9:30 class and 3:30 class small group answers to questions 3-5 n Noble Chapter 5

I have kept these in the form that you sent me--little typos and errors and all.  I added questions or comments where the answers were unclear.  You need to compare your notes to the notes that I have posted.  Also, remember that for the exam you must write an essay (not a list of notes)

9:30 class group notes on Noble Chapter 5

Question 3

Family

-Father was the head of the household (family, slaves, livestock, etc)

-Family was the basic unit

-Father would only take care of the oldest daughter. The other daughters would be taken care of by other family members or slaves.

-Males of the family met for a family council but the father had final say over matters

-Father always rule over sons no matter what the ages of the sons

-Father had ability to create powerful binding relationships

-Daughters were forced into arranged marriages

-Male virtues- devotion, manly man

-Female virtues- modest, devotion as well

Social Relations

-The patron-client system was multigenerational and very valuable

- Valued hard work and discipline

-Into Greek culture (literature and art)

-Household was held in high regard

Religion

-Started out as an animalistic [?????  MH] religion then adopted Gods.

-When Romans conquered new land, they adopted that nation’s Gods. Then decided whether to keep or ban them.

-The state religion grew from the household religion

[Question asks you to focus on how social relations and religion related to the family!  Focus!  MH]

Question 4

Rome was successful in war because:

                Alliances

                                Rome set up patron client relations with its allies

                                Were generous and firm with them

                Utilization of foreign technology

                Lust for land

                Hoplite Phalanx warfare

                Paid soldiers which raised moral

                Roman Legion

[HOW can you ignore that this was an army of citizens?  How can you ignore the importance of Roman values?  MH]

Advantages of Empire

                Coinage and more money  [? Meaning What???  MH]

                Spread of literacy and the arts  [?Meaning What??  MH]

[Focus---I did not ask about the benefits to people who were conquered!  I asked about the benefits to Rome!  MH]

What classes benefited

                The Upper class benefited with an increase of land  [What is "the upper class"??  MH]

                The soldiers benefited with pay  [Meaning WHAT?  MH]

                Victories [??  MH]  Generals were given great ceremonies in their honor

Question 5

Part A: 
   As Rome amassed more land slaves [??unclear--what is a land slave?? does this mean land and slaves?] , the upper class and Aristocrats gained more wealth. All of these  [?these what?] were given to them, while the lower class gained nothing. Since they [??who??]  had so much to compete with and many of the men were at war, many lower class lost what little land and power they had [??needs to be explained much more clearly!].
Part B:
   The collapse was due to many reason slave labor and peasent uprising being two of those.  [?Meaning what??]   During the Gachii [??] brothers [?] rule debates became very violent and bloody, which was a big change compared to the cival order they use [meaning what?] to have in debates. Politics also became very unstable, two groups formed Optimates and Popularis, separating the republic.  [?What does that mean?] Dictators soon arose, Sulla becoming the first and Ceasar following creating many reforms.  [MH--This is way too vague and would not result in a solid grade...]

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3:30 small group answers to questions 3-5 on Noble, chapter 5

Question 3: 

3.  How did Romans organize their families and how was family life related to Roman social relations (e.g., the patron-client system), Roman religion, and Roman values (virtues)?

In the Roman families, the head of the family was teh oldest male who had the supreme power. The word family meant everythign that was in teh household, including slaves, livestock, the property, and the family itself.  In Roman families the male could eventually break off from the family.  On the other hand, the female had less freedom and eventually had an arranged marriage.  Though it seems they didn't have much freedom, they had more than the Greek women.  [was the family only the nuclear (mother, father, children) unit, or did Romans have "extended" family ties?  MH]

Family was related to social relations because the family structure is hierarchal, and so were patron-client relations.  [That first point is REALLY GOOD!  MH] Also, when two people are in a patron-client relation, their two families are connected.  Families were also the structured which ruled Roman government; families would marry into eachother to maintain/obtain power.  As far as that marriage went, they were arranged with fathers paying dowries for their daughters. 

 
Families were very involved in religion. They worshipped their deceased ancestors in their homes.  The ancestors were beleived to be in control of good fortune, weather, etc. and needed to be satisfied.  Pietas were involved in devotion to teh familia, gods, and the state.  Some virtues that families pass onto their children are discipline, hard work, frugality, temperance, and avoidance of public displays of affection between spouses. 

Question #4 (3:30 class)

A few reasons Rome was able become an empire is because of its politics [MH--is that a few?]. The wealthy soldiers [??  were ordinary soldiers wealthy???] and Patricians were motivated by greed and fame and pushed the government to go to war. Any small threat in another empire was quickly stopped by the Romans thus gaining more land. Rome also made alliances with neighboring states. Sometimes these alliances became like Patron-Client Relationships. In this case, if the “client state” was threatened by another state, Rome had a duty to go into battle against them. 

Another reason Rome was able to conquer an empire was its advanced military. The Romans used a new fighting unit called a legion. It was based upon the hoplite phalanx but was adapted to be more flexible. The legion was divided up into three lines, 30 maniples and 60 centuries. Each maniple had its own commander.  Rome began to pay its soldiers and reward them with land to ensure loyalty and high morale. This proved useful later during the wars against Carthage, who [?] soldiers were mainly mercenaries.  [HOW can we ignore the idea that soldiers were citizens???]

After Rome had become the leader of the Latin League and it was dissolved, they were able to annex several colonies and added more territory to the Roman Empire. The new roads that the Romans constructed allowed for fast movement of soldiers to the colonies.

The advantages to an empire were obviously that Rome gained more land. With the conquest of new lands and people, Romans brought back captured slaves. These slaves went to the Patricians and Equestrians for their large farms. With the extra man power and increased production, the Patricians and Equestrians earned more money.   [??No discussion of what this meant for the poor--that would ??]

Rome gained a certain amount of respect from other states that saw the Romans new-found power.

The social groups that benefitted from expansion were the Patricians, who gained more land and slaves, and high-ranking soldiers like the Equestrians who also received land and power.  [This is a good framework for an answer, but needs development.  MH]

Question 5: 

In what ways did imperial conquests aggravate problems and tensions in Roman society and what new developments in Roman politics undermined the stability of republican rule?

It caused more of a divide between rich and poor, the richer were getting the oppurtunity to get education and separte themselves from the poor. This caused problems leading to rebellions and arguments in the senate which lead to even more probelms between the classes.

As lower class Plebians got poorer and poorer, the conquering new lands fed an unimagineable wealth to the upper class. The acquiring of slaves benefited the Patricians as they did not have to pay the Plebians to work their land. Meanwhile, the Plebians could barely scrape together a living and be able to farm their lands. This caused an even greater gap between the two classes. Social uprising and political tensions casued a greater divide as well. Violence breaks out and the leaders must use force in return, as events keep happening, Rome becomes less and less Republic/Demorcratic and begins to shift to a more individualistic governing model.   [This is much too vague--the basic ideas are correct, but you need to have examples and specifics to have a good answer.  MH]