Transcript The Rise of the Roman Republic - St. Anne`s School (Garden City)

The Rise of the Roman
Republic
Lesson 2
The Big Picture

By 509 B.C Romans had overthrown their king, Tarquinis.
 They

began to set up a new government where the people had more of a say
Divisions of the rich and poor, powerful and not so powerful, would
affect the shape of the government
The Citizens of Rome

Like Greece, society in Rome was divided into 2 groups:
 Those
who were citizens and those who were not
 Plebeians:
men who farmed, traded, and made things for a living
 Patricians:
members of the noble family. They owned large farms and had the
plebeians work for them

At first, Rome had few slaves

The city did have many women, but none of them were citizens
Plebeians Protest

After Rome’s last king was overthrown the patricians took power
 The
remade the city’s government
 Only

patricians could belong to a ruling assembly or become government leaders
Rome’s many plebeians reacted with protest (According to the Roman
historian Livy)
 They
demanded changes in the government
A New Government

According to Livy, at this time, both sides decided to work together to
improve Rome’s government

The new government was called a republic (which means “public
things” in Latin)
 In
a republic citizens choose their leaders
Governing the Republic
 Unlike
the democracy of Athens, not all Roman citizens
participated in the assembly that ran the city. Instead the
elected representatives (people who acted for them)
 Government
 Unlike
of the U.S is often called a republic
the U.S, not all votes of the Roman citizens were equal. In
Rome the more powerful a man was, the greater the influence his
vote had
3
different government branches ran the city’s affairs:
 Each
branch had decision making powers that allowed it to
have control over the actions of other branches
 The
oldest most powerful branch was the senate
 The
senate was controlled by Rome’s patricians
 Like
the senate of the U.S, the Roman senate determined how Rome
would act toward other governments.
 It
also had control of all money collected and spent by the Roman
republic
Power for the Assembly

Plebeians formed a citizen assembly

Beginning in 494 B.C the citizen assembly elected tribunes who worked
to gain rights for the plebeians

The tribunes were leaders of the large citizen assembly
The Consuls

Tribunes worked to make sure plebeians got fair trials

They brought plebeian complaints before the Senate and the consuls
 Consuls:
the 3rd branch of Rome’s republic

Each year the citizen assembly elected 2 men to become consuls

Consuls served as Rome’s army commanders and the city’s most
powerful judges

They could: arrest anyone and propose new laws

The citizen assembly, could veto, or stop, any of the consuls’ actions
Plebeian Influences Grows

The assembly met to vote in a large field along the Tiber river. The field was also
headquarters for the plebeian army

The plebeian army protected both the city of Rome and its patrician leaders

This role gave plebeians added power to change Rome’s government in an important way

Patrician leaders had ruled Rome according to unwritten laws. Patrician leaders
were the only one who knew of these laws.

It was hard for the plebeians to know what was and was not against the laws.


If brought to trial, the plebeians had to hope the judge was going to be fair
450 B.C plebeians protested the unfairness of the unwritten laws. The Patricians agreed to
write a collection of laws on Twelve Tables
The Laws of the Republic

The twelve tables governed everything from marriage to slavery

Example: People who did not pay their debt could become slaves

Like Hammurabi’s Code in Babylon, the twelve tables were an important
development for written laws

The twelve tables were posted in the city’s forum


the forum was a gravel clearing (not bigger than a soccer field)
This was the center of life in Rome


Here senators met and citizens pleaded their case in front of a judge
Women sometimes joined the debate, in the hopes of influencing the vote
The Republic Expands

The roman army moved out across the peninsula to conquer other areas

By 265 B.C Rome controlled all of the Italian peninsula
A Rival Across the Sea

In 264 B.C roman soldiers landed on the island of Sicily. This sparked a long conflict
with the empire of Carthage

Carthage was a city based in present- day Tunisia (located in Africa)

Since, Carthage had once been a colony of Phoenicia, Romans named their conflicts
with the city the Punic Wars.

After more than 20 years of fighting, Carthage surrendered control of Sicily to Rome


Rome continued to conquer more land that Carthage had conquered
The leaders of Carthage were outraged! They asked Hannibal to seek revenge
Hannibal's Plan

Rome controlled the waters around Italy
 Hannibal
planned to attack from land
 He
marched from Spain to Rome with 90,000 men and elephants (which scared
the Romans)

Hannibal won many of the major battles but did not win the war
 Scorpio
(Rome's 25 year old general) defeated Hannibal outside of Carthage in the
battle of Zama
 The
defeated gave Rome Carthage’s empire.
 Rome
became the most powerful nation in the Mediterranean
The Changing Republic

All of these changes upset the workings of the Republic

Patrician and plebeians struggled for government control

Slaves and conquered people revolted against the Roman leaders

By about 100 B.C the republic of Rome was fighting for its life