4-27-11

Today in class we took a short quiz based on last night's homework and then went over some notes.

  Tarquin the Proud was a tyrant who ceased too much power for himself and the people literally ran him out of town. The people set up their own government called a republic. The United States is a Republic. Patricians were a class of privileged families that had more money and higher social and political class than "ordinary" families. Plebeians were the middle class and included farmers, artisans, merchants, etc. The Patricians and plebeians often fought with each other.

  A legion was made up of about 4,000 to 6,000 men. The two big elements of the legion was calvary and infantry. Calvary was horses and infantry were foot soldiers. There were 80 people in the century.


Our homework was to read and answer another set of questions about ancient Rome.


Define:

A.  Consuls- two officials in the place of a king who commanded the army and directed the government.

B.  Veto- to overrule a decision made by others.

C.  Senate- the aristocratic branch of Rome's government made up of 100 patricians.

D.  Assembly- the democratic side of Roman government made up of all citizen-soldiers; they had less power than the Senate.

E.  Dictator- a leader who had absolute power to make laws and command the army.

F.  Mercenary- a soldier who fights in any country's army for pay.


Answer:

1. (a.) Many plebeians were dissatisfied with Rome's government in the early years of the republic because they didn't have lots of rights.
    (b.) They won reforms by refusing to fight in the Roman army until the patricians agreed to the reforms.
    (c.) The changes they brought in Roman government where that they gained access to many political offices and obtained more favorable laws.

2. Romans considered they had a balanced government because they had created laws (the 12 Tables) that agreed with the plebians and patricians and have a government system.

3. Once Rome had conquered most of Italy, the Roman government won the support of the conquered people by giving them the status of half-citizens; the people enjoyed having the rights of a Roman citizen except the right to vote.

4. (a.) At the start of the Punic Wars, Carthage might have appeared the stronger power because it was 3 times larger in size than Rome, they had a huge navy of 500 ships, were incredibly wealthy, and like Rome they also had the advantage of location near the midpoint of the Mediterranean Sea.

    (b.) Rome was the victor because they could draw on a reserve of more than 500,000 troops, their troops were generally more reliable, and warfare was a Roman specialty. Luck also favored the Romans since a Carthage ship washed up on their shore before battle.

5. The Battle of Zama was a major turning point in history because it made Rome the greatest empire in the world.

6. (a.) The Greeks at first welcomed Roman armies because they freed them from the rule of Philip V of Macedon.

    (b.) The Greek attitude changed because the Romans started interfering with Greek politics, crushing all opposition to rulers favored by Rome; the Roman power became very ruthless.