean were square sailed they did best in a following wind and
in the eastern Mediterranean these prevailed from north to south. 2042
The
water which runs in from the Straits of Gibraltar tends to flow along the
northern coast of Africa and then turn upwards along the coast of Palestine and
round Asia Minor. It then turns westwards and the current from the Black Sea
meets with it and the two combine to make a current which runs back along the
northern shores of the Mediterranean, past Dalmatia, Italy, and on to Spain. 2053
The
rugged coastline means that although the Mediterranean is about 3,800
kilometres from east to west, there are some 22,000 kilometres of shoreline.
About a thousand harbours have been plotted along the coast
2068
there
was ample opportunity to stop off to rest, take in fresh water, and trade. Then
there were the rivers which allowed trade networks to penetrate inland 2072
When
rain does fall, and in the Mediterranean this is normally in the winter rather
than summer months, it tends to cascade downwards destroying top soil. In
response the farmer has to terrace soil so that it is not lost. 2079
This
means that a `good' year might produce far more than is needed while a `bad'
year far less. It was coping with this variability which was important and as
it could not be planned for every year had to be focused on overproduction. 2082
The
famous Mediterranean trio of crops, vines, olives, and grain, were grown
together in an attempt to maximize return. 2084
The
ingenuity needed to survive in such a climate extended to the selling of
surplus if there was any. 2088
In
Roman times the pull of demand for grain, wine, wool, and leather was more
sustained and much larger, particularly because of the needs of the army. The
legions not only ensured the security within which settled agriculture could be
maintained over decades, they provided the demand for its products and, more
than this, the labour, through captured slaves, to meet it. 2096
So
it is not surprising that many parts of Italy developed medium or larger
estates, the so-called villa economy, 2098
It
is this diversity of microeconomies-which demand a wide range of skills if they
are to be exploited to the full 2106
The
notion of the Mediterranean as the civilized world and those living beyond it
as barbarians persisted. 2109
The
Minoans 2129
towards
the end of the third millennium was able to sustain several urban settlements.
In some of these, about 2000 BC, large `palace' complexes appeared. The
`palaces; which have large central courtyards and a series of public rooms,
acted as centres for the storage of surplus grain, wine, oil, and other
produce. 2131
Surplus
produce was carefully recorded and stored, apparently to exchange for goods
from overseas, in particular metals and stone. 2145
Someone
in Crete was also patronizing skilled craftsmen. One style of pottery of this
early period (the so-called Old Palace Period, 2000-1600 Bc), Kamares ware, is
among the best ever found in Greece. 2153
About
1600 BC these early palaces were destroyed. It is assumed that an earthquake
was the cause, ...The palaces were quickly rebuilt on an even more magnificent
scale than before 2157
This
New Palace Period (1600-1425 nc) was prosperous and well ordered.
Worship...
seems to have been directed at a variety of goddesses. 2170
A
darker side of Minoan ritual has emerged in recent years... the children had
been sacrificed. Shortly 2172
The
Mycenaeans 2187
In
about 1425 BC there was another wave of destruction of the Cretan palaces. 2187
At
some point invaders entered the island, ...Knossos was probably used as a base
by the newcomers but was to be itself destroyed at a later date, sometime
between 1400 and 1200. The invaders were the Mycenaeans, 2190
Mycenaean
civilization developed directly from what had gone before. 2200
The
Mycenaeans were after metals and luxury goods, ... goods needed to meet the
demands of a warrior elite, demands they were prepared to satisfy by force. 2203
6000
BC 2227
There
is some archaeological evidence for new populations, possibly from Anatolia and
the Near East, moving into the Balkans and Greece around this date and it is
conceivable that they brought Indo-European languages with them. 2228
it
may be possible to track some elements of later Greek religious belief and
practice back into Mycenaean times. 2238
In
the thirteenth century the fortifications of the Mycenaean centres became more
massive. 2242
increasing
support for the idea that the economies of the Mycenaean centres became simply
too complex, unable to sustain their prosperity as their populations rose. 2253
As
resources became scarce, the Mycenaeans may have turned on each other, leading
to a massive `systems collapse, a civil war which all ultimately lost. 2254
One
of the most important developments was the emergence of weapons in iron rather
than bronze. 2263
The
Migrations 2268
In
the tenth century there appears to have been a migration of Ionic speakers to
Asia Minor, where they colonized the central part of the coast, a region later
known as Ionia. 2277
The
end result of these migrations was an Aegean surrounded by Greek settlements
whose relationships with each other must have been maintained by the
criss-crossing of the sea by traders, craftsmen, and wandering poets. 2279
The
late tenth century also sees a revival of trade from the east. It is stimulated
by the expansion of the Phoenicians, who, ... needed to trade to accumulate
tribute for their Assyrian overlords.
2293
The
revival in trade can only be explained by a growth in prosperity in Greece and
the Aegean itself as conditions stabilized and a surplus of agricultural wealth
once again became available. 2298
The
Eighth-Century `Renaissance' 2299
In
the eighth century there is a much more dramatic transformation. Mainland
Greece suddenly goes through a period of rapid social, economic, and cultural
change. 2299
arrival
of literacy in Greece. 2319
However,
in a transformation of enormous significance, the Greeks used some of the
Phoenician consonants for which they had no use as vowels. 2324
the
Nestor vase does suggest a link between writing and the symposium, the
aristocratic drinking parties, where poetry was recited.) 2334
Homer
2335
extraordinary
ability to improvise, never repeating the stories in the same way, and
continually developing their themes.... In a number of different cultures the
predominant need has been to hear of the founding heroes of the nation. 2340
The
poet was concerned above all to maintain an emotional impact through the
steady, almost ceremonial, intonation of the verse, rather than to tell a
coherent story. 2348
What
matters above all in the Iliad is honour, preserving dignity in the face of the
horror of war... A `good' man is one who shows strength, skill, and courage in
battle. 2397
With
the power of the gods less than absolute, human beings are left with some space
in which to exercise free will and take responsibility for their own actions. 2429
Part
of his enduring genius lies in his portrayal of heroes as fully human beings
whose dilemmas remain real to his readers nearly 3,000 years 2434
Hesiod
2436
Hesiod
comes over as a cynical and pessimistic figure, hardened by the experience of
peasant life and with deep-rooted prejudices against women. 2439
Hesiod
wants to go back further to the act of creation itself. In this he is drawing
not on Greek traditions but on the creation myths of the east, with which his
stories show many parallels. He evokes primitive and tempestuous gods, 2442
He
plumbs dark depths of the human psyche left untouched by Homer. 2448
Works
and Days. One theme of this work is the concept of history as moving forward
through phases from ages of gold, silver, and bronze to one of heroes before
reaching the unhappy present, the age of iron.
2449
all
is not without hope. There is the possibility of justice, dike, and Zeus,
normally seen as indifferent to the suffering of man, is invoked by Hesiod as
its protector. It is up to human beings to work hard so that good order can be
achieved in unity with the gods.
2452
reflects
the dawning of a new age, that of the city state where justice can perhaps be
made a reality. 2455
that
population growth was leading to a transformation of agriculture, with the
large grazing herds of the aristocracy being replaced by the more intensive
arable farming. 2458
The
Appearance of the Polis 2463
deep-rooted
prejudice against providing any form of regular labour for others. 2464
the
mass of the Greek population was never restricted in its mobility, and as
population grew this made it possible for larger settlements, towns and cities,
to emerge without hindrance, 2466
The
polis was much more. It was a community, living primarily in a city but drawing
on the lands which surrounded it for its supplies. It was also a setting within
which human relationships could take new forms, where abstract concepts such as
justice could be translated into practice.
2471
An
altar is built to a god or goddess, later a temple, at first on the same model
as the aristocratic hall, the megaron, and then more grandly 2476
The
end of the eighth century seems to be the period when there is the first
evidence of cities being confident of their identity and able to defend
themselves through the use of a citizen army. 2480
dramatic
increase in the use of religious centres which were remote from any city and
totally unconnected with them. 2484
increasing
mobility and the formation of a coherent Greek culture alongside the growth of
individual loyalties to the polls. The combination is one of the tensions which
helped bring vitality to Greek life.
2487
The
Orientalizing Revolution 2524
`Orientalizing'
was the result of a complex and varied set of relationships between the Greeks
and the peoples of the east which spread over centuries. 2531
Without
doubt the most important immediate influence on the Greeks were the
Phoenicians, a 2538
They
were more mature and confident than the Greeks at this stage and probably
ventured to the west, with its tricky crossing between the Peloponnese and the
coast of Italy, some generations before the Greeks. 2541
From
the ninth century onwards the Phoenicians and the other peoples of the Near
East were increasingly under pressure from the expanding power of Assyria 2550
One
result of all these upheavals was the fleeing of eastern craftsmen as refugees
to Greece. 2553
Certainly
the Greeks may have been diffident in the face of the opulence of the eastern
civilizations and the seafaring skills of the Phoenicians, but in almost every
sphere they ended up transforming what they had learned for their own ends.
Greek art, literature, religion, and mythology may contain eastern influences,
but ultimately they are Greek. 2580
As
the Greeks became increasingly confident on the sea and as their wealth and
population increased, they began to travel for other reasons, predominantly to
find new homes for their surplus populations.
2601
It
was the goal of a mass of migrants from Greece who during the years 730-580 BC
spread across the Mediterranean, the migration only coming to an end when the
best sites had been settled. 2607
The
Greek custom was for landholdings to be shared equally between sons. 2612
the
custom breeds a mass of peasantry living in small lots which only provide a
surplus in exceptional years. The peasants inevitably are tough, hard-working,
deeply conservative, and understandably cynical about the possibilities of any
improvement in their lot. 2613
Settlement
overseas is the best alternative, and peasants are ideally suited to the task
of taking new land in hand. 2615
A
typical colonizing group would have been of 100-200 young men. 2622
Once
the colonists arrived they would maintain links with their home city, 2625
overseas
colonies quickly asserted their independence.
2627
The
leader would mark out the limits of the new city, set out the sacred areas for
its temples, and divide up land. His status was so assured that after his death
it was usual for a hero cult to be established in his honour. 2639
It
was the Corinthians..., who settled the finest Sicilian site of all, Syracuse, in
about 733 BC. It had the best harbour on the island, a permanent source of
fresh water in the spring Arethusa, and access to fertile land. It was later to
become the richest city of the Greek world. 2645
With
such good control of local resources, the colonies became fabulously rich. 2653
As
the Greek presence in the west became more secure, relationships with the
Phoenicians began to break down.
2655
by
50o Greeks, Etruscans, and Phoenicians were consolidating separate spheres of
influence in the western Mediterranean.
2663
The
settlement of Massilia enabled the Greeks to trade with the Celtic peoples of
Gaul 2665
from
the Greeks the Gauls learned a more civilized way of life and abandoned their
barbarous ways. They set to tilling their fields and walling their towns. They
even got used to living by law 2671
Settlements
in the Northern Aegean, Black Sea, and Libya 2676
By
the beginning of the seventh century Greeks were moving into the Dardanelles, 2681
city
of Byzantium was founded about 660 Bc. Byzantium's site was an outstanding one,
with a headland, superb natural harbour, and good protection by the sea on the
south. 2682
The
Black Sea was not immediately welcoming to the Greeks. The native peoples
around the shores-among them the Thracians, and the Scythians, with their
reputation for human sacrifice-were hostile.
2686
The
settling of Cyrene on the coast of north Africa by the Therans took
place...about 630. 2691
The
Lelantine War and the Emergence of Corinth 2700
it
was the island of Euboea, especially its two main cities, Eretria and Chalcis,
which provided the main impetus for early colonization. 2701
city
of Corinth which emerged as the leading city of Greece after the war. 2709
it
is possible in the late seventh century to speak of a Corinthian empire. 2719
One
Oriental import to Corinth was that of temple prostitution..., Aphrodite,
oversaw ritual prostitution. The easy sexual mores of Corinth lasted for centuries 2727
The
Greeks were given their own trading-post at Naucratis in the western Delta on a
tributary of the Nile, and it appears to have been in operation by 620 BC. Soon
Greeks were visiting Egypt not only as merchants but as awe-inspired tourists. 2734
The
eighth and seventh centuries were a period of rapid change. The old
aristocratic Greek values were now under siege from a world where initiative
and good luck were valued. The expansion of the Greek world offered new
opportunities for those whose lives had been frustrated by poverty 2782
The
Hoplite Army 2795
The
fundamental fact about the Mediterranean climate is its instability. `One can
never be certain of the harvest until the last moment, 2802
Cities
fought over plains, over trade routes, over their borders. As most were
relatively poor there were special problems in conducting these struggles.
There was no question of a city affording a standing army, so farmers had to
double as soldiers. 2811
The
only effective counter-force was another group of hoplites, and this explains
why hoplite armies spread throughout the Greek world from the seventh century
onwards. 2820
normal
hoplite engagement was a low level affair with a few hundred men on each side.
It was primarily aimed at making a show of strength against neighbours, 2821
The
successful army would then raid its opponents' crops. A large battle was rare. 2823
Hoplite
warfare was perhaps more to do with the assertion of the identity and pride of
a city than with killing for its own sake.
2828
Effective
hoplite armies had to be well trained.
2831
while
the Homeric hero would have fought for his own glory or that of his family, the
hoplite was expected to give his loyalty to his polis. 2835
The
most important virtue now is courage used in the service of the community. 2836
The
Tyrants 2841
In
Aegean Greece in particular, in the century after 650 BC, a succession of city
governments were overthrown by ambitious individuals who exploited popular
resentments with the aristocracy to seize power. These were the tyrants. ....
The first Athenian tyrant was Peisistratus, who seized power... in 546. 2845
it
becomes clear that not all tyrants were particularly oppressive. Many glorified
their cities and were important patrons of the arts. 2853
The
new overseas settlements ... showed that an aristocracy was dispensable 2854
The
general pattern, however, is of determined individuals, ready to manipulate
traditional or non-traditional means of support to take power
unconstitutionally. The implication is that aristocratic governments refused to
give way and no other alternative method of political change was available. 2859
At
home he glorified himself and his dynasty through temple-building. 2867
the
vulnerability of the tyrants. They knew that in the long run their position in
the polis was weak and their best hope lay in building up a wider network of
support. 2873
By
550, with the exception of Athens, where the Peisistratid tyranny lasted until
510, tyrannies were a thing of the past on mainland Greece. 2879
The
hoplites were independent men who made their livelihoods from their land and
could not be forged into a passive force for upholding the power of one
individual. When tyrannies collapsed, the hoplite class remained in place to
take over. 2882
the
tyrants were usually replaced by oligarchies or even democracies. 2884
`to
participate in sacrifices, to belong to the group of ephebes [boys normally
between 15 and 20] and then to the hoplites, to take part in choruses, funerals
and assemblies are all activities peculiar to citizens. These activities, she
goes on, `form a chain: each is linked to the next.' The result was a continual
round of gatherings which served to reinforce the cohesion of the citizen
community 2886
Sparta
2893
two
hereditary kings. 2900
thirty
councillors, the gerousia, elders elected by the citizen body by acclamation
from those who had reached the age of 60.
2901
After
twenty years of fighting in the late eighth century, Messenia too was subdued.
Here the occupation was harsher. The land was divided equally among Spartan
citizens as if it had been no more than a new colony. The local population, the
helots, were reduced to serfs cultivating their new masters' land. 2907
the
Argive army, perhaps exploiting its superiority, inflicted a traumatic military
defeat on Sparta at Hysiae in 669. If so, Sparta must have been shaken to the
core, especially when there is also evidence of a rebellion in Messenia which
took another twenty years to subdue. 2912
the
assembly also had the power to elect annually five ephoroi, ephors, from among
the citizen body. The ephors were responsible for maintaining, from day to day,
the overall good order of the state, in particular scrutinizing the activities
of the kings. 2917
The
perioikoi and the helots could provide for the economic needs of the state and
so this left the entire male citizen body free for war. 2921
Uniformity
was imposed upon them by fear, the continuous threat of revolt by those they
had subjugated. The Spartan state became heavily militarized, with every aspect
of the life of its male citizens defined from the moment of birth. 2929
The
morale of the Spartan citizens...needed to be maintained by continual
mobilization. 2942
Persia,
as a monarchy, aligned herself naturally with the tyrants of the Greek world
and Sparta found herself left as the most powerful defender of Greek freedom
and independence. 2952
she
always remained vulnerable at home.
2954
They
had to accept becoming part of a federation, known to historians as the
Peloponnesian League. 2963
Athens
in the Sixth Century 2968
Athens
was to be the focus for Sparta's hostility for over a century, first as a
tyranny and then as the Greek world's leading exponent of democracy. Both were
inimical to the eunomia, good order, sustained by an oligarchical government,
which was the ideal of Sparta and her allies. 2969
By
the sixth century there are signs of dramatic increases of population in the
countryside. Attica was not particularly rich
2981
On
the lowlands the most successful crop was the olive, which by the early sixth
century produced a surplus which Athens was able to spare for export. Attica
also had good clay, used to make her fine pottery. Two assets still to be
exploited at this date were her marble, the finest coming from the slopes of
Mount Pentelicus, and, most important of all, the rich silver mines of Laurium,
only mined successfully from the late sixth century 2985
In
the eighth and seventh centuries Athens remained a state controlled by the
landed aristocracy. 2989
As
population increased there was growing need for grain, and this may have been
the reason why the Athenians began establishing colonies in the north Aegean
and the Black Sea. 2996
Rather
later than many other cities of Greece, the aristocratic ruling class of Athens
was thus threatened by new economic and social pressures. 3001
The
Athenian crisis was thus a serious one involving a variety of tensions, between
different aristocratic factions and between the aristocracy and a mass of
poorer landowners. 3007
621...Draco
was commissioned to draw up a law code.
3008
The
Reforms of Solon 3012
Urgent
action had to be taken to avoid civil war. In 594, by a process that is not
recorded, the city appointed one Solon to be archon (magistrate) with full
powers to reform the state and its laws.
3013
his
view that the roots of Athens' problems lay in the greediness of the rich, 3016
Crucially
he sensed the importance of taking an abstract principle, dike, justice, to
guide him. He argued that dike was something achievable by human beings. This
is the moment perhaps more than any other when politics, the belief that human
beings could consciously hammer out their own way of living together, was born.
3021
All
forms of debt ownership were abolished,
3023
opening
up of government to a wider class of citizens.
3025
the
Assembly. This body was the traditional one found in most aristocratic
communities, with the power to express its feelings for and against any major
proposal. 3034
council
of 400 citizens to oversee its business.
3036
Solon's
new law code...was inscribed for all to see on wooden tablets set in rotating
frames which were recorded as still intact 300 years later. Here Solon's
conviction that right and wrong should be defined by men rather than gods is
given full play. 3040
Citizenship
is also offered to those with a craft skill who come to live permanently with
their families in Athens. 3043
Athenian
politics entered a confused period of struggles between different aristocratic
factions. In some years conflict was so intense that no archons could be
appointed. 3051
into
this debilitating struggle that a tyrant, Peisistratus, forced his way. 3053
The
Peisistratid Tyranny 3055
Charisma
from military victory, alignment with the poor, and, in the final resort,
determination and lack of inhibition about using brute force, all played their
part in bringing him to power. 3061
Peisistratus
was a shrewd, and even benign, ruler.
3064
Soon
Athens' own silver from the mines at Laurium was the main source, and this
silver in effect funded the city's increasing need for imported corn. 3069
The
prosperity of Athens gave the Peisistratids the chance to transform the city. 3071
They
set about establishing Athens as a major religious centre. 3072
In
510 the help of Spartan hoplites was called upon to finally overthrow the
tyranny. 3091
The
Reforms of Cleisthenes 3094
When
the tyranny was overthrown, there appears to have been an immediate
aristocratic reaction, partly sustained by nobles returning from exile, in
which the phratries were purged of any members considered sympathetic to the tyrants.
They lost their citizenship, and the state appeared once again to be falling
under aristocratic control with all the rivalries that entailed. 3097
Cleisthenes...In
a coherent series of reforms, undertaken in 508/507 BC, he was to break the political
power of the phratries and establish genuine equality among citizens. 3102
a
completely new set of political units, the demes, some 140 of them, probably
based on local descent groups. 3103
Cleisthenes
then divided Attica itself into three areas: the town itself, the coastal
region, and the interior. Each area had its demes grouped into larger units
known as trittyes. The culmination of the process was to take one trittyes from
each region and form the three into one tribe, making ten tribes in all for the
whole of Attica. These ten tribes replaced four traditional Ionian tribes. The
ten tribes selected (annually, by lot) fifty members each to sit on the council
of 400 founded by Solon, 3107
Now
men had to train in their new tribes alongside men from other regions. The city
was their only common bond and morale must have been improved. 3112
each
tribe had to provide a general, strategos, elected by the Assembly from those
candidates who put themselves forward. The generals, who, unlike other state
officials, could hold their appointment from one year to the next, became the
most prestigious figures in the city, gradually coming to overshadow the
archons. 3113
By
introducing democracy in the countryside, Cleisthenes gave citizens the
opportunity to build up administrative experience locally and also ensured that
the countryside would be fully integrated into the Athenian democracy. 3119
The
Assembly was the main beneficiary. The procedure for selecting its members, the
citizens of the state, was now under democratic rather than aristocratic
control. 3121
between
62o and 480 BC.... Archaic 3138
the
dominant feel of the period is the gradual coming of order and control. 3141
The
First Coinage 3147
When
the first Greek coins appear (on the trading island of Aegina about 595 BC, in
Athens about 575, and in Corinth shortly afterwards), they are already stamped
on both sides, a clear indication that the Greeks adopted the practice only
after it had been fully developed by the Lydians.
3156
Originally
coins had the value of the metal in which they were made. There was thus no
problem in offering them for exchange because they could always be melted down
without losing value. The weight and purity of each coin could be guaranteed by
the stamp of the city or kingdom it came from, and an unblemished design on
both signs confirmed that it had not been scraped down. 3157
Temples
and Sculpture: The Influence of Egypt
3165
there
is no doubt that this was an age of growing prosperity. The more successful
cities flaunted their wealth through their temples, now seen as the showcases
of a proud polis. 3165
The
inspiration to be more creative and ambitious with the material possibly came
from Egypt. The opening of Egypt by King Psammetichus I (Psamtek) (664-610 Bc)
encouraged the first major incursion of Greeks, both as traders and visitors,
into his country. 3180
Marble
was to become the preferred material for the sculpture of the period (at least
until bronze casting was perfected later in the century) and it also became
popular as a building material for temples and other prominent buildings. 3194
The
most common sculptural form now became the kouros, a life-size (or even larger)
nude male carved in marble, typically with the left leg in front of the right. ....the kouros is an immortalization of a hero at the height of his
powers and that he represents the aristocratic male at his most confident. 3201
In
the second half of the sixth century another skill was perfected, the art of
large-scale bronze casting by the `lost wax' method. 3202
The
Revival of Athenian Pottery 3216
There
seem to be two simultaneous developments. First, the painter is imposing a
unity of theme. 3222
Secondly,
there is the preoccupation with myth.
3224
Traditionally
it has been believed that the pots themselves were used for the drinking
parties of the aristocracies, the symposia, and they reflect the interests of
this class. 3225
the
new freedom given to painters was being exploited to the full. Not only are the
details of each figure more exact, the figures themselves take on a new lease
of life. They jump, tumble, and race across the whole surface of the pots and
some are shown foreshortened. 3228
from
a technical and conceptual point of view one of the most profound changes ever
to have occurred in the history of art.' 3231
The
kouroi gradually become more natural and relaxed in their pose. The temple
sculptures become less wooden 3233
The
Birth of Western Philosophy 3238
An
equally remarkable fact, however, was that the eclipse was said to have been
predicted by one Thales....the moment is often seen as the birth of Greek
philosophy, 3242
The
cities of the Asian coast were the most prosperous of the sixth-century Greek
world. 3243
many
Milesians must have travelled abroad in search of trade-to Egypt, 3245
observe
different cultures and absorb the varying intellectual traditions of these
surrounding peoples. 3247
the
polis acts as a cockpit for debate. In the assemblies and the law courts
argument was intense, yet there seem to have been restraints on letting these
degenerate into outright civil war. In order to formulate and win arguments
without a breakdown of order there was every incentive to find first principles
from which debate could begin. 3248
Those
who `won' such arguments could earn status as a result and so there was an
increasing premium on the facility of reasoning
3251
a
word such as `witness' used in the law courts is the root of the word for
`evidence' in scientific discourse...the
term used for cross-examination of witnesses was adopted to describe the
testing of an idea or hypothesis,
3253
while
in Egypt and the Near East it was unheard of to criticize earlier work, in
Greece it was the norm. If earlier `authorities' were to be challenged then
coherent means of doing so had to be elaborated. This placed an emphasis on
ways of finding truth and certainty
3257
They
appear to have shared a belief that the world system, the kosmos, was subject
to a divine force which gave it an underlying and orderly background. 3263
Thales
is known for his prediction of the eclipse, but he also seems to have been the
first man to look for the origins of the kosmos.
3265
For
Thales the basis of all things was water.....suggesting
is that everything stems from this one originating source 3267
This
attempt to give a single, rational account of the natural order can be seen as
a key moment in the evolution of western culture 3269
Anaximander,
a contemporary of Thales', concentrated on a problem which arose directly from
Thales' speculation, the difficulty of understanding how a particular physical
entity (fire is an example given) can possibly come from something which seems
to be an opposite to it, water. 3270
Anaximander's
solution was to imagine an indeterminate substance from which everything
developed. He called it `the Boundless'. Anaximander saw `the Boundless' not
only as the origin of all material but with the separate function of
surrounding the earth and keeping everything in balance. 3272
Anaximander
proposed that there is no reason why anything which exists at the centre should
necessarily move from that position....the
first instance in natural science of what is known as the principle of
sufficient reason (the principle that nothing happens without a reason). 3278
What
Anaximander did not explain was the process by which one form of matter, `the
Boundless', became another. 3279
Anaximenes
argued that the world consisted of one interchangeable matter, air, from which
all physical objects derived. 3281
If
the universe did originate from one substance, the problem was how to reconcile
this with the enormous diversity and sense of constant change that any observer
of the physical world is confronted with.
3284
Heraclitus
notes, a concept is intelligible only because there is an opposite to it. 3291
Heraclitus
went on, however, to argue that there was an overall coherence, harmonie (the
Greek word meant the coming together of two different components to make a
structure greater than its parts), in this world. What appears to be diversity
in nature is in fact part of a natural unity. The opposites provide tensions
but all is reconciled by a divine force, 3292
`All
that can be learnt by seeing and hearing, this I value highest,' as he put it
in one fragment.
The
approach taken by his contemporary and philosophical rival Parmenides could not
have been more different....he discarded observation about the physical world
in favour of taking a lonely path towards finding truths based only on reason. 3298
The
physical world, Parmenides argues, in the earliest piece of sustained
philosophical argument to have survived, is made up only of what can be
conceived in the mind. 3298
Parmenides
goes on from here to argue that what exists-a piece of rock, for instance-can
only exist in that state. It cannot be conceived of in any pre- or post-rock
state because then it would not have existed as it does now and what did not
exist cannot be spoken of. Therefore, the rock and by analogy all existing
things are unchangeable, caught in a perpetual present. 3302
as
nothing cannot exist there cannot be empty space between objects-all things
that exist are joined as one indivisible substance. The logical conclusion,
therefore, is that the world is composed of one unchanging substance. 3304
Everything
is at rest when it is `at a place equal to itself. At each moment of time the
arrow is always at `a place equal to itself. Therefore the arrow is always at
rest. 3307
Parmenides
had shown that if a single incontrovertible starting point can be taken, then
it is possible to proceed deductively to demonstrate some contingent truth.
This was a crucial step in the development of philosophical argument. 3310
Empedocles
of Acragas, for instance, who was at work in the mid-fifth century, aimed to
reinstate the senses as a valid source for knowledge. 3313
They
come into being in their different forms according to a different mix of four
elements, earth, water, air, and fire. Forces of what he called love and hate
caused the perpetual disintegration and reformation of different materials but
the four elements remain constant. 3314
Leucippus
broke completely with Parmenides to assert that `nothing' could exist (a good
statement then as now from which to start a philosophical argument) in the
sense that there could be empty space between things. If this was accepted,
matter did not have to be joined together in one undifferentiated mass and
objects could move as there was empty space to move through. 3318
went
on to argue that the physical world was made up of atoms which were of the same
substance but differed in shape and size.
3321
Where
the Atomists differed from earlier cosmologists was in their belief that the
formation of the world was random. There is no mention of a guiding force
behind it. The only things that exist are atoms and the empty spaces between
them. This was the first developed statement of materialism, the theory that
nothing which can be directly grasped by the senses exists beyond the material
world. 3324
The
one teaching which is most likely to have been Pythagoras' own is that of the
transmigration of the soul. Pythagoras appears to have believed that the soul
exists as an immortal entity separately from the body. The body is simply its
temporary home, and on the death of one body it moves on to another. What kind
of body it moves on to depends on its behaviour in each life, for the soul is
not only immortal, it is rational and responsible for its own actions. 3330
If
the gods, to take Xenophanes' example, are the construction of human minds, it
is a short step to argue that other concepts-goodness or justice, for
instance-might also be. The fundamental question is then raised as to whether
there could ever be any agreement over what the gods, or justice or goodness,
might be. 3345
The
achievement of Greek philosophy was to ... recognize a distinct branch of
reasoning which can be applied to abstract issues. 3352
it
is clear that Greeks were thinking as pure mathematicians by the fifth century,
able to work with axioms, definitions, proofs, and theorems. In this way,
general principles could be formulated which could then be used to explore a
wider range of other issues. It was the ability to work in the abstract that
inspired intellectual progress, not just in mathematics but in science,
metaphysics, ethics, even in politics. 3356
The
end result, and one which was fundamental, was that there were few inhibitions
on enquiry. The success of Greek philosophy lay in its critical and
argumentative approach to an extraordinary range of questions. 3360
It
is worth noting that Williams concentrates on the Greeks as question askers.
They did not always come up with very effective answers. There were good
reasons for this. First, their speculations often ran far ahead of what their
senses could cope with. 3364
In
short, the Greek world of the sixth century fostered an intellectual curiosity
and creativity which took many forms. The Archaic age deserves to be seen as
one where a particular attitude of mind took root, perhaps, as has been
suggested, because of the intensity of life in the polis. It involved the
search for an understanding of the physical world free of the restraints
imposed by those cultures which still lived in the shadow of threatening gods. 3374
Before
they had been overrun by the Persians in the 540s the Ionian cities had been
prosperous and confident, supporting the largest navies of the Greek world. 3390
Their
conqueror, the Persian Cyrus, had sustained and used the tyrants to maintain
control of this new part of his empire, but many Ionians had fled west as
refugees, enriching the cities of the Greek mainland and Italy with their
skills. 3392
There
was a traditional camaraderie among the Ionian cities based on their common
cultural roots and the everyday contact of traders. They had suffered together
from the growing demands for tax and men from the Persians and had seen their
long-established trading patterns disrupted by the Persian advance. 3397
First,
help was sought from the mainland. Sparta was too preoccupied at the time with
her rivalry with Argos, but Athens and the city of Eretria on Euboea honoured
their ancient links with the Ionians.
3400
provocative
raid sparked off other revolts among the cities of the Hellespont as well as
those further south on the Asian coast.
3403
It
proved impossible to forge the hoplite forces of the scattered cities into a
single force strong enough to defeat the Persians comprehensively 3406
in
494, the Persians decided to launch an attack on Miletus, still the centre of
the revolt. 3407
Persians
managed to fight their way through and take the city. With the core of
resistance gone, other cities were then subdued one by one and the revolt was
over. 3408
the
spirit of the Ionian world was broken and the prosperity its cities had known
in the Archaic age was never recovered.
3410
Darius
had been given an excuse by the Athenian and Eretrian involvement in the
revolt, and revenge on them, suggests Herodotus, was, in fact, his main motive.
Now he sent messengers calling on the Greek cities to submit. In two cases,
Sparta and Athens, the messengers were executed, an act of sacrilege which made
war inevitable. 3413
instead
of heading north, the Persians struck directly west across the open Aegean.
Naxos was attacked and this time subdued and the fleet sailed on to Euboea,
where the city of Eretria was besieged until it was betrayed and taken within a
week. 3419
Within
a few days they had moved over to the mainland, landing unopposed on the long
beach of Marathon, 4o kilometres north of Athens.
3422
By
this time the Athenian army, of some 9,000 hoplites, joined by a thousand men
from the city of Plataea, had marched north and were settled in opposite the
Persian army. 3426
The
Persians' hope must have been to use their archers and cavalry to break up the
massed hoplite ranks of the Greeks and then send in their infantry once they
were in disarray. The only chance for the Greeks was to meet the Persian
infantry head on and trust that the superior coordination and morale of the
hoplites would overwhelm them. 3429
while
the Persians appeared to be gaining in the centre the Greeks enveloped them in
the rear and broke them up. A massacre followed
3436
Herodotus: he was not only setting out a narrative account of what had
happened in the Persian wars but he was trying to understand why the wars had
happened in the first place. 3453
He
may also have absorbed the more rational approach to understanding the physical
world pioneered by the philosophers of Miletus,
3456
Part
of Herodotus' achievement was to question the validity of myth. As Paul Cartledge
has pointed out, there are at least three occasions in his Histories where he
describes Greek myths only to reject them as insufficient bases for finding the
truth. 3464
There
is also an underlying propaganda message in the Histories. One of their
purposes was to applaud the victory of the Greeks against the overwhelming
power of the Persians and draw appropriate conclusions about the differences
between free and unfree states and the consequences of unrestricted pride. The
Greeks, with their simple life, cooperative political arrangements, and belief
in liberty, are, in Herodotus' eyes, superior, and this explains their success.
3471
Xerxes'
task was to bring a large army, supported by a navy, across from Asia through
Thrace...and then down into Greece. It was a logistical nightmare, but the
Persian planning was thorough. 3487
The
great army gathered by Xerxes from the ends of his empire may have numbered
200,000, ten times the size of that at Marathon, and the navy, with 6oo triremes,
may have been twice as large. 3494
Those
who met at Sparta, over thirty states in all, agreed to end their feuds and all
agreed to make Sparta supreme commander of both land and sea forces. 3502
When,
in 482, a new rich strain of silver was discovered in the Laurium mines,
Themistocles persuaded the Assembly to spend it on creating a new fleet rather
than distributing it among the citizens as had been customary. 3510
By
the time Xerxes finally arrived at the pass in mid-September many Greeks were
being drawn to the Olympic Games, while the Spartans were once again
constrained by rituals which forbade fighting. This time, however, a small
Spartan force led by King Leonidas and his personal guard of 300 did set out,
but, even when joined by allies, the total defending force at Thermopylae was
still only 5,000. 3526
Athens
sent her entire force of 200 triremes. With 200 men a trireme, this represented
40,000 men. 3532
His
naval plan was to split his fleet. One part would face the Greeks directly at
Artemisium while the other part, of 200 selected ships, would row round the
east coast of Euboea, then move up the channel behind the Greek fleet to catch
them in a pincer. It proved a disaster. A storm arose on the night of the 17th
as the Persians rounded the southeastern edge
3539
The
remaining Persian fleet eventually attacked on the 19th but the battle was
inconclusive. 3542
Xerxes
had first stormed the entrance to Thermopylae on the 17th. 3542
on
the 18th that Xerxes learnt of a path through the mountains above the pass. 3544
By
the evening of the 19th the battle was over with the Spartan force wiped out. 3547
The
Greek troops moved back to the Isthmus, where thousands of men were
constructing a wall of defence. Athens lay completely exposed. Most of her
population had already been evacuated,
3550
As
they rested on the beach they must have rejoiced to see the flames rising from
the Acropolis, which was now being thoroughly sacked and its few defenders
massacred. It would have seemed that Xerxes had triumphed. 3553
The
Greek fleet had now made its base on the island of Salamis. It was vulnerable
here. 3554
now
that Themistocles showed the cunning for which he was famous. He knew that
battle had to come quickly if Salamis was to be saved. 3561
Themistocles
played on the hopes and ambitions of Xerxes. He sent Xerxes a slave with the
news that the Greek fleet was demoralized and full of dissension and that it
was about to escape westwards by night. This was enough to raise Xerxes' hopes
that he could destroy it once and for all.
3563
It
was enough to encourage the Persian fleet, made up mainly of Phoenicians, to
move into the channel. It was in thirteen rows. By the afternoon the rowers had
been more than twelve hours at sea. As they moved inexorably onwards, with no
chance of retreat in the narrow waters, they saw to their horror the main Greek
fleet emerging from the shelter of the shore and turning, united and fresh, towards
them. 3568
Although
the contribution of the Aeginetan and Corinthian triremes had been significant,
the Athenian proclaimed Salamis as their victory, won by them on behalf of the
people of Greece. 3576
Xerxes
returned home for the winter, but he left his great royal pavilion behind under
the care of his commander, Mardonius,
3580
Herodotus
records the Athenians turning down the Persian offer with the famous riposte
which proclaimed the common identity of the Greek people in their culture,
religion, language, and customs, and hence the impossibility of a betrayal of
this shared heritage. 3586
Mardonius
withdrew north from Attica, which he had reoccupied to prevent the Athenians
raising a harvest, to Boeotia, where the ground was more open and suitable for
horses. The Greeks followed him, and complicated manoeuvring ensued, with each
side seeking to exploit the ground most favourable to it. 3592
near
the town of Plataea, the Greeks were forced to retreat from their positions to secure
better sources of food and water. Mardonius carelessly interpreted the retreat
as a flight and sent in his troops in pursuit. He was suddenly faced with
determined resistance, above all from the Spartan contingent. By the end of the
day Mardonius and the flower of his troops lay dead 3595
Victory
was now complete, and the jubilant Greek fleet sailed northwards, drawing
islands such as Samos, Chios, and Lesbos into the Greek alliance. 3603
The
Persian Wars did not therefore create Greek culture. What they did do was help
define this culture more sharply and boost the self-confidence of the Greeks,
above all that of the Athenians. 3610
The
wars allowed a revival of the old aristocratic values, arete, glory, manliness,
and valour. 3613
Simonides
...was the first to link the giving of life with the saving of liberty. Here
was a rich legacy for Europe....maintenance of liberty became an essential
element of the Greek consciousness.
3624
the
sovereign freedom of a state to conduct its affairs through its own citizens
and without outside interference.
3627
only
between thirty and forty of the 700 or so Greek cities around the Aegean are
known to have resisted the Persians.
3635
Aristocratic
Survivals 3647
With
hoplite warfare becoming the military expression of city identity the
aristocrat could no longer prove himself as a heroic warrior while traditional
landed wealth was being challenged by the increase in trade. The aristocrat
estate with its wasteful cattle economy had largely vanished by the seventh
century. 3648
Now
that the old Homeric warrior contest was no more, aristocrats became obsessed
with proving themselves through other forms of contests, agones. The early
sixth century was the period when games spread through the Greek world. 3657
Each
year there were now one or two major festivals. However, they were, in effect,
only open to those with the leisure to train for them. 3670
Pindar
believed the good breeding of the aristocrat made him naturally superior, while
victory in the games elevated him further, close to the gods and heroes of the
past. 3674
success
in the games transferred itself into status in the city where victors would
even be incorporated unarmed into the line of battle as if they had become
talismans of their city's invincibility.
3677
the
aristocracy retreated into the private world of the symposia, drinking parties
conducted within a formal and ritualized setting.
3685
symposia
provided for many pleasures-food and drink, good conversation, and sex. There
were girls, the hetairai, who often had skills in dancing and music and who
could provide more in companionship than the prostitute 3692
Music
...formed the core of a traditional education. In Athens education was
originally a form of initiation into aristocratic culture. Literature and
physical training were taught alongside music and all three were related to
physical and moral development. 3701
`What
a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and
strength of which his body is capable,' said Socrates. 3703
In
the same period that games became an integral part of aristocratic life,
another form of competition, that of older unmarried men for the sexual
attentions of young boys, appears. 3709
The
erastes, the suitor, approached the eromenos, the loved one, according to the
closely defined rituals of a courtship. The boy was expected to behave chastely,
to refuse any material reward, and not to submit easily to the attentions of
his lover. 3714
The
sexual element of the relationship appears to have been restrained, and may not
have involved any actual penetration of the eromenos. 3715
A
distinction has to be made between pederasty, as described above, and
homosexuality. For a Greek male to accept the submissive role in a homosexual
relationship, or to be paid for this role, was considered so degrading that, in
Athens at least, it resulted in the loss of citizen rights. 3719
A
tradition of reasoned objection to democracy was to be an important element in
Greek political philosophy. 3731
Life
on the Land 3732
9o
per cent of the population of ancient Greece cultivated the land and had no
other option if their city was to survive.
3736
The
primary unit for production, the storage of goods and their consumption in the
Greek world, was the oikos, or household.
3739
The
most common form of landownership in ancient Greece was the small plot, the
kleros, a share inherited by a son from his father. 3742
Studies
of the property of a set of Athenian aristocrats in the late fifth century, for
instance, showed that, typically, they had land scattered throughout Attica as
well as beyond the state. Field survey evidence is now suggesting, however,
that in the fifth and fourth centuries plots were being consolidated to achieve
greater economy of scale and that animals were being pastured on them and their
manure used for fertilizer. This suggests the emergence of a more intensive
and, possibly, more market-oriented agricultural economy. 3749
Most
important in terms of calorie yield were cereals. Barley was the most popular
cereal as it requires only half as much rainfall as wheat. (This made wheat
bread a luxury, 3756
significant
shortfall of grain requirements in Attica each year, 3758
The
most widespread crop was the olive. Its deep roots and narrow leaves were well
suited to a climate of hot sun and low rainfall.
3759
There
were two important slack times, in early spring and from July to September when
the harvest was in. It was in these times that the great games of the Greek
world were held, the Isthmian Games in the spring and the others in the autumn.
Fighting also took place in these periods.
3768
almost
all construction took place in the slack periods, particularly after the
harvest. 3772
Sheep
and goats could be pastured on higher ground or along the borders of the city
state. Ownership of the land was not required, so flocks would range widely.
Once these animals had passed through the rituals of sacrifice, they provided
most of the protein needed by the population. All the raw materials for
clothing were available from wool and leather.
3773
Industries,
Crafts, and Trade 3776
The
largest non-agricultural concerns were the mines. Iron ore could be found
locally in Greece and smelted for tools and weapons. Precious metals, gold and
silver, were used by the state for large-scale enterprises such as paying
mercenaries and, particularly from the late sixth century onwards, for coins to
oil transactions of everyday commercial life. The silver mines in Attica are
the best known as they underpinned the success of Athens as a naval and
political power. 3776
Even
richer than the Athenian mines were those of Chalcidice and the Rhodope massif
in the northern Aegean. 3783
These
mines later fell under the control of Macedonia,
3785
Manufacturing
was widespread in the Greek world. Most of it was local, drawing on raw
materials such as wool, iron ore, and clay and processing them for immediate
sale. Everything was done on a small scale and technology was virtually
unknown. 3786
commerce
was based on small-scale free enterprise, with individuals taking
responsibility for raising and managing their own voyages. The single largest
commodity was grain shipped from those areas which had a consistent surplus,
the Black Sea, Egypt, and Italy, to those which could not depend on one. 3793
Slavery
3797
Slavery
had long been widespread in the ancient world, the common fate, as Homer makes
clear, of war captives and their families.
3798
as
human beings seem to have been one of the few commodities the civilizations of
the east would take from the Greeks in return for their luxury goods, a slave
trade began. 3799
may
have made up perhaps 30 per cent of the population of many cities. 3801
Within
the home there were rituals and conventions which offered some protection to
the slave. 3804
slaves
with skills could work alongside freemen and even citizens. 3815
Much
less secure, however, were those slaves who found themselves working in larger
groups in the fields, in workshops, or, worst of all, in the mines. Here there
was little chance of preserving any individual identity and treatment appears
to have been harsh. 3819
It
was considered demeaning to be the servant of others, and by employing slaves
the citizen was reinforcing his identity both as a free man and as a Greek.
Slave labour also freed the citizen for political life. 3822
According
to Aristotle, therefore, slaves `deserve' their position because they are
outsiders. 3832
Citizens
and Others 3832
The
traditional kinship group in Athens had been the phratry, which may originally
have been based on allegiance to an aristocratic clan. By the sixth century,
the phratry, while still aristocratic in tone, appears to have become a
political grouping, controlling citizenship.
3835
The
Athenian citizen was thus given identity through a range of shared activities
which went well beyond his involvement in the Assembly. 3843
Sparta
was a city which idealized the state over the individual and concentrated on
breaking down any activities or relationships which threatened the cohesion of
the community. 3848
At
the age of 20 the boys joined messes, the syssitia. These were, in effect, the
only associations recognized by the state and they provided a totalitarian
social world. The messes ate together nightly and there was no distinction
between young and old, rich or poor.
3850
homosexual
relationships were the norm. 3852
until
they were 3o all visits to their wives had to be conducted stealthily by night. 3853
The
greatest glory was to die in the service of the state. The families of those
who had died appeared to rejoice even after a defeat. Survivors, on the other
hand, were shunned. 3856
Their
hair was kept conspicuously long and they were dressed in identical red cloaks. 3862
Citizenship
in Sparta was defined through ownership of land through which membership of a
mess could be sustained. 3864
In
Athens no land was required, but, by the mid-fifth century, citizenship was only
available to those born to parents who were both themselves citizens.
Citizenship was thus a privilege and a closely guarded one. 3865
Women
in the Greek World 3876
sex
was freely available for men in Athens.
3880
the
purity of the wife is maintained alongside a flurry of sexual activity in the
back streets. 3882
`Mistresses
we have for pleasure, concubines for daily service to our body, but wives for
the procreation of legitimate children and to be faithful guardians of the household,' 3883
The
most important moment of transition in a conventional Athenian woman's life was
marriage. The experience consisted of being taken at a young age, just after
puberty, into a relationship with a man, probably ten to fifteen years older,
in a strange home. 3893
The
importance of the wife as a bearer of children was underlined by the fact that
her status in the new home improved once a son was born. 3913
The
space of the house was itself sacrosanct-it was always a charged moment when a
woman in a tragedy stepped over the threshold and a matter of great offence if
an outsider entered a house and came upon its womenfolk unawares. 3919
socially
and politically unacceptable to flaunt wealth.
3923
Every
Athenian woman had her protector, the kyrios, either a male relative before she
was married or her husband. `Her' property, outside her immediate possessions
of clothes and jewellery, was in his care and she could undertake only the most
modest of transactions on her own behalf.
3923
It
was claimed that women were subject to particularly strong and threatening
feelings and that suppression of their instincts by men was justified through
fear of the emotional havoc they could wreak.
3926
Women's
sexual desires were assumed (by men) to be strong. 3929
fears
that a woman who conceived with an unknown man would jeopardize the inheritance
of the family property. 3931
Greek
tragedy is full of strong women, Medea, Phaedra, Antigone, Electra, who exhibit
the full range of lust, defiance, and revenge which, for cultural reasons it
may have been difficult to attribute to male characters. 3943
the
average lifespan of adult women was thirty-six years, compared to the
forty-five of men. Early death from childbearing seems the most likely
explanation. There is also evidence that girl babies were more likely to be
exposed to die than boys. 3953
The
women of Sparta enjoyed a much freer life than their counterparts in Athens. 3955
Solon
claimed that a man was at the peak of his intellect and power of speech between
the ages of 42 and 56. 3960
The
Greeks cared more for their posthumous reputations, and the preservation of the
body had no importance. 3966
The
formulation of the Olympian gods as a family worked well, as it did in Egypt.
It defined their relationships with each other while allowing the possibility
of disagreement and conflict among them. Between them the Olympian gods covered
most human experiences, 4012
One
of the achievements, and functions, of Greek myth was to provide developing
story lines so that religious needs and aspirations could always be catered
for. 4015
while
the Greeks did not believe that the gods were preoccupied with the behaviour of
the human race, there was a general feeling that they would support correct
behaviour and revenge bad. 4028
The
intentions of the gods were, as has been suggested above, always uncertain. It
was possible unwittingly to arouse their anger. Thus it made sense to use an
oracle to test out whether a planned action was likely to bring retribution. 4098
Rituals
pervaded Greek, and, later, Roman religion. There were correct procedures for
almost every activity and the failure to follow correct ritual was a matter for
shame. 4117
The
practice which defined the Greeks' relationships with their gods more than any
other was that of sacrifice, 4122
In
the case of animal sacrifices the victim would be a domesticated sheep, goat,
or ox. A noisy procession led it to the altar creating the impression that it
met its death with joy. The ritual of slaughter was well defined: barley grain
was thrown at the victim, a sacred knife was used, a few hairs were taken first
from the animal's forehead before the throat was cut. Once the animal was dead
it was divided and burnt. The splanchna, the heart, lungs, and kidneys, the
sources of love and hatred, were passed round for all to taste while the lean
meat provided a more substantial feast. The gods were left with what appeared
to be the remnants, the thighbones, and tail.
4124
The
sacrifice was also an integral and essential part of any festival. The standard
format of a festival was a procession, followed by the sacrifices and then
feasting. In the case of major festivals this procedure was often extended so
that there were several days over which feasting became interspersed with
competitions, agones. 4134
The
festival which was the most widespread of all in the Greek world was the
Thesmophoria, originally held in honour of Demeter, the goddess of crops. It is
a reminder that most festivals had their roots in the countryside and were
closely connected with the rhythms of the agricultural year. 4138
The
festivals of Athens were many and varied (they occupied 12o days a year). Their
number reflects the fact that many originated in Attica and had been integrated
into city life, presumably to reinforce the power of Athens over her
surrounding territory. So emerges the city as `a sacrificial community, one
where religion permeates every aspect of its activities. 4141
What
must have been one of the most solemn festivals of the Athenian year was the
annual burial of the war dead. The bones of those whose bodies had been
recovered were carried through the streets in procession, while an empty bier
commemorated those lost abroad. 4148
The
Funeral Orations that survive from Athens suggest that this was the day when
the city reflected on its achievements and consolidated its own pride 4151
`Critian
boy: naturalness is achieved without the loss of an idealization of the human
body. 4177
Here
is, in the words of the art historian, Kenneth Clark, `the first beautiful nude
in art' As John Boardman, the authority on Greek art, puts it: `This is a vital
novelty in the history of ancient art-life deliberately observed, understood
and copied. After this all becomes possible.' 4177
bronze
was becoming the most popular medium in which statues were being created. 4180
Bronze
allowed far greater flexibility in modelling, and the sculptors in marble must
have been able to copy in stone what was now created in metal. 4183
While
before the artist was concerned overwhelmingly with those few human beings who
had become heroes, he now seems concerned with the physical beauty of human
beings as an end in itself. 4184
it
could reflect an elevation of man, as `the measure of all things' (the term is from
the fifth-century philosopher Protagoras) in line with the many other
intellectual developments of the age. 4194
It
is not only that the poses of the figures are more natural than those of their
stiffer Archaic forebears, but the characters exude a sense of feeling and
awareness. 4201
The
Delian League 4216
For
the Ionian cities, in particular, memories of their subjection by Persia after
the revolt of the 490s must still have been strong and they were the most
vulnerable to any renewed attack. Athens was the only state with a navy large
enough to offer them effective protection and, despite centuries of separation,
she remained the mother city who had recently sacrificed her own sacred
buildings in their common cause.
4220
The
desire for revenge and reparations from Persia was used only as a pretext
(proskhema) for gaining control of the League. 4231
With
a war trireme needing up to 200 fit rowers, very few of the League's members
could finance and man more than two at a time. Athens had 18o triremes in 480,
and 30o by 431. 4236
Cimon,
son of the Miltiades who launched the Athenian attack at Marathon. ... policy
appears to have been to use the threat of Persia to mould and maintain the
unity of the League, 4238
Cimon's
most resounding success was against a Persian (in fact, largely Phoenician)
fleet at the River Eurymedon, some time between 469 and 466. The enemy fleet
was completely destroyed and Persia left without any offensive forces in the
Aegean. 4242
when
the island of Naxos tried to leave the League in about 470 it was forced back
in by a League fleet dominated by Athens-the first time, says Thucydides, that
the constitution of the League was broken and a member lost its independence. 4246
Athens
was using the League as an instrument for her own ends. 4248
Thasos
had appealed to Sparta for help. It was a warning to Athens that some Greek
cities might look to Sparta as a protection against her control. 4249
Cimon,
determined to maintain good relations with Sparta, arrived in the Peloponnese
with some 4,000 hoplites to offer help. Something went drastically wrong. It
seems that the Spartans feared the Athenians might actually join the helots.
They sent the Athenians home and the relationship between the two cities broke
down. 4250
in
461 Athens underwent a democratic and patriotic revolution which intensified
her hostility to the oligarchic Sparta. 4252
The
Survival of Aristocratic Influence 4253
the
power of this Assembly was still restricted, in ways which are not totally
clear, by the Areopagus, a council made up of former archons (magistrates), who
were drawn largely from the aristocracy. 4256
The
generals, too, tended to be drawn from the richer classes and so, in the early
part of the fifth century, Athens remained under strong aristocratic influence.
4258
In
the 48os ostracism was used for the first time. 4264
In
the 48os those ostracized were aristocratic figures who had supposed links with
Persia. This suggests that popular opinion was, not surprisingly,
anti-aristocratic and patriotic. 4266
emergence
of Athens' naval power under the leadership of Themistocles. 4268
Rowers,
on the other hand, needed no equipment to protect them, and so the poorer
citizen class, the thetes, were called on to man the oars. This class was now
fully involved in the defence of the state and, as important from the political
point of view, gained the experience of working together in unison. 4269
The
trireme could not have been rowed successfully without a well-developed sense
of teamwork, and it can be assumed that the thetes now recognized their
potential political strength. 4273
It
is not surprising, therefore, that Themistocles, founder of the navy, was
closely linked to the move towards greater democratic rights. 4275
Themistocles
was finally removed from the city in 471 after a trumped-up charge 4278
The
Democratic Revolution Ten 4279
in
461, the democratic party had its chance of revenge. The moment when the
aristocratic leader, Cimon, and 4,000 hoplites were out of the city was an
ideal moment to launch a coup. 4280
they
stripped the Areopagus of its powers, leaving it with little more than the
right to sit 4282
With
the Areopagus demoted, the Assembly and Boule were left as supreme lawmakers.
When Cimon returned to Athens from Sparta he was ostracized 4284
With
Cimon in exile and Ephialtes dead, Pericles emerged as the leader of the
democratic party. 4289
His
position rested on his continuous re-election as strategos, at one point for
fifteen years in succession, and he used his authority and this role
effectively 4292
He
was a dedicated imperialist. In his celebrated `Funeral Oration' of 430 he
spoke of overseas intervention in terms reminiscent of American foreign policy
of the i96os, 4295
Democracy
in Practice 4299
The
structure of Athenian democracy was consolidated in the 45os. The
long-established right of all male citizens (over the age of 18) to sit in the
Assembly now took on new meaning as the body became the centre of power 4299
it
met at regular intervals, four times in each of the ten months of the year. 4302
As many
as 30,000 citizens were eligible to attend the Assembly 4304
members
of the aristocratic elite, who provided most of the speakers, adapted their
rhetoric and behaviour so as to appeal to the mass of citizens. 4308
Athens
was a society in which an enormous premium rested on speaking skills. The
Assembly was an unforgiving master. 4311
continuity
of government, and this was provided by the Boule....duty of the Boule was to
oversee the running of the state, and, in particular, to prepare business for
the Assembly and then ensure that its decisions were carried out. 4324
By
the mid-century Athens was a wealthy and cosmopolitan city. Its citizens formed
only a minority of a population 4330
there
were no less than 6oo administrative posts to be filled each year. All, with
the exception of the ten generals, were chosen by lot from those citizens aged
30 or more with good credentials. 4337
There
was no independent judiciary in Athens and the citizen body as a whole took
responsibility for enforcing the law both as judge and jury. 4347
The
more serious the case the larger was the jury, with a maximum of 2,500. It was
virtually a full-time job, with jurors sitting up to 20o days a year, 4349
Any
citizen could accuse another of an `offence' which was usually vaguely phrased,
a general charge of `impiety' being a particular favourite, and in fact the
action was often an extension of political rivalries. 4351
The
aim of the prosecutor was to denigrate his opponent by bringing in a range of
accusations especially that he had been disrespectful of the gods or failed in
some way to be an effective citizen. 4352
The
demands of the system were heavy. It has been calculated that between 5 and 6
per cent of citizens over the age of 30 would be required each year if all the
posts on the Boule, the juries, and administration were to be filled. 4361
virtually
everyone was involved in administration or government at some point in their
lives.
Literacy
and Democracy 4365
The
most valued political skill in democratic Athens was the ability to persuade
through the art of rhetoric, not the ability to present ideas in writing. 4370
In
the fifth century Athens was a cohesive society where oral testimony was still
accepted, overwhelmingly, as the best. In the fourth there are the first signs
of an emphasis on documents and writing appears in new contexts. This suggests
a society in which there is a breakdown of cohesion and trust. 4374
The
Glorification of the City in Marble 4378
a
determination to create a city worthy of the new democracy. 4379
The
most glorious achievement of Athens in the second half of the fifth century was
the transformation of the Acropolis. The great citadel had been the religious
and defensive centre of the area since Mycenaean times. 4383
The
moving spirit behind the building of the Parthenon was certainly Pericles 4389
showing
off the achievements and power of the city in the most majestic setting
possible. 4390
in
a now typical display of Athenian arrogance, money diverted from the tribute
paid by members of the League. 4391
First,
the building was made throughout from the finest marble, 4395
Then
the proportions of the building were subtly modified so as to give an illusion
of lightness. The 4396
the
Parthenon was the most richly carved temple ever built, and the sculptures
which adorn it represent the climax of the Classical revolution in art. 4398
According
to his aristocratic critics, Pericles was `gilding and dressing up the
Acropolis like a prostitute, hanging round her neck precious stones and statues
and six-million-drachma temples' 4420
The
Athenian Empire 4422
Following
the breakdown of relations with Sparta the Athenians had moved quickly to make
an alliance with Sparta's old enemy, Argos (460 BC). 4423
news
came through in 459 that the Egyptians had risen against Persian rule the
expedition was diverted. It was too good an opportunity to miss. Persian control
over Egypt was likely to be weak and the chance of access to another source of
grain irresistible. Athens' army was stationed in the Delta and occupied
Memphis. About 454, however, in what appears to have been a major disaster, it
was driven out by a Persian army. As many as 250 ships with most of their crews
may have been lost. 4429
soon
afterwards the treasury of the League at Delos was moved from its exposed
position in the centre of the Aegean to Athens. 4432
Her
objectives were varied: to dominate the Isthmus and so keep the Peloponnese
closed off, to bully Corinth into the Athenian rather than Spartan camp, and to
exploit the fertile plains of Thessaly, the pastures of the best horses in
Greece. 4434
The
campaigns brought her face to face with Sparta for the first time. 4436
At
the battle of Tanagra both sides had heavy losses but the Spartans were able to
withdraw and make for home. Two months later, after the battle of Oenophyta,
Athens gained control of the whole Boeotian plain 4438
it
proved impossible for Athens to sustain any long-term control over such a large
territory. 4440
revolts
in Euboea and Megara, and Megara was now lost to Athens. It was a major blow
and left Athens vulnerable to direct attack by Sparta. 4441
Athens
insisted on renewing the collection of tribute in 447, had some difficulty in
collecting from all member states in the first year, but had regained full
control by 446. Certainly Athens acts from now on as if she was an imperial power
rightfully exacting tribute from her subjects. 4450
All
the evidence suggests, therefore, that Athens was now set on domination of the
Aegean. 4454
The
tribute expected was not burdensome and was reduced after 445, 4456
Some
key cities had cleruchies (the term originates from one who is allotted land
overseas while retaining citizenship at home) imposed on them....land was
confiscated and then distributed to Athenian citizens....This seizure of land
was imperialism at its most extreme. 4465
attempts
to enforce a cultural unity centred on the worship of Athena. 4466
Coinage
Decree, possibly passed in 445, required the allies to use only Athenian
weights, measures, and silver coinage. 4468
Important
judicial cases were to be referred to Athens, while Athens also took an
interest in supporting democracy against oligarchy. 4470
The
Athenian empire was in many senses a conservative and even defensive one. Its
main purpose can be seen as maintenance of control over trade routes. 4476
no
revolt could be allowed to succeed or the myth of Athenian superiority would be
exploded. 4480
Democracy
under Strain Sparta 4483
Sparta
lacked the support of Corinth, whose navy would have been essential for any
expedition overseas. Events were now to push Corinth towards Sparta. 4484
two intrusions by Athens which forced
Corinth to seek support from Sparta. 4488
The
outbreak of war was engineered by Sparta encouraging one of her allies, Thebes,
to attack Plataea, an ally of Athens.
4492
There
was a new mood of pessimism, symbolized by a devastating plague which broke out
in the city in 430. In the despair that followed, the Assembly turned against
Pericles, fined him, and deposed him from his generalship 4495
New
leaders arose, the so-called `demagogues, who were accused by their rivals of
manipulating the emotions of the Assembly for their personal advantage. 4497
In
the turmoil that followed, democracy was overthrown on two occasions. 4501
In
404 the Spartans, now finally victorious, imposed a Commission of Thirty on
Athens, the `Thirty Tyrants' as they became known. They could only survive with
a supporting garrison of 700 men and launched a reign of terror in which some
1,5oo Athenians may have died. 4504
In
the winter of 404/403 the democrats, with Theban help, launched a counter-coup.
The Piraeus was seized and the Thirty overthrown. These events became part of
Athens' democratic mythology. The restored democracy was to last until its
overthrow by Macedonia in 322. 4505
an
appeal to some ancestral constitution' of the past, was the only way to bring
about political change. 4522
Athenians
maintained confidence in their democracy and it survived until overthrown by outsiders,
the Macedonians, in 322. 4524
Athenian
democracy was more mature and stable in the fourth century than it was in the
fifth 4525
it
can be argued that it would not have survived without slavery and an income
from empire and, probably more important, from trade which allowed citizens to
be paid as jurymen, administrators, and legislators. 4528
Pericles
is here claiming high ideals for his city. In fact, he is doing nothing less
than transferring the values and achievements once prized by individual
aristocrats to the citizens of Athens collectively, 4537
`We
do not say that a man who takes no interest in politics is a man who minds his
own business; we say he has no business here at all, 4540
They
despised those who withdrew from public life.
4543
An
estimated 14,000 people, including 1,200 actors and singers, participated in
the Great Dionysia, probably the largest gathering in the Greek world outside
the Olympic Games. 4573
the
occasion at which tribute from the empire was presented to the city 4574
The
roots of drama appear to lie in the late 50os after a border town Eleutherae
had been incorporated into Athenian territory. Eleutherae had its own important
festival to Dionysus `of the black goatskin' and the rituals of this festival
appear to have been transferred to Athens, where they were performed in public,
as a means of confirming the integration of Eleutherae into the city state. 4578
At
some point one of the chorus appears to have stood aside from the rituals to
explain their relevance to the watching audience.
4580
Aeschylus
4601
Aeschylus
was a man of deep religious sensibility with a strong belief in the underlying
harmony of the world. This harmony was decreed and upheld by the gods, who
would be offended by anyone who disturbed it. Crimes against harmony included
destruction of the natural world, overweening pride (hubris), or breaches in
the sacred conventions of warfare.
4605
The
possibilities of tragedy lie in men unwittingly upsetting the balance. 4608
human
beings may be placed by the gods in situations where they are forced to break
one convention to uphold another.
4610
Sophocles
4631
aristocratic
bias against Aeschylus with his democratic sympathies. 4633
With
Sophocles the focus turns from the city and community to the individual, both
male and female. 4634
Sophocles
who introduced the powerful independent woman into tragedy, 4635
Sophocles
writes of an earlier archaic world, one of heroes where loyalties are to clans
and kin rather than to a city. It is a cruel and inflexible one with the ways
of the gods incomprehensible to man.
4635
Sophocles
was writing at darker times for Athens. The city was visited by plague and in
the poet's final years was succumbing to the power of Sparta. 4651
Euripides
4654
His
reputation is as a moody and withdrawn genius (one legend relates how he wrote
his plays in a cave on Salamis) with little interest in public life. 4656
It
is in his treatment of the gods that Euripides shows that he is in tune with
his times. This was a period where their relevance, even their existence, was
questioned. Even if they exist, what is their nature? Why do they allow evil to
occur? Why is the tyrant able to become wealthy and the pious man suffer? 4658
`You
are a god full of madness or an unjust god,'
4661
The
result is a sharper focus on the characters themselves and their relationships
with each other. They stand alone, the victims of their own emotions. 4662
the
birth of domestic drama. The issues are on a completely different level from
those public ones explored by Sophocles and Aeschylus. 4665
Euripides'
plays break through the conventions of tragedy by showing human beings alone
and responsible for their own actions, however strongly they are controlled by
emotional forces they cannot understand.
4670
Aristophanes
and Comedy 4680
Comedy
in Athens was, in fact, an essential element of its democratic system in that
the dramatist could ridicule virtually any aspect of life from the gods to
contemporary politicians, from philosophers to other dramatists. 4682
aristocrat's
weakness for mocking the background of others.
4686
marriage
between the most sophisticated wit and the most unbridled vulgarity. 4699
The
Sophists 4700
men
who wandered from city to city teaching young men how to use their minds and
voices in public service. 4706
the
word was later used by Plato and Aristotle in a derogatory sense. For them the
sophists were those who debased true philosophy by presenting it as a series of
intellectual tricks which might be taught for money. 4708
teaching
what were in effect the skills needed for the nurturing of democracy. 4711
The
sophists can also be credited with pioneering the study of religion as a social
and anthropological phenomenon. 4714
Anaxagoras 4716
`All
living things, both great and small are controlled by mind (Nous) 4716
Protagoras, 4719
`Concerning
the gods I am unable to discover whether they exist or not, or what they are
like in form; for there are many hindrances to knowledge, the obscurity of the
subject and the brevity of human life'
4720
`Man
is the measure of all things.' It could be taken as the slogan of democratic
Athens. 4722
Prodicus
suggested that the gods originated in man's experience of nature. 4722
Critias, 4723
`I
believe, he argued, `that a man of shrewd and subtle mind invented for men the
fear of the gods, so that there might be something to frighten the wicked 4724
Optimism
was not possible in an age of plague and military defeat, one which saw the
destruction of the Athenian expedition to Sicily in 413 and the defeat of
Athens by Sparta in 404. It was natural for conservatives to see these
disasters as the revenge of the gods on those who had slighted them. 4726
Socrates
4729
Socrates
was shifting the attentions of philosophy away from attempts to understand only
the physical world towards something very different, individual self-discovery. 4745
Socrates
assumes that there is a concept, `bravery, which is somehow there waiting to be
discovered by reason. Discovery would lead to there being real knowledge of
what bravery is, at a level beyond that held in the opinions of ordinary men in
the sense that the knowledge could be defended rationally. However, in the
Dialogues Socrates seldom reaches this point.
4756
Plato
4779
Democracy
for Plato was synonymous with mob rule, with decisions taken for purely
emotional or mercenary motives. 4782
Furthermore,
the practice of democracy implied that moral and political values were
relative, subject to the atmosphere of the moment. 4783
Some
scholars even argue that Plato came to realize that these problems were
insoluble and in his later work abandoned the idea of Forms altogether. 4805
The
individual..., is seen as incapable of having true happiness in his own right
but only as a member of a wider community.
4807
In
the Phaedo Plato speaks scornfully of `the lovers of spectacles and sounds, who
delight in fine voices and colours and shapes ... but their minds are incapable
of seeing and delighting in the nature of the Beautiful itself 4816
All
those who believe that there is a reality beyond the physical world which
embodies value, a view which entered Christianity via the Neoplatonists and St
Augustine, fall within the Platonic tradition.
4832
it
mirrors the divide between those who accept the possibility of moral absolutes
and those who do not. 4833
As
Karl Popper has argued in his The Open Society and its Enemies, Plato
represents a direct threat to the democratic tradition, and any ruling elite
which claims that it has the right to impose its own ideals on society is his
heir. 4841
Aristotle
4853
Aristotle
was fascinated by what could actually be seen in the real world, especially
what could be learnt from observation.
4856
One
of Aristotle's attractive qualities was that he saw himself as part of a
continuing intellectual tradition. When dealing with a particular issue he
first brought together all previous contributions on the subject 4868
one
of Aristotle's greatest achievements that he penetrated the problem and
produced a system of logic which was to last unchallenged for almost 2,000
years. 4876
The
most important attribute of a human being was his ability to think rationally
and so the highest state of being human was to develop this faculty to its
fullest extent. Aristotle seems to be suggesting that there is an underlying
purpose to nature, that of the self-fulfilment of every living being through
the correct use of the attributes it possesses. 4903
The
highest state, that all human beings should aim for, is eudaimonia, happiness,
based on exercising one's reasoning to its fullest extent in the pursuit of
moral excellence. 4910
The
goal was to establish eudaimonia for the city and this was to be achieved
through the power of state with a particular focus on the education of the
young. 4916
all
belong to the State.....whatever the majority [of the participating citizens]
decides is final and constitutes justice: 4918
He
initiated the first enquiry into the natural sciences which ranged over the
whole spectrum of the physical world. Even when he did not provide clear
answers he was never afraid to pose the key questions about the existence and
purpose of matter. 4924
there
is nothing obvious about looking at the world in a scientific way. All the
incentives are to try and make the world work on a day-to-day basis without
speculating on its wider nature. It required a particularly combative form of
mind to break through the limits of conventional thinking. 4933
influence
outside the circles of their own admirers was bound to be limited. 4935
Greek
science and philosophy did not bring any noticeable improvements to life. 4937
The
achievements of the Greeks lay in making brilliant contributions to the
understanding of both the rational and irrational aspects of human
consciousness. 4942
It
is doubtful whether these breakthroughs could have taken place in a city which
did not enjoy the combative and competitive atmosphere of fifth- and
fourth-century Athens. 4944
the struggle between speakers to
persuade as fosters the growth of rational argument. 4970
Gorgias:
understood how the spoken word had an emotional power beyond its meaning and
could be exploited to this end. 4973
assemblies
were susceptible to emotional manipulation by `skilled' or unscrupulous
speakers. 4978
knowing
that he cannot make a good speech in a bad cause, he tries to frighten his
opponents and his hearers by some goodsized pieces of misrepresentation ... the
good citizen, instead of trying to terrify the opposition, ought to prove his
case in fair argument; 4984
Note: Thucydides
is talking about the Athenian Assembly in 428 B.C. and not Fox news or the
latest Republican debates. I guess we haven't learned a lot in the last 2349
years.
Peloponnesian
War began with the declaration of war by Sparta on Athens in 431 BC. 5015
Almost
immediately Athens suffered a devastating blow when plague broke out. Its
spread was aggravated by the large number of country-dwellers who had crowded
into the city. It is possible that a quarter of the population died, including,
a year later, Pericles himself, probably from an associated disease. This is
perhaps the turning point in the history of Athens, the moment when the
optimism expressed so confidently by Pericles begins to fade. 5016
Thucydides
5019
Thucydides
prides himself on his accuracy, deriding those such as Herodotus who used
evidence too loosely. He tries to set out the chronology of the war year by
year, in what is almost a scientific way, and with the expressed ambition to
provide a narrative that would last.
5025
Man
is the `measure of all things', and the gods play no direct part in Thucydides'
understanding of how the war happened and the course it followed. 5031
fascination
with the motivations of men, their fears, and the factors which shape
decision-making 5033
the
standard of justice depends on the equality of power to compel and that in fact
the strong do what they have to do and the weak accept what they have to
accept.' 5038
Reality,
suggests Thucydides, is structured by those who have power, an idea with
enormous implications for philosophers and social scientists. 5039
The
Peloponnesian War 5044
The
fundamental problem of the war was how a naval power such as Athens could
defeat land-locked Sparta and how Sparta, with no effective navy, could hope to
capture the well-defended Athens.
5045
In
425, however, the Athenians had a lucky break that ended the stalemate. They
managed to capture a group of some 120 Spartans who had become stranded on the
island of Sphacteria 5049
The
shock effect of the Spartan capitulation was immense...the city's reputation
was seriously damaged. Sparta was ready to surrender and would probably have
done so immediately if a raid by a Spartan general Brasidas in 424-422 had not
succeeded in capturing a number of Athenian cities 5052
The
Peace of Nicias was signed in 421 with each side agreeing to give up its gains. 5054
Alcibiades
claimed later that his strategy was to force Sparta to counter-attack and risk
losing everything in one battle. The battle came in 418, at Mantineia, but it
was a crushing Spartan victory. 5058
Athens'
hopes of direct control of the Peloponnese now seemed thwarted, and her next
move was to launch an expedition to the west, to Sicily and southern Italy, as
a means of strengthening her position as a Mediterranean power....largely the brainchild of Alcibiades. 5062
Shortly
before the fleet sailed, however, the Herms, marble pillars bearing the head of
the god Hermes and an erect phallus, which were used as boundary markers and
signposts and whose phallic properties were a token of good luck, were
mysteriously mutilated. The hysteria that resulted and the witch-hunt that
followed in the effort to find the perpetrators shows that Athens remained a
deeply superstitious city despite the intellectual revolutions of the fifth
century. 5067
There
was no doubt that this [the defeat at Syracuse] was a catastrophe. Forty
thousand men may have been lost as well as half the city's fleet. Athens'
democracy came under severe strain, overthrown in 411 by an oligarchical
government of Four Hundred who were in favour of making peace with Sparta. The
empire was also in revolt. 5093
The
fact is that Athens was able to continue the war. The Four Hundred were
overthrown when they tried to make peace on behalf of Athens and replaced by a
semi-democratic government of Five Thousand. The navy remained loyal to the
democracy throughout and gradually new ships were built. Despite some
defections, the empire survived largely intact.
5096
from
411, it was Sparta who gained the money to build and equip a fleet. In return
the Spartans acquiesced in the achievement of Persia's main objective since the
Persian Wars, the return of the Greek cities of Asia to her control. This was
the end of any pretence that Sparta was fighting for the liberation of Greece. 5103
With
the Hellespont now under Spartan control, Athens was starved and forced into
surrender (404). The Long Walls were pulled down, the fleet reduced almost to
nothing, and a Government of Thirty imposed on the city by the victorious
Spartans. Against all expectations, Athens had actually been comprehensively
defeated, 5113
Lysander
5115
For
ten years after the defeat of Athens the dominant figure of Spartan politics
was Lysander. 5116
Once
in command, as `admiral' in the Aegean, he exploited his power ruthlessly. 5117
Most
remarkable of all, he encouraged a cult worship of himself as `hero; the first
time this is known to have happened in Greece.
5119
In
402 he backed an attempt by Cyrus, whose brother Artaxerxes (ruled 404-359) had
become king, to seize the Persian throne. It was a failure and Cyrus was
killed. 5123
His
credibility was destroyed and Sparta lost its Persian subsidies. 5126
The
Corinthian War 5127
A
Persian fleet commanded by an Athenian mercenary, Conon, destroyed the Spartan
navy in the Aegean, and Conon then sailed to Athens, where the source of his
support was overlooked in the joy that the Spartan hold on the Aegean had been
broken. 5131
Artaxerxes
5134
in
386, in the so-called King's Peace, the Spartans once again acquiesced in his
control of the Greeks of Asia. 5135
The
Fall of Sparta and Victory of Thebes 5138
Sparta's
inability to act with any kind of sensitivity. 5138
Her
greatest blunder came in 382, when her troops were sent to intervene in civil
unrest in her old enemy, Thebes. The city was simply seized, to the universal
condemnation of the Greek world.
5139
Seventy
states, including Thebes, eventually joined what is known as the Second
Athenian League (378-377). 5146
After
regaining her independence in 379 Thebes had been rebuilding her position in
Boeotia, and in 371 she insisted, in a treaty with Sparta, on signing on behalf
of all the Boeotian cities. Sparta evoked the King's Peace to justify attacking
Thebes. At the ensuing battle of Leuctra the Thebans smashed the Spartan army,
leaving a thousand dead on the battlefield.
5147
From
now on Sparta was no more than a second-rate power. 5150
A
peace was made on the basis that every state should keep what it had, but
Theban control of her `empire' was gradually eroded as continual warfare wore
down her resources. 5157
The
Vulnerability of the City State in the Fourth Century 5159
With
Sparta eclipsed, the Second Athenian League had also lost its purpose. Athens'
response, as it had been a hundred years before, was to impose her control more
ruthlessly. This time she was met with widespread revolt. In 357, in the
so-called Social War, many of the League members broke free and others
gradually drifted out of her control.
5162
there
had never evolved in any Greek city a wealthy elite capable of focusing the
state on the kind of ruthless economic imperialism needed to sustain hegemony
over a large area. In this sense, democracy, by refusing to allow the wealthy
to emerge as an uncontrolled elite, acted as a brake on ambition. At the same
time, the Greek cities never broke out of their constitutional conservatism. 5165
The
collapse of Athenian and Spartan hegemony left a world of small scattered Greek
communities. 5171
years
of continual warfare had sapped their resources,
5172
There
was a new shifting population of poor, refugees or landless individuals,
wandering the Greek world in search of sustenance. 5173
There
was one occupation which was able to take in the more able-bodied and that was
service as a mercenary. The rise in the use of mercenary troops was one of the
most significant developments of the fourth century. 5174
the
development of the peltast, who wore lighter armour and boots and who carried a
longer spear. The peltast was more than a match for the heavy and slow-moving
hoplite 5178
This,
therefore, was the world of the new professional army, able to fight all the
year round without being inhibited by the traditional conventions of warfare. 5185
One
significant development was the art of siege warfare. 5188
From
the fourth century a more ruthless approach to warfare led to the direct
targeting of cities. 5188
Dionysius,
Tyrant of Syracuse, and Jason of Thessaly 5191
In
Syracuse in the same period a more successful leader, Dionysius, emerged, as a
response to the continued pressures on the city by the Carthaginians 5193
He
extended his authority over what remained of Greek Sicily as well as virtually
every Greek city of the Italian mainland. 5198
Italy
brought Dionysius resources: tin, copper, iron, silver, and wood, as well as
mercenaries. 5198
If
Dionysius had defeated Carthage, the history of the western Mediterranean might
have taken a different turn. 5210
In
the event, Syracuse ceased to be expansionist after his death and Rome was able
to consolidate its position on the mainland.
5213
The
Kingdom of Macedonia 5220
What
was important for the years to come was that Macedonia had large resources
which could give it considerable power if used effectively by its rulers. 5231
The
Macedonian monarchy had shown remarkable survival skills. By the fourth century
it was already some 300 years old, and its longevity seems to have depended on
its success in preserving the heartland of the kingdom from invaders. 5232
Philip
of Macedon 5237
Philip
had the advantage of being the legitimate ruler within a long-established
monarchy. This set him apart from the other Greek despots. He also had access,
within Macedonia, to the resources to build up a mercenary army. 5242
main
weapon of his men, both infantry and cavalry, was the sarissa, a long pike. It
enabled them to fight at long range and there was no way that hoplites could
engage with it. 5245
Once
infantry had made a gap in the hoplite ranks, cavalry was used to break
through. The highly disciplined and flexible army that had emerged by 350 was
to set the scene for thirty years of Macedonian conquest 5247
This
gave him access to the rich mines of southern Thrace. Their wealth, exploited
now for the first time to the full, helped him to finance his mercenaries. 5255
He
now controlled the coastlines either side of the Chalcidice peninsula. In 348
he was to move into the peninsula itself. The great city of Olynthos, the most
important in the Greek north, was sacked in 348.
5259
The
shrine of Delphi, oracle to the Greek world, was controlled by the Amphityonic
League, an ancient association of central Greek peoples. In 356 a dispute broke
out between the members and one of them, Phocis, seized control of the shrine
itself. 5267
In
the settlement that followed he [Phillip]
was admitted to membership of the Amphityonic League. 5270
Philip
may genuinely have wanted to maintain peace with Athens, not least to be able
to use her fleet in one of his new plans, an invasion of Asia. 5276
In
the city, however, there was increasing shame over what appeared to be
capitulation to his growing power. It was exploited by Demosthenes 5278
However
distorted, the speeches remain majestic defences of liberty and democracy
against the forces of tyranny. 5283
By
340 Philip was indeed threatening Byzantium, the key port on the Hellespont,
and this was enough for Demosthenes to persuade Athens to declare war in 340. 5287
The
Battle of Chaeronaea, 4 August 338 BC, marks one of the decisive moments of
Greek history, 5298
Philip
drove down into Greece, met the assembled hoplite armies on the plain of
Chaeronaea, and destroyed them. 5300
Philip
was supreme in Greece, and, although the cities themselves may not have been
aware of it, the era of the independent city state was over. 5303
Philip
had, indeed, created a new political system, a model of monarchy whose power
was based ultimately on the excellence of the monarch himself and the troops
and nobles who gave personal allegiance to him. 5306
the
relationship between the king and his troops and war leaders depended on
continual victory in war with all the benefits of booty and prestige that came
with it., 5308
Philip
harked back 150 years, disingenuously claiming the right to lead the Greeks in
revenge for Xerxes' invasion and the desecration of the Greek shrines. 5311
The
Young Alexander 5313
when
only 18, he had led the cavalry at Chaeronaea
5317
Suddenly
a young nobleman stepped forward and stabbed him. The intrigues behind the
attack are still unclear but Philip was soon dead. 5323
There
is no evidence that Alexander knew anything in advance about the attack but he
had to move fast. There were speedy executions of those who had questioned his
position as heir. 5323
While
he was on the northern borders of Macedonia, Thebes chose to revolt. Alexander
was always sensitive to betrayal, real or imagined. His move south was so rapid
that the Thebans knew nothing of it until he was three hours' march away from
the city. When the city resisted it was stormed. Six thousand Thebans died,
30,000 were enslaved, and Thebes, in effect, temporarily ceased to exist. 5329
The
Persian Adventure 5333
The
superb army created by his father was still intact. Its core was the
Companions, an elite cavalry force of perhaps 1,8oo men whose leaders
traditionally enjoyed a rough comradeship with the king. 5341
In
total, with Macedonians, Greek `allies, and mercenaries, Alexander's was a
balanced and flexible fighting force of some 37,000 5347
To
pay for this army Alexander had to virtually empty the Macedonian treasury, and
so the demand for booty with which to maintain his men was an important impulse
in what followed. 5350
The
Conquest of the Western Persian Empire 5359
Almost
immediately Alexander faced his first battle. The local Persian commanders had
drawn up their forces on the far side of the River Granicus. 5361
Then
the Macedonian infantry moved in to surround the Persians. Their weapons and
discipline proved so superior that the result was a massacre with perhaps
nine-tenths of the enemy infantry left dead. 5365
The
victory at Granicus was so decisive that it left the coastline of Asia Minor
with all the cities of Ionia in Alexander's hands. 5367
Up
on the great plains of Anatolia he now began to run short of food. 5383
He
was in the Cilician capital Tarsus before the Persians could defend it. 5387
The
two armies met in September on the eastern end of the Cilician Plain just above
the Gulf of Issus. 5392
What
saved the day was the disintegration of Darius' bodyguard under the impact of
the Macedonian cavalry. Darius was forced into flight and with his
disappearance Persian morale collapsed.
5397
Alexander
chose not to move further inland but to continue south along the coast of Syria
and towards Egypt 5403
The
siege of Tyre suggested a lack of balance in Alexander's personality. He was
beginning to see himself as something more than a human being 5410
By
responding sensitively to Egyptian culture Alexander found himself welcomed as
a liberator from the deeply resented rule of Persia. He was soon accorded the
ancient honorific titles of the pharaohs
5411
in
his private consultation with the priests Alexander appeared to gain the belief
that Zeus had recognized him as his own son. 5414
A
distance between Alexander and his commanders was becoming apparent. Darius,
brooding on his defeat, now offered Alexander his empire to the west of the
Euphrates and an enormous ransom for his family. The commanders were eager to
accept. It marked a massive extension of Macedonian territory which could now
be consolidated in peace. Alexander refused. He was set on the humiliation of
Darius 5420
The
Humiliation of Darius 5424
probably
five times as many as Alexander could muster. Darius took his men north into
Assyria, and positioned his army where the cavalry could be used most
effectively on the plain of Gaugamela, in the foothills of the Zagros
mountains. 5426
Alexander
forced his way through the gap. Within a few moments the state of the battle
was transformed as the Persian army was broken into two. 5431
The
Macedonians were now in the rich heartlands of the empire with no effective
opposition to them left. The army moved southwards across the Mesopotamian
plains to Babylon and here, as in Egypt, Alexander was welcomed as a liberator 5433
Then
there was a march of triumph on the great cities of the empire, now undefended
against Alexander's armies. 5436
The
treasures of Persepolis had been accumulated over centuries and were vast. In
Darius' bedchamber in his great palace alone, there were 8,000 talents of gold.
Alexander now left his men free to loot, and the city was stripped of its
treasures so effectively that its modern excavators have not found a single
sizeable piece of gold or silver. 5439
Alexander's
preoccupation continued to be the capture of Darius. The king had taken refuge
in Ecbatana, the capital of the Medes. Alexander followed him there and in a
series of forced marches pursued him eastwards.
5445
The
Campaigns of the East 5449
Tension
grew among the army commanders and Alexander became increasingly impatient with
it. 5450
The
cavalry was gradually reorganized so that the power of individual commanders
was reduced, and Alexander began to rely on local mercenaries 5452
The
Macedonian kingship was one in which personal loyalty to the king persisted
alongside a rough camaraderie. The king was not removed from his commanders-he
ate and drank, often heavily, alongside them. 5468
The
tradition of the Persian monarchy was very different. Here the king lived in
unbelievable splendour and even the most senior of his courtiers were treated
as subjects. The whole approach was symbolized by the act of proskynesis, 5469
The
tension was increased by Alexander's refusal to turn back. 5474
In
327 he crossed the passes of the Hindu Kush and down through the Cophen valley.
It was a progress marked by terror. Any city which resisted was stormed and its
men massacred. 5476
The
Indus river was crossed amidst great celebrations and games in the spring of
326. Alexander was welcomed by the ruler of the state of Taxila, whose motives
appear to have been to use the Macedonians to defeat rival princes further east.
5479
The
battle of Hydaspes proved one of Alexander's most crushing victories. 5482
The
March Home 5490
southwards
on a flotilla down the Indus to the Southern Ocean, 5491
the
frightened and exhausted army survived only by using terror. Such hatred was
raised against the intruders that every Macedonian garrison left in the area
was later wiped out. 5493
the
Makram desert lay ahead. Whole armies had been swallowed up in the desert in
the past, and it may have been Alexander's obsession with surpassing all his
forebears which drove him on. The crossing of the Makram took sixty days. 5495
shattered
and thoroughly demoralized force
5497
Administering
the Empire 5500
After
his victories those Persian satraps who had pledged loyalty had been allowed to
remain in place with Macedonians appointed alongside them as military
commanders and collectors of taxes. However, with plunder available to meet all
his needs Alexander had paid little attention to good government. 5501
In
February 324 Alexander reached Susa, and here he set himself up in the style of
the Persian kings. 5506
Alexander's
nerve broke. Thirteen of the ringleaders were executed and replaced by
Persians. At this the mutiny collapsed and, as the tension broke, there was an
emotional reconciliation. Ten thousand men were discharged, but each was sent
home with a handsome payment. 5514
The
summer heat now drove Alexander and the enormous entourage which travelled with
him northwards to the cooler air of the Zagros mountains. His destination was
the old summer residence of the Persian kings at Ecbatana 5519
Alexander's
grief for Hephaestion appears unbalanced, and in the last year of his life he
seems increasingly to have lost touch with reality. 5524
What
is certain is that the Hellenistic monarchs, and following them the emperors of
Rome, learned from Alexander the importance of claiming and advertising divine
support in a way never known before in the Greek world. 5527
he
is said to have drunk the contents of a bowl which could take twelve pints. 5533
by
June he was dead. 5534
A
revolt in Athens which greeted the news (a sign if any was needed of how far
Alexander had alienated himself from the Greek world) was put down by
Macedonian troops and it was at this moment that Athenian democracy was finally
extinguished. 5535
The
New Graeco-Macedonian World 5537
The
inevitable result was a power struggle between Alexander's generals which was
to last for twenty years. 5540
Ptolemy,
who, appointed as governor of Egypt after Alexander's death, simply
consolidated his position as ruler while other generals fought over the rest of
the empire. 5542
In
Asia Seleucus, the commander of one of Alexander's elite regiments, emerged as
victor. He declared himself king in 305, proclaiming his own divine heritage as
the son of Apollo. His kingdom was an unwieldy one, with Greeks, Persians,
Babylonians, and all the varied peoples and cultures of the eastern provinces
under his rule. It proved impossible to keep intact. 5546
The
third kingdom and the most prestigious for the heirs of Alexander was
Macedonia...Antigonus Gonatas, grandson of Antigonus the One-Eyed, achieved
control. His 5550
The
Legacy Conquering 5556
this
image of Alexander persists and it underlies the assumption that Alexander was
bringing a superior civilization from the west to a more barbarous one in the
east. 5560
Alexander's
immediate legacy was not, therefore, an empire. Rather it was a form of
monarchy, based on absolute power, an aura of divinity, and conspicuous
consumption. This was to be the model he bequeathed to the Hellenistic kings
who succeeded him. 5570
[from
Alexander to Actium] the conquest of Egypt by Rome in 30 BC, 5584
The
Hellenistic Monarchies 5587
Armies
were large, up to 80,000 men, a number which remained a maximum until modern
times, and made up largely of mercenaries.
5589
By
the second century BC the Parthians had reached the Euphrates, and by the end
of the century the Seleucids had been reduced by Roman expansionism and
successful Jewish nationalism to a small area of Syria. 5601
The
tradition of providing `bread and circuses' for the masses began in this
period, while at a more elevated level the kings offered hospitality to
`Friends' who might come from any part of the Greek world. 5603
Cities
in the Hellenistic World 5631
Inherent
in the spread of Hellenism was the founding of cities, 5631
Seleucids
scattered new foundations throughout the former Persian empire, 5632
native
inhabitants were now placed under Greek or Macedonian administrations. 5634
microcosms
of Greek culture. 5640
There
was no city which could effectively defy a king armed with the latest machinery
of siege warfare. 5642
Sensible
kings paid lip-service to the traditions of the polis (it was part of the
ideology of monarchical rule that a king would boast of his preservation of
city independence) and city life remained vigorous. 5645
The
third century, before the intrusion of the Romans, was the most settled the
Greek world had yet seen. 5648
The
cities of the Greek mainland were not formally part of any kingdom, and some
saw the advantages in joining together for common defence. The Aetolian League
in central Greece gained its cohesion from a successful defence of the area
against Celtic warbands. 5648
Athens
maintained her independence for most of the period, but in the third century
the city faced an economic crisis. The details are difficult to ascertain, but
it is possible that rising grain prices and falling olive oil prices (due to
new areas of production) caused a balance-of-trade deficit 5657
The
release of vast quantities of precious metals by Alexander's campaigns drove
down the price of silver, and Athens' silver mines may even have been closed
temporarily in the third century.
5660
Following
the precedent set by Alexander, it soon became accepted that a monarch acquired
an elevated status as the favoured of the gods.
5665
Cities
would respond to this by creating their own cults to the ruler. 5667
Greeks
and Others 5675
Outside
mainland Greece and Macedonia, the Greek cities were set in a sea of native
peoples, Persians, Indians, Egyptians, Jews, or Celts. It is difficult to
disentangle the complex relationships that evolved as a result, but in many
cases social distinctions between Greek and native remained strong. 5675
Hellenism
was thus an imperialist culture. `I am a barbarian and do not know how to
behave like a Greek,' 5686
It
was essential to speak Greek, to attend the theatre, and show allegiance to
Greek cults. The most public sign of assimilation was to strip naked for
exercise in the gymnasium. 5689
The
result of these minglings was to make Greek culture more homogeneous. The
different Greek dialects which had lasted through the classical period, now
became absorbed in a common language, koine. 5694
The
homogeneity of the Greek world was reinforced by its festivals and games. 5695
One
of the most important social developments of the period was the emergence of a
`new rich'. 5701
The
inhibitions on public display of wealth which were so strong in, say,
democratic Athens were relaxed, 5704
The
rich were also responsible for sustaining what was probably the most typical
symbol of Greek culture, the gymnasium. The gymnasium was not simply a place
for exercise. There were often libraries and lecture halls attached with
classes held in rhetoric or philosophy.
5706
trend
towards a more family-centred life. Women were given a higher profile, 5709
sophisticated
etiquette of romance' was developing.
5713
richer
citizens had lost many of their traditional roles as soldiers and statesmen. In
recompense many became important benefactors of their cities, providing games
or donating public buildings or statues, a tradition which lasted for some
centuries. 5716
Arts
in the Hellenistic Age 5722
a
more luxuriant and ornate style which sometimes bordered on the grotesque. 5723
renewed
interest in the personal. Figures are shown undertaking everyday tasks 5725
less
inhibition in poses and often a preoccupation with movement. 5726
emergence
of portraiture. 5731
The
Hellenistic age was also an extraordinarily fertile and influential one for
literature, 5734
The
poets of the period seemed to enjoy a private world of intimacy based on
friendship, nostalgia, and scholarship.
5742
CallimachusÉset a tone for the age, one of striving after good taste and
refined scholarship in an unashamedly elitist way. 5749
Apollonius
revived the epic in the form of a long account of the adventures of the
Argonauts. 5754
Science
and Mathematics 5773
Hellenistic
science reached levels which were not to be surpassed until the sixteenth
century. 5774
In
his Elements, Euclid produced what has possibly been the most successful textbook
in history. 5778
Overall
it could be argued that Archimedes made more advances in mathematics than any
other mathematician in history. 5781
Herophilus
of Chalcedon and Erasistratus of Ceos, both active in the 26os, went one step
further in taking living criminals as the subjects of their observations and
gained the first significant insights into the working of the human body....their work provided the foundations [for] Galen, 5810
Religion
and Philosophy 5818
The
Sceptics (founder Pyrrhon of Elis (c.365-275 BC) ) doubted whether anything
could be said with certainty about the nature of things-the senses are too
deceptive. 5820
growing
interest in mystery religions, 5822
In
the world of philosophy the question which haunted the philosophers was how to
live `a good life'. 5826
One
response was that of the Cynics, to withdraw from the world altogether,
renouncing material possessions and turning social conventions upside-down. 5829
[Epicurus]: All that could be known must be based
on observation and experience of this world. The only purpose of this life is
to ensure survival in this world through pleasure. 5834
By
this Epicurus did not mean a frenzied search for sensual enjoyment but rather
peace of mind and freedom from pain.
5835
escape
from any fear of death and to concentrate on the pleasures of everyday living,
chief amongst which Epicurus numbered friendship and rational thinking. 5836
a
major reversal of traditional Greek values where a man was judged by the
success of his public life, 5838
Stoics
saw the world as a single enduring entity, a cosmos which moved forward in time
under its own purpose, an evolution towards a state of ultimate goodness. 5842
important
to come to terms with the fact that one was part of a greater whole and also
had a personal responsibility for making a contribution towards the unfolding
of the future. 5843
there
was a duty to live a virtuous life in accordance with one's true nature as a
human being. 5845
The
Jews in the Hellenistic Period 5847
for
the first 120 years after Alexander's death Palestine was under Ptolemaic rule
and was subject to the same intrusive bureaucracy suffered by the Egyptians.
One result was a new diaspora, a scattering of Jews throughout the
Mediterranean world. 5849
Greek
education became popular and gymnasia threatened the traditional Jewish
schools. 5853
Seleucids
were much more intrusive and set about imposing Greek culture. 5856
desperate
to try to rebuild his dwindling kingdom around a unified Greek heritage. He was
also short of money and soon had his eyes on the treasury of the great temple
at Jerusalem. 5858
guerrilla
warfare broke out under the leadership of Judas Maccabaeus. By 141 the
Seleucids were forced to accept the independence of Judaea under Judah's
brother, Simon. The kingdom was extraordinarily successful, 5860
preservation
of orthodox Jewish nationalism against the forces of Hellenism. 5862
Conclusion
5863
the
Hellenistic kingdoms had begun to lose their vigour by the end of the third
century. 5864
By 241 all the Greek cities of Sicily except Syracuse were under Roman control. 5867
The
Geography of Italy 5987
There
are pockets of fertile land high in the Apennines so a reasonably sized
population can be supported, but the range breaks up and isolates communities. 5989
The
richest is the Po valley in northern Italy which makes up 70 per cent of the
lowland of Italy. 5991
`Celtic'
tribes, driven by overpopulation or tribal rivalry, successfully migrated
across the Alps in the sixth and fifth centuries BC and settled in the Po
valley. 5994
The
Etruscans 5999
as
1200 BC the primitive agricultural economy of Etruria was becoming more
sophisticated and intensive, with an increased dependence on sheep, goats, and
pigs. A larger population could be supported and by 900 BC it was becoming
grouped in scattered villages 6014
what
later became the great cities of the Etruscan world, Veii, Tarquinia, Vulci,
Cerveteri, all developed directly from these earlier Villanovan village sites. 6019
in
the eighth century....the Tyrrhenian Sea already dominated by the Etruscans,
who were trading along the coast and across the sea to Sardinia. 6020
The
Colline Metallifere, the metal-bearing hills above what became the major
Etruscan cities of Populonia and Vetulonia, yielded iron, copper, and silver. 6022
there
is no significant evidence that the Etruscans adopted the phalanx and fought as
equal members of a community as the Greeks did. This is warfare between
individuals, 6031
a
tradition of building massive fortified walls which reached its peak in the fifth
and fourth centuries when the Etruscan cities were threatened by both Romans
and Celts. 6036
a
small aristocratic elite whose cultural life was increasingly influenced by
their contacts with Greece. 6037
As
their prosperity grew the Etruscans expanded southwards. Their influence spread
over the entire plain of Campania, rich land in itself but also a meeting place
with the Greeks 6051
The
towns of Latium, among them Rome with its important position on the Tiber, now
also came under Etruscan control and Etruscan influence spread inland. 6054
Greek
craftsmen now begin to settle, and Etruscan craftsmen acquired skills in
working gold, silver, and ivory from them.
6064
Livy
said that the Etruscans were more religious than any other people. 6068
The
augurs would carry out their duties standing within a sacred area set apart on
high ground. (The area was known to the Romans as a templum, the origin of the
word `temple'.) 6072
The
Romans drew heavily on Etruscan beliefs, and the rules of divination, the
disciplina, were carefully preserved by them. 6076
Etruscan
supremacy along the coast came under threat from about 550 ac as new waves of
Greeks fled from Persian expansion.
6077
Carthaginians Égradually
forced the Etruscans off the sea.
6080
The
Etruscan presence in Campania was eliminated in the fifth century by the
Samnites, 6084
As
the Carthaginians became dominant in the Tyrrhenian Sea the coastal cities of
Etruria went into decline. 6085
Etruscan
presence was threatened by a number of forces, including the eventual silting
up of Spina and the migration of `Celtic' war-bands across the Alps. 6093
evidence
of intermarriage between the newcomers and Etruscans and new trade routes were
forged with the tribal groups of northern Europe (producing the La Tene
culture), 6094
mountain
peoples began to plunder the plains.
6098
Almost
every Greek city of south-west Italy was overrun in the fifth century. 6099
The
Foundation of Rome 6099
The
first histories to survive in other than fragments date from the first
century BC. The most important is
that of Titus Livius (Livy). 6108
His
aim was to glorify the dying republic, and his is a dramatic narrative account
of the city's history with an emphasis on the epic. 6109
The
city seems to have originated, perhaps as early as the tenth century, as a
scatter of villages on low-lying hills 6117
The
curve of the river provided a good landing place and goods could be shipped
overland from Rome, both to the north and south.
6117
In
the eighth century, the period in which the legends place the foundation of the
city, there is evidence for the arrival of Greek traders. 6120
the
city continued to share a common `Latin' culture with some thirty communities
which were scattered over the plains of Latium between the River Tiber and the
Alban Hills. These communities shared a language, festivals, and the myth of a
common origin (that they were all colonies of a single city, Alba Longa). 6124
There
appears to be a clear distinction between men of rank and other male family
members who remained under their father's authority. This could be an early
indication of the emergence of the Roman paterfamilias, 6130
eighth
and seventh centuries some form of transformation of society was taking place
in Latium, 6137
society
may have been increasingly based on clans with some individuals emerging as
aristocratic leaders. The catalyst would seem to be trade with the outside
world and the increasing influence of the Etruscans. 6138
Rome:
The Age of Kings 6139
From
the eighth through to the end of the sixth century Rome was ruled by `kings'. 6140
Kingship
was not hereditary and each new king seems to have been acclaimed by the people
of Rome meeting in the comitia curiata, an assembly of thirty groups of clans,
after auspices had first been taken to ensure he had divine support. 6140
The
symbol of imperium was the fasces, 6142
King
Tarquin I (traditional dates 616-579 BC), for instance, is recorded as having
migrated to Rome from Etruria and engineered his acclamation as king. With him
came the first public embellishment of the city. 6144
Tarquin
was murdered in 579 and his successor Servius Tullius, probably a Latin rather
than an Etruscan, seized power by force. I
6148
evidence
that Servius expanded the citizen body by enfranchising the local rural
population and, more important than this, creating a citizen army of all those
able to afford arms. 6150
customary
to call the centuries together to meet on the Campus Martius, the Field of
Mars, 6152
comitia
centuriata, as this assembly was called later, became the most powerful of the
Roman popular assemblies with the formal duty of declaring war or peace and
making alliances, as well as voting on constitutional changes. 6152
expansion
of the citizen body was crucial to Rome's later success. 6154
more
open about extending her citizen body than any other city of the ancient world.
6156
One
consequence of this, however, was that the citizen assemblies became so large
that democracy on the Athenian model soon became impractical 6157
The
Foundation of the Roman Republic 6159
His
successor Tarquin the Proud (traditional dates 534-509 Bc) behaved in such a
tyrannical way that he was thrown out by the outraged aristocracy in 509. 6159
rape
of one Lucretia by Tarquin's son
6160
Lars
Porsenna, ruler of a neighbouring Etruscan city, Clusium, attacked Rome. 6161
The
final result, however, was a republican city which was now firmly under
aristocratic control. 6163
the
elite proclaimed themselves the protectors of Rome against tyranny in general
and this became central to the ideology through which they justified their
political supremacy. 6164
Supreme
power, imperium, in fact all the power originally enjoyed by a king, was now to
devolve on two magistrates, the consuls, who would hold power for one year but
who could not be immediately re-elected. 6166
Central
to imperium was the right to command an army 6168
Imperium
was only effective outside the pomerium, the sacred central area of the city,
and armed men could not be led into the city except to celebrate a triumph. 6169
consuls
were elected by the comitia centuriata although their election still had to be
given formal approval by the comitia curiata. 6170
The
composition of the comitia centuriata was arranged so that the wealthier
classes of soldiers, the cavalry in particular, who voted first and by class,
could overrule the poorer classes. 6172
prospective
consul thus had to build up support among the more influential citizens. He
could do this through his own auctoritas, 6173
a
candidate also relied heavily on clients, men who would vote for him in return
for protection and favours. 6174
quaestors
were financial officials. 6177
The
censors took charge of the records of citizenship, probably mainly to list
those eligible for military service. 6177
praetor,
a term originally used of the consuls, became a separate post with special
responsibility for judicial affairs in 366 BC. 6179
the
comitia centuriata limited to voting rather than debating, discussion of
policy-making increasingly became the preserve of the senate. The senate had
originated as a group of advisers to the king and most senators were drawn from
a group of ancient aristocratic families
6181
it
became the custom for the senate to be made up of former magistrates who joined
immediately after they had served their term of office. They then remained
senators for life. 6185
It
had few formal powers but it could express its feelings in a senatus consultum,
the advice of the senate, which had no strict legal effect, but which came to
be respected as if it did. 6187
In
the fifth century the patrician families consolidated their grip on government.
6189
The
weapon of the plebs was withdrawal from the city, probably to the Aventine
Hill, where they set up their own assembly, the concilium plebis. 6192
They
recognized the right of the concilium plebis to exist as early as 471, although
it was not until 287 that its resolutions (plebiscita, hence the English
plebiscite) were accepted as having the force of law. 6196
In
the middle of the fifth century plebeian agitation resulted in the recording
and publication of the Twelve Tables, the first public statement of Roman law. 6197
After
342 one consul was always a plebeian. 6198
What
happened in effect was that the wealthier plebeians became integrated into the
ruling classes, the magistracies and the senate.Écomparatively
rare 6203
continued
consolidation of oligarchical rule by a limited number of aristocratic
families. 6203
cohesion
of the state was also maintained through religious ritual. 6204
Tarquin
the Elder, the fifth Etruscan king, had laid the foundations of the first
temple to Zeus on the Capitoline Hill. Here the magistrates offered sacrifice
on taking office and the first meeting of the senate each year took place. 6206
Mars,
the god of war, gave his name to the month of March, originally the first in
the year and the time when military campaigning could begin again after the
winter. 6210
The
Expansion of Rome 6212
Under
the kings Rome had been a successful military state and in 509 controlled about
Boo square kilometres, a third of Latium. 6212
the
city was challenged by the surrounding Latin tribes, who were suspicious of her
continued expansion. Rome defeated them at the battle of Lake Regillus in 499
Bc, but the victory was overshadowed by increasing pressures of the mountain
peoples on the Latin plains. In 493 Rome agreed with the Latin communities to
face the intruders together. 6215
The
most persistent enemies were two peoples, the Aequi and the Volscii, who appear
to have launched a series of raids on the outlying Latin settlements. 6217
Rome
now moved on her own initiative against a very different enemy, an old rival,
the once wealthy Etruscan city of Veii. 6219
The
legends recount ten years of siege, on the epic scale of the Trojan War, before
the city fell in 396 BC. 6221
enlargement
of both infantry and cavalry forces. 6223
`sack'
of Rome by Celtic raiders in 390, 6225
a
few years later the city was able to construct a massive wall 6227
continual
low level warfare against surrounding tribes and the fortification of Ostia at
the mouth of the Tiber, which archaeological evidence dates to 380-350 BC,
suggests a growing interest in the sea, 6229
more
intensive warfare began in 343 with a short war against the Samnites, the most
formidable and best organized of the inland mountain peoples. By the middle of
the fourth century they had become the largest political grouping in Italy 6231
Latin
states were also becoming resentful of the arrogance of Roman rule. Rome
suddenly found herself facing a coalition of enemies, Latins, Campanians, and
once again the Volscii. Rome's reputation as a military force was confirmed
when she defeated them. 6235
Her
enemies were not destroyed but instead reorganized into what has been described
as a `commonwealth' of states 6237
Latin
cities close to Rome now lost their independence and were incorporated into the
Roman state. 6238
Among
the defeated non-Latin communities, the Volscii and the Campanians, for
instance, Rome developed the status of civitas sine suffragio, a form of Roman
citizenship which involved communities in the obligations of citizenship,
notably military service, but without any of the advantages, 6241
In
the passage of time the citizens of these municipia were given full
citizenship, the last by the end of the second century 6243
Rome
now began to establish colonies. 6245
gave
up Roman citizenship if they had it but maintained Latin rights and formed
self-governing communities. 6245
allies
maintained full independence, but they had to provide manpower for wars and
Rome in effect decided when these wars should take place and how many men were
needed. 6249
Rome
could draw on a large reserve of manpower at almost no cost to herself while
the defeated communities retained enough independence to dampen any desire for
revolt. In any case many were controlled by aristocratic cliques who depended
on Roman support for their survival. 6252
The
setting up of the new colony at Fregellae provoked the Samnites to attack. It
took forty years (conventionally divided into two periods, 327-304 and 298-90,
the Second and Third Samnite Wars) before they were defeated. 6254
successful
long-term strategy involved consolidating a network of allies (among them, in
327, Neapolis (Naples), the first Greek city to make an alliance with Rome)
around Samnite territory so that the Samnite heartland could be isolated. 6256
The
last years of the Second Samnite War were marked by an expansion of Rome into
the central highlands of Italy. In 304 Rome's enemies of the fifth century, the
Aequi, were suppressed once and for all in a campaign of fifty days in which
the inhabitants of each stronghold were massacred as it was captured. 6260
In
298 the Samnites were at war with Rome again and now they could draw on a mass
of allies, 6262
Rome
faced them at Sentinum in Umbria in 295. It was the greatest battle yet seen on
Italian soil, 6263
After
a final desperate battle at Aquilonia in 293 the Samnites were crushed and Rome
was able to mop up the remaining opposition in central Italy. The defeated
communities were made municipia or allies. 6265
When
a Roman war fleet (the first ever recorded) ventured into Tarentum's waters in
282 it was attacked. 6270
The
city appealed in desperation to Pyrrhus, the king of Epirus, 6271
This
was the first Hellenistic army the Romans had ever seen and they proved
vulnerable to its power and experience. At two battles, Heraclea (280 Bc) and
Ausculum (279), the Romans were defeated but in each case Pyrrhus lost
thousands of his own precious troops 6272
Pyrrhus
realized he could not hope to wear down the Romans. After another check at the
battle of Beneventum in 275, Pyrrhus withdrew. Tarentum fell to Rome in 272 and
Roman domination of the south of the peninsula was complete. 6274
By
264 perhaps 20 per cent of the land surface of Italy had been made part of the
ager Romanus, the directly controlled territory of Rome. In much of this land
the local population had been enslaved or killed and it was now open to Roman
settlement. 6278
The
Glorification of Victory 6282
No
pre-industrial society has ever mobilized such a high percentage of its male
population in war over such a long period of time as Rome. It is estimated that
between 9 and 16 per cent of male citizens in normal times and 25 per cent at
times of crisis could be supported in her armies.
6283
a
mixture of ferocity in battle....comparative generosity in defeat. 6286
In
Rome itself military victory was idealized. Wars were assumed to be just 6287
The
culmination of a conqueror's success came in the triumph. A victorious general
could claim the right from the senate to extend his imperium across the
pomerium so that he could bring his troops in procession into the city and
sacrifice at the temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline Hill. 6291
For
a day the victor could be close to the gods. It was an occasion too for the
glorification of his family who rode beside him. Yet the ritual itself was
designed to make sure that the state kept ultimate control. 6297
The
First Punic War 6333
A
group of Italian mercenaries, who called themselves the Mamertines (after the
Oscan name for Mars, the god of war), had seized the city of Messana (modern
Messina), which overlooked the straits between Sicily and Italy. 6334
it
was clear that a Carthaginian takeover in Messana would threaten Roman control
of the straits. 6337
the
Carthaginians meekly withdrew their garrison from Messana and the Romans
occupied the city. 6340
Although
Carthage and Syracuse were long-standing enemies, the occupation was
sufficiently provocative to force them into an alliance. When they besieged
Messana the outbreak of war, the First Punic War (264-241 BC), was the inevitable result. 6340
Carthage's
main interest was the preservation of her commercial empire, and Rome, without
a navy, could offer no threat to this.
6349
Rome
managed to prise Hiero of Syracuse away from Carthage and make him an ally and
to take the city of Acragas, which had been held by a Carthaginian garrison. 6351
immediately
after the capture of Acragas that Rome decided to build a fleet. 6353
A
grounded Carthaginian ship had to be used as a model with crews being trained
on land as the first hundred quinqueremes were being built, according to the
historian Polybius in only sixty days.
6354
The
first encounter of the two fleets at Mylae off the coast of Sicily in 26o was a
Roman victory. It was followed by an even more crushing success off Cape
Ecnomus (on the southern coast of Sicily) in 256
6358
The
way was now open for an invasion of Africa. Troops were landed there in 256 6361
The
year 249 was again disastrous for Rome with a major defeat at the Battle of
Drepana 6363
A
great Roman victory in which most of the Carthaginian ships were sunk or
captured finally decided the outcome of the war. Carthage could no longer
protect Sicily and in the peace that followed Carthage ceded Sicily to Rome. 6368
The
Beginnings of Provincial Administration 6369
The
victory confirmed Rome as an extraordinarily resilient and determined power,
now with a foothold outside Italy and a fast maturing naval tradition. 6369
The
Second Punic War 6377
In
225 BC central Italy was faced with an invasion of Celtic war-bands. The Romans
crushed them at the Battle of Telemon and exploited their advantage by
conquering the Po valley 6377
in
218 when Italy was unexpectedly invaded from the north by a Carthaginian army
led by Hannibal, 6379
she
made an agreement with the Carthaginians that they would not move north of the
River Ebro. During these years, however, Rome also made an alliance with the
town of Saguntum, well south of the Ebro,
6382
When
Hannibal, who had succeeded his father, besieged and took the city in 219,
probably in the belief that Rome had given him a free hand as far as the Ebro,
Rome quickly protested. 6383
In
the first major encounter with the Romans at Trebia, west of the new Roman
colony at Placentia, over half the Roman army was lost and with it the north of
Italy. 6395
The
next year, 217, Hannibal, now in central Italy, lured a large Roman army into
the narrow plain between Lake Trasimene and the mountains and then slaughtered
it. 6396
8o,ooo
men marched south to Apulia where Hannibal was ravaging the land. 6403
Romans
found themselves enveloped by African infantry stationed on the two wings and
the Carthaginian cavalry who had routed their Roman counterparts. In a
devastating defeat all but 14,500 of the Roman army was wiped out. 6406
there
is no evidence he wished to destroy Rome. He appears to have stuck to his original
aim of humiliating her and destroying her allies,
6410
Whatever
the losses in the south, the centre of Italy with all its manpower remained
loyal and the Roman armies could be rebuilt. Most significantly Hannibal held
no major ports. He captured the town of Tarentum in 212 but the Romans managed
to hang on to its citadel and with it control over its important harbour until
Fabius recaptured and sacked the city in 209.
6416
In
a final attempt to break the deadlock Hannibal's brother Hasdrubal marched from
Spain to join his brother but he was intercepted in the north of Italy by both
consuls and defeated at the battle of the River Metaurus in 207. 6421
the
most significant fighting of the war was taking place in Spain. 6423
Romans
enjoyed an unbroken run of successes until in 211
6424
At
the ensuing defeat, which saw the deaths of both Scipios, the Romans almost
lost their hold on Spain. 6426
Scipio
was perhaps the most brilliant Roman commander to date, energetic, charismatic,
and imaginative. In 209 he achieved the capture of New Carthage, 6427
A
decisive victory at Ilipa in 206 and the surrender of another strategically
important port, Gades, saw the end of Carthaginian dominance in Spain and the
beginning of centuries of Roman hegemony in the peninsula. 6430
Scipio
set off for Africa in 204 and it was his first success there which forced the
Carthaginians to recall Hannibal
6434
final
showdown between the two commanders came at the Battle of Zama (202). 6435
Hannibal's
army was destroyed and the war was effectively at an end. 6437
Rome
inherited her empire in Spain. In Sicily, Syracuse, who had joined the
Carthaginians, had been taken and sacked by Romans in 212. 6438
The
Roman Pacification of Spain and Northern Italy 6440
victory
had been won and much of the credit was due to the senate, whose resolve had
proved unshakeable. The next fifty years saw its greatest prestige. 6441
Capua
was treated with especial fury. The city ceased to be a municipium and all its
land was declared Roman property.
6443
in
the north of Italy the Celts were marked out for final subjection. From 201 to
19o the senate assigned one or both consuls to the north, and the two main
Celtic tribes, the Boii and Insubres, were dealt with ruthlessly. 6444
Roman
settlers were moved in to take their place.
6447
by
180 Bc northern Italy was finally under Roman control. 6448
for
the next twenty years there were continual wars of pacification in Spain before
Roman control was established well into the interior. 6451
soon
made Spain the richest source of raw materials in the empire. 6454
Rome
Becomes Involved in Greece 6461
In
215 Hannibal had made an alliance with Philip V of Macedon. 6461
many
senators felt that Philip had not been sufficiently punished 6463
The
official pretext for war was that Rome was protecting the liberty of the Greeks
against Macedonian expansionism.
6465
war
was entrusted to Titus Quinctius Flamininus,
6467
while
he was there he was in a strong position to define Roman policy on his own
initiative. After destroying Philip's army at Cynoscephalae in Thessaly in 197,
he used the Isthmian Games of 196 (over which he was asked to preside) to
proclaim that Rome intended to leave Greece, including the coastal cities of
Asia Minor, free and independent.
6469
Each
city was now dependent on Rome for its protection and from this time onwards
the inter-city embassies which were so much part of the Hellenistic world were
directed at Rome. 6471
Antiochus
had set himself the task of reviving the Seleucid kingdom and in 196 had
crossed into Thrace, 6474
When,
in 192, Antiochus agreed to support the Aetolian League and crossed with a
small army to the Greek mainland, the Romans reacted vigorously. In 191 at
Thermopylae he was easily defeated by a Roman army twice his size. 6476
Roman
troops had now reached Asia, 6478
her
main aim was to perpetuate her control by building up dependent allies, though
her sphere of influence was now the whole Aegean area. 6479
a
son of Philip of Macedon, Perseus, came to power on his father's death in 179.
Perseus made tentative moves to rebuild a Macedonian relationship with Greece. 6482
In
168 Perseus' army was destroyed at the battle of Pydna on the Macedonian coast.
6485
It
was in the settlement after Pydna that Roman power was first imposed
effectively in Greece, and in that sense 168 marks a turning point. 6485
Rhodes,
which had done nothing to support the Romans in the war, was undermined by the
creation by the Romans of a free port of Delos which took much of its trade 6488
In
15o a revolt in Macedonia was met with the reduction of the kingdom of Philip
II and Alexander into a Roman province (148). The Achaean League had also
aroused increasing irritation in Rome.
6495
The
senate singled out one of its cities, Corinth, for such complete destruction
that the site remained deserted 6498
The
very fact that Carthage had raised an army was now to be used by Rome as an
excuse for declaring war, 6502
After
three years of siege, Carthage was finally stormed, appropriately by Scipio
Aemilianus, the grandson by adoption of Scipio Africanus. The city was razed to
the ground, at least 50,000 of its inhabitants sold into slavery, and its land
ritually cursed against any rebirth.
6505
Carthage's
territory became the new province of Africa. 6507
In
133 the last king of Pergamum bequeathed his kingdom to Rome and it became the
province of Asia. 6509
Polybius
and The Universal History 6509
It
was the seriousness with which Polybius took his task which marks him out as
one of the greater Greek historians. He had no doubt that the Romans deserved
to defeat the Greeks. Their highly disciplined army, their resolute spirit,
and, above all, their balanced constitution gave them an overwhelming
superiority. 6519
Motives
for War and Imperialism 6523
William
Harris in his book War and Imperialism in Republican Rome (Oxford, 1979), in
which Harris argued that Roman society was naturally attuned to aggression. 6526
For
the aristocratic elite war provided the main avenue to political success, the
only way an individual could achieve glory and status, while the fruits of
victory, in plunder and slaves, made war attractive for the luxurious lifestyle
and status it brought. 6527
Rome
was certainly a militaristic state, a touchy power, confident of her military
prowess and quick to seek revenge for insults. She had access to large forces,
showed no inhibitions about using them, and once she was engaged in a war
fought it through to a conclusion,
6531
Insofar
as there was a turning point from piecemeal expansions, the unpremeditated
acquisition of an overseas empire, to a more deliberate policy of humiliation
of enemies and determined annexation of further territory, it can placed in the
period between 148 and 133 when Macedonia and Greece were absorbed, Carthage sacked,
and the wealthy kingdom of Pergamum inherited. By now Rome had a
Mediterranean-wide empire which she had to defend and administer and an
ideology which appeared to set no limits to its size. 6540
The
Impact of the East 6543
Not
only did vast amounts of plunder, including some hundreds of thousands of
slaves, pour into Italy but the city was open now to the rich cultures of the
east. 6543
the
fall of Syracuse that saw the first major influx of Greek art to Rome. 6549
the
great triumphant process of booty must have made their mark and seemed to many
to mark a new phase in contact with Greece.
6550
Rome
itself was transformed in the second century with three new aqueducts, a mass
of new temples, and for the first time grand houses for the nobility. 6556
Greek
culture infiltrated Roman at many levels.
6559
Many,
however, were very conscious of a traditional system of values which was under
threat. These values were rooted in a dimly remembered past where the typical
citizen lived a life of austerity on a smallholding. 6567
In
war he would show virtus, unflinching courage, at home he would be marked out
by his pietas, correct observance of the religious rituals by which the
protection of his home and the state would be assured. To his clients he would
be known for his fides, good faith, and he would never be corrupted by bribes.
These virtues would combine to make up his dignitas, his status, and they would
achieve their greatest value in public service.
6569 ¥ Delete this highlight
Note: The
old Roman virtues being undermined by Greek influence. Edit
Many
feared that these values were threatened by the influx of Greek culture. 6575
Plutarch
blamed Marcellus, the victor of Syracuse, for `filling the Roman people, who
had hitherto been accustomed to fighting or farming ... with a life of softness
and ease 6576 ¥ Delete this highlight
Note: Of
course, this is what Gibbon says eventually brought about the decline of the
empire. Edit
The
Older Cato 6586
opposition
to the trends was spearheaded by one of the most interesting and complex
figures of the period, Marcus Porcius Cato (234-149 BC). 6586
elected
to the prestigious post of censor and he revived the traditional role of the
office as a guardian of public morals. For the next thirty-five years he stood
out as the figurehead of resistance to the influx of ideas from Greece and to
luxurious living and corruption.
6589
It
was not so much that they were Greek in origin as they broke down conventional
notions of authority and threatened state control of religious affairs. 6601
The
Great Period of Senatorial Government 6602
after
the Second Punic War the senate proved remarkably successful in maintaining
collective oligarchical rule. 6603
After
the Second Punic War, the lure of plunder and glory led to increasing
competition for the magistracies which could provide them. However, the senate
successfully contained these ambitions.
6605
Commanders
might celebrate their triumphs and flaunt their plunder, they could not,
however, translate them into long-term political power. 6607
Intimations
of Popular Unrest 6611
After
150, however, there is evidence that the prestige of the senate was being undermined. 6611
The
long wars in Spain, where soldiers served for an average of six years, were
increasingly unpopular 6616
tensions
were intensified by changing patterns in agriculture. 6618
widespread
confiscations after the Second Punic War had made large areas of public land
available for purchase. The new farms which emerged were geared to commercial
production. 6619
now
worked by slaves, who had been imported into Italy into such numbers ....over a third of the population.
6623
peasant
producers, whose plots had always been small, who most suffered. Some returned
from service overseas to find their land swallowed up in larger estates, others
were simply squeezed off the land.
6623
there
was an increasing pool of disaffected citizens, some of whom must have made
their way in desperation to Rome, where they would have put extra stress on the
city's resources. 6625
in
these years that the tribunes appear to have become more active on behalf of
the citizenry, 6628
The
Gracchi and the Challenge to Senatorial Government 6646
Social
reformers were rare in Roman politics and this makes the attempts by two
brothers, Tiberius and Gaius Sempronius Gracchus, to tackle the social and
economic problems of land hunger in Italy in the late second century BC all the more remarkable. 6646
Tiberius
claimed purer motives, no less than the restoration and consolidation of the
small landowner whose position was being undermined by the growth of large
estates and who was, therefore, being lost for military service (for which
landownership was a precondition). 6655
Tiberius
proposed that they should surrender the extra in return for a formal
confirmation of their right to the rest. The surrendered land would then be
distributed among the poor in small plots (of 30 iugera, 7 hectares) to which
they would be given an inalienable right.
6658
any
vigorous use of the concilium plebis was bound to be unsettling, particularly
when it affected richer landowners.
6662
Tiberius
then announced he would stand for a second tribunate, another clear breach of
convention which he may have tried to hide under further promises of popular
reform. 6666
the
pontifex maximus (the head of the priesthood), Scipio Nasica, urged the
presiding consul in the senate to have Tiberius killed for attempting to set up
a tyranny. 6671
gathered
a crowd of supporters who surged towards the Capitoline Hill, where Tiberius
was still holding sway. The result was a pitched battle fought with cudgels and
sticks. Perhaps 300 died in the crush, including Tiberius, 6673
The
first popular reform movement in Roman history had been crushed but with
methods which could only discredit its opponents. 6674
the
land commission survived, with Tiberius' brother Gaius as one of its members. 6675
Tiberius'
brother Gaius was elected a tribune for 123. Gaius was altogether a more
formidable man than his brother.
6679
For
the poorer citizen access to cheap grain was essential and Gaius stabilized
corn prices by instituting a system of bulk buying and storage for sale at a
fixed price 6682
Gaius'
legislation suggests he wished to move power away from the senate towards the
popular assemblies. To isolate the senate he courted the equites, the
equestrians, 6685
The
problem was once again the opposition of allied communities to the work of the
land commission. 6691
the
servant of one of the consuls, Opimius, was killed and the senate seized on the
incident to support Opimius in seeking revenge for what was magnified into an
attack on the state. 6699
Opimius
attacked ruthlessly and some 3,000 citizens died. Opimius offered a reward for
Gaius' head of its weight in gold.
6701
The
senate's authority had been shown to be hollow, defensible in the last resort
only through force. 6704
The
failure of the Gracchi marked a watershed in the political history of the
Republic. 6707
Marius
and the Defence of the Empire 6708
In
the north Roman businessmen were expanding across the Alps into Gaul. Roman
administration had to follow to protect them
6709
network
of roads and towns, many of them colonies, stretched along the coast towards
Spain and inland up rivers such as the Rhone, making up the new province of
Transalpine Gaul. 6710
The
throne of Numidia, a client state of Rome, which neighboured the province of
Africa, had been seized by a usurper, Jugurtha. In the struggle some Italian
businessmen had been massacred 6713
Gaius
Marius,Ésecured the command in
Africa, where he had already served, through a law passed by the concilium.
This was a direct challenge to the senate which normally allocated provincial
commands. 6720
instead
of going through the normal procedures of conscription, he called for
volunteers for his army and, in a break with the tradition of centuries, was
prepared to take men without property.
6721
Marius
had defeated Jugurtha by 105, 6722
two
Germanic tribes, the Cimbri and Teutones, who had embarked on a long and
seemingly undirected migration from central Europe to France which intruded
from time to time into Roman territory. Each time they met a Roman army they
defeated it. 6723
Marius
seemed the only hope. In 104 he secured a second consulship and then, in
defiance of all precedent, another four successive consulships. 6725
In
two great battles, Aquae Sextia in Provence (102) and Vercelles in northern
Italy (101), he defeated the Germans.
6726
Marius'
problem was the settlement of his troops. Those without land to return to could
not simply be disbanded, and he gained the help of one of the tribunes for 103,
Lucius Appuleius Saturninus, in securing land for them in Africa. 6727
The
laws were bitterly opposed by the senate. Disorder increased and Saturninus was
killed by a lynch mob. 6730
Marius'
new-style army also marked an important development. If soldiers were without
land they were totally dependent on their commanders to look after them after
their campaigns had ended. 6733
The
Revolt of the Allies 6735
He
had relied heavily on allied support to win the war in the north and the allies
were deeply conscious of their indispensability.
6735
in
Italy allies were still treated as second-class citizens. 6739
The
hopes of the upper classes of the allied cities now rested on Roman
citizenship. Citizenship would give them a chance to participate, through the
concilium plebis, in the government of the empire and also the rights enjoyed
by any citizen against the power of the magistrates. Their hopes were soon
dashed by the intransigence of the Roman ruling classes. 6743
The
grievances of the allies were so deep-rooted that over the winter of 91-9o
twelve major peoples, prominent among them Rome's old enemies the Samnites,
joined to form the state of Italia,
6749
The
pressure was such that in 9o, in a major political concession, Rome granted
citizenship to all those allies who had stayed loyal and probably as well to
those who agreed to lay down their arms. With the opposition split she then
crushed the remaining insurgents, whose unity disintegrated with time. 6754
when
peace came citizenship had been extended to all communities south of the Po. 6756
Sulla
6757
The
rebels had looked for help from outside and had made contact with a new enemy
of Rome, Mithridates, king of Pontus, a mountainous yet fertile kingdom on the
edge of the Black Sea. 6758
In
89 he invaded Bithynia and by 88 he had reached the province of Asia where he
called on the Greeks to slaughter Italian citizens and their families. It was
said that some 80,000 were killed in a night, so deep-rooted was the hatred of
Roman exploitation. 6762
Lucius
Cornelius Sulla, was granted the command.
6765
position
challenged by a tribune, Publius Sulpicius. ....In
order to gain Marius' support for his plans he promised Marius, now aged 70,
that he would secure him the eastern command in place of Sulla. 6769
Sulla
would have been completely humiliated if it had succeeded and was left with
little option but to defend his dignity. He persuaded his legions to follow him
to Rome. 6771
For
the first time a Roman army was being led into Rome, across the sacred
pomerium, to be used against other Romans.
6772
Sulla
dealt ruthlessly with the remaining opposition before departing at last for
Asia. 6775
Lucius
Cornelius Cinna, tried to revive Sulpicius' proposals 6776
Cinna
was forced to flee the city but now sought out Marius and the two returned to
besiege Rome. They captured the city and in 86 Cinna and Marius held the
consulships, 6776
In
Asia Sulla, despite having been `officially' deprived of his command, was
rebuilding his position with the harshness that was his hallmark. Athens was
retaken and the supporters of Mithridates slaughtered. 6778
Mithridates,
whose popularity among the Greeks collapsed as soon as the scale of the Roman
retribution became clear, surrendered all his conquests and retreated to his
kingdom. 6781
Sulla
now had the glory of victory to back his return to Rome for revenge. As soon as
he landed in Italy in 83 he initiated a civil war in which communities and
peoples who had supported Marius, which included the Samnites, were crushed.
Then Sulla set out on the systematic elimination of his remaining opponents. 6782
A
list of between 2,000 and 9,000 equestrians and senators was drawn up, any of
whom could be freely killed for reward. Their land was confiscated and
distributed among Sulla's veterans,
6784
In
82 Sulla entered Rome yet again with an army and declared himself dictator, 6785
He
had a plan for constitutional reform based on the restoration of the power and
prestige of the senate. 6787
His
new system complete, Sulla then, to the surprise of many, retired from office. 6792
It
was during these years that violence had entered the political system and begun
to corrode it. Armies had fought within Rome, the constitution had been
subverted by force, Italy had been unsettled by massive confiscations of land.
Sulla's restoration of the senate was, in the circumstances, an artificial one
and almost immediately it came under pressure.
6793
The
Rise of Pompey 6799
It
was clearly a desperate time, and Sulla's senators failed to match up to the
role the dictator had created for them.
6799
they
undermined the whole purpose of Sulla's reforms by turning to a young commander
who was not even a member of the senate to save them. This was Gnaeus Pompeius
Magnus, Pompey the Great. 6800
He
cleaned up Lepidus' revolt quickly and then departed for Spain. 6809
As
soon as Pompey returned to Rome the senate asked him to mop up another revolt,
the massive uprising of slaves led by the Thracian gladiator Spartacus. 6810
the
revolt ended with a grisly row of 6,000 crucified slaves lining the road from
Rome to Capua where the uprising had begun. 6813
another
example of Pompey's ambition and arrogance. He had not even held a
quaestorship, let alone a seat in the senate, yet such was the influence he
held over an overawed and grateful senate that the senate decreed he could be
excused from these requirements.
6818
He
and Crassus then proceeded to undo Sulla's reforms by restoring their original
powers to the tribunes and opening the juries once again to equestrians, 6820
Mithridates,
angry at this extension of the Roman empire, invaded Bithynia and a force was
sent under the consul for 74, Lucius Licinius Lucullus, to oppose him. Lucullus
was remarkably successful. 6826
Finally,
Lucullus, conscious of the need for long-term stability in Asia, curbed the
excesses of the equestrians, reducing the heavy burdens imposed on the Asian
cities by Sulla. This was to be his undoing.
6828
A
problem which was more immediately pressing was that of pirates who were
causing havoc in the eastern Mediterranean.
6831
specifically
appointed Pompey, with the enormous force of 500 ships, 120,000 infantry, and
5,000 cavalry to support him. His command was to cover the sea and all islands,
and to run 8o kilometres inland. 6836
Within
three months (rather than the three years which had been expected) the pirates
had been chased to their strongholds in Cilicia and the problem was under
control. 6839
Once
again Pompey was given wide-ranging powers, the absolute right while he was in
Asia 6841
Mithridates
was driven northwards to the Bosporus and then Pompey dealt with Armenia,
reducing it to the status of a client kingdom of Rome. Further campaigns in 64
and 63 saw the annexation of Syria, the last remnant of the Seleucid state 6846
Pompey
captured Jerusalem after a siege of three months.
6847
Judaea
became a client kingdom of Rome and the process by which Judaism was to come
under Roman control had begun. 6849
Pompey
could now organize the east as he wished. Three new provinces were created. 6849
It
was an extraordinary achievement. Pompey had created a stable eastern empire
which now provided a vast income from taxes and tribute for Rome. 6856
Cicero
and the Catiline Conspiracy 6859
A
variety of discontents, including spendthrift nobles and unsuccessful farmers,
were attracted to Catiline and when he was once again unsuccessful in the
elections there was talk of an armed uprising among his frustrated followers in
Etruria. 6863
One
of the successful consuls for 63 was Marcus Tullius Cicero, 6865
The
confiscations of Sulla had left a host of embittered landowners while continued
Roman expansion overseas had allowed all manner of corruption and extortion to
flourish. Within Rome bribery at elections had become frequent. Prosecutions
for these excesses could be brought both by the state and private individuals
but usually became entangled in the personal rivalries of aristocratic
families. As cases were decided by juries, much depended on swaying their
members with impassioned oratory.
6868
Cicero
was now seen as the leading orator in the city. He was elected praetor in 66
and then a consul for 63. 6874
Catiline
fled to Etruria where an uprising had already begun, whereupon Cicero unmasked
five fellow conspirators in Rome itself and with the support of the senate had
them executed. 6877
The
year 62 was overshadowed by the return of Pompey.
6884
Despite
several attempts to pass it through the senate Pompey's settlement remained
unratified and his troops, though disbanded, without land. 6893
The
Political System in the 6os: An Overview 6895
opulence
of the elite in the later republic
6897
the
6os and 50s were years of increased aristocratic competition for election to
the magistracies. 6898
The
disruptions of the Social War and the civil wars of Sulla had led to Rome being
packed with refugees from the upheavals.
6902
effective
oratory now had a greater impact, one reason why a `new man' such as Cicero had
been able to gain a consulship. The crowds also responded to those who would spend
on their behalf. 6904
Spectacular
public entertainment was always popular. Behind the scenes the direct bribery
of voters seems to have been on the increase
6906
the
mass of citizens.É valued their own
rights and the defence of these by the tribunes and were correspondingly
suspicious of the powers of the senate. They were always ready to respond to
those who would offer land or, in the city, a more effective and cheaper supply
of corn. 6909
populares,
`those pandering to the people'. 6911
who
wished to uphold traditional senatorial authority against the demands of the
assemblies, called themselves optimates. 6911
it
had become more common for the consuls to stay at home and be sent overseas
after their term of office. 6913
These
special commands presented an extended opportunity to achieve military glory
and wealth as well as allowing the commander concerned to build up a dependent
and therefore loyal army. 6915
The
Young Caesar 6919
what
now marked him out from his many rival candidates for office was his consistent
use of the cause of the populares in support of his ambitions. 6924
His
popularity was consolidated by massive spending, and it paid off in 63 when he
was elected pontifex maximus, 6926
Caesar's
electioneering had left him heavily in debt. His best hope now was a command
overseas, 6928
Once
in Spain Caesar had few difficulties in engineering a campaign which took him
beyond the western border of his province as far as the Atlantic coast. It was
his first taste of successful generalship and as a victorious commander he was
entitled to most of the plunder. He returned home with enough wealth to finance
his next ambition. 6930
Consulship
and Command: Caesar Consolidates his Position 6934
The
agreement the three made was little more than an offer of mutual support in
achieving their immediate aims. For Pompey this was, naturally, ratification of
his settlement and land for his veterans,
6937
for
Crassus favourable treatment for a group of his supporters 6938
The
senate, however, would do nothing to support Caesar and he was forced to turn
to the people. With Pompey's veterans crowding the Forum he pushed the land law
through the concilium. 6941
Many
now believed that Pompey and Caesar were after some form of dictatorship. 6948
Caesar
meanwhile had rewarded himself with a special five-year command in Gaul and
Illyricum, 6949
Among
those who were apprehensive about the growing power of Pompey and Caesar was
Cicero. 6951
Caesar
and Pompey engineered the election as tribune of an enemy of Cicero's, a
raffish aristocrat, Publius Clodius.
6952
He
was reluctant to support Pompey and Caesar, yet it soon became clear that, as a
novus homo, he had no real standing among the optimates. 6955
Exploiting
his popularity, Clodius was also able to pass in the concilium a law exiling
anyone who had condemned a citizen to death without trial. He could hold this
over Cicero, 6959
Memories
of Hannibal and the Cimbri and Teutones had made Romans exceptionally sensitive
to any threat of attack from the north and Caesar was able to exploit these
sensitivities to the full. It was to be another nine years before he returned
to Rome. 6963
Caesar
was now established in Gaul itself and made no pretence of staying within the
provinces allotted him. 6967
Caesar
brought virtually the whole of Gaul under Roman control. 6969
As
Clodius' confidence had grown he had set upon humiliating Pompey and the
restoration of Cicero was one way Pompey could reassert his authority. 6971
Clodius
had been outmanoeuvred and he resorted to using gangs of his supporters, many
of them runaway slaves, to intimidate his enemies. 6975
A
rival gang organized by one of the tribunes for 57, Milo, offered some
resistance but the effect was simply to escalate the use of violence in a city
where the senate had no effective means of keeping order. 6979
Unrest
was fuelled by shortages of corn,
6980
When
Pompey failed to reduce the price of corn quickly he also began losing his
support among the people. 6984
agreement
made at Luca was that Crassus and Pompey would become the consuls for 55. This
would enable them to secure commands to follow their year of office. In return
they agreed to use their influence to secure a further command in Gaul for
Caesar once his allotted five years were completed in 54. 6986
There
was no pretence of holding an open election. In the other elections for the
magistracies feelings ran so high that on one occasion Pompey returned home
spattered with blood. Moderates such as Cicero were now completely impotent, 6990
Cicero 7011
De
Republica, a study of the republican state....a lament for an idealized past
when the various components of the Roman political system, the democratic,
aristocratic, and monarchical, existed in harmony. 7014
He
was a republican by temperament, a believer in the ancient liberties of Rome,
but had to admit, even in De Republica, that the breakdown of order required a
strong man to take control. 7026
One
of the themes of De Republica is Cicero's preoccupation with the duty of
citizens, in particular those of the richer classes, to uphold high standards
of personal morality and to take an active part in government. 7043
Virtually
nothing is known about Lucretius. He was clearly a passionate admirer of
Epicurus and much of De Rerum Natura is devoted to praising the man who had
freed the human race from superstition and religion and the fear of death. 7046
Yet
the whole poem is also infused with the richness of the natural world and
contains a non-theological explanation for the development of life 7049
Caesar
and Pompey: The Showdown 7069
stepping-stones
to further commands. Pompey secured one in Spain, for five years. So as not to
lose his position in Rome he sent legates to govern Spain on his behalf,
something which had never been done before by a governor. He then began raising
troops but retained them in Italy on the pretext that they were being trained
there for Spain. 7070
growing
distance between Caesar and himself. They were now actively competing against
each other for popular support. 7075
Crassus....determined
to lead an army to Parthia......Crassus led seven
legions into the interior. 7082
Crassus'
head was carried off in triumph to be thrown at the feet of the Parthian king.
Only a quarter of the original force of 40,000 managed to struggle back to
Roman territory. 7085
Clodius
and Milo's gangs met on the Appian way. Clodius was wounded, taken to an inn,
and there murdered on the orders of Milo. 7087
The
fire consuming the body got out of hand and the senate house and an adjoining
basilica were burnt down. 7089
In
the chaos the crowds began calling for Pompey's appointment as dictator. 7089
Pompey
immediately set in hand measures to restore order. Corrupt practices were
outlawed and violence curbed, 7092
Caesar,
in fact, had been in trouble. After the first shock of defeat the Gauls had
regrouped and recovered their confidence.
7096
in
52 there had been a far more formidable revolt which had covered much of
central and south-western Gaul. It had been led by Vercingetorix of the
Arverni, the first leader able to transcend tribal loyalties 7099
The
Romans surrounded the stronghold with several kilometres of ditches dotted with
forts and then fought off a large relieving army. Vercingetorix finally
surrendered and was carried off as captive to Rome. (He eventually graced a
triumph of Caesar's in 46 and was then strangled.) 7103
For
the first time the Roman empire had moved beyond the Mediterranean. The new
border of the empire in the north was the Rhine 7105
Caesar
remained vulnerable to counter-attack by the optimates. It is not clear, and
does not seem to have been even to contemporaries, when his command should have
come to an end (the law giving him the command may not have specified a date)
but when it eventually did so he would be vulnerable to prosecution unless he
could secure another imperium 7110
After
his successes in Gaul it would be below his dignity to accept any relationship
with Pompey that was less than one of equality. 7116
Curio,
fearful of what would happen to him when he stopped being tribune, proposed
that both Caesar and Pompey should surrender their commands. The motion was
passed by the concilium with an overwhelming majority 7126
the
consuls, on their own initiative, approached Pompey to ask whether he would
save the city against Caesar. He accepted in what was now an alliance with the
optimates in defence of the Republic. 7128
On
the 7th the senate passed a senatus consultum ultimum, the emergency decree
calling all magistrates to defend the city. If he was to preserve his dignity
Caesar was now left with little choice but to take the initiative. On io
January 49 he crossed a small river, the Rubicon, which marked the boundary of
Cisalpine Gaul within which he could exercise imperium and the rest of Italy
where he could not. He had, in effect, declared war on the republic. 7131
The
Civil War 7134
The
defenders of the republic could call on the two legions in Italy and then on a
further seven in Spain where Pompey still had a legitimate command. Caesar had
to seize Italy before these could be brought home. 7134
In
March the consuls, Pompey, and the republican army managed to leave Italy. 7137
The
summer of 49 was spent by Caesar eliminating Pompey's armies in Spain and this
important success was followed by the submission of Sicily and Sardinia. 7139
It
was a direct confrontation with Pompey, now training up his legions and cavalry
in Macedonia, which was important. Here Caesar's emphasis on speed and surprise
paid off. 7143
nearly
ended in disaster two months later when Pompey, attempting to break through
fortifications which Caesar had erected between him and his naval base,
Dyrrachium, inflicted heavy casualties on Caesar's smaller army. It took all
Caesar's formidable powers of leadership to regroup his forces and finally
bring Pompey to bay at Pharsalus in northern Greece in August. 7146
Although
he was outnumbered by 47,000 to 24,000, Caesar inflicted a crushing defeat on
Pompey. 7148
Pompey
fled...as he stepped ashore he was murdered on the orders of the Egyptian
authorities 7151
Caesar
and Cleopatra withstood a siege by Ptolemy's supporters (it was then that
Caesar, trying to destroy his opponents' ships, succeeded in burning down part
of the famous library of Alexandria) and when he was relieved by troops from
Syria Caesar managed to defeat Ptolemy and install Cleopatra as sole ruler. 7157
Caesar
paused in Rome and then set out in late 47 to Africa, still resolutely held by
supporters of Pompey and the old senatorial order. 7162
Caesar
faced immense logistical problems in landing a force large enough to take on
the fourteen legions awaiting him, but as he gathered strength (he received
some support from descendants of the veterans of Marius' armies) he rounded on
his enemies and the final battle at Thapsus in April 46 was a massacre. 7165
Labienus
actually reached Spain, where, with one of Pompey's sons, Gnaeus, he mounted a
last stand. Caesar arrived in late 46 for a short but savage campaign which
ended in the Battle of Munda (March 45), a hard-won victory which led to the
deaths of both Labienus and Gnaeus. The old order was dead. 7168
Caesar
and the Search for a Political Solution 7170
In
49 he had himself established as dictator and used the power of the post to
ensure he achieved the consulship of 48, the consulship he had always intended
to hold. He also held the dictatorship for short periods in 48 and 47 before it
was given to him for a period of ten years in 46 and for life in 44. 7171
Caesar
acquired on a permanent basis all its powers, which included the right to
overrule all other magistrates and to be immune from the vetoes of the
tribunes. In 46 he was again made consul and never surrendered the post. 7174
Caesar
was, in fact, acquiring the aura of a Hellenistic monarch although he was
careful to scotch any attempts to make him divine or to allow the charged word
rex, king, 7180
new
colonies were set up overseas. Some 80,000 citizens were persuaded to emigrate,
forming permanent centres of Roman culture in the provinces. Citizenship was
also granted to loyal provincial communities. 7184
Caesar's
position within the state.... seemed to be becoming increasingly absolutist,
and opposition began to grow, particularly among the noble families of the
senate who saw the house packed with those Caesar wished to reward 7188
Cicero's
intellectual powers remained intact. In his misery he set himself the task of
presenting the fruits of Greek philosophy in Latin for an audience which could
not read Greek for itself. 7197
In
his exposition of philosophy Cicero adopted a tone of intellectual detachment. 7202
He
believed in countering superstition by reason yet at the same time doubted
whether there was such a thing as certainty. Insofar as he warmed to any school
of philosophy it was to Stoicism with its emphasis on endurance and commitment
to public life for the good of all. 7204
Caesar's
future ambitions were arousing increasing concern. The senate continued to pile
honours on him, the dictatorship for life, 7208
In
his last months he seems to have been attracted to the idea of himself as
divine (as Alexander was). 7214
Caesar
accepted the idea of a temple dedicated to him and the appointment of Mark
Antony as his flamen or priest. 7216
For
many, however, the notion of libertas was one which was sacrosanct. It proved a
powerful rallying call even if it did not offer a clear alternative for
political stability. 7219
On
15 March 44, three days before Caesar was due to leave on campaign, the murder
took place as planned. Caesar fell bleeding to death at the foot of a statue of
Pompey. 7223
The
Aftermath of Caesar 7225
It
now became clear that what they meant was the liberty of the optimates, a
concept which had long since forfeited popular support. 7225
when
it was discovered that Caesar had left his gardens to the city and a sum of
money to each of its citizens, popular fury against the murderers grew and
Brutus and Cassius were forced to leave Rome. 7229
To
his dismay Antony found that Caesar had adopted his 18-year-old nephew,
Octavian, as his son and heir, 7231
In
the senate Cicero launched into a series of speeches against Antony which he
called his Philippics after the great speeches of his hero Demosthenes against
Philip of Macedon 7234
Antony
was indeed defeated in Cisalpine Gaul but both consuls were killed and Octavian
found himself commander of an army of eight legions. These he refused to give
up and marched to Rome to demand and receive a consulship from the humiliated
senate. 7236
He
now threw off the patronage of his elders and marched north on his own
initiative to meet Antony and Lepidus. Between them they could muster
forty-five legions and so there could be no argument when in November 43 they
set up a triumvirate, a government of three. 7237
This
liquidation of the republic was ratified by a meeting of the concilium held in
a Forum ringed by troops. The senate, by allowing Octavian to raise his own
troops and then recognizing him as a consul, had once again helped bring about
its own demise. 7239
All
three of the new rulers owed their position to Caesar and they now took the
opportunity to rid themselves of Caesar's and their own enemies. It was as
important to them to seize land in Italy to settle their large armies. A death
list of 300 senators and 2,000 equestrians was drawn up. 7241
Lepidus
was now left to keep order in Italy while Octavian and Antony headed east.
Their quarry was Brutus and Cassius 7246
At
successive battles at Philippi in Greece in the autumn of 42 they were defeated
by Antony and both committed suicide.
7248
In
January 42 the senate had recognized Caesar as a god. 7251
Octavian
eagerly appropriated his father's status and from now on called himself divi
filius, the son of a god. 7252
When
Octavian simply confiscated the land he needed and wiped out his opponents
Antony reacted and attempted to land in Italy. The two would have fought each
other in 40 if their armies had not been so sick of war. At Brundisium in
September 40 they agreed on a new division of the empire. 7254
Antony
versus Octavian: The Final Struggle of the Republic 7262
Although
Octavian had been as guilty as anyone of bringing disruption to Italy he now
sought to portray himself as a man of peace wedded to the restoration of
traditional Roman values. 7263
Antony,
who, in contrast to the austere Caesar, had a weakness for opulence, succumbed.
He spent the winter of 41 to 40 with Cleopatra in Alexandria and she bore him
twins. 7271
Antony,
who had sent Octavia home when she had become pregnant and renewed his
relationship with Cleopatra, now planned a major invasion of Parthia. It was
launched in 36 and ended in disaster. 7276
from
now on Antony was increasingly dependent on Cleopatra. 7278
Caesarion
was declared the true heir of Caesar (an obvious affront to Octavian) and, with
his mother, joint ruler of Egypt and Cyprus. 7279
when
the news of the ceremony reached Rome in 33 it was easy for Octavian to damn
him as the plaything of a powerful woman who was corrupting Roman virtues with
the decadence of the east. 7282
A
swell of support for Octavian in provincial Italy gave him the auctoritas, the
status, to cancel the consulship promised to Antony for 31. 7285
Both
Antony and Octavian mustered vast forces. Antony had thirty legions and 500
ships, Octavian a fleet of 400. They met at Actium, 7287
Octavian's
forces managed to cut Antony off from the Peloponnese 7288
When
the breakout failed he and Cleopatra abandoned their forces and fled to Egypt. 7289
Why
did the Republic Collapse? 7292
Politically
the most successful years of the Republic had been those when the senate's
authority had been respected and deferred to by the other participants in the
Roman political system. In the third and early second centuries it had
maintained an aura of competence and stability and although its legal powers
were limited it had dominated the decision-making process. Unfortunately the
senate's aura was easily dissipated through its own incompetence and political
clumsiness.....a variety of challenges which the body had proved unable to
meet. 7296
When
outsiders, such as Pompey, also acquired commands, the senate was rendered
impotent. 7298
with
an enlarged and volatile urban population there were opportunities for
unscrupulous manipulators such as Clodius to engineer popular unrest. 7301
Most
valued was the virtue of pudicitia, a word which had connotations both of
fidelity and fertility. 7312
The
univira, the woman who had slept only with her husband and never remarried
after his death, was the sexual ideal,
7313
the
riches of conquest and the cultural impact of the east....women of the richer classes and many were able to indulge in
extravagances which deeply offended the more traditional Roman. 7319
wars
had led to more and more women being widowed, and so emerges the strong
independent woman, 7325
There
was never any pretence that romance played much part in the making of a
marriage which, in aristocratic circles, normally saw an older man, perhaps in
his twenties, being joined to a girl who had just reached puberty. 7329
In
Rome's early history the most common form of marriage was in manus. Here the
father of the bride transferred her, with her dowry, into the hands of her
husband's family and abdicated all responsibility for her. 7335
An
alternative way of marriage, sine manu, allowed the wife to retain membership
of her own family, and thus the right to any inheritance due to her from it,
even though married into another. Her husband no longer had formal control over
her. By the first century BC, for reasons which are not wholly clear, this had
become the most popular form of marriage.
7337
By
the first century AD divorce had become common and had lost much of its stigma
(from the days when it was largely the result of a wife's adultery). Mere
incompatibility seems to have been enough. 7345
even
within a male-dominated world women were given some margins within which they
could maintain an independent life.
7346
There
had now been periods of disruption in Italy since the Social War of 90 BC with
the years 49 to 31 being ones of almost continuous civil war. 7384
Octavian
appeared to be in a position to offer peace. He had a monopoly of armed force,
with some sixty legions under his command and the means to maintain them from
the wealth of Egypt and taxation from the empire.
7385
Octavian
now proved a consummate political operator. In the years that followed he was
to forge a permanent settlement with the senators which transformed the
collapsed republic into an empire while still maintaining the pretence that
republican ideals and institutions persisted.
7393
Octavian's
Character 7397
he
had kept himself tightly disciplined. He was conservative by instinct, 7398
In
short, there was something calculating, even cold, about Octavian. 7404
It
seems clear that most of his public actions were carefully calculated for
effect. Only on a few occasions, such as when three Roman legions were
massacred in the German forests in AD 9, or when he became aware of his daughter
Julia's adulteries, do his emotions seem to have broken through in some kind of
nervous breakdown. He could also be superstitious. 7406
The
`Restoration' of the Republic 7408
Octavian's
immediate aim in 29 BC, when he arrived back in Rome, was to play down any
fears among senators that he might be a military dictator. He had soon
disbanded over 1oo,ooo men and discharged them with land bought out of his own
wealth, notably from the treasury of Egypt which he had appropriated for himself. 7408
A
more manageable peacetime army of twenty-eight legions, probably 150,ooo men,
remained and with some fluctuations this was to remain the standard size of the
army for most of the next century.
7412
He
proclaimed that it was now safe to restore the republic and that he would
surrender all the powers he held back to the senate. 7415
Octavian
was offered the administration of the provinces of Syria, Cilicia, Cyprus,
Gaul, and Spain for ten years. It was in these provinces that the bulk of the
remaining legions were now stationed. Octavian was thus being tacitly confirmed
as the supreme military commander.
7419
A
few days later came the grant of a new name, Augustus, the name by which
Octavian became known through history. It was a highly emotive word evoking
both dignity and piety and its adoption by Octavian added powerfully to his
aura. 7421
Octavian
remained consul, his position renewed from year to year until 23 BC. In this
case he was certainly breaking with republican tradition 7423
Like
any tribune he could summon the senate and the concilium, propose measures to
them, and veto any business he disapproved of.
7430
The
grant of full tribunician powers proclaimed Augustus as guardian of the
people's rights. 7431
Between
22 and 18 Bc Augustus had to take on a variety of roles, including some of the
powers of censor, to placate them. The most useful was that of supervising
grain supplies, a position held by Pompey in the 50s. Public order in Rome, and
thus the survival of the emperor, was so dependent on efficient distribution of
food that this became a responsibility taken on by all subsequent emperors. 7433
in
12 Bc he became pontifex maximus, the official head of the priesthood. 7437
He
seems to have been reacting against the breakdown of family life among the
elite in the late republic. Adultery was made a criminal offence in 18 BC, 7445
The
final honour given to Augustus was the one which he himself said meant most to
him, the title Pater Patriae, `Father of the Fatherland' 7449
There
was no longer any independent centre of decision-making and, almost without
realizing it, the senators had surrendered their traditional role as the
dominant force in Roman political life.
7454
in
accordance with republican traditions, senators continued to fill almost all
the senior posts in the empire, including the governorships of the provinces
and the commands of the legions. An exception was Egypt. The province was
treated as the personal conquest of Augustus, the source in fact of much of his
wealth, and it was governed on his behalf by an equestrian. 7459
It
gradually became common practice, however, for Augustus to write directly to
governors, and soon the cities and provinces themselves began by passing the
senate and appealing directly to him.
7463
Augustus
was also integrated into local ruler cults and became the focus of their
prayers. 7465
By
Augustus' death much of central Rome had been filled with new building and what
was a city of brick had become, in another of his boasts, `a city of marble:
The buildings, statues, and decorations of the city were carefully designed to
project the image of a new revived Rome, proud of its past and its reputation
as a world conqueror. 7476
Italy
had suffered heavily in the first century, in the civil wars and endless
confiscations of land as rival commanders attempted to settle their veterans. 7481
Augustus
looked beyond Rome to the rest of Italy. He repaired roads and bridges,
improved the security of travel by setting up guard posts along the main
routes, and encouraged the building or reconstruction of towns. 7483
The
legions could only recruit from among citizens and in this period this meant
mostly from Italy and overseas citizen colonies. The Celtic tribes of the north
proved one of the best recruiting grounds and army service was an excellent way
of integrating them into the Roman way of life.
7491
In
13 BC the normal period of legionary service was set at sixteen years, with
annual pay of goo sestertii. In AD 5 it was raised to twenty years with a
discharge payment of some 12,000 sestertii. Increasingly it was a sum such as
this rather than land which became the standard payout. 7493
formalized
the setting up of auxiliary units raised in the provinces from non-citizens. 7497
citizenship
was granted to auxiliaries and their families when they retired. 7498
An
elite group among the legionaries was the Praetorian Guard. 7498
Three
of the cohorts were stationed in Rome, the other six in surrounding 7500
As
the only first-class fighting force in the vicinity of Rome their role was to
become crucial at times of instability,
7501
normal
duties included accompanying the emperor both in Rome and when he was on
campaign and on occasions keeping order in the city itself. 7502
Augustus
and the Empire 7503
In
the east it was still bounded by client kingdoms. In the civil wars they had
been loyal to Antony, and one of Augustus' first tasks had been to tour the
east gaining their allegiance for himself (22-19 Bc). They were gradually to be
absorbed into the empire itself.
7503
It
was one of Augustus' major achievements that he came to terms with Parthia, in
20 Bc bullying her into returning the captured Roman standards, and then
setting up Armenia as an independent buffer state between the two empires. 7506
Spain
was pacified with great brutality while Caesar's Gallic conquests were
consolidated into three provinces. The southern borders of the province of
Africa were also stabilized, 7511
In
17 or 16 Bc German tribes spilled over the Rhine, which had marked the limit of
Caesar's conquests. Augustus himself went north to rally the defence and so
began years of fighting along the borders.
7515
initial
pacification of the Balkan tribes took place between 12 and 9, with the
eventual formation of the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia. 7518
Just
as the fighting ended (AD 9) a Roman commander, Varus, who was organizing tax
collection in what is now north-western Germany with three legions to support
him, was ambushed and massacred with all his men. It was an appalling
humiliation and the news shook Augustus more than any other of his reign. 7520
Retreat
had to be made to the Rhine, where no less than eight legions were left
stationed to guard what now had to be accepted as a permanent border. In a
message left at his death Augustus warned his successors not to try to expand
further. 7524
The
Poets of the Augustan Age 7526
Horace's
supreme achievement, the Odes...The Odes cover many
subjects, from the very personal, the fear of death, the satisfaction, even
glory, of being a poet, the intricacies of relationships, to grand public themes
such as the celebration of Augustus' achievements. 7545
within
a very limited range of venues he explores every nuance of personal feeling. He
comes across as a sensuous man, enjoying sex, good wine, the warmth of the sun,
and the fertility of the land, but underlying his work is an anxiety about
being accepted socially, 7548
Virgil,
comes across as shy and less socially adept.
7556
The
Eclogues are pastoral poems in which peace on the land is contrasted with the
threat of the disruption of war.
7561
In
the Georgics, the measured toil of farming life, its steady cultivation of
crops, its frugality in the midst of fertility, which peace makes possible,
echo back to the mythical past of Rome when the state was made up largely of farmers. 7567
The
Aeneid, written between 29 and i9 BC, comes at a culmination of his life, a
rare instance when an artist happens to end on the highest note possible,
without a decline into old age. 7571
Augustus'
adoptive family, the Julians, claimed their own descent from Aeneas and so
indirectly Virgil was glorifying his emperor. 7578
courage
in tackling the agonies involved in power and destiny. Rome has been given its
tasks by the gods and must not flinch from achieving its empire.
7582
Yet
there is an end, order established and the rise of Rome foretold. 7586
Ovid 7589
He
never committed himself to the imperial establishment to the same degree as
Horace and Virgil and he emerges as a freer and less inhibited poet as a
result. 7593
every
single girl can be caught and that you'll catch her if you set your toils
right. 7598
love
is treated as conquest by men and women who are otherwise bored with life. As
it follows its decadent theme, the Art of Love is filled with the detail of
everyday life in Roman society, 7600
Augustus
certainly disliked Ovid's celebration of sexual freedom for women at a time
when he was trying to uphold more austere moral codes, but there was some other
more serious offence, possibly association with political opposition. Augustus
summoned him personally in AD 8 and sent him into remote exile to the Black
Sea. 7677
The
Problem of the Succession 7680
the
principate had become too firmly entrenched for the republic to be restored. 7681
Augustus
had been trying, in true monarchical fashion, to designate an heir. His hopes
rested on his only daughter Julia, whom he exploited shamelessly in the hope of
producing male grandchildren. 7682
Julia
was bullied into a third marriage to Tiberius, the son of Augustus' wife,
Livia, by her first husband. 7686
Julia
took refuge in a string of adulteries which caused so much scandal she was
eventually exiled by her father from Rome.
7687
Augustus
was forced to adopt his stepson Tiberius as his own son and designate him as
heir. 7688
Tiberius,
however, conscious that he was not Augustus' first choice and now in his
fifties, accepted only out of his sense of duty. 7690
Suetonius
and Tacitus 7711
Tacitus'
earliest work is a panegyrical life of his father-in-law, Agricola, governor in
Britain, whom he felt Domitian had betrayed. This was followed by the Germania,
a study of the German tribes. 7721
There
is a strong moral undertone to Tacitus' writings and he is fascinated by the
problems caused by tyrannical rule, in particular for those `good' men who
manage to survive under it. 7725
Tacitus
above all others probes the individual personality transformed by political
absolutism....' 7728
Tiberius
7732
Tiberius
was one of the most gifted men of his age and certainly the most experienced of
the possible successors to Augustus.
7734
The
twenty-three years of Tiberius' reign were crucial ones for consolidating the
foundations laid by Augustus. 7739
The
recognition of a ruling dynasty, the `Julio-Claudian, shows just how
fundamental the shift in power within the Roman state had become. 7742
The
people of Rome, hungry as ever for `bread and circuses, were no better
impressed. Squandering resources on shows was not Tiberius' way and the crowds
focused instead on Germanicus, Tiberius' nephew,
7748
in
26 he withdrew to an imperial palace on the island of Capri. 7755
In
Rome, with the senate now apparently unable to take any form of initiative,
there was a power vacuum. It was filled by Sejanus, the Prefect of the
Praetorian Guard. 7756
Tiberius
trusted him ('my partner in toil, he described him on one occasion) and had
made him fellow consul for part of the year 31. When he discovered later in
that year how Sejanus was plotting to succeed him his reaction was immediate. 7760
He
was executed the same day and his family was included so that his line would be
destroyed for ever. 7762
Old
age, isolation, and suspicion of those jockeying for power now that the
succession was open made his last years ones of deepening gloom and even
terror. 7764
The
Prosperity of Italy 7768
the
first century saw the countryside dotted with comfortable farmhouses and the
villas of a richer class. 7769
As
richer landowners consolidated their advantages in an expanding market the
distribution of wealth in Italy may, however, have become even more unequal. 7774
There
is no evidence to suggest that the life of the majority-the tenant farmer or
the small peasant producer, for instance-was anything other than hard, even in
this time of relative prosperity. 7787
Caligula
7788
Gaius
was only 24 and untried. He had never had the sobering experience of commanding
an army, for instance. Now he suddenly had the enormous but still loosely
defined powers of an emperor together with a vast fortune 7791
began
such a vast spending spree that most of his inheritance was exhausted within a
year. 7793
Extravagant
antics were at first popular with the Roman crowds. It was good entertainment
and inevitably some of the big spending trickled down to the poor, but as the
money ran out and Gaius dreamed up new taxes which fell on the urban poor his
popularity quickly slumped. 7800
With
no constitutional means of removing an emperor, the only way was assassination. 7804
the
old republican cry of the aristocracy, libertas, was briefly heard in the
senate house. However, the republic was by now past restoration. Once again the
senate simply acquiesced in events when the Praetorian Guard proposed as the
new emperor Claudius, a brother of Germanicus,
7806
Claudius
recovered his composure quickly enough to reward the Guard with money, a
precedent they were not to forget.
7808
The
Emperor Claudius 7809
Claudius'
weakness was that he had no centre of support, either in the senate, which felt
that he had been foisted on it, or in the army, which had never seen him in
command. 7813
thirty-five
senators are known to have been executed during his reign. 7816
A
Roman conquest would secure southern Britain, stabilize it, and provide plunder
to refill the imperial treasury depleted by the extravagances of Gaius. 7821
The
business of the empire was gradually becoming more complex. In addition to
Britain two more provinces in Mauretania, as well as Thrace and Lycia, were
added to the empire in his reign.
7829
These
developments, added to the failure of the senate to participate in public
business, led Claudius to develop his own imperial bureaucracy. 7833
consolidation
of an imperial bureaucracy further diminished the role of the senate. 7838
As a
further blow to senatorial prestige Claudius transferred other
responsibilities, such as the regulation of the grain supply and the care of
roads in Rome, to himself, 7840
Rome
was a crowded, bustling, and often dangerous city with a population of perhaps
a million. A city of this size was unable to support itself from a
pre-industrial economy and the empire's economy and state administration was
distorted to keep Rome alive and politically quiescent. 7842
200,000
tonnes of grain had to be imported a year, with much of it distributed free to
the poorer citizens of the city.
7843
the
popular image of Claudius, drawn from the pages of Suetonius.....is of a man at
the mercy of his unscrupulous and scheming wives.
7848
Claudius'
next wife was Agrippina....Agrippina seems to have consolidated her position
quickly, perhaps because Claudius' powers were failing. She had herself
proclaimed Augusta, 7855
it
was important for Agrippina to act fast. In October 54 Claudius died, the
victim, it was said, of a dish of poisonous mushrooms fed to him by Agrippina.
Nero, still aged only 16, was proclaimed emperor.
7858
Nero
7860
Nero
had no military experience and showed no interest in acquiring any. The
maintenance of good order in the army was left to the initiative of local
commanders. 7865
Claudius
had left a stable and well-governed empire. In his leading adviser, Seneca, and
the Praetorian Prefect, Burrus, Nero was well served. 7866
Seneca
is remembered as the most articulate proponent of Roman Stoicism. 7868
Stoics
saw the world as one community, a single brotherhood, evolving under the
benevolent care of a presiding force. The individual was both part of this
force and yet also subject to it. Within a framework which he could not control
he nevertheless had a role in helping to bring the whole to fruition. 7869
the
Stoic had a duty to take part in public life, to uphold the moral order when he
could, and to endure the unfolding of events when he could not. 7871
Later
Stoics offered resistance to those emperors who seemed determined to upset the
natural evolution of the world by their tyrannical behaviour. 7875
The
importance of Seneca is that he humanized Stoicism. 7877
Gradually,
however, Nero's activities became more sinister. In 59, egged on by his
mistress Poppaea, he decided to murder his mother. 7885
Soon
a reign of terror began. 7888
When
a fire destroyed much of Rome in 64 it was soon rumoured that Nero had started
it. He almost certainly did not but he used as a scapegoat the small
Greek-speaking Christian community of the city and persecuted them so brutally
that he simply did his own image further damage.
7889
coinage
was debased to help pay for the cost. 7893
lax
control at the centre of the empire was having its impact in the provinces. 7893
massive
uprising by the Iceni tribe under their chieftain, Boudicca, 7894
army
was once again humiliated by the Parthians
7895
Most
formidable of all was a Jewish revolt, set off in 66 by the clumsy behaviour of
a Greek governor, appointed under the influence of Poppaea. A million died in
the following years as it was suppressed.
7897
The
most effective commander of the age, and a hero to Tacitus, was Domitius
Corbulo, 7901
Nero
grew increasingly jealous of his success and ordered him to commit suicide 7903
he
had the six richest men in Africa killed so that he could gain their land, 7904
first
time an emperor had taken a personal interest in Greek culture and perhaps
marks the moment when the Greeks began to feel part of the empire. 7908
In
68 a revolt broke out 7911
Galba
was acclaimed as imperator by his troops.
7912
The
senate and the Praetorian Guard (once again rewarded handsomely for their
pains) rallied to Galba and proclaimed him the new emperor. Nero, waiting in a
suburban villa for a boat to take him from Italy, killed himself. 7915
AD
69: A Long Year of Revolt 7916
By
early 69 the legions along the Rhine had revolted and declared their own
candidate for the throne, the governor of the province of Lower Germany, Aulus
Vitellius. 7919
one
of Galba's leading supporters, Marcus Salvius Otho....won over the Praetorian
Guard, who proclaimed him emperor, and then used them to assassinate Galba in
the Forum. 7921
Vitellius
had the support of Spain, Gaul, and Britain, Otho of Italy, Africa, and the
east. In the event the war ended quickly. Vitellius' troops invaded Italy and
defeated Otho at Cremona in April.
7923
yet
another contender was allowed to come forward. This was Titus Flavius
Vespasianus.....found the border
legions of the Danube and Syria and his own legions in Judaea and Egypt
rallying to him. 7929
civil
war had broken out between the supporters of Vitellius and those of Vespasian.
The Praetorian Guard, whose fickle allegiance was now to Vitellius, was wiped
out and peace was finally restored by one of Vespasian's supporters, 7932
Vespasian
was in his turn recognized by the senate,
7933
Vespasian
was a usurper, `an emperor; in Tacitus' celebrated phrase, `made elsewhere than
at Rome', but he fitted without difficulty into the imperial framework. 7936
There
were three Flavian emperors, Vespasian (69-79) and his sons, Titus (79-81) and
Domitian (81-96). They personified a new phase in the development of the
empire, one when the emperor could come from outside the traditional noble
families of Rome and make his way to power through sheer merit. 7938
he
also had a sound awareness of what the empire needed-the definition of
boundaries, stable provincial government, and a widening of citizenship so that
its subjects could be progressively drawn into loyalty. 7941
Vespasian's
son, Titus, brought the revolt to a bloody end with the capture of Jerusalem in
70. 7943
the
shattering of Vitellius' legions had left the Roman presence weaker and
encouraged revolt. On the Rhine border the auxiliary troops, raised from local
peoples, defected en masse 7944
it
took eight legions to restore order.
7946
in
the reigns of Vespasian and Domitian that the German borders were defined by
permanent barriers. 7948
gradual
shift of troops from Britain and the Rhine frontier towards the Danube. There
was a threat here from the Dacians.
7951
Vespasian
was known for his distaste of extravagance but his political instincts told him
when it was justified. It was during his reign that one of the great surviving
monuments of ancient Rome, the Colosseum, was begun. 7958
By
the first century AD, gladiator fights predominated at the games. These combats
had originated in republican times, at funerals. There appears to have been a
belief that the souls of the dead needed to be propitiated by human blood. 7967
Gradually
the combats became more ostentatious and figured among the public
entertainments offered by aspiring politicians. Under Augustus the shows, even
those held outside Rome, became associated with the largesse of the emperor and
an essential part of his patronage
7969
The
courage involved and the aura of physical strength and sexual potency was so
powerful that many ordinary Romans were attracted by the profession. 7977
`It
amazes me', wrote Pliny the Younger, a senator and provincial governor, `that
thousands and thousands of grown men should be like children, wanting to look
at horses running and men standing on chariots again and again, but they did. 7981
The
gladiatorial contests and other games were not just shows for the public's
amusement. They were also political events, ones in which the emperor
confronted his people in a way which was no longer possible elsewhere now that
the popular assemblies had lost their powers.
7986
In
his decision as to whether to allow wounded gladiators to live or die he
exercised an absolute power. `It was, as Keith Hopkins remarks, `a dramatic
enactment of imperial power repeated several times a day before a mass audience
of citizens, conquerors of the world.' 7989
Vespasian
involved equestrians more fully in the administration of the empire 7994
Equestrians
were much more socially acceptable as administrators to the provincial notables
than freedmen and it made good sense to draw on their skills, a process which
was to continue over the next centuries.
7996
Domitian, 7997
earned
the hatred of the senators. He was arrogant and autocratic by nature, 7998
his
increasing absolutism also aroused opposition from conventional senators
inspired by Stoicism. 8000
stabbed
to death within his palace in September 96.
8002
Trajan:
The Model Emperor 8003
designate
a successor, Marcus Cocceius Nerva, an elderly senator of impeccable lineage
whose career had been one of modest achievement but whose geniality and
mildness had offended no one......provide a period of
calm after the terror of Domitian's last years.
8005
his
wisest move was to have a strong successor already installed as joint emperor
at the time of his death in January 98. 8007
new
emperor was Marcus Ulpius Traianus, known to history as Trajan. 8008
origins
were long-established settler stock in Spain. His accession marked a further
widening of the circle from which emperors could be drawn 8009
Trajan
was to be extolled down the ages as the ideal emperor, the monarch that
medieval rulers took as their example.
8010
Trajan
was governor of Upper Germany and it is interesting that he lingered there for
over a year before returning to Rome....a
sign, too, that the business of an emperor was no longer necessarily centred on
Rome. Trajan marks the shift towards the emperor as one who is expected to
confront Rome's enemies in person.
8016
assiduous
in intervening in the affairs of cities, settling disputes and telling them how
to arrange their affairs. He was in fact a paternalist 8022
Trajan
also proved to be the last great conqueror of the Roman empire. 8027
Trajan
fought two wars in Dacia, in 101-2 and 105-6. The first war ended in an armed
truce, the second in the complete defeat of the Dacians. 8030
Armenia
was overrun and made into a province and then Trajan extended Roman control
over Mesopotamia, 8037
Hadrian
8041
While
he was still in the east four senators appeared to challenge his succession in
Rome and they were executed....an episode which
permanently damaged his relationship with the senate. 8044
twelve
of his twenty-one years of rule were spent in the provinces. 8048
Hadrian
is remembered above all as a builder. In Rome there is the Pantheon, and his
mausoleum (now the Castel San Angelo).
8052
his
patronage was critical in fostering the integration of the Greek provinces more
fully into the empire. 8055
He
quickly surrendered Trajan's conquests in the east (it may have been this that
affronted the senators who conspired against him) and established the first
unbroken border fortifications. 8058
One
of the implications of the settled borders was that the army's role became more
limited and thus there was a risk of declining morale. 8059
One
consequence of Hadrian's continuous travels was that imperial decision-making
was consolidated independently of the senate in Rome. 8061
by
Hadrian's reign it is clear that the emperor's decisions on matters brought to
him directly were now also considered to have the force of law. 8064
there
was certainly no area of public life to which the senate could any longer claim
exclusivity. 8066
Increasingly
the magistracies became ceremonial posts whose main function was the demanding
one of distributing largesse and games.
8068
The
`Good' Emperor 8071
There
was by this time a paradigm of a good emperor. He should work tirelessly in the
service of the state and be resolute in the maintenance of public order and in
the defence of the empire. He should be sensitive to those with ancient
privileges, such as senators, and munificent in the giving of games and
benefactions to cities. In the old traditions of the republican magistracies he
was expected to be approachable.
8074
the
importance of imperial propaganda. It was not only that the emperor had to be
capable in practice, he had to continually remind his subjects of the fact. 8081
It
was this common interest of emperors and the provincial elites in sustaining
imperial power which underpinned the survival of the empire. 8088
The
emperor also needed to assert his legitimacy as the one favoured by the gods.
This was stressed through the development of the imperial cult through which
the emperor was seen as a divine figure largely because of his seemingly
boundless power. 8091
By
the end of this century emperors such as Diocletian are stressing their
relationship with a favoured god, in Diocletian's case Jupiter, although as the
emperor drew closer to the chosen god, whether pagan, or in the later empire,
Christian, so he became more removed from his subjects, no longer a Hadrian,
accessible personally to his subjects, but a personification, 8096
Underlying
all this was the emperor as successful warlord.
8099p
Neither
east nor west has been able to sate them. Alone of all men they covet rich
nations and poor nations with equal passion. They rob, they slaughter, they
plunder-and they call it `empire'. Where they make a wasteland they call it
`peace'. 8148
Maintaining
Control 8149
Capital
punishment was used not only to eliminate undesirables but to act as an example
to others. Crucifixions provided a slow death in public. The execution of
criminals was institutionalized as public display on a far greater scale in the
arena. 8163
The
use of terror as example was deeply embedded in the Roman mind. 8168
In
the original conquests of the empire one defiant city was often singled out for
particularly harsh treatment in an attempt to cow the rest into quick
submission. 8169
The
only way to keep down this scum is by intimidation. 8174
Exemplary
punishment always contains an element of injustice. But individual wrongs are
outweighed by the advantage to the community.
8175
torture
and ill-treatment of suspects was routine.
8178
The
Administration of the Provinces 8179
In
the early years there were few restraints on plunder. The election system made
it inevitable that governorships would be used to recoup election expenses and
individual governors went well beyond fulfilling this need. 8184
There
was in fact a tension between those who indulged in or condoned exploitation of
the empire and those who had the vision or prudence to see that unrestrained
plundering was immoral and self-defeating.
8193
Intrinsic
to stable imperial government was the development of the emperors' legal
powers. 8215
the
emperor had the right to issue edicts proclaiming laws of a general character 8216
Decrees
(decreta) were rulings by the emperors on specific legal issues and although
not binding on all cases came to have the force of law. Later in the empire
edicts and rulings were synthesized in law codes e.g. those of Theodosius II
(438) and Justinian (534)¥ 8217
The
Structure of Administration 8218
A
governor was provided with a remarkably small staff. 8224
The
total number of senior officials was no more than 150 for the whole empire,
perhaps one for every 6oo,ooo of its subjects.
8227
The
original purpose of the roads was military, to provide a fast means for the
legions to reach areas where trouble brewed, but once established they provided
a means of uniting the peoples of the empire.
8229
There
was always a critical time in a new province when order was imposed. Any
combination of mismanagement and greed at this moment could be disastrous. 8236
revolt
of the Iceni in Britain in AD 6o is a good example. 8236
70,000
Romans and loyalists killed. 8241
Once
order had been secured in a province a census was put in hand. The purpose of
the census was to provide the basis on which two taxes, a poll tax and a tax on
property, could be assessed. 8246
Italy
and Italian colonies remained exempt from these two taxes, a legacy of the days
when republican plunder had balanced public expenditure. The exemption was
finally ended by the emperor Diocletian. 8254
Augustus
had instituted an inheritance tax, payable only by citizens, specifically to
fund discharge settlements for the army.
8255
indirect
taxes on goods in transit, 8256
sales
tax. 8257
The
taxation system had the advantage of being easy to administer and cheap to run.
The revenue, normally in denarii, but also in kind, was transferred upwards to
the imperial treasury and could then be distributed according to the needs of
the empire. 8262
The
weakness of the system was its inflexibility and perhaps the relatively low
level at which taxation was set. If there was a sudden crisis, an attack on the
borders, for instance, the system had few spare resources and could not raise
new ones quickly. 8265
Gradually
the use of Roman law became more popular, particularly when individuals from
different cities or opposing legal systems were involved. It had well-set-out
procedures and the use of precedent gave it some stability. 8279
The
Frontiers 8290
Rome
needed its luxuries, amber and fur from the Baltic, silks from China, and
spices from elsewhere in the east and gold from deep within Africa. Barry
Cunliffe argues that Rome's greatest need was for slaves-an estimated 140,000
were required annually to maintain the supply of the empire, and so contacts
had to be sustained outside the empire.
8302
The
Army 8316
Gone
were the days of continuous conquest and now the army could expect to be
largely immobile for years at a time.
8316
over
half of the legions were strung along the Danube-Euphrates axis. 8320
This
was why Rome became increasingly marginalized as a command centre and why, in
the fourth century, Constantine was to choose what had hitherto been the Greek
city of Byzantium, at the fulcrum of this axis, as his new capital,
Constantinople. 8320
the
army absorbed some 70 per cent of the state's resources and it was the focus of
an enormous official bureaucracy which kept records of every detail of its
day-to-day life, its effective strength and its operations. 8322
as
citizenship, the main criterion for entry to the army, spread, it drew on a
larger and larger pool of the subject peoples of the empire. 8324
The
Roman people owed the conquest of the world to no other cause than military
training, discipline in their camps, and practice in warfare. 8332
The
emperor was thus, in effect, their supreme commander and at times of crisis was
expected to lead them in battle.
8338
The
legions always showed special respect for an emperor who shared their life with
them while on campaign and throughout the empire military success was
fundamental to the emperor's status. 8341
In
a society where inherited status remained important, the army was a major
instrument of social mobility, a means by which a man could achieve respected
status purely through merit. 8346
With
the changed conditions of the first and second centuries the legions became
settled in bases, normally stone fortresses laid out on a standardized pattern.
Civilian settlements often grew up around them.
8350
The
danger was lax discipline. Hadrian recognized that if a halt was called to
expansion there was danger of demoralization and stagnation among the troops
and he was assiduous in preventing this breakdown of order. 8354
From
Augustus' reign there was also increasing reliance on auxiliary troops. The
auxiliaries were recruited from non-citizens and grouped in units of 500 or
1,ooo men. The emphasis was on skills, in archery or horsemanship, for
instance, which were lacking in the heavy infantry of the legions. 8359
promise
of citizenship at the end of service.
8362
The
Integration of Local Elites 8365
`Roman'
culture came to predominate. Insofar as the Roman city and in the countryside,
the Roman villa became the focus of life for local elites in many parts of the
empire 8366
In
cases such as Greece and Egypt, there were civilizations much older than that
of Rome and these retained a sense of cultural superiority.
8368
As
a generalization it could be said that the Roman empire survived because it
gained the allegiance of the provincial elites who came to understand that
their own status not only depended on the security provided by the Romans but
could be enhanced by it. 8373
This
was the crucial point. Rome had allied herself so successfully with provincial
ruling classes that they collaborated in keeping order and maintaining a common
front against threats from below.
8382
One
of the developments of the second century was a more formal distinction,
enshrined in law, between those citizens who were honestiores, of higher
status, and the humiliores, the rest.
8385
the
focus for the sense of shared values must be, as Aelius Aristides stressed, the
city. 8388
First
there were the coloniae, garrison towns of legionaries or veterans, established
primarily for strategic reasons.
8391
In
addition to the coloniae, were the municipia. The term was originally used of a
self-governing community which had become an ally of Rome 8395
The
term civitas, community, was used to designate a free-standing community, of
non-citizen status, often based on a local ethnic group 8396
Until
212, when Caracalla declared that all subjects of the empire (except slaves and
some categories of freedmen) were citizens, the process developed naturally as
an individual, by virtue of a magistracy in a city or service in an auxiliary
army unit, for instance, acquired citizenship and then passed it on to his descendants. 8417
The
Survival of Greek Culture 8423
Romans
could show contempt to the Greeks for their lack of fighting spirit but had to
respect their intellectual achievements.
8424
By
the second century one can find members of both the Greek and Roman elites
being aware of a common paideia, the Greek term for the educated man's way of
being in terms of a shared education, attitudes, and mannered relationships
with others. 8428
Plutarch
was the forerunner of a cultural movement which its adherents termed the Second
Sophistic. The sophists of the second century AD were not philosophers as such
but rather rhetoricians specializing in formal declamations modelled on earlier
Athenian examples. 8441
They
were Greek and proud of it but, like Plutarch, realized the contribution of
Rome to allowing their class and their cities to survive. 8444
It
is a reminder that the Greek intellectual adventure was still alive. Among the
most significant figures of the period are Ptolemy, an astronomer and
geographer, who worked in Alexandria between AD 127 and 141, and the physician
and logician Galen (AD 129-c.200 or later). 8450
we
see in the second century the emergence of `a sophisticated antiquarian
classicism drawing on eclectic sources to demonstrate its scholarship, taste
and expertise: Often the style is so eclectic that dating of a work of art from
this period becomes difficult. 8470
What
was important for the survival of the empire was the readiness of the Romans to
tolerate local gods 8477
Even
the most elite Romans were attracted by ancient Greek cults, and at Eleusis one
finds emperors and senators applying for admission to the mysteries. 8479
In
the west, local gods seldom had the prestige or cultural resilience to stand up
to those of Rome and a common practice was for a Roman god to absorb a local
deity. 8480
Romanization
involved, for many, some mastery of Latin.
8486
literacy
was quite widespread. 8490
If
there was a birthplace of Roman architecture it was not Rome, nor even Greece,
but the cities of coastal Campania, wealthy settlements along the Bay of Naples
to the south of Rome. 8500
Even
a small Campanian town such as Pompeii had achieved a sophisticated lifestyle
long before the same was available in Rome. 8510
Only
the emperors had the resources and political need to make a major impact on
architecture while the stability of imperial rule stimulated the spread of
building throughout the empire. 8513
Among
the essentials were paved streets and drains, an aqueduct to bring in fresh
water (not least to supply the public and private baths), an amphitheatre and a
theatre, a forum, temples, and basilicas for public business.
8519
The
first aqueduct of Rome, the Aqua Appia, had been constructed as early as 312
BC. 8524
In
fact whenever possible they were run underground to protect the purity of the
water and its possible contamination by enemies.
8530
a
task force of slaves was kept by the emperors specifically to keep them in
repair. 8532
The
form of the triumphal arch became a symbol of Roman imperialism which spread
throughout the empire but which was adopted with particular enthusiasm in the
eastern and north African provinces. 8540
The
transformation of cities such as Rome was helped by the development of a
strengthened form of concrete, 8541
The
new concrete provided the possibility of a totally different approach to
architecture, one in which the encapsulation of space, rather than just the
construction of a structural mass, became possible. 8547
The
first developments can be seen in the Domus Aurea, the `Golden House, built by
Nero as a palace for himself after the burning of Rome. 8549
a
truly revolutionary way of using space and light. 8553
In
Trajan's reign the plunder of Dacia provided the opportunity for another
massive building programme in Rome.
8558
With
the Pantheon, the temple to all the gods, however, he exploited to the full the
confidence with which Roman builders now used concrete. 8567
The
whole building (mercifully saved by transformation into a Christian church in
the seventh century) stands today as the supreme achievement of Roman
architecture. 8572
Romans
incorporated the concept of the Greek gymnasium into the bath complex so that,
typically, there were palaestrae, exercise areas, on either side of the
frigidarium and libraries, galleries, and even shops. The Roman could satisfy
not only his or her physical requirements, but also his social, intellectual,
and sexual needs 8581
Hadrian
eventually had to decree the segregation of the sexes. 8584
There
was no better way to make the ordinary citizen of Rome feel he was part of a
proud empire, and baths became part of Romanization throughout the provinces. 8591
Wealth
and Identity 8603
Even
if there was a wealth requirement for all these classes, that wealth had to be
displayed within conventional ways.
8607
An
acceptable approach to lavish spending lay in patronage of one's local city. 8609
On
a day-to-day level a great man would have an open house in the sense of making
his wealth available for others to enjoy rather than shutting it away behind
closed doors. The size of a man's entourage bound to him as patron was an
important mark of his public status.
8611
patron-client
relationship was central to Roman society.
8614
A
patron would gain added status from his ability to place his clients 8619
so
deeply engrained that with the coming of Christianity bishops become patrons
(petitioning the emperor for exemptions from tax for their clergy) and even
clients in the sense of adopting `patron saints' to represent them at the
`court' of the Last Judgement. 8623
Both
describe the streets blocked with people, the decaying tenements, with the roof
tiles falling from them on to passers-by, the appalling noise of the city. 8627
homes
are no more than flimsy boards, vulnerable to fire and collapse. 8631
the
life of the small dusty towns of the east and the countryside surrounding them.
It is not a wealthy world and there is little in the way of luxury. 8638
Slavery
in the Roman World 8660
in
the early days of Rome slaves were defeated enemies whom the victor had the
right to kill but chose to preserve,
8664
The
defeated were also, in Roman ideology, seen as abject in themselves. From there
it was possible to argue that slaves were slaves because they were, or had
become through misfortune, servile in nature.
8665
There
was little economic rationale for slavery. In a society where the mass of the
population was very poor, it was probably as cheap to employ casual labour when
needed as to buy a slave and maintain his or her fitness throughout the year. 8676
No
section of the economy would have collapsed if there had been no slaves.
Rather, as Keith Bradley puts it: `The social and economic benefits that
accrued to owners derived from their almost limitless abilities to control and
coerce human property.' 8678
There
was nothing (until a few humanitarian measures introduced by the emperors in
the mid-second century AD) to restrain the brutality of owners 8684
A
secure and well-managed household might actually offer a better life for the
slave than the streets and farms outside.
8694
Manumission
and Freedmen 8699
Where
Rome differed from Greece was that slaves could be freed and their descendants
become full citizens. 8699
Most
freedmen remained close to their previous owners and were supported by them in
their new lives, often as tradesmen and craftsmen in the cities, 8706
Traditional
Romans, however, viewed the rise of the freedman to a position of wealth with
horror. 8708
The
emperor Diocletian may have himself been a freed slave or at least the son of
one. 8711
Land
and Survival in the Roman Empire. 8714
Throughout
the Roman period the staples of the Mediterranean `dry farming' economy
remained, as they had been in earlier times, olives and grapes, supplemented by
cereal crops, and cattle, sheep, and goats for meat, milk, wool, and leather.
In the north of Europe, where the sun is limited and the soils are heavier,
olives would not grow at all and vines only on specially favoured sites. Here
cereal and vegetable production was predominant.
8718
The
evidence suggests that farmers as a whole benefited from the pax romana, the
centuries of stable Roman rule. In normal times they could get on with their
work without interruption. 8729
the
amount of land cultivated increased and that population grew to be higher in
the first centuries AD than 1,000 years earlier or 500 years later. 8731
evidence
for some increase in productivity, that is the yield of crops per unit of land. 8732
The
main incentive for increased production at local level was, however, provided
by the state itself, through its demands for tax or rent in money or in kind. 8734
there
was a growth in the number of medium-sized or large estates farmed by tenants,
slaves, or free labour at the expense of smaller peasant farms although these
never disappeared. 8743
Field
surveys are showing just how widespread the villa became in the more fertile
areas of the empire, particularly in the west.
8747
Villas
required craftsmen, builders, plasterers, tilers, and mosaic layers. Typically
the owners would also buy in all the trappings of civilized Roman living, 8756
economic
symbiosis between villa and urban centre.
8759
Cities
and the Economy 8763
vast
majority of the cities of the empire supported themselves through the fruits of
local agriculture, 8763
The
commercial city able to maintain itself from trade or industry was unknown 8765
exploitation
of the countryside may perhaps have been the price the Romans paid for
maintaining the local provincial elites intact. The extent to which the empire
was undermined by the alienation of the mass of its population living in rural
areas through the depredations of the wealthy and the demands of taxation is
still debated but it certainly seems to have been a factor in later decline. 8771
The
relationship between cities, such as Rome, and local economies elsewhere can be
plotted from another part of the empire which helped sustain Rome through its
grain and other produce, north Africa.
8785
The
overall effect was to stimulate and sustain a large number of towns. In origin
these were a mix of ancient Phoenician cities, Roman garrison towns, citizen
colonies, and local market towns
8789
The
remains of these cities, with their theatres, temples (often dedicated to the
Roman pantheon, Juno, Jupiter, and Minerva), triumphal arches, and gateways
still scattering the landscape, attest to the success of the Romans in creating
a common imperial culture 8792
If
north Africa showed a whole region could benefit from access to Rome and the
wider Mediterranean economy, the army also had its own economic impact.
Soldiers were comparatively well paid and there could be several thousand men
in a single garrison, 8804
Trade
Routes 8811
carriage
costs by sea were a fifth of those by river and one-twenty-eighth of those
overland. Overland transport was slow and expensive. 8811
The
Social and Economic Impact of Trade 8833
Hopkins
argues that there are clear signs of a market economy with its own dynamism. 8844
evidence
for the intensification of every aspect of the traditional Mediterranean
economy, including trade, during the first centuries AD. 8845
The
Roman economy provides only a few instances of technological innovation in any
area. 8846
The
Roman economy remained overwhelmingly dependent on the land and as such was
severely limited by the natural forces which conditioned Mediterranean
agriculture. 8853
The
empire was, in fact, exceptionally vulnerable to war and invasion. 8867
Threats
to the Empire 8870
The
Romans had long accepted that the Germans could not be incorporated into the
empire. Experience had shown that their heavily wooded lands were impossible to
conquer. 8871
There
seems to have been steady population growth together with the emergence of new,
often expansionist, tribal groups.
8879
Goths
appear in the early third century....amalgam
of various migratory peoples, eastern German tribes and the original settlers
of the Black Sea region. 8881
They
gathered their resources around the Black Sea and eventually were strong enough
to threaten Asia Minor and the Balkans. In south-east Europe they came into
conflict with the Sarmatians, nomadic peoples of Asian origin, who had
established themselves on the Hungarian plain. The Sarmatians in their turn
were pushed towards the Roman frontier. 8883
This
period also sees the emergence of new Germanic cultures further north. One of
them, the so-called Przeworsk culture which appeared in the late second century
between the Vistula and Oder rivers, stands out because of its rich warrior
burials. Another is the so-called Oksywie culture on the lower Vistula. These
cultures were more highly militarized
8885
evidence
suggests that a new tribe, the Burgundians, emerged on the Elbe to the west of
the Vistula about the same time as the home of the Oksywie culture became
deserted. Similarly another German tribe, the Vandals, may have been the
successors of the people of the Przeworsk culture. 8888
The
emergence and expansion of these peoples put the German tribes along the Roman
frontier under increasing pressure. One result was to force the smaller
scattered peoples into larger tribal units. The process probably began in the
early third century. 8891
The
central German tribes were drawn together as a confederation known as the
Alamanni ('all men'), first attested in 213. The Franks emerged slightly later
along the lower Rhine while the Saxons appear along the coast of the North Sea. 8892
By
the middle of the third century the Romans were vulnerable along the whole
northern border from Saxons, Franks, Alamanni, Sarmatians, Goths, and other
smaller tribes. 8897
So
long as the pressures from the north and north-east and the endless regrouping
of peoples beyond the borders continued, even a major victory over the German
tribes could not bring a lasting peace.
8900
In
the early third century the last of the Parthian kings, Artabanus V, was
overthrown by one Ardashir, king of a tiny state in the southern province of
Persis, the birthplace of the Achaemenid empire (see p. 105). Ardashir
proclaimed himself to be heir of Achaemenids
8907
The
Sasanian state was fervently nationalist, purged Persia of foreign influences,
including those lingering from the Greeks, and revived the traditional religion
of Zoroaster. 8910
Marcus
Aurelius 8913
When
the Parthians invaded in 161, Verus was dispatched east to deal with them but
he only managed to beat them off with difficulty. When the war was finally over
in 166 the returning troops brought plague back into the empire and meanwhile a
variety of German tribes, the Chatti, Marcomanni, and Quadi among them, had
taken advantage of the weakened northern frontier to raid into the empire. 8916
Marcus
Aurelius now took on the challenge of defending the empire in person and for
most of his reign he was campaigning along the Danube borders. 8919
Marcus
Aurelius struck back with some success but in 175 a false report of his death encouraged
an easterner, Avidius Cassius, to declare himself emperor and Marcus had to
abandon the frontiers to deal with him, losing the advantage he had won. 8920
Marcus
Aurelius regained the initiative. When he died in 18o not only were the borders
intact 8922
The
Meditations have evoked a mixed response from later generations. Many readers
find them cloying and sentimental and are depressed by the pervading sense of
melancholy and preoccupation with death.
8925
Commodus
was, according to the historian Dio Cassius, `a greater curse to the Romans
than any pestilence or crime' He abandoned the idea of extending Roman rule
over the frontier, made peace, and returned to Rome. 8932
Favourites
took over power and an atmosphere of intrigue pervaded the court. The carefully
cultivated image of family piety encouraged by Antoninus was shattered. 8935
He
was assassinated in 192. 8938
Septimius
Severus 8938
the
governor of Pannonia Superior on the Danube, Septimius Severus, an African from
Leptis Magna, exploited the loyalty of the legions. 8939
Septimius
now marched on Rome and the senate, in a manner reminiscent of the year 69,
jettisoned their own candidate. Severus was greeted in magnificent style,
flattered the senate, tricked the Praetorian Guard into surrendering its arms,
and replaced it with one drawn from his own legions. From now on the Praetorian
Guard was to be hand-picked by the emperor. 8941
Severus
set off to the east, defeated and killed Pescennius in 194, and then,
amalgamating Pescennius' legions with his own, led them into Parthia 8945
Severus
then strengthened his position in the west through the sacking of cities and
mass confiscations of land. 8947
elevation
of the emperor as superhuman. Like Commodus, but much more successfully,
Severus portrayed himself as a companion of the gods. 8952
Severus
added two more provinces to the empire in northern Mesopotamia and Roman rule
now stretched as far as the Tigris.
8955
His
reign marked important shifts in the balance of power. Severus' wife, Julia
Domna, was from Syria (she identified herself with Cybele, the great mother
goddess) and most of his advisers were easterners. Provincials were preferred
to Italians and soldiers to civilians.
8959
`Stick
together, pay the soldiers, and despise the rest,
8961
Caracalla
and the Later Severan Emperors 8963
In
212 Geta was murdered by Caracalla and, it was said, some 20,000 of his
supporters were massacred. 8965
his
reign is also remembered for the extension of citizenship to all subjects of
the empire (except slaves and certain freedmen)
8969
the
family regained control in the shape of a nephew who shrewdly took the name
Marcus Aurelius Antoninus. The power behind the throne was Julia Domna's
sister, the new emperor's grandmother, who claimed the new Marcus Aurelius was
Caracalla's illegitimate son. He proved to be a devotee of an eastern sun god
and is normally known by the title of this god, Elagabalus. His adherence to
oriental practices and public exhibitionism were found deeply offensive. 8971
The
Crisis of the Mid-Third Century 8976
There
were at least eighteen emperors in these years who could lay some claim to
legitimacy. Their average reign was only two and a half years. 8980
The
geographical extent of the attacks on the empire ensured there were several
armies campaigning at any one time.
8981
It
showed up the inherent vulnerability of the emperors at a time of military stress.
As many resources were used fighting rivals as in confronting invading enemies. 8984
Maximinus
rushed south to deal with the situation but drove his men so harshly that they
mutinied and killed him in 238. Gordian III, though still only a boy, emerged
as sole emperor in the same year.
8990
a
series of attacks by the Sasanians on Roman border towns which provoked a major
Roman counter-attack by Gordian in 243. It ended in his death and the
withdrawal of the Roman army, after it had paid a huge ransom, under the
Praetorian Prefect, Philip the Arab, who had been hastily declared the new
emperor. It was Philip who faced the large-scale attacks on the Danube borders,
including the first launched by the Goths. One of his commanders, Decius, was, however,
so successful that his men elevated him to emperor and Philip died confronting
him (249). Decius died, in his turn, in 251 fighting the Goths. 8992
Valerian's
main concern was to stem the advances of the Sasanians, who in 253 (or possibly
254) had sacked Antioch, one of the great cities of the eastern empire. His own
reign ended, however, in disaster in 26o when he was seized by the Sasanian
monarch, Shapur I, during negotiations.
8996
The
25os and 26os were a time of almost continual unrest as invasions struck ever
deeper within the empire. In 253 Goths reached as far south as Ephesus while in
26o the Alamanni reached Milan 9000
In
259-60 other German tribes devastated eastern Gaul and made their way down to
the Mediterranean. 9002
In
267 the HeruliÉan invasion fleet of
500 ships into Greece and sacked Athens.
9004
Athens
never fully recovered from the attack. 9005
Gallienus Érealizing
that the empire might be better defended by dividing the imperial command. 9007
one
of his commanders on the Rhine frontier, Postumus, who was declared emperor by
his troops in 260. He soon found himself in control along the northern
frontier, 9008
Although
Postumus' `empire' was an affront to the centralized traditions of the empire,
it did provide a model to follow. Gallienus, in fact, realized the advantages
of the arrangement and left Postumus alone until 265 when he tried
unsuccessfully to defeat him. When Gallienus was murdered his successor
Claudius II (268-70) also tolerated Postumus and his successors. The `Gallic
empire' survived until 274 when it was reconquered by the emperor Aurelian. 9014
Palmyra.
This great trading city on the eastern border of the empire had been
incorporated into the province of Syria in AD 18 but its ruling families, who
depended on trade with the east, had always preserved its separate identity.
Its king, Odaenath, successfully harried the Sasanians as they retreated from
the campaign of 26o and Gallienus was prepared to allow him to coordinate the
defence of the east. Odaenath then declared himself `King of Kings' and held
sway over much of Syria, Palestine, and Mesopotamia. Under his redoubtable
widow, Zenobia, who probably murdered him in 267, the `empire' annexed Egypt
and much of Asia Minor. 9017
The
Effects of the Crisis 9021
One
response to the increasing costs of war had been the debasement of coinage. 9022
By
the reign of Gallienus a typical `silver' coin only contained 2 per cent
silver. This led to the hoarding of old coins, the fact of hoarding itself
reflecting insecurity and breakdown, and the rejection of the new with a
resulting breakdown of the currency and soaring inflation. 9023
It
is certainly clear that communities living along the northern borders were
disrupted 9028
The
insecurity of the times can be seen in the building of defensive walls, 9028
Large
cities, filled with imposing buildings, had already become increasingly
difficult for their councillors to maintain and the invasions may only have
hastened developments which were taking place in any case. 9031
the
cities of the east appear to have been more resilient than those of the west: 9032
The
decline in city life and the general unrest may also have encouraged a move of
the richer classes to the countryside
9033
opportunity
for speculators to buy up land and it appears that some of the great fortunes
of landowners who appear in the fourth century were built up this way. 9036
In
less vulnerable areas of the empire prosperity continued. Syria and Asia were
hardly affected by the unrest 9038
the
empire proved astonishingly resilient,
9039
One
sign of this resilience is the appearance of revived or new local cultures. 9040
first
literary works in local languages,
9043
In
the third century many routes must have been disrupted, further encouraging the
growth of regional trade. 9044
The
Romans Regain the Initiative 9045
Claudius
II (268-70), won a great victory over `the Goths' which was to keep peace for
decades, but died in the following year at his Balkan headquarters, Sirmium, of
the plague. After his death a series of emperors continued the struggle to
resume control of the empire. They were of Balkan stock (the Balkans had become
a major source of recruits) and their loyalty to the empire showed how
successful it had been in integrating its subject peoples in a common cause.
The first of these emperors was Aurelian.
9046
Once
the empire was restored he brought back riches plundered from Palmyra to
display in a great triumph in Rome with Zenobia and the last of the Gallic
emperors, Tetricus, among the prisoners. 9052
Both
Aurelian and Probus were killed by their own soldiers and Probus' successor,
Carus (282-3), who had continued the fight back by launching a successful
invasion of Persia, died on campaign.
9054
Carus
was the first emperor not to seek formal recognition by the senate (and his
successors followed suit). This was a significant moment as the emperors were
now freed from any need to leave the frontiers for Rome. 9056
Diocletian
9061
Diocles
defeated Carinus six months later and found himself sole emperor. He took the
name Diocletian. 9064
he
had the good fortune to stay in power for twenty years and he was to establish
the empire in a form which was to survive in the west for almost zoo years and
in the east for very much longer.
9066
Imperial
responsibilities, he realized, were better shared. A fellow Balkan commander,
Maximian, was appointed as a joint, but clearly junior, Augustus in 286. 9069
Seven
years later two more younger commanders, Constantius and Galerius, were added
as Caesars and they were designated as successors to the Augusti. 9070
Four
new imperial capitals appeared, Trier near the Rhine, Milan in northern Italy,
Sirmium on the Danube border, and Nicomedia in Asia Minor. Rome was now a
backwater so far as the practical needs of the empire were concerned 9074
In
the 290S the Tetrarchs achieved between them a succession of victories which
quelled the Germans, dealt with a wide range of local insurgents who were
taking advantage of the breakdown of order, and ended in 297 with a massive
defeat of the Persians by Galerius.
9077
These
victories and the absence of civil war meant that resources could be used more
effectively in the defence of the empire.
9079
a
massive programme of building took place along the frontiers involving the
construction of much more sophisticated forts and barriers. 9079
if
the empire was to survive in a strengthened form it was essential that it
exploited its tax base more efficiently.
9084
For
the first time a budget could be planned. From the little evidence that
survives, most of it from Syria and Egypt, it does not appear that the weight
of taxation increased. Rather it was more efficiently collected. The burden
continued to fall on the poor with the rich able to claim a variety of
exemptions. 9088
Diocletian
developed a policy, probably initiated earlier in the century, of splitting the
civilian and military commands. The number of provinces was doubled and each
now had a civil governor and a military leader (dux). The aim was probably to
allow the civil administration to concentrate on efficient tax collection
without the distractions of defence.
9090
between
the central administration and the provinces was another tier, the dioceses, of
which there were twelve, each headed by a vicar.
9093
it
was essential to stabilize the money supply. In 293 Diocletian did this in
characteristic fashion by sweeping away all vestiges of local currencies and
replacing the devalued coins by a currency based on pure gold coins of 5.20
grams in weight with pure silver coins for lower denominations. 9096
There
has been much controversy over how Diocletian organized his army. It had
certainly swollen since the second century and may have numbered between
350,000 and 400,000 men. 9107
surviving
panegyrics to the emperors suggest that it was their very success that could be
used to show that they were the favoured of the gods. 9114
Diocletian
chose shrewdly. He proclaimed himself as none other than the son of Jupiter,
while Hercules, whose successful labours had made him the symbol of those who
claimed to be labouring to free humanity of its terrors, was associated with
Maximian. 9115
ceremonial
became more important. Accessibility was renounced in favour of
inaccessibility. 9119
The
emperor was treated as if he was the personification of virtues such as majesty
or serenity 9122
court
officials made access to him an obstacle course of elaborate ritual. 9123
As
the identification between emperor and the traditional gods of Rome was
consolidated there was increasing suspicion of those who refused to respect
traditional rituals, 9124
imperial
government was reinvigorated and set in new directions. 9127
the
first half of the fourth century witnessed the long-prepared climax of the
Roman state.' 9129
The
Emergence of Constantine 9129
However,
the system fell apart almost immediately. Constantius died in 306, but, instead
of one of the Caesars succeeding him, the troops of Britain and Gaul acclaimed
his son, Constantine, as Augustus. Meanwhile in Rome the son of Maximian,
Maxentius, also had himself proclaimed emperor. By 308 there were no less than
seven rival emperors contending for power. 9131
The
rival contenders for the western empire met at the Milvian Bridge, 9134
Constantine
now entered Rome as victor and the senators soon voted him a triumphal arch 9135
arch
marks the appearance in art of the new imperial ethos, the emperor as demigod,
removed from his people. 9140
from
about 310, the sun god seems to have been Constantine's favoured divinity,
perhaps partly because the god was especially popular among the Balkan troops
and their officers. 9147
`Edict
of Milan' of 313, Licinius, Augustus in the east since 308, joined Constantine
in proclaiming `that no one whatsoever should be denied freedom to devote
himself either to the cult of the Christians or to such religion as he deems
best suited to himself, so that the highest divinity, to whose worship we pay
allegiance with free minds, may grant us in all things his wonted favour and
benevolence' 9150
The
Gospel Evidence 9168
The
Life of Jesus 9188
Jesus
emerges about AD 27 after a `baptism' by an itinerant preacher, John the
Baptist. 9188
Galilee
was governed not by the Romans but by a series of client kings, first, at the
time of Jesus' birth around 4 BC, Herod, and then his son Herod Antipas. 9190
Galileans
had the reputation of being a tough and rather unsophisticated people, looked
down upon by the more highly educated Jews of Jerusalem to the south. 9193
Note: Well,
this certainly fits the Galileans that I knew
The
news of Jesus' healing powers and his message spread quickly and crowds
gathered to listen to him. They may have been drawn in particular by his
promise of the restoration of traditional values at a time when Galilean
peasant society was under acute pressure from population growth, Herodian rule,
and the influx of Greek settlers. 9199
In
Jerusalem itself the chief priest, Caiaphas, was in charge (a good example of
how provincial government was left to the local elite) but there was always the
fear of Roman retaliation if he mishandled any local unrest. The trickiest time
of year was when thousands of Jews attended the Passover in Jerusalem. 9204
Any
apparent threat to good order, as when Jesus entered into the temple, was
likely to lead to a reaction by the conservative priesthood, who relied on
Roman acquiescence for its survival.
9206
An
early leader was the former fisherman Peter, who, according to Matthew's
account, had been picked out by Jesus as the first leader of his movement. By
AD 40, however, the dominant figure in the community appears to have been
Jesus' brother, James. 9212
The
coming of a messiah, `the anointed one' who would deliver the Jews from
bondage, had long been part of Jewish belief but the Jewish messiah had always
been seen as a powerful king coming in triumph.
9214
Jesus'
life and death could hardly give him this status but he could be seen in a
different sense, as a messiah who redeemed (freed humans from the consequences
of their own sins) through his own suffering. (Several of the Psalms of David
provide precedents for a suffering messiah.) In this sense Jesus marked a fresh
beginning in God's plan for mankind. Christians now talked of a 'new' covenant
between God and his people to replace the traditional one of the Hebrew
scriptures 9216
No
direct links have been traced between the Qumran community and Christianity but
the parallels are many and show that the Christian community was not alone in
its sense of being a privileged people waiting for the coming of their god. 9225
The
Early Christian Community and the Missions of Paul 9226
early
Christians such as Stephen argued that the new covenant brought by Christ was
needed because Jews had failed to adhere to the old. (Stephen was stoned to
death by the Jews and thus became Christianity's first martyr.) 9227
synagogues
in these large cosmopolitan cities traditionally attracted gentiles (non-Jews)
to their services and it must have been in this way that the story of Jesus
first leaked out into the gentile world. 9230
In
his letters to the early Christian communities, the earliest surviving
documents of Christianity, he makes almost no reference to Jesus as a
historical person. However, Paul had few doubts as to who Jesus was and what
his message meant. 9236
Those
who put their trust in Jesus would be saved. Paul's emphasis is thus on faith
rather than rigid adherence to Jewish law.
9238
a
public row he had had with Peter in Antioch. Peter had been prepared at first
to eat with gentiles but when joined by fellow Jewish Christians from Jerusalem
withdrew from doing so. His behaviour infuriated Paul, who felt in the
circumstances that Peter had no right to make gentiles follow Jewish ways. 9243
He
was so successful that the Jerusalem Christian community was soon eclipsed. It
had no real future within the Jewish world and in the revolt against Rome of AD
66 it was accused by traditional Jews of being unpatriotic. The break between
church and synagogue was complete by about AD 85 although scattered and
isolated communities of Christian Jews continued to exist in Syria and
elsewhere for some time. 9254
He
laid a new emphasis on the importance of `faith, specifically condemning the
pagan philosophers for their `empty logic' and thus arguably setting in place a
conflict between Christianity and the Greek tradition of rational thinking. 9256
[Paul's]
abhorrence of
sexuality (especially homosexuality) was much more pronounced than that of
Jesus 9257
stress
on the importance of Christian authority
9260
Equally
influential for the Christian tradition was Paul's depiction of the human
personality as at war with itself.
9261
As
seen earlier this sense of internal struggle was also intrinsic to Plato's
concept of the soul and by the fourth century Plato and Paul's conceptions of
inner conflict had coalesced to provide a specifically Christian psychology of
sin. 9263
The
elders of a Jewish synagogue may have provided a model for the priesthood and
the Jewish condemnation of idols was transferred into the Christian tradition, 9267
Christianity
within the Spiritual Life of the Empire 9278
traditional
religious activities were primarily concerned with the maintenance of the glory
of the state. 9282
Roman
cults either coexisted with or were superimposed on these beliefs and a variety
of cults could be followed by an individual without any sense of impropriety. 9288
mystery
cults appealing to those who sought a more personal salvation. 9289
promise
of some form of personal communion with the god or goddess on earth and of a
reward after death.....intense mystical
experience. 9293
gods
and goddesses who were worshipped in these mystery cults tended to come from
outside the Greek world.....cult of Isis spread
from Egypt....Mithraism, a popular cult among soldiers and men of business, 9296
The
intensely personal nature of the relationship between worshipper and god acted
to elevate the favoured deity above the other gods. 9297
By
the second and third centuries AD this elevation of one god or goddess above all
others was a common feature of religious belief and many pagans were quite
happy to deal with the concept of a `Supreme deity. 9299
Much
of the imagery of the New Testament-light and darkness, faith compared to
flourishing crops-is similar to that found in mystery religions. 9301
Stories
of miraculous healings, shared meals of believers, and even resurrections (in
the legends surrounding Cybele, her beloved Attis, a shepherd, is mutilated,
dies, but is reborn to be reunited with the goddess) and the promise of an
afterlife for the initiated would have been commonplace to anyone who had
contact with mystery religions. 9304
While
belief in one mystery religion did not preclude involvement in another,
Christianity did require rejection of other gods and an exclusive relationship
with Christ and his God. 9308
Romans
were traditionally suspicious of religious activities which took place in
private. 9310
The
Early Christian Communities 9316
Women
seem to have made up a large part of the membership of the early communities,
as they probably did in the mystery religions.....attracted
virgins and widows in particular....women of this status who were most marginal
in traditional Graeco-Roman society
9318
These
communities were exclusively urban (among the meanings of the word `pagan,
eventually used in a derogatory sense by Christians of non-Christians, is
country dweller, though the word also means civilian as against a soldier) 9323
Perhaps
2 per cent of the empire were Christians by AD 250 (though there are some
estimates as high as 1o per cent), with virtually no Christian presence in the
west of the empire or along its northern frontiers. 9330
The
need for discretion meant that these early `churches' were converted from
homes. 9335
the
next development, the enlargement of the meeting hall so that it becomes the
dominant part of the building. 9338
Christianity
was remarkable for its lack of `holy places, and even prided itself on the
fact. 9342
Christians
took care over their burials, favouring the Jewish custom of preserving the
body rather than burning it. 9344
Christians
inherited from Judaism the concept of elders, known as presbyters, from the
Greek presbuteros, `old man' 9352
By
the early second century it appears that many communities had appointed one of
the presbyters to the role of president with responsibility for the affairs of
the community, 9354
episkopos,
an overseer, which had hitherto been used only of secular office. This was the
origin of the bishop 9355
There
was no supreme bishop, although those of the larger cities, Jerusalem (in very
early days), Antioch, Ephesus, and Alexandria, claimed some form of
pre-eminence in their region. 9357
Ironically
it was just as Christianity entered a period of vigorous growth in the third
century that Rome was losing its strategic importance within the empire. 9361
the
Christian communities in Rome, which at first were Greek speaking, gradually
attracted native Latin speakers so that eventually, in the 38os, Bishop Damasus
changed the liturgy from Greek to Latin.
9363
as
Greek died out in the western empire, it left Rome increasingly unable to
assert its authority over the east.
9364
Christianity
and the Greek Philosophical Tradition 9366
Platonic
philosophy of the first to third centuries AD is normally known as Middle
Platonism to distinguish it from the later Neoplatonism of Plotinus 9373
It
was possible to grasp the nature of `the good' but only through a rigorous
intellectual quest, an intense and penetrating meditation on what `the good'
might be. An appreciation of `the good' helped, however, give the physical
world meaning and value. Middle Platonism gave the name theos to `the good' 9375
Plato's
Forms were seen by these philosophers as `the thoughts of God 9377
Plato
and the Platonists, argued Clement, had grasped the nature of God (possibly, he
said, through reading the Hebrew scriptures) and had shown that his existence
could be defended through the use of reason.
9379
Christians
had therefore to find their own method of integrating Christ into the Platonist
principles they had absorbed. One view first articulated in John's gospel, but
later taken up by the church in Alexandria, was that Jesus represented the
logos. 9383
Logos,
for instance, was described as the intellectual power with which human beings
were able to understand the divine world so, in this sense, logos overlapped
both the physical world and the divine.
9387
Those
who followed John in accepting Christ as logos had then to determine whether he
was an indivisible part of God, of the same substance with the father, or a
separate entity distinct from the father as in an earthly father-son
relationship. 9389
For
Origen God had originally created all souls as equal parts of his goodness but
gradually all failed to worship him and they fell from union with him into the
material world. From here they had to be redeemed and restored to union with
God in the original state of goodness. How was this to be done? Luckily, argued
Origen, there was one soul which had never fallen away from God and which
remained bound to him in adoration. It was this soul united to the logos which
became incarnated in the body of the Virgin Mary and was born as Jesus. He was
the instrument of redemption. 9394
condemned
as a heretic by the late fourth century....Origen
had also argued that no one, even Satan, was beyond the redeeming power of
God's love....no need for a hell to contain the irredeemably evil. 9404
Plato
had always argued that a minority could, through reason, grasp the eternal
truths, which were ultimately more `real' than any truth in this transient
world, and impose them on the rest of society. This provided a rationale for
church authority if the Platonic minority could be equated with the church
hierarchy 9406
The
Persecutions 9409
The
real problem was the renunciation by Christians of all other cults, including
those involving worship of the emperor.
9413
It
was inevitable that those who refused to sacrifice to the gods would be
confronted when the continuing defeats of the empire suggested that those gods
were deserting Rome. 9426
major
persecution under the emperor Decius in 250-1, with bishops as the prime
targets, 9428
another
under Diocletian and his successor Galerius between 303 and 312. 9428
[By
the] end of the third
century....In many large cities
there were now so many Christians that they overflowed into public life, 9432
Christian
communities may also have been filling gaps left by the decay of traditional
institutions. 9435
general
agreement by 200 on a basic creed affirmed by all seeking baptism which
included acceptance of God as the father, Jesus Christ as the son, the Holy
Spirit, and the resurrection. 9436
Cyprian,
bishop of Carthage, who argued in his treatise on the unity of the Catholic
church (251) that all bishops should act in consensus with no one bishop supreme 9442
For
Cyprian the church was the only body capable of authoritative Christian
teaching and no true Christian could exist outside it. `He no longer has God
for his father, who does not have the church for his mother.' This definition
of a church claiming exclusive authority over all Christians had immense
implications 9443
Constantine
and Christianity 9468
This
is not to deny that Constantine showed a genuine commitment to Christianity but
he was certainly unwilling to follow Christians in rejecting paganism. 9477
Constantine
himself did not even abandon traditional worship.
9478
Constantine
continued to portray himself on coins and in the statues of himself used at the
dedication of Constantinople as a sun god.
9480
The
clergy were relieved of any obligation to serve on city councils (a move which
led to a mass of ordinations so onerous had these posts now become) and
taxation. 9484
the
emperor and his family funded the first great Christian buildings. 9486
The
martyrs were now given great prominence, their feast-days dominated the church
calendar, and their shrines became centres of pilgrimage. 9488
the
mother of the emperor, Helena, visited Palestine in 326 and set in hand the
building of appropriate memorials to the life of Jesus 9491
Constantine
himself was responsible for the great Church of the Holy Sepulchre at Jerusalem
over the supposed burial place of Jesus.
9492
These
great new buildings, with their fantastic decoration and aura of sanctity
around the shrines of the martyrs, brought `a Christianization of space' 9497
radical
reappraisal required to justify the glittering mosaics, the gold lamps and the
extravagant domes by a community
9500
Relevant
texts were dug out from the Old Testament and if further theological
justification was needed, churches could be seen as imitations of what might be
expected in heaven. 9502
Most
(but not all) bishops acquiesced in the wealth which came their way 9503
Christians
were still in a minority in every part of the empire even though the support of
the emperor had led, in the words of Eusebius, `to the hypocrisy of people who
crept into the church' to win his favour.
9508
The
Arian Controversy 9511
By
granting tax exemptions and other privileges to `Christian' clergy, Constantine
and his successors laid themselves open to petitions for exemption from a mass
of different communities all claiming to be Christian. 9512
As
early as 313 Constantine had to decide which of two rival Christian churches in
north Africa to privilege. One, the Donatists, so called from one of their
bishops, Donatus, claimed to be the `true' church as they had stood firm
against all persecution. 9514
Constantine
consulted bishops on the matter and eventually ruled against the Donatists,
depriving them, in effect, of state patronage. It is arguable that Constantine
preferred to work through the more flexible communities which had compromised
themselves with the state 9516
The
question hinged on whether Christ had been part of God from the beginning of
time or whether he had been created by him at a later date and with a distinct
substance. 9520
The
slogan of the Arians was `There was [a time] when he [the Logos] was not'. 9522
Alexander,
who argued an alternative view that the son had existed eternally and that
there was no separate act of creation. (The rival slogan was `Always the God,
always the Son'.) 9524
The
council of Nicaea, 325, was the first great ecumenical council of the church
with 22o bishops in attendance, 9527
it
seems that it was Constantine himself who urged the declaration that Christ was
`consubstantial, of one substance, with the father; 9529
Only
Arius and two bishops opposed the resolution.
9531
Constantine
used his imperial powers to exile the two bishops, the first indication that an
emperor, with all the influence at his disposal, had assumed responsibility for
upholding Christian doctrine. 9532
The
Founding of Constantinople 9535
In
324 Constantine, as single-minded as ever in his pursuit of power, moved east
to defeat Licinius and so became sole emperor. 9537
the
need to create a base from which the defence of the empire in the east could be
directed. The centuries-old Greek town of Byzantium was an ideal site. It was
relatively close to both the Danube and Euphrates borders. There were excellent
road communications both to east and west (though those in the west were
vulnerable to disruption by invasion) and the city could also be supplied by
sea. 9539
Constantine's
creation of a second senate and the provision of a free grain supply for its
inhabitants (much of which came from Egypt) also suggested that this was more
than just a subsidiary capital. 9542
the
self-glorification of Constantine ranked high among the motives for the city's
foundation 9545
one
motive for building the city was to retain its founder's independence from the
ancient Christian bishoprics. 9548
Constantine's
Successors and the Problems of Defence 9552
When
Constantine died in 337 he left three sons to succeed him. All three were
Christians. Constantine II took the west of the empire, Constantius the east,
and the central provinces of Africa, Illyricum, and Italy went to the youngest,
Constans. 9553
Constantius
and Magnentius met in the great battle of Mursa where Magnentius was defeated
but both armies suffered enormous losses.
9555
After
the battle the Alamanni who had been recruited by Constantius to help him went
on the rampage in Gaul. 9557
Constantius
ruled as sole emperor until his death in 361
9558
For
much of his reign he was preoccupied in the east where the Sasanian king Shapur
II was energetically raiding into Mesopotamia. This meant that the northern
borders of the empire were neglected and Gaul, in particular, was frequently
ravaged. 9559
Constantius,
still hard pressed in the east, now tried to remove some of Julian's troops.
They revolted and declared Julian an Augustus (360). 9563
Julian
found himself sole emperor by default. Julian was the last of the pagan
emperors and he attempted to re-establish the traditional cults of the empire 9565
Valentinian
(emperor 364-75) was perhaps the last of the `great' emperors. He was a tough
man, often brutal, and completely intolerant of any challenges to his
authority. 9568
For
perhaps the last time the borders of the empire were effectively defended. 9571
Ammianus
Marcellinus 9572
The
details of the period 354 to 378 are so well known because they are covered by
one of the finest of the Roman historians, Ammianus Marcellinus (33o-395) 9572
by
far the best non-Christian perspective on an empire which was overwhelmingly
concerned with political survival.
9577
This
is the picture which has survived of the fourth century in general, one in
which Roman rule became increasingly brutalized.
9583
The
Imperial Administration 9585
A
mass of office holders had been created around the emperor himself, who now
enjoyed being centre of a court. There were masses more at a subordinate level.
(One estimate is that there were 30,000-35,000 officials by the late fourth
century.) 9586
Now
that urban life was in atrophy and the decuriones ever less willing to give
patronage to their cities, government office became the most certain way of
achieving status. 9588
As
the administration became more complex corruption also appears to have spread. 9590
Just
as the emperor had become in theory a semi-divine figure with almost absolute
power, the post itself increasingly became the plaything of the soldiers. 9592
Insofar
as the survival of the empire rested with energetic and talented emperors who
were capable of mobilizing resources and men in its defence, it depended to a
large degree on chance. 9594
in
many occupations sons were required to follow their fathers rather than escape
elsewhere. Tenant farmers (coloni) were increasingly tied to the land and if
they did move to other estates the landowner became liable for their poll tax. 9598
city
elites were already under strain, a strain intensified by the growth of the
court as an alternative focus for able men.
9600
As
the empire became Christian the morale of those cities which remained pagan was
undermined, especially as power centred increasingly on the bishops. 9601
Other
potential centres of resistance were among the large landowners whose position
in the west strengthened in the fourth century. The old senatorial class living
around Rome was especially powerful now that the western emperors tended to be
based in Milan. 9603
The
church (helped by tax exemptions and the renunciation of wealth in its favour
by aristocrats who espoused asceticism) and many landowners in the west
certainly became richer. 9607
traditionally
a picture has been painted of an empire groaning under the oppressive demands
of tax collectors and soldiers. 9610
Pressures
on the Borders 9613
Gratian
and his co-emperor, his uncle Valens, now faced a massive incursion of Goths,
as a hitherto unknown people, the Huns, appeared from the east. 9619
The
Huns were nomadic peoples who, for some reason, possibly major economic changes
in the steppes of central Asia, had been forced into migration. 9620
The
Goths were pushed helplessly towards the boundaries of the empire 9621
Valens
in fact saw it as an opportunity to recruit men for the overstretched Roman
armies. 9622
The
Goths were outraged, broke free from Roman control, and were soon rampaging
through Thrace. 9624
Valens
had to march from Constantinople to subdue them, but at the Battle of
Adrianople, 9 August 378, the Romans were caught by an overpowering mass of
armed Goths and defeated. Two-thirds of the Roman army, possibly 1o,ooo of its
best troops, died in the humiliating defeat.
9624
This
humiliation is often seen as a turning point in the history of the empire, the
moment when the Romans finally lost the initiative against the invaders. 9626
Theodosius
signed a treaty with the Goths under which they were allowed to settle in the
empire, in Thrace, in return for providing troops for the Roman armies. 9629
this
was the first time that an area within the borders of the empire had been
passed out of effective Roman control.
9631
Gratian
was killed in 383 when fighting a western usurper, Maximus. Theodosius
tolerated Maximus until the latter invaded Italy, when Theodosius rushed
westwards and defeated and killed him at Aquileia in 388. He was now sole
emperor until his death in 395. 9633
The
Christian Emperor 9634
the
church was still relatively weak.
9634
the
formula of consubstantiality (expressed by the Greek word homoousios) had no
backing from the scriptures and went against earlier teaching. 9635
`Experience,
wrote Ammianus Marcellinus, `had taught him that no wild beasts are so
dangerous to man as Christians are to one another.' 9646
From
now on, Julian proclaimed, Christians were to confine their teachings to their
churches. Julian was an intellectual, a philosopher emperor whose opposition to
Christianity rested as much on a rejection of its teachings as on his personal
experience of it as a faith torn by dissension.
9649
He
argued instead that a diverse empire needed a diverse set of gods to represent
its many different cultures and traditions.
9651
Julian
was not able to reverse the growth of Christianity. 9654
With
Jovian came a restoration of Christian privilege and there were to be no more
pagan emperors. 9655
Increasingly
its influence was based on the emergence of strong bishoprics headed by men of
character and power. The church had acquired great wealth, mostly in land
donated by the faithful, while the bishops had been given rights of
jurisdiction 9655
Administrative
expertise was essential. For this reason bishops were normally chosen from the
traditional ruling classes 9657
One
such was Ambrose, bishop of Milan from 374 to 397, 9658
In
the twenty-four tempestuous years of his rule he waged a formidable campaign
against moral laxity, heresy (especially Arianism), and paganism. 9661
Ambrose
insisted that it was the church which should define orthodoxy and set the
standards of morality and the duty of the state to act in support. 9662
Ambrose
was also important in encouraging the cult of relics. 9665
Theodosius
I who decided to back a revised Nicene creed.
9673
Nicene
orthodoxy was passed and then imposed by imperial decree. 9675
Among
the losers were the `barbarian' peoples who had been converted to Christianity
at a time when Arianism was dominant
9675
When
the emperor ordered a massacre of some rioters in Thessalonica, Ambrose
threatened to excommunicate him and took the credit for forcing him to repent.
(Although Theodosius' acquiescence may well have been a calculated public
relations exercise, the incident was later used by popes in their struggles
with European monarchs as a precedent for the primacy of the church over the
state.) 9680
a
wide variety of heresies were first defined and a vigorous onslaught launched
against pagan cults. 9682
Christian
vigilantes raided pagan centres and ridiculed traditional beliefs. 9684
Another
element of the growing intolerance was the opposition to the Jews, given some
official backing by the Callinicum episode and further inflamed by Christian
preachers such as John Chrysostom. 9684
the
church had now become the servant of the state in a way that many Christians,
such as Hilary, deplored. 9689
Bishops
were increasingly used by the state to keep order and the benefits offered for
acquiescence in this role were many. 9690
the
church did take on attitudes which were supportive of traditional values and
customs. 9693
The
result was a tension in the Christian tradition, between those who saw
Christianity essentially as part of the natural conservative order of things
(slavery, remarked Augustine, was no less than God's punishment for sin) and
those who were inspired by the gospels to reject worldly status and power. 9697
The
Survival of Pagan Culture 9699
continuing
vitality of pagan thought. The variety of pagan belief meant that there had
never been any exclusivity. Membership of one cult did not preclude membership
of another and the spiritual heritage of paganism remained rich and capable of
fertile development. 9699
For
Plotinus `the Good' was an entity which had existed since before the creation
of the physical world. Within `the Good' was the power of love, which reached
out to those who searched for it. (The searcher could only find `the Good'
through this emanating love.) Once the mind of the human believer met with `the
Good, a transformation, a profound mystical experience, could take place. 9707
Christians,
sometimes to the despair of their bishops, continued to take part in pagan
celebrations, attend the games, and indulge in traditional superstitions. 9712
The
first public Christian art (as distinct from that concealed in the catacombs)
shows Christian themes mingled with pagan symbolism and motifs. 9721
The
Growth of Asceticism 9730
the
world as a haven of wickedness....response was to leave the world. 9732
In
Egypt the withdrawal from the world took place in communities. 9735
asceticism
was not a Christian invention although Christians were more preoccupied with
sexual desire than the Greek philosophers were.
9738
Peter
Brown in his Body and Society traces this preoccupation back to Paul 9738
By
the fourth century the preoccupation had become an obsession, part of the more
widespread movement of renunciation of physical pleasures 9739
The
fulfilment of sexual desire as an end in itself was morally wrong. 9743
The
Christian Intellectuals 9748
the
apostle Paul enjoyed an important revival in the late fourth century. 9749
Paul's
attraction lay in his stress on authority at a time of apparent social and
political breakdown and he was used as an intellectual battering ram against
the pagan elites 9751
most
fervent supporter of Paul was John Chrysostom,
9753
`If
I am regarded as a learned man, it's not because I'm brainy. It's simply
because I have such a love for Paul that I have never left off reading him. He
has taught me all that I need to know.
9758
eight
sermons warning Christians against Judaism....John's invective bordered on the
deranged and his sermons, translated into Latin and transferred to the west,
later fuelled anti-Jewish hysteria in medieval Europe. 9762
John
forfeited any remaining support in the court by what appeared to be attacks on
the worldliness of the empress Eudoxia. 9766
An
important symbolic moment came in the 38os when Bishop Damasus of Rome ordered
the use of Latin rather than Greek for the liturgy in the western empire. 9768
administrative
division between the eastern and western empires which became permanent in 395 9772
Jerome
and Augustine 9774
One
of the last of the major Christian thinkers to be at home in both east and west
was Jerome. 9774
`The
human body remained for Jerome a darkened forest, filled with the roaring of
wild beasts, that could be controlled only by rigid codes of diet and by the
strict avoidance of occasions for sexual attraction.' 9778
Bishop
Damasus of Rome, who employed him first as his secretary (382-4) and then as
the translator of the Greek and Hebrew texts of the Old and New Testaments into
Latin. 9781
by
the eighth century it was accepted by the church as the authoritative Latin
version of the original texts. 9785
Augustine
can be seen as the founding father of a distinctive western tradition of
theology. 9787
presents
himself as a deeply unworthy man, tormented by his sexuality 9789
Augustine
came to accept that God's love becomes available to sinners only when they make
complete submission to him. 9793
`much
of western thought can be seen as one long response to Augustine's Paul' 9797
Pelagius
had argued that each individual had the freedom to follow God's will or not. 9801
Augustine,
on the other hand developed a different approach,
9803
the
view that as a result of Adam and Eve's transgressions in the Garden of Eden
God had burdened all human beings with an `original sin' which was passed on
from generation to generation. 9804
Only
the grace of God could liberate them from the burden of these pleasures. 9807
grace
could be passed on through the sacraments, especially those of baptism and the
Eucharist, but it was always a gift from God, not the right of any individual,
however good his or her life. 9807
Only
a few would be saved. 9809
also
came to reject Origen's view that eternal punishment was incompatible with the
goodness of God and became one of the foremost defenders of a hell where
punishment would be harsh and eternal.
9812
Augustine's
concept of original sin was, in the early fifth century, a minority view held
only by some of his fellow bishops
9814
Augustine
managed to get his view accepted as the official doctrine of the western church
after the emperor Honorius insisted the Italian bishops adopt it. 9816
Augustine
argued that the validity of the orthodox church did not depend on the
worthiness of its members. The sacrament of baptism given by an unworthy priest
was still valid in the eyes of God.
9822
the
church, backed by the state, had the right to deal with heresy. 9825
Augustine's
last great work, The City of God, was prompted by the sack of Rome by the
Visigoths in 410 9826
failure
of traditional Roman religion to save the city or provide anything more than a
self-glorification of the state.
9829
the
true `city' was, instead, that inhabited by the believers loved by God, 9829
Augustine
comes across as a social conservative, supporting traditional hierarchies and
slavery and cynical about the possibilities of social progress. 9833
Conclusion:
A Transformed Society 9839
In
394 the emperor Theodosius had been challenged by a usurper in Gaul, Eugenius.
Eugenius was a pagan and attracted the support of many leading Roman senators.
Theodosius met their forces at the River Frigidus in the Alps and crushed them.
The battle was seen by contemporary Christians as the confirmation of the
triumph of their faith. 9840
The
church was by now largely integrated into Roman society. 9843
A
vast building programme of churches contrasted with the decay of other public
buildings. 9844
spiritual
aspirations could no longer be expressed outside a specifically Christian
context. 9845
Jews
were increasingly isolated, and the fourth century marks for them, in the words
of Nicholas de Lange, `the beginning of a long period of desolation' 9846
On the death of
Theodosius in 395 his two sons were declared joint emperors and the empire was
split into two administrative areas with one son nominally responsible for
each. 9893
the
division was made along the boundary of Illyricum, roughly where Greek replaced
Latin as the predominant administrative language,
9894
The
two halves of the empire were never to be reunited. 9898
The
`Fall' of the Western Empire 9898
By
the 470s the western emperors had lost control of virtually all their
territories outside Italy and relied on German soldiers to lead their own
depleted troops. 9899
Romulus
Augustulus, was deposed by a Germanic soldier, Odoacer, 9900
in
48o Odoacer was firmly in place as ruler of Italy and effective control over
the last remnants of the western empire had been lost. 9903
Gibbon
himself laid the blame on Christianity, which he claimed had undermined the
ancient warrior traditions of the Romans and, through the influence of
monasticism and asceticism, turned them away from earthly things. 9907
This
thesis does not explain why the east, more fully Christianized than the west,
survived. 9909
the
empire in the west faced continuous pressures along its extended borders on the
Rhine and Danube. By 395 these pressures had lasted over 200 years, 9912
Modern
scholars have now re-established this period of `late antiquity' as one of
vitality and achievement. The old convention by which histories of the Roman
empire were allowed to peter out after Diocletian can no longer be sustained. 9915
The
'Goths' in the Western Empire 9916
those
peoples who were bound into allegiance to a particular Gothic leader. In the
38os one of these leaders, Alaric, emerged as a highly effective commander who
secured widespread support among the peoples who had migrated south of the
Danube. 9919
if
they were to survive as a distinct group it was essential that they forged
their own identity. After the declaration of Nicene orthodoxy by Theodosius in
381, this was through their adherence to Arianism, 9921
Alaric's
aim was to achieve, through diplomacy or force, a permanent settlement for his
followers within the empire. 9923
Here
his adversary was Stilicho, Theodosius' former magister militum, Master of
Soldiers. 9927
The
extent of Stilicho's power in the west was shown in 402 when Honorius moved his
court from Milan to Ravenna, a city surrounded by marshes and so almost
impregnable. Honorius was in effect abdicating the traditional role of emperor
as commander of his troops and from now on the western empire was normally
fronted by a strong military figure, often German in origin, while the emperors
lived isolated lives in pampered seclusion.
9930
When
confronted by Alaric Stilicho repulsed him but the Visigoth forces remained
intact and probably settled back in Illyricum. By 405, however, Stilicho
appears to have realized that the Visigoths could be sensibly used as soldiers
within his own armies, 9933
Alaric
was threatening Italy once more, and in 407 Stilicho persuaded the senate to
pay him over 4,000 pounds of gold and recognize him as an allied force. 9935
In
408 Stilicho's enemies persuaded the emperor to assassinate him and the
agreement with Alaric was disowned.
9937
led
to a massacre of many of the Germans who now made up a large part of the Roman
armies. 9938
in
410, Alaric led his men into Rome and carried out the sack of the city, the
first for Boo years. It was a move which had a devastating shock effect on the
Roman world, 9941
A
Disintegrating Empire 9944
The
preoccupation with the Goths had left the western government paralysed while
far more serious incursions were taking place to the north. 9944
At
the end of 406 there had been a major invasion of northern Gaul, over the
frozen Rhine, by Vandals, Sueves, and Alamanni.
9944
The
collapse of the Roman defences was viewed with dismay in Britain, which was
itself suffering raids from Saxons
9947
An
abandoned Gaul meant an isolated and indefensible Britain. They elevated one of
their number, Constantine, as emperor and it was Constantine who crossed into
Gaul to lead a counter-attack. 9947
in
409 Honorius was temporarily forced to accept him as a fellow Augustus. 9949
His
`empire, which he ruled from Arles, was, however, short-lived. His Spanish
commanders proclaimed their own emperor and Britain was simply too far from
Arles to be controlled. The Roman administration there seems simply to have
fallen apart and was never revived. (By 430 coinage had ceased and urban life
was already, with some exceptions, in decay. Rival invaders, Scots, Saxons,
Angles, and lutes, took over the country and no central rule was to be
reimposed for centuries.) 9950
from
now on the western empire was unable to launch any major military initiatives
with its own troops. 9954
there
seem to have been only about 65,000 troops, perhaps 30,000 each in Gaul and
Italy. Most of these were probably Germans, on whom the armies were now
dependent. 9956
by
the early fifth century the armies do not seem to have operated as effective
and controlled units. 9960
Increasingly
the administration had to rely on the unsatisfactory alternative of using one
tribe directly against another. 9961
The
Vandals, who had crossed into Spain with the Sueves in 409,...Gaiseric, perhaps
the most successful of all the German leaders, led them across the straits into
Africa. Twenty thousand men and their families, 8o,ooo in all, made the
crossing. 9967
It
was a shrewd move. Not only was the land fertile but Italy still drew on its
surplus of corn. 9968
In
435 the Romans were forced to give the Vandal kingdom federate status but this
did not stop further expansion. Carthage was sacked in 439 and Gaiseric then
seized the islands of the western Mediterranean. These were the greatest loss
the empire had yet suffered. 9970
Aetius,
`The Last of the Romans' 9972
Honorius
had died in 423. The western army elevated one John to succeed him but the
eastern emperor, Theodosius II, disapproved and installed a 6-year-old,
Valentinian III, as his choice. 9972
In
effect power was in the hands of Valentinian's mother, Galla Placidia, 9973
In
433, however, she was outmanoeuvred by her magister militum, Aetius, who now
became the dominant figure in the western empire and remained so for the next
twenty years. 9977
His
main concern was to hold some imperial control over Gaul. By this time both the
Visigoths and the Burgundians were well established there and Aetius felt it
crucial to exercise more effective control over them.
9980
Aetius'
success depended on a constant supply of Hunnic mercenaries 9983
By
445 this was one Attila. Under his leadership the Huns took a more aggressive
attitude towards the empire. 9984
the
new emperor in the east, Marcian, refused to continue the subsidies and the
Huns turned their attentions to Gaul. The attacks meant the total collapse of
Aetius' strategy. 9986
call
on his former enemies the Visigoths and Burgundians to join with other German
tribes in repulsing the Huns. This they did successfully at the Battle of
Catalaunian Plains 9988
Leo's
intervention marks, perhaps, the moment when Rome can truly be said to be under
Christian rather than pagan authority-by now most of the senatorial aristocracy
had converted. 9991
Aetius
was summoned to the emperor's presence in Ravenna and executed,...officers
loyal to Aetius had their revenge and struck down Valentinian. 9994
The
Final Years of the Western Empire, 455-476 9995
the
empire had disintegrated still further. Its survival was now dependent on a
variety of volatile peoples none of whom had any interest in remaining a loyal
ally, especially when they had the chance to extend their own lands. 9995
Gaiseric....sent a fleet to Rome in 455 and sack it once again. In 458 he
took Sicily, held as a Roman province for nearly 700 years. 9998
The
effectiveness of their seapower had established the Vandals as the main threat
to the empire. 9999
the
Visigoths exploited their indispensability to move into Spain, where the
structure of Roman administration had by now collapsed. 10000
When
a German commander of half Visigothic and half Suevic origin, one Ricimer,
defeated the Vandals in a sea battle, the senators were impressed enough to
choose him as the empire's new strong man.
10003
Between
456 and 472 it was Ricimer who managed what remained of the western empire. 10005
When
Ricimer himself died in 472 the empire outside Italy was effectively lost for
good. 10009
In
many areas, as has been seen, the administration was simply delegated to German
tribes, in others it atrophied. 10012
As
late as the 470s there were still army units stationed in the main cities of
the province. At one point their pay failed to arrived. One unit sent off a
delegation to Italy to collect the money but no more was heard of it and the
unit disbanded itself. Others followed and the defence of the frontier was, in
effect, abandoned. 10014
Coming
to Terms with a New World: The Survival of Roman Culture in the Late Fifth
Century 10016
There
is some archaeological evidence that long-range trading routes remained intact,
certainly between cities, until the early sixth century. 10019
overall
the picture in Italy is of serious economic decline. 10022
Rome's
population shrank dramatically in the sixth century, from perhaps loo,ooo at
the beginning of the century to 30,000-40,000 by the end. 10025
Germans
were thrown into close contact with those local taxpayers whose tax was
assigned to them. It was in their interest to maintain the systems of
landownership which provided the tax.
10029
In
short, accommodation between Romans and newcomers rather than confrontation
seems to have been the norm. 10031
the
church survived with its administrative structure intact. Its estates were
large and could support its clergy.
10036
While
the church survived as a force for cohesion, so then did Roman law. 10040
Many
German rulers now adopted it for their `Roman' subjects. 10043
The
use of Roman law perpetuated the concept that the state should take
responsibility for justice on behalf of an individual and that there were
personal rights which should be protected.
10044
most
towns in the west were mere shells of what they had been. In the north-west of
the empire towns had virtually ceased to exist after AD 400. 10047
in
Gaul the Franks tended to build their churches on the sites of Roman estates
with villages growing up later around them. Communities now centred on the
courts of the Germanic kings or monasteries.
10050
This
was now a rural world and its horizons were inevitably narrower than they had
been. 10051
Theodoric
and the Ostrogoths in Italy 10052
`The
Ostrogoths' is the term conventionally used of those Goths who had remained
north of the borders of the empire under the domination of the Huns, 10053
peoples
from north of the Danube migrated into the Roman empire after the collapse of
Attila's empire in the 45os, and by 484 had been united under a new leader,
Theodoric. 10055
adherence
to Arianism and their own language helped maintain their sense of a separate
identity 10056
After
enduring a long siege in Ravenna Odoacer surrendered but was murdered by Theodoric.
Theodoric was now the most powerful man in Italy. 10059
Theodoric
consolidated his position steadily. He guarded against counter-attack from the
east by assuming control over Pannonia in 505. When the Visigothic kingdom
collapsed in Provence in 508 Theodoric annexed the province and also annexed
Visigothic Spain in 511. 10061
Theodoric
took a personal interest in Rome, even restoring some of the buildings there
and allowing the senators to retain their status and prestige....there was a revival
of the city's ancient pride. 10067
in
Ravenna, which Theodoric made his capital, orthodox and Arian churches
coexisted, 10071
With
time the distinction between Ostrogoth and Roman began to break down. Many
Ostrogoths moved from being warriors in one generation to landowners in the
next. Some took Roman names, converted to orthodox Christianity, and
intermarried with the Roman nobility.
10073
By
the sixth century the Ostrogoths as a group disappear, apparently absorbed into
the Roman majority. 10075
Boethius
and Cassiodorus 10075
The
major intellectual figure of Theodoric's Italy was Anicus Manlius Severinus
Boethius. 10076
Among
his achievements was a translation into Latin of all Aristotle's works on logic
which kept Aristotle's name alive in the medieval west when all knowledge of
Greek had disappeared. 10078
in
524 he was arrested on a charge of treason and bludgeoned to death 10079
The
Consolation of Philosophy. 10082
Boethius
is led towards an appreciation that there is a higher `Good' which transcends
his present suffering. One of the major themes explored in the Consolation is
the apparent contradiction between the existence of an ultimate `Good' and the
everyday vagaries of fate. The individual has to lift himself above the
injustices of everyday life so that he can be united with the stability of `the
Good'. 10085
Cassiodorus
(490-c.585) drew on Greek models for his argument that the best training for
higher studies in Christian theology was provided by the seven liberal arts,
grammar, logic, rhetoric, music, geometry, arithmetic, and astronomy. 10090
he
collected manuscripts both Christian and pagan and encouraged the monks to copy
them, 10092
thanks
to Cassiodorus that an education in pagan classical texts was enshrined as part
of the church's own education system at a time when secular schooling was in
decline. 10094
The
old spirit of curiosity so much part of the Greek world was by now dead. 10101
The
Frankish Kingdom 10101
It
was Childeric's son Clovis who was to expand the kingdom. He threw back the
Alamanni towards the Upper Rhine and energetically disposed of rival kings. His
shrewdest move was to become converted to orthodox Christianity, possibly in
498 or 499. 10105
Clovis
had laid the foundations of a large Frankish kingdom underpinned by orthodox
Christianity. 10109
Between
533 and 548 there was once again strong centralized rule under Clovis'
grandson, Theudebert I. Theudebert eliminated the Burgundian kingdom in 534 and
gained Provence from the Ostrogoths in 536.
10114
The
kingdom disintegrated after Theudebert's death but was reunited again by a
great-grandson of Clovis, Chlothar I, in 558. Under Chlothar II (584-629) and Dagobert
(629-38) the Frankish kingdom was to survive as the most effective kingdom of
the west. 10117
The
Visigoths in Spain and Vandals in Africa 10119
The
Visigothic kingdom in Spain had to endure annexation by the Ostrogoths and
invasion by the Byzantines, before it re-emerged as a strong and centralized
kingdom at the end of the sixth century.
10119
The
problem that remained was the division between the Arian Visigoths and the
orthodox Christians who made up the majority of the population. 10121
Summoning
the bishops to Toledo in 589, Reccared not only proclaimed his conversion but
formed an alliance with the church through which church and state worked
together to consolidate the political unity of the state. 10122
the
Visigothic kingdom was to compete with the Frankish as the most stable and
intellectually fertile in Europe.
10125
Vandal
rule in Africa was less stable. 10132
Landowners
had their estates confiscated and orthodox Christians were vigorously persecuted 10133
the
fate of the local Christians, written up in lurid detail by one of their
bishops, Victor of Vita, which aroused the interest of the east, in particular
the emperor Justinian (527-65). It seems to have been his initiative, based on
a desire to help the oppressed Christians as well as to make a final, if
anachronistic, attempt to revive the western empire, that lay behind the
decision made in 533 to invade Africa, an invasion which was astonishingly
successful. It was followed by an invasion of Italy in 535. 10134
Italy
in the Late Sixth Century 10137
One
result of the eastern intervention in Italy was the disappearance of the
senatorial aristocracy. Many were simply eliminated by the Goths as suspected
traitors. 10138
The
villa economy, on which the senators' wealth depended, also seems to have
disappeared at the same time, doubtless dislocated by the protracted wars. The
senate ceased to meet in the 58os and it is in these years that the image of
Rome as an abandoned city, its great monuments falling into ruin, first
emerges. 10141
there
was little in the way of an administrative structure left outside that provided
by the church. 10156
rejection
by most Italian clergy of Justinian's condemnation of the so-called Three
Chapters, texts which supported the Nestorian view that Christ had a distinct
human nature. 10157
It
was not until the Council of Chalcedon in 451, when the so-called tome (letter)
of Leo was read (in his absence), that `for the first time Rome took a
determining role in the definition of Christian dogma' 10164
Constantinople's
status was confirmed as second only to that of Rome 10166
in
59o a new bishop of Rome, Gregory (540-604), was consecrated, 10168
Gregory
is undoubtedly one of the greatest spiritual leaders the west has ever
produced. He restored to Christianity a moral integrity which had risked being
lost in the vindictive debates of the fourth century 10173
Gregory
exploited his freedom from imperial control and doggedly set out on a new path
which was to define the nature of western Christendom. 10177
The
bishop of Rome was to be the presiding force in Christian Europe with his
fellow but subordinate bishops strengthened as leaders of the Christian communities. 10178
`without
the authority and consent of the apostolic see [Rome] ; insisted Gregory `none
of the matters transacted [by a council] has any binding force' 10179
It
was a sophisticated rationale for papal power which owed much to the theology
of Augustine but rested ultimately on the direct succession Gregory claimed
from the apostle Peter. The foundations had been laid of the medieval papacy. 10180
widening
doctrinal split with the east, 10182
the
leading members of the western church (Augustine, as has been seen, is one
example) were unable any longer to understand Greek. 10182
Rome's
position was further strengthened by the eclipse of two traditional rivals, the
bishoprics of Alexandria and Antioch, by the Arab invasions 10183
from these local dialects that the Romance languages appear to have emerged in those areas where the Roman population was a majority, the Iberian peninsula, Italy, France, and Romania. 10192
The
Eastern Empire: Cultural Complexity in the Late Empire 10200
It
included not only the Danube provinces, as far west as Illyricum, the Balkans,
and Greece but also Asia Minor, Syria, Palestine, and Egypt. Latin remained as
a language of the army and law. 10201
the
main spoken language of administration was Greek,
10203
local
cultures had become more prominent since the third century. 10206
despite
its cultural complexity the eastern part of the empire saw itself as the proud
heir of Rome. Its inhabitants called themselves Romaioi, or Romans, right up to
the fall of Constantinople to the Turks in AD 1453. 10210
The
court at Constantinople also served as a haven of Greek classical culture. 10212
Constantinople
and the Christian Emperors 10216
by
endowing it with a senate, one of the empire's two consuls, and its own grain
supply (the annona) on the Roman model, Constantine had ensured that it was the
natural successor to Rome as government in the west collapsed. 10217
the
status of a Christian capital. This was enhanced by the steady accumulation of
relics. 10219
court
ceremonies become part of the life of the city. The most lively of these
ceremonies were the settings for the meetings of the emperor with his people in
the vast hippodrome 10222
brought
an explosive element to city life and several emperors found themselves the
focus of massive unrest when they misjudged the popular mood. 10226
Eusebius,
the historian of the reign of Constantine, had developed a model of Christian
kingship....The emperor was God's representative on earth. God regulates the
cosmic order, the emperor the social order, bringing his subjects together in a
harmony which mirrors that which God has designed for all creation. 10227
Leo
was the first of the emperors to be crowned by the Patriarch of Constantinople, 10235
Leo
also tried to reduce the dependency of the empire on `barbarian' troops by
recruiting a native mountain people, the Isaurians, instead. 10237
Anastasius
was a devout man described in one source as `the good emperor, the lover of
monks and the protector of the poor and afflicted, in short a truly Christian
emperor. 10242
The
people of Constantinople, however, who always expected the emperor to be their
own, were offended by his lack of religious orthodoxy 10244
an
effective and steady administration of an empire which remained relatively
prosperous. 10248
This
prosperity was tapped through an effective consolidation of the administration,
with a shift of power towards provincial governors at the expense of the town
councils, 10251
The
classical city entered a period of decline and disintegration, similar to that
seen in the west. 10252
The
taxation system remained unbalanced and harsh.
10257
The
Defence of the Empire 10260
The
empire remained under continuous military threat.
10260
The
court of the eastern empire remained civilian rather than military in temper
and mixed diplomacy with military confrontation.
10264
There
was little the east was able to offer the west in support. The one major
attempt at intervention, the invasion of Africa in 468, was a disastrous
failure. 10268
Christianity
in the Eastern Empire 10277
many
areas of the eastern empire still remained pagan and only gradually succumbed
to Christianity. 10277
many
Christian communities (especially, inscriptions show, in Anatolia) where local
traditions of worship were resistant to decrees from far-off emperors. 10279
classical
Greek culture was on the defensive.
10281
In
the cities it was the bishops who assumed the responsibilities of the old
classical elites. As in the west bishops tended to come from the traditional
ruling classes and preserved the paideia, the civilized ways of behaviour of a
leisured elite for whom personal relationships were an art form in themselves. 10288
The
demise of the old city governments also left the bishops responsible for the
maintenance of order. 10292
Some,
the monks of the Syrian desert, for instance, lived alone, courting death
through the acute deprivations they imposed upon themselves. Their conquest of
their bodies gave them immense spiritual charisma. 10300
these
holy men who seemed to be beyond any form of social control. 10302
Nestorius,
installed as patriarch of Constantinople in 428, argued that Christ was one
person but had two distinct natures, one human and one divine, both coexisting
in the same body. 10316
Nestorius
was bitterly opposed by the Patriarch Cyril of Alexandria, whose own
interpretation was that Christ, while appearing in human form, was
predominantly divine. 10318
Those
who emphasized the divinity of Christ were later to be known as Monophysites. 10319
debates
were intensified by the granting of tax exemptions and patronage to those who
accepted what was defined by the emperor of the time as orthodoxy. 10321
council
held in Ephesus (where by tradition Mary had spent her later life) in 431
accepted the concept of Mary as Theotokos thus by implication condemning
Nestorius. 10324
Marcian,
was taking no chances and another council was held, this time at Chalcedon, in
451. 10328
Christ
was proclaimed to have the two natures, human and divine, within the same
undivided person. This was, in fact, close to what Nestorius had argued in the
first place. 10329
The
Council of Chalcedon had therefore succeeded in creating a religious division
which made a mockery of the emperor as ruler of a people united in a single
church. 10337
Justinian
10339
Justinian,
as his successor and Justinian duly succeeded in 527. So began one of the most
memorable reigns (527-65) of late antiquity.
10340
He
had a vision of how it could be raised to new heights of glory through the
revival of a Roman empire incorporating its old capital and whatever else could
be regained of the west. 10341
The
final effect of Justinian's awesome ambitions may well have been to weaken the
empire 10345
Justinian's
Law Codes 10347
The
first `great' achievement of Justinian was his codification of Roman law. 10347
The
Code brought together all imperial decrees in a single volume. Henceforth, only
those cited in the Code could be used in the courts. 10350
Justinian
forbade any further commentaries on these opinions. They had to be used as they
were without further interpretation
10353
it
was a symbol of Justinian's determination to bring an administrative unity to
his empire based on Roman, not Greek, principles. 10357
The
Nika Riots 10358
John
set to work to destroy the tax exemptions enjoyed by the elites and the cosy
relationship many of them had established with the civil service. 10359
There
was widespread rioting and the crowds, whose political perspectives remained
highly conventional, attempted to install a rival emperor. 10364
The
hippodrome was stormed and an appalling massacre, of perhaps some 30,000 of the
city population, was carried out
10367
The
Campaigns in Africa and Italy 10375
Justinian's
general Belisarius landed in the bay of Tunis with 10,000 infantry and 5,000
cavalry. 10376
Vandals'
control of Africa collapsed after two battles and all traces of their presence
soon disappeared, 10377
attempted
an invasion of Italy. His motives, the elimination of Arianism and the
restoration of the western empire, remained the same, but everything was
different in Italy. The country was difficult to fight in, the Ostrogoths were
resilient, while the local population was ambivalent about being rescued by
Greek-speaking easterners. 10382
the
war was to drag on for almost twenty years.
10384
northern
Italy was invaded by the Lombards, who drove out the eastern armies and
established their own kingdom in the Po valley,
10387
Procopius
of Caesarea 10390
Procopius
left three main works. The most substantial is his account of Justinian's wars
in the east, Africa, and Italy. 10396
with
the sack of Antioch, the outbreak of plague (see below), and stalemate in
Italy, Procopius' optimism fades and his disillusionment with imperial policy
grows stronger. 10399
Secret
History,...vitriolic tirade against Justinian (and to some extent Belisarius)
though it is most often read for its descriptions of the alleged sexual
cavortings of the empress Theodora in her early life as a circus artiste. 10402
The
Last Years of Justinian 10435
After
540 the successes in Africa and Italy were overshadowed by a devastating attack
by the Persians on Antioch (from which the second city of the empire never
fully recovered), the ravaging of Thrace by Huns, Bulgars, and Slavs, and the
mounting problems in the campaigns in Italy.
10436
recurring
outbreaks of bubonic plague. 10438
estimated
that between a third and a half of the population died in the worst-affected
cities. 10440
A
whole range of peoples, Bulgars, Avars, Slavs, pressed on the empire. Raids
reached well into Greece and, on occasions, to the walls of Constantinople
itself. This was the period when the cities of Greece went into permanent
decline. 10443
The
main barrier to unity within the empire was Monophysitism, still strong in the
eastern provinces of the empire.
10452
His
[Justinian's] target was the so-called Three Chapters, texts written by three
fifth-century bishops in which sympathy for Nestorianism might be detected. The
bishops had, however, been specifically cleared of any heresy at the Council of
Chalcedon and so any attempt to condemn them now would undermine the authority
of that council. 10454
`a
hollow triumph of political intrigue and imperial intervention' was to deeply
offend the western church, whose bishops believed that the decisions of the
Council of Chalcedon should not be discarded at the whim of an emperor. The
split between the western (Catholic) and eastern (Orthodox) churches, while
only finally confirmed in the eleventh and twelfth centuries, was one step
nearer. 10457
The
Emergence of the Byzantine Empire 10460
Classical
culture was by now largely dead and a more intensely Christian atmosphere
pervaded the empire. 10462
Christian
liturgies and the music that accompanied them become an important part of general
culture and it is clear that they are used by whole congregations not just an
educated elite. The icon, a picture of Christ, the Virgin Mary, or a saint,
normally painted on wood, becomes increasingly popular at all levels of
society. 10465
increased
emphasis on the unknowability of God, especially in the works of the mystic
known as pseudo-Dionysus. 10469
After
Justinian's death Latin gradually becomes forgotten. 10470
The
early seventh century saw the crumbling of the Danube borders and the most
successful Persian attack ever on the empire with both Jerusalem and Alexandria
lost. 10472
Under
the emperor Heraclius (610-41) a miraculous recovery took place which brought
the Sasanian empire close to collapse.
10474
an
onslaught of a totally unexpected nature came from the south. 10476
In
622 Muhammad moved northwards with his supporters to the oasis of Medina in a
hijra, an emigration of a people in search of new land to settle. 10481
After
the death of Muhammad in 632 Islam exploded northwards in a series of lightning
military campaigns under his successors Abu Bakr (632-4) and `Umar (634-44). 10486
The
overrunning of the southern provinces was swift. The defeat of the Byzantine
army at the Yarmuk River in 636 left Syria and Palestine open to Islamic
conquest. 10490
Only
the victory of Charles Martel at Poitiers in 733 finally halted an advance
which had also destroyed Visigothic Spain. 10492