Homework 3.03.10

The Continuation of the Rising of Rome

The Etruscan Wars lasted for about 250 years. It all began because Rome was in the middle of flourishing. It was doing very well in the areas of trading and commerce. Other countries took this as rivalry and this caused strife between Rome and all other nearby countries.

325 BC -- The Etruscan people were actually European. They lived in on the small tip of the peninsula off of Italy. It was a very fertile and lush place to live. It was an imperial culture and had a top-down type of government. They were well advanced in literacy, art and music.

500 BC -- As we already stated, Rome was threatening the well-being of other nearby markets. In fact, due to need of expansion, the Romans tried to build a road right through the Etruscan land. They were angered at this and revolted. The last of the Etruscans were overthrown and brought under submission. Surprisingly though, most of the Romans didn't even want the land or to have defeated the Etruscans. They had to take over it although it did nothing economically. This was because they had to make sure that it didn't get too large and out of hand before it really revolted. At this point, the Romans controlled the whole Italian peninsula.

Punic War 1: Hamilcar Barca was the main commander for Carthage during the first Punic War. It lasted from 264-241 BC. The war ends with Carthage believing that they won, when actually, Rome had.

Punic War 2: This was also named the Hannibalic War and (by the Romans) The War against
Hannibal. This one lasted from 218-201 BC and was mainly due to Rome attacking Spain. This ended with Carthage very much destroyed. Scipo Africanus came into the scene at this time. He was mainly known because he was the first person to create a strategy other then just using brute strength.

Punic War 3: This went on from 149-146 and it all started with Carthage attacking Rome's ally Numidia. Rome came to their defense and not only pushed back Carthage, but held it under a 3 year siege, at the end of which they brutally slaughtered every Carthigian. After this, they burned Carthage to the ground.

Rome was now the "policeman" of the whole sea. Lesson: always defeat your enemies to the very end. If you don't, they will come back like Carthage did time and time again until they were finally wiped out.

During the time of the second Punic War, Rome was also fighting against East Illyrium (modern-day Balkans). The time that they spent fighting covered 209-219 BC. These were barbaric tribes, which is not what the Romans were used to fighting. Eventually because of all of this fighting, Greece was absorbed into Rome.

The Roman Republic - it was truly a wonderful and brilliant organization, but it didn't have a moral barometer. It was basically like a hyperactive toddler. It had no discernment about any kind of complexity and it didn't have any moral restraints. It became corrupt and top-heavy.



Julius Caesar
It is believed that Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar were at the center of Rome's cultural changes. But everyone had their own beliefs and views about what their life goals were.

Before these two men, there was a Republic. Rome was transformed by them nearly instantly. They were a huge tipping point. Most people don't like their governments in general. This was very true of Rome. No one agrees even now about how the Caesars changed Rome.

Julius Caesar was born in 101 BC in a patrician home. He was an honest and devote man as shown when he was ordered to divorce his wife and he went into exile rather than doing that. He served in the military at this point. He showed great strategic ideas in war. He was constantly being promoted for this reason. He could also easily inspire the men. In 74 BC, he was able to put down the slave rebellion in Sparta. Slaves there outnumbered the free people 5 to 1. Julius quelled the rebellion with hardly any deaths on either side. Suddenly, he became a great and powerful leader. Part of the reason for this is that he stayed with this mean no matter what happened. He faced the risks right next to him men. The men gained great confidence because of this. He treated them as his equals and they respected him for this. He was a great orator and was constant with his duties.

48 BC: The Pompeii War
73 BC: He was known as the "bridge builder" or the priest of the religion of the state. He was very high in the minds of the people and was an orator of the plebeians. At this point, he was still very young. Julius was very opposed to the corrupt government and was an advocate for old Roman virtues. This gained him great popularity.