Roman Republic Table of Contents: Lecture 1 – Founding 2-3 Lecture 2 – Government 3-4 Lecture 3 – Conflict of Orders 4-5 Lecture 4 – Dignitas + Gloria = Auctoritas 5-6 Lecture 5 – Military 6-7 Lecture 6 – 1st Punic War 7-8 Lecture 7 – 2nd Punic War 8-9 Lecture 8 – 2nd Punic War (cont.) 9-10 Lecture 9 – Rome becomes Number 1 10-11 Lecture 10 – Roman Revolution 11-12 Lecture 11 – Civil War 12-13 Lecture 12 – 1st Triumvirate 14-15 Lecture 13 – Gallic War 15-16 Lecture 14 – 1st Triumvirate Breaks Apart 16-17 Lecture 15 – Civil War #2 and the Ides of March 17-18 Lecture 16 – The Roman Empire 18-20 Appendix I – Liberators’ War 20-22 Appendix II – Final War of the Roman Republic 22-24 Lecture 1 – Founding Important Terms Trojan War: ~1200 BC Alba Longa: Trojan Settler’s city Tiber Rome: 753 BC Etruscans: 616 – 509 BC Tarquinius Superbus Tarquin Lucretia L. Junius Brutus: 509 BC Republic: 509 – 31 BC Lecture: Founding of Rome The story starts with Aeneas, a member of the Trojan Anchises Aphrodite royalty, and whose mother is Aphrodite (Goddess of Love). During the fall of Troy, ~1184 BC, Aeneas is commanded by the gods to flee, for he is destined to become king of the Trojan people and establish a great empire. He escapes from the Greeks with a small Aeneas group of other Trojans, and begins sailing around the (~300 Years) Mediterranean. Aeneas and his fleet eventually make landfall at Carthage, where he has an affair with the Carthaginian Queen, Dido. Dido wanted the Trojans to settle in her land but Mercury Numiter Amulius (Messenger God) reminds Aeneas of his journey and his purpose, and so Aeneas leaves. When Dido learns of this, she uttered a curse that would forever pit Carthage against Aeneas and his descendents (Rome), and then commits suicide. Aeneas makes landfall in Latium, Rhea Silvia Mars where he is well received by the king and marries his daughter, Lavinia. Romulus Remus ~300 years after the Trojan War, Aeneas’s descendent, Numiter, is king. Amulius, Numiter’s brother, rises in revolt and takes over as king. Amulius fears a prophecy that if Numiter’s daughter, Rhea Silvia, had any children they would take over the kingdom. Amulius imprisons Rhea Silvia, during which time Mars “visits” her. Later, Rhea Silvia gives birth to twins. After learning of this, Amulius places the twins in a wicker basket in the Tiber. The twins, Romulus and Remus, wash ashore and are discovered by a she-wolf who nurtures them. They are discovered and taken in by an old shepherd couple. 20 years later Romulus and Remus have grown up, and find out their true heritage. They go back to Alba Longa, kill Amulius, free Rhea Silvia and return Numiter from exile. Romulus and Remus want to start their own, new city, where they washed ashore as children. They split up and build separate cities on different hills. One day, Remus went to see Romulus. Romulus was building a wall, which Remus makes fun of and jumps over it. Romulus stabs Remus to death, and says “this will happen to anyone who goes against my city”. Page 2 of 24 The Legend Broken Down Romans felt culturally deficient to the Greeks, which is why they are descendants of the Trojans Romans are directed by Gods, which makes them the chosen people Father of the founder of Rome is the Mars (God of War), and so they are war-like Romulus kills his brother, which shows that Rome comes before all else The City of Rome Rome was founded 753 BC based on archeological evidence The Location was chosen well: Inexhaustible supply of fresh water Area around Rome provides a large quantity of food Famous 7 hills provided defense from attack Centrally located in Italy and the Mediterranean Rome Rome was initially a monarchy of which Romulus was the first of Rome’s 7 kings. In 616 BC Etruscans conquer Rome, causing the last 3 Roman Kings to be Etruscan. The Etruscans were more advanced, which allowed Rome to grow dramatically under their rule. Etruscans also taught the Romans, Polis (Greek invention of City-States), which was a big impact on how they governed and fought wars. The last of the Roman Kings was Tarquinius Superbus (The Proud), who was a tyrant. Tarquinius’ son, Tarquin, caused a revolt by raping a Roman girl, Lucretia. She told her family about it then committed suicide. Her uncle, L. Junius Brutus, uses this to lead a rebellion in 509 BC and Rome regains independence. Rome comes to the conclusion that power corrupts, and so establishes a new type of government called the Roman Republic, which lasts from 509 – 31 BC, during which most of the Roman territory was conquered. Lecture 2 - Government Government Rome’s government was based on the Polis (Greek City-state idea) where the government is not run by king or dictator but by an assembly of citizens. The Roman assembly, called Centurion Assembly, made all crucial decisions about Rome (e.g. go to war and election of all city officials). All male Romans were allowed to participate in the Centurion Assembly. However, this method was not very democratic, as it was rigged for the wealthy. Each male citizen was assigned to one of these centuries, or groups, based on wealth, with an unequal number of citizens in each century. The Centurion Assembly was divided into 193 centuries. There were 98 centuries for the wealthy, but only 95 centuries for the other 95% of the population. Everyone in a century would meet to vote on an issue. The majority opinion of each century would count as 1 of the 193 votes in the Centurion Assembly. City Officials All city offices were held for 1 year, with the Cursus Honorum (City Officials) exception of Senators. Each office had specific jobs 2 Consuls (Co-Presidents) responsibilities, and was made with checks and balances. Praetors (Courts) There was no payment for services as an official, and it was Aediles (Made sure roads, etc. were built) impossible to get elected without the support of the Senate wealthy, and be wealthy. In addition, candidates for higher Quaestors (Treasury) Page 3 of 24 offices also needed to be famous to have a chance of winning. After election to office the official became a senator for life, with about 300 senators at any one time. The senate ran Rome and controlled all other branches, with important posts going to Senators, including officers and commanders in Rome’s army. The senate can’t technically pass anything without Centurion Assembly, but senators controlled the Centurion Assembly, as only city officials could call for an assembly, speak at it, or sanction a vote. Society: There were 2 social classes the patricians, and the plebeians. The patricians were the wealthiest 5%, while the plebeians were the other 95%. At the beginning, patricians and plebeians could not marry, and only patricians were eligible to hold office. Plebeians don’t like this and demand political, social reform. Lecture 3 – Conflict of Orders Important Terms Conflict of the Orders: 494 – 287 BC 1st Secession: 494 BC Tribunes / Tribal Assembly Decemvirate: 451 – 449 BC XII Tables Appius Claudius Crassus Vergina L. Verginius 2nd Secession Lex Sextia – Licinia: 367 BC Lex Hortensia: 287 BC Conflict of Orders Plebeians want to make changes, starting in 494 BC and continuing to 287 BC, called the Conflict of Orders. They do this to gain more social and political rights, and in the end they gain rights, and Rome becomes more democratic. There were two reasons they were successful. The first was that some plebeians became incredibly wealthy, but despite their economic success, they were second class citizens (because they were plebeian), and were not allowed to hold office, be a senator, or marry a patrician. These rich plebeians became leaders in the plebeian cause. The second factor was that some plebeians gained some money (middle-class). Rome’s military was like a Greek Polis, in that it didn’t provide armor, weapons, or supplies to its soldiers. The advent of iron made things cheaper but still needed to be middle class to afford military equipment. Due to plebeians gaining money and the cost of equipment going down, more and more plebeians were in the army until they were the vast majority. They defended the city and expanded Rome’s power, but were still second class citizens. In 494 BC plebeians are upset, because they aren’t eligible for political office, or senate, and no one was looking out for the average plebeian. There was also debt-bondage, where if you couldn’t pay your loans you could be sold into slavery. Consuls tried to keep focus off internal problems by starting wars, but the plebeians inside and outside the army finally got fed up, left Rome, and went on strike. The strike was the main weapon against patricians, and due to the strike there was now no one to defend the city, and the economy ground to a halt. This is known as the 1st Succession. This caused the patricians to grant concessions, right before a revolt breaks out. The 1st Succession gained the plebeians Page 4 of 24 a new city official and a new assembly for themselves. The official was a called tribune, initially 2, eventually goes to 10. They served for 1 year, but unlike other officials, Tribunes had to be plebeians and were elected by Tribal Assembly. The tribune main function was to look out for plebeian interests.