Overview of the RomanRepublic

I. Review of Pre-Roman events, according to legend (1184-753 BCE)

  • 1184 BCE: Trojan War; Aeneas departs Troy, eventually arrives in Italy, meets Arcadian Evander on the Palatine Hill; alliance with Latins includes marriage of King Latinus’ daughter Lavinia to Aeneas, war, between Trojan—Latin alliance and Turnus (Rutulian, allied with Etruscans) ends in death of Turnus at the hands of Aeneas
  • Aeneas and Lavinia found Lavinium
  • Ascanius (=Iulus) son of Aeneas founds Alba Longa
  • Alban Kings (all had cognomen ‘Silvius’ = “of the woods”; Numitor and Amulius; Rhea Silvia and Mars beget Romulus and Remus
  • 814 traditional date of founding of Carthage by Phoenician settlers
  • 753 BCE Romulus kills Remus and founds Rome

II. Roman Monarchy753-509 BCE (Primary source: Livy)

Legend of Romulus & Remus (twin grandsons of Numitor, conceived by Mars & Rhea Silvia, nursed by she-wolf, reared by king’s shepherd Faustulus and his wife Larentia [=lupa?]; set out from Alba to found their own city on site of their exposure; in a dispute over seniority, Romulus kills Remus; Seven Kings follow:

  • Romulus(Latin, 753-716 BCE)
  • Fortifies the Palatine with wall
  • Establishes laws
  • Steals women from Sabines
  • Archaeological evidence of 2 communities on the Palatine and Quirinal hills that came together about this time; perhaps a trace of truth to Livy’s alternation of Roman and Sabine kings, as archaeological evidence shows Sabine influence in early Rome
  • Numa Pompilius, 2nd king(Sabine715-673 BCE)
  • Legendary for bringing laws and religious observance
  • Establishes calendar with fasti and nefasti
  • Establishes priesthoods
  • Establishes cult of Vesta (from Alba)
  • Tullus Hostilius (Latin 673-642)
  • Ancus Marcius (Sabine 642-617)
  • L. Tarquinius Priscus first Etruscan king (Etruscan 616-579)
  • Servius Tullius (Latin 578-535)
  • L. Tarquinius Superbus (Etruscan 534-510 BCE)
  • 6th Century BCE: Etruscan Kings governed Rome (~616-510 BCE)
  • Forum laid out as public square
  • Archaeological evidence: forum paved, streets replanned, underground drainage works, 6th century Etruscan pottery found in forum area
  • City planning (pomerium, cardo[main N-S street] & decumanus [main E-W street])
  • Political / social/ military organization
  • Augures and haruspices
  • Gladiatorial games
  • Greek alphabet transmitted by Etruscans to Latin
  • Temple of Jupiter on the Capitoline (~510 BCE)
  • Under Etruscan kings Rome gained control of large section of Latium from the Alban Hills (east) to the Tiber mouth (west)
  • End of monarchy
  • Livy’s version: Rape of Lucretia by son of Sextus Tarquinius (son of the king),Brutus avenges the rape, becomes hero & founder of Republic
  • Archaeological evidence suggests more gradual decline of Etruscan presence

III. RomanRepublic (509 BCE-31 BCE)

  • New Constitution; power in hands of Senate
  • 2 consuls elected annually by Senate—duties primarily military
  • Senate populated by male citizens of aristocratic families
  • System geared for war and founded on ownership of property

Problems for the new Republic
INTERNAL / EXTERNAL
5th Century BCE / Feuds among Patrician families / Wars in Italy with Latins, Aequi, Volsci, Etruscans
496 Romans defeat Latin League
494 / Feuds between Patricians and Plebeians; Plebian Assembly & Tribune of the Plebs established
450 / 12 Tables (first law code); Decemvirate council of 10 assume magistrate power
396 / Rome captures Etruscan Veii
390 / Celts (=Gauls) sack Rome (Livy: Juno’s Geese save the day)
378 / SERVIAN WALL BUILT FOR DEFENSE
367 / Law that one of the 2 Consuls each year must be Plebeian
343-41 / 1st Samnite War
340-38 / Latin War: Rome wins control of Latium; Latin League dissolved
327-04 / Appian Way built / 2nd Samnite War
300 / Plebeians eligible for all religious offices / 298-90 3rd Samnite War (extends Roman territory from Bay of Naples to the Adriatic
287 / Lex Hortensia: All decisions of the Plebeian Assembly are binding on all Romans / by 280: All Etruscans, Gauls, and Samnites had been subdued
281-72: Rome repels invasion by Pyrrhus (Pyrrhic victory)
280-270 / Via Appia extended to Tarentum / by 281Rome controls all of Italy
264-241 / 1st Punic War; Sicily becomes Rome’s first province
234-149 BCE: Cato the Elder (famous “Roman traditionalist”)
254-184 BCE: PLAUTUS WRITING COMEDIES
218-201 / 2nd Punic War: Rome repels Hannibal’s invasion of Italy and conquers much of Spain; Scipio Africanus defeats Hannibal at Zama in N. Africa
184-179 / Sumptuary legislation under Cato the Censor (allusions in Plautus)
149-146 / 3rd Punic War: Romans destroy Carthage; Africa becomes Roman province
146 / Temple of Jupiter Stator: 1st marble temple at Rome / Corinth sacked by Rome; Greece becomes Roman province
142 / Pons Aemilia: 1st stone bridge across Tiber (Ponte Rotto surviving fragment)
135-132 / First Sicilian Slave Revolt; Eunus
by 133 / Rome controls Mediterranean world

A. The LateRepublic(133-31 BCE): Internal problems; the “Roman Revolution,”
republic gradually crumbles, replaced by one-man rule

  • 133 Tiberius Gracchus is tribune; attempts land reform (read redistribution), angers
    his senatorial supporters, and isassassinated
  • 123-22 Gaius Gracchus tribune; continues his brother’s work and is assassinated; efforts
    of Gracchi brothers lead to civil strife that eventually undoes the Republic
  • 112-105 War with Jugurtha
  • 109-101 Wars with Cimbri and Teutones
  • 107-100 Marius reforms Roman army, which now recruits from non-propertied citizens;
    results in dangerously powerful military generals
  • 91-89Social Wars: conflict with Rome’s Italian allies; Rome wins but Italians are
    granted citizenship
  • 83-79 Civil War: Sulla is dictator; proscriptions
  • 73-71Spartacus
  • 70Crassus and Pompey ar consuls; Cicero gains notice through his successful
    prosecution of Verres, corrupt Roman governor of Sicily
  • 63Cicero is consul; Julius Caesar elected pontifex maximus
  • 62Pompey returns victorious from campaigns in the East
  • 60Caesar, Crassus, Pompey: First Triumvirate
  • 59Caesar is consul
  • 58-49Caesar in Gaul
  • 58-52Clodius (brother of Catullus’ “Lesbia”) and Milo stir civil unrest in Rome
  • 55Caesar’s daughter Julia, wife of Pompey, dies; triumvirate weakened
  • 53Crassus killed in Mesopotamia; end of First Triumvirate
  • 52Clodius killed by Milo; Pompey sole consul
  • 51-49Rome annexes Gaul; concern in Rome about Caesar’s growing power
  • 49Caesar crosses Rubicon, causing civil war; Pompey flees to Greece
  • 48-44Caesar is dictator
  • 48Pompey defeated at Parsalus (northern Greece), then killed in Egypt;
    Caesar and Cleopatra meet
  • 44Caesar is assassinated; Cleopatra flees Rome; Octavian named Caesar’s heir
  • 43Antony, Octavian, Lepidus: Second Triumvirate; Cicero proscribed and executed
  • 42Brutus and Cassius defeated at Philippi (Thrace)
  • 41-30Antony and Cleopatra
  • 40Antony marries Octavia, sister of Octavian
  • 37-31strained relations between Octavian and Antony
  • 31 Battle at Actium; Antony and Cleopatra are defeated;
    both commit suicide in 30

B. The Early Principate

  • 27Octavian named Augustus by Senate
  • 2 BCEJulia is banished for adulteries
  • 4 CEAugustus adopts Tiberius, son of Livia, as heir
  • 8 Ovid is banished to Tomis, on the Black Sea, by Augustus
  • 14 Augustus dies