The+Roman+Republic

=Roman Republic=

Before the Republic
Founded in 753 B.C.E, Rome started as a city-state in the Italian peninsula During it's speadacross the Mediterranean, it was ruled by a monarchy, and shortly, the Etruscans. In 509 B.C.E, Romans rebelled against the Etruscans, and formed the Republic.

The roman Republic had a solid 'rule of law,' which was written on bronze tablets, open to view by all citizens in the Roman Forum. This public display shows how Rome started a devotion to constitutionalism. the greek name of the Republic was 'Les Republica,' or, 'the public thing.' The Government was split up into three parts: the Senate, the two consuls, and the people. Each group was part of the overall checks and balances system. Rome was one of the first civilizations to introduce a good system of checks and balances. The consuls were small groups of people who served one year terms. the Consuls had the power to veto each other, control the military, and bring matters of importance before the Senate for consideration. After they left office, thy joined the Senate. The senate was a life-long term. They had complete power over the treasury, and all laws and reforms had to be checked by them. The Tribunes were the people's power. They were created in the fifth centuruy B.C.E. They had the 'people's voice,' and could veto almost all of the parts of government. They passed laws like the Sexto-licinian laws, and the Hortesian laws. These helped to slow the tensions between the Plebians and Patricians, but didn't solve the problem.

Punic Wars
After the conquest of the southern tip of the peninsula in the Pyrrhic wars, The Romans travelled across water to engage the Phoencians, who were defended by the Carthaginians. The **first Punic War** (264-241 B.C.E) was mainly fought aboard ships, whish was not their Forte. Their saving grace was the invention of a brifge betwen ships, the corvus, that allowed them to board the enemy ships & engage them hand-to-hand.

Hannibal- laid seige to Saguntum, a Roman ally, While Rome was engaged in the 2nd Illyrian war. Roem didn't like this, and declared the **Second Punic War** (218-201 B.C.E).

The Carthaginians tried a offensive front, and beat the Romans on two fronts. At the batlle of Cannea, Hannibal broke a strong Roman army and entered the city. His host killed so many government officails, the government was nearly shut down. In the end, the Romans took the Carthaginian Capitol of Iberia. The Carthiginians had to give up a massive amount of land, their naval fleet, and a sum of currency.

3rd Punic War- More of a skirmish, the third Punic war was over almost as soon as it started. Cato th e Elder, A Senior Statesman of Rome, told the Senate, "Carthago delenda est/Carthage must be destroyed" The Senate eagerly caught on, and sent the army to Carthage. The city was destroyed, it's citizens sold into slavery. The Romans even salted the ground, making the area unhabitable. This made Rome the 'Master of the Mediterranean.'

=Social Structure=

The Roman Republic borrowed much of its culture and social structure from the Greeks. They then had a great many military campaigns to expand. These military campaigns were mostly successful and help to improve wealth and achieve more land for the Republic. These campaigns were in all directions in an attempt to have a steady incline of land. When they reached a new kingdom the changed few laws and beliefs but instead asked for total unconditional loyalty and compliance. When they were reaching the end of their power they elected a temporary leader in an attempted to keep the Roman Republic in power. The strategy worked but the new emperor took hold of the power and transformed the Republic into the Roman Empire. After a civil war to for Julius Caesar to maintain in power he helped to guided the new empire on numerous military campaigns taking in new land and wealth from near and far away cities. The Roman Republic’s senate held all of the power in the country. The only time the senate’s power was limited was when they declared a temporary leader in times of dire need. The society of the Republic revolved around family both blood and legally bound, including slaves and freedmen. The head of the family was the Father who alone held the right to take from the slaves, freedmen, and even his own family what he will, including their lives. In 88 BC, a Roman army was sent to put down an emerging Asian power, king Mithridates of Pontus. The army, however, was defeated. One of Marius' old quaestors, Lucius Cornelius Sulla, had been elected consul for the year, and was ordered by the senate to assume command of the war against Mithridates. Marius, a member of the populares party, had a tribune revoke Sulla's command of the war against Mithridates. Sulla, a member of the aristocratic optimates party, brought his army back to Italy and marchedon Rome. Sulla was so angry at Marius' tribune that he passed a law intended to permanently weaken the tribunate. He then returned to his war against Mithridates. With Sulla gone, the populares under Marius and Lucius Cornelius Sulla soon took control of the city. Sulla soon made peace with Mithridates. In 83 BC, he returned to Rome, overcame all resistance, and recaptured the city. Sulla and his supporters then slaughtered most of Marius' supporters. Sulla, having observed the violent results of radical popular reforms, was naturally conservative. As such, he sought to strengthen the aristocracy, and by extension the senate. Sulla made himself dictator, passed a series of constitutional reforms, resigned the dictatorship, and served one last term as consul. He died in 78 BC.

= = =Collapse of the Republic=

There were many factors contributing to the fall of the Roman Republic. It started with Veterans coming home to a debt filled farm and having to live a life of unemployment. This caused a lot of Plebians to move to urban areas, and there were not enough jobs to fill the needs of the Plebians, and on top of this, it was a time where the Roman currency was not valued highly, creating high inflation, which meant these Plebians could not afford things that they normally could. **Tiberius Gracchus**, an aristocratic man, planned a reform to give these Veterans land when they returned. However, the Senate disapproved of this reform. Tiberius was still determined, so he became a tribune. After this and a little bit of violence, he was able to get the reform passed, but he wanted to make sure he was there to see it through. Tiberius' brother, **Gauis** then became a popular tribune and was able to see through the land reform, along with many other social reforms. One reform took it too far, Gauis proposed to allow the Italian allies to become citizens, neither the Senate nor the people liked this reform, thus Gauis became to lose his popularity. The Senate sent the army after Gauis, and Gauis was killed. After years of dissaray, Rome suffered internally. The Senate appointed three people to the role of dictator for a short time, this was the **First Triumvirate**, which consisted of: __Marcus Crassus, Pompey, and Julius Caesar__. **Julius Caesar** was gaining much power and concerned many, especially his enemies. He was tried for treason, at this time, Caesar was in what is now France, and he figured there would be hostility waiting for him when he went to the trial. Caesar brought his army right outside the border, and then escaped to his army after the trial. Then a war was fought, a Civil War. Caesar was able to win the war. Caesar became the single ruler of the still Roman Republic. Caesar made many reforms and reassigned the corrupted Senate. After a short ruling, Julius Caesar was assassinated by order of the Senate. Another three people came to power afterwards, known as the **Second Triumvirate**, consisting of : __Octavius, Marc Anthony, and Lepidus__. History repeated itself, and Octavius, adopted son and nephew of Julius Caesar, became the single ruler. At this point, the Roman Republic was officially over, and rule changed in a form of imperialism.

Citations-

"Roman History Through the Julio-Claudians." //AP world History//. 1st ed. 1. USA: REA, 2011. Print.

"The Roman Revolution: The End of Republican Rome." //ORB: The Online Reference Book for Medieval Studies //. Web. 15 Feb. 2012. .

Armstrong, Monty, David Daniel, Abby Kanarek, and Alexandra Freer. //Cracking the Ap World History Exam, 2013. // Princeton Review, 2012. Print.