The Rise of the Roman Republic

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The Rise of the Roman Republic

• 509 BC 27 BC

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Romes greatest achievements

• Established the first Republic and the principle
  of separation of powers
• Used law and government to unite many different
  regions, cultures and people. a trend of
  cosmopolitanism started during the Hellenistic
  Age
• Practical engineering projects to promote
  civilization roads, bridges, aqueducts, sewers,
  bath houses and amphitheatres.

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• Caesar Augustus asked Romes greatest poet,
  Virgil to write a poem to glorify the creation
  of Rome 30-19 BCE
• 12 books 1-6 Odyssey 7-12 The Iliad

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Aeneas reaches Latium, Italy
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Romulus and Remus-twin sons of the god Mars, and
Princess Rhea who feared for their lives
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Romulus and Remus nurtured by a she-wolf
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The Archaeological Record

• 2500 BC- Paleolithic settlements
• 1500 BC The Bronze Age
• 1000 BC tombs of cremated dead with bronze tools
  and weapons
• 800 BC Distinct groups occupied the Italian
  peninsula- Umbrians, the Sabines, the Samnites,
  the Etruscans and the Latins

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• Three advantages
• 1) built on several hills
• 2) Towards the end of the Tiber River
• 3) Only 15 miles from the sea

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The Republic is established, 509 BC

• The last Etruscan king, Tarquin the Proud,
  ignored the Senate and was overthrown, the Latin
  patricians (wealthy landowners) created a
  representative government.

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Two Consuls replaced the king
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The Roman Senate

• Senators came from the Patrician class
• Acted as an advisory body to the king/consuls
• Controlled the finances money for public works
• Served as a Jury for treason, conspiracy, murder,
  foreign relations

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The Struggle of the Orders 494 287 BC

• 494 BC Office of the Tribune created
• 460 BC Voting residence replaced wealth
• 450 BC Twelve Tables
• 445 BC Lex Canuleia-marriage
• 367 BC Licinian-Sextian Rogation-consuls
• 287 BC Lex Hortensia- Plebeian Council

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Roman Expansion

• 493 BCE Battle of Lake Regillus/Latin League
• 396 BCE Battle of Veii/Etruscans
• 390 BCE first only setback Gauls seige on
  Rome
• 350 BCE - Romans bounced back- rebuilt the
  Servian Wall and remodeled the army
• 340- 290 BCE The Latin Wars/Roman Federation
• 282-270 BCE defeated Greeks/Tarentum Epirus
• 264-146 BCE The Punic Wars

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By 264 BC, 5 major world powers Syria, Egypt,
Macedonia, Carthage and Rome
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The Punic Wars

• Three wars against Carthage started in 264 BCE
  and ended with Rome an international superpower
  in 146 BCE.

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The Punic Wars, 264-146 BCE
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• Hannibal Barca
• 247183 BCE

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Hannibals army of 50,000 men and 37 war
elephants crossed the Alps
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Hannibal and the Second Punic War, 219- 202 BCE

• Started over control of a city in Spain
• Hannibals army of 50,000 men, 12,000 horses and
  37 war elephants crossed the Alps in 15 days
• Hannibal hoped for support from the Gauls and
  other Latin people
• Battle of Cannae 216 BCE ended with 60,000 Romans
  dead.

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Publius Cornelius ScipioRome sent an army under
Scipio to Carthage, forcing Hannibal to return
to Carthage to protect his homeland

• Scipio Africanus

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The 3rd Punic War, 149-146 BCE

• A one-sided affair!

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Effects of expansion

• The Hellenization of Rome
• Rise of a business/merchant class
• Immense wealth a taste of luxury for the few
• Most benefits of expansion went to the wealthy,
  patrician class
• Serious economic dislocations for the common
  people was under way

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The legacy of wars

• Farms had been ravaged and remained unproductive
• Citizen-soldiers returned after prolonged absence
  to find their families on the brink of
  bankruptcy
• Growth of Patrician latifundia (slave
  plantations)
• Growing slave population drove down wages

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Problems for the small, independent,
self-sufficient farmer

• The increase in the slave population displaced
  the common farmers
• In debt, without prospects for work, ruined
  farmers joined the ranks of unemployed in Rome
• By 150BCE -a revolution was brewing!

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Any Questions?