Essential Questions

Essential Questions • Describe the social structure of Rome. • What is the difference between the Centuriate and Tribal Assemblies? • What were the Twelve Tables? • What was the major result of the Punic Wars?

Ancient Rome Notes Roman Republic

Republic (“public affairs”) • A form of government in which power rest with citizens who have the right to vote to select their leaders • Citizenship with voting rights was granted only to free-born citizens

Social Structure • Patricians rich landowners who inherited their power and social status; held most of the power in Rome • Plebeians commoners, artisans, and merchants who made up the majority of the population; citizens who could vote, could not hold important government positions • Slaves captured peoples during the wars; made to work on the latifundia, huge estates; were one-third of the population

Patricians Slaves Plebeians

Citizenship • Patricians and plebeians were both considered citizens, however voting rights were granted only to free-born male citizens • Slaves in Rome were not considered citizens and had no rights in the government

Features of Democracy (Executive) • Two Consuls  • similar tokings, they commanded the army and directed the government • power was limited because their term was only one year long and the a consul could not be re-elected for ten years • one consul could always override, or veto, the other’s decisions

Features of Democracy (Legislative) • Senate 300 members, chosen from the upper class of Roman society, later plebeians were allowed in the senate; membership was for life  control foreign and financial policies, advises consuls • Centuriate Assembly all citizen-soldiers were members; a patrician-controlled assembly appointed the consuls and made laws; it had less power than the Senate • Tribal Assembly an assembly organized by the plebeians; elected the tribunes and made laws for the common people; later it won the right to make laws for the republic

Features of Democracy • Legal Code plebeians forced the creation of a written law code; the laws were carved on twelve tablets, or table and hung in the Forum; the Twelve Tables established the idea that all free citizens had a right to the protection of the law

Ancient Rome Notes The Punic Wars

A Daring Expedition • Hannibal (Carthage) assembled an army of 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry, and 60 elephants with the intent of capturing Rome • to surprise the Romans, Hannibal led his Carthaginian army on a long trek from Spain across France and through the Alps

Battle for Italy • invaded northern Italy and lived off the land • killed huge numbers of Romans in the Second Punic War and won his greatest victory at Cannae • were stopped from capturing Rome

Death of Hannibal • killed during the Second Punic War • left the Carthage warriors with no leader and led to their loss at Zama • Roman general, Scipio, led the attack

Carthage Destroyed • during the Third Punic War, Carthage was no longer a threat to Rome, but Rome wanted to revenge all their deaths in Italy during the First Punic War • Romans set the city on fireand sold 50,000 citizens into slavery

Rome Conquers Eastern Med. • Spread Greco-Roman culture • conquered Greece & Macedonia • Expanded trade • Changed the character of the Roman army • guard large territory • Created great wealth

Essential Questions