Unit IV

 Latin's migrated into Italy about 800 BC.  The Romans shared the Italian peninsula with Greek colonists.  Etruscans- ruled central Italy, including Rome.  Romans borrowed their alphabet from the Etruscans.  Etruscan Gods merged with Roman deities

PEOPLE: The Latins - Rome : “The First Romans” The Etruscans -Northern Italy -Urbanized Rome: Building Programs (the Forum) - Influence on Romans: the arch, alphabet The Greeks -Southern Italy and Sicily - Influence on Romans: art, architecture, literature,..government, engineering GEOGRAPHY: -Tiber River & Mediterranean Sea -Fertile Soil & Strategic Location

 Rome began as a small city-state in central Italy.  Geography of Italy made unifying Italy as one nation much easier then Greece  Very fertile growing areas  Central Location in the Mediterranean

 509 B.C., Romans rejected Etruscan king (monarchy) and established a republic.  Power rests with the citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders.  In Rome, citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free-born male citizens.

STRUGGLE FOR POWER: CLASS CONFLICT  Patricians- wealthy landowners who held most of the power: inherited power and social status  Plebeians- (Plebs) common farmers, artisans and merchants who made up the majority of the population: can vote, but can’t rule  Tribunes- elected representatives who protect plebeians’ political rights.

 2 Consuls  (Rulers of Rome)  Senate  (Representative body for patricians )  Tribal Assembly  (Representative body for plebeians )

A “Balanced” Government  Rome elects two consuls – one to lead army, one to direct government  Senate- chosen from patricians (Roman upper class), make foreign and domestic policy  Popular assemblies elect tribunes, make laws for plebeians (commoners)  Dictators- leaders appointed briefly in times of crisis (appt. by consuls and senate) Typical during times of War

 Plebeians were the lower class, farmers, merchants, artisans, and traders.  1 st Breakthrough- 12 Tables  2 nd Breakthrough- tribunes- could veto, or block those laws that were harmful to the Plebeians.  Eventually Plebeians were elected to offices of high importance

THE TWELVE TABLES  451 B.C., officials carve Roman laws on twelve tablets and hung in Forum.  Laws confirm right of all free citizens to protection of the law  Become the basis for later Roman law

 Family was the basic unit of Roman society.  Father had absolute rule in the family  Women were expected to follow husbands authority.  Roman women did however have a larger role in society then did Greek women.

 Girls and boys alike learned to read and write.  By the late Republic, many wealthy Romans were hiring Greeks as private tutors for their children.

 Roman Gods resembled those of the Etruscans and Greeks. Like the Greek god Zeus, the Roman god Jupiter ruled over the other gods.

Roman Gods  Jupiter  Mars  Juno  Venus  Diana  Saturn  Minerva  Mercury  Pluto  Neptune  Vesta Greek Gods  Zeus  Ares  Hera  Aphrodite  Artemis  Bacchus  Athena  Hermes  Hades  Poseidon  Hestia