How did Rome's Republic develop?
After banning the monarchy and defeating the Etruscans, the Roman Republic was set up with two social classes- Patricians and Plebeians. Patricians were the wealthy class and held the more important government positions. The Plebeians were the other social class, while they had less social status than the Patricians. The Plebeians were the lesser class but were still lesser of the Romans. The Patricians had the most political power in Rome.
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How did Rome's Government work?
Rome had a 3 part government. The executive branch enforced the law, the legislative makes the law, and the judicial interprets the law. It worked with a system of checks and balances so that one group could not grow too powerful and that one could veto each other. The executive group was the Consuls, who were both Patricians. The Praetors were the judicial group, and the Senate was the legislative, which was made of 300 Roman men (also all Patricians.) They made the law and advised the consuls, who controlled the army and government.
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What was the relationship between Plebeians and Patricians like?
The Plebeians soon grew tired of not having the same power and advantages as the powerful, government ruling Patricians. They were all Roman citizens and all served in the army, so why did they have more power than them. Plebeians went on strike and withdrew from the army and threatened to leave and set up their own republic. This frightened the Patricians to allow the Plebeians to have their own political group called the Council of the Plebs. By 300 BC, the Plebs were finally able to become Consul and had the same political rights of the Patricians.
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Who was Cincinnatus?
In very rare times of emergency Rome resorted to dictatorship to rescue them from the crisis, but the dictator only served no more than 2 years, then there would be a change if the emergency hadn't been resolved. Cincinnatus was appointed Roman dictator during a war when Rome was close to being defeated. Cincinnatus left his farm and gathered the Roman troops, and won the battle. He returned to his farm 27 days later. George Washington, the first president of the U.S was inspired by Cincinnatus. Washington himself was a simple farmer and was called to declare independence from England. He won the war and returned to his farm. He reluctantly later returned to become the first president.
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What were Rome's law like?
Rome' s first code of laws was the 12 Tables which was founded around 451 BC. Before this time the laws were not written down. Plebeians demanded that the laws be written down so that the Patricians could not take advantage in court cases. The laws of Rome were carved into 12 bronze tablets. These laws only applied to Roman citizens. The Romans soon saw that they would need laws for everyone. They invented the Law of Nations, which were laws that applied to everyone. You were innocent until proven guilty, people accused of a crime could defend themselves before a judge, and a judge had to look at the evidence clearly before making a decision. The Romans also came up with the Rule of Law, which is where every person should be treated equally under the law.
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What was Carthage?
What happened in the Punic Wars?
Both Carthage and Rome wanted to control the island of Sicily. The First Punic War started in 264 BC. Rome sent an army to prevent Carthage from colonizing the island, which Carthage was determined to do. The Romans had no navy, only soldiers who fought on land, but they soon realized they would need a navy to defeat Carthage. The war continued for 20 years until Rome was finally victorious. Carthage then invaded the mainland of Europe, and sent its best general Hannibal to fight the Romans. This started the Second Punic War. Hannibal wanted to take the fighting into Italy itself, but the Romans would not let them land on Italy by sea, so he had to cross the Alps with 46,000 men. Half of the soldiers died but it was still a strong army. It defeated the Romans in the Battle of Cannae in 216 BC. General Scipio of Rome decided to attack Carthage, and Hannibal had no choice but to return home to defend it. Carthage lost teh Second Punic War. They had to give Spain and their Navy to Rome.
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What were some other conquests of Rome?
During the Third Punic War, Rome finally destroyed Carthage in 146 BC. They burned Carthage to the ground and enslaved 50,000 men, women, and children. In 148 BC, Macedonia came under Roman rule. Two years later Rome was in charge of Greece. By 129 BC Rome controlled its first Asian province. The Romans began to call the Mediterranean Sea "Mar Nostrum", or "Our Sea" in Latin.
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Comparing Republics
RomeExecutive: 2 Consuls; elected by the assembly for 1 year. Enforces the law
Legislature: Senate 300 members and Assembly ALL CITIZENS. Makes the law
Judicial: Praetors 8 judges; 8 years. Interprets the law
Citizenship: All adult male landowners
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U.S.A.Executive: 1 President; elected by citizens for 4 years. Enforces the law
Legislature: Senate 100 members and House of Representatives 435 members. Makes the law
Judicial: Supreme Court 9 judges for life. Interprets the law
Citizenship: All native born or naturalized people
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