• What are the geographic characteristics of Italy/Rome?

• How did the geographic characteristics help Rome to develop?

• Who else lived on the Italian peninsula other than the Romans in the early era?

• How did different Roman foundation stories/myths help to shape their culture? (i.e. revisit the Aeneid and Romulus and Remus stories)

• How did the Greeks influence the foundation of Rome?

• What is a republic?  How was the roman republic organized? What sector of society made up the Roman senate?

  • Look at the sheet of terms/roles to help you with this question

  • Also reference the sheet with the chart of the Roman republic government to help you study

– How did Roman democracy compare to Athenian?

– How did the 12 tables reform government/legal code?

– What’s the difference between a republic and an empire?

– Why was gaining control of the Mediterranean area a difficult task at this time? (i.e. Who else existed there?)

How did Roman fighting style help them establish an empire?  (see readings from wars with Carthage)

– What advantages did Roman military have over other armies? How did this help their empire grow?

– Why were conquered people open minded to have the Romans rule them (initially)?

– Why is a republic ill equipped to govern a large amount of land?

– How did the Senate fail to meet the people’s needs under the republic?

– How did the Gracchus brothers try to help the poor during the tense days of the republic?  What needs did the people have?

–  How did the senate respond to the Gracchus brothers? Why did the senate’s response to the  Gracchus brothers spell doom for them?

– What conditions led to Caesar’s rise to power?

– How did people like Marius and Sulla set the stage for Caesar?

– Was Caesar a hero or a villain?  (know the main arguments for each side) What were the implications of his actions on the Republic?

–  What happened after Caesar was murdered?

– How did Octavian come to be the first true emperor of Rome (hint: what types of methods did he use to rise to power?)

– How was society well-governed during the Pax Romana?  How did Augustus help stabilize society?

– Know the answers to the video worksheet completed for hw (from the Engineering an Empire video clips)

– What was Roman society sometimes called a Greco Roman society? How does the Pantheon  illustrate this concept?

–  Why was Rome sometimes an unpleasant place to live?

– How did the Roman government deal with these problems?

– Why is Marcus Aurelius a unique emperor?

–  What does cosmopolitan mean?  Why is Pompeii a famous city? How does Pompeii illustrate the pos/neg sides of living in a city?  How did the people in Pompeii explain the destruction happening around them?

– Be able to recognize the areas conquered by the Roman empire.

– Who was the founder of Christianity and where did the religion originate from?

– How was/is Christianity similar to/different from Judiasm?

– What are the basic values of Christianity?

– How did Christianity start to gain followers?  Why were people attracted to this religion?

– What was Roman religion like before Christianity and what was Roman policy towards other religions?

– Why did Christianity threaten Roman government?  How did they treat the Christians?

– How did slavery function in the Roman empire?

– How were slaves treated?

– How did Romans respond to uprisings: – case study: Spartacus rebellion

– How did Diocletian and Constantine both rise to power (but remember this doesn’t happen at the same time in history. Constantine is after Diocletian)

– What reforms did Diocletian and Constantine make while acting as emperor?  Impact of these reforms?

 

– What are the political, economic, social, and military reasons credited to causing the fall of Rome?  Which cause was the main factor to the downfall?