During this period Rome conquered the entire peninsula of Italy, scoring victories over the Greek cities to the south. On the whole, spectacles of the type this book covers date from the Mid-Republic on, and it is those periods where our sources begin to place gladiatorial shows and other forms of spectacle (except chariot racing, which dated back to the time of the monarchy). The Mid-Republic (274-133) Hannibal Barca counting the rings of the Roman knights killed at the Battle of Cannae (216 BCE). In 281 Rome faced off against King Pyrrhus of Epirus who had come to support Greek cities in the south of Italy worried about Roman expansion from the war with Pyrrhus came the first elephants to be brought to Rome. Rome joined the Latin League, a league of Latin speaking states in central Italy, in 493 BCE after defeating the forces of the League at the Battle of Lake Regillus the league was dissolved in 338 after the Latin War between Rome and the League. The praetorship was created, as was the office of the Tribune of the Plebs in 494 BCE the job of the latter was to protect the interests of the plebeians, and although it did not hold imperium, its holders had a powerful right to veto any legislation that they believed not to be in the interest of the people. This was a period marked by patrician control of the Roman government, although that control was challenged during the conflict of the orders, which resulted in plebeians gaining more rights to hold various offices and authority. The Early Republic (509-275) Carthaginian war elephants engage Roman infantry at the Battle of Zama (202 BC).Īfter expelling the kings, Rome was governed by elected officials, the consuls, two of whom were elected each year there was also a Senate of varying numbers. Rome’s history after the fall of the kings is usually divided into four periods: the Early Republic the Mid-Republic the Late Republic and the Imperial Period.

However, gradually Rome became the dominant power in central Italy, scoring major victories over its neighbours and acquiring more and more manpower along the way. It had ties and alliances with other Latin speaking city-states. In its early days Rome was a small city-state, surrounded by other far more powerful and developed civilizations and powers, especially the Etruscans to the north and the Greeks of Magna Graecia to the South. The last king, Lucius Tarquinius Superbus, was driven out of Rome after his son raped Lucretia, the wife of a Roman nobleman the story of Etruscan kings and the expulsion of those kings reflects Rome’s early dominance by the Etruscans to the north. It remained a monarchy until 509 BCE, with Etruscan kings ruling from the fifth monarch, L. It took its name from its founder, Romulus, who was also its first king – and also, again according to legend, the first person to hold a triumph (a type of military parade see here for more details). to fill out the background, otherwise some of this material won’t make much sense.Īccording to legend, Rome was founded in 753 BCE, on April 21st (Rome’s birthday was celebrated at a festival called the Parilia each year). After defeating the Carthaginians and the Macedonians in the late 2 nd century BCE, the Romans brought together the efficient, millennium-old techniques of silver extraction of the Phoenicians, who considered this metal a simple commodity, with the monetization of economy introduced by the Greeks.It’s really, really basic: I advise you to read a short history of Rome. Massive silver re-cupellation is observed in Rome during the Second Punic War. The Greek world extracted Ag and Pb from associated ores, whereas, on the Iberian Peninsula, Carthaginians and Republican era Romans applied Phoenician cupellation techniques and added exotic Pb to lead-poor Ag ores. The combined analysis of Ag and Pb isotopes reveal important information about the technology of smelting. The clear relationships observed between 109 Ag/ 107 Ag and 208 Pb/ 206 Pb reflect mixing of silver ores or silver objects with lead metal used for cupellation. Here, we address this question by combining lead and silver isotope abundances in silver coinage from the Aegean, Magna Graecia, Carthage, and the Roman Republic. Abstract : The reasons why the Western Mediterranean, especially Carthage and Rome, resisted monetization relative to the Eastern Mediterranean are still unclear.

Magna graecia roman republic