1. From Village to Empire 753 BCE – 476 CE
Ancient Rome
From Village to Empire
753 BCE – 476 CE

2. Part I Vocabulary and People
People/places/Stuff
Republic
Patricians
Plebeians
Veto
Forum
Constitution
Senate
Consuls
Dictator
Checks and balances
Etruscans/Latins/Greeks
Arch
Romulus
Remus
Tiber River
Mediterranean Sea
Alps
Cincinnatus
Hannibal
Scipio
Rome
Carthage
Sicily
Punic War

3. Romulus and Remus
Legend Abandoned on the Tiber River and raised by a She-Wolf, the twin sons of the god Mars and a Latin princess decide to build a city near this spot.
During a fight, Romulus
killed Remus and built
Rome which he ruled 40 yrs.

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 battle for control:
Latins
Greeks
Etruscans

8. Etruscans have skills
Skilled metal workers and engineers from Northern Italy
City walls and sewer
Alphabet and numbers
System of writing
Architecture
Arch

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

10. The Early Republic 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 BCE by wealthy landowners who resented his heritage
Romans declare they will never be ruled by a king again

12. 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 Greek, 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 so by birth or by release from slavery, were Roman citizens or Latins, or were independent or answerable to a guardian or other person in authority.

13. Struggle For Power
Patricians
Plebians

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

15. Power in Society Patricians vs. Plebians
Patricians inherited their power and social status
Ancestry gave patricians authority
Plebeians were citizens w/ rights to vote
Barred from holding office
Tribunes were finally developed to protect the rights of plebeians from unfair patricians (had the right to veto hurtful laws) in 494 BCE
Plebeians forced Patricians to write down
laws in 450 BCE in Roman Forum for
all to see (Law of the Twelve Tables).

16. Government under the Republic
Rome had a balanced government using checks and balances, and it had an unwritten, flexible constitution
Consuls (two leaders) were limited in power
Limited terms
Senate represented 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
C. 300 CE. Praetors (judges) elected
In times of crisis, a Dictator assumed absolute power for six months
Censors recorded population property ownership

17. The Forum
Most political action happened in the Forum, which was were the Senate met.
Senators would mingle with citizens and discuss politics, gossip, and trade.
Refer to page 167 for picture of the forum then and now!

18. The Twelve Tables Lex Duodecim Tabularum
A plebeian named Terentilius proposed in 462 BCE 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.
Senatus Populusque Romanus

19. The Roman Army Courage, Duty, Determination
All citizens (17-46) required to serve in the army – Citizen Soldier
Military units = Legions (5,000)
Legions divided into smaller groups of 100 = 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

20. Cincinnatus
Lucius Quinctius Cincinnatus (519 BCE) was an ancient Roman political figure, serving as consul in 460 BCE and Roman dictator in 458 BCE and 439 BCE
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 resigns his office and goes back to being a farmer

21. Rome’s Rise to Power Fight to control Italian peninsula
Conquer the Etruscans, the Latins and the Greek City-States in the south (256 BCE)
Good diplomacy with those conquered – Citizenship and rights
Good location = Good Trade
Built infrastructure to support trade
War with Carthage: The Punic Wars

22. The Punic Wars Punici (264-149 BCE)
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.

23. 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 BCE by directly invading Italy after traversing the Alps with, most famously, two dozen African war elephants
(1st PW) He killed as many as 50,000 Romans and ravaged Italy
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.
In 202 BCE Roman General Publius Scipio attacked Carthage and drew Hannibal out of Italy and defeated him, ending the 2nd Punic War.
In 149, Rome destroyed Carthage and enslaved its people for good.
Hannibal

24. Rome Controls The Mediterranean
Rome’s victories in the Punic Wars give it dominance in the Mediterranean world
Greece aligned itself with Rome and eventually became a province due to civil war between polises
Rome adopted many of Greece’s customs, stories, art, and its religion
Rome conquers the eastern half
Rome’s empire expands from Spain and Britain to Asia Minor
Rome Controls The Mediterranean