Topic 7-9

The Centuriate Assembly

509 BCE

The Centuriate Assembly was elected by the citizens and created laws. Each year, the assembly elected two executives called consuls to oversee the laws and ensure their enforcement. The consuls had almost unlimited power, known as imperium, including the right to inflict the death penalty on law-breakers and they were preceded everywhere by twelve lictors. Consular authority was limited by the fact that the terms were only a year long.

The Centuriate Assembly

509 BCE

Under the consuls there was the Senate, essentially a large body of aristocratic administrators, appointed for life, who controlled state finances. The whole system was tied closely to the priesthoods of the Roman gods, who did blessings on the city. While the Romans were deeply suspicious of individuals who seemed to be trying to take power themselves, several influential families worked behind the scenes to ensure that they could control voting blocks in the Centuriate Assembly and the Senate.

Roman Expansion

389 BCE

Roman expansion began with the leadership of a confederation of allied cities, the Latin League. Rome led this coalition against the nearby hill tribes that had periodically raided the area, then against the Etruscans that had once ruled Rome itself. Just as the Romans started to consider further territorial expansion, a fierce raiding band of Celts swooped in and sacked Rome in 389 BCE, a setback that took several decades to recover from.

Roman Expansion

389 BCE

In the aftermath, the Romans swore to never let the city fall victim to an attack again. The early period of Roman expansion was in 338 BCE when Rome defeated its erstwhile allies in the Latin League. Rome did not punish the cities after it defeated them. Instead, it offered them citizenship in its republic in return for pledges of loyalty and troops during wartime, a very important precedent because it meant that with every victory, Rome could potentially expand its military might.

The Cynics

365 BCE

The Cynics believed that social conventions were unfortunate
byproducts of history that distracted people from the true source of virtue and happiness. In turn, the only route to happiness was a more aggressive rejection of social life than that espoused by the Epicureans (who were quite sedate). They advocated a combination of asceticism and naturalism, indulging in one’s physical needs without regard to social convention.

The Cynics

365 BCE

Practically speaking, this involved deliberately flouting social mores, sometimes in confrontational or even disgusting ways: Diogenes, founder of the Cynics, notoriously masturbated and defecated in public. Most Cynics were slightly more restrained, but most took great pleasure in mocking people in positions of political authority, and they also belittled the members of other philosophical schools for their overly rigid systems of thought.

Phillip II

359 BCE

In 359 BCE, the Macedonian king, Philip II, reunified the country.
He started a campaign across Macedonia and the surrounding areas to the north, defeating and killing his noble rivals as well as hostile tribes. When men joined with him, he rewarded them with looted wealth, so his army grew. Philip was a tactical innovator. He found a way to secure the loyalty of his nobles by organizing them into elite cavalry units who swore loyalty to him, and he proudly led his troops personally into battle.

Phillip II

359 BCE

He also reorganized the infantry into a new kind of phalanx that used longer spears than did traditional hoplites; these new spearmen would hold the enemy in place and then the cavalry would charge them, a tactic that proved effective against both “barbarian” tribes and traditional Greek phalanxes. Philip was the first Macedonian king to insist on the drilling and training of his infantry, and the combination of his updated phalanx and the cavalry proved unstoppable.

Alexander the Great

334 BCE

Alexander was one of the historical figures who truly deserves the honorific “the Great.” He was a military genius and a courageous
warrior, leading his armies in battle and fighting on despite being wounded on several occasions. He was a charismatic and inspirational leader who won the loyalty not only of his Macedonian countrymen, but the Greeks and, most remarkably, the
people of the Persian Empire whom he conquered.

Alexander the Great

334 BCE

He was also driven by astonishing ambition; tutored by none other than Aristotle when he was young, he modeled himself on the legendary Greek hero Achilles, hoping to not only match but to surpass Achilles'prowess in battle. He was a legend in his own life, as he was worshiped by a God by many of his people, and even the Greek subjects came to honor him as one of the greatest leaders of all time.

The Epicureans

307 BCE

The Epicureans, named after their founder Epicurus believed that humans ought to turn their backs on the pointless drama of politics and social competition and retire to a kind of inner contemplation. Epicurus taught that even if gods existed, they clearly had no interest in human affairs and thus did not need to be feared. Death was final and total, representing release and peace, not an afterlife of torment or work, so there was no need to worry about it, either.

The Epicureans

307 BCE

The Epicureans believed in a virtuous renunciation of earthly cares and an indulgence in pleasure. Pleasure was
not about overindulgence, however (which led to suffering - think of indigestion and hangovers), but a refined enjoyment of food, drink, music, and sex, although one an interesting aspect of this philosophy was the idea that sexual pleasure was fine, but
emotional love was to be avoided since it was too likely to result in suffering.

The Stoics

301 BCE

The Stoics became philosophers of fate and rationality. Unlike the Epicureans, Stoics believed that humans had an obligation to engage in politics, which formed part of a great divine plan,
something linked to both fate and nature. As participants in the natural order, humans ought to learn to accept the trials and tribulations of life rationally, without succumbing to emotion (hence the contemporary meaning of the word “stoic”: someone who is indifferent in the face of pain or discomfort)

The Stoics

301 BCE

The Stoics accepted the necessity of being part of a society and of fulfilling social obligations, but they warned against excesses of pride and greed. Instead, a Stoic was to do his duty in his social roles without the distraction of luxury or indulgence. They
were one possible version of a philosophy that believes in the existence of fate, of accepting one's place in a larger scheme
instead of resisting it's.

Roman Law

212 BCE

Much of Roman law still seems grossly unfair from a contemporary perspective. Laws came to establish a formal divide between the rich and the poor, even in the case of citizens. The rich were protected from torture and painful execution, while the poor were subject to both. Slaves were held in such a subservient position by the law that the testimony of a slave was only allowed in court cases if it had been obtained through torture.

Roman Law

212 BCE

Over everything else, the decrees of the emperor were the fundamental basis of law itself; they could not be appealed or contested in the name of some kind of imagined higher authority or written constitution. The emperor was not just about the law, he was the law.

Julius Ceasar

70 BCE

Julius Caesar’s rise to power is a complex story that reveals just how murky Roman politics were by the time he became an important political player. Caesar, both a brilliant general and a shrewd politician, was skilled at keeping up the appearance of loyalty to Rome's ancient institutions while exploiting opportunities to advance and enrich himself and his family. He was loyal, to almost no one, even old friends who had supported him.

Augustus Caesar

23 BCE

Augustus found it useful to maintain the facade of the Republic, along with republican values. He instituted strong moralistic laws that penalized (elite) young men who tried to avoid marriage and he celebrated the piety and loyalty of conservative married women.

Augustus Caesar

23 BCE

Even as he converted the government from a republic to a bureaucratic tool of his own will, he insisted on traditional republican beliefs and republican culture. This no doubt reflected his own conservative tastes, but it also eased the transition from republic to autocracy for the traditional Roman elites. After Augustus’s death, the Senate voted to deify him

Summary

20 BCE

The expansion in the eyes of the Romans was Victory within power. In 389 BCE, a fierce raiding band of Celts swooped in and sacked Rome which took them several decades to recover from. After the defeat, Rome never wanted to be the victim again. As Rome expanded they didn't punish those they defeated but instead offered them citizenship in its republic in return for pledges of loyalty and troops during wartime.

Summary

20 BCE

This was a big deal because every time they would defeat someone they could potentially expand their military might making them even more powerful. There were inexorable problems that plagued the Republic throughout its history, most evidently the problem of wealth and power. This was an issue that had been prominent throughout the years and pushed on the conflicts that arose.

Summary

20 BCE

When Rome faced a major crisis there was a system put in place in which the Centuriate Assembly could appoint a Roman dictator The dictator would be a single man with the full power of imperium which gave him unlimited power to save Rome from whatever had been threatening it. I personally think Caesar overstepped because instead of repairing the republic he was making it into an empire as he saw fit. Many of the issues Rome encountered throughout the years were due to their lack of unity.

Summary

20 BCE

Even though Rome had great leaders and made major advancements that made the world change, their time eventually came to an end.