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?

Roman Republic

Ancient Rome Notes

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

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

Social Structure

Patricians Slaves Plebeians

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

Citizenship

Two Consuls similar to kings, they commanded the army and

directed the governmentpower 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 (Executive)

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 (Legislative)

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

Features of Democracy

The Punic Wars

Ancient Rome Notes

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

A Daring Expedition

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

Battle for Italy

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

Death of Hannibal

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 fire and sold 50,000 citizens into slavery

Carthage Destroyed

Spread Greco-Roman culture conquered Greece & Macedonia

Expanded tradeChanged the character of the Roman army

guard large territoryCreated great wealth

Rome Conquers Eastern Med.