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THE REPUBLIC part 2 In the beginning, Roman expansion was a matter of defense. In 390 B.C., the Romans fought in Italy against its neighbors in various wars and gained control of the peninsula by approximately 270 B.C.. Its defense now secure, Rome developed a new attitude towards expansion which was more missionary in character. They wanted to spread their culture, government and laws to bring peace and harmony wherever they went. It can also be argued that the wealthy class in Rome was eager for more power and wealth that could be brought by expansion. The time of expansion necessitated the construction of roads, aqueducts, and city walls, tasks at which the Romans excelled. Every new city that was conquered had a road built from it to Rome…hence the saying "all roads lead to Rome." This network has been compared to the nervous system with Rome as the brain. Many of the roads created during this time are still used today. Roads in ancient Rome wer very important because people liked to travel between towns within the empire to trade goods. The Romans followed specific steps when building roads through their empire. 1st- they had to decide where to put the road. Men measured from one high point to another and made the roads as straight as they could. Next, builders dug up the group and started laying down big stones that would make up the first layer of the road. Then, they put in a layer of gravel to level off any bumps made by the big stones. Then they laid a layer of sand and cement. The last layer they put on was big, flat stones that fit tightly together and were packed down hard. This completed the road. PUNIC WARS Carthage was another powerful city-state across the Mediterranean in North Africa. (mark Carthage on your map of Italy) Carthage dominated the sea with its powerful navy and was a wealthy, mercantile trading center. It controlled the western half of Sicily (point out Sicily on the map), which the Romans felt was a threat and so decided in 264 B.C. to drive the Carthaginians out. This was the First Punic War. The Romans won this war by depending on the strength of their foot soldiers who fought on board the ships. In 241 B.C., Carthage gave up Sicily. Carthage regrouped and counterattacked in what was the Second Punic War. Their general, Hannibal, was an exceptional leader who planned a land attack on Rome from the North, complete with elephants to destroy enemy lines. He battled with Rome for 15 years, but lost the war when the Romans attacked Carthage and Hannibal was forced to rush home to defend it. Carhage was no longer i a position to hurt Rome after the 2nd Punic War. Rome and Carthage were at peace for the next 50 years, but when Carthage started gaining power once again, Rome squelched them once and for all. The Third Punic War was over in 3 years: the Romans went from house to house slaughtering the people of Carthage. They sold the remaining citizens into slavery, burned Carthage's harbor; Carthage was completely destroyed and salt was sown in the soil so that nothing would grow there again and Carthage would never be a rival city Read about the story of Spartacus.Adapted from: Greek and Roman Civilization, Educational Research Council of America *design a shield (shields are held over head by those in the middle and in front of those on each side. This was the Roman’s attack formation.)
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