LAND: Republic needed land to reward its armies.Romans believed that land was the only important form of wealth, and farming and soldiering were the honourable occupations
RESOURCES: Sicily (grain); Spain(cooking oil); other cities in east (wine, produce, leather and woolen goods)
CONFLICTS: Expansion led to clashes with the Carthaginians, Hellenistic Kingdoms
TRADE: Military expansion to protect sources of trade, fight piracy and banditry
COLONIES: settled and run by full Roman citizens who remained loyal (ie. discharged soldiers) and colonies were linked by roads and a unified currency
WEALTH: accumulating wealth gained from plunder, collecting taxes and importing goods which paid for massive building projects, paid for public works, bread, games
Originally composed of free citizens who had to perform military service
Used fighting methods of Greeks (phalanx) but developed new methods and tactics
Legions divided into maniples (cohorts) that could move independently and effectively in difficult terrain
Contubernium: (tent group) 8 men who bunked together.Centuria: (century) 10 contubernium for a total of 80 men, commanded by a centurionCohorts: (cohort) included 6 centuriae or a total of 480 fighting men, not including officers. Different cohorts in the legion would have different strengths and weaknesses Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts.Additionally each Legion had a 120 man Alae (cavalry unit) called the Eques Legionis permanently attached to it possibly to be used as scouts and messengers.
Men carried a 25 kg pack on their backs
Legion standard, silver eagle was considered sacred and was always kept near the commanding general
Legions were strictly disciplined, and constantly exercised
Failure to perform duties or cowardice were sometimes corrected by the execution of 1 every 10 men – gives us the word “decimation”
Fortifications – Romans were masters of building fortifications. They built long walls to defend their cities, palisades to defend their camps or surround their enemies
Camps – while on campaign, the legion would build a fortified camp every single night. It provided a safe place to sleep, as well as a potential place to retreat if they lost a battle
War Machines - catapults could hurl a boulder 500m
First paved road called First paved road called via via AppiaAppia (Appian Way) (Appian Way)over 310 000 km of road builtover 310 000 km of road built
1st Punic War
264 BCE- 241 BCE
Rome vs. Sicily, Syracuse and Carthage
Rome wins and seizes Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia
218 BCE – 202 BCE Hannibal takes ambitious journey from Spain with 36 000 troops
and 37 elephants over Alps; conquers most of Italian Peninsula with remaining 26 000 troops and 1 elephant
Four great battles with heavy Roman losses (ie. at Cannae, over 50 000 out of 86 000 Roman soldiers were annihilated in one day, but Hannibal can never take Rome itself
14 years later, the final Battle at Zama (202 BCE), Roman general finally defeats Hannibal and the Carthagians were forced to pay reparations to Rome, dismantle navy and forfeit commercial empire
149 BCE – 146 BCE: Rome is suspicious of a reviving Carthage 50 years after Hannibal’s defeat, Rome found an excuse to
finish Carthage off after a Roman delegation was insulted
When Carthage finally fell, the city was burned, the men slaughtered, the women (50,000 of them) sold into slavery, and the earth sown with salt so that no crops could ever grow again
Military Victories of the Republic
Control of the Italian Peninsula by 270 B.C.E.
Rome defeats Carthage, giving Rome control of North Africa and Carthage’s provinces in Spain
Macedonia and Greece are conquered and become Roman provinces
Pergamum (present day eastern Turkey) became province of Asia Minor, the first Roman possession in Asia
Gaul (France) conquered by Romans
Significance
Rome became the dominant power in the Mediterranean
Tremendous growth of the city
Creation of a professional army to meet military needs – end of the citizen army
The Roman army became an important political force
Republican institutions were weakened
Roman citizens came to expect wealth and luxury, military spirit declined over time
Top Related