History of Rome

– About 2000BC, Indo-Europeans migrated into Italy

– The Latins (ancestors of the Romans) lived in west-central Italy; the region was called Latium.

– City of Rome founded (according to tradition) in 753BC by Romulus

– Located at a shallow place on the Tiber River, where there were 7 hills

– Several villages on these 7 hills combined to become the city of Rome

Beginnings of Rome

Neighboring people in Italy• Etruscans-who lived in the region

called Etruria, north of Latium- from whom the Romans learned: – Basics of engineering-– alphabet

• Roman Alphabet came from the • Etruscan Alphabet, which came from the • Greek Alphabet, which came from the • Phoenician Alphabet

• Greeks-who lived in Greek colonies on the coast of southern Italy, from whom the Romans got many of their myths and stories about their gods.

Early Government of Rome

–KINGS: 753BC-509BC, Rome was ruled by a series of 7 kings; the last king was an Etruscan.

– Built the Cloaca Maxima– Established the Forum– Built the first permanent bridge over the Tiber– Established the Senate

–OVERTHROW OF THE KING: In 509BC (following a shocking incident in which the last king’s son raped a virtuous noble Roman lady), the Romans expelled their king, vowed never to have a king again, and set up a “republic”.

Government of the Roman Republic• Senate– 300 members: at first

they were all nobles-patricians. Later they didn’t have to be patricians

– They got their seats by being appointed by the consuls. Kept their seats for life.

– Advised consuls, controlled public funds, controlled foreign affairs

MAGISTRATES

• 2 Consuls-chief executives; each had veto power over the other; ran the government & led the army; elected for 1 year term; symbol of his power was the fasces, a bundle of sticks around an ax.

• Praetors- judges of law courts and leaders of the army; elected for 1 year term

• Censors- enrolled the citizens; oversaw public morals; elected every 1½ years for a 5 year term.

• Aediles-supervised public places• Quaestors-handled finances. • 10 Tribunes-elected by the Plebeians

(commoners) to represent them; had veto power over any measure passed by the Senate

• Dictator: special position; appointed by Senate or Consuls in times of special danger; had absolute power for up to 6 months, until the danger passed. Most of the time, there was no dictator.

REPUBLIC-509BC-27BC• The word “republic” comes

from Latin, “res publica”, which means “thing of the people”.

• A republic is a government in which citizens elect leaders, who make laws and run the state

• The official name of the Roman Republic was “The Senate and People of Rome”, abbreviated “S.P.Q.R.” Senatus Populusque Romanus

ASSEMBLIES of citizens• Assembly of Centuries:– all male citizens; the citizens were divided into

groups according to wealth; – the wealthier groups had fewer men in them; – each group voted, & then the result became one vote; – the votes of the groups were counted; – thus all citizens voted, but the votes of the wealthy

counted more– This assembly elected high officials, declared war,

and made laws.• Plebeian Assembly: all male plebeian citizens,

elected tribunes & passed laws.

Social Classes of Early Rome

– 2 main social classes in the early republic

• Patricians-nobles, membership by birth

• Plebeians-common free citizens including farmers, merchants, artisans, etc. (vast majority!)

Social Classes of Early Rome

– 2 main social classes in the early republic • Patricians-nobles, membership by birth

• Plebeians-common free citizens including farmers, merchants, artisans, etc. (vast majority!)

– In the very early Republic: • Social class was determined by birth; • Patricians held almost all the power; • all Senators were Patrician;• Plebeians could vote but could not hold office; • marriage between patricians and plebeians was

forbidden; • laws were unwritten (and the judges were Patrician).

CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS-Roman civil rights movement

– Plebeians wanted more rights. Several times, Plebeians “went on strike”, left & camped outside the city, and would not return until their demands were met. It worked.

CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS

• 490BC-right to have their own assembly (Plebeian Assembly) and elect their own representatives-called Tribunes- with veto power in the Senate.

• 450BC-Laws of the 12 Tables were written and posted in the Forum (main public area)

• 445BC-intermarriage legalized• 367BC: plebeians became eligible to be Consuls (and any

other office) • 342 BC: law said one of the two Consuls must be a plebeian• 287 BC: all measures passed by the Plebeian Assembly had

the force of law for the whole Roman state. Now Patricians & Plebeians were legally equal.

Conquest of Italy– Rome fought many wars against

neighboring people, and almost always won. Usually these wars were started by the neighboring people

– 390BC-Big set back; Rome was captured & burned by invading Gauls; but Rome eventually expelled them and rebuilt.

– Rome continued to fight & defeat other people of Italy, including the Etruscans & Greek colonies.

– 265BC: Rome controlled all of Italy south of the Rubicon River.

– Reasons for success: great army and good policies

Early Roman Army

• All male citizens were required to serve in the army. The army consisted of:

• Legions-citizen soldiers– Legion-about 4800– Cohort-about 480 – Century-about 80– Tent Group – about 8

• Auxiliary troops, including cavalry and archers, later added from non-citizens

• The key to the Roman army was perseverence and strict discipline.

• A Roman soldier was called a legionnaire.

PERSEVERENCE & DISCIPLINE

• The keys to the success of the Roman army were perseverence and strict discipline.

• Mostly, the discipline was self-discipline because self-discipline was an important Roman virtue.

• At the end of their term of service, Roman soldiers were given land.

• However, discipline could be imposed. For example, the traditional penalty for cowardice by a group of soldiers was “decimation”, killing one in every ten men as an example to the others.

Policies toward conquered people in Italy

• Policies toward conquered people in Italy were usually generous and wise • People in nearby areas given full Roman

citizenship, including right to vote• People farther away were given half citizenship;

couldn’t vote but had some rights• Retired soldiers were given land in conquered

areas; they helped maintain control over the conquered areas, and spread Roman culture and language (Latin). • Most people in Italy came to appreciate Roman

rule and feel loyalty to the Roman state.

Early Roman Society and Family – The family was the most important unit of

society. Each person belonged to a family and gens (clan-group of related families)

– Romans were patriarchal; the father was “paterfamilias”, and had the power of life and death over family members.

– Women, however, were respected, and the mother managed the household. Women could not vote, but they could own property, operate businesses, and were not expected to stay in the house like Greek women.

– Roman worshiped gods, especially Jupiter, Juno and Minerva

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Early Roman Religion

• Roman worshiped gods, especially Jupiter, Juno and Minerva

• From the Etruscans they got methods of augury (foretelling the future), which included analyzing the entrails and liver of sacrificed animals, observing thunder and lighting, and the flights of birds.

• Rome had a high priest called the Pontifex Maximus, and many lower priests, and women called the Vestal Virgins, priestesses of Vesta, whose job was to keep the sacred hearth-fire of Rome.