Download Chapter 14: The Roman Republic

The Roman Republic
Study Guide – Accommodated
The Government
 Once the Romans overthrew Tarquin, their Etruscan king, they set
up a republic in which the people chose their rulers.
 Patricians were members of the oldest and richest families who had
the most say in government.
 Plebeians were the ordinary citizens, such as farmers, workers and
artisans.
 Rome’s republic was headed by two consuls who were
administrators and military leaders.
 Each consul had the power to veto – cancel another’s decision.
 Tribunes were government officials elected to protect the rights of
the plebeians.
 The Twelve Tables were placed in the Forum making laws public for
everyone to see.
Roman Expansion
 By 275 BC Rome ruled the entire Italian peninsula.
 Roman soldiers, called legionaries, helped the army gain territory.
The Punic Wars
 The wars between Rome and Carthage were known as the Punic
Wars.
 The use of the corvus helped Rome win the First Punic War at sea.
 Hannibal spent 15 years destroying the southern Italian countryside
before he was defeated at Zama in the Second Punic War.
 As a result of its victory in the Third Punic War, Rome controlled
Macedonia, Syria and later, Greece.
Effects of Conquest
 Conquests hurt Roman farmers:
o Many small farms were replaced by large estates called
latifundias.
o While Hannibal and his soldiers were in Italy many farmers
burned their fields and crops to prevent them from getting
food.
o Slaves began to live and take over work on the latifundias.
 Farmers moved to live in the terrible conditions of the city.
 The government used publicans to collect high taxes from the
people of the territories it conquered.
Roman Leadership
 Reformers tried to improve conditions in Rome.
 The Gracchus brothers tried to help the small farmers.
 General Gaius Marius, a military hero, thought he could end Rome’s
troubles by setting up a professional army.
 Lucius Sulla made himself dictator, or absolute ruler, and increased
the power of the Senate.
 Political power passed to a triumvirate – group of three people of
equal power – led by Julius Caesar.
 Caesar was killed by a group of senators who were afraid he would
make himself king.
 Octavian gained control of the government of Rome after fights
broke out in the Second Triumvirate.