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Chapter 5
The Roman Republic
Ancient Italy and the City of Rome (inset)
1. The geography of Italy is such that it naturally faces west, not east to Greece. Extending 750 miles north to south, the peninsula is dominated by
the Apennine Mountains which break off from the Alps and not only run the entire length but also span more than half the breadth. While the Alps
and Apennines form a natural barrier, the numerous valleys and passes permit people to migrate to Italy from the north. On the Adriatic side the
land is unattractive while that which faces the Tyrrhenian Sea has fertile valleys among the mountains and numerous rivers in addition to the fertile
coastal plain of Latium in central Italy and Campania to the south. The fertility of the land permits the support of a large population.
2. The Po Valley in the north is the most fertile region of Italy. While the Etruscans expanded into the region early on, it did not become Roman
territory until late in the Republic.
3. The people who settled the upland valleys of the western Apennines (Sabines and Samnites) found well-protected areas and thus there was
little to persuade the scattered settlements to combine for defense or politics. However, on the plains, especially Latium, no such natural defenses
existed. As a result, there was inducement not only to come together for protection but also to carry on trade. By the seventh century B.C. there
were about forty city-states in Latium.
4. The location of Rome was ideal. The area was a crossroad for trade since it was here that the Tiber River could be forded. Established eighteen
miles up the river from the coast, Rome was as far as ships could safely navigate. For building, there was plenty of timber. The land was rolling
with several hills, which were easily defensible, especially Capitoline Hill. A defensive wall of stone and earth built by Servius Tullius surrounded
the settlement in a six-mile circuit. The center of city life was the paved Forum that was originally a marketplace but later became the center of
government.
5. Italy has few good harbors but those that do exist are found in the south. It was natural that the seafarers from Greece beginning in the eighth
century B.C. should make use of these. They founded Cumae in the Bay of Naples, Naples, Tarentum, Brindisi and Syracuse in Sicily. So
heavily occupied was the southern boot by Greeks that the Romans came to call it Magna Graecia. The trade, however, did not go only east and
west but also extended north and south. This brought the Greeks into contact with the Etruscans of Eturia. By the seventh century the Etruscans
were not only in Rome but also had established a settlement at Capua near the Greek city of Naples.
Questions:
1. What geographical features of Italy influenced its development?
2. Compare the geographical conditions of Greece and Italy. In what manner do the differences contribute to the unique development of each area?
Ancient Italy and the City of Rome
 Early Rome and the Etruscans
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Geography of the Italian Peninsula
Greek colonization, 750-550 B.C.
Etruscans
 Origins
 Etruria
Early Rome, 753-509 B.C.
 Romulus and Remus, 753 B.C.
 Influence of Etruscans
 Dress
 Fasces
 Military
 The Roman Republic, c. 509-264 B.C.
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Roman State
 Political institutions
 Two consuls, imperium
 Praetor, imperium
 Senate (senatus consultum), 300 men serving for life
 Comitia centuriata, Roman army
 Concilium plebis (plebeian assembly)
 Comitia tributa (tribal assembly)
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 Social organization
 Paterfamilias
 Patricians
 Plebeians
Struggle of the Orders
 Tribunes, 494 B.C.
 Concilium plebis (plebeian assembly), 471 B.C.
 Twelve Tables, 450 B.C.
 Licinian-Sextian laws, 367 B.C.
 One consul must be a plebeian, 342 B.C.
 Lex Hortensia, 287 B.C.
Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean (264-133 B.C.)
1. The threat of Rome to Carthage was illustrated in 508 B.C. by a treaty in which Carthage recognized Rome's authority over Latium in return for
Rome pledging not to sail in the waters west of Carthage.
2. The Mamertines were Samnite mercenaries from Campania who seized Messina in 264 B.C. and then began raiding the nearby Greek cities.
When Syracuse attacked the pirates and defeated them, some Mamertines called on the Carthaginians for help. Not wishing rival Syracuse to
control the strait, Carthage sent aid. Another Mamertine faction, fearing a Carthaginian advantage, called on Rome for help. The resulting war
(264-241 B.C.) left Carthage defeated. It had to surrender Sicily and shortly thereafter Corsica and Sardinia.
3. Hannibal's invasion force of 30,000-40,000 infantry, 6,000 cavalry, and about forty war elephants left New Carthage in May 218 B.C. Shortly
thereafter, Saguntum, which was allied with Rome, was attacked and defeated thereby prompting Rome's declaration of war. Continuing on to the
Alps, it took 19 days for passage to Italy. The force, however, was reduced to about 24,000 due to desertion, release, and hostile encounters with
the mountain people.
4. Near Lake Trasimene, the road to Rome crossed a narrow plain enclosed by surrounding hills in the shape of a crescent. Here, in the spring of
217 B.C., Hannibal trapped a Roman army of about 30,000 men, killing nearly all. Northern Italy was Hannibal's.
5. After Lake Trasimene, Hannibal proceeded in the spring of 216 B.C. south and east, finally meeting a Roman army of 80,000 infantry and 6,000
cavalry with his own force of 19,000 veterans, 16,000 Gauls and 10,000 cavalry near Cannae. The Romans were annihilated, 44,000 being killed.
With this, Hannibal controlled southern Italy and Rome was without an army. Nevertheless, the city of Rome did not fall.
6. Following victories in Spain which cut supplies and reinforcements to Hannibal, Publicus Scipio proceeded to Carthage and placed it under siege
in 205 B.C. thereby forcing Hannibal to come to Africa. Hannibal, with an inferior force, met Scipio in 202 B.C. at Zama about fifty miles outside of
Carthage. Losing his first battle, Hannibal also lost the war. Carthage had to surrender Spain to the Romans.
7. After the success at Zama, Rome turned its attention to Macedonia which had allied with Hannibal during the Punic War. A Macedonian army
was overwhelmed at Cynoscephalae in 197 B.C. The Roman presence also brought war against the Seleucid king. The two forces met at
Magnesia in 189 B.C. resulting in yet another Roman victory.
Questions:
1. Why were the Carthaginians unsuccessful in their wars against Rome?
2. How did the Carthaginian wars prepare Rome for an empire?
Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean
Conquest of Italy
 Latium, 340 B.C.
 Samnite Wars, 343-290 B.C.
 Revolt of Latium, 340-338 B.C.
 Pyrrhic War, 281-267 B.C.
 Colonies
 Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean, 264-133 B.C.
 Punic Wars
 First Punic War, 264-241 B.C.
 Second Punic War, 218-201 B.C.
 Hannibal
 Battle of Cannae, 216 B.C.
 Battle of Zama, 202 B.C.
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 Third Punic War, 149-146 B.C.
 Eastern Mediterranean
 Macedonia
 Pergamum
 Nature of Roman Imperialism
 No master plan
 Opportunistic
 Expansionism
 Society and Culture in the Roman Republic
 Religion
 Pantheon of gods
 Human dependency
 Ritual
 Religious festivals
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Education
 Rhetoric – art of persuasive speaking
 Professional teachers
Slavery
 Foreign slaves, captured in war
 Piracy source
 Children of slaves
 Occupations
 Latifundia
 Slave law
 Rebellion in Sicily, 104-101 B.C.
 Spartacus rebellion, 73 B.C.
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Roman Family
 Paterfamilias
 Arranged marriages
 Education
 Women
Roman law
 Twelve Tables, 450 B.C.
 Civil law, ius civile
 Praetor
 Ius gentium – law of nations
 Ius naturale – natural law
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Development of Literature and Art
 Literature
 Plautus (c. 254-184 B.C.)
 Terence (185-159 B.C.)
 Panaetius of Rhodes (c. 180-111 B.C.)
 Hellenistic style of art
 Architecture and sculpture
Values and Attitudes
 Mos maiorum
 Cato the Elder (234-149 B.C.)
 Scipio Aemilianus (185-129 B.C.)
 Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic, 133-21 B.C.
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Problems
 Nobiles
 Optimates
 Populares
 Equites (equestrians)
 Changes in the army
 Small farmers
 Service changed from 2 to 6 years
 Development of latifundias
 Landless families
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Reforms
 Tiberius Gracchus, 133 B.C.
 Gaius Gracchus, , 123-122 B.C.
Roman army
 Marius (157-86 B.C.), consul 107, 104-100 B.C.
 Sulla (138-78 B.C.), dictator 82-79 B.C.
Collapse of the Republic
 Crassus (c. 112-53 B.C.)
 Pompey (106-48 B.C.)
 Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
Roman Dominions in the Late Republic, 31 B.C.
1. In order to protect Rome's ally Massilia (Marseille) against the Gauls in the interior, the southern region of Gaul was annexed in 121 B.C. and the
province named Narbonne.
2. In 58 B.C. Julius Caesar became the governor of Cisalpine and Narbonese Gaul. Dreaming of conquering all of Gaul, he waged war for two
years. Caesar proclaimed conquest in 56 B.C. and the Senate prematurely declared it a Roman province. The region was not fully conquered by
Caesar until four years later.
3. Semi-independent Numidia in North Africa was subdued in 105 B.C.
4. The Rhine and Danube Rivers were natural barriers beyond which were the "barbarian" tribes.
5. In 67 B.C. Pompey was sent against the pirates of the Cilician coast who had a thousand ships and controlled four hundred towns. The attack of
the pirates not only threatened grain supplies but their success in capturing grain ships drove up the prices of grain. With an army of 125,000 men
and 500 vessels, Pompey accomplished his task and grain once again flowed freely to Rome. Pompey then turned his attention to Bithynia,
Pontus, Syria, and Judea that were soon conquered, much to the joy of Roman businessmen and merchants.
6. In the Battle of Pharsalus in the summer of 48 B.C. Caesar's force of 22,000 infantry and 1000 horsemen crushed Pompey and his army of
48,000 infantry and 7000 cavalry. Pompey fled the field, eventually making his way to Alexandria where agents of the Egyptian pharaoh murdered
him. The Republic had died.
7. In late summer 42 B.C. the army of Octavian met the last armies of the Republic fielded by Marcus Brutus and Gaius Cassius at Philippi in
Greece. Antony defeated the legions of Cassius who in failure ordered his shield-bearer to kill him. A few days later Antony crushed the army of
Brutus. Brutus committed suicide.
8. In the late summer of 31 B.C. the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra sailed into the Ionian Sea to give battle with Octavian. The Egyptian force
consisted of 500 ships, supplemented by 100,000 infantry and 12,000 cavalry. Octavian fielded 400 vessels, 80,000 infantry, and 12,000 cavalry.
Fought at Actium, Cleopatra's forces were cut off by land and sea, forcing a naval battle won by Octavian. Beaten, Antony fled back to Egypt
where he died. Cleopatra, rather than submit to being a captive of Rome, committed suicide. Octavian took the Egyptian throne for himself and did
not make Egypt a province.
Questions:
1. What was the role of political rivalries and ambitions in the expansion of Roman territory during the late Republic?
2. To whose benefit was the expansion in the East? Why?
Roman Dominions in the Late Republic, 31 B.C.
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 Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.)
 Gaul
 First Triumvirate
 “Crossing the Rubicon River”, 49 B.C.
 Battle of Pharsalus, 49 B.C.
 Dictator, 47-44 B.C.
Octavian versus Antony
 Octavian, grandnephew and adopted son of Caesar
 Second Triumverate
 Marc Antony, Marcus Lepidus, Octavian
 Proscription
 Battle of Philippi
 Division of the empire
 Battle of Actium, 31 B.C.
 Literature of the Late Republic
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Catullus (c. 87-54 B.C)
Lucretius (c. 94-55 B.C.)
 On the Nature of the Universe
Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
 On the Laws
 On the Republic
Sallust (86-35 B.C.)
 War with Jugurtha
 War with Cataline
Julius Caesar
 Commentaries on the Gallic War