Ancient Rome Notes Master Fall 2007

History of Western Civilization/Fall 2007

The Italian Peninsula…ideal location

The first Romans and Italians

• …were farmers and nomadic herdsmen

• …were highly developed technically (bronze, horses, wheeled carts)

• …included different ethnic groups

Etruscans

• Moved in between 800 and 700 BCE

• Probably came originally from the Middle East

• Stretched from the Arno River (North) to the Tiber River (central)

Mix and match

• Etruscans had contact with the natives (like Latins); provided religion, language, ideas

• Etruscans formed city-states, not unlike the Greeks

Italian Peninsulaat the dawn of Rome…

Rome…according to legend

• Rome was created by Remus and Romulus

Rome…according to history

• Tribal culture and social order dominates Rome until about 750 BCE

• The likely village of Rome developed into a town/city

• Drew aggressively on Etruscan culture/urban expectations

Early Roman Government

• Governed by a monarchy, who was absolute

• Monarch’s power was described as imperium; which is best described as similar to the power a father has over a household

Speaking of fathers…

• Roman monarchy is patrilineal (passed down to sons)

• In the Roman family, father is all powerful– Can kill children, or sell them

into slavery, if they talked to the fam

– Couldn’t kill wife, but was allowed to divorce (rare)

– Father was the family priest

• Monarchy followed the father model…absolute power, but had to acknowledge the people, the welfare and tradition

Early Government Structure…

The King(Absolute)

Senate(Council of Elders, “clan confederacy”)

Assembly(All male citizens [both parents Roman])

• System means that a form of democracy existed early in Rome

Roman Growth

• City inspired growth, and the accumulation of wealth

• Most wealth is concentrated among the rich

• Develops a system of HAVES and HAVE-NOTS:– Patricians: the wealthy;

controlled trade, the military and government

– Plebians: the rest; the farmers, laborers and crafts people

Roman Expansion

• Fear or invasion pushes Roman control outward; Rome forces its power through the peninsula

• Romans weren’t greedy for land and territory, just paranoid

Relics of expansion: roads

Transition

• Eventually, the native (?) Romans tired of Etruscan influence

• Drove them from power in 509 BCE

Generalities aboutthe Republic Era

• State of– …constant warfare– …constant expansion– …solidification of law codes

New Government Forms2 Consuls

(Patricians; Rulers of Rome; elected for a 1 year term)

evolved to…

Preconsuls(Extended terms during military campaigns)

Plus…

Quaestors (Financial Officers)

Praetor(Jusifical Military Official)

Censor(Tax officiers)

Poverty creates reform…

• Peblians and patricians fight for power

• Peblians actually threaten a separatist government

The Law of Twelve Tables

• Formalizes Roman law and organizes the constitution

• New laws emerge:– Patricians and plebians allowed

to intermarry– Eventually gained the right to

be elected counsul and to the Senate

– Plebian assembly eventually considered binding

• Crisis averted? Woo hoo!

The Republic adds territory…

• Tarquin? Check• Etruscans? Check• Guals? Whoops; burns Rome to

the ground • Samnites? Check• Greek city-states in the South?

Check• By 290BCE, Rome controls the

Italian Pennisula

The Roman Way…

• How to keep everyone happy?– Owned territories send taxes

and troops to Rome, but…– They get liberal rights– Roads are built to the cities (

trade)