 LAND: Republic needed land to reward its armies. Romans believed that land was the only important form of wealth, and farming and soldiering were the honourable occupations  RESOURCES: Sicily (grain); Spain (cooking oil); other cities in east (wine, produce, leather and woolen goods)  CONFLICTS: Expansion led to clashes with the Carthaginians, Hellenistic Kingdoms  TRADE: Military expansion to protect sources of trade, fight piracy and banditry  COLONIES: settled and run by full Roman citizens who remained loyal (ie. discharged soldiers) and colonies were linked by roads and a unified currency  WEALTH: accumulating wealth gained from plunder, collecting taxes and importing goods which paid for massive building projects, paid for public works, bread, games

 Originally composed of free citizens who had to perform military service  Used fighting methods of Greeks (phalanx) but developed new methods and tactics  Legions divided into maniples (cohorts) that could move independently and effectively in difficult terrain Contubernium: (tent group) 8 men who bunked together. Centuria: (century) 10 contubernium for a total of 80 men, commanded by a centurion Cohorts: (cohort) included 6 centuriae or a total of 480 fighting men, not including officers. Different cohorts in the legion would have different strengths and weaknesses Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts. Additionally each Legion had a 120 man Alae (cavalry unit) called the Eques Legionis permanently attached to it possibly to be used as scouts and messengers.

 Men carried a 25 kg pack on their backs  Legion standard, silver eagle was considered sacred and was always kept near the commanding general  Legions were strictly disciplined, and constantly exercised  Failure to perform duties or cowardice were sometimes corrected by the execution of 1 every 10 men – gives us the word “decimation”

 Fortifications – Romans were masters of building fortifications. They built long walls to defend their cities, palisades to defend their camps or surround their enemies  Camps – while on campaign, the legion would build a fortified camp every single night. It provided a safe place to sleep, as well as a potential place to retreat if they lost a battle  War Machines - catapults could hurl a boulder 500m

First paved road called via Appia (Appian Way) First paved road called via Appia (Appian Way) over km of road built over km of road built

1 st Punic War  264 BCE- 241 BCE  Rome vs. Sicily, Syracuse and Carthage  Rome wins and seizes Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia

 218 BCE – 202 BCE  Hannibal takes ambitious journey from Spain with troops and 37 elephants over Alps; conquers most of Italian Peninsula with remaining troops and 1 elephant  Four great battles with heavy Roman losses (ie. at Cannae, over out of Roman soldiers were annihilated in one day, but Hannibal can never take Rome itself  14 years later, the final Battle at Zama (202 BCE), Roman general finally defeats Hannibal and the Carthagians were forced to pay reparations to Rome, dismantle navy and forfeit commercial empire

 149 BCE – 146 BCE: Rome is suspicious of a reviving Carthage  50 years after Hannibal’s defeat, Rome found an excuse to finish Carthage off after a Roman delegation was insulted When Carthage finally fell, the city was burned, the men slaughtered, the women (50,000 of them) sold into slavery, and the earth sown with salt so that no crops could ever grow again

Military Victories of the Republic  Control of the Italian Peninsula by 270 B.C.E.  Rome defeats Carthage, giving Rome control of North Africa and Carthage’s provinces in Spain  Macedonia and Greece are conquered and become Roman provinces  Pergamum (present day eastern Turkey) became province of Asia Minor, the first Roman possession in Asia  Gaul (France) conquered by Romans

Significance  Rome became the dominant power in the Mediterranean  Tremendous growth of the city  Creation of a professional army to meet military needs – end of the citizen army  The Roman army became an important political force  Republican institutions were weakened  Roman citizens came to expect wealth and luxury, military spirit declined over time