First Normal Day

Here is some of the notes we took today:

More Information

• 5000 soldiers, not in it for pay (not yet)
• the Roman army’s elite heavy infantry
• recruited exclusively from Roman citizens

• group of eighty’s a century
• on horseback is the cavalry
• shield, sword, dagger, and armor and tunic

The Punic Wars:
264-146 B.C.
Rome vs. Carthage

First Punic War

(264 - 241 BCE)

• naval battles for control of the strategically located island of Sicily
• Rome wins this one

Second Punic War (218 - 201 BCE)

• 29-year-old Carthaginian general Hannibal almost does the impossible: taking Rome
• attacks Rome from the NORTH after crossing Iberia (Spain) and the Alps

lays siege to much of the peninsula for 15 years, but he never can get to Rome

Rome 2, Carthage 0

The Third Punic War

• Rome wanted to finally remove the threat of Carthage
• Scipio, Tiberius Gracchus, and others mercilessly attacked the city
• Carthage was burned for 17 days; the city’s walls and buildings were utterly 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

Upheaval

• slaves poured into Italy (50,000 Carthaginians, 150,000 Greek POWs, etc.)
• by the end of the second century BCE there were over a million slaves in Italy
• small farmers lost their land to aristocrats (for little or no money) if they couldn’t pay their debts, sometimes because the men of the farm were fighting battles
• slaves did the work on the farms for the rich

the big farms became massive estates called latifundia

Bread and Circuses ( written by Poet: Juvenal) was a concept used to manipulate the poor people or plebs to think that they had a good life, and that the government was good

A Change in Rule

• Tiberius Gracchus recognized the advantages of courting the plebeians (even though he was ultimately unsuccessful)(tried to get them to be loyal)
• military generals worked that angle - lead an army that conquers a land, then give them a share in the spoils
• soldiers’ loyalty was to their military leader, not necessarily to Rome or the Republic

Pompey, Crassus and Julius Caesar in the first triumvirate

"Crossing the Rubicon"- Crossing the point of no return (where he made the decision on how to enter)

Government upset because triumvirate power was growing

J.C.'s return was grand after he had conquered Gaul; disobeying the senate

Julius Caesar siezes power

• Serves as consul (one year)
• Appoints himself governor of Gaul
• Pompey is jealous, becomes his rival
• Caesar’s armies clash with Pompey’s in Greece, Asia, Spain, and Egypt (Caesar - winning!)

In 44BC he is named dictator - first for six months, then for life

Caesar's Reforms

• Granted citizenship to people in provinces
• Expanded the Senate, adding his friends
• Created jobs for the poor, especially through public works projects
• Increased pay for soldiers
• Started colonies where those without land could own property

Sic semper tyrannis; Thus always to tyrants! (Caesars death)

The senators who murdered him didn't get punished

Octavian named sole heir

At the battle of Actium, Octavian defeats Mark Antony and Cleopatra

Pax Romana Latin for Roman Peace