Download BIG CITY/BIG PROBLEMS - North Andover Public Schools

BIG CITY/BIG PROBLEMS
• Rome had a population
of close to one million
people and no police
force or army garrison
to keep the peace
– Majority of these
people were
Plebeians, freed
slaves, and slaves
– Frequently formed
“mobs” and rioted
PRIVATE ARMIES
• Mobs were generally unarmed,
relying on sticks and stones
as weapons
• Wealthy could get permission
from Senate to issue weapons
to their clients in an
emergency
– Wealthy also had
knowledge of strategy,
tactics and logistics
– Kept poor down with private
armies
• A small step from using
private armies to keep peace
to using them to weaken or
eliminate a rival or advance a
program
CROWDED CITY
• Rome had a huge population
crammed together in a high
density in a small geographic
area
– Streets were narrow and
winding
– Rich lived in mansions on
Palatine Hill or in suburbs
– Most other Romans lived
in small flats in rickety
wooden apartment
buildings
• In lower part of city
• Subject to periodic
floods, collapsing
buildings, and almost
daily fires
SLUMS
• Apartment buildings were poorly
constructed and designed
– Flats were poorly lit, poorly
ventilated, and unheated
– Water had to be carried in from
public fountains
– Not connected to the sewer
system
• Most of Rome was an appalling slum
– But landlords like Cicero made
good incomes from their property
• Some reformers proposed
suspending rents for a time to help
the poor
– Always blocked by wealthy
landlords
LABOR FORCE
• Most economic activity in
Rome revolved around
supplying its population
with food and other
necessities and
construction
– Many workers were
slaves or men from
slave origins
– Advantages of slaves
• Slaves were cheap
• Most came from the
East and had highlydeveloped skills
• They provided a
stable labor force
HARD LIVES
• Freeborn Romans plebeians were
mostly displaced small farmers
– Generally performed unskilled
labor on irregular basis
• Most Romans only worked
periodically at unskilled jobs for low
pay
– Yet they continued to pour into
Rome because it was even worse
out in the countryside
• Lived hard lives, dependent
on the voluntary generosity of
the wealthy and occasional
part-time employment
SUMMARY
• Preconditions for political violence in Republican
Rome
– Governmental structure
• Rigged in favor of the wealthy
– Large population and lack of official police force
• Caused the wealthy to form private armies to
protect themselves and their interests
– Misery and squalor of the majority of the Roman
population
• Multiplied their grievances against the
wealthy and the government
• Also fostered their dependence on the rich
and powerful
–Left them open to ruthless politicians who
promised them satisfaction of their
complaints in exchange for support
WHY DID THE POOR RIOT?
• Some historians have interpreted motivations of mobs in
class terms
– As a struggle between rich and poor
• At other times, the mobs were motivated by grain
shortages or high grain prices
• Unifying motivational factor was hunger
– Mobs were not out to overthrow the Roman
government
– They were poor, hungry people who
wanted food, who wanted to survive