Roman Republic

ROMAN REPUBLIC

GEOGRAPHY:

Italy is a peninsula located in the Mediterranean Sea. The Tiber River runs through Rome. The Alps protect Rome from the north and the Apennine mountains run through Italy.

EARLY SETTLERS:

-ETRUSCANS: settled in northern and central Italy around 1200 BC. They came from Asia Minor and were highly advanced –writing, advanced architecture, religion, arts.

-LATINS: from Europe, settled in central Italy around 1000 BC near the Tiber River. They called this region Latium. Began as shepherds, not very advanced. They borrowed much from the Etruscans. Rome was built on the Palatine Hill about 753 BC.

-THE GREEKS:settled in southern Italy around 750 BC. Greece established 50 colonies in southern Italy and Sicily. The Romans called this area Magna Graecia. Brought Greek civilization to Romans.

EARLY HISTORY:

-Rome was ruled by kings from 600’s – 509 BC

-The Forum was constructed = center of political life

-509 BC Rome got rid of its last king and set up a Republic - a govt where people choose their leaders

ROMAN FAMILY:

-Roman values: discipline, loyalty, strength

-Gravitas: a seriousness. A person who lived Roman values

-Pater Familias: Father of the family. Power over, protector of, speaker of and voter for family.

-Women were citizens but could not vote (story of our lives)

ROMAN SOCIAL CLASSES:

-Patrician: highest class. Wealthy, powerful, controlled govt.

-Plebeians:common people. Farmers, artisans, merchants. Could vote, were citizens.

-Slaves:usually from war

**Classes are from birth.**

**Patricians & Plebs had to serve in military.**

PLEBEIANS WON MORE POWER

-Plebs were barred by law from holding important positions in govt.

-In 494 BC Plebs refused to fight in Rome’s army until they were granted more political power.

-Twelve Tables: written 450’s BC. All citizens have protection of law and are bound by it. First time Roman law was written down.

ROME’S BALANCED GOVERNMENT:

-By 275 BC Rome claimed to have achieved a balanced govt. Took aspects of other govts within their own

• Consul: (2), commanded govt & led armies. 1 year term. Reelection after 10 yrs. Like a king.
• Senate:Life membership, mostly patricians. Provided continuity & stability in govt. Controlled important aspects of govt. Aristocratic part of govt.
• Assembly: All citizen soldiers were members. 1.5 yr. Term. Eventually could make laws. Democratic part of Roman govt.
• Dictator: 6 month term. Only in times of crisis. Complete control of govt. but only for limited time.

** By 275 BC, Rome conquered the entire Italian peninsula.**

PUNIC WARS: 264-146 BC

-Carthage: located in North Africa – very wealthy from trade

-Reason for wars: Control of Mediterranean for trade

-1st Punic War: 264-241 BC:

• Reason: Problems in Sicily. Rome finally got a navy. Mostly fought at sea. Rome was scared that Carthage was in Sicily. In the end Rome won.
• Result: Rome now controlled Sicily and its grain. Rome also controlled part of Mediterranean.

-2nd Punic War: 218 – 202 BC:

• Reason: Hannibal (Hamilcar’s son – leader of Carthage in 1st Punic War) wanted revenge on Rome. Hannibal invaded Italy from the Alps. He brought elephants with him. He marched on the Italian countryside for 14 yrs. burning & destroying everything. In 202 BC, Scipio Africanus (Roman leader) took an army to Carthage, forcing Hannibal to return home to protect his land. At Battle of Zama, Scipio defeated Hannibal. Rome wins again!!
• Result: Rome controls entire Mediterranean. Carthage forced to give up all property. Western civilization is passed on to us.

-3rd Punic War: 149-146 BC:

• Reason: Rome wanted to finally stop Carthage from competing with them on Mediterranean. Rome forced war on Carthage. They invaded the city and sieged it. Carthage was utterly destroyed. Remaining survivors were sold into slavery.
• Result: Carthage ceased to exist.

ROME’S REPUBLICAN GOVERNMENT COLLAPSES:

-The Punic Wars hurt Rome. 1,000s lost their lives.

• Hannibal’s armies destroyed homes, farms, villages.
• Returning soldiers could not afford to rebuild.
• Many sold their farms to wealthy citizens.
• New landowners created large estates.
• Many slaves from warfare: cheap labor
• Former soldiers could not find work, slaves took their places. Many went to Rome in hopes of finding work
• Groups of landless, jobless people created new class: Proletariat
• They became a threat in Rome: possible riots.

**The number of slaves grew during this period. By 100 BC, slaves formed 1/3 of Rome’s population. Fear of slave revolts. In 73 BC, Spartacus, a slave, led 70,000 other slaves in a rebellion against Rome. They beat the Roman army 9 times. They were finally crushed and 6,000 of his followers were crucified.**

GRACCHI ATTEMPT REFORMS:

-By 150 BC, Roman govt. had become corrupt. The Senate stopped working for the good of Rome and began to work for the good of themselves. Regular people suffered. Patrician and Pleb struggled for power. Two brothers, Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus attempted to reform govt.

-Tiberius: elected as Tribune in 133 BC. Tribunes were officials who spoke on behalf of the Plebs. He wanted to limit the size of the large estates and give land back to the Proletariat. Murdered by some Senators and their helpers.

-Gaius Gracchus: elected Tribune in 123 BC. He pushed through a series of laws to weaken the Senate. He tried to deal with unemployment. Killed by Senate and others who did not want to give up any power.

-Army leaders attempt to fix Rome:

• Marius: Saved Rome from an invasion by Germanic tribes in 105 BC. Elected Consul 5 times in a row. Allowed the cities’ poor to enlist in the army. They signed up for 16 years. They became professional soldiers. They would fight for the general who would give them the most gold or land. Generals with their own loyal armies began to fight against each other.
• Sulla:took control of Rome in 80’s BC. Fought wars against Marius. Abolished the 6 month rule for dictator.

-Julius Caesar: From a Patrician family. Avoided death by the hand of Sulla. Very good speaker. Did not have much money but borrowed off a wealthy friend Crassus. Became governor of Spain. Became very wealthy as governor. Both he and Crassus got rich. In 60 BC, Caesar, Crassus & Pompey (a general) joined an alliance. They formed the First Triumvirate (rule by three). Caesar was elected consul in 59 BC. The Senate & Assembly had to do what they wanted. After 1 year, he became governor of Gaul. While there he conducted many military campaigns. This went on for 8 years. He sent back written descriptions of his victories to Rome. The people loved him. His popularity with the people made the Senate jealous and fearful. They got Pompey to side with them. The Senate ordered Caesar to disband his legions and come back to Rome. In January of 49 BC Caesar with his legions crossed into Italy and went to Rome. Pompey ran from Caesar. He finally ended up in Egypt where the Pharaoh had his head chopped off. Caesar became Dictator for life in 45 BC. He expanded the Senate to 900 men. Land owners had to hire freemen. He set up a Public Works system. He established 20 colonies in Spain. He also made a new calendar with 365 days. On March 15, 44 BC he was assassinated by some members of the Senate, they feared he would try to become king. The chief conspirators were Brutus & Cassius. (Et tu Brute)

** Civil War followed the death of Caesar throughout Rome.**

-The Second Triumvirate: Following the death of Caesar, his friend and fellow general Marc Antony wanted revenge. Caesar’s grand-nephew Octavian also wanted revenge (heir to Caesar’s estates) They along with another general Lepidus formed the 2nd Triumvirate. They got their revenge on the people who killed Caesar.

-After, Octavian and Marc Antony competed for power in Rome. Antony had Cleopatra on his side. The two sides battled off the coast of Actium in 31 BC. Octavian won, Antony & Cleo ran off to Egypt where they later died. (It is believed Antony committed suicide & Cleo did the same shortly after)

**From this point on Rome would be ruled by an emperor. The Senate & Assembly no longer had any power. Octavian referred to himself as “First Citizen.” In 27 BC, he took the title “Augustus” which means exalted one, reserved for the gods. Became first emperor of Rome.

REASON FOR FALL OF ROMAN EMPIRE:

-Rise of Christianity

• Christianity made many Roman citizens into pacifists, making it more difficult to defend against the barbarian attackers. Also money used to build churches could have been used to maintain the empire. Although some argue that Christianity may have provided some morals and values for a declining civilization and therefore may have actually prolonged the imperial era.

-Decline in morals and values

• Those morals and values that kept together the Roman legions and thus the empire could not be maintained towards the end of the empire. Crimes of violence made the streets of the larger cities unsafe. Even during Pax Romana there were 32,000 prostitutes in Rome. Emperors like Nero and Caligula became infamous for wasting money on lavish parties where guests ate and drank until they became ill. The most popular amusement was watching the gladiatorial combats in the Colosseum. These were attended by the poor, the rich, and frequently the emperor himself. As gladiators fought, vicious cries and curses were heard from the audience. One contest after another was staged in the course of a single day. Should the ground become too soaked with blood, it was covered over with a fresh layer of sand and the performance went on.

-Public health

• There were many public health and environmental problems. Many of the wealthy had water brought to their homes through lead pipes. Previously the aqueducts had even purified the water but at the end lead pipes were thought to be preferable. The wealthy death rate was very high. The continuous interaction of people at the Colosseum, the blood and death probably spread disease. Those who lived on the streets in continuous contact allowed for an uninterrupted strain of disease much like the homeless in the poorer run shelters of today. Alcohol use increased as well adding to the incompetency of the general public.

-Political corruption

• One of the most difficult problems was choosing a new emperor. Unlike Greece where transition may not have been smooth but was at least consistent, the Romans never created an effective system to determine how new emperors would be selected. The choice was always open to debate between the old emperor, the Senate, the Praetorian Guard (the emperor's's private army), and the army. Gradually, the Praetorian Guard gained complete authority to choose the new emperor, who rewarded the guard who then became more influential, perpetuating the cycle. Then in 186 A. D. the army strangled the new emperor, the practice began of selling the throne to the highest bidder. During the next 100 years, Rome had 37 different emperors - 25 of whom were removed from office by assassination. This contributed to the overall weaknesses of the empire.

-Unemployment

• During the latter years of the empire farming was done on large estates called latifundia that were owned by wealthy men who used slave labor. A farmer who had to pay workmen could not produce goods as cheaply. Many farmers could not compete with these low prices and lost or sold their farms. This not only undermined the citizen farmer who passed his values to his family, but also filled the cities with unemployed people. At one time, the emperor was importing grain to feed more than 100,000 people in Rome alone. These people were not only a burden but also hadlittle to do but cause trouble and contribute to an ever increasing crime rate.

-Inflation

• The roman economy suffered from inflation (an increase in prices) beginning after the reign of Marcus Aurelius. Once the Romans stopped conquering new lands, the flow of gold into the Roman economy decreased. Yet much gold was being spent by the romans to pay for luxury items. This meant that there was less gold to use in coins. As the amount of gold used in coins decreased, the coins became less valuable. To make up for this loss in value, merchants raised the prices on the goods they sold. Many people stopped using coins and began to barter to get what they needed. Eventually, salaries had to be paid in food and clothing, and taxes were collected in fruits and vegetables.

-Urban decay

• Wealthy Romans lived in a domus, or house, with marble walls, floors with intricate colored tiles, and windows made of small panes of glass. Most Romans, however, were not rich, They lived in small smelly rooms in apartment houses with six or more stories called islands. Each island covered an entire block. At one time there were 44,000 apartment houses within the city walls of Rome. First-floor apartments were not occupied by the poor since these living quarters rented for about $100 a year. The more shaky wooden stairs a family had to climb, the cheaper the rent became. The upper apartments that the poor rented for $40 a year were hot, dirty, crowed, and dangerous. Anyone who could not pay the rent was forced to move out and live on the crime-infested streets. Because of this cities began to decay.

-Inferior technology

• During the last 400 years of the empire, the scientific achievements of the Romans were limited almost entirely to engineering and the organization of public services. They built marvelous roads, bridges, and aqueducts. They established the first system of medicine for the benefit of the poor. But since the Romans relied so much on human and animal labor, they failed to invent many new machines or find new technology to produce goods more efficiently. They could not provide enough goods for their growing population. They were no longer conquering other civilizations and adapting their technology they were actually losing territory they could not longer maintain with their legions.

-Military spending

• Maintaining an army to defend the border of the Empire from barbarian attacks was a constant drain on the government. Military spending left few resources for other vital activities, such as providing public housing and maintaining quality roads and aqueducts. Frustrated Romans lost their desire to defend the Empire. The empire had to begin hiring soldiers recruited from the unemployed city mobs or worse from foreign counties. Such an army was not only unreliable, but very expensive. The emperors were forced to raise taxes frequently which in turn led again to increased inflation.

THE FINAL BLOWS:

For years, the well-disciplined Roman army held the barbarians of Germany back. Then in the third century A. D. the Roman soldiers were pulled back from the Rhine-Danube frontier to fight civil war in Italy. This left the Roman border open to attack. Gradually Germanic hunters and herders from the north began to overtake Roman lands in Greece and Gaul (later France). Then in 476 A. D. the Germanic general Odacer or Odovacar overthrew the last of the Roman Emperors, Augustulus Romulus. From then on the western part of the Empire was ruled by Germanic chieftain. Roads and bridges were left in disrepair and fields left untilled. Pirates and bandits made travel unsafe. Cities could not be maintained without goods from the farms, trade and business began to disappear. And Rome was no more in the West.