Download Roman Republic

Rome: From Republic
to Civil War
OUTLINE
•Royal Rome (753-509 BC)
•Early Roman Republic (509-287 BC)
•Roman Conquests
•Impact of Conquests
•Continued Upheaval
•Downfall of the Republic
IDENTIFICATIONS
Imperium
Roman Senate
Roman Republic
Consul
Patrician
Plebeians
Punic Wars
Sulla
Julius Caesar
Italy, 380 BC
Royal Rome (753-509 BC)
Structure of the Political Order
King (rex)
– Power of the imperium
 Senate (Conscript Fathers)
– Main arbiter of power
 Centuriate Assembly
– Elects senior magistrates
– Invests magistrates with imperium

Struggle of Orders (5th-3rd c. BC)
Twelve Tables: codified law, c. 450 BC
 Plebeian Assembly, Tribunes of the People
 Licinian-Sextian Laws (367 BC)

– Established the right of Plebeians to hold
office of Consul

Hortensian Law (287 BC)
– Plebiscites have the force of law on all citizens
Structure of Government


Consuls: 2 elected yearly
– imperium
Senate (life terms for 300)
– Old royal council, now
advisory body


Centuriate Assembly:
tradition of clan and military
organization
Plebeian assembly: elects 10
tribunes yearly
– veto power, persons
sacrosanct, intermissio

Other Magistrates
– Censors: census and tax
functions
– Usually ex-consuls
– Praetors: judicial &
military functions
– Quaestor: financial
administrator
– Aediles: municipal
official
– Lictors: minor officials,
carry fasces, not elected
The patron / client relationship was the fundamental
relationship governing all careers and social interaction
in Rome: Almost all Romans were both clients and
patrons
Evolution of the Republic
509 BC: Roman Republic
 500-287: Struggle of the Orders
 450 BC: Twelve Tables

– Intermarriage permitted
– Debt bondage eliminated
367 BC: Consulship open to Plebeians
 287 BC: Rise of Tribunes and Plebeian
authority

Roman Magistracies

Consuls: 2 elected annually
– Exclusively from the patrician class
until 367 BC
– Held power of the imperium
– Chief executives of Republic
– Eponymous-the year they served bears
their names
– Usually achieve office at age 35-40

Praetor—judges and military officers
– Often rule various aspects of society, i.e.
governors of territories and of Rome
– Reach office at age 30-35

Aediles—in charge of city services
– Grain supply, water, weights & measures,
city watch, entertainment
– Reach office at age 25-30

Quaestors—financial and tax officials
– Reach office at age 20-25

Censor—former consuls
– Elected every five years to take census
– Establish eligibility of senators
Fasces: Symbol of State Authority

Tribune—officer of the Plebian
Assembly
– Had to be a plebeian
– Ten elected annually
– Responsible for protecting rights of the
people
– Can veto (“I forbid” in Latin) any act of
Senate deemed harmful to popular interest
– “intercessio” authority to intervene
between citizen and magistrate to prevent
abuse of power
– Sacrosanctity: person of Tribune inviolate
Organization of the
Early Roman Republic (509-287 BC)


Senate selected (by
censor) for life
Assemblies (all citizens)
– Centuriate Assembly (6th c.
BC)

Organization of the army
– Citizen soldiers (selfarmed)
– Obligation and right to
serve
The Expansion of Rome
Control over Italy 338-265 BC
“All Roads lead to Rome”
Rome’s new territories

Expansion of Roman Citizenship
– Municipia (sing.=municipium)
 Cities become “friends of Rome” (socii)
– Latin rights:
 Protection from enemies
 Must provide soldiers for legions
 Share in the spoils
 No voting privileges
– Civitas sine sufragium
Punic Wars
Red: Rome & Roman Confederation
Blue: Territories controlled by Carthage
Green: Carthaginian territories lost in the 1st Punic War
The Punic Wars
264-241: First Punic
War starts over Sicily
Naval war: Romans lose at
first but devise new
tactics to win
Hamilcar Barca leads
Carthaginian force
Carthage pays indemnity of
200K pounds of silver,
loses Sicily and Sardinia
Second Punic War (218-202 BC)
War starts over Spain
Invasion of Italy 216-205
BC
Roman losses at Lake
Trasimene (217 BC)
and Cannae (216 BC)
Hannibal and Scipio
battle at Zama in
202 BC
Macedonian Campaigns
(215-168 BC)
Second Punic War, 218-202 BC
Third Punic War 149-146
Goal to destroy Carthage
Cato the Censor
“Carthago delenda
est”
Carthage must be
destroyed)
Conquest of Greece
Punic Wars
Punic Wars:The Struggle
with Carthage
War’s Effects on Government
How does stratified society maintain political
cohesion?
Loss of farms, increase in urban poor
Influx of wealth into Rome
Slaves
Booty
Commercial opportunities in new
territories
Constitutional Conflict

Tiberius Gracchus
– Tribune (133 BC)
 Issue: Land Reform
 Legacy of Pergamum
 Killed in riot 132 BC

Gaius Gracchus
– Tribune (123-121 BC)
 Equestrians emerge as political force
 Grain subsidy and land redistribution
Consequences of Success

How do military virtues translate into
civilian ones?
– 133 BC: Tiberius Gracchus and Populist
Reforms
– 2nd BC: Era of Generals
 Competition—Sulla versus Marius

Threats to Republican Stability
The Era of the Generals
and the Loss of Republican Ideals
Gaius Marius (157–86 BC)
Client Armies
Sulla (138-78 BC)
March on Rome: Consul 88 BC
Civil War: 83 BCE
Appointed Dictator: 82–79 BC
Suppression of Traditional Rights
Proscription (publishing a notice)
Sulla
Great Generals don’t make Great Republics
Gnaeus Pompey (106-48 BCE)
adulescens carnifax
Follower of Sulla
Triumph and Popularity
70 BCE: Consul at only 36 years
Defeat of Asia Minor & Seleucid
Empire by 62BCE
“Stop quoting the laws to us. We carry
swords!”
Mediterranean World, 220 BC
Roman Empire, 52 BC
Late Republic (121-44 BC)
Novus Homo “New Men”
 Gaius Marius (c. 157–86 BC)

– Consul (107–100 BC)
– Client Armies

Lucius Cornelius Sulla (c. 138–78 BC)
– Uprisings in Italy (91 BC)
– Uprising in Asia Minor (88 BC)
– Returned to Rome (83 BC)
Downfall of the Republic

Gnaeus Pompey (106–48 BC)

First Triumvirate (60–53 BC)
– Pompey
– Crassus
– Julius Caesar (100–44 BC)
Rule of Caesar
– Led army against Rome (49 BC)
– Defeated enemies (45 BC)
– Appointed as dictator (48 BC)
– Extended tenure (45 BC)
– Ides of March (15 March 44 BC)

Rome, Ancient, 44 BC
Roman Empire, 44 BC
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