Chapter Summary
Sometime in theeighth centuryB.C.E., a group of Latin-
speaking people built a small community called Rome on the Tiber
River in Italy. Between 509 and 264B.C.E., this city expanded and
united almost all of Italy under its control. Diplomacy was as
important as the Roman armies in this achievement, and the
Romans made their rule acceptable by allowing local autonomy and
gradually granting Roman citizenship to non-Romans. During this
time of conquest, Rome also developed the political institutions of
a republic ruled by an aristocratic oligarchy.
Although Rome had no master
plan for expansion, its relationship
with its neighbors outside Italy
soon led to involvement in new
wars. Its first challenge was Carth-
age and the Carthaginian empire
in Spain and Africa. Rome was vic-
torious after the three long and
bloody Punic Wars. In the east,
Rome conquered Macedonia and also took control of the Greek
states. Thus, between 264 and 133B.C.E., Rome expanded to the
west and east and became master of the Mediterranean Sea.
Religion and law permeated Roman life. Ritual was at the
focus of religion, for ritual established the correct relationship
with the gods, both for individuals and for the state. Roman law
was among Rome’s most enduring accomplishments. The earlylaws, written in the Twelve Tables, constituted civil law for
Romans. As Rome expanded, the Romans developed a new body
of law, the law of nations, that applied to Romans and non-
Romans alike. Republican Rome was also influenced by Hellenis-
tic Greece, especially in literature, art, and philosophy.
In the second centuryB.C.E., the con-
servative, traditional values of Rome
declined as affluence and individualism
increased. After 133 B.C.E., Rome’s
republican institutions proved inad-
equate for the task of ruling an empire.
In the breakdown that ensued, ambi-
tious individuals such as Pompey, Cras-
sus, and Caesar saw opportunities for
power unparalleled in Roman history
and succumbed to the temptations. The military reforms of Mar-
ius at the beginning of the first centuryB.C.E. had made possible
the creation of professional armies that were loyal to the generals
who recruited them, rather than to the state. Bloody civil war
ensued as powerful individuals jockeyed for power. Peace was
finally achieved when Octavian defeated Antony and Cleopatra.
Octavian, who came to be known by the title of Augustus, would
soon create a new system of government that seemed to preserve
the republic while establishing the basis for a new system that
would rule the empire in an orderly fashion.CHRONOLOGYThe Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic
Reforms of Tiberius Gracchus 133 B.C.E.
Reforms of Gaius Gracchus 123–122B.C.E.
Marius: First consulship 107 B.C.E.
Marius: Consecutive consulships 104–100B.C.E.
Sulla as dictator 82–79B.C.E.
Pompey’s command in Spain 77–71B.C.E.
Campaign of Crassus against Spartacus 73–71B.C.E.
First Triumvirate (Caesar, Pompey, Crassus) 60 B.C.E.
Caesar in Gaul 59–49B.C.E.
Murder of Crassus by Parthians 53 B.C.E.
Caesar’s crossing of the Rubicon 49 B.C.E.
Caesar named dictator 47 B.C.E.
End of civil war 45 B.C.E.
Assassination of Caesar 44 B.C.E.
Octavian’s defeat of Antony at Actium 31 B.C.E.Chapter Summary • 117
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