The Founding of Rome

Geography

Italian Peninsula 600 miles long, smaller than California. The Apennine Mountains run most of the way down the peninsula. But they are not so rugged as to prevent political unification, as in Greece.

Location of Rome

The peninsula dominates the Mediterranean, and any society that controls it will have command of trade in this Sea.

In center of peninsula, Rome was situated. It was on the Tiber river to facilitate trade, but inland about 20 miles. This kept them from sea attack by giving them ample warning. Their location on this river was also an ideal crossing point, a fact that made Rome a crossroad for many traders.

Legend about the birth of Rome

A King’s daughter was raped by Mars, the god of war. She gave birth to twins, Romulus and Remus. They were thrown into the river and rescued by wolves who nursed them back to health.

Regions of Italy

Latium Latins

Eturia Etruscans (Tuscany)

The settlements at Rome was taken over and ruled by the Etruscans. These settlements formed into a city resembling the Greek polis (influence of Greeks who migrated from Greece?) For two hundred years there was a heavy influence by the Etruscans. During this time:

1) Romans built their first forum

2) First stone buildings built, streets laid out, first walls built.

3) Political structure (monarchy) left deep imprint.

Kings ruled with help of fathers (patres) who formed a counsel to help advise the king. Their group comes from word senex=old man. Their group was called the Senate.

Patres gave name to upper classes, patricians. Ordinary people were called plebeians.

How did Roman Republic emerge?

Rome ruled by groups, the most important of which was the Senate.

In time of war, the Senate would choose a dictator to take complete control over the people and the government. The dictator was granted 6 months to rule, the he had to step down.

Cincinnatus was held up as a model dictator. After being given a dictatorship, he left his farmlands, raised an army, defeated the enemy, attended victory celebrations, and then returned to his farm—all in 16 days. He resisted the temptation to power. Dictatorship was seen as a temporary thing.

Plebeians began to protest arbitrary power over their lives, and demanded that laws be written and made public in the Forum. The Twelve Tables was formed. No plebeians could protest or appeal a judgment handed down by a patrician judge.

To further their rights, they organized their own groups called tribunes.

Expansion of Rome

After the expulsion of the last Etruscan king (509) the city of Rome began to conquer the surrounding areas. They made alliances with cities of Latium and began to dominate them. The Etruscan cities resisted the Romans and had to be defeated one by one.

One method Rome used to conquer resistant cities was to make alliances with other cities surrounding it. They would then use these local alliances against the recalcitrant city, promising them spoils of war, and defeat them one way or another.

Rome treated the conquered areas of Italy generously. Many were allowed to retain their local leaders with Roman supervision. Local customs and laws were allowed to remain and Rome granted citizenship to loyal cities and provinces. (Consider the province of Palestine during the time of Jesus: local religion and customs remained, but the Jews needed permission from their Roman governor to execute Jesus.)

Romans claimed that their wars were never acts of aggression and therefore had the protection of their gods. Rome would often provoke others and give them no other option but to attack and then claim to be fighting a defensive war.

Rome’s expansion was slow and bloody. They did not build an empire over night. The most significant expansion was the era of the Punic Wars.

Results of expansion

Rome was transformed by the expansion of its territory. After the fall of Carthage they gained unimagined wealth

The Birth and Death of the Roman Republic

One effect of the Etruscans domination of Rome was that they influenced Rome’s future government. The Etruscans set up a monarchy in which the king was advised by a group of elected officials (called senex, Latin for old or wise men.) When the Romans kicked out the last Etruscan king in 509 B.C., they kept the idea of an elected body (senex) but without the king. They called this body the Senate. The Senate was selected from among the patricians. Thus Rome had a Republic—a form of government where elected officials rule.

The Romans had no professional army (an army of paid soldiers.) Rather, the army was made up of farmers, merchants, traders, etc., from Roman society. They were plebeians. Because the patricians found it necessary to have an army to protect their interests, the plebeians could make demands on the Senate. Over the course of several hundred years, the plebeians obtained more and more rights from the patrician Senate.

1) they got the Roman laws written in public (The Twelve Tablets) so they could defend themselves against arbitrary arrests and imprisonment.

2. they were allowed to elect a Tribunal Assembly that had the right to veto laws of the Senate (veto means “I forbid” in Latin.)

3. they eventually gained the right to be elected to the Senate itself.

Once these reforms happened, the Roman Republic became one of the most fair and just societies in the ancient world (by ancient standards).

The Expansion of Rome

Rome began to defend its borders against invaders and soon found itself in possession of larger and larger territory. They soon began to conquer the Etruscan city-states to the north. After conquering all of the Italian peninsula, they turned on the kingdoms that remained from Alexander the Great’s former empire. Soon this expansion began to rival another growing trading empire in the Mediterranean: the trading empire of Carthage, a Phoenician city-state in North Africa.

In a treaty Rome promised to leave alone the Islands of Sicily, Corisca, and Sardina—all possessions of Carthage. But when a dispute on the Island of Sicily led one group of people to ask Rome for help, they could not resist breaking their treaty and sending their army. Carthage took this as an act of war and the Punic Wars between Rome and Carthage began.

Rome’s struggle with Carthage was a series of wars that stretched across several decades. The end of the wars came when Hannibal, a general from Carthage, tried to attack Rome from the north by crossing the Alps. He lost half his men and nearly all of his war elephants. Before he could attack Rome he was called home because the Romans were threatening the city of Carthage itself. He returned, was defeated, and Carthage was completely destroyed. The Romans salted the fields around Carthage so they could not be used again for agriculture. The Romans won the Punic Wars and gained control of Carthage’s trading empire. The results of this victory would forever change Rome.

Effect of the Punic Wars

After the defeat of Carthage, Rome gained incredible amounts of wealth and land. The traffic in slaves also increased. These changes profoundly changed Rome.

The small plebeian farmer had always been the backbone of the Roman republic. The effects of the war would virtually eliminate this class. The Senate gave most of the incoming land to the patricians who ended up controlling large commercial farms. These farms were worked by slaves and, not having any labor expense, could out sell the smaller family owned farms. Many of these small farmers had to sell their farms. They ended up poor and unemployed. The city of Rome was full of poor farmers seeking unemployment.

To solve this problem, two brothers—Tiberius and Gaius Gracchus—offered their solution. Elected to the tribune, Tiberius brought forth a measure that would take some of the land acquired by Rome and allot it out to the unemployed small farmers. This would improve the life of these people and solve the unemployment problem. It would also make them eligible again for military service. (You had to be a landowner to serve in the legions.) Sensing opposition from the Senate, Tiberius bypassed them completely. When a member of the tribune vetoed the plan, Tiberius had him removed. Member of th Senate became concerned about Tiberius’ proposals and his methods. They also did not want to lose the incoming land from Rome’s expansion. A crowd of Senators marched on the tribunal Assembly and clubbed to death Tiberius and 300 of his supporters. It was clear that Rome was no longer seeking democratic (republican) solutions to their problems. The Republic was on its deathbed.