ANCIENT ROME AND THE ROMAN REPUBLIC

EARLY CIVILIZATION
-Italy was originally occupied by many different groups of people -Two main groups were Greek colonists and the Etruscans -The Etruscans ruled much of central Italy and Rome itself -Ancestors of the Romans, the Latins, settled in the area that is now Rome around 800 B.C.
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POLITICS
- 509 B.C. Rome is Founded -Romans drove out their Etruscan ruler and established a republic - They did not want one person to have all the power

STRUCTURE OF THE REPUBLIC

-Patricians= were the upper class, the nobility and wealthy land owners.
Plebeians= farmers, merchants, artisans, traders. The plebeians were the lower class. Nicknamed "plebs", the plebeians included everyone in ancient Rome (except for the nobility, the patricians) from well-to-do tradesmen all the way down to the very poor.

Patricians

Plebeians

The Twelve Tables were laws set in place to protect basic human rights.

Once a law was made public, the law was known to everyone. This also had the benefit for the lawmakers and law-enforcers of ruling out a lawbreaker's protestation that he or she didn't know that what he or she was doing was against the law. If a law was made public, then it was everyone's responsibility to know and obey.
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If you are called to go to court, you must go. if you dont show up, you can be taken to court by force. If you need a witness to testify and he will not show up, you can go once every three days and shout in front of his house.

if it's your tree, its your fruit, even if it falls on another mans land. No person shall hold meetings by night in the city. A dead man shall not be buried or burned within the city. Marriages should not take place between plebeians and patricians (As time went on, this law was changed.
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What do we have in the United States that is similar to the Twelve Tables?

PATRICIANS VS. PLEBEIANS

-Plebeians have no say in the government - Eventually get to elect their own officials called tribunes in 494 B.C. - For 84 years, (421-337 B.C.) plebeians fought to have a role in each part of the government

GOVERNMENT STRUCTURE
Be sure to think about the similarities and the differences of the government in Ancient Rome to the government of the United States today.

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The Roman Government was spilt up into three branches. Each branch had its own specific purpose, and specific power.

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The Senate was controlled and elected by the patricians of Rome. They determined how Rome would act towards other governments, controlled the money, and were the lawmakers. The were elected for life terms.

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Consuls were members of the Senate, who had been elected to serve for a one year term in the position of Consul, the highest position in government under the Republic. The consuls most important power was that they controlled the army.

Consuls could also propose new laws and could order anyone to be arrested.

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The tribunes were the representatives of the Plebians. They were the leaders of the citizen assembly.

They protected the rights of the Plebians in the Roman government. Their changes made the government more representative.
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How is the structure of the Roman government similar to that of the United States government?

How are they different?

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