ROMAN GEOGRAPHY STUDY GUIDE
Greeks and Romans: When we think
of the Greeks, we think of a bold,
intelligent people who gave us so much
in the way of art, architecture, drama,
democracy, science, and math. When
we think of the Romans, we think of
empire builders. They were a more
down to earth people who may have
invented little compared to what the
Greeks did. But they built and
maintained an empire that peacefully
embraced the entire Mediterranean Sea
for some two centuries, an
accomplishment unparalleled in history.
The Romans also spread civilization into
Western Europe. In that sense, they
were the bridge between the older
cultures of the ancient Near East and
our culture, known as Western
Civilization.
GE0GRAPHY
Like Greece, Italy is a country whose
history has been shaped by its
geography. The country of Italy, shaped
like a boot, is over 500 miles long. The
Apennine Mountains run all the way
from the valley of the Po River in the
north to the toe of the boot in the south.
The Apennines are packed with volcanic
rock and ash from volcanic eruptions.
Though rainfall is fairly light this volcanic
soil is rich with nutrients. The main
products in ancient times were wheat,
the olive, and the grape. These features
attracted Greek colonists who settled in
the boot of Italy and established the port
of Naples which would have an
immense influence on Roman
civilization and would create a major
center of trade. Italy's soil tended to
make its people farmers rather than
artisans and merchants. These factors,
in particular the close ties to the soil,
largely molded the Romans' personality
as a people.
ROMAN’S PERSONALITY
The quick-witted Greeks, whom the sea
and lack of resources forced into
becoming clever and resourceful
traders, looked upon the agricultural
Romans as slow and dumb. But there
were several characteristics that would
help the Romans become great empire
builders. First of all, being farmers they
had a certain ability and willingness to
persevere through hardships. Also
agriculture tended to make the Romans
somewhat more careful and wary of
change. They were also a tightly knit
society, more willing to submit to the
rule of law than the quarrelsome Greeks
ever were. This Roman discipline
produced magnificent soldiers and the
most efficient and effective armies in the
ancient world. It also produced an
intense desire for the rule of law that
made the Romans possibly the greatest
lawgivers in history. Many Western
European countries today base their law
codes directly on earlier Roman law
codes.
Italy’s Topography
Italy's topography also had an impact.
There were two main rivers. The most
important river of Italy is the Po, which,
with its hundred tributaries, drains the
fertile valley in the north, lying between
the Alps and the Apennines. On the
western slope the most important river is
the Tiber, where Rome was built. The
Tiber emptied into the Tyrrhenian Sea
while on the east of Italy the Adriatic
Sea was the border. The Alps to the
North provided some protection,
although occasionally invaders, such as
the Gaul’s and Carthaginians, did
invade. And while the Apennines did
run along the entire country splitting it
into various city states it was not nearly
as hard to unify as was the Greek city
states.
Italy’s Location Greece). The Greeks founded the city of
Italy's location favored it in two other Naples, which became one of the few
ways. It had a strategic position in the important trading ports in Italy.
middle of the Mediterranean that divided The Latins settled in a plain which is
the Mediterranean into western and bordered on the east and south by
eastern halves. Also, it was far enough mountains, on the west by the
away from the older civilizations of Tyrrhenian Sea, and on the north by the
antiquity to allow it to develop on its own high lands of the Etruscans.
without too much outside interference.
Therefore, once Italy was unified, its This plain, called Latium (flat country),
geographic position allowed Rome to contains about 700 square miles with a
unite the Mediterranean under its rule. coast of only fifty miles, and no good
Italy’s Early People harbors. It is watered by the river called
The future of Rome was shaped by the the Tiber and since the Latins were
different peoples who lived there farmers this was the best place for
between the years 800 and 200 BC. them. Seven Hills rise here and there
These include the Etruscans in the near the mouth of the Tiber, but the low
north, Greeks in the south, and the lands (where Rome will be built) were
many Italian tribes called the Latins in swamps and unhealthy so nobody lived
the center of Italy. The Latin tribes were there. Hence the first settlements were
the newcomers to Italy and borrowed made on the hills called Abla Longa to
many ideas from the Etruscans and the the north, which also could be easily
Greeks to become the dominant tribe in fortified. These Latins chose the city of
Italy and to build the Roman Empire. Alba to be its head. An annual festival
was celebrated with by the magistrates
The Etruscans lived mainly in northern on the Alban Mount, called the Latin
Italy. Because they were learning from festival. Here all the Latin people
the Greeks and the Phoenicians, they assembled and offered sacrifice to their
learned how to do a lot of things that the common god, Jupiter (Zeus).
Latins living around Rome didn't know
how to do yet. The Etruscans built cities
with stone walls. They built big stone
temples and they put big statues in
them. They dug canals and ditches to
irrigate (bring water to) their fields. They
had organized governments with kings.
Soon some of the other people in Italy
began to copy the Etruscan ways of
doing things.
About the same time as the Etruscans,
a lot of Greeks also came to make
Greek colonies. At first they were
probably mainly trading posts, but later
Greek people settled down in the south
and began farming. The Greeks settled
in southern Italy, which came to be
known as Magna Grecia (Greater