Roman Expansion

How did the Romans grow from one of many groups competing on the Italian peninsula to the superpower of the Mediterranean world?◦ 1. Expansion within Italy

◦ 2. The Punic Wars

Military advantage over local rivals◦ Well-trained citizen

army

◦ Roman legionarieswere disciplined but more mobile than Greek hoplites

Skilled leadership of the Senate

Combination of diplomacy and war

Re-enactors!

Between 500 B.C. and 293 B.C., defeated the other Latin cities, the Etruscans, and the Samnites

Defeated Italians became either citizens or allies◦ Maintained some local control but owed military

service to Rome

Won control of southern Italy by playing Greek cities off against each other

Difficult war against Greek king Pyrrhus of Epirus—Pyrrhus won a “Pyrrhic victory,” but Rome eventually triumphed

Carthage—originally a Phoenician colony in North Africa◦ Created a wealthy empire

in the Western Mediterranean

◦ Had a powerful navy

Rome and Carthage came into conflict over Sicily

Long destructive conflict—mostly in Sicily

The Romans created a navy for the first time

The Romans had no warships, so they had to capture a Carthaginian ship and use it as a model for building their own

Rome eventually won and gained Sicily, Corsica, and Sardinia

The brilliant Carthaginian general Hannibal decided to take the offensive and invade Italy

Took the unexpected route through Spain and across the Alps—invaded Rome from the north

Crossed the mountains with a huge army, including his war elephants

Hannibal destroyed many Roman armies, but lacked the siege equipment to take Rome itself

The Romans, under Scipio, decided to gamble and sent an army to Africa

Hannibal had to return home—defeated at the Battle of Zama in 202 B.C.◦ Hannbal fled to the Seleucid (Greek) kingdom—later

committed suicide

Rome stripped Carthage of its empire

Carthage was just a city; no more threat

Nevertheless, the old senator Cato was obsessed with punishing Rome’s enemies

◦ Repeated “Carthage must be destroyed” every day in the Senate

The Senate sent an army which captured Carthage, burned it to the ground, and sold most of its inhabitants into slavery

After defeating Hannibal, the Romans attacked the Macedonians and Seleucids for supporting him

168 B.C.—Macedonia and all Greek cities under Roman control

Military and political organization

Glorification of war—symbolized by the triumph

Brutal in war, but usually generous to defeated enemies

Foreign cultural influence (especially Greek)

Power to general, the Senate, and large landowners

Peasants lost their land due to competition with slaves

What are some reasons you can think of that may have led to the collapse of the Roman Republic? What tensions have existed in our study so far?

By 146 BC, the Republic is stretched thin, spanning across the entire Mediterranean.

Without a foreign enemy, the Republic collapses in to Civil War.

Breakdown of ◦ social harmony◦ civic patriotism◦ agricultural support

Agricultural crisis: Total war with Hannibal depleted Roman agriculture of swaths of farmland.

“Growing love of money, and the lust for power which followed it, engendered ever kind of evil. Avarice destroyed honor, integrity, and every other virtue, and instead taught men to be proud and cruel, to neglect religion, and to hold nothing too sacred to sell. Ambition tempted many to be false… at first these vices grew slowly and sometimes met with punishments; later on, when the disease ha spread like a plague, Rome changed; her government, once so just and admirable, became harsh and unendurable.

Tiberius, hailing from a prominent Roman family, elected to tribune in 133.

Leads land reforms meant to redistribute public lands to the poor.

Faces staunch opposition from wealthy senate; killed by extremists along with three hundred of his followers.

His brother Gaius took up the cause, but was also assassinated by supporters of the nobles

Sulla, an optimate (supporter of the wealthy and Senate), was given a dictatorship to restore order in the Roman world

◦ Raised an army and defeated rebels in Italy—then shipped out to Asia Minor to deal with a rebellion there

While he was gone, Marius, a populare (supporter of the common people), took power

◦ Carried on with reforms of the Gracchi

Sulla returned with his army—defeated Marius and began executing many of Marius’s supporters

A young relative and supporter of Marius, Gaius Julius Caesar, managed to survive

Marius

Power was now in the hands of generals with private armies

Deep distrust between optimatesand populares

Pompey, an optimate general, was the next warlord to gain power