Roman Republic

Roman Republic

PART A

1. Virgil’s Aeneid was written between 29 and 19 B.C. It tells the story of a legend called Aeneas, a man from Troy, who traveled to Italy, and from whom all Romans originated. The story begins in the Mediterranean Sea. Aeneas and other Trojans are fleeing from Troy, their home, which has fallen to the Greeks. They go to Italy, where Aeneas founds Rome. Aeneas narrates the tale of Troy and how it finished the Trojan War after a decade of Greek occupation.
2. The 509 B.C Roman Republic had certain distinct features. Aristocrats in society were referred to as patricians. The most lucrative administrative positions were held by two leaders, or consuls, the leaders of the Roman Republic. These consuls were elected by a senate of patricians. At the time, plebeians, or low-class persons, had practically no voice in the government.
3. Citizenship in the Roman Republic was revered legal and political status given to free persons only, with regards to governance, property, and laws. Free men in the Roman Republic enjoyed a vast scope of protections and privileges defined by the Roman State. As it transitioned to an Empire, freed male slaves became full citizens. By 2012 B.C., non-Roman allies were granted citizenship, followed later by the provision of all freed persons with full citizenship.
4. The Law of the Twelve Tables founded the Roman Law. Earlier traditions were consolidated by the Tables into a deep-rooted set of legislation. The formulation of the Twelve Tables considerably agitated the Plebeians, who had been sidelined from the Republic’s higher benefits. This means that compromising the tables lowered the Patrician’s status and elevated the Plebeian status.
5. The statement “all roads lead to Rome” means that all procedures applied in doing something do not matter, since the result, which is automatic and relevant, is always the same. It means that there are different ways of arriving at conclusions, achieving a goal, or arriving at a conclusion. In other words, the end justifies the means; whatever has happened between the start and end is insignificant. In ancient Rome, all roads led from the Capital.
6. The Punic Wars, a series of battles between the Carthaginian Empire and the Roman Republic, ended with Carthage destroyed, its population enslaved, and a hegemony established over the western Mediterranean. The Carthaginian Empire suffered tremendous loss of lives and property, while Rome gained hugely in the same, as well as popularity. Rome became more feared in the surrounding territories, some of whom surrendered with much more ease than Carthage.
7. Even though Caesar depicted his attack on Gaul as a defensive and preemptive action, most people have agreed that the primary purpose of the wars was to pay off Caesar’s massive debts and boost his political career. Gaul was also the only obstacle between Rome and the River Rhine’s natural border. Thus, to get there, Gaul had to be conquered. Rome saw considerable military importance in Gaul as Rome had been attacked on many occasions by naïve tribes it believed were indigenous to Gaul, and others that came from further North. However, it is still unclear which of the reasons between settling Caesar’s enormous debts, improving his political career, and adding Rome more political territory had more weight.

PART B

1. Tiber
2. Brindisi
3. Mediterranean Sea
4. Alps
5. Second battle of Philippi
6. Mediterranean Sea
7. Ebro
8. Battle of Actium
9. Sicily
10. Constantinople