ROME
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Transcript of ROME
ROME• Geography– Italian Peninsula• Apennine Mountains– run north to south
• Po River• Plains of Latium and Campania
ROME• Climate– Similar to southern California• Dry, warm summers• Mild, rainy winters• Grew grains, citrus fruits, grapes, and olives
ROME– Rome• on the Tiber River• seven hills• spoke Latin• Indo-European, like Greek• influenced by the Greeks and the Etruscans
ROME• Rome Origin Legend– Trojan War• Troy hero, Aeneas fled after the war– Story is told in the epic poem Aeneid by
Virgil• Formed an alliance with the Latins• Married a daughter of the Latin king
ROME– Romulus and Remus• Descendants of Aeneas– twins
• Were thrown into the Tiber River, but were rescued and raised by wolves until a shepherd adopted them
ROME• Built a city where the wolf rescued them, but
Romulus killed Remus• That city was name Rome
– Romulus was the first king of Rome-753BC• There were seven kings before the Etruscans
took over
ROME• Etruscans– Spread into N. Italy– turned Rome from a village to a city– wore togas and short cloaks– Rome copied army tactics from the Etruscans– Built sewers and temples, gave the “Roman”
alphabet and numerals to Rome
ROME• Early Rome’s Success– Diplomacy fair, but firm–Military was strong and accomplished– Brilliant strategy– fortified cities and roads– Laws were practical
ROME• Rome Rising– Rome was at war for the next 200 years– took over Latium then all of southern
Italy– A cruel king was overthrown by a
rebellion and they created a new government
ROME• Roman Republic– Republic, people elect leaders to govern
them• Elected every year
– Not all got to vote• Only wealthy and powerful
ROME–Wars broke out• Rome chose dictators to lead the city during
the wars• Cincinnatus was a famous dictator– a farmer who was chosen to defeat an
enemy– defeated the enemy and went
immediately back to his farm
ROME• Roman Government– Early Rome was divided into two groups• Patricians–wealthy landowners and ruling class
• Plebeians– poor landowners, craftsmen, farmers
ROME• Roman Government– only patricians could hold office– Officers• Consuls (2) and magistrates– elected every year– ran government and led armies–Acted as judges
ROME• Praetor–was in charge of civil law
– Senate• 300 patricians• held the force and legislation of laws
ROME– Plebeian Councils • Assemblies–One elected magistrates and consuls
• Tribunals–One made up of elected officials that
could veto (“I forbid” in Latin) actions by other officials
ROME• Checks and Balances– Laws proposed by the Senate had to be
approved by the magistrates• Then had to be ratified by the Plebeian
Councils
ROME• Rome Divided– Patricians and Plebeians could not marry
each other– Plebeians resented the Patrician class
because they could hold office and were rich• wanted political and social equality• eventually Plebeians were able to become
consuls
ROME• Rome as “One”– There was no democracy however– Some plebeians became part of the
aristocracy– The aristocracy ruled the early republic
ROME• The Gift of Rome– codified law displayed in the Forum– first was the Twelve Tables
• then the Law of Nations– established a standard of justice for everyone– innocent until proven guilty– looking at evidence before determination
ROME• Punic Wars– against Carthaginian Empire– The empire included the coast of N. Africa,
S. Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and W. Sicily• First Punic War– Rome attacked W. Sicily– Rome built a navy and won the war
ROME– Later, Rome persuaded a Carthaginian
colony in Spain to revolt• Second Punic War– Hannibal, the greatest Carthaginian
general, invaded Spain– headed toward Rome– 12 years later, Rome retook its lost land
ROME– Rome then decided to invade Carthage– Rome crushed Hannibal and gained Spain for
its territory• Third Punic War– literally destroyed the city of Carthage– all men, women and children sold into slavery– Carthage territory became Africa
ROME• Other Wars– took Macedonia– then Greece– then Pergamum (in East Turkey/Asia
Minor)
ROME• Crisis– Rich and poor did not trust each other;
violent rebellion was feared– Tribunes named Tiberius and Gaius
Gracchus worked to create farms for poor Romans• The rich and powerful didn’t like this and both
were eventually killed
ROME–Marius• Got the poor to join the army when before
they could not– This gave Marius a lot of power
• Consul Lucius Sulla rebelled against Marius causing a civil war–Marius was defeated and Sulla made
dictator
ROME– Spartacus• Thousands of slaves, led by Spartacus rose
up, rebelled, and demanded freedom• He was killed in battle– The slaves were defeated and 6000 were
executed