HANDOUT FOR OCTOBER 31: EARLY ROME
Terms:
Republic: from Latin res publica, "the public thing."
S.P.Q.R.: Senatus populusque Romanus, "the Senate and the People of Rome."
Patricians and plebeians: aristocratic families and common folk, respectively.
Consuls: The two chief executives of the Republic, selected for one-year terms.
Tribunes: Officers elected to represent the interests of the common people, plebeians. They have the power to veto (Latin: "I forbid") measures taken by Senate.
Senate: Assembly of senators (literally "old men") chosen from aristocratic families and ex-consuls.
Patria potestas: the absolute power of the Roman father over his family.
Chronology:
c.1000-650: Iron-Age village cultures in Italy. Villages on hills in Rome.
c.770-700: Greek colonies established in Sicily and Southern Italy ("Greater Greece.")
753: Traditional date for founding of Rome by Romulus. He is succeeded by Numa, Rome’s first "lawgiver."
c.650: Archaeology shows appearance of cities, social stratification, complex cultures in Rome and elsewhere in Italy.
c.650-450: Height of Etruscan civilization in Tuscany. Heavy Etruscan influence visible in Rome’s material culture.
509: Traditional date for expulsion of last king ("Tarquin the Proud") and foundation of Republic.
c.450: The Twelve Tables, Rome’s first written law code.
c.450: Conflict between patrician Senate and plebeian military assemblies; foundation of tribunate.
c.400: Gauls (Celts) begin crossing Alps and settling in northern Italy.
390: Gauls sack and destroy much of Rome.
c.350: Rome begins expanding in central Italy.
340-338: Latin Revolt: Rome defeats and incorporates the other "Latin" cities.
326-290: Rome defeats and conquers Samnites, hill-tribes of central and southern Italy. First Roman roads built to link these areas.
280-275: Roman intervention among Greek cities of southern Italy brings invasion by Macedonian king Pyrrhus, which fails. Greeks begin to notice rising power of Rome.
c.250: First Roman historians writing in Latin, now lost.
59 BC-AD 17: Roman historian Livy, our main source for history of early Rome.