1. Section 2 The Roman Republic and Empire
Chapter 1
Section 2
The Roman Republic and Empire

2. Etruscan Rule Romans moved to Italy c. 800 BC.
Much of Italy was ruled by the Etruscans.
They had an aristocracy led by a king
Romans drove them out in 509 BC

3. New Government
Romans hated kings, which they associated with the Etruscans, and so they established a system in which the people chose some officials.
They called it a Republic, “thing of the people”
They thought it would keep any individual from gaining too much power.

4. New Government
At first, the most powerful governing body was the Senate
Made up of 300 patricians - members of the landholding upper class.
Senators served for life, made laws, and each year elected 2 consuls.
Consuls supervised the business of government and commanded the army.
They only served one term and had to consult with the Senate on major decisions.

5. New Government
During war the senate might choose a dictator - ruler who has complete control of the government.
Law granted each Roman dictator power to rule for 6 months
Cincinnatus was considered the model dictator: he organized an army, led Rome to victory over an invading army, attended victory celebrations, and returned to his farmlands--all within 16 days.

6. Common People Demand Equality
The bulk of Roman population were plebeians - common people (poorer farmers, merchants, artisans, etc.)
450 BC - laws of Rome inscribed on 12 tablets and set up in the Forum (marketplace).
Later, plebeians gained right to elect their own officials, called Tribunes.
Tribunes could veto (block) laws harmful to plebeians
Over time the common people forced the Senate to choose plebeians for consuls and finally for members of the Senate itself.

7. Continuing Conquest
By 270 BC, Rome controlled most of the Italian peninsula.
This brought it into contact with Carthage - city-state on northern coast of Africa that had established an empire.
Between 264 and 146 BC Rome fought 3 wars with Carthage known as the Punic Wars.

10. Punic Wars Rome won the first Punic War.
During the second, Carthaginian general Hannibal led his army, including dozens of war elephants, over the Alps and on a destructive rampage through Italy.
In the 3rd Punic War, Rome completely destroyed Carthage

13. Punic Wars Videos https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lf0-Yki5p40

14. Continuing Conquest
Meanwhile, Rome was also expanding east into the empire once ruled by Alexander the Great. One by one they became Roman provinces or, like Egypt, allied with Rome.
By 133 BC Roman power extended from Spain to Egypt. The Mediterranean became mare nostrum, “our sea”.

16. Economics and Social Effects
Conquest and control of trade routes incredible wealth to Rome.
A new class of wealthy landholders emerged. They bought up huge estates and forced people captured in war to work them as slaves.
Small farmers couldn’t compete and grain from conquered lands drove down prices.
Citizen soldiers gained little from Roman success

17. Gracchus brothers
Roman tribune Tiberius Gracchus and his brother Gaius hoped to imporve the lot of Plebeians.
Tried to distrubute land to poor farmers and use public funds to buy grain to feen the poor
Senators saw them as a threat and set off waves of street violence with the help of hired thugs. The brothers, along with thousands of their followers, were killed.
Rome plunged into a series of civil wars.

19. Gracchus Videos
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20. Julius Caesar’s Rise to Power
During the civil wars, Rome’s army evolved from citizen-soldiers into professional forces loyal first to their commanders instead of Rome. One of these military leaders was Julius Caesar.
By 51 BC, Caesar had completed his conquest of Gaul (France). Fearful of his political ambition, the Senate ordered him to disband his army and return to Rome.

21. Julius Caesar’s Rise to Power
He defied their order and marched his army across the Rubicon River toward Rome.
He defeated the army sent to stop him and forced the Senate to make him dictator for life.
Between 48 and 44 BC he pushed through reforms such as a public works program for the unemployed and gave public land to the poor.
His enemies feared he would make himself king.

22. Ides of March
15 March 44 BC, Caesar was stabbed to death while arriving in the Senate.
Civil War followed with Caesar’s grand-nephew Octavian emerging the victor.
27 BC, the senate gave him the title Augustus (Exalted One) and declared him first citizen of Rome. Augustus Caesar made sure not to call himself king, though he held absolute power.
This marked the end of the Republic and the beginning of the Roman Empire

23. Emperor Augustus Caesar
Created efficient civil service to enforce laws and opened high-level jobs based on merit, not class. Cemented allegiance of provinces to Rome by allowing much self-government.
Held a census.
His government functioned well for 200 years marked for general peace and order throughout the region. This is known as the Pax Romana, “Roman Peace”.

24. Roman Law
Roman law continued to grow from the original 12 tables and additions of judge’s opinions and rules over the centuries. The resulting system applied only to Roman citizens.
Many conquered nations had their own rules and traditions. A separate system of law was put in place based on reason and the what they saw as the laws of nature, inspired by Stoic philosophy. This became the Law of Nations and applied to all peoples.
This was the inspiration for the principle of natural rights.

25. Common Principles Accused was presumed innocent until proven gulty
Accused had the right to face the accuser and offer a defense
Guilt had to be established through evidence

26. Justinian’s Code
Western Roman empire collapsed under pressure of Germanic invaders in the 400s. Power had already shifted east in the Byzantine empire.
Justinian ruled this empire from 527 to 565. He collected, revised, and organized all the laws of ancient Rome producing the Body of Civil Law, popularly known as Justinian’s Code.
By the 1100s Justinian’s Code reached Western Europe. Later it would serve to guide legal thinkers who compiled the international law in use today.

27. Roman Culture
Greco-Roman culture - Blended Greek, Hellenistic, and Roman traditions.
Stoics like Cicero were well respected philosophers. Stressed importance of duty and concern for the well-being of all people.
Much of Greco-Roman culture was lost after the fall of Rome, though some lived on in the Catholic Church and the Byzantine Empire. Muslim scholars, however, would preserve much of the Greco-Roman ideas in philosophy, mathematics, and science. These ideas would later make it back to Europe after the Crusades.