4/20 Notes on Rome

Today in Western Civilization we took notes on Rome. Here are my notes.

Rome

Etruscans, Greeks, and Latin – first settlers on the peninsula

Ninth Century – Etruscans move into Italy

-Greeks have colonies all around the Mediterranean in Tiber River

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (1 of 4)

·      Italy and Its People

-       Indo-European tribes moved into the Italian peninsula and some settled along the Tiber River creating the city-state known as Rome

-       The Etruscan people, originally from the east, had settled in the north of Italy and were also influenced by the Greek’s settlements to their south and learned the alphabet and city-state organization from them

Remus and Romulus – brothers

-       Mother: Ria Sylvia and Mars, a god, had an affair and had the boys

-       The twins were abandoned to die in the river

-       The River carried them to safety

-       She-wolf took care of them

-       A Shepard and his wife eventually “adopted” them

-       Both grew up to be leaders

-       They had an argument over where their land would be

-       Romulus killed Remus because of the argument

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (2 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Originally, Rome was a monarchy on the Etruscan model with a council of elders called the “Senate”

-       C. 500 B.C., the Romans overthrew their monarchy and established a “Republic”

-       Since the Senate was populated only by patricians (aristocratic men), the plebeians (ordinary citizens) fought for a vote in Rome’s government

-       Each year the Senate elected two rules, “consuls,” who each served a term of one year

-       As in the Greek City-States, the Romans would appoint a single dictator in times on war or conflict

City State and Empire: The Roman Republic (3 of 4)

·      The Roman Republic: The Senate and the People

-       Eventually the plebeians gained power in the Senate by electing their own magistrates called “tribunes”

-       In 450 B.C.,  the laws of Rome were codified and written into the “Twelve Tablets”

-       The “mixed” government of patricians and plebeians had many of the checks and balances that modern democracies have today