Rome Notes
Geography:
- Built on 7 rolling hills around the Tiber River, near the center of the Italian peninsula
- Midway point between Alps and Italy’s southern tip
First Romans:
- From 1000 to 500 BC, three groups inhabited region and fought for control
- Were Latins, Greeks, and Etruscans
- The Latins built original settlement at Rome – cluster of wooden huts on top of one of the seven hills
Greek Influence:
- Between 750 BC and 600 BC, Greeks established colonies along the southern part of Italy and Sicily.
- Cities became very prosperous and commercially active
- Brought all of Italy, including Rome, into closer contact with Greek civilization
Etruscans:
- Native to northern Italy
- Skilled metal workers/engineers
- Very influential in development of Roman civilization
- Romans adopted their alphabet and some of their architecture, especially the arch
Republic – is a form of government in which the power rests with the citizens who have the right to vote for their leaders.
- In Rome, citizenship with voting rights was granted only to adult, free-born male landowners.
- In the early republic, different groups of Romans struggled with power
- Patricians – wealthy landowners who held most of power – inherited
- Plebeians – common person, but could still vote. Usually farmers/merchants – making it out on their own
- Patricians inherited their power and social status, and they claimed that they had the right to rule due to their ancestry
- The barred the Plebeians from holding high offices in gov’t
- In time, leaders of Rome allowed the Plebeians to form their own assembly and elect their own representatives to protect their rights from Patrician officials, they called this their tribunes
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