test review

Etruscans
came from north-central part of the peninsula
metalworkers, artists, architects

two foundation myths:
Virgil’s Aeneid (where Aeneas escapes from Troy - sound familiar?)
the story of Remus and Romulus

Greeks
they had many colonies around the Mediterranean Sea
Romans borrowed ideas from them, such as:
religious beliefs
alphabet
much of their art
military techniques and weaponry

1st settlers

he Latins!

descendants of Indo-Europeans

settled on the banks of the Tiber

situated so trading ships - but not war fleets - could navigate as far as Rome, but no further

a commercial port, but not susceptible to attack

and... built on seven hills (esp. Palatine)

Remus wanted Aventine

Romulus chose Palatine

it was built on palatine

many streams flowed into the Tiber

there was a marshy area called the Forum,  between Palatine and Capitoline Hills

Tarquin the Proud’s grandfather built the Cloaca Maxima (largest ancient drain), which channeled water into the Tiber

urban legend says Washington DC was built on a swamp - but only about 2% was actually swampland - however, Constitution Avenue is located on what used to be called Tiber Creek

Lucius Tarquinias Superbus

the seventh and final king of Rome

known as Tarquin the Proud (sometimes referred to as Tarquin the Arrogant)

a true tyrant, in the old and modern sense of the word

Tarquin seized power like an old school tyrant (see if you can follow this horrible story...)

...Tarquin’s grandfather (the fifth king) dies… his widow names Servius Tullias king, since she liked him more than her own sons… S.T.’s daughters marry two brothers (one is Tarquin)… one of the daughters (Tullia) kills her husband and her own sister… this leaves her free to marry Tarquin

years later, Tarquin’s son Sextus and his friends are drinking when Sextus tries to force himself on a matron, Lucretia… she refuses, and he threatens to kill her and says he will say he found her in the arms of a slave… she gives in to the blackmail, then confesses the ordeal to her family, and commits suicide… Tarquin tried to sweep it all under the rug, but the people rose up against the son, the father, and had the whole family expelled from Rome

consuls are elected officials

term of office: one year 

always aristocrats (patricians)

patricians traced their descent from a famous ancestor, or pater (“father”)

duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army

one consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)

fifth century BCE - patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs (“people”)

plebs were 98% of the population

how did the patricians dominate?

plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials

Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs

patricians could interpret these to their own advantage

So, plebs refused to serve in the military until…

laws were written out (The Law of the Twelve Tables)

these laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)

tribunes (“tribal leaders”) were elected  

SPQR - Senatus Populusque Romanum

designates any decree or decision made by “the Roman Senate and People”

brand new republic, ready to run

democracy (the people’s assembly and the tribunes

aristocracy (the Senate - approx. 300 members)

plus monarchy (the consuls)

not a tyranny (eww… too scary… a mistake the Romans did not care to repeat)

Res republica - peoples affairs

but both have three branches of government

executive

legislative

judicial

5000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)

the Roman army’s elite heavy infantry

recruited exclusively from Roman citizens

1st war

naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily

Rome wins this one

2nd war

29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome

attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps

lays siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he never can get to Rome Rome 2, Carthage 0

3rd war

Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage

Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attacked the city

Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city’s walls and buildings were utterly destroyed

when the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery

the rest of Carthage’s territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

mall farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles

Julius Caesar         (100 - 44 BCE)

a highly successful general

he conquered the huge territory of Gaul

Pompey (a general who conquered Syria and Palestine)

Crassus (the richest man in Rome, one of the richest men in all history

these three men formed the First Triumvirate (“rule of three men”)

Why? The senators saw Caesar’s rise in power as a huge threat to their political viability

How? They lured him into the Senate, stabbing him 23 times, making sure all were involved

Octavian takes over at the age of 18! with his own triumvirate

Mark Antony is an experienced general

Lepidus is a powerful politician

e was given the honorific “Augustus”

“Exalted one”

He set up civil service to run the government/empire

Building a network of roads

Collecting taxes

Establishing a postal service

Administering the grain supply

Building awesome public facilities

Buildings, aqueducts

Setting up a police department

Running a fire-fighting organization

tiberius

Ruled from AD 14 to AD 37

an excellent general, but a reluctant emperor

after the death of his son, he exiled himself from Rome and left his prefects in charge

died at age 77

caligula

Ruled from AD 37 to AD 41 (only 4 years!)

won a power struggle after Tiberius' death

known for his cruelty, extravagance, and perversity - an insane tyrant

assassinated by a group of praetorian guards, Senators, and the imperial court, trying to re-establish the Republic

but it didn't work...

cladius

Ruled from AD 41 to AD 54

suffered from many infirmities: a limp, stammering, shaking, slobbering... possibly because of cerebral palsy

took over because he was the last adult male in the family

ruled well - built roads, aqueducts, canals, and started the conquest of Britain

died by poisoning - it was his last wife's plan (she wanted her son Nero to rise to power)

nero

ruled from 54 to 68

emphasized the arts

huge fire in 64 (although he DIDN'T fiddle)

he wanted to rebuild Rome to be more majestic

he hugely overspent, and even raided the temples for money

historians do not look kindly on him