Chapter 5 The Roman Republic Learning Objectives In this chapter, students will focus on: The influence of the Etruscans and Greeks on early Roman history The policies and institutions that explain Rome s success in conquering Italy How the Romans achieved their empire from 264 to 133 B.C.E., and what is meant by Roman imperialism The effects of the Empire on Roman social and economic institutions, values, attitudes, art, and literature The last century of the Republic: main problems, and how they were resolved Lecture Outline I. The Emergence of Rome A. Geography of Italy 1. 750 miles long; 120 miles across 2. Mountains and Plains 3. Islands B. Rome 1. Tiber River C. Mediterranean Sea II. The Greeks, Etruscans, and Early Rome A. The Greeks 1. Arrived between 750 550 B.C.E. 2. Influence on Romans B. The Etruscans 1. Origins 2. Urbanization C. Early Rome 1. Romulus and Remus (753 B.C.E.) 2. Monarchy 3. Etruscan influence III. 4. Founding of the Republic (c. 509 B.C.E.) The Roman State A. Political Institutions 1. Consuls and Praetors a. Imperium 2. Specialized Officials a. Quaestors, Aediles, Censors 3. Roman Senate a. 300 Men served for life 4. Centuriate Assembly B. Social Organization 1. Paterfamilias 2. Clientage 3. Patricians and Plebeians IV. The Struggle of the Orders A. Political Inequality B. Plebeians withdraw from the state (494 B.C.E.) 155
1. Tribunes of the Plebs 2. Council of the Plebs 3. Plebiscita C. The Twelve Tables of Law (450 B.C.E.) D. Hortensian Law (287 B.C.E.) E. Consequences of the struggle between the orders V. The Roman Conquest of Italy A. Livy B. Conquest of the Samnites (beginning c. 340 B.C.E.) C. Roman Confederation 1. Citizenship D. Opportunistic Expansion E. Roads F. Obligatory Military Service VI. Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean (264 133 B.C.E.) A. The Struggle with Carthage 1. First Punic War (264 241 B.C.E.) a. Roman conquest of Sicily 2. Second Punic War (218 205 B.C.E.) a. Hannibal (1) Invasion of Italy (2) Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.E.) b. Battle of Zama c. Roman conquest of Spain 3. Third Punic War (149 146 B.C.E.) a. Cato b. Carthage destroyed VII. The Eastern Mediterranean & Roman Imperialism A. The Eastern Mediterranean 1. Greek support for Carthage 2. Macedonia made Roman province (148 B.C.E.) 3. Corinth destroyed (146 B.C.E.) 4. Acquisition of Pergamum (133 B.C.E.) B. The Nature of Roman Imperialism 1. Opportunistic expansion 2. Willful expansion VIII. Roman Religion A. Religion and the State B. Adoption of New Deities 1. Greco-Roman Religion C. Rituals D. Omens E. Household Cults F. Religious Festivals IX. Education: The Importance of Rhetoric A. Rome had no public education B. Greek Studies 1. Rhetoric and philosophy 2. Schools X. The Growth of Slavery A. Slaves from conquests
B. Slave Occupations 1. Latifundia C. Treatment of Slaves D. Slave Laws E. Slave Revolts 1. Revolt in Sicily (104 101 B.C.E.) 2. Revolt by Spartacus (73 B.C.E.) XI. Roman Family, Roman Law A. The Roman Family 1. Paterfamilias a. Authority b. Arranged marriages (1) Divorce c. Education of daughters B. The Evolution of Roman Law 1. The Twelve Tables (450 B.C.E.) 2. Praetors 3. Law of Nations 4. Law of Nature XII. The Development of Literature and Art A. Literature 1. Plautus (c. 254 184 B.C.E.) 2. Terence (185 159 B.C.E.) B. Latin Prose C. Influence of Hellenistic Art D. Values and Attitudes 1. Cato the Elder (234 149 B.C.E.) 2. Scipio Aemilianus (185 129 B.C.E.) XIII. Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic (133 31 B.C.E.) A. Power of the Senate B. Control of the Nobiles (Governing Class) 1. Optimates 2. Populares C. Rule of the Equestrians D. The Land Problem 1. Latifundias E. Tiberius Gracchus (163 133 B.C.E.) F. Gaius Gracchus (153 121 B.C.E.) XIV. A New Role for the Roman Army: Marius and Sulla A. Marius (consul 107, 104 100 B.C.E.) 1. Military reforms B. Lucius Cornelius Sulla (dictator 82 79 B.C.E.) 1. Seizes power using the army 2. Reign of terror against opponents XV. The Death of the Republic A. The Rise of Pompey B. Role of Marcus Tullius Cicero ( 106 43 B.C.E.) C. First Triumvirate (Crassus, Pompey and Caesar) D. Julius Caesar (100 44 B.C.E.) 1. Conquest of Gaul (Modern France) 2. Crosses the Rubicon River (49 B.C.E.) 3. Defeats Pompey 4. Dictator in 47 B.C.E.; Dictator for Life in 44 B.C.E.
5. Reconstitutes Senate 6. Assassinated (44 B.C.E.) E. Octavian and Marc Antony 1. Cleopatra Queen of Egypt 2. Battle of Actium (31 B.C.E.) 3. Marc Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide XVI. Literature in the Late Republic A. Catullus (born c. 82 B.C.E.) B. Lucretius (c. 94 55 B.C.E.) C. Cicero (106 43 B.C.E.) D. Sallust (86 35 B.C.E.) E. Caesar (100 44 B.C.E.) Glossary Aediles: administrative officials responsible for supervising the public games and the grain supply. Censors: administrative officials responsible for population assessment for the purpose of taxes, military service and office holding. Centuriate assembly: the most important popular assembly in the Roman Republic; controlled by the wealthiest citizens, it elected the magistrates and passed laws. Consuls: the chief executive officers of the Roman Republic. Two were chosen annually to administer the government and lead the army in battle. Council of the plebs: a popular assembler for the plebeians; created in 471 B.C.E. Dictator: in the Roman Republic, an official granted unlimited power to run the state for a short period of time, usually six months, during an emergency. Equestrians: a group of extremely wealthy men in the late Roman Republic who were effectively barred from high office, but sought political power commensurate with their wealth; called equestrians because many had gotten their start as cavalry officers (equites). Imperium: the right to command. In the Roman Republic, the chief executive officers (consuls and praetors) possessed the imperium; a military commander was an imperator. In the Roman Empire, the title imperator, or emperor, came to be used for the ruler. Latifundia: large estates developed by landed aristocrats by taking over state-owned land and buying out small farmers. Nobiles: nobles. The small group of families from both patrician and plebeian origins who produced most of the men who were elected to office in the late Roman Republic. Optimates: best men. Aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who generally came from senatorial families and wished to retain their oligarchical privileges. Paterfamilias: the dominant male in a Roman family whose powers over his wife and children were theoretically unlimited, though they were sometimes circumvented in practice. Patriarchal family: a family in which the husband/father dominates his wife and children. Patriarchal/patriarchy: a society in which the father is supreme in the clan or family; more generally, a society dominated by men. Patricians: great landowners who became the ruling class in the Roman Republic. Plebeians: the class of Roman citizens who included nonpatrician landowners, craftspeople, merchants, and small farmers in the Roman Republic. Their struggle for equal rights with the patricians dominated much of the Republic s history. polytheistic/polytheism: having many gods; belief in or the worship of more than one god. Pontiffs: priests responsible for performing all public religious acts and supervising magistrates in the performance of public political acts. Populares: favoring the people. Aristocratic leaders in the late Roman Republic who tended to use the people s assemblies in an effort to break the stranglehold of the nobiles on political offices.
Praetor: a Roman official invested with imperiuim; primary responsibility was the administration of justice, especially as civil law applied to Roman citizens. Quaestors: administrative officials who assisted consuls and praetors in financial affairs. Rhetoric: the art of persuasive speaking; in the Middle Ages, one of the seven liberal arts. Senate/senators: the leading council of the Roman Republic; composed of about 300 men (senators) who served for life and dominated much of the political life of the Republic. Tribunes of the plebs: officials responsible for protecting plebeians against arrest by patrician magistrates and for making proposals before the council of the plebs. See interactive Flashcards for Chapter 5 at history.wadsworth.com/spielvogel06/. Chapters 3 through 6: A Review of Classical Civilizations A. Illustration: The Hoplite Forces (Ch. 3) What style of warfare does this vase painting depict? What were the social, and eventually political, implications of this style of warfare? B. Document: Athenian Democracy: The Funeral Oration of Pericles (Ch. 3) According to Pericles, on what basis is a man judged in a democracy? According to Pericles, what are the obligations of an Athenian citizen? C. Illustration: Doryphoros (Ch. 3) What is the subject of this sculpture? In what way does this sculpture reflect the Greek ideals? D. Document: The Politics of Aristotle (Ch. 3) In this selection, what need of man does Aristotle discuss? According to Aristotle, why is it evident that man has this need? E. Document: Demosthenes Condemns Philip of Macedonia (Ch. 4) According to Demosthenes, what has the Athenian assembly conceded to Philip of Macedon? Why, according to Demosthenes, is it worse to have suffered at the hands of Philip of Macedon than the Spartans or the Athenian ancestors? What bias might this author have? F. Document: The Twelve Tables (Ch. 5) Based on the Twelve Tables, what might a Roman citizen expect from his government? Why is it important that these laws were codified, written down, and publicly displayed? G. Document: Cincinnatus Saves Rome: A Roman Morality Play (Ch. 5) Why does Cincinnatus put on his toga? What happens once Cincinnatus puts on his toga? According to Livy, why are the people of the city not pleased to see Cincinnatus? What does Cincinnatus do once he defeats the Aequi? H. Illustration: Schoolmaster and Pupils (Ch. 5) What was the focus of a wealthy Roman s education? For what role did this education prepare the students? I. Document: The Decline of the Roman Republic (Ch. 5) According to Sallust, what were the values of Roman citizens when Rome was strong? According to Sallust, what were the values of Roman citizens that caused the decline of Rome? J. Document: The Achievements of Augustus (Ch. 6) Which achievements of Augustus imply that he ruled democratically? Which achievements of Augustus imply a less democratic side to his rule? What is the author s intent in creating this document?