ROME 



in Italy, was subjugated, and by 

 the beginning of the 3rd century 

 B.C. Rome had the control of the 

 whole peninsula. The complete 

 domination of some parts of it was 

 not, however, attained until later 

 times. Thus the Ligurians, in 

 the mountain regions above the 

 Riviera, and the Gallic tribes on 

 the Alpine slopes were not com- 

 pletely subjugated until the age of 

 the emperor Augustus. 



In this course of conquest in 

 Italy Rome adopted a policy to- 

 wards conquered peoples which was 

 continued outside Italy and was the 

 principal cause for her rise to em- 

 pire. She kept all foreign relations 

 in her own hands, but interfered 

 as little as possible in the internal 

 government of the subject commu- 

 nities or tribes. And she was most 

 moderate in the burdens cast upon 

 her subjects. The chief require- 

 ment was that of military service, 

 which the primitive peoples were 

 ready to give. Taxation was sel- 

 dom required of Italians. This 

 politic moderation on the part of 

 Rome explains why Rome was the 

 only ancient city state which suc- 

 ceeded in founding a stable empire. 



Straggles with Carthage 

 The Greek cities of S. Italy 

 struggled continually against the 

 Italic barbarians, Lucanians, Brut- 

 tians, and others, and from time to 

 time had summoned Greek com- 

 manders to their aid. The venture 

 of Pyrrhus, king of Epirus, who 

 came over to aid Tarentum early in 

 280 B.C., brought Rome on to the 

 southern scene, and completed her 

 ascendancy in Italy. One result of 

 this contest was a rupture between 

 Romans and Carthaginians, who 

 had previously, been allies. After 

 three great struggles (264-241 B.C., 

 218-201, and 149-146) Carthage 

 was utterly destroyed. The first 

 war was chiefly naval in character. 

 It resulted in the first Roman 

 annexation outside the peninsula, 

 the Carthaginian possessions in 

 Sicily. Immediately after this 

 event Corsica and Sardinia were 

 wrested from Carthage. 



In 230 and 219 wars were waged 

 against the Illyrian pirates, and 

 some points occupied on the East- 

 ern Adriatic shore. Rome was thus 

 brought into political contact with 

 the communities of Greece proper. 

 Philip V of Macedon allied himself 

 with Hannibal, and the Aetolian 

 Confederation with Rome, during 

 the Second Punic War. Immedi- 

 ately after Hannibal had departed, 

 war was declared against Philip, 

 who was overthrown by Flamini- 

 nus at the battle of Cynoscephalae, 

 in 197 B.C. In the following year 

 Flamininus declared the " libera- 

 tion " of Greece, following the an- 



6684 



cestral Roman policy of respecting 

 the internal autonomy of the 

 separate cities, while looking with 

 disfavour on leagues or combina- 

 tions of cities or tribes. 



Philip was crippled by this 

 measure of " liberation," but the 

 Romans annexed for themselves 

 none of his territory. Philip had 

 been aided by Antiochus, king of 

 Syria, who was next attacked by 

 Rome. After his crushing defeat 

 at Magnesia, 190 B.C., he was 

 treated very much as Philip had 

 been. Roman allies, Eumenes king 

 of Pergamum, and the Rhodians 

 who headed a confederation of 

 commercial cities, received acces- 

 sions of territory. Philip, who had 

 rendered very important assistance 

 against Antiochus, was shabbily 

 treated and consequently nursed 

 dreams of revenge. 



In the contests with Philip and 

 Antiochus, two great Greek federa- 

 tions, one of the Aetolian, and the 

 other of the Achaean cities, had 

 been deeply concerned. The dis- 

 contents and dissensions generated 

 by the struggles led ultimately to 

 the violent suppression of both by 

 the Romans, the former in 189 B.C., 

 the latter in 146, when Corinth, the 

 great Achaean centre, was razed to 

 the ground. 



At the end of the Hannibalic 

 War, only a narrow band of terri- 

 tory in Africa had been annexed. 

 In 146 it was enlarged. The Third 

 Macedonian War, against Perseus, 

 concluded by the victory of Pydna, 

 168 B.C., made an end of the Mace- 

 donian monarchy, and Achaea, 

 with Macedonia, went to form a 

 province. From the time of the 

 Second Punic War onwards the 

 Romans had been occupied by 

 strenuous struggles to establish 

 their ascendancy in Spain, suffering 

 from time to time great disasters. 

 The capture of Numantia by the 

 younger Scipio in 133 gave them 

 more security, but Spain was still 

 turbulent in the time of Augustus. 

 In 133 the last king of Pergamum 

 bequeathed his dominions toRome, 

 and they became the Roman pro- 

 vince of Asia. About the same time 

 the first steps were taken towards 

 the conquest of Gaul. In 124 

 Aquae Sextiae (Aix in Provence) 

 was founded, and six years later 

 the Roman colony of Narbo (Nar- 

 bonne), the first organized Roman 

 settlement outside the peninsula. 

 Measures of the Gracchi 



In the period from 133 to 121 

 the revolutionary measures of the 

 Gracchi were carried out, and the 

 supremacy of the compact ring of 

 noble families which had controlled 

 the Senate was undermined. The 

 chief measures were : (1) the 

 vindication of public ownership in 



ROME 



the national estates. (2) The con- 

 stitution of the equites as a separate 

 order. (3) The attempt to found 

 great Roman colonies across the 

 seas. Gaius Gracchus proposed to 

 enfranchise the Italian allies. The 

 refusal to pass this measure led a 

 generation later to the Social War, 

 which had for its result the acquisi- 

 tion of Roman citizenship by all 

 the cities of Italy, by the lex lulia 

 of 90 B.C. The conception that men 

 of Italian birth formed a people 

 apart from the rest of the empire 

 was now definitely established, 

 with important consequences. 

 End of the Republic 



The last annals of the Republic 

 were filled with the struggles for 

 control of the Roman polity 

 between military commanders 

 the Scipios, Marius, Sulla, Pompey, 

 Julius Caesar, and Mark Antony 

 and then the Republic perished. 

 The imperial system itself emerged 

 from a great scene of bloodshed, 

 within and without Italy. The 

 final decision in favour of Augustus 

 at the great naval battle of Actium 

 raised him to undisputed domin- 

 ance in 31 B.C. Julius Caesar merely 

 destroyed the Republic ; and paid 

 the penalty with his life. His 

 successor had what he had not, 

 the constructive spirit. So vast 

 a transformation was surely never 

 carried through with such con- 

 summate ease. 



In the preceding century great 

 portions of Asia Minor, also Egypt 

 and Gaul and lands by the Danube, 

 had been incorporated in the em- 

 pire. An actual autocracy was 

 established, so cunningly veiled 

 that its methods presented them- 

 selves to the Romans as a natural 

 and easy development from those 

 of the Republic. A world weary 

 of war greeted gladly one who 

 posed as a prince of peace. 



Such' quietude and material 

 prosperity as subsisted with few 

 interruptions for two centuries, 

 had never been known to the 

 ancient world since the dawn of 

 history. Even the extinction of the 

 great founder's line when Nero 

 perished, A.D. 68, shook the foun- 

 dations of the imperial edifice but 

 little. The commotion which swept 

 away Nero was due to a conscious- 

 ness among the legionaries, posted 

 by Augustus in great permanent 

 camps on the boundaries of the 

 empire, by Rhine, Danube, and 

 Euphrates, that the imperial power 

 rested on their support, and might 

 be bestowed by their grant. The 

 Julio-Claudian line was succeeded 

 by the nominees of the Eastern 

 forces in the person of Vespasian ; 

 then there was an interlude under 

 Nerva, when the Senate, whose 

 formal right to a voice in the 



