Roman civilization

• Latins - group of Indo - European, migrated to italy

  They lived in the region of Latium on both sides of the Tiber river. They were considered as the first Romans, since they were the first to build communities in one of the seven hills of the Rome, the Palatine hill
• The Greeks migrated and established colonies in the southern part of Italy and in Sicily
• Etruscans were natives of north Italy and invaded Latium
• Tarquin family was the most powerful Etruscan clan
• Patricians consisted of nobles and owners of large land
• Plebians consisted of families who were the last to reside in Rome and common laborers, farmers, and traders
• The consuls governed every aspect of Roman society. Limited has 2 individuals, one for military and one for government
• Senate consists of 300 patricians, they served for live. Their duty was to create laws
• Dictator had absolute power and ruled the army. Can only serve for 6 months
• Large army groups were called legions. A legion usually consisted of 6000 legionaries of Roman soldiers
• The legions were divided into smaller units called centuries. it consists 60 to 120 legionaries
• Punic war - the conflict between rome and Carthage for the control of sicily
• First punic war - Carthage and rome fighting for the control over the islands of sicily. Rome won and and took sicily as the first province outside the peninsula.
• Second punic war - Hannibal's desire to take revenge on Rome. It put an end to the Carthaginian empire. Leaders are Hannibal (Carthage), Scipio (ROME)
• Third punic war - caused by the incitement of an influential senator named Cato to destroy Carthage. Carthage was finally destroyed and its population enslaved by rome granting it more power and territory. The leaders are Aemilianus (Carthage), scipio (rome)
• The Romans called the Mediterranean sea as mare nostrum or "our sea"
• Tiberius and Gaius - Gracchus brothers: two tribunes wanted to solve the problems on poverty
• " Veni, Vedi, amavi, veci" means "I came, I saw, I loved, I conquered" it was said by Julius Caesar
• What does "veni, vedi, amavi, vici" mean?

  I came, I saw, I loved, I conquered
• The 3 leaders of the first triumvirate were Julius Caesar, Marcus crasues, and Pompey
• The 3 leaders of the second triumvirate were Octavian, Mark Anthony and Lepidus
• Under Augustus Caesar, Rome achieved peace and prosperity. This period is known to be as "pax romana" or "roman peace"
• Ovid - the author of metamorphoses
• Virgil - author of aeneid
• Livy - wrote the history of rome
• Tacitus - a historian who criticized the oppression of Julian emperors