Rome's origins and Rise including Punic Wars

1. The Roman Republic

5. Hypothetical reconstruction of Roman Forum in Imperial times.
Watercolor (18th century), Giuseppe Becchetti

9. Objectives for this section:
• shift of Rome’s government from monarchy to republic
and the cause of this shift.
• differences among the classes
• (patrician, plebian, et al)
• basic structure of Roman republican government and
the checks & balances each division had on the others.
• Punic Wars who fought and why.
• Cause of each war and the aftermath
• Hannibal
• Cannae - Why was the battle important?
• Scipio
• overall result of all the Punic Wars?

10. 218 B.C. Second A.D.284 Diocletian, who will
Punic War, divide the Roman Empire,
509 B.C. Rome becomes a Hannibal 27 B.C. Rome
becomes emperor.
republic. invades Italy. becomes an
Empire
500 B.C. 500 AD
44 B.C. Conspirators
264 B.C. kill Julius Caesar. A.D. 476 Western Roman
1st Punic War w/ Empire falls with the ouster
Carthage Julius of the last emperor, Romulus
begins. Caesar Augustulus.

11. Very Small, Very humble
beginnings

12. A small river,
seven hills,
a small city . . .
under foreign control

14. Rome’s
growth
and
decline
over the
years.

15. According to legend, Rome was founded by
Romulus and Remus, twin sons of Mars
• R & R were supposed to be killed, but the servant
assigned the murder, instead left them on the bank of
the Tiber. The Tiber flooded & they floated away.
• downriver, they were rescued & raised by this lovely
she-wolf.

16. In reality, people had been living in the region for a while.
• Rome was defensible due to the hills & river and
• was surrounded by a fertile, farmable plain
• Tiber river had a shallow point where it could be forded
• navigable by small boats from the sea
• According to legend, Romulus founded Rome in 753 BC.
• Probably not Romulus, but archaeology suggests Rome
was indeed founded in the middle of the 8th century BC.

17. The early Romans
were strongly
influenced by
those around
them.
• Etruscans to the
north,
• Sabines to the
east,
• Greeks along the
coast.

18. • In a dispute, Romulus slew Remus.
• Romulus named the city after himself,
• set up all of its institutions, and
• attracted to it people who needed a fresh start… which
typically meant criminals.
• When women ran short, he just kidnapped 700 from
the neighboring Sabines.
• According to the Roman historian Livy, though, they
were treated well and weren’t assaulted.
• Perhaps the Sabine historian tell it differently

20. Rome, in the beginning, was a monarchy
• According to ancient sources, there were only
seven kings in 243 years, which gives an
average reign of 35 years – far longer than the
norm.
• There probably really were more kings, but
accurate records no longer exist.

21. • He was apparently elected
(proposed by the Senate and
voted on by the Assembly)
• the line wasn’t hereditary.
• King was head of the religion
and held most of the power.

22. Rome’s ancient Kings
were of varying quality,
some were even decent.
• They gradually expanded Rome’s power & territory.
• One king, Tarquinius Priscus,
• put in the 1st sewer system,
• drained a swamp,
• built the Circus Maximus.
• The last king - Tarquinius Superbus
was superb . . .
at being a jerk.

23. Rome’s last king - Tarquinius Superbus
• Son of Priscus (Sewer & Swamp guy) - wasn’t
patrient enough to wait to be elected to the throne
- instead had a temper tantrum. . . .
• had Servius, the elected king, assassinated with the
help of Tarquinius’ wife, Servius’ own daughter.
• After Servius was dead, the daughter drove over
her daddy’s body with her chariot. . . Several
times
• Tarquinius Superbus repealed popular reforms
• Was selfish . . . and became increasingly violent.
• The Senate finally expelled him in 510 BC.

24. Tarquin the Proud
equals
Grand Moff Tarkin?!
Some speculate so (but its probably a coincidence).

25. After getting rid of Tarquin the Jerk, the Senate
decided it had had enough of kings . . . &
reformed Rome’s government into a Republic
509 BC
The Beginning of the era of
the Roman Republic
• (Some speculate 509 BC was a backdate so
that Rome, with its major cultural inferiority complex
towards Greece, could claim that Republican
Rome predated Cleisthenes’ Athens.)
- but we all know Romans would not DO such a thing

26. Roman
Beliefs & Values:

27. one of
the Roman virtues,
along with
pietas, dignitas & virtus.
Gravitas
may be translated as
personal character,
presence, seriousness,
dignity, or being of
recognized importance.
Gravitas
connotes a certain
substance or depth of
personality.
GRAVITAS

28. Pietas
Honestas
Veritas
Dignitas
Virtus
Gravitas

29. ROMAN
Social
Classes

30. There were several classifications of people in Rome:
patricians, plebians, allies, and slaves.
• Patricians - the traditional aristocrats
– wealthy, privileged, powerful.
• Plebians - the commoners – the average joe
farmers & artisans.
•Both patricians & plebians were considered citizens.
• Allies - native people of conquered territories made
provinces of Rome
- They had a limited form of citizenship
• Slaves had no rights at all. They were purely property.

32. The patricians initially formed a kind of a republican
oligarchy.
• The plebians didn’t like this
• threatened to secede from Rome on several
occasions and so established the tribunes
• Tribunes were tasked w/ protecting plebian rights.

33. So instead of a king,
they had two consuls
• Kinda like the two Spartan kings, two men in charge
instead of one, you resist tyranny.
• Each consul had to consult the other before acting and
one could veto the other.
• Were patricians
• elected to one year term
• Must wait ten years before it possible to be re-elected

34. •two Consuls
• Supreme commanders of the military
• Took care of daily affairs and kept other officials in line
• Also presided over the Senate.
• Would join the Senate at the expiration of their term as
consul,
• so it was in their interest to cultivate good
relations with that body.
• Later, proconsuls were created – consuls whose terms
could be extended due to military matters, such as
leadership continuity during a war.

36. • two Consuls
• 300 Senators
• 35 Tribunes
• in a crisis you need decisiveness
& quick action
• What do you do ???

38. A Dictator
could be appointed to a singe six month term.
• Had supreme power & could override the consuls.
• Appointed in
times of crisis.

39. Cincinnatus

44. The Senate
• A body of 300 patricians from the wealthiest
aristocratic families.
• main power in Republican Rome.
• Advised
consuls,
• Served for
life.
• Approved
spending
& projects
• Foreign
policy

45. Centuriate Assembly
• Composed of citizen-soldiers by class.
• Collectively Appointed consuls.
• Votes weren’t individual votes.
• Individual votes contributed to how the class
decided.
• The upper classes’ votes had more weight.
• Thus, it was still patrician-controlled.

46. Assembly of Tribes
• Included both patricians & plebians.
• People were split up depending on where they
lived – into one of 35 different tribes.
• Tribes were determined by geography, ;’not
by population.

47. • Each tribe had one vote.
• Since the majority of people lived in one of Rome’s four
urban tribes, that meant the 31 rural tribes had more
influence.
• The tribal assembly grows in power and eventually
makes most of the laws.
• Also elected the tribunes.

50. The Twelve Tables
• The first codification of Roman law.
• Made around 450 BC in response to plebians’
complaints that the patricians were making and
interpreting laws to benefit only themselves.
• written down on 12 bronze tablets & posted in the
Roman forum.
• More a listing of rights than formal laws.
• Oddly, for something so important, we don’t know what
the exact text was, it was lost during the Imperial era
• but we can piece a lot of the Twelve Tables together
from surviving fragments.

51. Here’s a sampling from the Twelve Tables:
• If summoned to court, one must go. If he doesn't go, a
witness to the refusal should be called. Only then
should the one summoned be captured. If illness or old
age is an impediment, let him be given a carriage.
• A deformed child must be put to death.
• If a father sells his son into slavery three times, the son
shall be free of his father’s control.
• If a person dies intestate without heirs, the nearest
male kinsman shall inherit. If there is no near male
kinsmen, his clansmen shall inherit.
• If one has maimed another and does not buy his peace,
let there be retaliation in kind.

52. • Someone who breaks another's bone by hand
or club must pay 300 sesterces; for a slave,
150; if he has done simple harm against
another, 25.
• No dead man may be cremated nor buried in
the City.
• Marriages between plebeians and patricians are
forbidden.
• Men in the army may not wed until training is
complete.
• One who has brought a false claim shall be
brought before three judges, and shall pay a
double penalty.

53. The Roman system had a series of checks and balances
among the different entities.
• This carries over today.

54. Punic Wars
• In 390 BC, however, Rome was sacked by the Gauls.
• In response, Rome gradually expanded its power over
Italy and conquered its neighbors. By 265 BC, it
controls Italy and has a significant trade empire in the
Mediterranean.
• Its growing power naturally puts it in conflict with
Carthage, the dominant Mediterranean city at the time.
When interests among power conflict, war happens.
• Rome and Carthage fought three different wars, called
the Punic Wars because the Latin term for a
Carthaginian was Punici.

55. They weren’t all that far apart.

56. Note the artificial
harbor. A remarkable
achievement.

57. Then
Merchant harbor
Warship harbor
Now

58. The warship island.
A warship slip

59. • It ain’t just ancient. Compare…
German U-Boat
pens from World
War II

60. First Punic War
• 264-241 BC
• War between Rome and Carthage was inevitable
• the spark was a power struggle island Sicily.
• It was under the control of Carthage, but Rome
backed a rebellion and sent in its forces.

61. Carthage’s areas of influence before the First Punic War.

62. • Fighting was initially restricted to Sicily, but Rome then
took the fight to Carthage. The Romans built a huge
naval force of warships and troop transports and began
attacking Carthage’s North African cities and
countryside.
• This force was eventually defeated by a Spartan
mercenary general. That and Carthage regained
control over Sicily. But the key was the naval
battles.

63. • Carthage was master of the seas.
• Rome, though, as usual, adapted nicely.
• Romans captured a few Carthaginian ships, took them
home &
Copied
their
designs

64. • Carthage was master of the seas.
• Rome also introduced new, improved ideas like the
corvus.
• The corvus was a pivoting bridge with a big spike
• Romans would maneuver in close to an enemy ship,
drop the bridge onto the deck of the enemy, the
spike would ”bite” into its victim ship locking the
two ships together.
• Roman marines would then charge over the bridge
to fight the enemy aboard their own ship.
• It did cause some problems, though, since it made their
own ship less stable . . . and difficult to separate . . .
A helpful ability when the enemy ship is sinking

69. • Despite Rome’s efforts, bad luck played a hand.
• Bad weather destroyed much of the Roman fleets
• Carthage gained the advantage.
• Carthaginians, thinking the war over, started
demobilizing.
• Rome quickly rebuilt its fleets & annihilated Carthage’s
fleet.
• Both sides were exhausted , both suffered heavily.
Over 50,000 Romans had died & a great deal of their
treasury was spent.
• Both sides needed desperately for the war to be over

70. • Rome, could dictate terms to Carthage… and the terms
were heavy.
• Carthage had to give up Sicily .... and
• most other of its Mediterranean islands to Rome. and
• Roman prisoners were to be returned . . . but,
Carthaginian prisoners had to be ransomed (or bought
back $$$$ ). and . . . .
• Carthage was forced to pay Rome an exorbitant sum of
money 2,200 talents of gold.
• (one talent is 71 pounds) = 156,200 lbs. (781 tons)
• One pound of gold today costs $27,700
• 4,327,640,000

71. • Aftermath
• Rome was ruler of the seas –, the Aegean, Balearic,
the Black Sea, the Ionian, the Adriaditic, . . . .
• the whole dang Mediterranean.
• Carthage was now second-rate. It was also
humiliated.
• The victor’s peace imposed upon Carthage hindered
its recovery and fueled resentment, which led to . . .
.
• the Second Punic War.

72. Second Punic War
• 218-202 BC
• Carthage was angry over its treatment by Rome after
the First Punic War.
• Also, to pay off the reparations, it had to get the money
from somewhere, so it expanded its power in Spain.

75. • The Carthaginian general
Hamilcar Barca began
conquering Spain
• He had his son Hannibal
swear to “finish” Rome

76. • Hannibal
attacked a
Roman ally in
Spain and made
other provocative
moves
• Rome declared
war on Carthage.

77. • Hannibal advanced towards Italy,
• subdued people along the way by force or
diplomacy.
• Hannibal had 50,000 infantry, 9,000 cavalry
and some 60 war elephants.
• But he did something very unexpected,
he crossed over the rugged Alps … in winter.
• an amazing feat - caught the Romans
completely and utterly by surprise.
• Romans had readied themselves to fight
Hannibal in Spain - had sent their forces there.
• SURPRISE !!!!

82. • Suddenly, the Carthaginian enemy was right in Rome’s
back yard.
• Hannibal picked up the support of rebellious locals
• He was good at “picking his battles” - avoiding hose
that were unnecessary or of no strategic advantge.
• He was a military genius and the Roman generals sent
out to face him . . . weren’t.
• When he did fight, he wasted the Romans.

83. The Battle of Trebia is an
example.

84. • Rome’s worst defeat, though, was
the Battle of Cannae on 8/2/216 BC
• Nearly 87,000 Romans engaged around 55,000
of Hannibal’s troops.
• Rome had never before fielded such an army.
• Hannibal developed a cunning plan.
• He was helped by the stupidity of the
Roman commander.

85. • Though the Romans had more
soldiers and could have made a
longer, flanking line of troops . . .
• They instead arranged “deeper”
-more lines of soldiers but
stretched no longer than
Hannibal’s.
• The Romans’ idea was to use
their superior numbers to break
through Hannibal’s center.

86. The initial set up
• Hannibal put
his weaker
troops in his
center and his
good troops on
the flanks.
• the Romans
attacked,
gradually drove
back
Hannibal’s
center.
• Just as
Hannibal had
hoped
Hannibal also had an advantage in sun and wind.

87. • Once the
Romans
drove in, the
stronger
Carthaginian
troops on the
flanks closed
in
• Carthaginian
cavalry
swung
around and
attacked the
Roman rear.
• The Roman force was completely enveloped and they were
slaughtered.
• Their panicked soldiers smashed in upon themselves making it
impossible to maneuver – they were slaughtered

89. Hannibal counting the
rings of defeated Roman
officers that he sent back
to Carthage as proof of
the scale of his victory.

91. • 60,000 of the original 87,000 Roman troops were
killed,
• Nearly 600 Roman legionaries died per minute
- all day long.
• The Roman dead included:
one of the two Consuls,
80 of the 300 Senators
• Another 10,000 Romans were taken prisoner.
• only about 17,000 made out of Cannae alive & free.
• 80% of Rome’s overall military was gone!
• It’s one of the greatest tactical defeats in history
• as well as one of the greatest losses of life in a
single day’s battle.

92. To compare:
• U.S. WWI battle deaths: 53,402
• But that’s over two years and was just 1% of
total service member.
• U.S. WWII battle deaths: 291,557
• That’s over four years in two theaters of
operation. It’s also 1.8% of the total service
members
• Iraq War deaths: about 3,700 so far - over 8 yrs
and is about 0.3% of the total service members.
• The vast majority killed not in battle but by
cowardly IED bombing and sniper fire
• We have won every open fire fight

93. After Cannae,
• the Romans were terrified
• didn’t know what to do.
• many of Rome’s regional allies decided to
side with Hannibal and Carthage.
• They were also in shock.
• Everyone in Rome either knew or was
related to someone killed at Cannae.

94. • Hannibal opted not to attack Rome directly
• He reasoned that a fortified city would be hard to
take
• Hannibal offered Rome reasonable surrender terms
• Rome, in true Roman style, even though it was on
the ropes, refused Hannibal’s offer.

95. • Rome drew up a new army, enlisting a good chunk of
the male populace.
• It was prohibited to speak the word ‘peace’
• and only women could shed tears in public but were
strongly discouraged to do so.
• Instead of engaging Hannibal in battle, the Romans
merely harassed him and denied him the supplies he
needed.
• Whenever he could get the Romans to attack, he
always beat them.
• So,

96. • Rome took the war to Carthage.
• They attacked Carthaginian forces in
Spain - Carthage’s main source of
wealth,
• Carthage responded by sending
reinforcements and supplies there
instead of to Hannibal.

97. • They also attacked Carthage’s allies -
• in Sicily and Macedon.
• While Hannibal was better than any Roman
commander, . . .
• the Romans, coninuously attacking his support
system and supply lines gradually wore Hannibal
down.

98. • Finally, Scipio, who was successful in Spain, is elected
consul and he takes an army to North Africa.
• Carthage recalled Hannibal from Italy in 203 BC to
face the threat.
• Scipio defeated Hannibal in the Battle of Zama
(finally!).
• Scipio comes back a hero and is given the name
Scipio Africanus Major.

100. Scipio on coin and as
bronze bust.

101. • On the brink of destruction, Carthage sues for peace.
• Rome again imposes a victor’s peace:
• Spain becomes Rome’s.
• Carthage has to pay a lot in reparations.
• Its navy can only have 10 ships to fight pirates.
• It couldn’t raise an army without Rome’s blessing.
• Carthage, once proud and powerful, is essentially
reduced to a Roman client state.

102. • Another problem was that when a border dispute arose
between Carthage and its neighbor Numidia, the
Roman Senate kept finding in Numidia’s favor.
• Carthage was also raising an army in order to deal
with Numidian incursions. But, even though it was
defensive, it was still a no-no under the terms of the
treaty.
• Rome also insisted on Carthage continuing to pay its
annual tribute even though the reparations had, by 151
BC, all been paid back under the terms that ended the
Second Punic War.

103. Third Punic War
• 149-146 BC
• Carthage might have been stripped of most of
its power BUT,
• its continued existence made many Romans
uneasy.
• They had, after all, fought two long bloody wars
with Carthage
• “and the enemy had been at the gates of Rome
itself.”

104. • Some Romans openly agitated for war.
• The great statesmen Cato would end his Senate
speeches with “Et Carthago delenda est,” or “And
Carthage must be destroyed.”
• He had also traveled to Carthage in 157 BC and feared
what he saw as growing prosperity there.
• In a dramatic act, he flung ripe figs from a fold in his
toga, declaring they had been plucked in Carthage just
two day ago.
• What do you think this was supposed to illustrate?

105. • So Rome engages in a pre-emptive war against
Carthage.
• It may not have been unfounded.
• After the Romans got there, there were indications
Carthage was rearming, especially its navy
• because its harbor had been improved.

106. • Rome beats Carthage and the Carthaginians sue for
peace.
• Rome keeps giving more conditions until it finally says
the population will have to move inland and Carthage
will be burned.
• The Carthaginians refuse,
• Rome lays siege to Carthage (it lasts 3 yrs),
• the Romans finally storm the city, and Carthage falls.
• The city is razed taking ten days to the ground.
• Those few Carthaginians who didn’t die in the siege or
the city’s street to street battles are sold into slavery…
about 50,000 people.

107. • Carthage ceases to exist
• All of Carthage’s holdings becomes Roman provinces.
• Rome takes full control over the western Mediterranean
as well as North Africa and Spain
• Who’s next?