Subjects:
belly, implying that its citizens had a knack for warfare, which they would prove again
and again. Early in Rome's history, the city was conquered by the Etruscans, the most
notable civilization in Italy before Rome's rise to power. The Etruscans, who would
influence Roman civilization, had migrated to Italy from Asia Minor, probably in the 12th
century BC. Their distant past is a mystery, because their language has no relationship to
any other group of languages. Their Italian homeland, Etruria, consisted of a loose
confederation of city-states. They were noted for their metalworking and their fine
pottery. The Etruscans were at the height of their power during the 6th century BC. By
500 BC their civilization was in decline, and at about that time the Romans rose up and
claimed power in their city, establishing a republic.
A patrician class initially ruled Rome, but over time the Plebs, or common people,
gained influence. As late as 390 BC, when Greece and Persia were great powers in the
world, Rome was still so weak that it was sacked by the Gauls. However, during the 4th
. . .
years the military command of Cisalpine Gaul, Illyricum, and late of Transalpine Gaul,
where he could gain glory by military conquests, and from which he could watch every
political move in Italy. Reluctantly, the city extended its prized
citizenship widely to other Italian towns and downward to social classes previously
disfranchised. In the presence of
such a man, the old ideal of the Roman republic seemed to fade the triumvirate in 59 BC
fulfilled its compact. rd centuries BC, the Romans became masters of central and southern Italy. Roman
armies entered Greece, where they were both conquerors and conquered. Caesar and Cicero brought Latin prose to its peak of achievement,
and Marcus Terentius Varro was the greatest scholar of the age. Lepidus,
summoned to Sicily by Octavian to assist in the war against Sextus Pompeius, son of
Pompey the Great, attempted to seize Sicily for himself and was deprived of his province
and his position in the triumvirate. Victorious, he established Cleopatra as queen of Egypt and
as his mistress. In 202
BC at the Battle of Zama, Rome defeated Carthage. The death of Crassus in 53 BC brought Pompey into direct
conflict with Caesar. Negotiations failed to solve the deadlock, and
in 49 BC Caesar with his legions boldly crossed the Rubicon River, the southern
boundary of his province, and advanced on the city, which began a civil war that
continued for five years. Continuing the war against
Pompey, Caesar hurried to Spain, where he was victorious over the powerful armies of
Pompey's legates. Returning to Rome, having meanwhile been appointed dictator in his
absence, he almost immediately renounced that post and was elected consul. In Marcus Licinius
Crassus, a man of great wealth, Caesar found a tractable auxiliary.
Successful there, he pursued his foes into Greece and Egypt.
Essay's Topics
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