Page 132 - Western Civilization A Brief History, Volume I To 1715 9th - Jackson J. Spielvogel

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The Roman Republic
Horatius defending the bridge as envisioned by Tommaso Laureti, a sixteenth-century Italian painter
CHAPTER OUTLINE
AND FOCUS QUESTIONS
The Emergence of Rome
Q What impact did geography have on the history of Rome, and what influence did the Greeks and Etruscans have on early Roman history?
The Roman Republic (ca. 509–264 B.C.E.)
Q What were the major political institutions of the Roman republic, and what policies and institutions help explain the Romans’ success in conquering Italy?
The Roman Conquest of the Mediterranean (264–133 B.C.E.)
Q How did Rome achieve its empire from 264 to 133
B.C.E., and what is meant by the phrase Roman imperialism?
Society and Culture in the Roman World
Q How did the acquisition of an empire affect Roman social and economic institutions, values and attitudes, and art and literature?
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The Decline and Fall of the Roman Republic (133–31 B.C.E.)
Q What were the main problems Rome faced during
the last century of the republic, and how were they ultimately resolved?
CRITICAL THINKING
Q What did the Roman poet Horace mean when he wrote, “Captive Greece took captive her rude conqueror”?
CONNECTIONS TO TODAY
Q What lessons does the fall of the Roman republic offer to the United States today?
EARLY ROMAN HISTORY is filled with legendary tales of the heroes who made Rome great. One of the best known is the story of Horatius at the bridge. Threatened by attack from the neighboring Etruscans, Roman farmers abandoned their fields and moved into the city, where they would be protected by the walls. One weak point in the Roman defenses, however, was a
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Musei Capitolini, Rome//Giraudon/The Bridgeman Art Library