Download Chapter 10, Section 3 (The Late Republic)

CHAPTER 10 – THE ROMAN
REPUBLIC
THE LATE REPUBLIC
ESSENTIAL QUESTIONS
What factors contributed to the decline of the Roman
Republic?
What was the impact of the Punic Wars on the
development of the Roman Empire?
I. GROWTH OF TERRITORY AND TRADE
A. After about 400 BC the Roman Republic grew both geographically
and economically.
B. Within 200 years the Roman army had conquered nearly all of
Italy.
C. Roman traders had begun to ship goods throughout the
Mediterranean.
II. GROWTH OF TERRITORY
A. Roman territory grew mainly in response to outside threats.
B. A people called the Gauls attacked Rome in 380 BC. Unable to defeat
them, the Romans had to give the Gauls a huge amount of gold to leave
the city.
C. Seeing this victory by the Gauls, neighboring cities decided to attack
the Romans. The Romans were able to defeat and take over their land.
D. One reason for the Roman success was the organization of legions,
groups of up to 6,000 soldiers. Each legion was divided into centuries,
or groups of 100 soldiers, which allowed the army to fight as a large
group or as several small ones.
The region of
Gaul was
directly north
of the Alps in
Northern Italy.
III. FARMING AND TRADE
A. As the republic grew, many people left their farms and decided to live in Rome.
B. They left their farms in the hands of slaves who were in charge of growing one or
two crops.
C. Roman trade also expanded as the Republic grew because farmers couldn’t grow
enough food to support the growing population.
D. Merchants brought food from other parts of the Mediterranean. They also
brought metal goods and slaves to Rome.
E. To pay for these goods, the Romans made coins out of copper, silver, and other
metals.
ROMAN COINS
IV. ROME GROWS BEYOND ITALY
A. As Rome’s power increased, other countries felt threatened
and declared war on them.
B. The Romans defeated the opponents and gained territory
throughout the Mediterranean.
V. THE PUNIC WARS
A. The fiercest of the wars Rome fought were the Punic Wars, a series of
wars against Carthage, a city in northern Africa.
B. Rome and Carthage went to war three times between 264 and 146
BC.
C. The wars began when Carthage sent its enemies to Sicily and the
Romans responded by sending an army to the island as well.
D.After almost 20 years of fighting, the Romans forced their enemies
out and took control of Sicily.
V. THE PUNIC WARS
E. Hannibal nearly defeated the Roman army, but before he could,
Rome attacked Carthage. Hannibal rushed home to defend his city,
but his troops were defeated at Zama.
F. In 140 BC, Carthage was becoming powerful again. Romans sent an
army to attack Carthage again.
G.After this victory, the Romans burned the city, killed most of its
people, and sold the rest of the people into slavery. They also took
control of northern Africa.
VI. LATER EXPANSION
A. During the 120s BC, Rome took control of Sicily,
Corsica, Spain, North Africa, Gaul, Greece, and parts of
Asia.
B. Although the Romans took over Greece, they did not
impose Roman ideas. Instead, they adopted ideas
about literature, art, philosophy, religion, and
education from the Greeks.
VII. CRISIS STRIKES THE REPUBLIC
A. As The Romans’ territory grew, problems arose in the republic.
B. Rich citizens were getting richer, and many feared that violence
would erupt between rich and poor.
VIII. TIBERIUS AND GAIUS GRACCHUS
A. Tiberius, took office in 133 BC, wanted to create farms for poor
Romans to keep them happy and prevent rebellions.
B. These lands were originally illegally taken by wealthy citizens. This
public supported the idea, but wealthy citizens opposed. This led to
riots and Tiberius was killed.
C. A few years later Gaius tried to create new farms and began to sell
food cheaply to Rome’s poor citizens.
D.Like his brother, Gaius angered many powerful Romans and was killed
for his ideas.
IX. MARIUS AND SULLA
A. In 107 BC the Roman army desperately needed more troops. A consul named
Gaius Marius encouraged poor people to join the army.
B. As a result of this change, thousands of poor and unemployed citizens joined
Rome’s army.
C. Because Marius was a good general, his troops were more loyal to him than they
were to Rome. This set an example for future politicians.
D. Lucius Cornelius Sulla became consul in 88 BC. Soon after, he came into conflict
with Marius causing a civil war, or a war between the citizens of the same
country, in Rome.
E. Sulla defeated Marius and named himself dictator and used his power to punish
his enemies.
X. SPARTACUS
A. Not long after Sulla died, thousands of slaves led by a former
gladiator, Spartacus, rose up and demanded freedom.
B. Spartacus and his followers defeated an army sent to stop them and
took over much of southern Italy.
C. Eventually Spartacus was killed in battle and without his leadership
the revolt fell apart leading the Romans to execute 6,000 rebellious
slaves as an example.
D.The rebellion was over, but the Republic’s problems were not.