Today's Class

Rule of kings is replaced by rule of two consuls ("gotta be better than one").

• Consuls are elected officials
• Term of office: one year
• Almost always aristocrats (patricians)
• Patricians traced descent from a famous ancestor or pater ("father")
• Duties: dealing justice, making law, commanding the army
• One consul could veto the other (reducing the power of the individual)

• Fifth century BCE - patrician dominance of the government was challenged by the plebs ("people")
• Plebs were 98% of the population
• How did the patricians dominate?
• Plebs had to serve in the army, but could not hold office
• Plebs were threatened with debt slavery
• Plebs had no legal rights

• Plebs were victims of discriminatory decisions in judicial trials
• Rome had no actual laws, just unwritten customs
• Patricians could interpret these to their own advantage

So, plebs refused to serve in the military until...

• Laws were written out (The Law of the Twelve Tables)
• These laws (on tablets) were posted in public (in 450 BCE)
• Tribunes ("tribal leaders") were elected

SPQR- Senatus Populusque Romanum

• Designates any decree or decision made by "the Roman Senate and people"

Res Publica - The People's Affairs

Brand new Republic, ready to run

• Democracy- the people's assembly and the tribunes
• Aristocracy- the Senate, approximately 300 members
• Plus monarchy- the consuls
• Not a tyranny.

Roman Legion

• 5000 soldiers
• The Roman army's elite heavy infantry
• Recruited exclusively from Roman citizens
• Group of eighty is a century
• On horseback is the calvary
• Shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

Punic Wars

• The Punic Wars (264-164 BCE)
• Rome vs. Carthage
• Three Wars

Two Empires Fighting for Control

• First Punic War (264-241 BCE)
• Naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily
• Rome wins this one

The (Carthaginian) Empire Strikes Back

• Second Punic War (218-201 BCE)
• 29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible taking Rome

The Final Punic War

• The Third and Final Punic War (149-146 BCE)
• Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage
• Scipio, Tiberius Graachus, and others mercilessly attacked the city
• Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city's walls and buildings were destroyed
• When the war ended, the last 50,000 people in the city were sold into slavery
• The rest of Carthage's territories were annexed, and made into the Roman province of Africa

Marcus Portius Cato the Elder was a politician who ended every speech by saying, "Pelud Carthage est," which means "Carthage must be destroyed."  He sure got his wish.