Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Today's class 4/27/11

Define
A.    Consul: A consul is like a king in that he commanded armies and directed the government.  Rome had two and they could only rule for one year and not be elected again for ten years.
B.     Veto: Means “I forbid” and is a way to overrule another consuls decisions.
C.     Senate: Was the aristocratic branch of Rome’s government.
D.    Assembly: Was the democratic side of Rome’s government.  It consisted of all the citizen-soldiers of Rome.
E.     Dictator: Only used in times of crisis, a dictator had absolute power to make laws and command the army.  Their power only lasted six months.  They were chosen by the consuls and elected by the senate.
F.      Mercenary: Soldiers who fight for a country for pay.

Answer
1.      (a)Why were many plebeians dissatisfied with Rome’s government in the early years of the republic?
They were dissatisfied because they were barred from holding most important positions in government, like; commanding armies, high priests, and high offices.

(b)How did they win reforms?
They won reforms by refusing to fight in the Roman army unless there were reforms.

(c)What changes did they bring about in Roman government?
They gained access to government positions, more favorable laws, enslavement for debt was ended, marriage between plebeians and patricians was allowed, and the creation of a written law, called the twelve tablets, was established.
           
2.      Why did Romans consider that they had a balanced government?
They thought they had a balanced government because it was a part monarchy, part aristocracy, and part democracy, which they thought gave them the best mixture of governments.

3.      Once Rome had conquered most of Italy, how did the roman government win the support of the conquered people?
They won support because they willing to extend citizenship to those outside of Rome.  The new citizens became partners in the growth of Rome.

4.      (a)At the start of the Punic Wars, why might Carthage have appeared the stronger power?
Carthage was three time the size of Rome, they had a large navy of 500 ships, they were very wealthy, and were able to hire mercenaries.

(b)Why was Rome, in fact, the victor?
Rome had the advantage of drawing on a 500,000 soldier reserve, their citizens were more loyal, and war was Rome’s specialty, since they spent so many years pursuing it.

           
5.      Why was the battle of Zama a major turning point in history?
Because Rome was victorious.  If Carthage had won the war then they would have become the greatest empire in history and Rome would not have passed down its laws, government, and culture to western civilization.

6.      (a)Why did the Greeks at first welcome Roman Armies?
They first welcomed them because they thought the Roman’s were protectors.  The Roman’s had freed the Greeks from Philip V of Macedon.

(b)Why did the Greek attitude change?
Their attitude changed because the Roman’s interfered in Greek politics and they became increasingly ruthless.

Today in western civ we took a pop quiz and then reviewed the answers and the readings from last night. Tonight we got more readings to do.

No comments:

Post a Comment