Download 8.1 Roman Beginnings PowerPoint

Ch 8, Sec 1: Rome’s Beginnings
No one truly knows…
Geography of
Rome
• Present day Italy
• A peninsula in the
Mediterranean Sea
• Split between the Alps
and the Apennines
Mountains
• City of Rome was located
on the Tiber River
– Protected the city
– Good source of water
– Trading port
Benefit of the Mountains
• Allowed people to move around easier than
the mountains in Greece
• Good for farming
• Allowed communication between groups
• Larger population than any other group of
people
Who were the Latins
• Crossed into Italy around 1500-1000 BC
• Settled Rome in the middle of Italy
• Built Rome on a set of hills
– Good farm land
– Easy to protect
– Good for trade
Romulus and Remus
• Twin brothers given up at birth
• Found by a wolf and nursed to
health
• Shepherd found them and
raised them to adulthood
• Boys built the city of Rome
• Remus made fun of his brother’s wall and they
couldn’t decide on who should be king
• Romulus killed his brother and became king
Aeneid (ih-need)
• Epic story of Aeneas (ih-nee-uhs)
• Led the Trojans around the
Mediterranean
• Landed at the mouth of the Tiber
River
• Married the king’s daughter of
the Latins
• Founder of the Romans
Early Influences
• Greece influence:
– Farming olives and grapes
– Alphabet
– Architecture
– Literature
Early Influences
• Etruscans (ih-truhs-kuhnz) influence:
– Built up the cities with streets, brick buildings, and
temples
– Gave them new styles of clothes
– Organized their army
Etruscan Rule
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Ruled Rome with dominance
Had control for 100 years
Rome became very wealthy and powerful
Had to much power under the Tarquin family
and were overthrown
• Start of the Republic of Rome
What’s a Republic?
• A form of government in which the leader is
not a king or queen but someone put in office
by citizens with the right to vote
• Citizens have the power
• Romans went to war for 200 years
• Kicked out the Latins, Etruscans, and Greeks
Rome became strong with it’s army
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•
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Every male land owner served
Good problem solvers
Could not leave the army without death
Split each army into legions of 6,000 men each
Each soldier had a sword, spear, and shield
Gaining New
Lands
• Eventually controlled
all of Italy
• Built roads from Rome to all of their territories
• Put military bases around Italy
• Gave full citizenship to certain groups of people
like the Latins
– Could vote and serve in the gov’t
• Made others allies
– Paid taxes and provided troops
– Could become citizens in the future
Section summary
• The Latins settled the region of Rome on the
west side of Italy. The region’s geography, as
well as Etruscan and Greek ideas, helped
Rome grow
• In 509 B.C. the Romans overthrew Etruscan
rule and established a republic. By late 275
B.C., Roman legions had conquered most of
Italy.