1. History of Rome

3. Beginnings of Rome About 2000BC, Indo-Europeans migrated into Italy
The Latins (ancestors of the Romans) lived in west-central Italy; the region was called Latium.
City of Rome founded (according to tradition) in 753BC by Romulus
Located at a shallow place on the Tiber River, where there were 7 hills
Several villages on these 7 hills combined to become the city of Rome

4. Neighboring people in Italy
Etruscans-who lived in the region called Etruria, north of Latium- from whom the Romans learned:
Basics of engineering-how to pave roads, drain swamps, construct sewers
Drained the swamp between the hills, dug the cloaca maxima (very big ditch)
They built the forum between the hills
Writing
Roman Alphabet came from the
Etruscan Alphabet, which came from the
Greek Alphabet, which came from the
Phoenician Alphabet
Greeks-who lived in Greek colonies on the coast of southern Italy, from whom the Romans got many of their myths and stories about their gods. Roman gods mirrored Greek gods.

5. Early Government of Rome
KINGS: 753BC-509BC, Rome was ruled by a series of 7 kings; the last king was an Etruscan.
OVERTHROW OF THE KING:
In 509BC (following a shocking incident in which the last king’s son raped a virtuous noble Roman lady names Lucretia), the Romans expelled their king, vowed never to have a king again, and set up a “republic”.

6. REPUBLIC-509BC-27BC
The word “republic” comes from Latin, “res publica”, which means “thing of the people”.
A republic is a government in which citizens elect leaders, who make laws and run the state
The official name of the Roman Republic was “The Senate and People of Rome”, abbreviated “S.P.Q.R.” Senatus Populusque Romanus

7. Social Classes of Early Rome
2 main social classes in the early republic
Patricians-nobles, membership by birth
Plebeians-common free citizens including farmers, merchants, artisans, etc. (vast majority!)
In the later republic, other social classes grew:
Esquestrians-an upper middle class between the Patricians and Plebians
Slaves became much more numerous.

8. Government of the Roman Republic
Senate
300 members: at first they were all from the patrician class. Later plebeians could be members
They got their seats by being appointed by the consuls. Kept their seats for life.
Set foreign policy, Advised consuls, controlled public funds,

9. MAGISTRATES
2 Consuls-chief executives; each had veto power over the other; ran the government & led the army; elected for 1 year term; symbol of his power was the fasces, a bundle of sticks around an ax.
Praetors- judges of law courts and leaders of the army; elected for 1 year term
Censors- enrolled the citizens; oversaw public morals; elected every 1½ years for a 5 year term.
Aediles: supervised public places, public games, the grain supply
Quaestors: financial officers, who helped the Praetors and Consuls.
10 Tribunes-elected by the Plebeians (commoners) to represent them; had veto power over any measure passed by the Senate
Dictator: special position; appointed by Senate or Consuls in times of special danger; had absolute power for up to 6 months, until the danger passed. Most of the time, there was no dictator.

10. ASSEMBLIES of citizens
Assembly of Centuries:
all male citizens; the citizens were divided into groups according to wealth;
the wealthier groups had fewer men in them;
each group voted, & then the result became one vote;
the votes of the groups were counted;
thus all citizens voted, but the votes of the wealthy counted more
This assembly elected high officials, declared war, and made laws.
Plebeian Assembly: all male plebeian citizens, elected tribunes & passed laws.

11. In the very early Republic:
Social class was determined by birth;
Patricians held almost all the power;
all Senators were Patrician;
Plebeians could vote but could not hold office;
marriage between patricians and plebeians was forbidden;
laws were unwritten (and the judges were Patrician).

12. CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS-Roman civil rights movement
Plebeians wanted more rights. Several times, Plebeians “went on strike”, left & camped outside the city, and would not return until their demands were met. It worked.

13. CONFLICT OF THE ORDERS
494BC-right to have their own assembly (Plebeian Assembly) and elect their own representatives-called Tribunes- with veto power in the Senate.
450BC-Laws of the 12 Tables were written and posted in the Forum (main public area)
445BC-intermarriage legalized
367BC: plebeians became eligible to be Consuls (and any other office)
342 BC: law said one of the two Consuls must be a plebeian
300 BC: ½ of the Praetors had to be plebeians.
287 BC: all measures passed by the Plebeian Assembly had the force of law for the whole Roman state. Now Patricians & Plebeians were legally equal.

14. Early Roman Army
All male citizens age who owned land were required to serve in the army.
Soldiers were called Legionaires
Legions-citizen soldiers
Legion-about 4800
Cohort-about 480
Century-about 80
Tent Group – about 8
Auxiliary troops, including cavalry and archers, later added from non-citizens
The key to the Roman army was perseverence and strict discipline.

15. PERSEVERENCE & DISCIPLINE
The keys to the success of the Roman army were perseverence and strict discipline.
Mostly, the discipline was self-discipline because self-discipline was an important Roman virtue.
At the end of their term of service, Roman soldiers were given land.
However, discipline could be imposed. For example, the traditional penalty for cowardice by a group of soldiers was “decimation”, killing one in every ten men as an example to the others.

16. Conquest of Italy
Rome fought many wars against neighboring people, and almost always won. Usually these wars were started by the neighboring people
Between 509BC-265BC, Rome fought numerous wars with other people in Italy until by 265BC they controlled all Italy.
390BC-Big set back; Rome was captured & burned by invading Gauls; but Rome eventually expelled them and rebuilt.
Rome continued to fight & defeat other people of Italy, including the Etruscans & Greek colonies.
Reasons for success: great army and good policies

17. Policies toward conquered people in Italy
Policies toward conquered people in Italy were usually generous and wise
People in nearby areas given full Roman citizenship, including right to vote
People farther away were given half citizenship; couldn’t vote but had some rights
Retired soldiers were given land in conquered areas; they helped maintain control over the conquered areas, and spread Roman culture and language (Latin).
Most people in Italy came to appreciate Roman rule and feel loyalty to the Roman state.

18. Early Roman Society and Family
The family was the most important unit of society. Each person belonged to a family and gens (clan-group of related families)
Romans were patriarchal; the father was “paterfamilias”, and had the power of life and death over family members.
Women, however, were respected, and the mother managed the household. Women could not vote, but they could own property, operate businesses, and were not expected to stay in the house like Greek women.
Roman worshiped gods, especially Jupiter, Juno and Minerva

19. Early Roman Religion
Roman worshiped gods, especially Jupiter, Juno and Minerva
From the Etruscans they got methods of augury (foretelling the future), which included analyzing the entrails and liver of sacrificed animals, observing thunder and lighting, and the flights of birds.
Rome had a high priest called the Pontifex Maximus, and many lower priests, and women called the Vestal Virgins, priestesses of Vesta, whose job was to keep the sacred hearth-fire of Rome.