Friday, March 20
• Bellwork
– Turn in Need to Know China 1
• Classwork
– 11.2 The Roman Republic and the American
government
– 11.2 OneSheet
– Foldable
• Homework
– None
Rome as a Republic
Chapter 11.2
Tennessee Social Studies
• 6.59 On a historical map, identify ancient
Rome and trace the extent of the Roman
Empire to 500 AD
• 6.62 Describe the government of the
Roman Republic and its contribution to the
development of democratic principles,
including but not limited to rule of law
•
11. 2 Vocab
• Discuss the following phrases. If you do not
know them, make predictions.
1. Government of the Republic
2. Conflict between the Classes
3. Cincinnatus
4. Rome’s System of Law
5. First, Second, and Third Punic Wars
6. Hannibal
Roman Social Classes
Patricians
Plebeians
•Ruling class
•Wealthy landowners
•Farmers, artisans, and
merchants
•Often lacked rights
•Could not hold public office
Both were citizens, could vote, had to pay taxes and serve in the
army
Could not intermarry.
Government of the Republic
A. Roman Republic was organized into 3 branches:
1. Made laws
2. Ran daily affairs of government
3. Judges
B. Checks and balances – prevented one branch from
becoming too strong (no separation of powers like
the US has today though)
C. 2 Patrician Consuls
1 - headed the government
2- served as army leaders
3- Consul could serve 1 year
4- Could veto each other
D. Praetors
1- interpreted the law
2- served as judges
3- led army
Veto = Latin for “I
forbid.”
E. Senate was the legislature
– Group of 300 men
– Served for life
– Advised the consuls
F. Assembly of Centuries elected consuls and praetors
Sum it up
Conflict Between Classes
Plebeians became frustrated because they
no power in government.
– 494 BC plebs went on strike, refused to fight
in army, and left Rome
– Patricians knew they could not survive without
the plebs.
– Let the plebs have representation – The
Council of the Plebs
– Plebs elected officials called tribunes
More power for the Plebs
•
•
•
•
Tribunes could veto
Plebs were allowed to become consuls
Plebs could even marry patricians
287 BC Council of Plebs could pass laws
Sum it up
Cincinnatus and Civic Duty
• Romans created the office of dictator
– The dictator would rule during crisis and
then regular power would resume
– Cincinnatus had been a consul.
– 458 BC the Senate appointed him as dictator
to handle the threat of an enemy army.
– For 2 weeks Cincinnatus led the army,
defeated the enemy, and then went back to
farming.
Civic Duty
• Civic duty = idea that citizens have a
responsibility to help their country.
– George Washington was inspired by Cincinnatus.
Sum it up
Rome’s System of Law
• Rome’s laws were not written down in the
beginning
• Plebeians wanted the laws written down for all to
see.
• 451 BC - Twelve Tables
– Carved on bronze tablets and placed in the Forum =
Rome’s marketplace
– The Foundation for Roman Laws= all free citizens
(patricians and plebeians) had the right to be treated
equally
Law of Nations
• As the Romans conquered more people,
laws expanded
– Laws apply to noncitizens
– Laws and rights to all conquered people
Roman Justice
Roman law influenced many other civilizations including the
United States
– Assume a person is innocent until proven guilty
– Rule of law – everyone treated the same, guiding
principle of our legal system too
Sum it up
The Punic Wars
• Carthage, located along the north African
coast, became powerful through trade.
• Originally been a Phoenician trading
colony
• Became Rome’s bitter enemy
• 264 BC a series of war between the two
began that would last over a century
First Punic War
•
•
•
•
Carthage had colonies on the island of Sicily. Rome decided it
wanted the island for itself.
Carthage had a strong navy.
Rome quickly built a navy of its own.
- improved the ships by adding moveable bridge allowing them
to board Carthage’s ships
After more than 2 decades of fighting, Rome defeated
Carthage and took control of Sicily
Second Punic War
• Carthage needed more land and resources after losing
Sicily to Rome.
• Carthage decided to take over Spain.
• Rome encouraged Spain to fight back.
• In response, Carthage sent Hannibal to attack Rome in
218 BC.
• Hannibal had a large army of 46,000 men and 37
elephants.
• Carthage used the elephants to cross the Alps.
• Bitter cold and mountain tribes killed most of the men
and elephants.
• 216 BC Hannibal was able to defeat the Romans at the
Battle of Cannae.
Second and Third Punic War
• Rome continued to fight back.
• 206 BC the Roman general Scipio took Spain
and attacked the city of Carthage.
• Hannibal was forced to return home to protect
his people.
• 202 BC, Rome once again is victorious at the
Battle of Zama.
• Carthage had to pay a huge fine and give up its
navy.
• Carthage remained a threat, so finally in 146 BC
Rome destroyed it.
Sum it up
• Compare and Contrast Roman Republic and American
Government Foldable
•
•
Similarities between the Roman Republic and U.S. government
- both feature executive and legislative branches
- both systems have checks and balances embedded
- the head executives can be removed from power by legislators
- the head executives have military responsibilities
- both lead executives have veto power
- the executives are charged with enforcing the laws
- the legislative bodies make laws and control the budgets
- written law codes exist in both societies (Rome – Twelve Tables/ U.S. – Bill of Rights)
- political divisions exist in both (Rome = patricians vs. plebeians / U.S. = citizens of a more liberal persuasion vs. citizens of a
more conservative persuasion)
- wealthy people are more likely to get elected
- both place the authority of the state above that of the individual
Differences between the Roman Republic and U.S. government
Roman system did not have a separate judicial branch
- Roman consuls (2 people) served 1-year terms / U.S. presidents (1 person) serve 4-year terms
- Rome had a provision for a dictator to take over / the U.S. does not
- Roman consuls had religious duties / the U.S. president does not
- Romans continued to own slaves / Americans do not
- Roman senators served for life / American senators have 6-year terms
- Roman women were not allowed to participate in politics / American women are allowed
- Rome had rigid social classes / the U.S. has more flexible social classes
Read pp. 312 – 319
Complete your 11.2 OneSheet
11. 2 Vocab
Write in detail about the following phrases.
Use the whole time – do not turn it in early!
1. Government of the Republic
2. Conflict between the Classes
3. Cincinnatus
4. Rome’s System of Law
5. First, Second, and Third Punic Wars
6. Hannibal