Instruction 1-1

The Roman Republic | The Roman Empire | Roman Decline

Pre-Test		Post-Test
Q&A	Living History: Living in the Roman Empire	Q&A

You may have heard people mention “Ancient Rome.” If you’ve seen the movie “Gladiator,” you may have some idea of people in tunics and armor riding horses and competing in giant stone arenas. Well, there’s a lot more to Ancient Rome than these things. Rome ruled the known world for hundreds of years. During the rise, rule, and fall of Rome, new ways of government, culture, architecture, and art came into existence. Many of these things strongly influenced the United States. In fact, we see evidence of Rome all around us.

Between 800 B.C. and 700 B.C., several villages of Latins living in Italy decided to come together and form a community. This community came to be called Rome. About 620 B.C., the Etruscans gained control of Rome. Under their rule, people started to fall into social classes. The nobles were called patricians. All the rest of the people, from the wealthy to the poorest laborers, were called plebeians.

The patricians declared Rome a republic. This was a new form of government in the world. In a republic, people elect their leaders.

Rome had been influenced by Greek civilization. The ancient Greeks also allowed the power of rule to be in the hands of its citizens. This type of government is called a democracy.  The difference was that in ancient Greece, all the citizens could help pass laws. In Rome, the citizens elected officials who passed the laws. Both of these types of government are considered democracy, because in the end, the people rule.

In the Roman Republic, both plebeians and patricians voted for their leaders. They had other rights and responsibilities, like paying taxes. Some served in the military. Only patricians could become elected officials, though, and only men could vote. Women did not have this right.

The government of the Roman Republic was organized into two branches: executive and legislative. The executive branch ran the city of Rome’s daily business. The legislative branch debated and proposed laws. The Senate was part of the legislative branch.

Over time, the plebeians began to resent the power that the patricians had. In 494 B.C., they went on strike. They refused to serve in the military, and when that didn’t work, they left the city to set up their own republic.

The patricians were worried and upset about losing their military and workforce. They gave in to some of the plebeians’ demands. They recognized the chosen representatives of the plebeians, which were called tribunes. They gave the tribunes power, so that a tribune could not be arrested or harmed.

Even after the plebeians won some of these concessions, they still did not stop fighting for their rights. None of the laws of Rome were written down, so the plebeians often wouldn’t know they broke a law until after they were arrested. After decades of dealing with this kind of injustice, the plebeians finally got the patricians to agree to write the laws down. The laws were engraved on 12 bronze tablets, known as the Twelve Tables. These tablets became the foundation for all future Roman law.

Today, we are governed by laws just as Rome was. Our government is also a republic. It is patterned in many ways after the Roman Republic. We can thank the Roman Republic for paving a new way of thinking—that each citizen has the right to influence his or her own government.

Video Instruction
*Availability of You Tube video links may vary. eTAP has no control of these materials.

• Ancient Rome The Rise and Fall of an Empire 1 [7:09]

• The Roman Republic [7:02]

• Rome- From Republic to Empire [3:23]

for Students, Parents and Teachers

Now let's do Practice Exercise 1-1 (top).

Next Page:  The Roman Empire (top)