1. Unit 8, Part 1: Geography and Rise of The Roman REPUBLIC

2. GEOGRAPHY & CLIMATE
Italian Peninsula – looks like a boot; juts out into the Mediterranean Sea
2 major mountain ranges
Alps – To the north (Europe’s highest mountains)
Apennines – run length of the peninsula
Some of the mountains, such as Mount Vesuvius, are volcanic.
Not much flat land
Hills cover where there aren’t mountains. Cities built on hills are easier to defend.
Climate – warm, dry summers and mild, rainy winters. Similar to California. Able to grow wide variety of crops like grains, citrus fruits, grapes, and olives.

3. ROME’S LEGENDARY ORIGINS
Rome’s early history is a mystery because no written records exist.
Roman leaders wanted their city to have glorious past, so they told legends about great heroes and kings who built the city.
Aeneas – According to Virgil’s epic poem the Aeneid, the Trojan hero Aeneas carried his father from the burning city of Troy before it fell to the Greek. After traveling around the Mediterranean, he and his followers finally settled in Italy.

4. ROMULUS & REMUS
Romulus and Remus – Descendants of Aeneas and founders of Rome. As babies, these twins were put in a basket and thrown into the Tiber River. A wolf rescued them and raised them for many years. A shepherd found the boys and adopted them. After they grew up, Romulus and Remus decided to build a city to mark the spot where the wolf had rescued them. While planning the city, Remus mocked one of his brother’s ideas. In a fit of anger, Romulus killed Remus. He then built the city and named it Rome after himself.
Romulus –Took the throne as first king of Rome in 753 BC (give or take 100 years).
Romulus and Remus

5. EARLY KINGS Roman records list 7 kings who ruled the city.
Etruscan Kings - The last 3 kings were Etruscans, members of a people who lived north of Rome and where there before it was founded. They made great contributions to Roman society.
Built huge temples
Built Rome’s first sewer.
Romans may have learned their alphabet and numbers from the Etruscans.
Last Roman king was cruel and had many people killed, including his own advisors. Finally, a group of nobles rose up, overthrew him, and created a new government.

6. EARLY REPUBLIC
A Republic – people elect leaders to govern them. Each year the Romans elected officials to rule the city. These officials had many powers but only stayed in power for one year so as to keep any one person from becoming too powerful.
Not a democracy! Almost all officials came from a small group of wealthy and powerful men who held all the power, with others having little to say in how the republic was run.
Shortly after republic was created, Rome fell into a 50 year period of war with other people of the region. Though they won most of these wars, they lost several battles, and many people were killed and property destroyed.

7. DICTATORS
During particularly difficult wars, Romans chose dictators, rulers with almost absolute power, to lead the city. To keep them from abusing their power, dictators could only stay in power for 6 months then had to give up power.
Cincinnatus – most famous dictator of this period. A farmer who was chosen to defend the city against a powerful enemy, whom he quickly defeated and then immediately resigned and returned to his farm. Considered an ideal leader because he didn’t want power and was loyal to the republic. (Cincinnati, Ohio is named after him.)
Cincinnatus

8. PLEBEIANS VS. PATRICIANS
Within Rome, society was divided into two groups
Patricians – nobles, or wealthiest people. Only patricians could be elected to office, so they held all the political power.
Plebeians – common people; peasants, craftspeople, traders, and other workers. Some, especially traders, were quite wealthy. Although most of the population were plebeians, they couldn’t take part in government. They began to call for changes because they wanted more of a say in how the city was run.
In 494 BC the plebeians formed a council and elected their own officials, which frightened patricians as they feared Rome would fall apart if the 2 groups didn’t cooperate. The patricians decided to change to a tripartite, or 3 part government.

9. TRIPARTITE - Magistrates
1st Part
Magistrates, or elected officials
Consuls - 2 most powerful; elected for one year; ran city and lead the army. There were 2 so that no one person could be too powerful
Below the consuls were many different types of magistrates, all elected for 1 year, each with his own duties and powers. Some were judges, others managed finances, organized games and festivals, etc.

10. TRIPARTITE - Senate 2nd Part Roman Senate – council of wealthy and
powerful Romans that advised the city’s leaders.
Originally created to advise Rome’s kings,
then advised consuls
300 members who held offices for life
Mostly patricians, but over time wealthy
plebeians became senators
Because magistrates often became senators after completing their terms in office, most didn’t want to anger the Senate and risk their future jobs.
As time passed, Senate became more powerful, gained great influence over the magistrates, and took control of finances.

11. TRIPARTITE – Assemblies & Tribunes
3rd Part
2 branches: Assemblies & Tribunes
Assemblies
Both patricians and plebeians took part
Primary job to elect the magistrates
who ran the city
Tribunes – elected by plebeians
Could veto, or prohibit, actions by other officials. Veto means “I forbid” in Latin, the Roman’s language. Ability to veto made tribunes very powerful.
Remained in office 1 year so wouldn’t abuse power

12. CHECKS & BALANCES
Checks and balances – methods to balance power and keep any one part of a government from becoming stronger or more influential than the others.
For example, one consul could block the actions of the others. Also, laws proposed by the Senate had to be approved by magistrates and ratified by assemblies.
When officials worked together, the government was strong and efficient. Could also complicate government when officials disagreed. The same is true with our checks and balances today.

13. Overview of the Roman Republic Government
Patricians
Upper class
Landowners
Consul
Supervise
government business
Command armies
1 year
Consul
Supervise
government business
Command armies
1 year
Plebeians
Lower class
Farmers
Merchants
Artisans
Traders
Senators
300
Make laws
For life
Crisis
Tribunes
Protect interests of
plebeians
Veto laws
Dictator
Absolute power
No more than 6 mo.
Consuls
Senators

14. LAW OF THE TWELVE TABLES
At first, laws weren’t written down, so the only people who knew all the laws were the patricians who made them. Many people were unhappy about being punished for breaking laws they didn’t even know existed. As a result, they called for laws to be written down and made accessible to everybody.
Rome’s first written code of law was produced in 450 BC on 12 bronze tables, or tablets. These were displayed in the Forum, Rome’s public meeting place. Because of how they were displayed, they were called the Law of the Twelve Tables. People looked to these as a symbol of their rights as Roman citizens.

15. THE ROMAN FORUM Means “public place” Heart of Rome and center of life
Most important temples and government buildings were located there.
Popular place for citizens to meet to talk about issues of the day, shop, chat, and gossip.
Located in center of Rome between Palantine Hill where the richest people lived and the Capitoline Hill where the grandest temples stood.
Leaders would use the Forum as a speaking area to deliver speeches to the crowds.
Public ceremonies often held there.
Gladiator fights sometimes held there.
Usually packed with people.
Reconstructed Forum