Section I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Contemporary Civilization (Ideas and Institutions Background of Western Civilization of Western Man) 1958 1. Rome: Republic and Empire Robert L. Bloom Gettysburg College Basil L. Crapster Gettysburg College Harold A. Dunkelberger Gettysburg College See next page for additional authors Follow this and additional works at: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/contemporary_sec1 Part of the Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity Commons, and the Cultural History Commons Share feedback about the accessibility of this item. Bloom, Robert L. et al. "1. Rome: Republic and Empire. Pt. I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Background of Western Civilization." Ideas and Institutions of Western Man (Gettysburg College, 1958), 44-53. This is the publisher's version of the work. This publication appears in Gettysburg College's institutional repository by permission of the copyright owner for personal use, not for redistribution. Cupola permanent link: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/ contemporary_sec1/8 This open access book chapter is brought to you by The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College. It has been accepted for inclusion by an authorized administrator of The uC pola. For more information, please contact [email protected]. 1. Rome: Republic and Empire Abstract It is believed that about the same time certain barbarian people were entering Greece from the north, others came into the Italian peninsula from the same direction. A fusion with earlier inhabitants similar to that which took place in Greece produced the Italian people of recorded history. In terms of mountains, soil, mineral resources, and climate, there were similarities between the two countries, with Italy in general being the more favored. There was a significant difference: the relative lack of navigable rivers and natural harbors offered much less inducement for trade and commerce than was the case in Greece. Throughout Roman history, agriculture remained much more basic to the Italian economy than to the Greek. [excerpt] Keywords Contemporary Civilization, Rome, Greece, Golden Age, Tiber River, Roman Republic, citizenship Disciplines Ancient History, Greek and Roman through Late Antiquity | Classics | Cultural History | History Comments This is a part of Section I: Athens, Rome, and Jerusalem: Background of Western Civilization. The Contemporary Civilization page lists all additional sections of Ideas and Institutions of Western Man, as well as the Table of Contents for both volumes. More About Contemporary Civilization: From 1947 through 1969, all first-year Gettysburg College students took a two-semester course called Contemporary Civilization. The ourc se was developed at President Henry W.A. Hanson’s request with the goal of “introducing the student to the backgrounds of contemporary social problems through the major concepts, ideals, hopes and motivations of western culture since the Middle Ages.” Gettysburg College professors from the history, philosophy, and religion departments developed a textbook for the course. The first edition, published in 1955, was called An Introduction to Contemporary Civilization and Its Problems. A second edition, retitled Ideas and Institutions of Western Man, was published in 1958 and 1960. It is this second edition that we include here. The opc y we digitized is from the Gary T. Hawbaker ’66 Collection and the marginalia are his. Authors Robert L. Bloom, Basil L. Crapster, Harold A. Dunkelberger, Charles H. Glatfelter, Richard T. Mara, Norman E. Richardson, and W. Richard Schubart This book chapter is available at The uC pola: Scholarship at Gettysburg College: https://cupola.gettysburg.edu/contemporary_sec1/ 8 I p. 44 ROME Re p ubl i c a nd Empir e It is believed that about the same time cer tain barbarian people were enter ing Gr eece f r om the north, others came into the Italian peninsula f r om the same dir ection. A fusion with earlier inhabi tants s i milar to that whi ch took place in Greece p r oduced the Italian people of recor ded history . In terms of mountains, soil , miner al r esour ces , and climate, there were similar ities between the two cou ntr ies , with Italy in general being the mor e favor ed . Ther e wa s a significant difference: the relative lack o f navigable r iver s a nd natural harbors of­ fer ed much less inducement for t r ade and commer ce than was the case in Gr eece . Th r ou ghou t Roman histor y, agriculture remained much mo r e basic to the Itali an economy than to the Greek . At an ear ly date (p r obably abou t 1000 B . C . ) , a settlement was made a r ound an isl and near t he mouth of the Tiber, midway down the peninsu la, at a poi nt wher e nor th and south trade routes natur ally c r ossed the river . Accor ding to tradition, the inhabitants of this settlement t h r ew off the domination of their u npopular for eign kings in the year 509 B . C . , and the Roman Repu blic (mea ning here a gover nment without a king) came into exi stence . With but one exception, this small settlement and the city into which it gr ew wer e not to yield to an invad­ ing a r my for just shor t of one thousand year s after this event. We can u nder sta nd why, i n its d a y and for long after, Rome ap­ pear ed to many to be the eter nal city . Dur ing the per iod of the Gr eek Golden Age ( c . 500 - c. 300 B . C . ) , the Romans gr a ppled with two p r essing problems . The fir st concer ned the people who shar ed the I talian peninsula with them , Gr adually , wi thout p r econcei ved plan, the Romans expanded. ~y about 265 B . C . , they had br ou ght the area south of the Po Valley u nder their control . I n maki ng peace, they followed a policy of allyi ng themsel ves rather closely wi th the subject states, permitting them the enjoyment of many rights of self­ gover nment ( except in matter s of f o r eign affairs and defense) and slowly ext ending the p r ivil ege of Roman citizenship. In r eturn, they dema nded t he payment of taxes and a levy of troops f o r the Roman a r my . Such a poli cy , t ogether with the system of r oads begun dur ing this period and t he Roman colonies that fol­ l owed in the wake of the a r mies, went far toward making possible the unification of t he penins u l a . As a cohtr ast to the methods employed by the p r eviou s empir es of histor y, this policy demon­ strated a capacity on the p art o f the Romans for the art of gover nment , The second p r essing problem was r elated to the first. The ear ly Roman Republic, almost exclu sively a g r icu ltural, consisted of two gr oups of citizens ; both noted for their conservatism, devotion to civic duty , and for har d wor k . The wealthy land- I p. 45 owners (the patricians) controlled the organs of government. Only they were eligible to hold the important offices. The small farmers (the plebeians) became dissatisfied with this ar­ rangement . As the backbone of the republican armies, they were called upon to bear the brunt of the sacrifice involved in ex­ tending the sway of Rome over the Italian peninsula. They felt they were not sharing satisfactorily in the material rewards of conquest or in political power. No example will illustrate more clearly the reason for their resentment than the land question. The patricians had seized lands in conquered territories and added to their already sizable holdings at the very time many plebeians were going deeper into debt and were in danger of losing their small farms . Under the existing constitution, redress of this grievance appeared impossible . From our vantage point, it would seem that what happened subsequently was this: during these two centuries (500~300 B. C.) the pleb~ians, through the pressure which they exerted, exchanged their con­ tinued services in the armies for voluntary concessions, ~ne by one, on the part of the patricians. The machinery of government of the Roman Republic, as it operated from about 300 B. C . until its collapse almost three centuries later, was influenced by this spirit of voluntary concession on the part of the patricians. There were actually three popular assemblies, the Romans in their conservatism creating new institutions when the need arose without always abolishing the old . One assembly had only nominal duties to perform; it formally conferred power on elected officials. The second, which was controlled by the wealthy, was important. principally because it elected certain officials and declared war . The third, in which it was possible for the plebeians to g ain a majority, could not initiate legislation but only approve or reject proposals presented to it by the magistrates. In order to participate in the business of any of these assemblies, ~ a citizen had to come to Rome, whether he happened to be a farmer living several miles from the city or a trader in south- ern Italy who had just been granted Roman citizenshiBJ -~xecutive power was vested in two consuls, who were chosen by the second assembly mentioned above. They served for terms of one year and normally could not be reelected until ten years after their terms had expired . During their tenure of office, the consuls held what the Romans called the imperium, or supreme executive authority .