The Roman Republic

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The Roman Republic

• Notes over Chapter 8, Section 2

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1. There were two main classes of people during
Ancient Romethe Patricians and the Plebeians.
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• 2. The patricians were the upper class, the
  nobility and wealthy land owners, while the
  Plebeians were the lower class. Nicknamed
  "plebs", the plebeians included everyone else in
  Ancient Rome.

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Things that were the same in both classes  

• Pater Familias The family was structured in the
  same way in both classes. The head of the family
  was the oldest male. That could be the father,
  the grandfather, or perhaps even an uncle.
  Everybody in one family lived under one
  roof. Women had no authority except in the home.
  Old age was honored.  

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• Atrium Life in the home of wealthy tradesmen and
  patricians centered around the atrium, the
  central courtyard. 

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• Slaves If they could afford it, both classes
  had slaves to do the work.

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• Citizenship The citizens of Rome were adult
  freemen from both classes - plebs and patricians.
  Women, children, and slaves were not citizens.
  People from all classes considered themselves
  Romans. 

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• Religion Both classes worshiped the same gods
  and attended religious festivals. 

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• Language Both classes spoke the same language,
  Latin.

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• Forum Both classes enjoyed the activities in the
  Forum, including the many free activities such as
  jugglers. 
• Forum town square or downtown area

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Remains of Roman Forum

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Things that were different 

• Social Life A wealthy plebeian family and a
  wealthy patrician family did not meet socially.
  Under the kings, it was illegal for a pleb and a
  patrician to marry. In 445 BC, about 60 years
  after the Roman Republic was formed, a new law
  was written that said it was no longer illegal
  for plebs and patricians to marry.

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• Apartment Houses Many plebeians lived in
  apartment houses called flats. Some of the
  apartments were above or behind their shops. Even
  fairly wealthy tradesmen might choose to live in
  an apartment over their store, with perhaps
  renters on the upper stories. Their own
  apartments might be quite roomy, sanitary and
  pleasant, occasionally with running water.

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• Others were not that nice.
• The Poor, Unsanitary Living Conditions In the
  poorer apartment houses, an entire plebeian
  family (grandparents, parents, children) might
  all be crowded into one room, without running
  water.

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• They had to haul their water in from public
  facilities. Fire was a very real threat because
  people were cooking meals in crowded quarters,
  and many of the flats were made of wood. They did
  not have toilets. They had to use public latrines
  (toilets).  The lower class Romans (plebeians)
  might have a breakfast of bread, dry or dipped in
  wine, and water. Sometimes olives, cheese, or
  raisins were sprinkled on the bread.

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• Rich and Poor Life Style The rich had beautiful
  mosaics on the floors of their home. They wore
  lots of jewelry made of gold and gemstones. They
  had beautiful clothing. They enjoyed a great deal
  of leisure time. The poor wore shabby clothing.
  Their jewelry was made of painted clay. They
  worked all the time.

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• 3. Plebeians challenged the class system by going
  on strike.
• In other words, they got plain fed up and decided
  to something.
• What is a strike?

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• We will revisit this strike with an in-class
  activity in the near future.

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• Now, read pages 274-276
• finish the rest of your notes.

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Where was Carthage located?

• On the coast of North Africa

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• The first Punic War began as a dispute
• between ___Rome______________ and
• _______Carthage_____________.

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What were they fighting for?

• Over control of the island of Sicily

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How long did the war last and who won?

• The First Punic War lasted for 20 years before
  Rome won.

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Who was Hannibal?

• A great general from Carthage who fought in the
  Second Punic War.

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What happened to Carthage during the Third Punic
War?

• Rome destroyed Carthage during the Third Punic
  War.

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What new lands did Rome acquire during the Punic
Wars?

• Rome took all of Greece and Macedonia and parts
  of Africa during the Punic Wars.