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The Roman Republic

Romans establish a Republic

A class struggle broadens civil rights

Roman law evolves

The republic adds to its territory

The beginnings

- Rome began as a small town near thecoast of central Italy

- Inuenced by two peoples who hadsettled in the Italian Peninsula Greeks and Etruscans

- Greek adopted writing! militarytechni"ues and styles of literature andarchitecture

- #truscans learned practical skills insanitation! roadbuilding! architecture!and ceramics

Government without a king

- 509 bc drove out their #truscanruler and established a republic government without a king

- $ed by % consuls! nobles! who directedthe daily a&airs of government

- Consuls were prevented from gainingmuch power since they were electedfor only one year

- ssembl! o" soldier-citi#ens$made laws! elected o'cials! and

decided issues of war and peace(- %ncluded wealthy landowners

)patricians& common people)plebeians&' patricians dominatedue to s!stem o" counting o"votes

- dvisor! council$ also known as the*#+AT# was the most powerful arm ofgovernment

- To be appointed a senator a positionopen only to patricians was consideredan honor( The senate controlled

Rome,s important -nancial and foreigna&airs and reviewed the laws made bythe assembly

E(ualit! "or plebeians

- .id not have the voice in thegovernment

- /ould not marry a patrician- /an be arrested unfairly and punished

harshly

- /ould not pay back loads0 could losetheir land and might even sold intoslavery

- 1rgani2ed and struggled to gaine"uality with patricians( As a result!they threatened to stop serving in thearmy or paying ta3es( The patricians!being practical! gradually gave in toplebeian demands( They did not wanta civil war(

- )00 !r period$ plebeians gained legae"uality with the patricians(

- 4on the right to form an assemblywhich could pass laws that a&ectedmany people(

- /ould elect tribunes! o'cials whodefended all plebeians asking theirhelp

- *btained a written code o" laws +,) tables+ - protection from patriciano'cials(

- laver! "or debt was abolished- Right to marry a patricians and can

hold a highest position in the gov,tand sit in the senate

.obles keep control

- )/ bc the two classes were e"ualby law yet political power remained inthe hands of an upper class made upof patricians and wealthy plebeians(

- The abovementioned nobles held the

highest o'ces in the republic! usedbribes to control assembly anddominated the senate(

- enate$ led Rome( 4here mostinuential citi2ens citi2ens debatedvital issues(

- *enators gave Rome e3cellentleadership and believed that theyhonoured themselves and theirfamilies by serving Rome well(

written Code o" laws

- Roman law$ emerged during theclass struggle and merely based onthe religious customs and thesecustoms gave the two classes anopportunity to govern Rome

- 1aw as rules made b! acommunit! "or its own bene2t

- .rew its authority from the people noton religious traditions(

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- +eeds and will of Romans became thesource of law( 5rom priests toprofessional lawyers

The skills o" empire builders

- Rome e3panding from a little town to astate that came to rule all the ItalianPeninsula

- Romans showed a devotion tot heircity! toughness of character and agenius for warfare and diplomacy(

- 6now how to wage war successfully!gain allies and treat a defeated enemy()basic skills o" empire builders&

Citi#en-soldiers

- Roman "armer$ e3cellent soldier- turd!3 lo!al to his cit!3 and

e4perienced in battle and could

march 0 miles a da! laden with60 pounds o" armor3 weapons andsupplies

- Remain determined and disciplines inthe face of battle

- 7sed the same weapons as theirenemies( $ay in superior discipline andorgani2ation( Roman adopted andimproved upon the tight battleformation used by Greek foot soldiers(

- 5ighting as part of such a unitstrengthened the determination and

con-dence of the Roman *oldier(- 8e knew that his comrades wouldsupport him in battle

7rom enemies to allies

- Rome couldn,t con"uered Italy withoutthe help of other Italian peoples

- 9ade allies of former enemies throughwise diplomacy

- *ome defeated foes were grantedRoman citi2enship other permitted tokeep the local self:government(

- Con(uest o" %tal! gave Rome thesoldiers needed to e3pand further

8ar against Carthage

- )6 :C$ Rome went to war to +orthAfrican city or Carthage

- /arthage founded by thePhoenicians ! controlled large areas inthe western 9editerranean (

- Rome felt /arthage as a threat to itsallies in southern Italy( Though not

eager for war Rome felt it had toprotect its allies

- ;unic 8ars$ conict with /arthage:long and destructive

- ), bc /arthage made peace assoldiers loast their -ghting spirit

Rome near de"eat

- ),/ bc $ /arthage,s attempt toe3pand in *pain led to a second worldwar

- /arthaginian forces were led by

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