Download The Republic - Mrs. Krnich

The Roman
Republic
The Republic
Part I: Early Rome
Geography:
– Peninsula –on the Mediterranean Sea
– Rome is located halfway between Alps
and Sicily
– Tiber River –the legend of Romulus and
Remus
– Fewer mountains & less rugged than
Greece
– Fertile land
The Republic
Part I: Early Rome
First Settlers
Etruscans - Native to northern Italy
2. Greeks - Colonized southern Italy
and Sicily
3. Latins - Built the original settlement
at Rome
1.
The Republic
Part I: Early Rome
republic: officials chosen by the
people (citizens)
 Patricians: wealthy landowners who
held most power
 Plebeians: most people
– farmers, merchants, traders,
artisans
– had little influence
The Republic
Part I: Early Rome
senate:
300 patricians
(landholding upper class)
 consuls: two patrician
executives elected by
senate, must consult them
 dictator: elected during a
crisis to rule for six months
Plebeians Rising
 Assembly:
representative group of
plebians
 tribunes: elected to protect
plebeian interests, had veto power
 Laws of the Twelve Tables
– written laws
– plebeians appeal decisions by
patrician judges
Legacy
Plebeians gain access to
high offices and senate
 Did not have to use war or
revolution to gain power
 U.S. adopts senate, veto,
checks on power

Roman Legions
all male citizens who
owned land required to
serve in army
 legion: group of 6000 men
 well-trained, disciplined
 treated conquered people
pretty well

st
1

Punic War
Carthage – competing with
Rome for trade, control
Carthage has strong navy,
Rome builds one to fight it
 Rome wins,
gains Sicily

nd
2

Punic War
Hannibal
– General from Carthage
– attacked Rome by land
(with elephants!)
– defeated by Scipio
rd
3
Punic War
Romans still not satisfied
after 50 years of peace
 “Carthago delenda est”
Cathage must be destroyed!
Romans attack AND burn
Carthage, enslave people
 Rome now Controls
the Mediterranean

Problems in the Republic
 Provinces complain of corrupt
officials
 Wealthy Romans take land from
small farmers
 Slaves are used on big farms
(latifundia). This pushes small
farmers and workers into cities
Problems in the Republic
The Gap between rich and
poor widens (_),
The poor revolt
 Slaves revolt too

– Spartacus led
70,000 slaves
Reform Attempts
2 Brothers try to help
Tiberius Gracchus
– Wanted to redistribute (give
back) land to the poor
– BUT, he was killed by senate
 Gaius Gracchus
– Same reforms, same fate
The Army Changes
– paid, equipped soldiers
(mercenaries)
– gave land to veterans
 This is the beginning of a
professional fighting force
 soldiers become more loyal
to generals than republic!!!!
Think about it…
The soldiers are now more
loyal to the generals than
the government…
What do you think could
happen next?