The Roman Republic

Chapter 12

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Principles of Roman Government
Romes system combined aristocratic, democratic,
and monarchial forms of government.
Strong leaders, wealthy aristocrats, and average
citizens all had a role to play.
- Romes Constitution
Roman government was structured by a
constitution.
Constitution a set of rules used to organize a
government

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- The Separation of Powers
The key principle behind Romes system of government
was spreading powers among several individuals.
The purpose of this was to make sure that no one
person could become too powerful, like a typical
monarchy.
One way they did this was through the election of two
officials called consuls.
Both had equal powers.
Each could veto the action of the other.
Veto to stop or cancel the action of a government official or
body; I forbid. (Latin)
Elected officials could only spend one year in office.

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Checks and Balances
Power was divided among three branches of government.
Each branch had its own set of powers.
- One branch could check, or stop, another branch from
misusing its power.
- No one branch could hold total power.
(1) Assemblies
- Democratic part of Roman government
- All adult male citizens could participate in these.
- Used for election of officials and passing laws
- Checked by the powers of the Senate and elected
officials

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
(2) Senate usually held the most power
- Worked like an oligarchy
- Made up of best-known older Roman men
- Usually former magistrates
- Senators were chosen by an official called the censor.
- Did not represent the people; instead, guided the state
- Advised assemblies and magistrates
- Advice was almost always followed
- Ran foreign policy
- Decided how to spend the states money
(3) Magistrates elected officials who enforce the law
- Their power made them almost like monarchs
Page 372 in textbook

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Lower Offices
Roman politicians competed against one another to
become consuls.
They thought of this like a race, so it came to be
known as the Race of Honors.
The Race of Honors consisted of five levels
(1)Quaestors lowest office; made up of accountants
who kept track of the states money and served as
assistants to higher officials
(2)Aediles quaestors who had been elected to a
higher position for doing their jobs well; in charge of
holding festivals and maintaining public buildings

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
(3) Tribunes of the Plebs
- Only plebeians could run for this office
- Acted as the protectors of the plebeians
- Had the right to veto any law or action
of any magistrate, which gave them
great power over all other parts of the
government
- It was strictly forbidden to harm a
tribune or stop him from doing his job.

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
(4) Praetors
- Elected officials
- Judged cases
- Managed the city of Rome
- Led armies in times of war
(5) Consuls top officials in the Roman republic
- Elected officials
- Led the army
- Presided over senate and assemblies
- Highest judges
Page 374 in textbook

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- An Elected Official for Special
Circumstances
Dictator
- Important public official
- Selected by the senate during a
time of emergency
- Held complete power, but only for a
limited time
- Maximum term: six months

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- The Rule of Law
The law applies to everyone, no matter his
or her position.
This was another important principle in
Roman government because it held even
the more powerful leaders accountable for
their actions.
Even elected officials could be tried for
violating the law after their term of office
was over.

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Roman Citizens
Free Roman men were citizens of
the Roman republic, but women and
slaves were not considered citizens,
nor did they have any role in
government.
The toga symbolized a citizen of the
Roman republic.
Toga a garment that adult men
wore wrapped around their bodies,
which symbolized Roman citizenship

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Rights and Responsibilities
Roman culture emphasized civic duty
among its citizens.
Roman citizens
- Right to a trial
- Right to vote
- Responsibility to serve in the army
if he could afford his armor

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- Patricians and Plebeians
Roman citizens were divided into two orders.
(1) Patricians
- Members of the oldest families in Rome
- Usually wealthy
- In the early days of Rome, these people were thought to
have held all government offices
(2) Plebeians
- Did not come from famous, old families
- Most were common farmers or artisans.
- Some were wealthy.
- Forced patricians to open up local offices to them

Sec. 2 The Government of the

Republic
- The Roman Example
The Roman republic was the most
successful and long-lasting republic
until modern times.
The United States followed a lot of
the same ideas from the Roman
republic when writing the U.S.
Constitution.

Similarities and Differences between

The U.S. and the Roman Republic
Similarities

Differences

Citizens have the right to

vote and hold office.

Roman republic did not have

a written constitution. The
U.S. does.

3 branches of government
with separated powers

Ancient Rome practiced

forms of direct democracy.
The U.S. practices
representative democracy.

Use the checks and balances

system

The U.S. allows women to

participate equally in
government. Roman women
could not.

Use the Rule of Law

Have a senate

Sec. 3 Roman Society

- Men and Women
Like other ancient societies we have studied, Rome was
divided by gender and class.
Rome was a patriarchal society.
- Men ruled their families, and origins were traced
through male ancestors.
The Power of Fathers
- Paterfamilias the oldest man in a Roman family;
known as the head of the household
(1) Owned all the familys property
(2) In theory, held unlimited power over his wife,
children, slaves, and underage siblings
(3) Could sell his children into slavery or kill them

Sec. 3 Roman Society

The Role of Women
- Typically, Roman women enjoyed more
freedom than Greek women.
(1) Could own personal property
(2) Had active roles in social life
(3) Could not vote, attend assemblies,
or hold public office
(4) Most important role was to have
children

Sec. 3 Roman Society

- Rich and Poor
Most Romans were poor free people or slaves.
Only a tiny minority were wealthy.
Living the Good Life
- Most wealthy Romans earned their money from agriculture.
- They lived in extravagant country homes, called villas, and
usually owned large farms, which were worked by poor
Romans and slaves.
- Other wealthy Romans earned their fortunes through
business.
- Wealthy Roman men looked after their business interests and
towards advancing their political careers.
- Wealthy Roman women supervised the slaves and took care
of the home and children.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

Sec. 3 Roman Society

The Common People
- Life was different for poor Romans.
- Common men and women worked
at a variety of jobs, including tenant
farming, day laborers, or service jobs
such as running a store, tavern, or
restaurant.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

- Slavery
Slavery was very common in ancient Rome.
In fact, upwards of 40% of the people in Rome in the year 1 B.C. were
thought to have been slaves.
Living Conditions for Slaves
- Held no rights.
- Were bought and sold as property
- Could be beaten or killed by their masters for any reason
- Children born to slaves were also slaves.
- Worked in mines or on large farms
- Some received education, allowing them to become secretaries or
teachers.
- Could be freed as a reward for loyal service
- Could save money to buy freedom
- Freed slaves became citizens and gained the right to vote.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

- Roman Religion
Religion was an important part of
everyday life in ancient Rome.
Origins
- The Romans worshipped hundreds of
gods, which were adapted from the
Greeks (Etruscans), conquered enemies,
or other Latin traditions.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

The Role of Government
- Rome had an established religion.
- Established religion an official
religion supported by the
government.
- Top government officials usually
served as priests and often consulted
religious experts before making
crucial decisions.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

The Most Important Roman Gods
(1)Jupiter the king of the Roman gods;
ruled the sky and thunder.
(2)Juno wife of Jupiter; goddess of marriage
and the family.
(3)Minerva daughter of Jupiter; goddess of
wisdom and war.
() Jupiter, Juno, and Minerva were the most
important Roman gods; in Greek
mythology, they were known as Zeus,
Hera, and Athena.

Sec. 3 Roman Society

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
Rome began as a small city-state in central
Italy.
It expanded its power and conquered the
area surrounding the Mediterranean Sea,
which led to its governments failure.
- The Struggle with Carthage
Rome fought Carthage for control of the
Mediterranean in a series of three wars,
which became known as the Punic Wars.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- The Punic Wars
- Three separate wars fought between Carthage and
the Romans
Carthage was a city in North Africa that also
controlled parts of Spain, islands off the coast of Italy,
and the western half of Sicily.
When the Romans were expanding, they conquered
some of the Greek city-states in southern Italy, which
brought them into contact with people of Carthage.
The Romans felt threatened by the Carthaginians and
sought to capture Sicilys granaries from Carthage.
This set the scene for the First Punic War.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- The First Punic War
In 264 B.C., the Romans and Carthaginians clashed.
This war lasted for 23 years.
Carthages strength was found in its navy, while
Romes strength was found in its army.
Since this war was going to have to be fought by sea,
the Romans developed a boarding mechanism that
allowed them to board Carthaginian ships. This
changed a sea war into a land war, which gave the
Romans the advantage.
The Romans defeated the Carthaginians, and the
Carthaginians agreed to make peace and leave Sicily.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- The Second Punic War
This war with Carthage nearly destroyed the Roman
republic in 218 B.C.
Hannibal, Carthages most successful general, led his troops
from Spain into Italy over the Alps with about 40,000
soldiers and 40 war elephants. Despite the dangerous trip,
his army reached Italy and surprised the Romans.
Hannibal defeated three separate Roman armies easily, but
the Romans would not surrender. Ultimately, the
relentlessness of the Romans wore down Hannibals men.
In 204 B.C., the Roman general Scipio crossed the sea into
Africa to attack Carthage, which forced Hannibal to return
home from Italy to protect his city. Scipio defeated Hannibal
and won the war.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- The Third Punic War
Although Rome had defeated Hannibal, many Romans still
feared Carthage.
Fifty years after the Second Punic War, Carthage began to
show signs of regaining its power.
This caused a great fear to grow among the Romans, so
they decided to attack Carthage in 146 B.C. They burned
and looted the city of Carthage.
In order to keep Carthage from fully regaining its power,
they plowed salt into its fields and sold its people into
slavery.
Rome now controlled most of the lands along the western
half of the Mediterranean Sea.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
Upon further expansion, the Romans
decided to conquer lands east, including
Greece and parts of southwest Asia.
Though Rome did not have an emperor, it
ruled a vast empire with many provinces.
Empire a state containing several countries or
territories
Provinces areas within a country or empire;
magistrates were sent out to govern these, and
many were corrupt and cruel to their people.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- Growing Pains
Conquest brought Rome power and wealth, but it also
created problems.
Breaking the Rules
- In the later years of the republic, magistrates began
stealing from their people in the provinces and looting
from rich foreign enemies they fought overseas, which
allowed them to become extremely wealthy.
- Because these politicians were able to become so
powerful, they began to break the rules of their
government, which ultimately stopped working altogether.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
The Urban Poor
- Although Rome was growing richer, many
Romans were getting poorer.
- Land owners began buying slaves to work their
land, which replaced the tenant and poor farmers
who used to do the work.
- The loss of these jobs forced the poor people to
seek work in the cities.
- This led government officials to fear that a riot or
revolution would break out among the citizens. To
prevent this and keep the peace, the government
gave out free grain.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
The Power of the Army
- Until around 100 B.C., only citizens who could afford
their own armor served in the military. This was
reformed, or changed and improved, by Gaius Marius,
a powerful consul.
- Marius allowed even the poor citizens to join the
military.
- The government paid for their equipment, which
made the army larger and more professional while
giving the poor people another job opportunity.
- These new soldiers stayed in the army under the
same military commander for several years, which led
the soldiers to become more loyal to their commander
than the government.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
- From Republic to Empire
The republics military commanders began to use their newly
discovered power. They turned their armies against their rivals
and the senate, which started Romes first civil war.
- Civil war war between two or more groups from the same
country
Marius and Sulla
- In 87 B.C., the commander Sulla was chosen to fight a rich
enemy, but an assembly voted to take his position away and give
it to Marius.
- A civil war broke out between Marius and Sulla in which Sulla
eventually defeated Marius and ruled as dictator for over a year.
- Sulla retired, which prompted more problems to come.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
Pompey and Caesar
- The two commanders, who rose up to take Sullas
place, were Gnaeus Pompey and Gaius Julius Caesar.
- The two men ruled collectively for a time before they
turned against one another.
- The senate sided with Pompey and ordered Caesar to
give up his troops.
- Since the troops were loyal to Caesar, he decided to
march his army across the Rubicon River into Italy and
attack Pompey and the senate.
- Caesar defeated Pompey and the senate and took
control of Rome.
- Caesar used his power to name himself dictator for life,
which angered many senators who sought to maintain
the republic as it were.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis
The End of the Republic
- Caesars death did not save the republic, as many of the
senators had hoped.
- In Caesars will, he made his teenage relative, Octavian, heir to
his followers.
- Octavian swore to avenge Caesars death and defeated Caesars
murderers in a civil war.
- Later, Octavian would square off against his main rival, Mark
Antony, and Cleopatra, the queen of Egypt.
- By 30 B.C., Octavian had defeated Antony and Cleopatra and
took over Rome as Caesar had, which ended the Roman republic.
- Octavian replaced the republic with a monarchy and became its
first emperor.
- He took the title Augustus, meaning greatly honored one,
which later Roman emperors used as well.

Sec. 4 The Republics Growth and

Crisis