1. Ancient Rome
From Village to Empire

2. The Pre-Roman World

3. Romulus and Remus
Legend Legend says that Romulus and Remus were the twin sons of Mars, god of War, and a Latin princess. They founded the city where they were rescued from the Tiber River and cared for by a she-wolf (753 BC).

4. Geography of Rome Developed because of strategic location
Fertile soil important to the agriculture
Built among seven hills along a bend in the Tiber River

5. The Seven Hills of Rome
The Seven Hills of Rome east of the Tiber form the heart of Rome.
The Seven Hills of early Rome – the Cermalus, Cispius, Fagutal, Oppius, Palatium, Sucusa and Velia – figured prominently in Roman mythology, religion, and politics.
The original city was held by tradition to have been founded by Romulus on the Palatine Hill. The other six are now the Aventine, the Capitoline , the Quirinal , the Viminal , the Esquiline and the Caelian.
The hills of Rome were of great strategic importance because of their height and position. They have gradually been cut away and built over although they are still evident to the expert eye.

6. Strategic Location Midway between the Alps and Italy’s southern tip
Located midpoint in the Mediterranean Sea
“Not without reason did gods and men choose this spot for the site of our city…the river brings us produce from the inland regions and sea-borne commerce from abroad. The sea itself, near enough for convenience, yet not so near as to bring danger from foreign fleets. Our situation in the very heart of Italy. All these advantages make it of all places in the world the best for a city destined to grow great”
– LIVY, The Early History of Rome

7. From Whence We Came …
Three groups inhabited the region and battled for control:
Latins
Greeks
Etruscans

8. The Etruscans have skills
Skilled metal workers and engineers
System of writing
Architecture

9. It was all Greek to them Greeks settle between 750 and 600 BC
Settle along southern coast and Sicily
Develop prosperous and commercial activity
Teach Romans to grow grapes and olives
Romans borrow religious ideas

10. Early Rome The Early Romans accept an Etruscan monarchy
Under this leadership Rome grows from swamp village to a major city
Tarquin the Proud is the last king of Rome

11. The Last King of Rome Tarquin the Proud was a harsh tyrant
Driven from Rome in 509 BC by wealthy landowners who resented his power
Romans declare they will never be ruled by a king again

12. Legendary Rome: a Summary
Aeneas and Trojan refugees settle in Italy (Vergil’s Aeneid; wholly fictional)
Romulus founds Rome 753 BC
Another legend
Romulus probably named for Rome
“Rome” may come from a word for “river”
Seven Kings
Tarquinius Superbus (Tarquin the Proud) deposed
Republic founded 509 BC

13. From Kingdom to Republic 509 BC
509 BC, the powerful citizens of Rome, all veterans of military service, drove out the Etruscan kings.
They declared Rome a republic, a government in which power resides in a body of citizens and consists of representatives elected by them.
Only men with wealth and property could command and rise in the ranks.
At the heart of the city, they built the Roman forum, a political and civic centre with temples and public buildings where leading citizens tended to government business.

14. The Republic
The Latin term res publica (from which comes the word “republic”) is usually translated as “state” or “commonwealth”.
At no time was Rome a democracy (that is, rule by the people) in the Athenian, or true, sense. Its society was rigidly divided by legal status (free or enslaved) and by class.
Free men or women were further classified, for example, according to whether they were free from birth or by release from slavery, whether they were Roman citizens or Latins.

15. Disenfranchised Women Slaves
Women could not partake in government decisions, office or voting
Slaves made up 1/3 of population
Slaves were mostly war captives who were owned by citizens and had no rights

16. Struggle For Power
Patricians
Plebians

17. Power in Society Patricians vs. Plebians
Patricians inherited their power and social status
Ancestry gave patricians authority
Plebeians were citizens without the rights to vote
Barred from holding office
Tribunes were finally developed to protect the rights of plebeians from unfair patricians

18. Government under the Republic
Rome claimed a balanced government
Consuls (leaders) were limited in power
Limited terms
Senate represented the aristocrats of society
Senators were in office for life (continuity)
Major influence
Centuriate / Tribune Assemblies
Tribal Assembly represented the Plebeians and made laws for the common people
In times of crisis, a Dictator assumed absolute power for six months

19. Cincinnatus Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus
He was an ancient Roman political figure, serving as consul in 460 BC and Roman dictator in 458 BC and 439 BC
Cincinnatus was regarded by the Romans as one of the heroes of early Rome and as a model of Roman virtue and simplicity
After defeating Rome’s enemies, Cincinnatus resigned his office and went back to being a farmer

20. Rome’s Rise to Power Fight to control Italian penninsula
Conquer the Etruscans, the Latins and the Greek City-States in the south
Good diplomacy with those conquered – Citizenship and rights
Good location = Good Trade
Built infrastructure to support trade
War with Carthage: The Punic Wars

21. The Punic Wars Punici
The main cause of the Punic Wars was the clash of interests between the existing Carthaginian Empire and the expanding Roman Republic.
The Romans were initially interested in expansion via Sicily
At the start of the first Punic War, Carthage was the dominant power of the Western Mediterranean
By the end of the third war, after more than a hundred years and the deaths of many hundreds of thousands of soldiers from both sides, Rome had conquered Carthage's empire and razed the city, becoming the most powerful state of the Western Mediterranean.

22. Hannibal
Hannibal was a master strategist who knew that the Roman cavalry was, as a rule, weak and vulnerable. He therefore enlisted superior cavalry into his armies, with devastating effect on the Roman legions.
Hannibal surprised the Romans in 218 BC by directly invading Italy after traversing the alps with, most famously, two dozen African war elephants
Although Hannibal surprised the Romans and thoroughly beat them on the battlefields of Italy, he could not invade the crucial city of Rome itself, thus making him unable to draw the war to a decisive close.

23. Rome Controls The Mediterranean
Rome’s victories in the Punic Wars give it dominance in the Mediterranean world
Rome conquers the eastern half
Rome’s empire expands from Spain and Britain to Asia Minor

24. The Twelve Tables Lex Duodecim Tabularum
Senatus Populusque Romanus
A plebeian named Terentilius proposed in 462 BC that an official legal code should be published, so that plebeians could not be surprised and would know the law.
Like most other early codes of law, they combine strict and rigorous penalties with equally strict and rigorous procedural forms.

25. The Roman Army “Courage, Duty, Determination
All citizens required to serve in the army – Citizen Soldier
Military units = Legions (5,000)
Legions divided into smaller groups of 80 = Century
Organization/fighting skills were key to Rome’s rise to greatness
Daily training: swimming, running, jumping, fencing and javelin throwing
To secure public office, ten years of service was required