>Geographic and Ecological setting >Economic setting >Infastructure >Art >Political and Social structure

1. ELIZALDE, THERESE
DOLDUCO, KAYE
DUMPIT, MARIE
DASILAO, ALLEN
DEFANTE, ANTON

3. GEOGRAPHICAL AND ECOLOGICAL
SETTING

4. • Ancient Rome Geography - Hills, marshes and rivers. Ancient
Rome's geography was in many ways the secret of its future
success so much so that even Roman writers, including Cicero,
recognized how fortunate the choice had been.
• What is particularly interesting is that Rome, at odds with most
other Italian cities, is built on a relatively low ground rather than
on a dominating high ground. The lowest point of the city is at
the Pantheon (approx 13m above sea level). The highest is
Monte Mario hill (120 m asl).

6. • Ancient Pompeii- although close to the sea was
essentially built on the side of a mountain on a spur of
lava flow with a dominant position over the sea and the
river Sarno.
•

8. • The marshes meant that the first inhabitants tended to
congregate on the steep hills which had been cut out by
erosion.
• Being an area of volcanic origins the soil is naturally rich
in water springs and minerals. The hills themselves were
(are) largely made up of tufa rock - a sort of hardened
rocky sponge.

9. Tufa Rock
• This type of stone was widely used for ancient Roman
building and construction for example to build
foundations, the earliest walls of the city or even as part
of wall construction - opus reticulatum. It is still widely
used in modern day construction.
•

10. • Rome’s low-lying position partly explains the general
lack of high defense towers -the surrounding hills are
higher anyway. The towers which were built through late
antiquity and middle ages were later substituted by
religious domes which, at least in spirit, bring the
heavens down to earth or the spirit up to the heavens
depending on your perspective.

11. • The Geography of Ancient Rome was characterized by
relatively steep hills on the left bank of the river Tiber, at
the point where the river flowed around a small island
(16m asl) as well as branching out into marshy areas
between the hills. In a sense, the Tiber island itself is a
hill.

13. • The marsh areas were drained and developed into the
Forum Boarium - the meat market and first port of ancient
Rome.
• At that time the river was still navigable by Roman ships.
Other parts of the marshes were drained to allow the city
to grow between the hills. The most notable examples
were the marsh between the Palatine and Aventine
which became the Circus Maximus, with wooden
seats along the hill sides of what was the marsh.

14. • The cloaca maxima and other drainage systems
are still in function and the flowing water within
them can still be heard by those visiting
subterranean Rome.

15. • The first two hills to be populated were the Palatine and
Capitoline
• but the city soon extended to include the Aventine,
Caelius, Oppius, Viminalis and Quirinalis and others.
• The move across the river was largely prompted by
military defence needs.
• Some of these hills were actually made up of a couple
hills each with their own name. The most renowned
across the river are the Janiculum and Vatican.
•

17. • A curious hill is "Testaccio" which in reality is a man-
made hill entirely made of carefully laid out broken
amphora pieces (the amphorae were the ceramic containers
used for commerce).
• This hill per se gives a pretty good idea of the extent to
which man has come to alter the original geography.
• Other hills have come to be virtually dug out or
eliminated as part of continuous urban development, for
example the Velia hill.

19. SOCIAL & POLITICAL
STRUCTURE
*republic- system of government in
which citizens choose representatives to
govern on their behalf

20. Social Class
• patricians- wealthy land owner; Nobilities
• plebians- common people
• slaves
*Forbidden to marry between social classes

21. Consul- highest position
* can only be obtained by patrician men
senate-law makers
* composed of 300 patricians
* not chosen by the citizens but by the consul
*elected for life
Assembly- elects tributes
*allows plebians into its membership
Tribune- president of plebians
* has right to intervene legal matters and leto legislation

22. law of 12 tables
• code of laws which spelled out civil matters, crime and
punishments, and relationships among citizens and
family members
• applies to both patricians and plebians
• marriage between 2 social classes is now legal
• plebians can be consuls

23. RELIGIOUS SYSTEM

24. From the beginning Roman religion was
polytheistic. From their gods and spirits, Rome
added to this collection to include both Greek gods
as well as a number of foreign cults. Eventually, all
of their gods had been washed away, gradually
replaced by Christianity.

25. The Romans thought that there were many gods, and that these gods each
controlled different parts of the world: storms, the ocean, marriage,
blacksmithing, and so forth.

26. Each Roman family has there one specific god that they believe
in called penates. They pay their respect to augurs, there priest
who specializes in their signs.

27. One important Roman idea about their gods was "do ut des",
which is Latin for "I give so that you will give." People should
sacrifice to the gods, so that the gods would help them in return.

28. •Temples to worship the gods were built throughout the Roman Empire.
•Temples usually always followed the same building pattern.
•The roof was triangular shaped and supported by great pillars.
•Steps led up to the main doorway that was usually built behind the pillars.
•The inside of the temple would have been very well decorated and there
would have been a statue of the god in it.
Patheon

30. Christianity
Later in Rome, Christianity was developed. It became a major religion in Rome soon
after its creation. At first, the Christians were not accepted into Rome. Once
Christianity was introduced into society, it became a major religion. The Romans
started building churches rapidly, which led to the rise of Christianity in Rome.
St. John Lateran

31. The Christians believed in Jesus. They believed that they
should live life like Jesus, because they believe that he was
a figure to look up to. Christians want to live without sin,
because living with a small amount of sin gets them into
heaven. A Christian believes that too much sin would get
you in hell, which is a punishment.

32. INFASTRUCTURES, AESTHETIC ART
One of the things the Romans are most
famous for is their architecture.

33. • The Romans brought a lot
of new ideas to
architecture, of which the
three most important are
the arch, the baked
brick, and the use of
cement and concrete.
• Roman architecture
inspired the design of the
U.S. Capitol building!

34. • The Romans were the first
to build aqueducts.
• The running water, indoor
plumbing and sewer
system carrying away
disease from the
population

35. • The Romans developed or improved their art by copying the art
from the Greeks for the statues.
• Statues were made from clay or marble.
• Metal was sometimes added to the statues so that they had added
strength.
• Statues were well made, were nude and they were made of gods or
important leaders which were recognized .
• The fact that the statues had important people meant that they had
to be done as well as possible since it was honouring their gods.

36. • Paintings and mosaics were important too as they were used
to advertise or to show everyday life scenes.
• These were made in local colours which were found in the
stone, plants and any other source of colour.
• one example of this is in the Roman town of Pompeii. These
paintings usually showed scenes of everyday life in the
countryside.

40. Arches

41. Basilica
• A very common type of building erected for business
purposes and also for the accommodation of the courts.
• It usually consisted of a rectangular hall, of considerable
height, surrounded by one or two ambulatories,
sometimes with galleries, and lighted by openings in the
upper part of the side walls.

42. Colosseum
• one of the world's most
magnificent pieces of
architecture.
• constructed between A.D.
70 and 80 under three
Flavian emperors:
Vespasian, Titus, and
Dominton..

43. Pantheon
• a place of worship for the Romans, who worshipped many gods
and goddesses.
• There is a perfect dome on the top of the Pantheon and in that
dome is a large hole. This is very interesting and important
because it lets in the natural light from outside and it allows rain to
come in, which would wash away the blood from animal sacrifices.
• There was a system set up in the way the floor curved so that when
it rained, it would wash the floor and then flow towards the walls of
the Pantheon and then drain out through a special drain.

45. The Forum
• - In the times of ancient Rome, The Forum was full
of government buildings and temples and markets.
The Romans used columns in their architecture,
just like the Greeks. In this way, the architecture of
the Romans and Greeks are very similar.

46. Catacombs
• The ancient catacombs were tombs for Christians. At the
time that these were used, Christians were persecuted for
their religion. Since they were persecuted,
• Christians had to be very careful when burying their dead.
If non- Christians found the grave, they would try to
steal jewelry of the dead person or even damage the
body. To prevent this, Christians buried their dead in
these underground tombs that were like little shelves just
big enough for the body. These catacombs were also
good hiding places for people escaping persecution.

47. Trajan’s Column
• The Trajan's Column built by the architect Apollodoro
from Damasco during the reign of emperor Trajan to
celebrate his victorious deeds in Dacia. It was built on
the centre of the Forum. The column is 30 metres high.
On in it are represented the events of the war in Dacia.

49. Economic setting

50. • Ancient Rome commanded a vast area of land, with
tremendous natural and human resources.
• As such, Rome's economy remained focused on farming
and trade.
• Agricultural free trade changed the Italian landscape,
• and by the 1st century BC, vast grape and olive
estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers, who were
unable to match the imported grain price.
• The annexation of Egypt, Sicily and Tunisia in North
Africa provided a continuous supply of grains. In turn,
olive oil and wine were Italy's main exports.

51. Finance• For centuries the monetary affairs of the Roman Republic had rested in the
hands of the Senate. These elite liked to present themselves as steady and
fiscally conservative.
• The aerarium (state treasury) was supervised by members of the government
rising in power and prestige, the Quaestors, Praetors, and eventually the
Prefects. With the dawn of the Roman Empire, a major change took place,
as the emperors assumed the reins of financial control. Augustus adopted a
system that was, on the surface, fair to the senate. Just as the world was
divided in provinces designated as imperial or senatorial, so was the
treasury. All tribute brought in from senatorially controlled provinces was
given to the aerarium, while that of the imperial territories went to the
treasury of the emperor, the fiscus.

52. Trading
• Even before the republic, the Roman Kingdom was
engaged in regular commerce using the river Tiber.
Before the Punic Wars completely changed the nature of
commerce in the Mediterranean, the Roman republic
had important commercial exchanges with Carthage. It
entered into several commercial and political
agreements with its rival city in addition to engaging in
simple retail trading. The Roman Empire traded with the
Chinese over the Silk Road.