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The Roman
Republic
RISE OF AN EMPIRE
The Republic
Geography:
Peninsula
–on the Mediterranean Sea
Rome
is located halfway between Alps
and Sicily
Tiber
River –the legend of Romulus and
Remus
Fewer
mountains & less rugged than
Greece
Fertile
land
The Republic
First Settlers
1. Etruscans - Native to northern Italy
2. Greeks - Colonized southern Italy
and Sicily
3. Latins - Built the original settlement
at Rome
The Republic
 republic:
officials chosen by the
people (citizens)
 Patricians: wealthy landowners who
held most power
 Plebeians: most people
 farmers, merchants, traders,
artisans
 had little influence
The Twelve Tables
A
written law code
that was carved on
12 tablets.
 The
Twelve Tables
established the idea
that all free citizens
had a right to
protection of the law.
The Republic
 senate:
300 patricians (landholding
upper class)
 consuls: two patrician executives
elected by senate, must consult
them
 dictator: elected during a crisis to
rule for six months
Plebeians Rising
 Assembly:
representative group of
plebians
 tribunes: elected to protect
plebeian interests, had veto power
 Laws of the Twelve Tables
 written laws
 plebeians appeal decisions by
patrician judges
Legacy
Plebeians gain access to high
offices and senate
 Did not have to use war or
revolution to gain power
 U.S. adopts senate, veto, checks
on power

Roman Legacy
Aqueducts
Sanitation
Roads
Irrigation
Education
Medicine
Roman Legions
all male citizens who owned land
required to serve in army
 legion: group of 6000 men
 well-trained, disciplined
 treated conquered
people pretty well

The Punic Wars
st
1
Punic War
Carthage – competing with Rome
for trade, control
 Carthage has strong navy, Rome
builds one to fight it
 Rome wins, gains Sicily

nd
2

Punic War
Hannibal
 General from Carthage
 attacked Rome by land (with
elephants!)
 defeated by Scipio
rd
3
Punic War
 Romans still not satisfied after 50
years of peace
 “Carthago delenda est”
Carthage must be destroyed!
 Romans attack AND burn Carthage
enslave people
 Rome now controls the
Mediterranean
Problems in the Republic
Provinces complain of corrupt
officials
 Wealthy Romans take land from
small farmers
 Slaves are used on big farms
(latifundia). This pushes small
farmers and workers into cities

Problems in the Republic

The Gap between rich and poor
widens
The
poor revolt
Slaves
revolt too
Spartacus
slaves
led 70,000
Reform Attempts
2 Brothers try to help
 Tiberius Gracchus
 Wanted to redistribute (give
back) land to the poor
 BUT, he was killed by senate
 Gaius Gracchus
 Same reforms, same fate
The Army Changes
This is the beginning of a
professional fighting force
 Soldiers become more loyal to
generals than republic!!!!
 paid, equipped soldiers
(mercenaries)
gave land to veterans

Closer look at the 12 Tables
 Read
the 12 tables
 Reword
each in words that your little
brothers or sisters could understand
 Then,
tell me some similarities you
see with Hammurabi’s Code (I have
class sets if you need it) and the laws
here in America