(FOR finishing up of the Hellenistic Empires, see previous notes)
ROMAN REPUBLIC
Legacy of Greeks vs. Romans
Debt to Greeks: democracy; philosophy; history; geometry; athletics; drama; sculpture
What do we - 20th century Americans - owe to the Romans?
republic - senate - citizenship (something that can be granted)
city planning - grid-pattern of Chicago roads;
sewers (manholes)
concrete - mixing ground stone with mortar to use in arches -
the arch (good for aqueducts and sewers)
Roman Catholic church
months - September (7th month); July (Julius Caesar); August (Augustus Caesar), so on
Roman new year's on January 1
Shape of our football stadiums - Roman amphitheatre
porches in back of our house
jurisprudence - law as a profession; separation of civil and criminal law
An influential people
Roman history divided into three broad chronological periods:
Roman Republic (509-31 BC)
Roman Empire (31 BC - 300 AD)
Late antiquity (ca. 300 AD - 600 AD)
TODAY: I'm going to talk about the Roman Republic
I. Origins of Roman Republic
Rome was founded in 753 BC. (or so the Romans claimed)
It was at first a group of villages, later a city-state (like the Greek city-states except less literate).
There were all sorts of other ethnic groups in Italy at the time - Greeks in the south (esp. Sicily), Etruscans in the
north, other Latins related to the Romans (but independent from them)
- Kings in Rome 753 - 509 BC
For its first several centuries, Rome was ruled by kings, often foreign kings.
The most important of these kings were Etruscan.
Etruscans were a mysterious people in n. Italy - possibly originally from Asia Minor.
Romans learned a lot of things from the Etruscans (McKay 137)
Etruscans gave them their (and our) alphabet (adapted from the Greek)
Gladiator games
auspices (a peculiar way of predicting outcome of wars or other major political decisions by examining the intestines
of animals – evidence of importance of religion in Roman politics)
vault and arch
toga
Finally around 509 BC, the Romans expelled their Etruscan kings, and set up a republic - a "public thing" - i.e. rule
by the public, instead of by monarchs.\
Constitution of the Republic
The Roman republic was not a direct democracy (like Athens)- but a representative government where wealthy
Romans had more votes than poor ones.
Senate - most important organ of government
300 men, who owned a certain amount of property, and had held high office
Only advisory role in theory but in practice governed Rome
Two Assemblies - Comitia centuriata and (later) the concilium plebis (McKay 140)
Assembly elected magistrates, and approved legislation
All free adult male citizens belonged
But those with property had much more voting power - their candidates almost always won office
Two consuls elected annually by the Assembly: led army and enforced the law.
So representative government -
less democratic than Athens (where every citizen had an equal vote); closer to Sparta
Culture of early Republic
Romans of early Republic were barely literate.
They kept records - but had no literature
They were good farmers - but not great merchants or seafarers; their economy was underdeveloped
Their architecture and art was simple
II. EXPANSION
The questions is how this smallish city-state managed to conquer most of the world as they knew it?
(MAP OF EXPANSION?)
Roman military
Roman legions consisted of infantry like the Greek hoplites.
All male citizens had to do military service - though they only campaigned for short time periods.
The legionaries were armed much like the hoplites -
swords, body armor
PICTURE OF LEGIONARY
Some strategic improvements:
javelin instead of spear (throw javelins first, then soldiers used swords hand to hand)
maniples (modification of phalanx) - made easier to manoeuvre
Most important thing: Discipline
The Romans' own explanation (under late Empire)
"For we see no other explanation of the conquest of the world by the Roman people than their drill-at-arms, camp-
discipline and military expertise. How else could small Roman forces have availed against hordes of Gauls? How
could small stature have ventured to confront Germanic tallness?…To Africans’ (Carthaginians’) treachery and
money we were always unequal. No one doubted that we were surpassed by the arts and intelligence of the Greeks.
But what succeeded against all of them was careful selection of recruits, instruction in the rules, so to speak, of war,
toughening in daily exercises, . . . and strict punishment of cowardice "
(in this quote, Roman Vegetius admits that Greeks were smarter and more artistic, Carthaginians were more
economically advanced, Germans physically bigger -Roman men were rather small - 5' 7" was considered tall - only
thing Romans had going for them was military discipline.
Romans obeyed orders (they were killed if they didn't)
Romans troops were more afraid of their generals than the enemy - if they lost a battle (and they lost fairly often),
they would raise another army and come back again.
A Roman army on campaign set up a fortified camp every night- with walls, ditches, etc.
They trained for battle; kept alert; marched in formation.
Discipline is military reason Romans conquered other peoples.
The reasons why the Romans were able to hold on to what they conquered are more complex.