Sue Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Hello, I'm teaching Roman History using the California State Standards. I need information on how the distribution of news (or lack thereof) contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire. I've done a great deal of research without results. Can anyone on this forum help me? Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Do California State Standards require teaching that news distribution contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted October 14, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Do California State Standards require teaching that news distribution contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? Here's the Standard (from http://www.cde.ca.gov/be/st/ss/hstgrade7.asp ): 7.1 Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire. Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news). I have a little information on the lack of education of the auxiliary army and some of the later emperors, and nothing at all on the distribution of news. Any ideas? sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 The Roman road system kept the provinces in contact with Rome. I guess that's 'news'. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ASCLEPIADES Posted October 14, 2007 Report Share Posted October 14, 2007 Do California State Standards require teaching that news distribution contributed to the fall of the Roman Empire? 7.1 Students analyze the causes and effects of the vast expansion and ultimate disintegration of the Roman Empire. Study the early strengths and lasting contributions of Rome (e.g., significance of Roman citizenship; rights under Roman law; Roman art, architecture, engineering, and philosophy; preservation and transmission of Christianity) and its ultimate internal weaknesses (e.g., rise of autonomous military powers within the empire, undermining of citizenship by the growth of corruption and slavery, lack of education, and distribution of news). sue Salve,S. Even if the syntax of the California State Board of Education on that sentence is a little bit ambiguous and it probably lacks an adjective, I think it actually means something like: "The (distorted, irregular?) distribution of news was one example of the internal weaknesses of Rome (that) undermined the citizenship". If that is so, that Kafkian statement sounds more like a hypothesis than an established fact to me. You should probably check out if there is any extended version of that program to verify its intended meaning. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Flavia Gemina Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Salve, Sue! While you're wrestling with that really boring topic, why don't you get your pupils to dip into my historical mystery series set in first century Rome. At least it's fun! Roman Mysteries for schools I'm an American living in England, where the education system teaches Roman History in year 3 (third grade) and year 7 (7th grade). Bona fortuna! (Good luck!) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I don't know where I got this, and I don't know how true it is, but there might have been 'boards' on which 'news' was posted regulary in Rome. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caldrail Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 In the city of Rome there was the Acta Diurna, a bulletin service that posted details of births, deaths, significant shipments, military victories, and excuses for disasters. This would have been copied by slaves and read to a master the same day. The roman road system was useful for communication since it was built for military and administration purposes, and there were waystations where riders could sleep and exchange horses, much like the american pony express. Sea traffic was another slower method of diseminating information. News effectively travelled between individuals in roman times, followed by rumours in more general circulation. Whether or not this contributed to roman decay is hard to say, since the situation was more or less identical during the roman height. The empre was increasingly insular toward the end with communities deciding to go it alone rather than fork out heavy taxes to Rome. There is therefore a change in attitude towards Rome rather than the means of spreading news, so its the way people interpreted news that perhaps had a more significant effect, but in that case its merely a symptom of the general malaise than a direct cause. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M. Porcius Cato Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Looking over the California State Standards, it doesn't exactly say that students are expected to know how the distribution of news caused the collapse of the Empire. The idea is to study the strengths and weaknesses of Rome and to use knowledge of these strengths and weaknesses to figure out what caused the rise and fall of the Empire. The wording of the Standards don't necessarily imply that every strength (e.g., citizen rights; Roman engineering; etc) caused the Empire to rise and that every weakness (e.g., slavery; lack of CNN; etc) caused the Empire to fall. Presumably, a sophisticated teacher and an intelligent student would realize that some strengths and weakness were more important than others. More broadly, I'd say that the most important fact that has to be kept in mind in explaining the expansion of the Roman empire is that Rome did NOT expand at a slow, constant rate -- it expanded in fits and starts. For example, it took Rome almost as much time to finally defeat and conquer the small city of Veii (roughly 100 years) as it is did to acquire the whole Carthaginian empire. Why? (Personally, I like Polybius' socio-political explanation, though Polybius didn't follow his explanation to its full implications.) Second, the most important fact that has to be kept in mind in explaining the collapse of the Roman empire is that Rome did not fall at a slow, constant rate -- the fall of Roman government of Western Europe occurred prior to the fall of Africa, which occurred prior to the fall of the Aegean world, which occurred prior to the fall of the Levant and finally Constantinople in 1453. Why? (Personally, I like Ward-Perkins' explanation: the barbarians dunnit.) In either case, it's simply impossible to understand Roman history without understanding the chronology. For this understanding, it's not enough to have a catalogue of "strengths" and "weaknesses". That's important for students to have, but it won't really allow them to see how the major pieces of the puzzle fall together. If I were a teacher, I'd organize the "strengths" and "weaknesses" in following historical narrative: After defeating successive attacks from neighboring Italian autocrats, the small Roman republic became increasingly Hellenized and evolved a competitive electoral system that rewarded expansionist policies, thereby leading Rome to acquire a vast Empire (subject to the domination of successful generals like Pompey and Caesar); once that electoral system was undermined by political violence and civil war, succession was determined by short-term political dynasts, but the very civil wars that brought these dynasts to power also left the empire vulnerable to the new threats posed by the Germanic migrations, which swept first over Eastern Europe, then Western Europe, Africa and the Aegean, leaving only the sea-based power of Constantinople secure, until it finally fell to the Arabs. That's my two cents on the matter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 Thank you! This is very helpful. I'm so glad I found this forum! Sue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 What a treasure trove this forum is for my work! You have provided the perfect outline for the next section on Geography. Thank you so much. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sue Posted October 15, 2007 Author Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I offer gratitude and humble appreciation. And the hope that the wonderful people on this forum will continue to offer assistance to the education community. With your permission, I'll tell all the ancient history teachers I know! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Augusta Posted October 15, 2007 Report Share Posted October 15, 2007 I offer gratitude and humble appreciation. And the hope that the wonderful people on this forum will continue to offer assistance to the education community. With your permission, I'll tell all the ancient history teachers I know! That is indeed kind of you Sue. And take no notice of G-Man - he's just trying to scare you. Welcome aboard - I hope you stay with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
G-Manicus Posted October 19, 2007 Report Share Posted October 19, 2007 (edited) Sue - You may find the following of interest: Monday 10/29/07 What the Romans Did for Us History International - 9:30 am Next showing: Edge of the Empire Good communication skills were the key to the Roman military's success. Edited October 19, 2007 by G-Manicus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gaius Octavius Posted October 19, 2007 Report Share Posted October 19, 2007 G-Man, can'y click on it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.