The Rise of the
Roman Republic
509 BC – 27 BC
Rome’s greatest achievements:
• Established the first Republic and the
principle of separation of powers;
• Used law and government to unite many
different regions, cultures and people.
[a trend of cosmopolitanism started during the Hellenistic Age]
• Practical engineering projects to
promote civilization: roads, bridges,
aqueducts, sewers, bath houses and
amphitheatres.
Caesar Augustus
asked Rome’s
greatest poet,
Virgil to write a
poem to glorify the
founding of Rome
[30-19 BCE]
12 books/ 1-6: Odyssey
7-12: The Iliad
Aeneas reaches Latium, Italy
Romulus
and Remustwin sons of
the god
Mars, and
Princess
Rhea who
feared for
their lives
Romulus and Remus: nurtured by a she-wolf
• Romulus
and
Remusrescued
by a
peasant
shepherd
The Archaeological Record
• 2500 BC- Paleolithic settlements
• 1500 BC The Bronze Age
• 1000 BC tombs of cremated dead with bronze
tools and weapons
• 800 BC Distinct groups occupied the Italian
peninsula- Umbrians, the Sabines, the
Samnites, the Etruscans and the Latins
• Three
advantages
• 1) built on
several hills
• 2) Towards
the end of
the Tiber
River
• 3) Only 15
miles from
the sea
The Etruscans
• 753-509 BC
• Older, more
advanced culture
• Drained marshes
• Built sewer system
• Constructed
roads, sewers.
temples & public
buildings
5 of last 7 kings were
Etruscan
turned the small fishing
village into a thriving
city
developed the arch
built the Servian Wall
built the circus maximus
gladiatorial games
The Republic is established, 509 BC
• The last Etruscan
king, Tarquin the
Proud, ignored the
Senate and was
overthrown, the Latin
patricians (wealthy
landowners) created a
representative
government.
Two Consuls replaced the king
The Roman Senate:
• Senators came
from the
Patrician class
• Acted as an
advisory body to
the king/consuls
• Controlled the
finances; money
for public works
• Served as a Jury
for treason,
conspiracy,
murder, &
foreign relations
• Early Roman society consisted of two classes:
Patricians and Plebeians…
Plebeian grievances included:
Enslavement for debt
Discrimination in the courts
Intermarriage with patricians was forbidden
Lack of political representation
Absence of a written code of laws
Granting citizenship to outsiders while denying it
to indigenous plebeian farmers
The Struggle of the Orders 494 – 287 BC
•
•
•
•
•
•
494 BC – Office of the Tribune created
460 BC – Voting: residence replaced wealth
450 BC – Twelve Tables
445 BC – Lex Canuleia-marriage
367 BC – Licinian-Sextian Rogation-consuls
287 BC – Lex Hortensia- Plebeian Council
Roman Expansion
•
•
•
•
493 BC – Battle of Lake Regillus/Latin League
396 BC – Battle of Veii/Etruscans
390 C – first & only setback – Gauls seige on Rome
350 BC - Romans bounced back- rebuilt the
Servian Wall and remodeled the army
• 340- 290 BC The Latin Wars/Roman Federation
• 282-270 BC defeated Greeks/Tarentum & Epirus
• By 264 BC, 5 major world powers: Syria, Egypt,
Macedonia, Carthage and Rome
By 264 BC, 5 major world powers: Syria, Egypt,
Macedonia, Carthage and Rome
• By 264 BC, Rome had achieved two
important successes:
– It had secured social cohesion by redressing
the grievances of the plebeians
– It had increased its military might by
conquering the peninsula, thus insuring the
human resources with which it would conquer
the Mediterranean world.
• The Battle of Lake Regillus, 493 BC
the mythological twins, the Dioscuri, Castor and Pollux, on horseback.
Defeating the Etruscans- The Battle of Veii, 396 BC
Horatius At The Bridge
390 C – first & only setback – Gauls seige on Rome
350 BC: Rome renewed itself…
The Latin Wars
340- 338 BC;
326-304 B.C.
298-290 B.C.
The Roman
Federation
&
• 282-270 BC
Rome
fought the
Greeks of
Tarentum
and their
ally- King
Pyrrhus of
Epirus
• ANY QUESTIONS?