Download The Roman Legion - AP World History

The Roman Legion
So, the Romans got into a lot of wars. A ton of them.
Conquering most of the known world will cause that.
All male citizens who owned land HAD to serve in the
military.
They called their military units legions.
◦ 6000 men to a legion
◦ well-trained and disciplined
◦ treated conquered people pretty well
(Not real
Romans)
The Punic Wars
264 B.C.E. – 146 B.C.E.
One of the most famous of the Roman Republic’s wars was fought with the North
African city of Carthage. It’s right across the Mediterranean Sea from Italy so, in a
way, they were neighbors. The Romans liked fighting with Carthage so much they did
it three times over 118 years.
The 1st Punic War
-While Rome dominated the Italian Peninsula, Carthage had a mighty navy and was
the most powerful culture in the region in 264 B.C.E.
◦If Rome wanted to grow, it had to deal with Carthage.
-Both wanted to control the trade routes in the Great (Mediterranean) Sea.
-Carthage controlled the island of Sicily (right off the tip of Italy’s boot and too close
for comfort for the Romans), so the Romans started meddling on the island. Carthage
threatened Rome over it.
-Rome built a navy and beat the snot out of Carthage and took Sicily. 
The Punic Wars
Carthage couldn’t get over losing Sicily and being humiliated by the Romans. Carthage took
over parts of Spain, but that didn’t make things better. So, a brilliant plan was developed.
The 2nd Punic War
“Rome thinks we are sea fighters! Let’s shock them by invading from the land…. Over the Alps
from the North!... And let’s use ELEPHANTS! Rome won’t see that coming!”
Who is crazy and brave enough to led that party? General Hannibal! (Trivia: Hannibal’s father,
a general in the 1st Punic War, made young Hannibal swear a blood oath that he’d avenge
Carthage when he grew up.)
The plan worked beautifully as Hannibal conquered large parts of Northern Italy.
But all good things end- Rome’s own crazy/brave general, Scipio, invaded Carthage and forced
Hannibal out of Italy to save his city. Brilliant.
Rome ended up with Spain and control of a huge chunk of the Mediterranean Sea.
Carthage= Humiliated. Again.
These are the Alps. They pretty much cut Italy off from the
rest of Europe. And Hannibal crossed them. With
elephants. African elephants.
The Punic Wars
So, 50 years of peace go by… but the Romans are still mad. How dare Carthage think
they can invade Roman territory? With elephants. Over Rome’s Alps. Nope.
Rome sends an ambassador to Carthage to insist the city BE MOVED south away from
the coastline. The entire city. Carthage, of course, said nope.
“Carthago delenda est” (That’s Latin for “Carthage must be destroyed!”)
3rd Punic War
Rome sails to Carthage under General Scipio the Younger (not the other Scipio),
attacks it, burns most of the city to the ground, and sells the 50,000 people not killed
during the war into slavery. They literally wiped a 700 year old city off the map and it
ceased to exist. It took Rome two years.
Rome was happy. No Carthage and the Romans controlled the entire Mediterranean
Sea and much of North Africa.
**Now, if only there weren’t so many problems back in the capital city. …
Problems in the Republic
All is not well in the growing Roman Republic.
1. Provinces complain of corrupt officials being
sent from Rome to govern them.
2. Wealthy Romans take land from small
farmers to add to their large estates
(latifundia).
3. These estates don’t hire workers. They use
slaves.
◦ This pushes unemployed small farmers and
workers into overcrowded cities.
Problems in the Republic
4. The gap between rich and poor
widens and the poor begin rioting
and revolting.
5. Slaves also revolt.
Most famous is Spartacus, an
escaped gladiator who led up to
120,000 slaves in an unsuccessful
attempt to escape imprisonment.
Problems in the Republic
Since the Punic Wars, Rome had been expanding. Newly added regions
needed soldiers to hold on to them. Rome couldn’t find the needed
number of Romans, so foreign mercenaries were hired.
◦ These professional soldiers were loyal only to each other and their
generals.
◦ They fought for Rome because they were paid with free land.
Think about the consequences of having an army not connected to the
nation it serves… Not a good thing. At all.