1. Rise of The Roman Republic
Copyright © Clara Kim All rights reserved.

2. In the Beginning…
Ancient Rome began as a group of villages along the Tiber River in what is now Italy.
Around 750 B.C. these villages united to form the city of Rome.

3. Rome was built on seven rolling hills at a curve on the Tiber River
This strategic location in the middle of the Italian Peninsula gave Rome fertile soil.

4. Control of Rome In the beginning 3 groups inhabited Rome: 3. Etruscans
2. Greeks
1. Latins

5. Formation of Roman Republic
For more than 200 years,
kings ruled Rome.
In 509 B.C. a group of patricians drove out the last Etruscan king and proclaimed Rome an independent republic (a form of government in which power resides in the people, and the government is ruled by elected leaders run according to law).

6. Patricians & Plebeians
In the beginning most of the people elected to the Senate were patricians.
Patricians controlled the law since they were the only citizens allowed to be judges.
Plebeians had the right to vote, but could not hold public office until 287 B.C, when they gained equality with patricians.

7. Government in Rome
Romans replaced their monarchy with elected officials called consuls.
Two Consuls were elected from the Senate witch was made up of the Roman upper class.
These two officials ruled at the same time for a year’s term.
They each had full power with the right to veto the other’s actions.

8. Roman Army Romans were constantly at war.
Rival city-states tried to take advantage of Rome by invading their territory.
Roman forces conquered their neighbors overtime.
Rome made treaties with the conquered towns, permitting them to operate independently in local matters.
In return these towns were expected to provide troops for the Roman army in time of war.
Resulting in endless sources of troops for Rome to use as they made conquests throughout Italy.

9. Roman Expansion
Under the leadership of ambitious generals, Rome’s highly trained soldiers took over most of the land surrounding the Mediterranean.
The ancient Romans called the Mediterranean mare nostrum, meaning “our sea”.

10. Roman Wars Were brutal and bloody.
Roman soldiers made slaves of the defeated people.
Roman allies started to pay tribute money to show their loyalty.

11. Roman Power Maintained power by colonization.
Roman citizens were planted throughout the countryside to establish the Roman control.
Romans began building an extensive system of roads and bridges.
Conquered lands were now connected to Rome.
The Roman army and Roman traders could move anywhere with ease and speed.

12. Romans built over 53,000 miles of roads to connect every part of their empire. The roads were mostly built by the army and were all done by hand.

13. The Punic Wars
Carthage was a city-state on the northern coast of Africa. Carthage was a huge trading empire.
Rome was gaining power in the Mediterranean. Carthage was also gaining power in the Mediterranean. Rome did not want Carthage to control trade. Rome fought three wars with Carthage called the Punic Wars.

14. After the Punic Wars
Increasing wealth and expanding empire brought many problems
The most serious problem was the widening gap between the rich and the poor.

15. Thousands of slaves were captured and made to work on Latifundias [lat-uh-fuhn-dee-uh m] = huge estates. 1

16. 2 Thousands of Soldiers returned from war without jobs or homes.
They moved to cities like Rome to find work.
They became part of the poor class. 2

17. Two Brothers
Tiberius and Gracchus tried to help Rome’s poor by proposing to:
Give land to the poor
Limit the size of estates (latifundias)
The senators felt threatened and the two brothers were murdered

18. Rich Romans became corrupt with money and luxury and tensions between the rich and the poor caused a civil war! 3

19. Julius Caesar
Eventually an ambitious and daring leader emerged to bring order to Rome