Notes on Rome

1. Effects of Rome:

Literature, legal system, art, engineering, religious institutions, etc.

2. The Trojan War story sets the same mythological background for the Roman culture.

Anias and the Trojans, when leaving Troy, head down to the Mediterranean and end up in Carthage. Didl and Anias fall in love, but he is told his future is in Italy. Didly commits suicide because of this.

ITALY:

Sicily was primarily Greek controlled. Most of southern Italy was inhabited by Greeks. When Anias lands, the people he meets are called the Latins. Iulus is Anias's son. He becomes king and sets up the capital at Alba Longa. It will be the center of Trojan civilization in Italy. For generations, Alba Longa was ruled by kings.

3. Two twins were raised and abandoned. They were raised by a she-wolf. Romulus and Remis and she wolf is one of the essential images in Rome. Romulus and Remis grow up and declare war on each other. Romulus wins, Remis is dead, and Romulus founds Roma.
4. Most people were plebian. A few were patricians. The patricians made all the laws. The became known as the Struggle of the Orders. It is the struggle that happens between these groups. The plebes has set up a senate. They came up with a solution because Rome is on the verge of civil war.
5. Over the next 300 years Rome develops into the most powerful city. It expands greater than anything previous. They decide to go North. The Romans set up a governor in the new village. The people have to pay taxes to Rome and follow Roman rules.
6. As Rome starts to get bigger, some of the kings in Greece want to show Rome what it's all about. An expedition is led by Pyrrhus. He invades Rome and wins almost every battle, but he cannot continue to fight because he loses so many men. That was known as a Pyrrhic victory. Rome manages to fend off its first attacker.
7. The Punic war began against Carthage. Over the next 100 years, there are 3 Punic Wars. They define Roman dominance. The wars take place between 264 BC and 164 BC.




Important Events in Rome

1. Aeneas/Trojans defeat Latium
2. Alba Longa
3. Romulus and Remus/ Founding Rome in 753 BCE
4. Expulsion of the Etruscan Kings / Establishment of the Roman Republic 6th cent.
5. Struggle of the Orders / Tribune of the Plebs
6. Roman Expansion / Pyrrus
7. 1st Punic War
8. Struggle of the Orders / Tribune of the Plebs
9. Roman Expansion / Pyrrus
10. 1st Punic War
11. For several generations, the Etruscan kings lead Rome. Tarquin, the Proud had a son Tarquin the Sixth who raped the wife of a Roman patrician. Her name was Lucretia. The Romans rise up against these kings, led by Lucius Junius Brutus. He founds the Roman Republic.

The Roman Republic was founded in 509 BCE.

12. The Second Punic War is most known.