The Rise of the Roman Republic Lesson 2

The Big Picture  By 509 B.C Romans had overthrown their king, Tarquinis.  They began to set up a new government where the people had more of a say  Divisions of the rich and poor, powerful and not so powerful, would affect the shape of the government

The Citizens of Rome  Like Greece, society in Rome was divided into 2 groups:  Those who were citizens and those who were not  Plebeians: men who farmed, traded, and made things for a living  Patricians: members of the noble family. They owned large farms and had the plebeians work for them  At first, Rome had few slaves  The city did have many women, but none of them were citizens

Plebeians Protest  After Rome’s last king was overthrown the patricians took power  The remade the city’s government  Only patricians could belong to a ruling assembly or become government leaders  Rome’s many plebeians reacted with protest (According to the Roman historian Livy)  They demanded changes in the government

A New Government  According to Livy, at this time, both sides decided to work together to improve Rome’s government  The new government was called a republic (which means “public things” in Latin)  In a republic citizens choose their leaders

Governing the Republic  Unlike the democracy of Athens, not all Roman citizens participated in the assembly that ran the city. Instead the elected representatives (people who acted for them)  Government of the U.S is often called a republic  Unlike the U.S, not all votes of the Roman citizens were equal. In Rome the more powerful a man was, the greater the influence his vote had

 3 different government branches ran the city’s affairs:  Each branch had decision making powers that allowed it to have control over the actions of other branches  The oldest most powerful branch was the senate  The senate was controlled by Rome’s patricians  Like the senate of the U.S, the Roman senate determined how Rome would act toward other governments.  It also had control of all money collected and spent by the Roman republic

Power for the Assembly  Plebeians formed a citizen assembly  Beginning in 494 B.C the citizen assembly elected tribunes who worked to gain rights for the plebeians  The tribunes were leaders of the large citizen assembly

The Consuls  Tribunes worked to make sure plebeians got fair trials  They brought plebeian complaints before the Senate and the consuls  Consuls: the 3 rd branch of Rome’s republic  Each year the citizen assembly elected 2 men to become consuls  Consuls served as Rome’s army commanders and the city’s most powerful judges  They could: arrest anyone and propose new laws  The citizen assembly, could veto, or stop, any of the consuls’ actions

Plebeian Influences Grows  The assembly met to vote in a large field along the Tiber river. The field was also headquarters for the plebeian army  The plebeian army protected both the city of Rome and its patrician leaders  This role gave plebeians added power to change Rome’s government in an important way  Patrician leaders had ruled Rome according to unwritten laws. Patrician leaders were the only one who knew of these laws.  It was hard for the plebeians to know what was and was not against the laws.  If brought to trial, the plebeians had to hope the judge was going to be fair  450 B.C plebeians protested the unfairness of the unwritten laws. The Patricians agreed to write a collection of laws on Twelve Tables

The Laws of the Republic  The twelve tables governed everything from marriage to slavery  Example: People who did not pay their debt could become slaves  Like Hammurabi’s Code in Babylon, the twelve tables were an important development for written laws  The twelve tables were posted in the city’s forum  the forum was a gravel clearing (not bigger than a soccer field)  This was the center of life in Rome  Here senators met and citizens pleaded their case in front of a judge  Women sometimes joined the debate, in the hopes of influencing the vote

The Republic Expands  The roman army moved out across the peninsula to conquer other areas  By 265 B.C Rome controlled all of the Italian peninsula

A Rival Across the Sea  In 264 B.C roman soldiers landed on the island of Sicily. This sparked a long conflict with the empire of Carthage  Carthage was a city based in present- day Tunisia (located in Africa)  Since, Carthage had once been a colony of Phoenicia, Romans named their conflicts with the city the Punic Wars.  After more than 20 years of fighting, Carthage surrendered control of Sicily to Rome  Rome continued to conquer more land that Carthage had conquered  The leaders of Carthage were outraged! They asked Hannibal to seek revenge

Hannibal's Plan  Rome controlled the waters around Italy  Hannibal planned to attack from land  He marched from Spain to Rome with 90,000 men and elephants (which scared the Romans)  Hannibal won many of the major battles but did not win the war  Scorpio (Rome's 25 year old general) defeated Hannibal outside of Carthage in the battle of Zama  The defeated gave Rome Carthage’s empire.  Rome became the most powerful nation in the Mediterranean

The Changing Republic  All of these changes upset the workings of the Republic  Patrician and plebeians struggled for government control  Slaves and conquered people revolted against the Roman leaders  By about 100 B.C the republic of Rome was fighting for its life