Download Fall of the Roman Republic

Thursday, September 6th
• 2.4.6 day
• Will not be here tomorrow (Friday)
– Those who need to take the testMonday/Tuesday before or after school (7:00 or
2:15)
• Agenda:
– Growing Unrest in the Republic Notes
– Engineering an Empire video
– Have a great weekend 
Friday, September 7th
• Happy Friday! 
• You have a sub today…BE RESPECTFUL!
– If they feel the need to write down your name for ANY
REASON, I will write a referral for you on Monday- NO
QUESTIONS
– Follow their instructions
• To do Today
– Notes (1st 20 minutes)
– Engineering an Empire (remaining time of class)
Goals:
• Understand how the Republic of Rome led to
revolts.
• Understand the impact of slavery in Rome.
• View how the empire of Rome was
engineered (video)
Growing Unrest in Rome
The Senate
• By 2nd century B.C., the Senate had
become the governing body of the
Roman State.
• Members were mostly the wealthy
landed aristocracy
• Remained senators for life
• In charge of the wars, foreign and
domestic affairs
– Regular people, or plebeians, did not like
this
Growing Unrest
• Senate was controlled by the
wealthy
• Small farmers were unable to
compete with large, wealthy
landowners and lost their land
– (kind of like Wal-Mart!)
• Wealthy land owners used slave
labor, which meant they made
more money for less labor
• Landless farmers drifted into the
cities, creating a large class of poor
Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus
• Two brothers
• Urged the Council of Plebs to
pass alnd-reform bills
– Called for the government to take
back public land held by large
landowners and give it to the
landless Romans (poor)
• RESULT: Senators were furious
• They later killed both brothers
• The reforms of the Gracchus brothers angered the senate,
which saw them as a threat to its power.
• The brothers and thousands of their followers were killed in
waves of street violence set off by senators and their hired
thugs.
A New Role for the Army
• Recruiting Armies in new ways
• 107 B.C., General Marius became consul
– Recruited his armies by promising the rural poor
that he would give them land if they swore an
oath to HIM, not to Rome.
• Result: This type of army was not in
government control.
– More power in the hands of the generals
Lucius Cornelius Sulla
• Was given command of a war in
Asia by the Senate
– The council of plebs tried to stop this
– Instead, he took over Rome with his
army, and conducted a reign of terror.
• He restored power to the Senate,
and eliminated the power of people
in assemblies.
– Legacy= Seize power with an army
The Wealthy Class
• Built lavish
mansions
– luxuries
• Huge estates;
called latifundia.
• Those captured in
war to work as
slaves
• The widespread use of slave labor= hurt small farmers
– Were unable to produce food as cheaply
• The farmers’ problems :
– huge quantities of grain pouring in from the conquered lands drove down grain
prices.
– Many farmers fell into debt and had to sell their land
Slavery in Ancient Rome
What they did:
• landless farmers flocked to Rome and other cities looking for jobs.
• There, they joined an already restless class of unemployed people. As
the gap between rich and poor widened, angry mobs began to riot.
• In addition, the new wealth led to increased corruption.
Slave Labor