Ch 8, Sec 2: The Roman Republic

Social Groups Patricians-rich, elite landowners of Rome who ran the gov’t Plebeians-artisans, shopkeepers, and owners of small farms All men had to: Pay taxes Serve in the army Vote

Roman Government Breakdown-Consuls two Patrician men chosen for 1 year terms Headed the army/gov’t Could veto each other’s decisions Fair system kept out abusive politicians

Roman Government Breakdown-Praetors Interpreted the law Acted as judges Kept tax records Handled money for Rome Controlled public festivals

Roman Government Breakdown-Senators 300 Patrician men Served for life Gave advice to the consuls Made laws Debated issues Approved building programs

Roman Government Breakdown-Assembly of Centuries Elected officials Picked the consuls and praetors Passed laws Made up of Patricians

Plebeians wanted power Plebeians said they wanted equal rights to the patricians They paid taxes, served in the army, and had earned a say in the gov’t Went on strike and created their own gov’t Patricians caved in and the plebeians were able to set up the Council of the Plebs

Council of the Plebs All plebeians Elected tribunes to tell their concerns to the Patricians Could veto gov’t decisions

Changes to Politics Laws allowed plebeians and patricians to marry Laws allowed plebeians to be consuls Patricians and Plebeians had “equal” rights Patricians still had most of the power

Dictator A person with complete control in times of emergency Ruled for 6 months at a time Ruled over all of Rome Was over even the Consuls

Cincinnatus Roman dictator Put in charge in 460 B.C. after the Roman army was surrounded by an outside group Raised in army and defeated the enemy in 15 days Went back to farming when it was over

Twelve Tables Roman laws written down to make sure Patricians did not abuse Plebeians 12 bronze tables were put in the marketplace in Rome Started the rule of law-all citizens had the same rights no matter what social class they belonged to Only applied to Roman citizens Used to write laws for non-citizens called the Law of Nations

Rome Expands Controlled all of Italy Wanted to control trade and sea routes around the Mediterranean Sea These routes were controlled by the state of Carthage in North Africa

First Punic War Carthage and Rome fought over the island of Sicily Started in 264 B.C. after Rome’s army was sent to Sicily to protect the island Carthage already had colonies on the island and saw this as an invasion of their land Rome built a navy and defeated Carthage after 20 years of fighting Rome now controlled the island

Second Punic War is started Carthage took over parts of Spain Rome saw this as a threat Rome sent soldiers to Spain to help rebel against Carthage Carthage sent Hannibal to attack Rome in 218 B.C.

Second Punic War-Battle Plan Hannibal took 46,000 men, horses, and elephants to Spain to get to Italy Problem for Hannibal-Alps proved to difficult to cross killing ½ of his troops Hannibal took over southern part of Italy during the Battle of Cannae

Second Punic War continued Rome responded by having Gen. Scipio attacking Carthage forcing Hannibal to go home to protect Carthage Battle of Zama-Scipio’s troops beat Hannibal forcing Carthage to give up Spain Rome won the war and ruled the Mediterranean Sea

Third Punic War Carthage was burned down 50,000 people were enslaved Roman soldiers spread salt on the ground to prevent crops from growing in Carthage Resulted in Rome controlling all of Carthage, Macedonia, Greece, and part of Asia within 20 years of the end of the Punic Wars