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Rise of the roman republic
Essays on the roman republic
Essays on the roman republic
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Rise of the Roman Empire
The legend about Rome’s origins puts the founding of the city at around 735 B.C. It is said that a Vestal Virgin gave birth to twin boys, Romulus and Remus, and claimed that they were the sons of the god Mars. The Vestal Virgin was the sister of a king. The king believed that she was lying and imprisoned her. He put her two boys in a basket and threw it into the Tiber River. A she-wolf found the twins and raised them. The twins, Romulus and Remus, came back and killed the king and founded the city of Rome. Afterwards Romulus and Remus fought and Remus was killed. Romulus was Rome’s first king and after he died, he became a god and vanished.
The Romans were tribal people who lived in central Italy and like other Latins; they tilled small plots of land pastured cows, pigs and goats and tended flocks of sheep. Moreover, they had a council of elders who chose the Chiefs of the tribes. Around 600 B.C the Etruscans a much more advanced people from the north conquered Rome. Consequently, from that time on, Rome was ruled by kings. The Romans learned many crafts from the Etruscans such as the use of bronze. They borrowed the Etruscan twelve-month calendar, the use of first and last names and developed their alphabet from an Etruscan adaptation of Greek. The Romans adapted many agricultural practices such as the growing of grapes and olives. From the Etruscans the Romans learned military strategy including the use of the unit called the legion which fought in phalanx positions.
In 509 B.C however, the Roman nobles revolted against their king, Tarquin the Proud, and established a republic. By this time, Rome’s society was already divided into two groups, the common people called the Plebeians, and the nobles called the Patricians. The Patricians were the heads of the leading families of Rome. Instead of the king, they elected two consuls. The consuls ruled the state and led the armies, but they had power only for one year. The only people that were allowed to participate in government were Patricians. They ignored the wishes of the Plebeians. Consequently, in 490 the Plebeians revolted. They elected their own leaders called Tribunes and threatened to leave and found their own city if they were not given more rights. Since the Patricians needed Plebeians to serve in their army, they had to give in. This was the...
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...normous indemnity that was imposed, ten thousand talents spread over fifty years, made the Carthaginians practically tributaries to their Roman conquerors. Hannibal would later be exiled and Carthage would never regain its former power. Hopelessly, the Carthaginians tried to stand up to Rome one last time in 151. The city was destroyed and its entire population sold as slaves.
Throughout its early history Rome constantly came up new innovative ideas have the upper hand over its enemies. The Romans were a determined people that believed that ruling the world was their destiny and after the defeat of its’ greatest rival Carthage, they were now masters of the Mediterranean. Rome would never again be threatened until the empire’s fall hundreds of years later. The Romans would now begin to expand their empire past Italy, and with great success, come to rule the Western world.
Works Cited
http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Forum/1595/Romans.html
Nardo, Don. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Gale Group: 1980
http://www.pbs.org/empires/romans/classroom/lesson5.html
Polybuis, Obye. The Rise of the Roman Empire. Viking Penguin: 1980
http://www.hatethemainstream.com/article.php?sid=22
In the beginning of the eighth century, B.C. Ancient Rome flourished from being a small town on the central Tiber River in Italy, to being an empire that engulfed most of Europe, Britain, Western Asia, Northern Arica and also the Mediterranean islands. Different languages were spreading among the people, Italian, Spanish, French, Portuguese and Romanian. Rome was a republic for 450 years then it became an empire in
By the sixth century, Rome evolved into a republic, landowners, aristocrats and patricians overthrew the Etruscan king and religion governed the people, dictated the laws and legitimized the rule of the patricians. As they evolved the Romans loosened the grip between religion and politics and gradually implemented a constitutional system similar to the Greeks with interests on rational and secular politics and law. The sudden growth of the constitution arrived from a conflict known as the “Struggle of the Orders” between the patricians and the plebeians (commoners). The patricians owned most of the land and controlled the army.
Rome was one of the greatest empires of the ancient world. The early Roman state was founded in 509 B.C. after the Romans drove out the hated Etruscan king. By this time Rome had already grown from a cluster of small villages to a small city. Little did the settlers know that this was the beginning of one of the greatest and largest empires ever known.
Over the span of five-hundred years, the Roman Republic grew to be the most dominant force in the early Western world. As the Republic continued to grow around the year 47 B.C it began to go through some changes with the rise of Julius Caesar and the degeneration of the first triumvirate. Caesar sought to bring Rome to an even greater glory but many in the Senate believed that he had abused his power, viewing his rule more as a dictatorship. The Senate desired that Rome continued to run as a republic. Though Rome continued to be glorified, the rule of Caesar Octavian Augustus finally converted Rome to an Empire after many years of civil war. Examining a few selections from a few ancient authors, insight is provided as to how the republic fell and what the result was because of this.
Whether it is war, the church, or influential contact Rome has made a huge impact on western civilization. From its strong followers trying to recreate the Republic, to lasting impressions imposed on its conquered lands, Rome has sent its culture and heritage throughout the entire globe. Even though Rome its self only lasted one thousand years its presence is still felt today. Rome in the eyes of the world never actually died, but was born over and over, and still remains standing to this day in one form or another. The mighty Roman Empire is and forever will be the rock of hope, advancement, and pure culture that holds this world together.
As the story goes, Rome was founding in 753 B.C. by two brothers Remus and Romulus who were raised by wolves. The two brothers started fighting over the leadership of the land. Eventually Romulus killed Remus and took control own his own. The city was only a small settlement at that time. As the civilization grew, the Etruscans took over. The Romans drove out the Etruscans in 509 B.C. By this time Rome had become a city. As the empire came to its peak it included lands throughout the Mediterranean world. Rome had first expanded into other parts of Italy and neighboring places during the Roman Republic, but made wider conquests and made a strong political power for these lands. In 44 BC Gaius Julius Caesar, the Roman leader who ruled the Roman Republic as a dictator was assassinated. Rome descended into more than ten years of civil war. After years of civil war, Caesar's heir Gaius Octavius (also known as Octavian) defeated his last rivals. In 27 B.C. the Senate gave him the name Augustus, meaning the exalted or holy one. In this way Augustus established the monarchy that became known as the Roman Empire. The Roman Republic, which lasted nearly 500 years, did not exist anymore. The emperor Augustus reigned from 27 BC to AD 14 and ruled with great power. He had reestabl...
Rome became a powerful empire engulfing much of Europe, North Africa, and parts of Asia and what seemed like this great entity called the Romans were always in the search of more territory and land to conquer and assimilate into their ever growing vast empire. However, this was not always the case, before Rome became one of the greatest empires in all of history, Rome was a republic. They were government consisted of a Senate who much like our country today represented certain classes of the citizens of the Republic. During the growth and rise of the Roman republic conquering neighboring territories and competing for land grabs was not Romans primary objectives. Romans believed in the well being and wealth of Rome, and if that meant the total destruction of a potential adversary, then as history will show that is unfortunately to the detriment of the adversary what happened.
Rome first began to expand once they had challenged the nearby Etruscans. These people had educated Rome on a great may things, much of which was architecture, which helped Rome to become the great empire that it did. Rome borrowed things such as the construction
The Roman Republic began in 509 B.C.E. with the overthrow of the Etruscan monarchy. In 27 B.C.E the Roman Empire began with Octavian Caesar becoming the emperor, this ended almost 500 years of republican self-government. There is much debate over why Rome became so powerful so quickly. Many think it had to do with Rome’s military strength. Others think that it was because Rome knew of and controlled most of the trade routes. Still others believed it had to do with the technology that was advanced during the Roman Republic. All of these factors played significant roles, but which one played the most important role?
“The Roman Empire is heir to nearly three thousand years of development in the Mediterranean basin”(Smiley, 1). The Romans were guided by the Etruscan, a cultural group in central Italy that taught them the alphabet and even their architecture. After being helped by the Etruscan, the Romans rebelled back and defeated Etruria. They completely obliterated all traces of Etruscan society. After being attack by the Gaul in 387 BCE, the Romans rebuilt their city with even stronger defenses. They reorganized their army and introduced new tactics and iron weapons. By the end of the century, the Romans had a strong army and navy. The Carthaginians, a powerful maritime empire in North Africa, also helped the Romans conquered all of Southern Italy and the Greek colonies. However, the Romans turned against Carthage because it was a major sea power. Rome was expanding and wanted to get bigger, so they fought Carthage for control of Sicily over 120 years until in 146 BCE, Rome won. The Romans destroyed the city of Carthage by killing most of the inhabitants, burning the Carthage navy and salting the earth so no crops well ever grow. The few who survive were slaughtered or sold to slavery. “By the mid second century BCE, Rome was the most powerful empire in the Mediterranean. It had a well-trained army and an excellent navy”(Smiley, 1). The conquest of Carthage and Greek territory help Rome become a great
The decline and fall of the Roman Empire is a scholarly article written by Justin Ott about the Roman Empire and the events leading up to its fall. The article mostly focuses on the military and economy of Rome in the third century A.D. It lists in the beginning a few of the different theories people have of how Rome fell, including led poisoning and the spread of Christianity. The article seems to want to disprove these theories, showing how they are not the main causes for the collapse of Rome. “Gibbon’s arguments in these sections can be accurately summarized as “the insensible penetration of Christianity in the empire fatally undermined the genius of a great people.” The problem with this conclusion is two-fold. First of all, this explanation is too narrow as it is difficult to believe one single factor brought down the empire. More importantly, it is clear that the Eastern Roman Empire was by far more Christian than the West, therefore if Christianity was behind the fall, the East should have fallen first.” The article’s audience appears to be historians, or those who are interested in history, or just the Roman Empire. It
The War with Veii played a significant role in the expansion of the Roman Empire. The war, which ended in 410 B.C., set in motion an entirely different Roman army. No longer was the army a volunteer militia, instead it became a paying and contractual organization. The “Roman victory brought an end to Rome’s most threatening neighbor and began its rise to prominence in the central Italian peninsula” (www.warandgameinfo.com).
The Populares, the aristocrats that favoured the populous, began to propose reforms that went against the wishes of the Optimates, the aristocrats that favoured the elite. Tiberius Gracchus was the most well-known man at the time that favoured the general public. As Tribune of the plebs, he put forward a legislation called Lex Sempronia agrarian that limited individual holdings of public land. This law “forbid the holding by one person of more than five hundred acres of land” (Plutarch, Tiberius Gracchus 8.2 pg161) only allowing a family maximum of 250 hectares of land. Tiberius’ legislation was effectual for a time but eventually taken down years after his death. Another significant bill that was passed was a series of reduction in property qualifications for military service. As the populous lost their land, the number of men eligible to serve in the army began to decrease leading to recruitment problems. Therefore, property qualifications reduced from 11, 000 asses from the start of the second century to almost zero asses by the last decade of the century. As a result, anyone could serve in the Roman
616-509 Etruscan kings ruled over Rome. Finally, the Romans dating back to 753 B.C. with the founding of Rome by Romulus.
“The Etruscans were the most important and powerful people in Italy before the Romans” (Throp 6). “According to the legend, Rome was founded by the twin sons of the god Mars Romulus and Remus, who were raised by a wolf. Romulus supposedly killed his twin and made himself the first king of Rome in 753 B.C.E” (Throp 6). A little bit of sibling rivalry went on during that time. “The Roman Empire lasted for over hundreds of years, from 49 B.C.E when Julius Caesar came to power, to 476 CE” (Throp 7). “By 264 B.C, all of Italy south of Cisalpine Gaul was under the leadership of Rome” (Italy). Around 2,000 B.C, Indo-European people started migrating into Italy” (Italy). “In the early 1300s, the Renaissance in Italy began and reintroduced ancient Greek/Roman ideas about art and culture” (Throp 8).