CONCEPTS ROMANS (CA.

753 BC-476 AD):

Mythical foundation of Rome (753 BC): Aeneas was able to flee Troy with
survivors. They ended up in Latium, Italy. There he founded Lavinium and his
brother founded Alba Longa. 100 years later, Numitor and Amulios were the
kings there. Amulios chased away Numitor and Amulios became the sole king.
Rhea Silvia, Numitors daughter, was seduced by the Roman god of war: Mars.
Rhea Silvia gave birth to two sons, Remus and Romulus. However, Rhea Silvia
was a Vestian virgin, so she abandoned her sons in the forest, where they were
found and raised by a she-wolf. Later, Remus and Romulus had a dispute on
which hill to found a city. Eventually, Romulus killed Remus and founded Rome
on the Palatine hill.

Real foundation of Rome (7 century BC): Rome was founded by the

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Etruscans. They expanded their territory to the south, inhabited by Latin and
Sabine tribes, and founded Rome there. Rome was a monarchy under Etruscan
rule until 509 BC, when the last Etruscan king Tarquinius Superbus  was chased
away. The Roman Imperium (military power, religious power and jurisdiction)
was divided amongst patrician magistrates. Rome became a Republic.

The Roman class struggle: There was a class struggle between the two main
roman classes, the Patricians (the nobility. They were the large landowners and
had all the important functions.) and the Plebeians (the ordinary inhabitants of
Rome). This struggle was partially caused by socio-economic problems: Grain
shortages, famine and debt (same situation as Solon but different outcome).
The Patricians managed to monopolize power at first but the Plebeians were
gradually able to emancipate.

Plebeian Emancipation: The Plebeian emancipation had a few steps:

 Appointment of Tribunes of the Plebs (somewhere in the course of the
5 century), they had the power to veto decisions from any public body.
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 In 471 BC, they gained the right to set up their own popular assembly,
the Concilium Plebis. They had the right to issue plebiscites, rules
applying only to the plebeian class. 
 In 451 BC, the Ius Civile (Roman Law) was written down in The Twelve
Tables. The recording of rules had always been a job of priests. Now that
the law was written down, the priesthood lost part of its power over the
law
  In 367 BC, the Leges Liciniae Sextiae was accepted. From now on, the
plebeians had acces to the highest office in Roman magistrature: the
Consulate. From 342 BC, one of every year’s consuls had to be Plebeian.
 Finally, in 287 BC, the Lex Hortensia determined that all Plebiscites were
binding to the entire Roman population, including the Patricians. 

Concilium Plebis: popular assembly of the plebs that could issue plebiscites
that only applied to the plebeian class. After the Lex Hortensia in 287 BC, these
laws applied to the entire Roman population. In the second and first century
BC, the concilium Plebis was to become an instrument in the hands of the
plebeian tribunes to push through legislation against the will of the Senate and
the Ruling Class.

Cursus Honorum (Roman Magistrature): The Cursus Honorum was the

sequence of public offices in the career of a Roman politician. In order to
advance to the next office, you first had to serve a term (one year) in the
preceding office. These offices were:
 Quaestor. The Quaestor was the assistant of the praetor and consul.
Their responsibilities were limited to only financial affairs
 Aedile. This step in the Cursus Honorum was not obligatory. The Aedile
had the responsibility over public buildings, markets and commerce,
water and grain supplies and the organisation of festivals and games. An
Aedile had to use his own financial resources to fulfil his tasks thus
making this office out of reach for many.
 Praetor. The praetor was at first a junior colleague of the Consul, only
with less power and less responsibility. Later, the Praetor was
responsible for jurisdiction in and outside Rome.
 Consul. The highest office of Roman magistrature.  These were the
political and military leaders of Rome. They acted as supreme
commanders in Roman wars. One had to wait ten years in order to be
elected for Consul a second time. However, this rule was ignored on
several occasions in the 2 and 1 century BC.
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 Censor. The office of Censor was one of the most prestigious and
coveted and was, in practice, reserved for former Consuls. The censors
took a census, a list of names of the senate, the equestrian class (citizens
who were wealthy enough to perform their military duties on a horse)
and the various categories of the popular assemblies. They awarded
public works and upheld traditional morality.
The Senate: The Roman senate was a council of former magistrates who had
meetings in the curia. The Senate had 300 members, which were elected by
the censor for life. In practice, only the higher magistrates could speak in the
Senate, the Quaestor for example almost never spoke. The Senate was an
advisory board, issuing senatus consulta about Foreign policy, finances and
supervision over religious affairs. The senate was the most powerful institution
in Rome because of the prestigiousness, stability and continuity and the
experience of members in the conduct of public affairs. The Senate created a
new class: the senatorial class.

Popular Assemblies: There were three popular assemblies in Rome: The

comitia centuriata, the comitia tribute and the concilium plebis. All roman,
male and adult citizens could participate in these assemblies, however only the
richer citizens could afford to go. The popular assemblies were convened and
presided by magistrates. They had legislative power (voted on legislative
proposals of magistrates) and elected the magistrates. Keep in mind though
that a rich minority of voters had the majority of votes!

First Punic War: The punic wars were clashes between the Rome and
Carthage. The First Punic War (264-249 BC) was caused by clashing economic
interests between Rome and Carthage and the growing influence of Carthage
on Sicily. The war consisted of mainly indecisive battles on land and at sea.
However, Rome managed to win the war. The outcome of the war was that
Sicily and Sardinia became Roman provinces. The war was also the birth of
Rome’s naval power.

Second Punic War: The second punic war was caused by the Carthaginian siege
of Saguntum in 219 BC. Saguntum was a Roman ally and called for help. The
Carthaginian general Hannibal departed from Spain and successfully invaded
Italy, wreaking havoc wherever he went. Roman general P. Cornelius Scipio
managed to capture Carthaginian territories in Spain and landed in Africa (204
BC) forcing Hannibal to retreat. In the Battle of Zama (202 BC) Rome won the
war. Spain became Roman territory. 

Third Punic War: The Third Punic War (149-146 BC) involved an extended siege
of Carthage. Carthaginian wealth and martial power had significantly improved
since the last punic war and started to threaten Rome. Therefore, the Roman
Senate made the decision to destroy Carthage. This resulted in the Province of
Africa becoming Roman territory.
Marian reforms: Following impoverishment of a part of the Roman population
(Urban proletariat) and social tensions, Gaius Marius was elected consul six
times (107 & 104-100 BC, Rome is violating its own laws here!). He reformed
the military, allowing the proletariat into the army and providing long-term
appointments in return for pay. In a short time the army was transformed from
a conscript to a professional army, thereby weakening the link between roman
society and the military. Loyalty to the state was supplanted by loyalty to one’s
own commander.

The Age of the revolution: This age started with the revolt started by Tiberius
Gracchus, who resorted to unconstitutional ways to push through his
legislative proposals. He was murdered, just like his brother Gaius Gracchus.
They were both forerunners of the populares, protagonists of the plebs and
equestrian order. 

Social War: from 91 to 88 BC the Social War took place. This war was caused
by the Italian allies of Rome who aimed for Full Roman citizenship. This was
refused and let to a clash between the generals Marius and Sulla who marched
his own troops on Rome and took the city in 88 BC. After a lengthy war in the
East, Sulla repeated this a second time. Upon this occasion, Sulla was
appointed as dictator for life in 81 BC. He made use of his unlimited power to
reform the republican institutions before withdrawing from the scene in 79 BC.

First Triumvirate: The first Triumvirate was an unofficial agreement between

Caesar, Crassus and Pompey to support each other’s candidates and legislative
proposals. The triumvirate ended with Crassus being killed in battle in 53 BC.
After his death, Caesar and Pompey became estranged and `opposed. Caesar
triggered a new civil war, leading to the death of Pompey in 44 BC and the
dictatorship of Caesar. When Caesar was murdered in 44 BC, a major civil war
broke out and a second triumvirate was formed. 

Second Triumvirate: This triumvirate was different from the first. It was a
genuine coup d’état. After winning the upper hand over Caesar’s murderers at
the Battle of Philippi (42 BC), Caesars political heirs granted themselves
virtually unlimited power. Mark Antony received all the provinces in the East,
Marcus Aemilius Lepidus (deposed in 36 BC) received various provinces in the
West and Octavian took up position alongside the powerful Antony. In 31 BC,
the struggle between Octavian and Antony (and Cleopatra) entered its final
stage. The fleet of Antony and Cleopatra was defeated and they committed
suicide. Octavian returned to Rome as sole ruler in 27 BC.
Augustus: upon his return in Rome, Octavian received the honorary title of
‘Augustus’(venerable) from the Senate. Augustus wanted to return his power
to the Senate and the People of Rome, he wanted to restore the Republic. He
faced the challenge of restoring the peace and prosperity of Rome after
decades of political unrest and civil war. The form of government that was
worked out was a compromise between Augustus and the majority of the
Senate. He adopted Tiberius as his successor. After Augustus’ death, he took
over his stepfather’s position. The new form of government, which went down
in history as the principate, was thereby confirmed.

Hadrian: Hadrian was Roman emperor from 117 to 138 AD. He is most known
for his construction of the Wall of Hadrian, which marked the border of Roman
England. He changed the Roman warfare from offensive to defensive, which
caused the Roman armies to spread thinner along the border. This turned out
to be devastating for Rome in the future.

The Crisis of the Third Century: from 235 to 284 AD there were circa 50
emperors in the Roman Empire. This crisis caused the empire to be temporarily
divided into three parts (Gaul, Rome and Palmyrene). The crisis ended in 284
when general Diocletian assumed power. He transformed the regime into a
genuine monarchy. The emperor became more than ever the embodiment of
the state. He created a tetrarchy, 2 Augusti and 2 Caesars. When an Augusti
abdicated, the Caesar would take over and designated new Caesares

Constantine: Emperor Constantine is celebrated in history as the first emperor

to recognise Christianity. He built a second, new capital in the East: on the site
of the former Byzantium arose Constantinople, present-day Istanbul. Under
Constantine and a number of his successors, the empire was once again under
a single emperor. However, in 395 the split into Eastern and Western empires
became definitive upon the death of Theodosius the Great (379-395). It was
also Theodosius who, after 390, recognised Christianity as the sole religion,
prohibiting all other religions.

The fall of the Western Roman Empire: The Western Roman Empire stood
under large external pressure of Germanic tribes. This ultimately led to
invasions and the fall of the empire. In 476 AD, the last Roman emperor,
Romulus Augustulus, was deposed by Odoacer. The Roman empire became a
collection of barbarian kingdoms. However, the Eastern Roman Empire
(Byzantine Empire) lasted until 1453.