Ancient Rome
Land and Peoples
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Apennine mountains
divide east and west
Many fertile plains
for farming.
Less rugged
mountains allowed
Ancient Rome to be
more unified then
Greece
Rome’s location
On the Tiber river
 Gave them access to the sea, while
protecting them from pirates since they
were inland.
 City was built on 7 hills, so it was easily
defended.
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Italy’s location
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Middle of the Mediterranean
Center of trade across the Mediterranean
Could easily defend it’s empire with this
location.
Greek Influence
Between 750 B.C. and 550 B.C. the Greeks
left a large influence on the Romans
 Cultivation of Grapes and Olives
 Greek Alphabet
 Cultural models of sculpture, architecture,
and literature.
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Etruscan Influence
Etruscans had the largest influence
 This group was located north of Rome
 They controlled Rome after 650 B.C.
 They turned Rome into a city
 Romans adopted Etruscan dress:
TOGA and Short Cloak
 Romans adopted Etruscan military ideas
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Roman Republic
 509
B.C. Romans overthrow the
Etruscans
 They established a Republic
 Republic: The leader is not a
monarch, and some citizens have
the right to vote
War and Conquest
 The
Romans set out to conquer all of
Italy.
 By 264 B.C.they had defeated the Latin
states, and the Greek states to the
south to gain this control.
 They then formed the Roman
confederation
Roman Confederation
This allowed Latins to become full citizens
 Other conquered peoples were forced to
become allies
 These allies had to give soldiers to Rome
 If the allies were loyal, they too could
become full Roman citizens.
 What advantages would one gain by
becoming a citizen?
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Successful Strategies: Why was Rome
successful?
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Livy- Historian who told stories of Roman duty,
courage, and discipline.
Rome had good:
Diplomats- Allowed states to rule themselves.
Military/Strategies- Very organized and determined.
Construction of Roads- Allowed trade and soldiers
to move very quickly and efficiently.
Political Institutions- Created these in response to
problems once they arose.
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Historian LIVY
Why do you think
an historian like
Livy is significant
to the
development of
civilization?
All roads lead to Rome
Roman Roads- by 200 A.D.
Roman Political Structure
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1)
2)
2 groups
Patricians- Wealthy landowners who
could be rulers
Plebeians- Less wealthy landowners,
small farmers, and merchants who
could not be rulers.
Roman Class System
Chief Executive Officers were Consuls
and Praetors.
 Consuls ran the government and led the
Army.
 Praetors- They were in charge of civil law
 Roman Senate- 300 Patricians who served
for life. They advised government officials,
and eventually gained the power of making
laws.
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Struggle of the Orders
 Centuriate
assembly elected officials,
consuls, and praetors, and passed laws.
The wealthiest citizens made up the
Centuriate assembly.
 Council of Plebs came into being as a
result of the struggle between the two
Roman social orders.
Struggle of the Orders
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Children of the Plebeians and Patricians were
forbidden to marry.
Plebeians resented this because they served in
the Roman army.
They believed they deserved both social and
political equality.
Eventually, after hundreds of years of struggle
in 471 B.C. the council of the Plebs was formed.
This gave political power to the Plebeians
Plebeians and Patricians could now also marry.
Roman Law
Another reason for Rome’s success was its
law system.
 First came the 12 tables of Roman law. This
system came about in 450 B.C.
 The laws gave rights to the accused, and
gave procedures to all trials as well.
 These laws laid the foundation for our laws
today.
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Laws on Display
Temple of Saturn
 Next to this was
the rostra, where
the tablets of the
12 tables were
mounted for all to
see.
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Problems with their laws
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Eventually, as these laws only applied to Roman
citizens, problems of citizens vs. non-citizens
arose.
New system- Law of Nations was established
Laws applied to all people.
Principle of innocent until proven guilty, ability
to defend yourself, and judges forced to
consider all facts while making decisions were all
aspects of the Law of Nations.
Phoenicians: Carthage
Rome’s chief competitor was Carthage
 Located in modern day Tunisia, (North
Africa) this empire was founded by
Phoenicians in 800 B.C.
 By 300 B.C. it had a huge trading empire,
and was the largest and wealthiest empire
in the region.
 This would create a natural conflict with
the Romans.
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Ruins of Carthage
Carthage’s Location
Ruins in Carthage

What
does
this
remind
you of ?
First Punic War
The first physical conflict occurred over the
territory of Sicily.
 Both Rome and Carthage considered the
island their territory.
 Rome was fearful of Carthage being on the
island and sent an army there.
 The war began in 264 B.C.
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Rome wins
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Rome’s military strength was in its ground forces.
They knew they had to have a Navy to defeat the
Carthaginians.
After building a huge navy and a long struggle,
Rome finally wins the first Punic War in 241 B.C.
Carthage gives up its rights to Sicily and has to pay a
fine to Rome
Carthage is embarrassed and Hannibal, their greatest
General swears revenge on Rome.
Second Punic War
Hannibal decided to take the war to the
Romans
 He brought an army of 46,000 men,
hundreds of horses, and 37 battle
elephants into Spain, through the Alps, and
into Italy.
 Most of the elephants did not survive, but
his armies were ready to attack Rome.
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Crossing the Alps
Roman mistake
Hannibal is regarded as one of the best
battle field generals ever.
 The Roman’s underestimated this and
attacked his army head on.
 Disaster- Battle of Cannae: The Roman
army was decimated by the Carthaginians,
and lost almost 40,000 men!
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Rome weakened
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This defeat nearly crushed the Roman republic,
but they raised a new army.
Slowly they began recapturing territory from the
Carthaginians.
By 206, they had attacked Spain and driven
Carthaginians out of Spain.
Finally they decided to attack Carthage while
Hannibal was still in Italy
This forced Hannibal to return home.
Decisive Battle
 Battle
of Zama- 202 B.C.
 Rome was led by Scipio Africanus
 Romans destroyed Hannibal’s
army.
More Conquests
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Fifty years after the second Punic war, Rome
wanted complete revenge on Carthage.
Many wanted Carthage destroyed.
A huge Roman army was sent in 146 B.C. to
burn it to the ground.
For 10 days the Romans burned and demolished
the city.
Its inhabitants were murdered or taken into
slavery.
Carthage became a Roman territory named
Africa.
Results of the Punic Wars
Rome established as greatest power of the
Mediterranean.
 Ruled all of the Hellenistics states in the
Eastern Mediterranean
 Controlled Macedonia, Greece, and
Pergamum, Spain, and North Africa.
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