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The Roman Republic
Chapter Ten
1. Describe some of Italy’s physical
features
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In the north are the Alps mountains
Apennines mountains
Volcanoes
Tiber River
2. Describe Italy’s climate
• Warm, dry summers
• Mild, rainy winters
3. How did Rome’s location affect its
early history?
• Built cities on hilltops for defense
• Rivers for plenty of water
• A good climate (weather) for growing plenty
of crops, lots of food equals lots of people
4. Who was Aeneas and what did he
do?
• He was a great Trojan hero, when the Greeks
destroyed Troy he left and went to Italy
• There he found the “Latins” and formed an
alliance with them
• He married the Latin kings daughter and their
descendants were rulers of Italy
5. Describe the legend of Romulus and
Remus
• They were twin brothers thrown in to the
Tiber River at birth and rescued by a wolf and
took care of them
• After they grew up they decided to build a city
in the spot where the wolf found them
• While planning the city Remus made fun of
Romulus, so Romulus killed Remus and named
the city after himself (Rome)
6. Describe Rome’s early kings
• Seven early kings
• three were Etruscans (people north of Rome),
they built temples and sewers and taught the
Romans the alphabet and numbers
• The last early king killed a lot of people and
made everyone mad so they overthrew him
and created a new government
7. Define republic
• People elect leaders to
govern them
• Rome became this in 509 BC
• The officials were elected
every year, they were
wealthy and powerful men
8. Define dictators
• Rulers with almost absolute
power
• Rome chose to be ruled by
dictators after being in
many wars, but they were
only in power for 6 months
at a time
9. Who was Cincinnatus?
• One of Rome’s most famous dictators who
came in to power in 458 BC
• He helped Rome defeat its enemies but had
no desire to keep power and resigned early
• Cincinnati, Ohio is named after him
10. Who were the plebeians?
• Common people in Rome, most of the
population
• Peasants, craftspeople, traders
• They wanted more say in how Rome was run
• Gained right to participate in government
• Became wealthy (some were just as rich as the
patricians)
11. Who were the patricians?
• Rome’s nobles
• They ran Rome, they were the only ones who
could be elected to office, so they held all the
power
• Small group of people
• After 218 BC not allowed to participate in
trade or commerce
12. Who were the magistrates and
consuls?
• Magistrates were officials, they were elected
every year to be judges or managed finances
or organize games and festivals
• The two most powerful magistrates were
called consuls, they were elected every year to
run the city and lead the army
13. Describe the Roman Senate
• A council of wealthy and powerful Romans that
advised the city’s leaders
• Held office for life
• Had 300 members, mostly patricians
• Some wealthy plebeians could be senators
• Magistrates became senators after their one year
term was up
• The senate was more powerful than the
magistrates
14. What were the jobs of the
assemblies and Tribunes?
• Represented the common people, approved
or rejected laws, declared war, elected
magistrates
• Roman citizens could take part in assemblies
all their adult lives, tribunes served one year
• Could veto the decisions of consuls and other
magistrates
15. Define veto
• Prohibit or “I forbid”
• Tribunes could VETO actions
by other officials
16. What language did
Romans speak?
• Latin
17. What were the Romans civic duty?
• To participate in government
• Doing what they could to make sure the city
prospered
• Attend assembly meetings and to vote in
elections
• To hold public office to help run the city
18. What are checks and balances?
• Methods to balance power
• Keeps any one part of a government from
becoming stronger or more influential than
the others
• The United States government has checks and
balances between the judicial (courts),
legislative (congress), and executive
(president) branches
19. Describe the Roman Forum
• Rome’s public meeting place
• Where the Law of the Twelve Tables was kept
• Site of important government buildings and
temples
• People also met here to shop, chat and gossip
• Like the Greek agora and like Washington D.C.
in the United States
20. Define legions
• Groups of up to 6,000 soldiers
• Each legion was divided in to centuries
(groups of 100 soldiers)
• This organization allowed the army to be very
flexible, helped Rome defeat most of its
enemies
21. How was Rome’s farming and trade
successful?
• Rome made small farms in to larger farms, ran
by slaves and grew one or two crops
• To make trade easier they made coins out of
copper, silver and other metals and traded all
over the Mediterranean
22. What were the Punic Wars?
• A series of fierce wars between Rome and
Carthage (a city in northern Africa)
• Three wars between the years 264 and 146 BC
• One battle fought on the island of Sicily, Rome
won this battle and took over Sicily
• Hannibal (brilliant leader of Carthage) tried to
lead a battle against Rome, but Rome invaded
Carthage and ended up taking control over
Northern Africa
23. What were some places Rome had
taken over by the 100’s AD?
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Sicily, Corsica, Spain, North Africa
Gaul (now France)
Greece
Parts of Asia Minor
Macedonia
24. Who were Tiberius and Gaius
Gracchus?
• Brothers that served as tribunes
• Tiberius wanted to give farms to poor Romans,
but the wealthy citizens were mad about it and
rioted and killed him
• Gaius wanted to give food to the poor Romans
and that also angered rich Romans and he was
killed for his beliefs
• These killings led Romans to believe they could
use violence to get rid of leaders they didn’t like
25. Who were Marius and Sulla?
• Marius was a consul who encouraged poor,
unemployed Romans to join the army (before
this only people who owned land could join
the army). He was a good general and his
troops were loyal to him
• Sulla was a consul who came in to conflict
with Marius and caused a civil war in Rome.
Sulla defeats Marius and named himself
dictator and punished his enemies
26. Who was Spartacus?
• He was a former gladiator who led thousands
of slaves in a revolt for freedom.
• They defeated the Roman army and took over
much of southern Italy
• Killed in battle and his followers were
executed