The Roman Republic By: Jacob, Jackson, Insiya, Logan
The Legendary Founding of Rome According to legends, the ancient city was founded by two brothers named Romulus and Remus. In an argument over the city name (or possibly location) Romulus killed Remus and named the city after himself. Another theory says the city is named after a woman, Roma, who traveled with Aeneas and other survivors of the Trojan war. The men wanted to continue past the Tiber River, but Roma objected, and she teamed up with other women in the group to burn the Trojan ships and start a new settlement on the banks of the Tiber.
Etruscan Rule Shortly before 600 BC Rome was conquered by several Etruscan princes from across the Tiber River. Tarquinius Priscus, the first of the Etruscan kings, drained the city's marshes. He improved the Forum, which was the commercial and political center of the town Under Servius Tullius, the second Etruscan king, a treaty was made with the Latin cities which acknowledged Rome as the head of all Latium. The last of the kings of Rome, Tarquinius Superbus, was a tyrant who opposed the people. He scorned religion. Under the rule of the Etruscans Rome grew in importance and power. Great temples and impressive public works were constructed. Trade prospered, and by the end of the 6th century BC. Rome had become the largest and richest city in Italy.
Etruscan Rule Continued... Under the Etruscan Kings, Roman society was divided into two classes - Patricians - Plebeians The Patricians class controlled most of the land, held important offices, and advised the Etruscan king. The Plebeian class was made up of peasants, laborers, and craftsmen. The Plebeians made up 95% of Rome's population.
509 BCE Creation of Republic In 509 BCE, the Romans overthrew the 7th king of Rome, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, a tyrant king Romans established a republic, a government in which citizens vote on representatives (not the same as a democracy.) Important changes and innovations in the new government were a result of a political struggle between two groups The Patricians were a group of wealthy families who were the only citizens with any legal or political power. The Plebians were families that were equally wealthy but had no political authority This inequality would lead to the well-formed republic that kept Rome strong for hundreds of years.
Military Organization The two consuls were primarily generals whose task it was to lead Rome s armies in war. In times of military emergency, when unity of command was sometimes necessary, Rome appointed a dictator in place of the consuls. But they could not hold supreme military command for longer than six months. During the republic there were two different popular assemblies, the centuriate assembly and the tribal assembly. The centuriate assembly was military in nature; it voted on war and peace and elected all those magistrates who exercised imperium. (military power).
Elected Officials/ System of Checks and Balances Ancient Rome, from its start was ruled by kings. Some of these tyrant kings were harsh and unyielding which led to the Ancient Romans overthrowing them and starting a new government called the Republic. This new republic gave shared power among those elected; however, some Ancient Romans feared that even these politicians might become too powerful and wanted to do something about it. To ease these fears, citizens with high authority were allowed to have only limited terms. An example of this would be limiting consuls to only hold office for one year. The Ancient Romans also kept balance by giving government officials the ability to restrict powers of other officials. This was carried out by one official stalling or vetoing the actions of the other.
Elected Officials/ System of Checks and Balances Continued... Laws were proposed by the Senate and approved by the magistrates. Once a law was approved by the magistrates it had to be approved by the assemblies. These checks and balances helped to equalize the three sections of government, but was still not completely reliable.
The Rivalry of Carthage Rivalry of Carthage The rivalry started because Carthage and Rome were both competing for naval, political, and military power over the Mediterranean sea. The Rivalry of Carthage was a string of wars known as the Punic wars and it was fought between Rome and Carthage. Most of the Punic wars were fought in Carthage and in the Iberian Peninsula.
The First Punic War Also known as first Carthaginian war Fought for control of the strategic islands of Corsica and Sicily Took place between 264 and 241 B.C.E. Started when Carthaginians intervened in a dispute between 2 main cities on the Sicilian east coast, establishing a presence on Sicily Roman attacks in 260 forced Carthage off the island and opened the way to Corsica Rome then made it to Africa in 256 and tried to force Carthage to surrender but terms were too harsh Carthage drove Rome out of Africa in 255 Battle for Sicily continued until 241 when Rome established total control over the island
Second Punic War Carthage was forced to pay large sums of money to Rome after first war Took place between 219 and 202 B.C.E. War began again after Carthage acquired a base in Spain Hannibal led Carthaginian army over the alps into northern Italy In 218 In 217, with Gallic support, Hannibal marched south and had several victories in southern including taking the second largest Roman city Capua. However, Hannibal refused to march on Rome Rome then fought back but remained in a stalemate until 211, when they recaptured Capua In 207, Carthaginian reinforcements arrived and an assault on Rome started Gaius Nero launched an assault on the Carthage army and defeated them, forcing them out of Italy in 203 Earlier on in 206, Roman general Scipio won a major battle at Illipa and forced Carthage out of Spain Scipio then sailed to Africa and beat the Carthaginian army, forcing Carthage to surrender its navy, give up Spain and Mediterranean islands, and pay indemnity
Threat of Hannibal During Second War Hannibal proved a huge threat to Rome He captured multiple cities including Rome's second largest He beat a large Roman force at Cannae Hannibal won several other battles over much of southern Italy
Third Punic War The third Punic war was fought between 149 and 146 B.C.E. The reason this war started was because every Roman hated Carthage. Carthage was obliterated by Rome. Carthage was forced to be demilitarized in the peace treaty, this ended the Punic wars.
Primary Source: "The Twelve Tables" The Twelve Tables is the earliest Roman attempt at creating a collection of laws with set punishments, formed the basis of all Roman law. It is the earliest surviving literature from the Roman empire Composed by a group of ten men (455 BCE) These twelve tablets were engraved and hung in the Forum
S.O.A.P.S Tone Analysis Speaker: ten Roman men from both the Patricians and the Plebians composed this collection of laws. Occasion: this piece of Roman literature was written down around 455 BCE, around the beginning of the Roman empire Audience: The audience of this work of literature is the people living in Rome; the people who these laws apply to, for example, there are laws written about slaves and owners that specifically apply them, among other people and classes. Purpose: the purpose of this document is to inform citizens of Rome what actions are illegal and what those consequences are. Subject: The main idea of the Twelve Tables are that if someone does something not socially acceptable, there will be consequences; this is also a deterrent of crime, to try to keep people in order. Tone: the authors from ancient Rome have a very formal tone, possibly to show the seriousness of the laws and consequences.
Works Cited Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. First Punic War. EncyclopædiaBritannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 3 Mar. 2017, www.britannica.com/event/first-punic-war. https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/bb/schlacht_bei_zama_gemälde_h_p_motte.jpg http://www.answers.com/q/what_led_to_the_rivalry_between_carthage_and_rome_in_the_punic_wars Britannica, The Editors of Encyclopaedia. Second Punic War. Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., 24 July 2014, www.britannica.com/event/second-punic-war. https://www.ancient.eu/third_punic_war/ http://www.empirerome.com/wordpress/?page_id=222 http://www.thelatinlibrary.com/historians/narrative/romanhistory.html Primary Source: http://www.csun.edu/~hcfll004/12tables.html