Chapter 5
The Roman Republic
Timeline
The Emergence of Rome
Geography of Italy
750 miles long; 120 miles across
Mountains and Plains
Islands
Rome
Tiber River
Mediterranean Sea
Map 5.1: Ancient Italy
The Greeks, Etruscans, and Early
Rome
The Greeks
Arrived between 750 – 550 B.C.
Influence on Romans
The Etruscans
Origins
Urbanization
Early Rome
Romulus and Remus (753 B.C.)
Monarchy
Etruscan influence
Founding of the Republic (c. 509 B.C.)
The Roman State
Political Institutions
Consuls and Praetors
• Imperium
Specialized Officials
• Quaestors, Aediles,
Censors
Roman Senate
• 300 Men served for life
Centuriate Assembly
Social Organization
Paterfamilias
Clientage
Patricians and
Plebeians
The Struggle of the Orders
Political Inequality
Plebeians withdraw from the state (494 B.C.)
Tribunes of the Plebs
Council of the Plebs
Plebiscita
The Twelve Tables of Law (450 B.C.)
Hortensian Law (287 B.C.)
Consequences of the struggle between the orders
The Roman Conquest of Italy
Livy
Conquest of the Samnites (beginning c. 340
B.C.)
Roman Confederation
Citizenship
Opportunistic Expansion
Roads
Obligatory Military Service
Roman Roads in Italy,
c. 100 B.C.
Roman Conquest of the
Mediterranean (264 – 133 B.C.)
The Struggle with Carthage
First Punic War (264 – 241 B.C.)
• Roman conquest of Sicily
Second Punic War (218 – 205 B.C.)
• Hannibal
 Invasion of Italy
 Battle of Cannae (216 B.C.)
• Battle of Zama
• Roman conquest of Spain
Third Punic War (149 – 146 B.C.)
• Cato
• Carthage destroyed
Map 5.2: Roman Conquests in
the Mediterranean, 264-133 B.C.
The Eastern Mediterranean &
Roman Imperialism
The Eastern Mediterranean
Greek support for Carthage
Macedonia made Roman province (148 B.C.)
Corinth destroyed (146 B.C.)
Acquisition of Pergamum (133 B.C.)
The Nature of Roman Imperialism
Opportunistic expansion
Willful expansion
Roman Religion
Religion and the State
Adoption of New Deities
Greco-Roman Religion
Rituals
Omens
Household Cults
Religious Festivals
The Temple of Diana – Nimes, Southern France
Education: The Importance of
Rhetoric
Rome had no public education
Greek Studies
Rhetoric and philosophy
Schools
Schoolmaster and Pupils
The Growth of Slavery
Slaves from conquests
Slave Occupations
Latifundia
Treatment of Slaves
Slave Laws
Slave Revolts
Revolt in Sicily (104 – 101 B.C.)
Revolt by Spartacus (73 B.C.)
Roman Family, Roman Law
The Roman Family
Paterfamilias
• Authority
• Arranged marriages
 Divorce
• Education of daughters
The Evolution of Roman Law
The Twelve Tables (450 B.C.)
Praetors
Law of Nations
Law of Nature
A Roman Lady
The Development of Literature
and Art
Literature
Plautus (c. 254 – 184 B.C.)
Terence (185 – 159 B.C.)
Latin Prose
Influence of Hellenistic Art
Values and Attitudes
Cato the Elder (234 – 149 B.C.)
Scipio Aemilianus (185 – 129 B.C.)
The Pont du Gard – Roman Aqueduct
Provence, France
Decline and Fall of the Roman
Republic (133 – 31 B.C.)
Power of the Senate
Control of the Nobiles (Governing Class)
Optimates
Populares
Rule of the Equestrians
The Land Problem
Latifundias
Tiberius Gracchus (163 – 133 B.C.)
Gaius Gracchus (153 – 121 B.C.)
A New Role for the Roman
Army: Marius and Sulla
Marius (consul 107, 104 – 100 B.C.)
Military reforms
Lucius Cornelius Sulla (dictator 82 – 79
B.C.)
Seizes power using the army
Reign of terror against opponents
The Death of the Republic
The Rise of Pompey
Role of Marcus Tullius Cicero ( 106 – 43 B.C.)
First Triumvirate (Crassus, Pompey and Caesar)
Julius Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.)
Conquest of Gaul (Modern France)
Crosses the Rubicon River (49 B.C.)
Defeats Pompey
Dictator in 47 B.C.; Dictator for Life in 44 B.C.
Reconstitutes Senate
Assassinated (44 B.C.)
Octavian and Marc Antony
Cleopatra Queen of Egypt
Battle of Actium (31 B.C.)
Marc Antony and Cleopatra commit suicide
Map 5.3: Roman Dominions in
the Late Republic, 31 B.C.
Literature in the Late Republic
Catullus (born c. 82 B.C.)
Lucretius (c. 94 – 55 B.C.)
Cicero (106 – 43 B.C.)
Sallust (86 – 35 B.C.)
Caesar (100 – 44 B.C.)
Discussion Questions
Why were the Romans able to defeat or subdue all
their enemies in the Italian peninsula?
What were the keys to the Roman defeat of
Carthage during the Punic Wars?
What influence did Greece and other Italian
peoples have on the Romans?
What was the nature of Roman Imperialism?
Did slavery have a positive or negative effect on
the Roman Republic?
What factors brought about the downfall of the
Roman Republic?
Web Links
The Mysterious Etruscans
Internet Ancient History Sourcebook - Rome
Encyclopedia Mythica: Roman Mythology
Rome Exposed
Hannibal Barca and the Punic Wars
Resisting Slavery in Ancient Rome
The Glory that was Rome
Julius Caesar: The Last Dictator