Roman Gov't
- Executive Branch
- two consuls vs one president
- 1 year term vs 4 year term
- Legislative Branch
- Senate
- high social and economic status
- serve for life
- advises consuls
- Centuriate Assembly
- soldiers only
- chose consuls
- serve for life
- Tribal Assembly
- ordinary citizens
- serve for life
- make laws
- Senate
- Judicial Branch
- highest court had 8 judges
- 1 year by the Centuriate Assembly
- two oversee civil and criminal courts (the other govern provinces)
- Legal Code
- Twelve Tables
- this was a list of rules that was the Supreme law of the land in Rome
- in America, this is equal to the Constitution
- Twelve Tables
- Army
- Along with their gov't, the Romans also took great pride in their military as well
- all men who owned land were required to serve in the army
- some of the high public office positions required 10 years of military service
- Legions
- the Roman soldiers were organized into large military unites called legions
- Legions were made up of 5,000 foot soldiers
- a group of cavalry would support each legion
- the military organization and fighting skill of the Roman army were key factors in Rome's rise to greatness
- Expansion
- by fourth century BC, the Romans dominated central Italy
- they had defeated the Etruscans to the north and the Greek city-states to the south
- Treatment
- Latins on the Tiber became full citizens
- In territory farther from Rome, the conquered people were citizens as well but didn't have voting power
- the remaining people became "allies" of Rome
- Research
- in your group, research the Punic Wars and Hannibal
- discuss who fought in the war
- key players
- who won the war
- lasting effects on the wars: how it affected Romans and Carthage
Punic Wars – series of 3 wars fought by Rome and Carthage from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, it was probably the largest wars that had ever taken place.
Hannibal – son of Hamilcar Barca. He was a Punic Carthaginian military commander, generally considered of the greatest military commanders in history. His father, Hamilcar Barca, was the leading Carthainian commander during the First Punic War, his younger brothers were Mago and Hasdrubal, and he was brother-in-law to Hasdrubal the Fair
Key players:
King Pyrrhus – the king of Epirus who won a battle but might as well have lost
Hamilcar Barca – Carthaginian General, father of Hannibal
Hannibal – Carthaginian General who took his armies into Italy. Military genious who incorporated elephants into warfare
Scipio Africanus the Elder – given command of Roman forces in Spain, very young at the time who pushed back Carthaginian by 206 BC
Scipio Africanus the Younger – led Rome in its final war against Carthage
Livy – the historian who writes about the story of Cincinnatus
Cincinnatus – Roman Hero called on to be dictator during war time, served his duty and returned home to his farm
Cicero – the first-century BC politician and writer
Cato – Conservative politician in Rome who advocated the destruction of Carthage. Ended every speech with “And I think Carthage must be destroyed.”
Sulla – member of the nobiles, made consul for 88 BC
Tiberius Gracchus – member of nobiles who ruled Rome. Lived 163 – 133 BC
Marius – came to Prominence during the war in North Africa, ran for consul with the slogan “Win the War”
Octavian – Caesar’s adopted son and grandnephew who took command of some of Caesar’s legions
Mark Antony – right hand man of Julius Caesar, joined forces with Octavian
Lucretius – important poet of the late Republic who followed an old Greek tradition of expounding philosophy in the form of poetry
Sallust – Roman historian who lived through many of the crises after Rome took charge of the Mediterranean
Who won the war: Rome won
How it affected Romans and Carthage
Romans - The Plebeians who gained power before the Punic Wars slowly lost their power. The richer got more powerful while the poorer slowly lost all power they had. Second, provinces (new territories) were treated unfairly. The Romans didnt grant the people of the provinces citizenship. They werent made into allies like the other Italian cities. Instead, the people were heavily taxed. The Romans were unfair and unkind to their conquered people unlike the Persians, who would let the conquered people have citizenship, keep their own religionlaws and many other benefits. The action of the Persian government won the loyalty of the people, unlike the Romans. In fact, there were many revolts later on against the Roman government.
Carthage - Carthage spent the years following the war improving its finances and expanding its colonial empire in Hispania under the militaristic Barcid family. Rome's attention was mostly concentrated on the Illyrian Wars. In 219 BC Hannibal, the son of Hamilcar Barca, attacked Saguntum in Hispania, a city allied to Rome, starting the second Punic War.
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