Rome: Pre-Republic and Republic Flashcards
Identify key events and leaders of each of the first two divisions of Roman history: Pre-Republic and Republic.
What are Consuls?
Chief Magistrates of the ancient Roman Republic
What are the three parts that Rome’s history is divided into?
- Pre-Republic
- Republic
- Empire
Who are the two brothers, according to legend, that are responsible for founding Rome?
Romulus and Remus in about 750 B.C.
The lifestyle of ancient Romans centered on what?
- family
- the father was the absolute head of the home and master of his wife
What was the difference between how Greece and Rome treated women?
- Greek women were kept in separate parts of the house and were not allowed a public life
- Roman women were active in their social lives, attended Forum meetings and did business in the city
When did Republican Rome begin?
509 B.C.
What were the upper and lower classes of Rome called?
Upper- Patrician Class
Lower- Plebian Class
What was the difference between the Patricians and Plebeians in the early Republic?
- Only Patricians could hold public office and had full citizen rights
- Plebeians could not marry Patricians
What were the Consuls in the early Republic?
- power to command was passed to two consuls appointed by the Senate for one-year terms
- they had authority over the army and other civil matters
What are the two parts that early Roman Republic history is defined by?
- Plebeian struggle for political equality
- Rome’s expansion in Italy
What was the Concilium Plebis?
A body of Plebeians that was not an official part of the government and were managed by the Tribunes
What are Tribunes?
Officials of ancient Rome
What was the principal enemies of Rome when they were extending their territories?
Etruscans
What was the significance of the Gauls?
- They were Celts
- In 390 B.C. they attacked the Latin League
- They were interested in wealth more than conquest
What was the significance of the Samnites?
- In 350 B.C. they went to war with Rome
- Able to control Campania which had the best farmland in Italy
- Were at war with Rome until 293 B.C. and were given a second-class citizenship
What were the terms of peace that Rome settled on when they were making peace with their cities?
- self-government
- citizenship for some cities
- commercial privileges
What are pyrrhic victories?
- Named after Pyrrhus, a general of Epirus
- refers to costly victories
Who fought in the Punic Wars?
Rome and Carthage
Why did the Punic Wars happen?
Rome and Carthage were fighting over the domination of Sicily
What happened in the first Punic War?
- 241 B.C.
- Rome won
What happened in the second Punic War?
- between Rome and Hannibal, a Carthaginian general
- Carthaginians were defeated at Zama in 201 B.C.
What happened in the third Punic War?
Rome had provoked the third war, sieged Carthage, and burned it
What was the Social Problem that Rome experienced in the late Republic?
- The availability of cheap slave labor and improved farming methods led to large-scale farming on estates called Latifundia
- They were owned by the wealthy and grew at the expense of small farmers
Who and How was the Social Problem in the late Republic dealt with?
- Tiberius Gracchus proposed to the Tribal Assembly (Concilium Plebis) that land would be restricted to 300 acres per person
- And the remainder would be for the landless citizens
Who was Gaius Gracchus?
- Tiberius Gracchus’ son
- best known for proposing a price-fixing scheme where the government financed a lower-than-market price for wheat to the population
Who led the Senate and Tribal Assembly when they went into a civil war? And who won?
Assembly- Marius
Senate- Sulla
The Senate won
What was the significance of Pompey?
- became a consul in 70 B.C.
- 49 B.C. He convinced the Senate to order Caesar to disband his army
What was the significance of Caesar?
- Senate appointed him as ‘perpetual dictator’
- changed the solar calendar
- Ruled from 49 B.C. until he was assassinated on March 15 in 44 B.C. by supporters of the republic
What were the Twelve Tables?
A written set of laws
