GREEK CIVILIZATION

PERIODS / PEOPLES DATE RANGE

• NEOLITHIC PERIOD • 5th and 4th Millennia BCE
• AEGEANS (Early Helladic Period) • ca. 2750–2000 BCE
• Early 2nd Millennium BCE – ca. 1400
• MINOAN CIVILIZATION
BCE
• ACHAENS (Middle and Late Helladic –
• ca. 2000–1550 BCE, 1550–1150 BCE
Mycenaean Period)
• Late 2nd Millennium BCE (ca. 1100s
• DORIANS
BCE)
• DARK AGE • 1100–700 BCE
• GREEK COLONIZATION AGE • Mid-8th to Mid-6th Century BCE
• GREEK CLASSICAL AGE • 6th–4th Century BCE
• HELLENISTIC AGE (ALEXANDER THE
• 330–30 BCE
GREAT AND AFTER)
The Aegean Basin (Ege Havzası)
• The Aegean Basin is a region surrounded by
Western Anatolia to the east, Thrace to the north,
the Greek Peninsula to the west and the Aegean
Sea with its many islands. Greece, a small
peninsular country in the west of this basin, is
where the ancient Greek civilization first
emerged. Greece is an extension of the Balkan
Peninsula in the southeast of Europe. Greece,
which has many gulfs and looks like a peninsula
surrounded by nearly three thousand large and
small islands, is basically divided into three parts:
North (Thessaly, Epeiros), Central (Boiotia, Attica
Peninsula, Doris, Phokis, Megaris) and South
(Peloponnesus Peninsula).
• The Aegean Basin, in which Greece is located,
contains many islands, large and small.
• The most important ones, which have been
inhabited throughout history, are fertile Crete in
the south, the center of the Minoan (Minos)
civilization, Rhodes (Rodos) in the south of
southwestern Anatolia, Kos, Kalymnos, Samos,
Chios, Lesbos and Limnos to the north.
• Just to the east of Greece is Evoia, and to the
southeast are the Cyclades, including the island
of Delos, sacred to the ancient Greeks.

• To the east lies the coast of western Anatolia, a region of indented bays, fertile rivers and home
to the brilliant Ionian civilization. The most important ancient Greek cities here are, from north to
south, Troy, Pergamon, Phoikaia (Foça), Smyrna (Izmir), Ephesos, Miletus and Halicarnassus.
• This basin, where the ancient Greeks settled, was called Hellas in Antiquity.
• Throughout Antiquity, Greek civilization was born and developed in this region and became one
of the most influential tribes of Ancient History.
• The Aegean Basin, which includes Western Anatolia, Southern Thrace and Greece, has been
an environment inhabited by communities since the Paleolithic Period.
• With the entry into historical times at the end of the 4th millennium BC, the civilizations
that left their mark in this region were firstly the Minoan Civilization (Minos uygarlığı) from
2800 BC and the Mycenaean Civilization (Miken uygarlığı), which is considered one of the
first Greeks, from 1600 BC.
• First, the brilliant Ionian Civilization (İyon uygarlığı) emerged in Western Anatolia, founded
by Greeks migrating from Greece, based on the deep cultural background of the region and
their interactions with the Carians, Aeolians and Lycians in the region.
• This civilization was followed by a new Ancient Greek civilization in Greece and the
surrounding islands.
• As a result of social and political developments, especially in the Archaic period, this
civilization established Greek colonies in many parts of the Mediterranean.
• Greek Civilization, which reached its peak in the Classical Period after the Persian Wars, lost
political and social power due to the disputes and wars among the city-states. It was
Alexander the Great who took over the Macedonian state in the north.
Ancient Greeks in Prehistory
• The prehistory of the region goes back to the Paleolithic Period.

• From 40,000 BC onwards, the first communities stayed in caves and

shelters in suitable locations, especially on the east coast of Greece.

• The Neolithic Period began in the region, especially from around 6,000 BC. Reconstruction drawing
Crafts such as agriculture, pottery and animal husbandry, which are the of Sesklo Culture
characteristics of the Neolithic Period, were brought to the region by
communities coming from Anatolia and crossing to Greece through the
islands in the region.

• The main settlement centers of these communities are in the Thessaly

Region, which covers fertile and flat areas in the north of Greece. The first
center they established here is the Sesklo settlement, dating to around
5,500 BC.
 Sesklo Archaeological Site
• People built clay houses on stone foundations, ranging
from ten to fifty square meters in size, with one room,
and formed villages. During archaeological excavations,
many handmade pots painted in red and white colors
were found in the villages.
• The village of Sesklo, with all the attributes of the
Neolithic period, was destroyed around 4000 BC by
warrior communities from the north.
• These communities later formed the village of Dimini,
also in Thessaly. These people, who built their
buildings in a circle and adjacent to each other,
probably for protection, practiced farming and animal
husbandry, especially pig breeding, and in addition to
these activities, they established the first economic and
cultural relations with the surrounding villages. Over
the next two centuries, the number of villages in this
region grew to over a thousand.
Dimini Archaeological Site
• The earliest settlement in the Cyclades (Kiklad adaları) dates back to the late 6th and 5th
millennium BC.
• Research shows that Neolithic people came to Greece and the Cyclades from Anatolia.
• It is also thought that the pioneers of the Neolithic Period in Crete may have originated from
Anatolia. While Greece was experiencing its Neolithic period, around 3000 BC, a new wave of
migration came from Anatolia. The communities coming from this region brought with them
advanced Bronze technology and led Greece into the Bronze Age.
Minoan Civilization in Crete
• The Minoan civilization, which emerged on the island of Crete in the
middle of the Mediterranean Sea, was a civilization based on
maritime trade. It is thought to have emerged with the mixing of
immigrants and colonists from Egypt and Syria with the Neolithic
farmers of Crete.
• In Crete, the surplus product that fed artisans, administrators, etc.
was obtained from maritime trade. They exported timber and olive
oil and bought minerals, mainly copper and tin.
• It is known that they traded with Egypt around 3000 BC.
• About a thousand years later, Minoan's famous palace in Knossos
was built, which means that the emergence of civilization coincided
with these years.
• There is metalworking, pottery and a form of writing that has not
yet been deciphered. It is thought that a significant portion of the
tablets found in Crete contain writings on calculations. Agricultural
products to be traded were meticulously stored and recorded.
• Knossos Palace, located on
the Greek island of Crete, is
one of the most famous
archaeological sites in the
world.

• The palace was built around

1700 BC and served as an
important center for Minoan
culture until its destruction
by a fire around 1450 BC.

• It is believed to have been the

home of King Minos and his
legendary Labyrinth, where
he kept the Minotaur which
featured prominently in Greek
mythology.
Knossos Palace
Cretan Religion and Mythology
• Cretan religion is dominated by feminine divinity.
• The most important is the Great Goddess. Her symbol is the double-headed axe.
• Goddesses are divided into two types: the goddess of fertility and the virgin warrior. It
is also possible that these are different manifestations of the Great Goddess.
• The cult of the goddesses is closely related to the serpent and the Moon. One molts, the
other grows and shrinks; both evoke death and resurrection.
• Masculine divinity is secondary. The masculine element is most often depicted with the
bull, a symbol of strength and creative power.
• Bulls, like snakes, are treated with special respect. The bull dance, a performance in
which young people grab the horns of an attacking bull and jump over its back, is an
important religious ceremony. The bull also has a place in their mythology (Minos and
his son Minotauros).

• After the fall of the Minoan civilization, the Achaeans invaded the island
GREEK CIVILIZATION Greek cities and colonies in the Archaic period
• Ancient Greek civilization was not composed of a single ethnic group.
There were many ethnic groups, but three of them stand out:
• The Hellas peasants, i.e. Hellenes (neolithic peasants), who were
initially located on the Greek peninsula;
• The Achaean shepherds (Akha çobanları) nomadic shepherds who
forced the peasants to produce surplus products and started the
civilization);
• The Dorian shepherds (Dor çobanları) who came after the Achaeans.

• In addition to these, there were Ionians in Western Anatolia and

Aeolians in Northern Anatolia.
BRONZE AGE: Mycenaean Civilization (1800 BC - 1100 BC)

• The Mycenaean Civilization begins in 1800 BC when the Akhas, an Indo-European

nomadic people, dominate the local neolithic farming communities (peasants of
Hellas) on the Greek peninsula.
Mycenaean
• The Achaeans attacked the peasants, who had been farming for 3,000 - 4,000 gold mask
years, with bronze chariots. After their conquest, stratification in society begins and
the formation of an “early state” is observed.

• The Mycenaean Civilization, named after the city of Mycenae, is an expansionist

civilization.
• War and heroism are important. This period is also known as the “age of heroes” in
Greek history.
• When they conquered the Minoan civilization on the island of Crete, they broke its
monopoly on sea trade. Thus, different communities, especially the Achaeans and
Phoenicians, started to have a say in the Eastern Mediterranean trade.
• The Mycenaean Civilization covered the entire Eastern Mediterranean from the 15th
century BC.
• The Mycenaean Civilization, which experienced its most brilliant period between 1400-
1100 BC, was formed first as tribes and then as small kingdoms.
• The head of the most powerful tribe was the king (Basileus), who was believed to be
descended from gods.
Ancient Greek civilization was born on the sea coast.
• It was difficult for Greek civilization to expand from the seashore to the
land, because the mountains and narrow valleys did not allow it.
• The wide plains we see in Mesopotamia and Egypt are not found on the
Greek Peninsula. Land transportation is difficult. It is poor in soil, water
and minerals.
• For this reason, maritime trade and crafts became as important as
agriculture, and in some periods even more important.
• The Aegean islands, where they first migrated, were also isolated and had land unsuitable for
agriculture.
• The western Anatolian coast, on the other hand, had wide valleys opening onto the steppe,
where the first brilliant Greek city-states sprouted on the basis of agriculture. However, here
too, it was not geography but the social environment that prevented expansion.
• The Persian Empire, which began to conquer Anatolia, prevented the expansion of the Greeks
and even threatened their independence.
• Therefore, the only solution for the Greeks was to sail to the sea.
• They emphasized trade instead of large-scale agriculture. Since it was not possible to control
large territories, they did not establish large empires and remained in political organizations at
the city-state level.
• Shipowners, merchants, workers, porters and sailors were found side by side in large ports
where sea trade was carried out.
• In addition to goods, they also exchanged news, travel stories and myths.
Troy/Trojan War
• It is a war that played an important role in the conquest of Western Anatolia by the Achaeans who
founded the Mycenaean Civilization.
• It is accepted that the war, which is mentioned in the Iliad Epic written down by Homer, took place in 1184
BC.

• Troy is an early Bronze Age city. It was discovered by Heinrich Schliemann. It was founded on Hisarlık Hill
near the shore where the Dardanelles meets the Aegean Sea.
• Troy consists of 9 cities on top of each other. Its foundation dates back to 3000 BC.
• The famous Trojan War described in Homer's epic was fought during the reign of Troy IV. The war between
King Priamos of Troy and the Achaeans from the Greek side of the Aegean Sea lasted 10 years.
• However, excavation results reveal that an earthquake brought the end of Troy. After the earthquake,
when most of the city was destroyed and its population had dwindled, the Achaeans captured the
city. All these events took place around 1250 BC.
• The city was rebuilt during the invasion of Alexander the Great in 700 BC.
IRON AGE:
DOR INVASION
• In the 12th century BC, the Dorians, an Indo-European nomadic tribe, destroyed the
Mycenaean civilization.
• The Dorians, who came to the Greek peninsula around 1200-1100 BC, gained military
superiority over the locals in the Bronze Age because they used iron.
• They settled in the Peloponnesian Peninsula (Peloponnesus-Morea) in the south of Greece
and settled down.
• The Achaian communities they displaced migrated to the Aegean islands and the coasts of
Western Anatolia.
• The Dorians spread to the Mycenaean-influenced Greek Peninsula, western Anatolia, Crete
and Rhodes.
• They destroyed the Achaean capitals and almost their entire culture.
• The Dorians created a new society consisting of tribes gathered under
the authority of a military chief on the basis of equality.
• They worshipped the sun god Helios.
• In the 3rd century BC, on the island of Rhodes, they built a bronze statue
of Helios, 32 meters high, holding a torch.

• The Colossus of Rhodes was a statue of the Greek sun god Helios, erected in
the city of Rhodes, on the Greek island of the same name, by Chares of Lindos in
280 BC.
• One of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, it was constructed to
celebrate the successful defence of Rhodes city against an attack by Demetrius
I of Macedon, who had besieged it for a year with a large army and navy.
• The Dorian raids interrupted the civilization
process in Greece.
• The period between 1100-900 BC is
known as the “Greek Dark Age”.
• During this period, the Greeks who
remained in the Greek Peninsula forgot
writing.
CLASSICAL GREEK PERIOD
• The period beginning in 800 BC was a time when classical Greek civilization was flourishing. Direct
democracy was also established in some cities during this period.
• The Classical Greek Period was initiated by those who fled the Dorian invasion and settled in Anatolia,
later returning to the Greek Peninsula.
• Settled Greeks fleeing the Dorian invasion went to Anatolia. The regions they settled in western Anatolia
are called Ionia, while those further north are called Aeolia. Here they generally settled the already
existing settlements. From time to time, they also established new settlements. The classical period,
which we call “Greek Civilization” today, emerged from these settlements.

• They had to create a rational set of laws and a system of

governance that could guarantee effective cooperation in the
new settlements.
• This gives rise to the Greek City States (polis).
The word politics comes from “polis”, meaning “the affairs of
the city”.
• This is where the idea of a state defined by territorial
borders comes from, where territorial unity (religion,
language, ethnic group, etc.) is considered more important
than all other unities.
• In mainland Greece, the process of city-state formation proceeds more slowly.
• Semi-nomadic Dorian tribes settle on a piece of land over time. Then they unite with their
neighbors to form a city-state. In this way, acts of violence such as war and looting are
reduced and sedentary agriculture becomes the dominant form of agriculture.

• Local chiefs meet in a council chaired by a king to try to resolve disputes. When the council
is unable to meet, magistrates (high administrative officials) are appointed, who have the
authority to make decisions on their behalf and oversee the king's attempts to expand his
authority.

• Magistrates are appointed for a limited period and exercise delegated authority.
• Over time, in some city-states the kingship is reduced directly to the office of a magistra; in
others it remains the hereditary office of a particular family.
 • A city-state (city-state/site-state) consists of a city at the center and large areas of agricultural
land around it.
• A city-state is a self-governing city. Occasionally some cities are administratively subordinate to
others, but for the most part they are independent.

GREEK CITY STATES

• Greek city-states emerged in places where economic and social differentiation reached the scale
of rural-urban integration in the process of civilization.
• Since they were geographically confined to the coast, they could not open up new agricultural
lands to increase the social surplus. So they sailed to the sea, started to engage in trade and
established colonies.
• In the Greek city-states, there was a constant power struggle between the initially powerful
landowning aristocrats and a certain segment of the population (merchants and artisans) who
later gained economic power.
• As a result of this power struggle, some Greek city-states experienced developments leading to
“direct democracy”
 • In some city-states, a form of government called oligarchy emerges first.
• At the beginning of the 6th century BC, this situation began to change and
tyranny (dictatorship) emerged in many polities.
• However, tyrants are forced to recognize new rights for the people they
support, and these dictatorships paradoxically transform into democracy,
in other words, into a form of citizen-public self-government.

➢ Two Different Forms of City-State emerged.

• Sparta, one of the Greek city-states, is not maritime; it depends on land and agriculture. Athens, on
the other hand, is the best example of Greek city-states based on the sea and trade.
• When Athens threatened Sparta's independence by binding other Greek city-states to itself, the
Peloponnesian Wars began between 431-404 BC. Sparta defeated Athens and gave independence to
other states.
• In Athens, instead of democracy, it established an oligarchic order and then retreated back into its shell.
• Since the Spartans were all about fighting, they did not produce any thinkers who made a name for
themselves in history like other Greek city-states. While sports were glorified in Sparta, other arts were
looked down upon, except for music and dance used in religious ceremonies.
HELLENISTIC PERIOD
• The dominant position of Athens was destroyed by the Spartans at the Battle of Pelaponnes. The
Spartans re-establish aristocratic rule in Athens and retreat back into their shells.
• The Greek world moves away from unity again.
• The power to stop civil war comes from outside. Macedonia conquers Greece in 339 BC.
• Philippos II, who established the “Hellenic Union”, wages war against the Persians (Achaemenids)
with his army, which he enlarged by adding the unemployed weak in Greece. He and his son
Alexander, educated by Aristotle, establish the Macedonian Empire.
• Rome, which defeated Macedonia in 146 BC, ended the political existence of the Greek city-states
under its rule.
• The Hellenistic period was not only the period when Greek culture spread throughout the world,
but also the period when a flow of thought from the East (Middle East, India and Iran) to the West
took place.
IMPORTANT ELEMENTS OF GREEK CIVILIZATION
Homeric Epics (Homeros Destanları)
• These epics were handed down from generation to generation in
oral culture before Homer, and date from the Achaean period (the
age of heroes).

• The Iliad, written down by Homer, tells the story of the Trojan War,
and the Odyssey tells the story of a king returning from the Trojan
War to his city on the Greek Peninsula and what happened to him at
sea for years.
Writing
• The alphabet, presumably used for trade, was adapted from one of the states with
which the Greek city-states traded most, the Phoenicians (Fenikeliler).
• The letters and order of the alphabet are basically the same.
• The names of the Greek letters do not have a Greek meaning, but come from words
with Phoenician meanings. The only significant difference between the Greek
alphabet and the Phoenician alphabet is the addition of vowels, which were not
needed in Semitic languages.
History

• Until then, historical texts had always been dictated by rulers.

• In Ancient Greece, for the first time, independent historians emerged who did not
work for the rulers and were not paid by them.

• Herodotus, born in Halicarnassus (Bodrum), who lived between 485-425 BC,

traveled around the known continents of that period for 17 years and wrote down
what he saw.
Education
• Children are educated with the aim of raising good citizens.
• From the age of 6 to 14, boys are taught reading, writing,
arithmetic, literature, music and sports. At the age of 18, after
an oath ceremony, they become citizens. Between the ages of
18 and 20 they receive military training.
• In addition, Sophists (as itinerant philosophers) gave lectures
on rhetoric, persuasion and deterrence, grammar, politics
and philosophy to citizens interested in politics for a fee.

• Higher education began at the Academia, the world's first

university, founded by Plato in 388 BC.
• It was followed by the world's second university, the
Liceum, founded by Aristotle in 355 BC.
Medicine
• Hippocrates (460-370 BC) is considered the father of medicine.
• He works in the field of scientific medicine, arguing that
diseases are not caused by supernatural forces but have
natural sources.

Theater
• As we learn from Aristotle's Poetics, the origin of Ancient Greek
theater, which emerged after 500 BC, is the rites performed in
the name of Dionysus, the God of Wine and Vintage, who was
later accepted among the gods of Olympus.
• Back then, theater was not a show that was watched in silence
and applauded at the end to show appreciation. The audience
reacted instantly with their likes and dislikes, responding to
what was said in the play or expressing their opinions. In this
way, the plays, in which important political, economic and
personal events of the day are included, function like an agora.
 The Parthenon, built in 447–438 bce
as a temple dedicated to the goddess
Athena, is often seen as a symbol of
democracy and Western civilization.
SCIENTIFIC THOUGHT
• Some Ionian 'natural philosophers', such as Thales of Miletus, sought to understand and explain events
in the concrete world without involving the gods. This laid the foundation for scientific thinking.
• They ask what is the first substance (arkhe) and give different answers such as air, earth, water, fire.
• What is striking here is that at the beginning of philosophical thought, the interest was only in nature.
Not to supernatural forces or to God.
• It is interested in physis (i.e. physics), the world of inanimate objects. In contrast, there is no inquiry
into society. As a result of such inquiries, it is understood that natural phenomena such as floods and
eclipses of the sun do not actually occur because the gods are angry with humans, but for physical
reasons.
• Having gained ground in explaining the inanimate nature physis with reasons, it is now time to
question bios, the world of living beings. The question of what is the essence of life is now asked and
answers are given.
• The beginning of natural philosophy in Ionia in the 6th century BC spread to mainland Greece. In
Athens in the 5th century BC, a current of “philosophy of man”, beginning with the sophists, becomes
established. After that, philosophical inquiry turns directly towards society and “social philosophy”
gains ground.
• Therefore, philosophy has a journey that extends from inanimate matter to living things, human beings
and society.
Sophists
• They are traveling philosophers who sell knowledge for a fee.
• They taught rhetoric (the art of speaking well), grammar, politics, philosophy, etc.
• Sophists were intellectuals who came to Athens from outside and were looking for a livelihood.
• They taught oratory with paid lessons. While teaching the art of oratory, inevitably the knowledge
that will fill the content of the speech must also be taught. Therefore, they were also interested in
philosophy.

• The Sophists were opposed by Socrates (469-399 BC). He took a stand against the
Sophists, whom he thought were selling knowledge and commodifying philosophy.
• Socrates complained that state administration was left to those without knowledge.
• Socrates' thoughts are based on the dialectical method. He has a two-stage method of speech.
First, he asks questions to the other person, saying that he is ignorant about a certain subject.
Then, by showing the contradictions that the other person falls into, he makes him prove that
what he says is wrong.
• Plato (427-347 BC) was one of Socrates' aristocratic students.
• He was involved in politics for a while, left politics because his belief in democracy was shaken,
and traveled in Greece, Italy and Anatolia for 10 years.
• According to Plato, what is real is the objective, unchanging, universal Ideas. These are universal,
absolute concepts such as Justice, Beauty, Courage, which we can only access through reason.
Therefore, the true knowledge of existence cannot be attained through the sense organs, but only
through reason. For this reason, it is necessary to leave the governance of societies to those who
have acquired the knowledge of truth, of the Ideas, namely philosophers.

• Aristotle (384-322 BC) was the son of the physician of King Philippos II of Macedonia.
• Since he was not an aristocrat, he was able to look at politics from the point of view of non-
aristocrats.
• He was a student of Plato.
• He was also aware that the balance in Athens at the time he lived was in favor of democrats.
Therefore, he stated that he was in favor of the participation of all citizens in the government.
ROMAN CIVILIZATION
ROMAN
EMPIRE
AT ITS
HEIGHT
Rome’s territories
expanded steadily
during the period
of the Republic.

By the time of the

accession of the first
emperor, Augustus,
in 27 bce, Rome
controlled all of the
Mediterranean. By
120 ce, the empire’s
borders were
settled, and it
entered the period
of its greatest
stability.
• Archaeological research in Italy, a Mediterranean country, shows
that the first cultures date back to the Stone Age.
• The oldest of the tribes migrating to Italy are the Italics who
arrived in 2000 BC and the Etruscans who came from Anatolia
in 1200 BC. They were later joined by those from Greece and
those from Southern France.
• The Etruscans from the north helped develop agriculture, trade,
animal husbandry and mining. The Hellenes, who established
colonies in Sicily and Southern Italy from the 8th century BC,
also introduced Greek culture to the region.
 The Roman Period is politically divided into 3 main parts:
➢ Kingdom Period Rome
➢ Republican Period Rome
➢ Imperial Rome.

• History in Italy begins with the Roman city-states. Its inhabitants are Latins, the indigenous
people of the Latium region in Italy.

• According to legends, the city of Rome was founded by Remus and Romulus.
• The legendary Romulus was the founder and first king of the city of Rome. After Romulus,
seven more kings ruled Rome.
• Later, the Etruscans conquered Rome and the dynasty continued with this dynasty, ending
with the deposition of the last Etruscan king Tarkin.
• The Roman State, which was founded as a kingdom in the 8th century B.C., became a
republic in 510 B.C.

• The Roman Republic, which became stronger in a short time, captured all of Italy in a short
time by making alliances with the surrounding cities and fought the Punic Wars with the
Carthaginians for the sovereignty of the Western Mediterranean (264-146 BC).
• In a short time, all of Asia Minor, Southern Europe, the Middle East, Asia up to Iran and
North Africa were taken over by Rome.
• When the Roman Republic collapsed due to civil wars resulting from political strife, it
dominated almost all of the Mediterranean.
• With the transition to the Republic, a very unique structure was established.
• This political structure was in place for about 500 years.
• Although the executive power was vested in two consuls, all power was
vested in the Senate, which appointed all executive and judicial authorities,
including the consuls.
• The Senate remained under the control of the patrician families.
• Although a plebeian assembly was established as a result of the class
struggle that would begin after a while, sovereignty remained in the hands
of the patricians during the republican period.
• The Republican regime collapsed as
a result of Consul Julius Caesar's
struggle with the forces of the
Senate.

• Ceasar, who gained popular support,

managed to take control of Rome, but was
assassinated in a conspiracy organized by
the nobility.
• While it was hoped that the republican
regime would be strengthened afterwards,
developments had the opposite result.
• Under Octavian, who won the war between
Marcus Antony and Octavian, the imperial
regime was introduced.
• Octavian, who emerged victorious from the civil wars, became the first Roman
emperor under the name Augustus.
• Roman emperors limited the political power of the senate and the people and moved to absolute rule.
• In the 1st and 2nd centuries A.D., under the rule of Roman emperors, who were often influenced by
the army or elected from within the army, the Romans extended their rule into the interior of Europe
and the rest of the areas neighboring the Mediterranean, reaching the widest borders of the Roman
Empire.
• Despite brief civil wars that broke out from time to time to determine who would become emperor,
there was a general atmosphere of peace in the country. For this reason, thanks to the economic
prosperity throughout the empire in this period, cities developed and were equipped with
magnificent monuments.
• Starting from the 3rd century A.D., different units of the army wanted to have a say in the
appointment of emperors, which disrupted the peace in the Roman Empire.
• Intense civil wars broke out again, and the empire began to be divided under different emperors ruling
at the same time.
• In addition, the pressures of the Migration of Tribes began to be felt on Roman borders. The
barbarian tribes and other enemies that crossed the borders found success against the Romans,
weakened by civil war.
• Administrative reforms at the end of the 3rd century A.D. reduced internal turmoil. On the
other hand, the absolute power of the Roman emperors was consolidated.
• In the 4th and 5th centuries, the Roman Empire experienced great social changes within the
country. Christianity spread rapidly and became the state religion.
• However, the Migration of Tribes spread especially in the western half of the empire.
• Gradually, the differences between the Western half of the empire, made up of Germanic
peoples and existing Latin-speaking populations, and the Eastern half, predominantly of
Greek origin and speaking Greek, began to widen.
• These differences were sharpened first by the declaration of Constantinople as a second
capital and then by the definitive division of the empire in 395 AD.
• Sectarian divisions in Christianity, now the state religion, followed this political and
geographical division.
• The Western Roman Empire collapsed in 476 AD.
• The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantine Empire) survived into the Middle Ages.
• In the Roman Empire, the people were generally divided into three classes with separate rights
and privileges.

a) Patricians: Patricians consisted of nobles who were Roman citizens.

They had the right to own property, become civil servants and soldiers. In terms of social life, they
were more comfortable than those in other classes. Those who came and settled in Rome later
formed the plebeians.
b) Plebeians: They were engaged in agriculture, trade and art. They had no rights. They gained
some rights as a result of long struggles.
c) Slaves: It was a class consisting of people born to slave parents and people captured in wars.

• As a result of the class struggle between patricians and plebeians, the Twelve Tables
Laws were made. These laws form the basis of today's modern European law.
• The Code of the 12 Tables contains articles and provisions on state administration, obligations,
family, inheritance, debt and criminal law.
Religion

• The Romans worshipped polytheistic religions.

• On the other hand, they did not interfere with the religious preferences of the locals in
the territories they conquered, as long as they did not conflict with Roman policy.
• Christianity, which emerged at the beginning of the Roman Imperial Era, was at first
strange and at times forbidden. However, this religion, which spread rapidly among the
people, became the official religion of the state in the Late Roman Period, and with the
prohibition of polytheistic religions in the same period, it became the only permitted
religion in the Roman Empire.
Architecture
• The Romans ensured the development of cities by creating roads and trade routes in the
places they ruled.
• They also established new cities in militarily or economically strategic places.
• In particular, they were able to build multi-storey high-rise buildings by using cheap and
lightweight building materials such as bricks and cement together with load-bearing
methods such as arches and vaults.
• With the careful control and proper planning of public expenditures, especially during
periods of high prosperity in the Empire, all cities of the Roman Empire had magnificent,
monumental public buildings.
Sculpture
• Although copies of the masterpieces of Greek sculpture were produced in
many places during the Roman period, the Romans produced very superior
works, especially in portrait sculpture.

• Sculpture and other arts sometimes produced works that conveyed political
messages in accordance with imperial policies.
Army

• The Roman armies, organized in legions, had discipline and good training and won almost all
the wars they fought at first. Legion: salaried and permanent military units were established.
• In times of peace, the army was employed in public projects such as the collection of taxes,
the construction of roads and public buildings, and became the main tool for the rapid
spread of Roman civilization.
• At the end of the Republic and throughout the Imperial Period, the Roman army was involved
in politics; from time to time, it became able to determine the Roman Emperors or to remove
them from within its own ranks, and thus caused civil wars to break out.
• Due to the fact that the soldiers recruited into the army in the Late Roman Period were
predominantly of foreign origin and the Roman military units remained unwieldy against
cavalry attacks, many tribes migrated to Roman lands during the Migration of Tribes,
established their own states and conquered the Western Roman Empire.
Law
• Decisions of the senate in the Republican Period and the emperor's orders in the Imperial
Period were considered as laws and put into written form.
• These laws constitute the basis of the laws used by Western states today.

Economy
• The Roman Republican Period was economically turbulent due to the cost of wars and social
strife.
• Thanks to the peaceful environment and the importance given to roads and trade routes at
the beginning of the Roman Imperial Period, the economy developed rapidly, and the free
trade environment ensured the prosperity of cities and other settlements.
• The political and military problems of the Late Roman Period caused the economy to fall into
serious difficulties, money lost value and inflation increased.
• The military arrangements in the last period of the Roman Empire led to the transition to the
feudal economic system of the Middle Ages.
 General characteristics of Roman civilization
• One of the most important events in the Roman Empire was the emergence of the Christian religion on
these lands. This religion, which was banned at first, later became the official religion of Rome (Emperor
Constantine liberalized the practice and worship of this religion with the Edict of Milan in 313).
• The largest slaveholding empire of the First Age.
• They developed the solar calendar, which they borrowed from Egypt (finalized by Pope Gregory XIII).
• They created the Latin alphabet we use today.
• They built roads for commercial and military purposes.
• Romans were polytheistic, that is, paganistic. They adopted the Greek gods by giving them Latin names.
They made statues of gods and worshipped them. The Capitol in Rome was their most famous temple.
• As a result of economic, political and religious contradictions and the Migration of Tribes, the Roman
Empire remained in turmoil for about 100 years. After these disturbances, the Roman Empire was
divided into two, Eastern and Western Rome (395). The Western Roman Empire, whose center was the
city of Rome, collapsed after a while in 476 with the effect of the Migration of Tribes. Thus, the Early
Ages ended and the Middle Ages began. The Eastern Roman Empire (Byzantium), whose center was
Constantinople (Istanbul), was destroyed by the Ottoman Empire in 1453. As a result, the Middle Ages
ended and the New Age began.
• Rome did not create a new and original civilization, but adapted and developed Greek civilization
and spread it to Europe.

• The Romans did not attach importance to seafaring and navy until the Carthage Wars. After
these wars, they gave importance and established a navy. In a short time, they dominated the
Mediterranean.

• In Rome, there was a development in literature, especially in the field of oratory (the art of
speaking) and in the writing of historical works. Famous Roman orators were Cicero and Caesar.

• The Romans built works in various regions. The main ones are temples, triumphal arches (zafer
takları), forms, circuses, theater buildings, baths, aqueducts, roads and bridges.

• “Acta Diurna”, the first daily and official newspaper, was published.