ROME• Geography– Italian Peninsula• Apennine Mountains– run north to south

• Po River• Plains of Latium and Campania

ROME• Climate– Similar to southern California• Dry, warm summers• Mild, rainy winters• Grew grains, citrus fruits, grapes, and olives

ROME– Rome• on the Tiber River• seven hills• spoke Latin• Indo-European, like Greek• influenced by the Greeks and the Etruscans

ROME• Rome Origin Legend– Trojan War• Troy hero, Aeneas fled after the war– Story is told in the epic poem Aeneid by

Virgil• Formed an alliance with the Latins• Married a daughter of the Latin king

ROME– Romulus and Remus• Descendants of Aeneas– twins

• Were thrown into the Tiber River, but were rescued and raised by wolves until a shepherd adopted them

ROME• Built a city where the wolf rescued them, but

Romulus killed Remus• That city was name Rome

– Romulus was the first king of Rome-753BC• There were seven kings before the Etruscans

took over

ROME• Etruscans– Spread into N. Italy– turned Rome from a village to a city– wore togas and short cloaks– Rome copied army tactics from the Etruscans– Built sewers and temples, gave the “Roman”

alphabet and numerals to Rome

ROME• Early Rome’s Success– Diplomacy fair, but firm–Military was strong and accomplished– Brilliant strategy– fortified cities and roads– Laws were practical

ROME• Rome Rising– Rome was at war for the next 200 years– took over Latium then all of southern

Italy– A cruel king was overthrown by a

rebellion and they created a new government

ROME• Roman Republic– Republic, people elect leaders to govern

them• Elected every year

– Not all got to vote• Only wealthy and powerful

ROME–Wars broke out• Rome chose dictators to lead the city during

the wars• Cincinnatus was a famous dictator– a farmer who was chosen to defeat an

enemy– defeated the enemy and went

immediately back to his farm

ROME• Roman Government– Early Rome was divided into two groups• Patricians–wealthy landowners and ruling class

• Plebeians– poor landowners, craftsmen, farmers

ROME• Roman Government– only patricians could hold office– Officers• Consuls (2) and magistrates– elected every year– ran government and led armies–Acted as judges

ROME• Praetor–was in charge of civil law

– Senate• 300 patricians• held the force and legislation of laws

ROME– Plebeian Councils • Assemblies–One elected magistrates and consuls

• Tribunals–One made up of elected officials that

could veto (“I forbid” in Latin) actions by other officials

ROME• Checks and Balances– Laws proposed by the Senate had to be

approved by the magistrates• Then had to be ratified by the Plebeian

Councils

ROME• Rome Divided– Patricians and Plebeians could not marry

each other– Plebeians resented the Patrician class

because they could hold office and were rich• wanted political and social equality• eventually Plebeians were able to become

consuls

ROME• Rome as “One”– There was no democracy however– Some plebeians became part of the

aristocracy– The aristocracy ruled the early republic

ROME• The Gift of Rome– codified law displayed in the Forum– first was the Twelve Tables

• then the Law of Nations

– established a standard of justice for everyone– innocent until proven guilty– looking at evidence before determination

ROME• Punic Wars– against Carthaginian Empire– The empire included the coast of N. Africa,

S. Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and W. Sicily

• First Punic War– Rome attacked W. Sicily– Rome built a navy and won the war

ROME– Later, Rome persuaded a Carthaginian

colony in Spain to revolt

• Second Punic War– Hannibal, the greatest Carthaginian

general, invaded Spain– headed toward Rome– 12 years later, Rome retook its lost land

ROME– Rome then decided to invade Carthage– Rome crushed Hannibal and gained Spain for

its territory

• Third Punic War– literally destroyed the city of Carthage– all men, women and children sold into

slavery– Carthage territory became Africa

ROME• Other Wars– took Macedonia– then Greece– then Pergamum (in East Turkey/Asia

Minor)

ROME• Crisis– Rich and poor did not trust each other;

violent rebellion was feared– Tribunes named Tiberius and Gaius

Gracchus worked to create farms for poor Romans• The rich and powerful didn’t like this and both

were eventually killed

ROME–Marius• Got the poor to join the army when before

they could not– This gave Marius a lot of power

• Consul Lucius Sulla rebelled against Marius causing a civil war–Marius was defeated and Sulla made

dictator

ROME– Spartacus• Thousands of slaves, led by Spartacus rose

up, rebelled, and demanded freedom• He was killed in battle– The slaves were defeated and 6000 were

executed