Transcript The Early Roman Republic

The Roman Republic
Today’s Goal
• Describe the origins, development, and
characteristics of the Roman Republic
LIVY, The Early History of Rome
“Not without reason did gods and men choose
this spot for the site of our city – the
[salubrious] hills, the river to bring us produce
from the inland regions and sea-borne
commerce from abroad, the sea itself, near
enough for convenience yet not so near as to
bring danger from foreign fleets, our situation
in the very heart of Italy – all these
advantages make it of all places in the world
the best for a city destined to grow great."
Geography & Location
• Central peninsula of
Mediterranean Sea
– Island of Sicily
• Fertile land!
• Tiber River
Legendary Origins
• Romulus & Remus
Legendary Origins
• Told in Virgil’s Aeneid
– Links the founding of Rome to the Trojan warrior
Aeneas who flees from a burning Troy
Historical Origins of Rome
• Latins
– Palatine Hill
• Greeks
– Mythology
– Writing
• Etruscans
– Metalwork
– Sculpture
– Road building
– Arch
Examples of Etruscan art
Note the Greek alphabet
Romans borrowed
Etruscan building
techniques.
The Last Monarch
• King Tarquinius Superbus = Tarquin the
Proud
• Tyrant driven from
power
• res republica
(“public affairs”)
 Republic
Conflict of the Orders
• Senatus Populusque Romanus = “Senate and
the Roman People”
• Patricians
- Wealthy landowners
- Most power
• Plebeians
- Commoners
- Most of population
Conflict of the Orders
• Tribunes = elected to
protect rights of plebeians
• Twelve Tables 
written law code
• Citizenship = all adult
male landowners
Twelve Tables (excerpts)
• If a thief was a freeman, he was flogged & handed to person from
whom he stole to repay the damage
• If a thief were a slave, flogged then thrown to his death off the
Tarpeian Rock (cliff)
• No burials or cremations within city walls
• Maintenance of roads was responsibility of property owner
• Marriage between plebeians and patricians no longer forbidden
• Permitted to remove branch from neighbor’s tree if overhung into
one’s property
• Theft of crops was death penalty by clubbing
• For slander there was death penalty by clubbing
• Levels of punishment varied by status of person
• Laws distinguished between intentional and accidental killing
• Father had right to kill his deformed child
Roman Forum
Public meeting place and the heart of Roman
political life
Limited
power
Veto
each
other
1 year term
(once/10
years)
Commanded
Army
Two
Consuls
Gov’t of
Roman
Republic
Foreign,
financial
policies
Elected
for life
Senate
(Curiae)–
Gov’t of
Roman
Republic
300
members
Patricians
&
plebeians
Advises
consuls
Gov’t of
Roman
Republic
Selects
consuls,
makes
laws
Centuriate
Assembly
– both
patricians &
plebeians
Citizensoldiers
elected
for life
Gov’t of
Roman
Republic
Tribal
Assembly
Elects
tribunes,
makes
laws
Citizens
elected
yearly
Dictator –
Elected in
times of
crisis
Command
Army
Chosen
by consuls
for 6 mo.
term
Gov’t of
Roman
Republic
Absolute
power to
make
laws
Magistrates
• 8 praetors – judges
• 2 censors – census of citizens, tax
assessments
• 4 aediles - supervised public places,
public games, and the grain supply
Appian Way
Rome’s Balanced Government
Consuls = a monarchy +
Assemblies = a democracy +
Senate = an aristocracy =
Rome’s balanced government
Roman Army
• All land-owning citizens required to serve
• Legions = large military units of ~6,000 infantry
- Supported by cavalry (equites)
• Centuries = smaller units of 100 infantry
– 60 centuries make up a legion
Typical Formation of Legions
Family Life in the Roman Republic
• Pater familias – led religious ceremonies, total life
and death authority
• Women had no legal protection
• Children obeyed authority
• Slaves were treated well
Life in Roman Republic
• The Roman villa
– Countryside
– Hypocaust (“heat from below”)
– Atriums, garden
– Al fresco dining
• The uncomfortable toga.
• Easy to make – no sewing – no
buttonholes
• Large wool blanket 18 X 7 ft.
• Symbol of Roman citizenship
• Young boy wore a white toga with
a purple band around the border
• Age 16 a boy and his family would
go to the forum where he would
register as a full citizen and wear a
white toga
• The toga was worn at the theater,
in court, for religious ceremonies,
and on any formal occasion
• At death, his body is wrapped in a
toga, marking him as a Roman
citizen
Rome Gains Control of Italy
• Romans defeat Etruscans & Latins
• Samnite Wars – gained central Italy
• Romans vs. Greeks
- Pyrrhus (king of Epirus) – “Pyrrhic victory”
- Rome defeats Greeks
Treatment of Conquered Territory
• Nearby Latins = full citizens of Rome
• Farther territories = rights of citizenship except the vote
• Allies of Rome = freedom to go about their business, BUT
supplied troops, could not make treaties
Punic Wars - Rome v. Carthage, 264146 BC
• 1st Punic War – Rome beats Carthage, gains Sicily
• 2nd Punic War – Hannibal of Carthage marches through
Spain, Alps to attack Rome
– Would Roman allies
defect?  NO
• 3rd Punic War – Roman
general Scipio
– Hannibal defeated in
N. Africa
– Carthage burned
The Corvus (Latin for “raven” or “crow”)
• Crane/plank on a Roman
ship that turned naval
battle into a land battle
Rome dominates Mediterranean by 70 BC
• East – conquered Macedonia, Greece, & Anatolia
• West – as far as Spain
• Republic dominates the . . . “known world”