Notes

• Myth of Rome is that the settled on a land that was ruled by Reins and Romulus which were raised by a she-wolf (check Wikipedia)
• woman was a virgin and conceived by the god
• twins left to die in the Tiber and were rescued and raised by a she-wolf
• Twins went on to find Rome and rule

• big conflict that went on for centuries was between the rich and the poor - not necessarily actual fighting
• The Gracchus brother were elected to the assembly and they always tried to make thing better for the poor in Rome
• Time of war everyone fought rich and poor- unless you have a physical ailment
• you may be fighting for 5-10 years
• Families carried on to work the farm (wives and children)
• rich older people unable to fight would try to swoop in and buy the farm, this happened a lot
• Rich people were able to have massive acres of land were the sellers would still work on the farm
• Gracchus brothers didn't think that this was right and made a concept that stated the rich were already exceedingly rich and made farms called latifundia. You have more land than you need so give some of the land back to the poor
• Latifundia was huge acres of land that the rich owned
• In the end the Gracchus brothers appealed and the law was vetoed at first then the Gracchus brothers won and on of the members of the senate beat one of the brothers to death with a chair and threw him in the Tiber river then the law was overturned
• People believe that America is going done the same road as Rome
• Big cooperation's buy out small farmers who can't make it
• Punic wars
• Roman methods of conquest and administration paid handsome dividends, for by 250 B.C., all of Italy south of the River Po was in Roman hands. This success brought Rome into collision with a rival city-state beyond the sea: Carthage, on the north coast of Africa.
• Founded about 700 B.C. by Phoenician colonist Carthage had become a oligarchic and empire-building republic similar to Rome and spread its influence across North Africa, southern Spain, Sardinia, Corsica, and Sicily
• The Romans inherited the struggle with Carthage when they agreed to protect their Greek allies. But ultimately what was at stake was the command of the whole Mediterranean Sea
• The Punic Wars were waged on land and sea in three vicious rounds between 264 and 146 B.C.
• In the first phase of the struggle, after many years of exhausting warfare, Rome was able to force Carthage out of Sicily, but the North African city kept the rest of its empire
• In the second ( and decisive) phase, the Carthaginian general Hannibal invaded Italy, defeated several Roman armies and brought Rome to the brink of defeat, But the loyalty of Rome's allies, the perseverance of their own forces, and their greater man power -- for they were able to draw citizen and allied soldiers from all of Italy, while Carthage relied on smaller mercenary armies -- enabled them to triumph.
• At the end of the second Punic war in 202 B.C., Carthage was disarmed and helpless
• Rome provoked a third war, and in 146 B.C., Carthage was captured after bitter fighting
• The senate ordered the city to be leveled, its people sold into slavery, and even the ground on which it had stood to be solemnly cursed
• In 202 B.C., Rome had won control of the western Mediterranean
• The former possessions of Carthage in Sicily, Spain , and Africa became the first Roman provinces
• proconsuls: governors --- from the Latin words for "stand in for a consul"
• The provinces paid tribute to the Roman state, contributed "auxiliary" units of Calvary and light infantry to the Roman forces, and provided opportunities for influential Roman citizens to build up private fortunes
• It was not until the time od Augustus after 27 B.C., that the provinces began to share in the benefits of Roman Order
• In addition, some local rulers survived by becoming client kings, bound to Rome by ties of allegiance and support like those between Roman patrons and clients, through the first century A.D.
• Punic from Poeni, the Latin name for the Phoenicians
• In the first phase of the struggle, after many years of exhausting warfare.