Unit+5

Unit question: What function did music play in the life and times of the Antiquity Period? (Ancient Times)

The function of music in ancient Greek society was bound up in their mythology: Amphion learned music from Hermes and then with a golden lyre built Thebes by moving the stones into place with the sound of his playing; Orpheus, the master-musician and lyre-player, played so magically that he **could soothe wild beasts**; the Orphic creation myths have Rhea "playing on a brazen drum, and **compelling man's attention to the oracles of the goddess**"; or Hermes [showing to Apollo] "...his newly-invented tortoise-shell lyre and [playing] such a ravishing tune on it with the plectrum he had also invented, at the same time singing to praise Apollo's nobility that he was forgiven at once..."; or Apollo's musical victories over Marsyas and Pan.
 * ANCIENT GREEK**

There are many such references that indicate that music was an integral part of the Greek perception of how their race had even come into **existence** and how their **destinies** continued to be watched over and controlled by the Gods. It is no wonder, then, that **music was omnipresent at the Pythian Games, the Olympic Games, religious ceremonies, leisure activities, and even the beginnings of drama as an outgrowth of the dithyrambs performed in honor of Dionysus.**

It may be that the **actual sounds of the music heard at rituals, games, dramas, etc**. underwent a change after the traumatic fall of Athens in 404 b.c. at the end of the first Peloponnesian War. Indeed, one reads of the "revolution" in Greek culture, and Plato's lament that the new music "...used high musical talent, showmanship and virtuosity...consciosiously rejecting educated standards of judgement." Although instrumental virtuosity was prized, this complaint included excessive attention to instrumental music such as to interfere with accompanying the human voice, and the falling away from the traditional //ethos// in music.

Instruments in all music can be divided into three categories,based on how sound is produced: **string, wind, and percussion**. Within this system, **strings may be struck (ex: piano), bowed (violin) or plucked (guitar)**. Wind instruments may be single **mechanical reed (clarinet) or double mechanical reed (oboe); also, wind instruments may be lip reed (trumpet), air reed (flute), vocal-cord reed (voice) and tuned, free reed (accordion)**. Percussion instruments may produce either a definite pitch (bell) or an indefinite pitch (bass drum).

The Romans are not said to have been particularly creative or original when it came to music. They did not attach any spiritual //ethos// to music, as did the Greeks. Yet, if the Romans admired Greek music as much as they admired everything else about Greek culture, it is safe to say that Roman music was mostly monophonic (that is, single melodies with no harmony) and that the melodies were based on an elaborate system of scales (called 'modes'). The rhythm of vocal music may have followed the natural metre of the lyrics.
 * ANCIENT ROMAN**

There were also other, non-Greek, influences on Roman culture – from the Etruscans, for example, and, with imperial expansion, from the Middle Eastern and African sections of the empire. Thus there were, no doubt, elements of Roman music that were native Latin as well as non-European; the exact nature of these elements is unclear.

The Romans may have borrowed the Greek method of 'enchiriadic notation' to record their music, if they used any notation at all. Four letters (in English notation 'a', 'g', 'f' and 'c') indicated a series of four succeeding tones with the range of a tetrachord. Rhythm signs, written above the letters, indicated the duration of each note.

In the art of the period (eg the mosaics of Pompeii), none of the musicians are shown reading music, [//citation needed//] and very few written examples have been discovered.

Even the well-known writings of the late Roman philosopher, Boethius, are more of a treatise on the music of the ancient Greeks rather than a description of contemporary music. The Romans might have tuned their instruments to Greek modes. Familiar, perhaps, to the modern ear would be the military calls on the trumpet-like //tuba//, since all instruments of that nature only have access to the same series of overtones bound by the laws of physics. A wide variety of instruments are known to have been played by the Romans, including instruments from within all the common regions of a modern Orchestra. The music instruments in Ancient Roman : ** Blown instruments, Plucked string instruments,  Organs, and  Percussion ** In spite of the purported lack of musical originality on the part of the Romans, **they did enjoy music greatly and used it for many activities**. Natasha **recounts the obvious military uses of the //tuba// for signaling**, as well as **music for funerals, private gatherings, public performances on the stage and large gladiatorial spectacles**. Music was also used in **religious ceremonies**. It should be noted that the Romans **cultivated music as a sign of education**. Music contests were quite common and attracted a wide range of **competition**, including Nero himself, who performed widely as an amateur and once traveled to Greece to compete.

There are also numerous references (cited in Natasha ) to the pervasive presence of music in ancient Rome, music even on a very large scale — hundreds of trumpeters and pipers playing together at massive **games and festivals** — and even of normally hand-held **//kitharas//** built as large as carriages.







**__ROCKS TO ROMANS__** (Post Assessment Unit Project)

__Part 1: Create a "Rocks to Romans" time line__ (Chronological listing of people, places, events, etc.) Can be a list, a chart, horizontal time line, etc.


 * 2000 BCE-450 BCE **
 * 2nd Millennium BCE |[|| Archeological Remains]
 * 1st Millennium BCE |[|| The Etruscans]
 * 753 BCE || Legendary Founding of Rome
 * 7th Cen. BCE |[|| The Vestal Virgins]
 * 509 BCE || The Republican Revolution: The Etruscan monarchy is overthrown and the Republic is established
 * 509 BCE || The rape of Lucretia
 * 494 BCE || The protest of the plebeians and the establishment of the plebeian tribunate
 * 471 BCE || Lex Publilia Voleronis Recognizes Concilium of the Plebeians and Tribunes
 * 450 BCE175 BCE**
 * 449 BCE |[|| The Laws of the Twelve Tables]
 * 445 BCE || The Lex Canuleia
 * 437-426 BCE || The Roman Fidenaen war
 * 300 BCE || The Ogulnian law
 * 287 BCE || The third secession of the plebeians
 * 264 BCE-146 BCE |[|| The Punic Wars]
 * 200-118 BCE |[|| Polybius: The Constitution of the Roman Republic]
 * c. 185 b. BCE |[|| Cornelia Gracchus]
 * 175 BCE100 BCE**
 * 163-133 BCE |[|| Tiberius Sempronius Gracchus]
 * c. 157-86 BCE |[|| Gaius Marius]
 * 153-121 BCE |[|| Caius Sempronius Gracchus]
 * 138-78 BCE |[|| Lucius Cornelius Sulla]
 * 133 BCE || The City of the Sun: The Slave Revolt of Aristonicus
 * 136 BCE-132 BCE || The first servile war: the slave revolt of Eunus
 * c. 115 BCE-53 CE |[|| Marcus Licinius Crassus]
 * 106 BCE |[|| Gnaeus Pompeius]
 * 106 BCE-43 BCE |[||Marcus Tullius Cicero]
 * 104 BCE || The second servile war: The slave revolt of Salvio
 * 100 BCE-1 BCE**
 * 98 BCE b. |[|| Titus Lucretius Carus]
 * 89 BCE |[|| Lex Pompeia]
 * 88 BCE || Sulla's first march on Rome
 * 82 BCE|| Sulla's Dictatorship
 * 73-71 BCE |[|| The Slave War of Spartacus]
 * 63 BCE || Birth of Octavian, later Augustus Caesar
 * 60 BCE || First Triumvirate of Pompey, Crassus, and Julius Caesar
 * c. 59 BCE-AD 17 || Titus Livius (Livy)
 * 43-33 BCE || Second Triumvirate of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavian
 * 27 BCE - CE 68 |[|| The Julio-Claudians]
 * 19 BCE | | Composition of [|Virgil's Aeneid]
 * 1 CE50 CE**
 * 14 CE d. Ruled 27 BCE-14 CE |[|| Gaius Julius Caesar Octavianus (Augustus)]
 * 23 BCE - 33 CE|| Vipsania Agrippina (Agrippina the Elder)
 * 9 CE |[|| The Battle of Teutoburg Forest]
 * c. 23 CE b. |[|| Pliny the Elder]
 * c. 35 CE-c. 66 CE |[|| Petronius Arbiter]
 * 39 CE b. |[|| Lucan]
 * 50 CE300 CE**
 * c. 55 - c. 117 CE |[|| Cornelius Tacitus]
 * 60-61 CE |[|| The Rebellion of Boudicca]
 * 62-113 CE || Pliny the Younger
 * 79 CE |[|| Eruption of Vesuvius]
 * c. 155-225 CE|[|| Tertullian]
 * c. 204 CE b. Ruled 218-222|[||Elagabalus]
 * c. 240 CE b. Ruled 266-273|[||Zenobia]
 * c. 250 CE b. Ruled 284-305|[|| Diocletian]
 * 300 CE600 CE**
 * c. 273-337 CE Ruled 306-337 |[|| Constantine the Great]
 * 328-378 CE Ruled 364-378 || Valens
 * c. 360 CE |[|| The Beginning of the Barbarian Invasions]
 * 415 CE d.|[|| Hypatia of Alexandria]
 * 466-84 CE || Gothic King Euric
 * 475-476 CE|[||][|Romulus Augustulus]
 * 482/3 CE b. Ruled 527-565|[|| Justinian]
 * c. 500-548 CE |[|| Theodora]
 * c. 500 b. c. 560 CE d.|[|| Procopius of Caesarea]
 * 532 CE || The 'Nika' Revolt
 * Ca. 551 CE || Jordanes

http://www.exovedate.com/ancient_timeline_one.html

__Part 2: What factors led to the 'Fall of Rome'?__ Can be a list or narrative summary.

The Roman Empire of the fourth century A.D. extended entirely around the basin of the Mediterranean Sea, including modern Turkey, Israel, Egypt, and North Africa. Modern France (called Gaul) and modern Spain and Portugal (Iberia) were entirely Roman. Modern England was Roman, but modern Scotland and Ireland were barbarian (non-Roman, or non-civilised). The northern borders of the empire were the Rhine and Danube Rivers. The lands north of these rivers were occupied by a variety of tribes of Scandinavian origin that the Romans called the Germans. Rome was engaged in border skirmishes with the tribes north of the great European rivers. Strong emperors occasionally extended the empire over the rivers while weak emperors tended to lose those lands. The largest organised rival of the Romans was the Persian Empire to the east, occupying modern Syria, Iran, Iraq, and Afghanistan. The Persians were the political descendants of the Parthians who had revolted away from Greek rule following Alexander's conquests and, thereafter, successfully resisted Roman invasions. The Romans had existed as an important power for over 1000 years. They had brought stability, prosperity, and order to the civilised West. Excellent roads connected the far reaches of the empire with the capital at Rome. These were built originally for military purposes but improved all communications and trade. Roman law kept the internal peace and 20 to 30 Roman legions defended the frontiers. All was not perfect, however. Emperors held absolute authority. This worked well with good emperors, but incompetent ones could do great harm. The rules for succession to the throne were never clear, and debilitating civil wars often resulted. The bureaucracy that managed the empire on a daily basis grew more corrupt, increasing the dissatisfaction of the common citizen. The wealth of the empire gradually concentrated in the hands of a minority while a large slave population did most of the work. The borders of the empire were immense and put a strain on military resources (500,000 soldiers defended a frontier that required 3 million or more to be secured). Roman conquests had ceased in the second century A.D., bringing an end to massive inflows of plunder and slaves. Taxes increased and production fell as the work force declined. A plague may have killed 20 percent of the empire's population in the third and fourth centuries, further reducing trade and production. In the late third century, the Roman Empire was split into eastern and western halves in an attempt to make for easier rule and better control. In 323 Constantine became emperor after a civil war and established his eastern capital at Byzantium, which he renamed Constantinople. During the next century the eastern and western parts of the empire gradually established separate identities, although nominally the same empire. These identities were partially due to the different pressures brought to bear on them from the outside and the local culture. The Western Empire was predominantly Latin; the Eastern Empire was predominantly Greek (although they referred to themselves as Romans). The Eastern Empire survived the cataclysm of the third and fourth centuries because it had a larger population (70 percent of the empire's total), better emperors, more money, and a far better army and navy.