Rome Spreads its Power
• Roman Legions- 5000 men, then divided
into 80 men, Flexible & supported by
cavalry, self-sufficient, built roads &
bridges.
• Carried- armor, sword, shield, dagger,
stakes, pot, & other clothing
• Every land owning citizen had to serve,
some 10 years for certain jobs
Cont
• Rome controls Italy
• Rome controls trade, wine, olive oil, on the
Mediterranean
• Carthage- Located on North Africa
challenges Rome for control of trade
• This begins the Punic Wars
Punic Wars 264-146 B.C.
• 1st- Fought to control Sicily, Rome wins
• 2nd-218 B.C.- Hannibal & 50,000 men treck through
Spain, over the Alps, & into Italy, they raid for 10 years,
at Cannae he inflicts great damage to Rome
• Rome finds Scipio to match Hannibal,
• His plan is to attack Carthage, This forces Hannibal Back
to Defend the city.202B.C.
• 3rd-149 B.C.-Cato, old dude, ends all his speeches,
“Carthage must be Destroyed”
• 146 B.C. City burned & 50,000 sold into slavery
Roman Empire Brings Change
• Rome’s Class inequalities lead to
republics downfall
• Returning soldiers had lost farms or could
not compete with slave labor
• The landless and unskilled could not find
jobs
• The joined the ranks of urban poor, ¼ the
population
The Republic Collapses
• Two Brothers, Tiberius & Gaius Gracchus
• Try to help the poor, the rich kill them
• 121-82 B.C. –Period of Constant Civil
Wars
• Julius Caesar takes control 59 B.C. with
the help of Crassus & Pompey,
• This is the First Triumvirate- Last 10 years
cont
• Caesar- Strong leader & Military Genius
• 58-50 B.C.- Fights in Gaul
• Pompey becomes scared, urges senate to
disband the legions,
• Caesar- no way jose, Marches past the
Rubicon River & toward Rome
• Pompey Runs Scerd,
• In 46 He is appointed Dictator, 44 for
life