Download Roman Expansion

Roman Expansion
They came, they saw, they conquered!
Roman Dominance of Italy
● By mid third century BCE, Romans reigned in Italy after
conquering land
● Stopped fighting when they conquered all of Italy
● Sicily was next in the plan for expansion
○ Threat from Carthage
Rome and Carthage
Similarities and Differences
Carthage
● Phoenician colony
● Founded around 800
BCE
● Naval empire
● Well developed
○ Trade
Rome
● Foreigners
● Founded around 750
BCE
● Land Empire
● Seen as primitive
The First Punic War
● 264 BCE, Roman Republic and Carthaginian Empire
collide in Sicily
● Powerful army against a powerful and maneuverable
navy
○ Rome’s use of land tactics at sea
● Rome prevailed in 241 BCE and required Carthage to
pay a large indemnity
○ Money paid for damages caused
The Second Punic War
● Rome declared war on Carthage in 218 BCE
● Carthage reassembled and started to conquer territory
in the Iberian Peninsula (Spain)
● General Hannibal
○ Led army (included elephants) through the Alps to
conquer Italy
○ Many died from the cold but Hannibal proved
victorious
● Hannibal forced the Romans back to the inland cities
The Second Punic War
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Rome invaded Africa and threatened Carthage
Roman general Scipio was Hannibal’s match
Scipio’s army defeated Hannibal
Carthage was ordered to pay another indemnity
Carthage remained independent but lost all power
The Third Punic War
● 149 BCE, Rome declared war on Carthage to crush it
once and for all.
● 146 BCE, Carthage fell
● Romans enslaved the population and razed the city.
● Rome also gained Macedonia as they were allies with
Carthage
● By 133 BCE Rome gained complete supremacy in the
Mediterranean.
Problems with Expansion
● Retained a Republican form of government
● Nobles gained more power
● Romans governed the new territories loosely
○ No citizenship granted for the people in the newly gained
territories
○ Each new province had a different set of rules (Ex: taxes)
and governed by a different official
■ Officials weren’t governed well by the Roman Senate
■ Neglect of the people
Problems with Expansion
● Rome’s uninterest in distant territories weakened the
role of small citizen-farming
● Some elite Romans acquired large estates called
latifundia.
○ Owned by the wealthy, ran by slaves
○ Rome came to depend on them for grain
● Farmer-soldiers returned to lost land
○ Could no longer serve in the army
Problems with Expansion
● Trade increased
● Equites class was formed○ landowning and business people of Rome
○ Wealth contributed to their influence in politics
● Loss of independent farmers and jobless masses in the
cities led to weaken loyalty
● Influence of new religions and cultures
I AM SPARTACUS!!!
● Enslaved people from conquered territories
● Some slaves lived relatively well and some slaves lived
horrible lives
● Most brutal slave revolt was led by Spartacus and
began in 73 BCE with more than 70,000 slaves
● 71 BCE, Roman army crushed revolt and Spartacus
died in battle
●
6,000 followers were later crucified
Discussion Questions
● What if Hannibal had NOT lost numerous men and
elephants crossing the Alps, how do you think the
course of history would have changed?
● With the expansion, how did the Roman Republic
change in political and social structure?