Week 8 Schedule, 4.1 Online

Week 8 Schedule:Roman Ship

Due Date Activity
Oct 16

Read & Examine: Week # 8 Module

Textbook: Chapter 4

Watch: All Videos
Oct 13 Quiz: Quiz #5 and Map Quiz #4
Oct 16 Discussion: None this Week
Oct 16 Assignment: Homework # 3

 Image: Roman Ship  

Topic:

Roman Republic

The Republic of Rome, with its emphasis on family and city, rose to dominate the Mediterranean in the period from 509-264 BCE. By the time Rome had won control of the entire Italian peninsula, it encountered a significant obstacle in the Mediterranean: Carthage. The greatest naval power in the Mediterranean in the third century BCE, Carthage controlled the North African coast from western Libya to the Strait of Gibraltar, ruled over most of southern Spain, and held the islands of Corsica and Sardinia. Carthage was a formidable power; controlling much of the commercial trade in the Mediterranean basin, and had amassed tremendous wealth from gold and silver mines in Spain. Conflict between Rome and Carthage, eventually so disastrous for the African city, seems to have been inevitable from the moment that the Carthaginians decided to seize control of the Greek city-states on the island of Sicily. The First Punic War (264-241 BCE) fought mainly in Sicily, forced the Romans to learn how to fight on ships and to use naval forces. The Second Punic War (218-201 BCE), fought mainly in Italy by the famous Carthaginian general Hannibal Barca, brought Rome closest to disaster, especially following the Battle of Cannae, but in the long run, the Romans prevailed. Following the Third Punic War (149-146 BCE), the city of Carthage was completely destroyed by the Romans. By the end of this period, the citizen farmer-soldiers who had laid the foundations of the republic had been replaced by slave gangs working on large estates and a standing professional army. Political violence and power struggles now tore at the fabric of Roman society, a departure from the earlier tradition of emphasizing the ties between citizens. Romans turned away from their own legends and stories and began to value Greek models of beauty and individualism.

Goals:

Learning Objectives:

  1. Examine the major historical events in the Roman Republic
  • The Punic Wars and Roman Expansion
  • The Decline of the Republic
  • The origins of the Roman Civil Wars