LAND: Republic needed land to reward its armies.Romans believed that land was the only important form of wealth, and farming and soldiering were the honourable occupations

RESOURCES: Sicily (grain); Spain(cooking oil); other cities in east (wine, produce, leather and woolen goods)

CONFLICTS: Expansion led to clashes with the Carthaginians, Hellenistic Kingdoms

TRADE: Military expansion to protect sources of trade, fight piracy and banditry

COLONIES: settled and run by full Roman citizens who remained loyal (ie. discharged soldiers) and colonies were linked by roads and a unified currency

WEALTH: accumulating wealth gained from plunder, collecting taxes and importing goods which paid for massive building projects, paid for public works, bread, games

Originally composed of free citizens who had to perform military service

Used fighting methods of Greeks (phalanx) but developed new methods and tactics

Legions divided into maniples (cohorts) that could move independently and effectively in difficult terrain

Contubernium: (tent group) 8 men who bunked together.Centuria: (century) 10 contubernium for a total of 80 men, commanded by a centurionCohorts: (cohort) included 6 centuriae or a total of 480 fighting men, not including officers. Different cohorts in the legion would have different strengths and weaknesses Legio: (Legion) consisted of 10 cohorts.Additionally each Legion had a 120 man Alae (cavalry unit) called the Eques Legionis permanently attached to it possibly to be used as scouts and messengers.

Men carried a 25 kg pack on their backs

Legion standard, silver eagle was considered sacred and was always kept near the commanding general

Legions were strictly disciplined, and constantly exercised

Failure to perform duties or cowardice were sometimes corrected by the execution of 1 every 10 men – gives us the word “decimation”

Fortifications – Romans were masters of building fortifications. They built long walls to defend their cities, palisades to defend their camps or surround their enemies

Camps – while on campaign, the legion would build a fortified camp every single night. It provided a safe place to sleep, as well as a potential place to retreat if they lost a battle

War Machines - catapults could hurl a boulder 500m

First paved road called First paved road called via via AppiaAppia (Appian Way) (Appian Way)over 310 000 km of road builtover 310 000 km of road built

1st Punic War

264 BCE- 241 BCE

Rome vs. Sicily, Syracuse and Carthage

Rome wins and seizes Sicily, Corsica and Sardinia

218 BCE – 202 BCE Hannibal takes ambitious journey from Spain with 36 000 troops

and 37 elephants over Alps; conquers most of Italian Peninsula with remaining 26 000 troops and 1 elephant

Four great battles with heavy Roman losses (ie. at Cannae, over 50 000 out of 86 000 Roman soldiers were annihilated in one day, but Hannibal can never take Rome itself

14 years later, the final Battle at Zama (202 BCE), Roman general finally defeats Hannibal and the Carthagians were forced to pay reparations to Rome, dismantle navy and forfeit commercial empire

149 BCE – 146 BCE: Rome is suspicious of a reviving Carthage 50 years after Hannibal’s defeat, Rome found an excuse to

finish Carthage off after a Roman delegation was insulted

When Carthage finally fell, the city was burned, the men slaughtered, the women (50,000 of them) sold into slavery, and the earth sown with salt so that no crops could ever grow again

Military Victories of the Republic

Control of the Italian Peninsula by 270 B.C.E.

Rome defeats Carthage, giving Rome control of North Africa and Carthage’s provinces in Spain

Macedonia and Greece are conquered and become Roman provinces

Pergamum (present day eastern Turkey) became province of Asia Minor, the first Roman possession in Asia

Gaul (France) conquered by Romans

Significance

Rome became the dominant power in the Mediterranean

Tremendous growth of the city

Creation of a professional army to meet military needs – end of the citizen army

The Roman army became an important political force

Republican institutions were weakened

Roman citizens came to expect wealth and luxury, military spirit declined over time