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'''Willowridge High School''' is a secondary school in [[Houston, Texas]] and part of the [[Fort Bend Independent School District]]. Willowridge serves grades 9 through 12. The school has a predominant [[African-American]] student population.
'''Ancient Rome''' was a [[civilization]] that existed in [[Europe]], [[North Africa]], and the [[Middle East]] between [[753 BC]] and its downfall in [[476|AD 476]]. For several centuries, the Romans controlled the whole of Western Europe, as well as the entire area surrounding the [[Mediterranean]] Sea and some of the area surrounding the [[Black Sea]].
The school opened in 1979 as the second high school in the FBISD; during the 1980s, it was known for its high school football players. Three players - [[Thurman Thomas]], [[O.J. Brigance]], and [[Allen Aldridge]] - later went professional in the [[National Football League]].
[[Image:Roman_Empire_Map.png|thumb|320px|right|The Roman Empire during the reign of [[Trajan]]]]
Actor [[Isaiah Washington]] ''([[Romeo Must Die]]'', ''[[Wild Things 2]]'') was one of the first WHS graduates back in 1981 - this was when their first seniors graduated.
==History==
One of the streets on the WHS campus was named in memory of former principal Edgar Glover, Jr. Glover served as principal between November 1982 until his death in April 1993.
===Monarchy===
{{main|Roman Kingdom}}
[[Image:Lupaegemelli.jpg|framed|right|The female wolf, feeding the baby twins [[Romulus and Remus]]]]
This school is also known for its internationally famous marching band, known as the "Mighty Eagle Marching Band." Under the band directors Mr. Ronald Thornton(head), Delcenia Hill, and Robert Jackson, this band has had many accomplishments, including performing at the [[Rose Bowl]] and [[Orange Bowl]] back in the 1990s. The band also recently returned from a trip to Hawaii."The white sand, blue water, and breathtaking scenery of Hawaii will forever be engraved in our minds...", said Thornton in a letter to his band pupils. This band also had the pleasure of hosting the Bands of America(www.bands.org) contest at Rice Stadium on October 1, 2005. Even though a few of the Willowridge band students referred to the affair as "just as boring as the Street Olympics", most of them enjoyed watching other bands perform and and also mingling and getting to know other band participants.
The city of [[Rome]] grew from settlements on and around the [[Palatine Hill]], approximately eighteen [[mile]]s from the [[Tyrrhenian Sea]] on the river [[Tiber]]. At this ___location the Tiber has an island where the river can be forded. Because of the river and the ford, Rome was at a crossroads of traffic and trade.
==External link==
In Roman legend, [[Rome]] was founded by [[Romulus]] on [[21 April]] [[753 BC]]. Romulus, whose name is said to have inspired Rome's name, was the first of seven [[Roman Kingdom|Kings of Rome]], the last of whom, [[Tarquin the Proud]], was deposed in [[510 BC]] or [[509 BC]] when the [[Roman Republic]] was established. The mythical or semi-mythical kings are (in chronological order): [[Romulus]], [[Numa Pompilius]] (Good King Numa), [[Tullus Hostilius]], [[Ancus Marcius]], [[Tarquinius Priscus]], [[Servius Tullius]], and [[Tarquinius Superbus]] (Tarquin the Proud).
* [http://www.fortbend.k12.tx.us/campuses/whs/calendars.cfm Willowridge High School]
[[Category:High schools in Texas]]
===Republic===
[[Category:Houston public education]]
{{Main|Roman Republic}}
[[Category:Schools established in the 1970s]]
[[Image:Map of Republican Rome by William R Shepherd (died 1934) edited.jpg|thumb|200px|A map of Republican Rome.]]
[[Category:Fort Bend Independent School District]]
The Roman Republic was established around [[509 BC]], according to later writers such as [[Livy]], when the king was driven out, and a system of [[consul]]s was established in its place. The consuls, initially patrician but later opened to plebeians, were elected officials who exercised executive authority, but had to contend with the Roman Senate, which grew in size and power with the establishment of the Republic.
The Romans gradually subdued the other peoples on the Italian peninsula, mostly related ''Italic'' tribes (of Indo-European stock; such as the [[Samnites]], the ''Sabines'' ...) but also the [[Etruscans]]. The last threat to Roman [[hegemony]] in Italy came when [[Tarentum]], a major [[Ancient Greece|Greek]] colony, enlisted the aid of [[Pyrrhus of Epirus]] in [[282 BC]].
In the latter half of the [[3rd century BC]], Rome clashed with [[Carthage]] in the first two [[Punic wars]], conquering [[Sicily]] and [[Iberia]]. After defeating [[Macedonia]] and the [[Seleucids]] in the [[2nd century BC]], the Romans became the undisputed masters of the [[Mediterranean]].
Internal strife now became the greatest threat to the Republic. Three men, [[Julius Caesar]], [[Pompeius Magnus]], and [[Crassus]] took virtual control of the republic through Caesar's military prowess, Pompey's senatorial support, and Crassus' immense fortune, forming the [[First Triumvirate]]. Each of the three was elected consul before they began to struggle with each other for power. Caesar emerged victorious from the resulting Civil War, and was made dictator for life after refusing the title of king. He took on too much power too soon for some of the senators, however, and was murdered in a plot organised by [[Brutus]] and [[Gaius Cassius Longinus|Cassius]], on the [[Ides of March]] [[44 BC]].
In the last republican power struggle, Caesar's designated heir, [[Octavian]], defeated [[Marcus Antonius]] at the [[Battle of Actium]] in [[31 BC]] and annexed the territories of [[Cleopatra VII of Egypt|Cleopatra]], Antonius' oriental (and, in Rome, despised) partner. Octavian retained Egypt as a virtual crown dominion, guaranteeing an income to buy the favour of the capital's residents. He now assumed almost absolute power as military ''[[Imperator]]'', the common people’s sole [[tribune]], and supreme authority over the Roman territories. These constitutional settlements ([[27 BC]] and [[23 BC]]) transformed Rome from a Republic to an Empire. His designated successor, [[Tiberius]], took power without any bloodshed (or even much resistance), thus completing Octavian's (now renamed [[Augustus]]) project.
===Empire===
{{Main|Roman Empire}}
[[Image:Roman Empire.png|thumb|right|250px|The extent of the Roman Empire in <b><font color="red">[[133 BC]]</font></b>, in <b><font color="orange">[[44 BC]]</font></b>, in <b><span style="background-color: silver"><font color="yellow">[[14|AD 14]]</font></span></b>, and in <b><font color="green">[[117|AD 117]]</font></b>.]]
During the Empire, the borders remained fairly stable as the Romans weathered uprisings, imperial pretenders, [[barbarian incursions]] and other difficulties. To better cope with the task of holding the empire together, the emperors began to appoint co-emperors, although this often led to civil war. After [[395|AD 395]] the empire became permanently split into a western and an eastern part.
===Downfall===
''See the book: [[The History of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire]]''
According to [[Edward Gibbon]], the Roman Empire succumbed to barbarian invasions because of a loss of civic virtue among its citizens. They had become lazy and soft, outsourcing their duties to defend their Empire to [[barbarian mercenaries]]. The ranks of barbarian armies became so thick and ingrained that they were able to easily overtake the Empire. Romans, Gibbon says, had become effeminate and were unwilling to live the military lifestyle.
In addition, Gibbon implicated [[Christianity]] in the downfall of Rome. Christianity, he said, created a belief in another world and suggested that a better life existed after [[death]]. This fostered indifference among Roman citizens who believed they would live a better life once they died, thus sapping their desire to maintain and sacrifice for the Empire. Also, the rise of Christianity created an affiliation that was more important than the state, further diminishing desire to put the state's needs above one's own. This explanation is viewed with scepticism because the empire only disintegrated in the West, while in the East, the Empire continued as the [[Byzantine Empire]]. However, all agree that the decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a complex issue with no single cause.
Modern historians have offered competing theories such as [[lead poisoning]] from leaden wine containers, [[plague|plagues]], political corruption, a non-productive urban culture, and transfer of military service to the barbarians and other frontiersmen for the fall of the western empire.
''It should be noted that, in the time of the Roman Empire, the word '''barbarian''' meant '''one who does not speak Latin or Greek'''. This name was usually applied to northern European tribes outside of the influence of Roman culture.''
==Legacy==
===Cultural and Linguistic Legacy===
One of the most enduring legacies of Rome is linguistic: [[Romance languages]] that evolved from [[Latin]] spoken in the [[Roman Empire]] are now spoken widely in [[Europe]] and [[Latin America]], such as [[Portuguese language|Portuguese]], [[Spanish language|Spanish]], [[French language|French]], [[Italian language|Italian]], and [[Romanian language|Romanian]], amongst others. Although [[English language|English]] is a [[Germanic language]], many English words derive from [[Latin]] roots, either directly or through intermediary successor languages such as French. [[Latin]] remains the official language of [[Vatican City]] and is studied and understood by scholars around the world. However, fluent speech in [[Latin]] is very rare in present day. This is mainly due to the differences between [[Latin]]'s reliance upon [[inflection]] of words and modern Romance languages' reliance upon [[syntax]], in addition to lack of use.
===Successor States===
After the fall of the city of Rome and the Western Empire the state continued its existence as the [[Byzantine Empire]], which is conventionally treated as a separate entity in history books. Also the [[Holy Roman Empire]] and [[Russia]] have claimed the "Roman" legacy after the [[fall of Constantinople]] (See [[Third Rome]]).
==Religion==
[[Image:Jupiter-God.jpg|frame|A sculpture of the King of gods, [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]]]]
''Main articles: '''[[Roman mythology]]''', '''[[Roman religion]]'''''
===Early Roman Religion===
Archaic Roman "mythology", at least concerning the gods, was made up not of narratives, but rather of interlocking and complex interrelations between and among gods and humans. Gods were not personified, unlike in [[Ancient Greece]]. Romans also believed that every person, place or thing had their own [[Genius (mythology)|genius]] (such as "[[Lares Familiares]]" - the family guardian spirits). Therefore the early Roman cult could be described as [[polydemonism]] instead of [[polytheism]].
The Romans distinguished two classes of gods, the ''di indigetes'' and the ''de novensides'' or ''novensiles.'' The ''indigetes'' were the original gods of the Roman state (see [[List of Di Indigetes]]). The ''novensides'' were later divinities whose cults were introduced to the city in the historical period, usually in response to a specific crisis or need.
At the head of the earliest [[pantheon (gods)|pantheon]] were the triad [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], [[Mars (god)|Mars]], and [[Quirinus]]. Their priests, or [[flamen]]s, were senior to others. Later this triad was supplanted by the [[Capitoline Triad]], [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]], [[Juno]], and [[Minerva]].
During the [[Roman republic]] there was a strict system of priestly offices, of which the [[Pontifex maximus]] was the most important. [[Flamen]]s took care of the cults of various gods, while [[augur]]s were trusted with taking the [[auspices]]. The [[rex sacrorum]], or "sacrificial king" took on the religious responsibilities of the deposed kings.
===Late republic and the empire===
As contact with the Greeks increased, the old Roman gods became associated with Greek gods. Therefore [[Jupiter (god)|Jupiter]] was perceived to be the same deity as [[Zeus]]. [[Mars (god)|Mars]] was associated with [[Ares]] and [[Poseidon|Neptune]] with [[Poseidon]]. The Roman gods also assumed the attributes and myth of these Greek gods.
The transference of the anthropomorphic qualities to Roman Gods, and the prevalence of Greek philosophy among well-educated Romans, brought about an increasing neglect of the old rites, and in the [[1st century BC]] the religious importance of the old priestly offices declined rapidly, though their civic importance and political influence remained. Roman religion in the empire tended more and more to center on the imperial house, and several emperors were deified after their deaths.
===Spread of Eastern Religions===
Under the empire, numerous foreign cults grew popular, such as the worship of the Egyptian [[Isis]] and the [[Iran|Persian]] [[Mithras]]. Also, starting from the second century, [[Christianity]] began to spread in the Empire. Despite persecutions, [[Christianity]] steadily gained converts. It became an officially supported religion in the Roman state under [[Constantine I of the Roman Empire|Constantine I]]. All cults save Christianity were prohibited in AD [[391]] by an edict of Emperor [[Theodosius I]].
==Society==
===Classes===
The free citizens of Rome were divided into two classes: [[patrician]]s and [[Plebs|plebeians]]. The patricians were the dominant class. Originally, only they could be elected for office. Intermarrying between the classes was forbidden and the patrician title could only be inherited, not earned. During the [[Roman Republic]], a series of struggles led to plebeians gaining equal, or nearly equal, rights.
Late in the [[Roman Republic|republic]], the distinction between patricians and plebeians started to lose its meaning. A new ruling class, the [[optimates]], were those families, patrician or plebeian, who had produced a [[consul]]. During the [[Roman Empire|empire]], the class division fell into disuse and was largely forgotten.
In the early Republic citizens were also divided into classes according to the armament they could afford to buy for themselves for military service. The richest class was the [[Equestrian (Roman)|equestrians]] or knights, who could afford a war horse. There were both patrician and plebeian equestrians. Later in the Republic fixed amounts of wealth replaced military equipment as the basis of classification. Higher classes had more political power and prestige than lower classes. This system also lost its meaning after the abolition of the Republic.
===Family===
The basic units of Roman society were households and families. Household included the head of the household (paterfamilias), his wife, children, and other relatives. In the upper classes slaves and servants were also part of the household. Romans certainly did not see the family as those of the suburban West do today - their family was more far reaching in definition. The head of the household had great power over those living with him: could force marriage and divorce, sell his children into slavery and possibly even had the right to kill family members (this has been recently disputed in academic circles). This particular manifestation of familial power was called "patria potestas", literally "fathers power". One interesting point of note is that wives did not always count as family, as they could choose to continue recognising their father's family as their true family, and not necessarily adopt their husband's family.
Groups of related households formed a family ([[gens]]). Families were based on blood ties (or adoption), but were also political and economic alliances. Especially during the [[Roman Republic]] some powerful families, or [[Gens|Gentes Maiores]] came to dominate political life.
===Weddings===
Upper class Roman fathers usually began seeking [[husband]]s for their daughters when they reached an age between twelve and fourteen. The husband was almost always older than the bride; he might be two years older or three times her age. She was expected to give little or no objection in the bargaining between families - although there is proof that some daughters had more say in their choice of husbands than we might expect (Cicero's daughter and wife planned the daughter's husband, all the time assuming that Cicero would just say yes - and he did). While upper class girls married very young, there is evidence that lower class women - plebeians, freedwomen etc - often married in their late teens or early twenties. Marriage for them was not about economic and political gain in the cut throat world of Roman politics, so it was not as urgent.
Friends and family attended an engagement ceremony before the [[wedding]]. Here the father was asked whether he promised to give his daughter ("Spondesne?") and he was expected to say he did ("Spondeo"). The bride-to-be then received gifts including a [[Wedding ring|ring]] to wear on her [[middle finger]], which many believed contained a [[nerve]] that ran straight to the [[heart]].
===Baths===
{{main|Thermae}}
Most Romans visited public or private [[Roman_baths|baths]] daily, not just to get clean but for social reasons as well. The baths contained three main facilities for bathing. After undressing in the [[apodyterium]] or changing room, Romans would proceed to the [[tepidarium]] or warm room. In the moderate dry heat of the tepidarium, some performed warm-up exercises and stretched while others oiled themselves or had slaves oil them. The tepidarium’s main purpose was to promote sweating to prepare for the next room, the [[caldarium]] or hot room. The caldarium, unlike the tepidarium, was extremely humid and hot. Temperatures in the caldarium could reach 40 degrees [[Celsius]] (104 degrees Fahrenheit). Many contained steam baths and a cold-water fountain known as the [[labrum]]. The last room was the [[frigidarium]] or cold room, which offered a cold bath for cooling off after the caldarium.
==Economy==
[[Image:Maximinus_denarius.jpg|right|frame|A [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] [[denarius]], a standardized [[silver]] coin ('''See also''' [[Roman currency]]).]]
{{Main|Roman commerce}}
The early economy was largely dependent on slave labour, and slaves constituted around 20 percent of the population. A slave’s [[price]] was dependent on their skills, and a slave trained in [[medicine]] was equivalent to 50 [[agricultural]] slaves. In the later period, hired labour became more economical than slave ownership.
=== Finance ===
{{Main|Roman finance}}
Although [[barter]] was common (and often used in [[tax]] collection) the [[monetary]] system was highly developed, with [[brass]], [[bronze]], and [[precious metal]] coins in circulation throughout the empire and beyond (some have been discovered in [[India]]).
Before the 3rd Century BC, copper was traded by weight (in unmarked lumps) across Central Italy. The original copper coins ([[as (coin)|As]]) had a face value of a [[Pound#Origins|Roman pound]] of copper, but weighed less (according to [[Mommsen]] early coins weighed at most 312 g, but late second century BC As contained only 19 g of copper). <!--[http://www.ces.org.za/docs/what%20is%20money.htm according to Innes] - This is sometimes explained as [[inflation]]; the As was divided into 12 ounces and Innes says some weighed less than half an ounce. Naturally, most coins were smaller denominations (mostly 1/6 of an As). The plural of As is Asses, but saying that the Roman asses contained copper will distract.--> Hence, Roman [[money]]'s utility as a unit of exchange consistently exceeded its [[intrinsic value]] as [[metal]]; after [[Nero]] began debasing the [[silver]] Denarii, Mommsen estimated its [[legal tender|legal]] value at one third greater than intrinsic (it was an offence to refuse payment in Denarii).
=== Trade ===
[[Horse]]s were too expensive, and other pack animals too slow, for mass [[trade]] on the [[roman road]]s, which connected military posts (rather than markets) and were rarely designed for wheels. Therefore, there was little transport of [[commodity|commodities]] between Roman regions, until the rise of [[Roman mercantilism#Sea routes|Roman maritime trade]] in the [[second century BC]]. The agricultural [[free trade]] changed the [[Italy|Italian]] landscape, and by the first century BC vast [[grape]] and [[olive]] estates had supplanted the yeoman farmers who were unable to match the [[import]]ed [[cereal|grain]] price. The volume of trade was so great that a [[Monte Testaccio|single mound]] of cargo [[Amphorae|pottery vessel]] fragments is over forty [[metres]] high and a [[kilometre]] around.
Link: [http://www.forumromanum.org/life/johnston_11.html Sources of income and means of living] from [[Harold Whetstone Johnston|Johnston's]] ''The Private Life of the Romans''.
==Education==
The goal of education in Rome was to make the students effective speakers. School started on March 24<sup>th</sup> each year. Every school day started in early morning and continued throughout the afternoon. Originally, boys were taught to read and write by their father, assuming he knew how. Later, around [[200 BC]], boys and some girls were sent to schools outside the home around age 6. Basic Roman education included reading, writing, and counting, and their materials consisted of [[scroll (parchment)|scrolls]] and books. At age 13, students learned about [[Greek language|Greek]] and Roman literature and grammar in school. At age 16, some students went on to [[rhetoric]] school. Poorer people did not go to school, but were usually taught by their parents because school was not free.
==Arts and literature==
Rome produced many great authors and playwrights. A great deal of the literary work produced by Roman authors in the early Republic was political or satirical in nature. The [[rhetoric]]al works of [[Cicero]], in particular, were popular. Some of the most popular plays of the early Republic were comedies, especially those of [[Terence]], a freed Roman slave captured during the [[First Punic War]].
==Government==
===Roman Kingdom===
{{Seealso|List of Kings of Rome}}
{{sect-stub}}
===Roman Republic===
{{main|Roman Republic}}
The class struggles of the [[Roman Republic]] resulted in a mixture of [[democracy]] and [[oligarchy]]. Democratic institutions included the various [[Roman assemblies|popular assemblies]], which elected magistrates and made some other important decisions. The [[Roman Senate|senate]] represented oligarchy.
The republic had no fixed bureaucracy and only collected war taxes. Private citizens aspiring to high office largely paid for public works. In order to prevent any citizen gaining too much power, new magistrates were elected annually and had to share power with a colleague. For example, under normal conditions the highest authority was held by two [[consul]]s. In an emergency a temporary [[Roman dictator|dictator]] could be appointed.
During the Republic the administrative system was revised several times to comply with new demands. In the end it proved inefficient for controlling the vastly expanded empire. This was one of the reasons for the birth of the [[Roman Empire]].
===Roman Empire===
{{main|Roman Empire}}
====Provinces and intermediate level ====
''See also: [[Pretorian Prefectures]], [[Diocese]]s, [[Roman province]]s''
====Local administration====
''See also: [[Municipia]], [[Coloniae]]''
===Ruling Bodies===
====Senate====
{{main|Roman Senate}}
The [[Roman Senate]] was an advisory body consisting of some of the most influential citizens. It held great authority (''auctoritas'' in Latin), but no actual legislative power (''[[imperium]]''). In the [[Roman Republic]] the [[Censor]]s chose new members for the Senate among the most accomplished citizens. They could also remove a senator from his office if he was found morally corrupt. Later, membership in the Senate followed from the election as a [[Quaestor]]. In the [[Roman Empire]] the Emperor appointed senators, although for much of the time of the Empire elections were still held, and the results followed. However, this veil of democracy, created by [[Augustus]] at the beginning of the transformation from Republic to Empire, was deceiving. In reality, no-one disliked by the Emperor could stand. The lists for elections were carefully monitored by the Emperor's civil service, and pruned as necessary. Furthermore, when there was a competitive election, the Emperor would issue his opinion on who should be elected. Needless to say that the smiled upon would always get elected.
==Military==
{{main|Military history of the Roman Empire}}
''See also: [[Roman legion]] and [[Roman Triumph]]''
[[Image:Gaius_Marius.jpg|frame|[[Gaius Marius]], general and military reformer]]
The early Roman army was, like those of other contemporary city-states, a citizen force where the bulk of the troops fought as [[hoplite]]s. The soldiers were required to supply their own arms and would return to civilian life once their service was ended.
The first of the great army reformers, [[Camillus]], reorganized the army to adopt [[maniple (military unit)|manipular]] tactics and divided the infantry into three lines: ''[[hastati]]'', ''[[principes]]'' and ''[[triarii]]''.
The middle class smallholders had traditionally been the backbone of the Roman army but, by the end of the [[2nd century BC]], the self-owning farmer had largely disappeared as a social class. Faced with acute manpower problems, [[Gaius Marius]] transformed the army into a fully professional force and accepted recruits from the lower classes.
The last army reorganization came when Emperor [[Constantine I]] divided the army into a static defense force and a mobile field army. During the Late Empire, Rome also became increasingly dependent upon allied contingents, ''[[foederati]]''.
Drugs were very prevalent in the Roman Empire. Emperor Augustus frequently smoked opiates, believing that they improved his decision making skills.
==See also==
*[[Culture of Ancient Rome]]
*[[List of Ancient Rome-related topics]]
*[[Timeline of Ancient Rome]]
==External links==
*[http://www.crystalinks.com/rome.html Ancient Rome info]
*[http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html Ancient Roman timeline]
*[http://www.historylink101.com/ancient_rome.htm Ancient Rome pictures, art, and info]
[[Category:Ancient Rome|*]]
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[[he:רומא העתיקה]]
[[ja:古代ローマ]]
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[[pt:Roma Antiga]]
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