Rome
-Roman Geography
- Rome was built on 7 rolling hils around the Tiber River, near the center of the Itialian peninsula
- Its the midway point between the Alps and Italys southern tip
-First Romans
- From 1000 to 500 BC three groups inhabited the region and fought for control of it
- They were latins, greeks and Etruscans
- The latins buit the original settelment at Rome
- It was a cluster of wooden huts on top of one of the seven hills
-Greek Influence
- Between 750 BC and 600 BC the Greeks established colonies along the southern part of Italy and Sicily
- The cities became very prosperous and commercially active
- They brought all of Italy, incuding Rome, into closer contact with Greek civilization
-Etruscans
- They were native to northern Italy
- They were skilled metal worers and engineers
- They were influential in the development of Roman Civilization
- Romans adopted their alphabet
- ALso they adopted some of their architecture especially the arch
-Republic - a form of government in which the power rests with citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders
- In Rome citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free - born adult male landowners
-Patricians and Plebeians
- In the early republic, different groups of Romans struggled for power
- Patricians- The wealthy landowners who held most of the power (Romans from the early republic, originated from..)
- Plebeians- The common person, but could still bote. Usually farmers ad merchants
- The Patricians inherited their power and social status, and claimed that they had the right to rule due to their ancestry
- They barred the plebeians from holding high offices in the government
- In time the leader of rome allowed the plebeians to form their own assembly and elect their own rep. to protect their rights from the patrician officials, they called this their "tribunes"
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