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The Rise of the Roman Republic

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The Rise of the Roman Republic 33.1 Introduction In the lastchapter, you learnedabout Etruscan and Greek influences on Rome.Early Romewas ruledby Etruscankings fiom northernltaly. In this chapter,you will learnhow the Romansoverthrew the Etruscansand created arepublic around 509 s.c.e.A republic is a fbrm of governmentwith electedleaders. AncientRomans told an interestingstory about the overthrowof their Etruscanmasters. One day,two Etruscanprinces went to seethe famous oracleat Delphi, in Greece.A Romannamed Lucius Junius Brutus traveled withthem. At Delphi,the princesasked the oraclewhich of them would be the next ng of Rome.The oracleanswered, "The next man to haveauthority in will be the man who first kisses mother."Hearing these words, tuspretended to trip. He fell on his , andhis lips touchedthe Earth, motherof all living things." Backin Rome.Brutus led the revolt droveout the Etruscankinss. He one of the first leadersof the republic.In thisway, the oracle's riouswords came true. The ns werenow free to sovernthem- ves.But not all Romanswere equal. r in the earlyrepublic belonged richmen called patricians. The iorityof Romans,the plebeians, no sayin the government.In this , you will seehow a long strug- betweenpatricians and plebeians the governmentof Rome. The Riseof theRoman Republic 317 33.2 Patricians and Plebeians Under Etruscan Rule Between616 and 509 s.c.e.,the Etruscansruled Rome. Senate a groupof 300men During this time, Romansociety was dividedinto two classes, electedto governRome in the patriciansand plebeians. I RomanRepublic Upper-classcitizens, called patricians, camefrom a small I consul oneof two chief group of wealthy landowners.Patricians comes from the Latin ( leadersin the Roman Republic word patres,which means"father." The patricianschose the I "fathersof the state,"the men who advisedthe Etruscanking. ( Patricianscontrolled the most valuableland. Thev also heldthe t importantmilitary andreligious offices. I Lower-classcitizens, called plebeians, were mostly peasants, tr 0neof the heroes of the early laborers,craftspeople, and shopkeepers.The word plebeians c RomanRepublic was Lucius comesfrom plebs, which means"many." Plebeiansmade up li JuniusBrutus. Here, Brutus is about95 percentof Rome's population.They could not be priests A promisingto supportthe new or governmentofficials. They had little say in the government. fz republic. Yet they still were forced to servein the army. ir 33.3 The Patricians fc Create a Republic bt Over time, the patricianscame to resent iti Etruscanrule. In 509 n.c.e.,a groupof be patriciansrebelled. They drove out thelast th Etruscanking. In place of a king, theycre th ateda republic.In a republic,elected offi- cc cials work for the interestsof the people. To the patricians,"the people"meant cri patriciansthemselves, not the plebeians. wi They put most of the power in the hands qu the Senate.The Senate was a groupof ne 300 men that the patricianselected. The ha senatorsserved for life. They alsoappoi wl ed other governmentofficials and served asjudges. Two electedleaders called consuls sharedcommand of the arrnv.The Senate was supposedto advisethe consuls.In the Senate'sdecisions were treatedas The creationof the republic gave to a more democraticgovernment. But only wc the patricianscould participatein that sei government. pal 318 Chapter33 33.4The PlebeiansRebel Rome was now a repub- ic, but the patriciansheld all thepower. They made sure :liliji thatonly they could be part of the government.Only iiltriiriil theycould becomesenators 'HJi!i consuls.Plebeians had obeytheir decisions. use laws were not writ- down, patriciansoften ged or interpretedthe to benefit themselves. a result,a smallgroup of ilies held all the power Rome. The plebeianshad to fight what they wanted.They to demandmore pol- lrights. The struggle n the plebeiansand patricianswas known as Conflict of the Orders.or \\ .\.ss ict betweenthe classes. Theconflict grew espe- heatedduring times of . The new republic fre- y fought _warsagainst ing tribes.Plebeians to fight in the arrny even though the patriciansdecided Formany years, plebeians strug- to go to war. Plebeiansresented this. gledto gaina shareof the political Thestruggle took a dramaticturn in 494 s.c.E.By then, Rome powerenjoyed by patricians. a city of between25,000 and 40,000people. Most of the ion were plebeians.Angry over their lack of power,the iansmarched out of the city and campedon a nearbyhill. refusedto come back until the patriciansmet their demands. Romewas in crisis.Work in the city and on the farms came halt.Without the plebeians,patricians feared that the army be helplessif an enemy struck at Rome. "A greatpanic thecity," wrote Livy, a famousRoman historian.The ns had little choice but to compromise. The Rise of the RomanRepublic 319 33.5 The Plebeians Gain veto to refuseto approve Political Equality E proposalsofgovernment made The plebeians'revolt led to a major changein Romangovern- b bythe Senate ment.The patriciansagreed to let the plebeianselect officials a. tribune anofficial of the calledTribunes of the Plebs.The tribunes spokefor the ai RomanRepublic elected by plebeiansto the Senateand the consuls.Later, they gainedthe rt plebeiansto protecttheir rights powerto veto, or overrule,actions by the Senateand govern- ir mentofficials that they thoughtwere unfair. Over time, the St numberof tribunesgrew from 2 to 10. is Plebeianscould alsoelect a lawmakingbody, the Council Plebeianswon a majorvictory of Plebs.However, the councilmade laws only for plebeians, whenpatricians agreed to post not patricians. Rome'slaws on the Twelve Tables. The plebeianshad gainedsome important rights. But they$ill Er had lesspower than the patricians. re Over the next 200 years,the ple- o\ beiansused a seriesof proteststo p( graduallywin politicalequality. el, First, they demandedthat the laws be written down. That way,the th patricianscouldn't changethem at Pl, will. Around 451 B.c.E.,the patri- of cians agreed.The laws werewritten dir down on tabletscalled the Twelve Tables. sfi Next,in 367 e.c.e.,a newlaw said that one of the two Romancon- sulshad to be a plebeian.Former consulsheld seatsin the Senate,so this changealso made it possiblefot plebeiansto becomesenators. Finally,in 281 B.c.E.,the ple- beiansgained the right to passlaws for all Romancitizens. Now, assem- bliesof all Romancitizens could approveor rejectlaws. These ple- beianassemblies also nominated th consuls,the tribunes,and the mem- bersof the Senate.More andmore plebeiansserved alongside patri- ciansin the Senate.After 200yean of struggle,the plebeianshad won their fight for equality. 320 Chanter33 Rome'srepublican form of governmentinspired future ages ln ruled Europeand America. Rome setan exampleof a government a writtenc',rtstituti7n (set of basiclaws). Future republicans alsopointed to Romanideals of electedassemblies. citizenship, andcivic duty.They adoptedthe modelof governmentalbodies couldcheck each other's power. Above all, they were iredby the spirit of republicanism.Cicero. a famousRoman sman,captured this spirit when he wrote."The people'sgood thehiehest law." 6 Ghapter Summary In this chapter,you learned how the Romans overthrew the ns and createda republic' Romanswere proud of their lic. Sometimes,during times of war, they handedpower to a dictator.Dictators were men who were given special for a limited period of time. But for the most part, leadersruled Rome for 500 Years. Becauseof the conflict betweenpatricians and plebeians, RomanRepublic became more democraticover time' The ianseventually won more political power' In time, most theimportant differences between patricians and plebeians lnthe Senate, Roman senators debatedimPortant decisions In the next chapter,you will learn how Rome grew from a facingthe citY. republicinto a mightY emPire. .Ph",' The Rise of the RomanRePublic 321.
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