Arquivo para July 20th, 2017
The Roman Republic
20
Jul
The Romans initially believed that the king’s origin was divine and established 
the Monarchy, but later in 509 BC, they overthrown the Etruscan king Tarquinius the Great and founded the Roman Republic by establishing two magistrates as a government.
At the beginning of the Republic, Roman society was divided into four classes: Patricians, Clients, Plebeians and Slaves, generally peoples who were defeated in wars.
Among these wars, it stands out more than 100 years against Carthage, the Punic Wars and then wars in the Iberian Peninsula (conquest that took more than 200 years), Gaul and the Eastern Mediterranean.
The occupied territories were transformed into provinces, they were forced to pay taxes to the government of Rome and gradually, the Roman army became an unbeatable group.
Its military organization was formed by three types of people:
– Citizens of Rome, territories, colonies and Latin tribes who also had Roman citizenship
– Communities whose members did not have full Roman citizenship (could not vote or be voted on)
– Autonomous allies (they made treaties of alliance with Rome).
The army built roads throughout the Italian peninsula also contributed to explain the Roman conquests, were experts in mounting fortifications.
Military discipline was severe and punishment consisted of beatings and beheadings. The winning soldiers received awards and honors and the general was honored, while the losers were beheaded in prisons.
Successive victories provoked great social, economic and political changes in Rome, but already in the fourth century AD, there were signs of decay.
