The Roman Policy of “Bread and Circuses”

Question Number One

There were several problems created through the Roman policy of “Bread and Circuses.” As Rome’s political system evolved, Rome’s armies’ expanded the Roman power across Italy. After getting rid of their Etruscan rulers, Romans gained power over central Italy. By about 270 B.C., Rome occupied all of Italy. Rome’s success was partly because of its efficient, well-disciplined army. The Roman armies were made up of citizen-soldiers who fought without any pay, and supplied their own weapons. The basic unit was called the Roman legion. The Roman legion was made up of about 5,000 men. The Roman soldiers had a series of great victories. Young soldiers who showed courage, got praise and gifts, but those who fled from battle, were put to death.
People had to acknowledge Roman leadership, pay taxes, and supply soldiers for the Roman army. Rome treated the defeated enemies with justice, because in return they got to keep their own customs, local government, and money. Only a few of the conquered people were ever granted full citizenship from Rome. Most of them became partial citizens, who were allowed to marry Romans and carry on trade through the growing city on the Tiber.
Rome fought three wars against Carthage between 264 B.C. and 164 B.C. Those wars were called the Punic Wars. In the first Punic war, Rome defeated Carthage, which forced it to surrender Sicily, Corsica, and Sardina. Carthage had tensions about seeking revenge, and 23 years later, Carthage lead by Hannibal, sought revenge. Hannibal dedicated his life to destructing Rome. Hannibal was selected to be the leader of the Carthaginian army, and had a force of troops from North Africa, and Europe. During 218 B.C., Hannibal set out from Spain and led his troops and war elephants into Italy. In the Second Punic War, the Romans sent an army to attack Carthage. Carthage gave up all its land except for the land in Africa. For the Romans, the most important result of the Second Punic War was that they were now masters of the western Mediterranean.
Hannibal fled to the East, but once Romans tracked him down, he took poison, rather than surrendering to his enemy. In the Third Punic War, Hannibal was dead and Rome still saw Carthage as a rival because of the destruction that Hannibal’s army had brought to Italy. In the end, the survivors of the city that Rome had attacked, were either killed or sold into slavery. Rome had a series of wars that brought Macedonia, parts of Asia Minor, and Greece under its rule, while other regions including Egypt, had allied with Rome. The widespread of slave labor hurt small farmers, because they were unable to produce food as cheaply as the wealthy families could. Many farmers fell in debt, which resulted in them being forced to sell their land. The landless farmers then went to Rome in search for jobs. Tiberius called on the state to tribute land to poor farmers, and Gaius, who was elected tribune 10 years later than Tiberius was, went for a wider range of reforms, including the use of public funds to buy grain for the poor who were hungry. The reforms of Tiberius and Gaius angered the senate, and were seen as a threat to its power. The killing of Tiberius, Gaius, and their followers, showed how the republic was unable to resolve its problems in peace.
Over the next 200 years, Rome became involved in a series of civil wars. The senate wanted to govern the same way they have in the past, but the political leaders wanted to weaken the senate. The series of civil wars in Rome were about whether the senate or political leaders should have power. These wars caused slave uprisings and revolts against Roman allies, as well as transforming old legions of citizen soldiers into more organized armies.
All Romans, rich and poor, enjoyed entertainments at the Circus Maximus, (shown in the first picture.) The Circus Maximus was built in 326 B.C., in Rome, with a purpose of controlling the city’s mobs. The government also provided free grain to the poor. The Colosseum (in the second picture) was also built in the Roman Empire with a purpose of entertainment as well.

Question Number Two

How the Romans built a world empire begins with the land they lived in, and how the ability of resources affected Rome’s development as an Empire. Rome began as a small city-state in Italy. Italy is a peninsula centrally located in the Mediterranean, and Rome is located in the center of Italy. The location helped the Romans as they expanded into Italy and lands around the Mediterranean. Italy has the advantage of the Apennine Mountains along the Italian Peninsula, unlike Greece, which has small broken up valleys. Italy’s geography also has the advantage of broad, fertile plains, both in the North, under the Alps, and in the west, where Romans settled. The plains supported growing populations.
The Romans shared the Italian Peninsula with other people, and adapted from some of those people’s ideas. Those people included Greek colonists, and the Etruscans. The Etruscans lived north of Rome and were the greatest influence on the Romans. The Etruscans ruled most of central Italy, and Rome, and helped Romans learn the alphabet that they had earlier learned from the Greeks. They also learned engineering techniques to drain the lands along the Tiber, and how to use the arch in building. Between 509 B.C. and 133 B.C., Rome changed its republican form of government to meet the changing needs. Romans also developed the military power to conquer Italy and the entire Mediterranean.

Question Number Three

Julius Caesar has a huge role in Rome’s switch from a democracy to a dictatorship. Julius Caesar was a commander who combined ambition with determination to make drastic reforms. Julius Caesar dominated Roman politics with Pompey. Pompey was one of Rome’s most brilliant and greatest generals. During 59 B.C., Caesar set out with his army to make new conquests. After years of continuous fighting, Caesar successfully brought all of Gaul under Roman control.
Pompey became jealous of Caesar’s fame and success. Therefore, Pompey had the senate order Caesar to leave his army and return to Rome. Instead, Caesar committed treason by secretly leading his army into northern Italy and heading towards Rome, which lead to more civil war outbreaks across the empire. Caesar crushed Pompey and his supporters, and strengthened Roman power.
After Caesar returned to Rome, he forced the senate to make him a dictator. Caesar was the absolute ruler of Rome, even though he still kept the senate and other republic features. Caesar employed the jobless, gave public land to the poor, reorganized the government of the provinces and granted Roman citizenship to more people. Caesar’s enemies were worried that he was planning on making himself the king of Rome. In order to save the republic, Caesar’s enemies plotted against him. On the Ides of March (March 15th), as Caesar arrived in the senate, his enemies stabbed him to death. The death of Julius Caesar, lead to new civil wars.
Mark Anthony was Caesar’s chief general and Octavian was Caesar’s grandnephew. After Caesar’s death, Mark Anthony and Octavian joined forces to hunt down whoever murdered Caesar. In 31 B.C., Octavian defeated Anthony and his powerful ally Cleopatra, who was Queen of Egypt. The 200-year span that began with Augustus and ended with Marcus Aurelius, was known as the time of the Pax Romana. The Pax Romana was a time when Roman rule brought peace, unity, and order to the lands from the Euphrates River in the east, to Britain in the west.

Question Number Four Christianity was a new religion, early in the Pax Romana. At first, Christianity was just only one of the several religions being practiced in the empire. By 392 A.D., Christianity had been declared as the official religion in the Roman Empire. When the Roman Empire fell, Christianity took over and reshaped Roman beliefs.
The Romans and other citizens of the empire accepted the Jew’s religion and even excused the Jew’s from worshiping Roman gods. Jews believed that a messiah sent by God, would appear and lead the Jewish people towards freedom. During the Hellenistic age, many of the Jews learned Greek customs and ideas. Zealots were known as other Jews, who had a different mission. The Zealots mission was to call on Jews to revolt against Rome and reestablish an independent Israel.
Around about 4 B.C., a Jew named Jesus was born in Bethlehem, near Jerusalem. As a young man, Jesus worked as a carpenter, worshiped God and followed the Jewish law. Jesus’ teachings were based on Jewish tradition, believing in one God, and accepting the Ten Commandments. Jesus declared himself as the messiah and Son of God. Jesus preached forgiveness.
To the Roman authorities, Jesus was someone who might lead the Jews in a rebellion against Roman rule. After Jesus was arrested by the Romans, and was condemned to be crucified, Jesus’ disciples say that Jesus rose from the dead and commanded them to spread the message. Jesus’ disciples preached among the Jews of Judea, while others preached among Rome. The few Jews, who accepted that Jesus was the messiah, were known as the first Christians.
Paul was a Jew from Asia Minor, who began the wider spread of Christianity. Although Paul had never seen Jesus, he decided to spread Jesus’ teachings beyond just the Jewish communities. Paul’s spread of Jesus’ teachings helped Christianity become a world religion. Over the centuries, thousands of Christians became martyrs. Martyrs were people who suffered of died for their beliefs. Paul was killed as a martyr.