Transcript Rome part 1

GLOBAL CONNECTIONS
Unit 2: The Roman World
The Origins of Rome
 The Myth
 Romulus
and Remus
 The Sabine
women
 What does
the myth tell
us about
Roman
values?
The Reality
 The Latins (from North of the Alps)
 753 BC founding of the city of Rome
 The Etruscans (from Asia Minor)
 Arrived in 800 BC by 625 BC ruled all of Northern Italy
(Tuscany)
 Influences on Rome
 Military org (phalanx), Weapons, Chariots, Engineering,
Gladiators
 Greek Influences
 Greek colonists settled in the South which became
known as Magna Graecia (Great Greece)
 Greek alphabet
 Religion (also through the Etruscans)
 Anthropomorphic gods, animal sacrifice, oracles
Greek settlements in Italy
The Influence of Geography
 The Alps
 Protection from
invasion
 The Apennines
 Not as divisive as the
mts. In Greece
 The Tiber (food/trans)
 18 miles from the sea
 The 7 hills
 pasture land and wood
 Fertile plain (good soil)
The Birth of the Roman Republic
 Etruscan Domination of the City of Rome (c. 625
BC – 509 BC)
 Etruscan Kings ruled for life after the approval
of the Senate and the citizens
 Etruscans Kings Pushed out by 509 BC due to bad
monarchy
 In their place the Romans founded a Republic
(Defn?)
 The 7 Hills
of Rome
Roman Society
 Patricians v. Plebeians
 Patricians made up about 5-7% of population
and were socially and legally superior
 Only patricians could become Consuls, Judges,
Priests
 Three names (praenomen, gens, nomen)
• Citizenship and voting
 Citizenship required 2 Roman parents
• Adult male landowners (participation in army)
• The Census: every 5 years you needed to register
• Censors made decisions to move people up or down the
civic hierarchy (Patricians only)
The Struggle of the Orders
451-265 BC
 Plebeians slowly gained more rights
 How?
 The 12 tables (451 BC)
 10 Tribunes
 No enslavement for debt
 Marry Patricians
 Enter Priesthood
 Eventually won the right to become Consul /
Senator
Comparing Republican Govt’s
Rome
United States
Executive
2 consuls elected by the Ass. Once a
year. Power of Imperium only
outside the city
Led the army, served as judges and
Priests
President elected by the
people for four years
Legislative
Senate of 300 members, serve for life
Curiate Assembly: oldest, based on
Clan associations
Centuriate Ass: all citizen soldiers,
members for life. (rubber stamp)
All bodies dominated by the
aristocracy (Oligarchy)
Senate of 100 members
House of Reps 435
members
Judicial
Praetors: 8 judges chosen for 1 year
Responsible for civil law
Supreme court: 9
justices who serve for life
The Roman Army
 Divided into legions of between five and
six thousand Roman citizens
 All citizens had to serve (length of
service varied)
 Century: (80 men under the command of a
Centurion. (Highest ranking non patrician)
 Cohorts: 6 centuries (480)
 Legions: 10 cohorts (4,800) Each with its
own standard and legionary Eagles
 Auxiliary troops made up of non-citizens
were called on to support the regular army
 Discipline: Decimation
Roman Expansion in Italy
 By 265 BC had
conquered most of Italy
 Defeated the Latin
League and the Greeks
in the South
 Life under Roman Rule
 Citizenship, Municipalities,
Allies by treaty,
Garrisoned lands
 All had to acknowledge
Roman superiority, pay
taxes and supply soldiers
 Opportunity to move up and
become citizens
Roman Expansion
 Rome and
Carthage
 What and
where is
Carthage?
 The problem
The 1st Punic War (264-261BC)
 Mostly a naval conflict brought about by
the Roman desire to expel a Carthaginian
garrison from Sicily
 Results
 Treaty in which both sides promised not to attack
each others allies (Carthage paid a tribute for 10
years)
 Rome gains its first territory off the Italian
peninsula
 Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia
Hannibal and the 2nd Punic War
 Father Hamlicar raised him in the army
 At 26 he assumes command
 Brought about by the Punic Empire in Spain
 Carthage seized a town that was a new Roman
ally causing Rome to declare war
 218 BC invades Rome through the Alps with
50K men 37 elephants (2.5 months)
 Lost 18K and a third of his elephants
 Will need to recruit in Italy
Battles of The Second Punic War
(218-202 BC)




Trebia River (30,000 lost)
Battle of Lake Trasamine (15,000)
Battle of Cannae: (70,000)
Publius Cornelius Scipio
 204 BC Scipio lands in Africa after conquering the
Punic Empire in Spain
 202 BC Battle of Zama (Hannibal’s mercenaries
deserted)
 Carthage was made a dependent ally of Rome
The 3rd Punic War 146 BC
 Rome decided to eliminate Carthage
once and for all (Cato the Elder)
 They were once again economically
successful and a threat
 They violated the terms of their treaty by
crossing a Roman imposed frontier?
 After a three year siege they completely
wipe out Carthage in 146 BC
 133 BC Rome controls the
Mediterranean
 Macedonia, Asia Minor, Africa, Spain
Hannibal and Scipio
The Consequences of Expansion
 Positive
 War and conquest
 slaves
 Negative
 War and conquest
 slaves
The consequences of
expansion
Negative
 Too much new territory would be hard to rule
 Damage to Italian farmland forced small farmers
to abandon or sell their land (some worked as
tenant farmers)
 Slaves took agricultural jobs, many former farmers went
to Rome and were underemployed (Irony?)
 New foreign grain also drove the price of Italian grain
down (Irony)
 Division between rich and poor became more
sharp when the wealthy consolidate newly
acquired land into Latifundia
 All of these led to new political, social and
economic problems