The Rise of RomeThe Republic

Roman History

• History of Rome divided into three main periods:

1. Reign of Seven Kings (753-510 B.C.E.)• Rome founded by Romulus, 1st king, later deified

as god Quirinus.

2. The Republic (510-27 B.C.E.)

3. The Empire (27 B.C.E. – 410 C.E.)

• Separating mythology from history difficult in early period, not so much later on.

Italian Peninsula• Italian peninsula

similar to that of Greece.

• Divided between Latin- and Greek-speaking people.

• Romans will assume hegemony by 268 B.C.E.

• Agriculture in plains and river valleys.– Grains, olives, grapes.

ABOVE: Mural from an Etruscan tomb. The Etruscans were Rome’s chief rival.

Romulus and his brother Remus feeding from the she-wolf that, according to myth, raised them.

City of Rome in the imperial period.

Key Events of the Republic• Rise of republicanism• Territorial expansion

outside of Italy– Punic Wars (264-146

B.C.E.)– Macedonian Wars (215-

148 B.C.E.)– Gallic Wars (58-49 B.C.E.)

• Rise of Roman culture– Literature, oratory, martial

arts, religion.

Roman Republicanism• Government based on class orders.

– Patricians: aristocratic landowners– Plebeians: non-wealthy citizens

• Both could vote, but only patricians could hold office until 287 B.C.E. after the Struggle of the Orders.

• Chief executive passes from monarch to two consuls (imperium of state and army).

• Praetor governed when consul was at war.• Senate held as much power as consuls.

– Elected by citizens (men only).

Depiction of the Roman Senate.

The toga was the symbol of citizenship in the Roman Republic. Women, non-citizens, and slaves were not permitted to don a toga by law.

Roman society was essentially divided this way:

1. Citizens (Patricians and Plebeians)

2. Women and children

3. Non-citizens (non-landowners and foreigners)

4. Slaves

5. Barbarians (mostly Celts and Germans)

Seating arrangements in public spaces such as theaters and coliseums were apportioned based on class status.

Territorial Expansion• Punic Wars fought

between Rome and Carthage, 264-146 B.C.E.

• First Punic War (264-241 B.C.E.)– Dispute over Sicily.– Carthage narrowly

defeated.– Carthaginians

humiliated.– Rome annexes Corsica

and Sardinia, 238 B.C.E.

More Punic Wars

• Second Punic War (218-202 B.C.E.).• Carthage began colonizing Hispania

(Spain) after first war.• Three main theaters of war:

– Italy—Hannibal Barca’s invasion across the Alps.

– Hispania—Roman massacre of Carthaginian colonies.

– Carthage—Battle of Zama 202 B.C.E. ends the war; Carthage defeated by Scipio Africanus.

Carthaginian Empire before the Second Punic War.

Hannibal crossing the Alps into Italy.

Even More Punic Wars• Third Punic War (149-146 B.C.E.).

– Carthage paid war indemnity to Romans and quickly recovered militarily and economically.

– Carthago delenda est! –Cato the Elder

• 149 B.C.E., Roman Senate demanded Carthage destroy its city a build a new one deeper into Africa. Rome declares war.

• 146 B.C.E., war ends when Carthage is sacked, city razed, survivors become slaves.

• Territory becomes the Roman province of Africa.

Rise of Julius Caesar• Power of consuls and Senate in decline 133-

31 B.C.E.• First Triumvirate of rich and powerful men

gain political power.– Crassus, the “richest man in Rome’’– Pompey, famous military general in Hispania– Julius Caesar, famous military general and victor

of the Gallic Wars and Britannia.• Personal dispute between Pompey and Caesar and

Senate leads to Civil War in 52-47 B.C.E.• Caesar made dictator in 47 B.C.E., Republic collapses

twenty years after his assassination in 44 B.C.E.

Caesar

Crassus Pompey

Caesar crossing the Rubicon River in 49 B.C.E., initiating the Roman Civil War.

Assassination of Julius Caesar in the Senate chambers.

Roman Republic at the time of Caesar’s death.

Roman Culture• Literature: poetry and history

– Catullus, erotic poet of Rome– Polybius, Greek historian of Roman conquests

• Oratory– Cicero, orator assassinated for remarks against Mark

Anthony.• Celebration of martial arts as sport

– Julius Caesar and his History of the Gallic Wars still read by modern-day military tacticians.

– Olympic games, gladiatorial exhibitions, chariot races, battle reenactments

• Religion

Mock naval battle within the Coliseum in Rome.

Passer, deliciae meae puellae,quicum ludere, quem in sinu tenere,cui primum digitum dare appetentiet acris solet incitare morsus,cum desiderio meo nitenticarum nescio quid lubet iocariet solaciolum sui doloris,credo ut tum gravis acquiescat ardor:tecum ludere sicut ipsa possemet tristis animi leuare curas!

Sparrow, delight of my girl, with whom she is accustomed to playing, whom she holds on her lap, to whose seeking she gives her first finger to incite sharp pecks, when it is pleasing for the shining object of my desire to play some game or other as a small comfort for her sadness (I believe then serious passion rests), would that I were able to play with you in this way and relieve the sad cares of a mind.

Catullus’s poem addressed to his lover’s sparrow.

Religion• Very similar to Greek religion: polytheistic,

gods had human traits.• Romans superimposed their own deities’

identities over – Jupiter (Roman) = Zeus (Greek)– Venus (Roman) = Aphrodite (Greek)– Mars (Roman) = Ares (Greek)

• Adopted other gods such as Cybele of Phrygia and Mithras of Persia.

• Roman emperor will become a god.