HIST 1001 Lecture 2: Birth of the Roman Republic
Birth of the Roman Republic
I. Italian Geography
A. Position is in the center of the Mediterranean Sea
B. City of Rome is on the Tiber river not far from the coast
C. Two big mountain ranges:
1. Alps
• Act as a wall protecting the peninsula from above
• If you wanted to attack you had to go by sea
2. Apennines
• Down the middle of Italy
• To cross Italy you must hug the coast
D. Rome was no more than a small village
E. Romans did not like the Etruscans
F. Two main hills:
1. Capitoline
2. Palatine
G. Area between hills was a swampy, marshy place
1. They drained swamp and made it a sewer system
• The roman forum
II. Era of the Seven Kings, 753-509 BC
A. Romans wanted people to think they were in power for long but these dates are
not true
B. Mythological time period
1. Story of Tarquin the proud
2. Source (…)
III. The Republic, 509-27 BC
A. Political system
1. Made from their hatred of kings (rape of Lucretia)
2. Worked out over a 200-year time
3. Structure
• Res publica, consuls, senate, curia, censors, tribune, dictator,
cursus honorum, and the assembly of the people
• No positions had salaries; you give something to roman to give
thanks
B. Expansion
1. Romans slowing started battling the Etruscans and Greeks and defeated
them both
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