ROMAN REPUBLIC 509 – 27 BC
Republic or... Monarchy? Which one is more democratic? The Roman Monarchy had seven elected kings but in the end... The Romans were fed up and got rid of them
The word “democracy” was invented by... http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8b/Acropolis-panorama-night.jpg ...the Athenians in 509 BC “demos” being Greek for... “people” and “kratia” for... “power” whereas “monos” means... “one” and “archia”... “power” as well
At the same time the Romans created their Republic Remember the year... 509 BC Instead of one king who reigned until his death, the Romans elected... two consuls every year! “re(s)” being Latin for... “thing” and “public” for... (obviously!!!) NB: Some translate respvblica into English as “Commonwealth”
Roman society was divided into two social classes: patricians plebeians and
After many fights, in 5th century BC, plebeians gained the right... ...to vote ...and to marry patricians but only the latter could be elected as... ...consuls or senators
an assembly of 300 members that passed... laws Senators formed the... Senate, an assembly of 300 members that passed... laws http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Spqrstone.jpg The people, in Latin “populus”, giving “public” in English, and the Senate made Rome big and powerful
and began the Roman conquest of... Hispania After the first Punic war (240 BC), Rome obtained the two biggest isles in the Mediterranean: Corsica Sicily In 218 they disembarked in... Emporion and began the Roman conquest of... Hispania
The conquest of Hispania lasted... 200 years!!! Pergamon 133 Corinth 146 Numantia 133 Carthage 146 But step by step all the Mediterranean fell into the hands of the Romans
And conquests went on and on... Gaul 52 BC Syria 63 BC So that the Romans called the Mediterranean... Mare Nostrum (our sea)
But in the end it brought... Romans had for almost five centuries something that we could call a kind of “aristocratic republic”. http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Maccari-Cicero.jpg But in the end it brought...
conspiracy and... ...civil war http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Catilina2-Maccari_affresco.jpg conspiracy and... ...civil war