TH E ROMAN REPUBLIC Marshall High School Mr. Cline Western Civi lization I: Anci ent Foundations Unit FOUR B B
The Second Punic War: Hannibal Hannibal smashed every army the Romans put in front of him, but without siege equipment, he was unable to take Rome itself. Instead, Hannibal laid waste across the countryside and tried to entice other Italian cities to rebel. For some reason, not one Italian city took up arms against Rome. Perhaps it was loyalty, or perhaps these cities feared Rome more than they feared this invader. Whatever the reason, Hannibal's plan to turn Rome's subjects against it failed. Nevertheless, through his military genius, Hannibal ravaged Italy for 16 years!
The Second Punic War: Hannibal Now, you may be wondering - how did Hannibal catch the mighty Romans with their togas down? Shouldn't they have been better prepared? After all, they were the ones who started the war. There are two reasons Rome fared so poorly. I've already mentioned the first problem. No one had expected Hannibal to take his army over the mountains. Rome had been expecting another naval war like the first Punic War, so Roman troops were scattered across numerous islands. The second problem was that Rome had overextended itself. While Hannibal was ravaging his way across Italy, Philip V of Macedon had taken advantage of the chaos to expand his own kingdom. Philip's invasion of Greece and Illyria prevented the veteran armies Rome had deployed to the east from returning home to reinforce Italy.
The Second Punic War: Hannibal Unable to bring its full strength to bear against Hannibal, the Romans had to resort to delaying techniques. The Second Punic War: Scipio Africanus Once Philip had been dealt with, some of Rome's best armies were once again available for battle. Rather than running home to oust the invader, the Roman general Scipio brought the fight to Carthage. Scipio invaded Africa, earning him the name Scipio Africanus and, more importantly, cutting off Hannibal's supply lines. Hannibal hurried home with his army and was soundly defeated at the Battle of Zama in 202 BCE. The following year, Carthage surrendered.
The Second Punic War: Scipio Africanus The mighty Carthaginian Empire was reduced to little more than the city of Carthage itself, and Rome further burdened Carthage with an even larger war indemnity than for the first Punic War. Meanwhile, Carthage's holdings in Spain were added to the Roman Empire. Rome had also gained territory during their simultaneous war with Philip V of Macedon and gained a foothold in Africa by establishing Numidia as a client state. Things were looking pretty good for Rome and pretty terrible for Carthage. In a single lifetime, little more than 60 years, Rome and Carthage had reversed positions. Rome was now the dominant force in the western Mediterranean; it had added Carthage's European territory to the empire and extended its reach eastward. By contrast, Carthage was now the underdog, allowed to live only because the Romans could get more money out of Carthage through Carthage paying the indemnity than they could by pillaging the city.
The Third Punic War Fifty years later, Carthage had finally managed to pay off that huge indemnity, meaning that Rome no longer had any interest in keeping them alive. In an act of pure tyranny, Rome demanded that the Carthaginians abandon their city and resettle 10 miles inland. For a trading nation, this was a death sentence. Carthage naturally refused, and Rome descended upon its old nemesis with all its might, besieging the city for two years before it fell at last in 146 BCE. Roman Law Between 449 and 450 BCE, the plebeians of Rome gained another victory through the Law of the Twelve Tables. These were a code of laws, which spelled out civil matters, crime and punishment, and relationships among citizens and family members.
Roman Law Most important about these new laws was that both patricians and plebeians were bound by them. Soon following the Law of the Twelve Tables, the Assembly had gained such power that plebeians were given the right to marry patricians, and even a plebeian could be Consul! Ironically, the growing power of the Assembly would be blamed for the fall of the Republic. Law: Rome's Greatest Export Of all Rome's contributions to Western civilization, Roman law is probably their greatest legacy. It has been said that law and order were Rome's biggest exports. As the Roman Empire expanded, the Romans imposed their legal system on the territories that they conquered.
Roman Law Feuding nations one by one fell into the fold of the Pax Romana, or 'Roman Peace,' and the Mediterranean entered an era of peace and prosperity that lasted for about two centuries. The History of Roman Law Roman law has a history nearly as old as Rome itself. In the early days of the republic, Roman law was held in the minds and memories of Rome's judges and magistrates. Such a system was prime for abuse. A magistrate could forget or even change laws on a whim, and there was no way to question him. And since magistrates were aristocrats (or patricians, as the Romans called them), the common people, or plebs, had little hope of finding justice in such a system.
Roman Law The History of Roman Law The plebs protested this justice system for many years, until at last, in 450 BCE, Roman law was codified and written down in the famous Twelve Tables of Rome. This written law guaranteed that all, high as well as low, were subject to the laws of Rome. As the years went by and the republic matured and became more inclusive, the Roman legal system was reformed to accommodate these changes. The rulings of judges began to be used as precedent for future cases, as did the edicts of praetors. Simultaneously, philosophical ideals from Stoicism found their way into Roman law.
Roman Law The History of Roman Law These reforms did not stop with the death of the republic and the rise of the Principate. The Three Branches of Roman Law Roman emperors, struggling to deal with the new challenges of the empire, would often appoint imperial jurists to refine and interpret the law. From Gaius to Ulpian to Paulus, these jurists helped established the philosophical underpinnings of law, creating a philosophy of justice that endures to this day. So let us take a look at the fruits of these men's labors and explore the scope and depth of Roman law. The Romans divided their law into three branches: civil law, the law of peoples, and natural law.
The Three Branches of Roman Law Civil law was the law of Rome and its citizens. These laws enumerated the rights and obligations of Roman citizenship. It included statutes of the senate, decrees of the emperor, the edicts of praetors, and of course, customs older than Rome itself. The law of peoples was a later development that came about as the Romans rushed to provide laws for the peoples they'd conquered. Unlike civil law, which was only intended for Roman citizens, the law of peoples applied to all people, regardless of nationality. The law of peoples established the rights of personal property. Historians these days now look at the protection of personal property as the foundation of any just society.
The Three Branches of Roman Law Yet before we give the Romans too much credit, we should note that the rights of personal property included the right to own another person as a slave. The law of peoples also laid down the laws of trade, commerce, and contracts. While the Romans were developing their civil and people's laws, a separate, more philosophical concept of law began to develop. This was a law for all people and for all time. Under the influence of the Stoics, the Romans gradually came to the conclusion that the whole universe obeyed a rational natural order and that this order was just and right. The Romans called this order natural law. A great Roman statesman named Cicero believed that this natural law superseded the laws of men and states.
The Three Branches of Roman Law Roman natural law held that all men were born equal and that they have certain rights that no government can violate. Nearly 2,000 years later, this Roman concept of natural law would inspire the founding fathers of America. The Pax Romana This legal spirit did not end with the death of the republic. Indeed, under the steady leadership of Roman emperors, the Roman Empire and its laws expanded across the Mediterranean. This system of law and order was known as the Pax Romana, or 'Roman Peace,' and it proved to be Rome's greatest export. Though the peoples and cities the Romans conquered likely resented Roman subjugation, they could not deny that their lives were far more peaceful and orderly than they had been before.
The Pax Romana Roman law was rather fair and balanced for its time, and it was enforced by the armies of a mighty empire. This became the trade Rome made with the people it conquered. They relinquished control of their government to Rome, and Rome, in exchange, provided them with justice and peace. This was a bargain most people could tolerate, and for 200 years, the Mediterranean fell under the sway of the Pax Romana. From 20 BCE to 180 CE, war within the empire was virtually unknown. In this era of peace, the provinces gradually became Romanized.
The Pax Romana Mos Maiorum Protected from invasion by the Roman army and secured in their property and persons by Roman law, the provinces were eager to gain the fruits of Roman civilization, like roads, running water, and culture. Cities strove to live up to this new Roman standard; gymnasia, theatres, schools, fountains, monuments, temples, and workshops sprung up all across the empire. Roman society was ruled by custom as much as by law. This was a very conservative society. The older a custom was, the more sacred the Romans held it. This network of customs was called the mos maiorum, or the custom of the ancestors. These customs governed everything from the individual family to society as a whole.
The Pax Romana At the family level, the mos maiorum established the pater familias, the father of the family, as the head of the household. The pater familias held absolute power over his household. However, he was supposed to exercise this power with moderation and justice. Failure to do so was deeply shameful. At the societal level, the mos maiorum referred to the system of patrons and clients that comprised Roman society. Patrons had obligations to their clients, and clients in turn had obligations to their patrons.
The Pax Romana Roman Virtues These systems were hierarchical. One man's patron might be another man's client. This network of obligations formed a chain of responsibility, from the lowliest slave to the loftiest senator. We can gain a clearer perspective on the mos maiorum by examining the virtues it extolled. The foremost Roman virtue was virtus. Though we derive the word 'virtue' from this word, in Latin, virtus meant manliness. By manliness, the Romans did not simply mean courage and strength, though those two concepts played an important role in Roman virtus. Virtus also implied the discernment to recognize good and evil and the wisdom to make informed decisions.
The Pax Romana Roman Virtues Virtus encompassed several other sub-virtues governing a man's relationship to his fellow man, and society as a whole. Disciplina, from whence we derive the word 'discipline,' refers to each man's need for discipline, training and self-control. The importance of this virtue was key in the iron discipline of the Roman Army. Disciplina is closely related to gravitas, a sort of dignified self-control that was meant to protect oneself and one's family from shame and dishonor. Also closely related to disciplina is the virtue of constantia, which the source of our word 'constancy.'
The Pax Romana Roman Virtues This virtue called on Romans to put on a brave face, even in the midst of terrible adversity. A virtuous Roman did not give up when he faced a challenge, nor did he let his enemies know when they had wounded him. The final Roman social virtue was fides, from which we gain the English word, 'fidelity.' Like its English derivative, fides means trustworthiness, faithfulness, reliability and credibility. In Rome, a man was only as good as his word. Fides provided the foundation of several important aspects of Roman society, from business contracts to the obligations of patrons and clients to one another.
The Pax Romana Considering the importance of religion in morality, it is not surprising that the mos maiorum also included several virtues concerning religion. There was religio, the source of our word 'religion.' Religio referred to the obligations between mortals and their gods, in much the same way that fides dealt with the obligations between patrons and clients. There was cultus, from whence we get the word 'cult.' Cultus governed the performance of religious traditions and rituals. But, the ultimate religious virtue was pietas, from whence we derive the word 'piety.' Pietas means that one lives one's whole life according to the will of the gods.
The Pax Romana It is the expansion of religious practice into everyday life. A Roman with the virtue of pietas did not leave his religious duties at the door of the temple, but carried them with him everywhere, following the will of the gods in his business transactions and everyday life. Pietas was the chief virtue of Aeneas in Virgil's Aeneid, and was a virtue often ascribed to Octavian as he set about restoring the morality and religion of the Roman people. Finally, the Romans had virtues dealing with political service as well. A man who displayed all of these social and religious virtues could go far in the Roman state.
The Pax Romana The Roman virtue, dignitas, from whence we derive the word 'dignity,' means a reputation for honor and virtue. After all, there's no point in being virtuous if no-one knows how virtuous you are. Having achieved dignitas, a virtuous Roman would be granted auctoritas, the source of our word 'authority.' With auctoritas came the power to govern at various levels. This power granted prestige and respect in the Roman Republic. But, just like the auctoritas of the pater familias, this power came with the imperative to perform one's public duty with justice, wisdom and discernment.