The Roman Republic

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Chapter 5 The Roman Republic
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Ancient Italy and the City of Rome (inset) 1.
The geography of Italy is such that it naturally
faces west, not east to Greece. Extending 750
miles north to south, the peninsula is dominated
by the Apennine Mountains which break off from
the Alps and not only run the entire length but
also span more than half the breadth. While the
Alps and Apennines form a natural barrier, the
numerous valleys and passes permit people to
migrate to Italy from the north. On the Adriatic
side the land is unattractive while that which
faces the Tyrrhenian Sea has fertile valleys
among the mountains and numerous rivers in
addition to the fertile coastal plain of Latium
in central Italy and Campania to the south. The
fertility of the land permits the support of a
large population. 2. The Po Valley in the north
is the most fertile region of Italy. While the
Etruscans expanded into the region early on, it
did not become Roman territory until late in the
Republic. 3. The people who settled the upland
valleys of the western Apennines (Sabines and
Samnites) found well-protected areas and thus
there was little to persuade the scattered
settlements to combine for defense or politics.
However, on the plains, especially Latium, no
such natural defenses existed. As a result,
there was inducement not only to come together
for protection but also to carry on trade. By
the seventh century B.C. there were about forty
city-states in Latium. 4. The location of Rome
was ideal. The area was a crossroad for trade
since it was here that the Tiber River could be
forded. Established eighteen miles up the river
from the coast, Rome was as far as ships could
safely navigate. For building, there was plenty
of timber. The land was rolling with several
hills, which were easily defensible, especially
Capitoline Hill. A defensive wall of stone and
earth built by Servius Tullius surrounded the
settlement in a six-mile circuit. The center of
city life was the paved Forum that was originally
a marketplace but later became the center of
government. 5. Italy has few good harbors but
those that do exist are found in the south. It
was natural that the seafarers from Greece
beginning in the eighth century B.C. should make
use of these. They founded Cumae in the Bay of
Naples, Naples, Tarentum, Brindisi and Syracuse
in Sicily. So heavily occupied was the southern
boot by Greeks that the Romans came to call it
Magna Graecia. The trade, however, did not go
only east and west but also extended north and
south. This brought the Greeks into contact with
the Etruscans of Eturia. By the seventh century
the Etruscans were not only in Rome but also had
established a settlement at Capua near the Greek
city of Naples. Questions 1. What geographical
features of Italy influenced its development? 2.
Compare the geographical conditions of Greece and
Italy. In what manner do the differences
contribute to the unique development of each area?

• Ancient Italy and the City of Rome

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• Early Rome and the Etruscans
• Geography of the Italian Peninsula
• Greek colonization, 750-550 B.C.
• Etruscans
• Origins
• Etruria
• Early Rome, 753-509 B.C.
• Romulus and Remus, 753 B.C.
• Influence of Etruscans
• Dress
• Fasces
• Military

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• The Roman Republic, c. 509-264 B.C.
• Roman State
• Political institutions
• Two consuls, imperium
• Praetor, imperium
• Senate (senatus consultum), 300 men serving for
  life
• Comitia centuriata, Roman army
• Concilium plebis (plebeian assembly)
• Comitia tributa (tribal assembly)

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• Social organization
• Paterfamilias
• Patricians
• Plebeians
• Struggle of the Orders
• Tribunes, 494 B.C.
• Concilium plebis (plebeian assembly), 471 B.C.
• Twelve Tables, 450 B.C.
• Licinian-Sextian laws, 367 B.C.
• One consul must be a plebeian, 342 B.C.
• Lex Hortensia, 287 B.C.

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Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean (264-133
B.C.) 1. The threat of Rome to Carthage was
illustrated in 508 B.C. by a treaty in which
Carthage recognized Rome's authority over Latium
in return for Rome pledging not to sail in the
waters west of Carthage. 2. The Mamertines were
Samnite mercenaries from Campania who seized
Messina in 264 B.C. and then began raiding the
nearby Greek cities. When Syracuse attacked the
pirates and defeated them, some Mamertines called
on the Carthaginians for help. Not wishing rival
Syracuse to control the strait, Carthage sent
aid. Another Mamertine faction, fearing a
Carthaginian advantage, called on Rome for help.
The resulting war (264-241 B.C.) left Carthage
defeated. It had to surrender Sicily and shortly
thereafter Corsica and Sardinia. 3. Hannibal's
invasion force of 30,000-40,000 infantry, 6,000
cavalry, and about forty war elephants left New
Carthage in May 218 B.C. Shortly thereafter,
Saguntum, which was allied with Rome, was
attacked and defeated thereby prompting Rome's
declaration of war. Continuing on to the Alps,
it took 19 days for passage to Italy. The force,
however, was reduced to about 24,000 due to
desertion, release, and hostile encounters with
the mountain people. 4. Near Lake Trasimene, the
road to Rome crossed a narrow plain enclosed by
surrounding hills in the shape of a crescent.
Here, in the spring of 217 B.C., Hannibal trapped
a Roman army of about 30,000 men, killing nearly
all. Northern Italy was Hannibal's. 5. After
Lake Trasimene, Hannibal proceeded in the spring
of 216 B.C. south and east, finally meeting a
Roman army of 80,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry
with his own force of 19,000 veterans, 16,000
Gauls and 10,000 cavalry near Cannae. The Romans
were annihilated, 44,000 being killed. With
this, Hannibal controlled southern Italy and Rome
was without an army. Nevertheless, the city of
Rome did not fall. 6. Following victories in
Spain which cut supplies and reinforcements to
Hannibal, Publicus Scipio proceeded to Carthage
and placed it under siege in 205 B.C. thereby
forcing Hannibal to come to Africa. Hannibal,
with an inferior force, met Scipio in 202 B.C. at
Zama about fifty miles outside of Carthage.
Losing his first battle, Hannibal also lost the
war. Carthage had to surrender Spain to the
Romans. 7. After the success at Zama, Rome
turned its attention to Macedonia which had
allied with Hannibal during the Punic War. A
Macedonian army was overwhelmed at Cynoscephalae
in 197 B.C. The Roman presence also brought war
against the Seleucid king. The two forces met at
Magnesia in 189 B.C. resulting in yet another
Roman victory. Questions 1. Why were the
Carthaginians unsuccessful in their wars against
Rome? 2. How did the Carthaginian wars prepare
Rome for an empire?

• Roman Conquests in the Mediterranean

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• Conquest of Italy
• Latium, 340 B.C.
• Samnite Wars, 343-290 B.C.
• Revolt of Latium, 340-338 B.C.
• Pyrrhic War, 281-267 B.C.
• Colonies
• Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean, 264-133 B.C.
• Punic Wars
• First Punic War, 264-241 B.C.
• Second Punic War, 218-201 B.C.
• Hannibal
• Battle of Cannae, 216 B.C.
• Battle of Zama, 202 B.C.

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• Third Punic War, 149-146 B.C.
• Eastern Mediterranean
• Macedonia
• Pergamum
• Nature of Roman Imperialism
• No master plan
• Opportunistic
• Expansionism
• Society and Culture in the Roman Republic
• Religion
• Pantheon of gods
• Human dependency
• Ritual
• Religious festivals

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• Education
• Rhetoric art of persuasive speaking
• Professional teachers
• Slavery
• Foreign slaves, captured in war
• Piracy source
• Children of slaves
• Occupations
• Latifundia
• Slave law
• Rebellion in Sicily, 104-101 B.C.
• Spartacus rebellion, 73 B.C.

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• Roman Family
• Paterfamilias
• Arranged marriages
• Education
• Women
• Roman law
• Twelve Tables, 450 B.C.
• Civil law, ius civile
• Praetor
• Ius gentium law of nations
• Ius naturale natural law

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• Development of Literature and Art
• Literature
• Plautus (c. 254-184 B.C.)
• Terence (185-159 B.C.)
• Panaetius of Rhodes (c. 180-111 B.C.)
• Hellenistic style of art
• Architecture and sculpture
• Values and Attitudes
• Mos maiorum
• Cato the Elder (234-149 B.C.)
• Scipio Aemilianus (185-129 B.C.)

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• Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic, 133-21
  B.C.
• Problems
• Nobiles
• Optimates
• Populares
• Equites (equestrians)
• Changes in the army
• Small farmers
• Service changed from 2 to 6 years
• Development of latifundias
• Landless families

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• Reforms
• Tiberius Gracchus, 133 B.C.
• Gaius Gracchus, , 123-122 B.C.
• Roman army
• Marius (157-86 B.C.), consul 107, 104-100 B.C.
• Sulla (138-78 B.C.), dictator 82-79 B.C.
• Collapse of the Republic
• Crassus (c. 112-53 B.C.)
• Pompey (106-48 B.C.)
• Marcus Tullius Cicero (106-43 B.C.)

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Roman Dominions in the Late Republic, 31 B.C. 1.
In order to protect Rome's ally Massilia
(Marseille) against the Gauls in the interior,
the southern region of Gaul was annexed in 121
B.C. and the province named Narbonne. 2. In 58
B.C. Julius Caesar became the governor of
Cisalpine and Narbonese Gaul. Dreaming of
conquering all of Gaul, he waged war for two
years. Caesar proclaimed conquest in 56 B.C. and
the Senate prematurely declared it a Roman
province. The region was not fully conquered by
Caesar until four years later. 3.
Semi-independent Numidia in North Africa was
subdued in 105 B.C. 4. The Rhine and Danube
Rivers were natural barriers beyond which were
the "barbarian" tribes. 5. In 67 B.C. Pompey was
sent against the pirates of the Cilician coast
who had a thousand ships and controlled four
hundred towns. The attack of the pirates not only
threatened grain supplies but their success in
capturing grain ships drove up the prices of
grain. With an army of 125,000 men and 500
vessels, Pompey accomplished his task and grain
once again flowed freely to Rome. Pompey then
turned his attention to Bithynia, Pontus, Syria,
and Judea that were soon conquered, much to the
joy of Roman businessmen and merchants. 6. In
the Battle of Pharsalus in the summer of 48 B.C.
Caesar's force of 22,000 infantry and 1000
horsemen crushed Pompey and his army of 48,000
infantry and 7000 cavalry. Pompey fled the
field, eventually making his way to Alexandria
where agents of the Egyptian pharaoh murdered
him. The Republic had died. 7. In late summer
42 B.C. the army of Octavian met the last armies
of the Republic fielded by Marcus Brutus and
Gaius Cassius at Philippi in Greece. Antony
defeated the legions of Cassius who in failure
ordered his shield-bearer to kill him. A few
days later Antony crushed the army of Brutus.
Brutus committed suicide. 8. In the late summer
of 31 B.C. the fleet of Antony and Cleopatra
sailed into the Ionian Sea to give battle with
Octavian. The Egyptian force consisted of 500
ships, supplemented by 100,000 infantry and
12,000 cavalry. Octavian fielded 400 vessels,
80,000 infantry, and 12,000 cavalry. Fought at
Actium, Cleopatra's forces were cut off by land
and sea, forcing a naval battle won by Octavian.
Beaten, Antony fled back to Egypt where he died.
Cleopatra, rather than submit to being a captive
of Rome, committed suicide. Octavian took the
Egyptian throne for himself and did not make
Egypt a province. Questions 1. What was the
role of political rivalries and ambitions in the
expansion of Roman territory during the late
Republic? 2. To whose benefit was the expansion
in the East? Why?

• Roman Dominions in the Late Republic, 31 B.C.

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• Julius Caesar (100-44 B.C.)
• Gaul
• First Triumvirate
• Crossing the Rubicon River, 49 B.C.
• Battle of Pharsalus, 49 B.C.
• Dictator, 47-44 B.C.
• Octavian versus Antony
• Octavian, grandnephew and adopted son of Caesar
• Second Triumverate
• Marc Antony, Marcus Lepidus, Octavian
• Proscription
• Battle of Philippi
• Division of the empire
• Battle of Actium, 31 B.C.

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• Literature of the Late Republic
• Catullus (c. 87-54 B.C)
• Lucretius (c. 94-55 B.C.)
• On the Nature of the Universe
• Cicero (106-43 B.C.)
• On the Laws
• On the Republic
• Sallust (86-35 B.C.)
• War with Jugurtha
• War with Cataline
• Julius Caesar
• Commentaries on the Gallic War