1. Roman History

2. Cincinnatus the Dictator
Not a bad thing; actually a hero
Had previously been a consul
Rome vs Aequi in 458
Consul trapped on Mt. Algidus
Chosen as dictator
One guy in charge for 6 months
Senators find him on his farm

3. What’s Next for Cincinnatus?
Took 16 days to win the war & come back
of 6 month term; what do you think he does next?
Gives up power and goes back to farming
American president who gave up his position?
“American Cincinnatus” – George Washington
Selfless service
Order of the Cincinnati
Cincinnati, OH

4. Conflict of the Orders Plebeians (plebs) vs. patricians
Poor vs. rich
Patricians hold all the legal power too
Senators (gotta be rich) create laws
Judges speaking oral law
Plebeians don’t even know if things are made up

5. First Secession of the Plebs - 494
Background: Plebeians feel like the patricians have too much power to create laws; could hurt the plebeians
Mons Sacer – sacred mountain
Menenius Agrippa’s story
Tribunes
Veto power
Sacrosanct

6. Second Secession of the Plebs - 449
Background: inconsistent rulings by patrician judges; plebeians want to see the laws written down
Decemviri – Ten Men – slow to write them
One tries to kidnap a freeborn girl
Plebeians go back to the mountain
The Twelve Tables
Bronze tablets in the forum
Laws written on them
What would be their significance?

7. Rome vs. Veii, BC
Veii as powerful as Rome; fortified on a hill
Camillus is made dictator
In through the sewer!
Overpopulation at Rome; Camillus grows unpopular
Opposes resettlement
Convicted of embezzlement
Banished and fined
Rome controls Etruria to the north

8. Rome vs. Brennus Rome’s therefore responsible for Etruria
Brennus & the Senones, a tribe from Gaul
Rome tries to help Etruria
Battle of Allia River – 390 BC
Rome besieged; Capitoline Hill

9. Geese, Woe, and Camillus Messenger sent to Camillus; route revealed
Juno’s sacred geese save the day
Rome sacked and records burned
Settlement; weighted scales
Brennus: “Vae victis” – woe to the conquered
Camillus arrives and chases the Gauls away
“second Romulus” or “second founder of Rome”

10. From here… Historians free to fudge prior details
Rome recovers very quickly and finds itself in a lot of wars
Conquers the Mediterranean within about 300 years