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1、3.2 Early Republic 509BC-146BCHi guys,this is the Second part of Chapter Three,the Early Republic1.Remember the historical event of Rape of Lucretia in 509 BC?Lucretia killed herself.That caused a revolution.The last king was overthrownand exiled,Roman Republic was established,and Lucretias husband
2、Lucius Junius Brutus became one of the two first consuls.This is a bust ofLucius Junius Brutus.2.What is a republic?Roman Republic was the first republic in the world.In todays world,159 of the 206 sovereign states use the word republic as part of theirofficial names.There are three characters of a
3、republic.First“everyone is equal before the law”as the Greek stateman Pericles said in his funeraloration.All people are citizens,no noblemen no commoners.The country is a public matter,not the property of the rulers.Second the head ofthe country is elected,not a monarch;monarch is the king,queen,em
4、peror,or empress.The third is rule of law;in a republic elected individualsrepresent the citizens and exercise power according to the rule of law under a constitution.The term republic is a Latin word(res publica),society of the Roman Republic is highly hierarchical.People have different ranks or po
5、sitions,depending on how important they are.The ruling class is patricians,According to Livy,the first 100 men appointed as senators by Romulus werereferred to as fathers(Latin patres),and thus the descendants of those“fathers”became the patrician class.In the early Roman Republic onlypatricians cou
6、ld be the senator,consul and other magistrate.In ancient Rome,a magistrate was one of the high ranking government officers;hepossessed both judicial and executive power.Another class in the society is Plebeians,also called plebs.They were the commoners.3.The structure of the Roman Republic governmen
7、tLets look at the structure of the Roman Republic governmentConsulsThe highest leader of the Roman Republic was two consuls,elected annually by the citizens and advised by a senate.They share the supreme civiland military authority,through the use of imperium,the supreme power.They had the power to
8、veto one another.If someone in authority vetoessomething,they forbid it,or stop it from being put into action.The term of consulship was only one year.At the end of their term,the ex-consulsbecame senators for life.In times of war a single consul could be appointed as a dictator for 6 months.A dicta
9、tor is a political leader whopossesses absolute power.In todays English,a dictator is a ruler who has complete power which was obtained by force and rules unfairly andcruelly.We call someone like Adolf Hitler a dictator.But in ancient Rome the term Dictator did not have the negative meaning as it ha
10、s today.SenateThe first king of the Roman Kingdom Romulus established the Senate as an advisory council of the king.The 300 members of Senate calledSenators,Senator in Latin means the elder or old man,thus senate is Assembly of Elders.Senate was an advisory body to the consuls,and ithad no true legi
11、slative power.Senators served for life unless they were removed for public or private misconduct.AssemblyAn assembly is a sovereign authority,with the power to declare war,to enact or reject laws,and to elect top leaders.Romans believed it was thePeople of Rome who held the ultimate sovereignty,thus
12、 exercising this sovereign power was the purpose of the assembly.But Roman assembliesdid not consist of the whole Roman people;only adult male citizens were permitted to participate.4.Assembly of the Roman RepublicWe mentioned during the Roman Kingdom kings were elected by the Curiate Assembly,the p
13、rincipal assembly of the people of Rome.It hadlegislative power,the right of making and passing laws.During the first two decades of the Roman Republic,The Curiate Assembly was still theprincipal assembly.Gradually the legislative authority shifted to two new assemblies,the Centuriate Assembly and t
14、he Tribal Assembly.The Assembly of Centuries or Army Assembly was composed of all members of the army.In ancient Roman army a century was a small uniteconsisting of approximately 100 soldiers.The Tribal Assembly or Assembly of the People composed of all citizens.All citizens were organized into 35 t
15、ribes,each tribe had one vote.Each tribe voted separately,decisions were made by majority vote.5.The Struggle of the Orders or the Conflict of the Orders was a political struggle between the Plebeians and Patricians.Finally the plebscreated Plebeian Assembly and elected their own top official called
16、 Plebeian Tribune.Tribunes were declared sacred to gods.In 450 BC the Lawof the Twelve Tables was declared.It became the foundation of Roman law.And it recognized the basic rights of all citizens.In this paintingRoman civilians were examining the Law on the Twelve Tables.6.In 367BC the consulship wa
17、s finally opened to plebs that means a commoner could be elected to be a consul.In 287BC,the Plebeian Councilbecame an assembly of all citizens,including both patricians and Plebeians.Celtic invasion of Italy(390387 BC)1In 390 BC,several Celtic tribes invaded Italy from the north.They defeated the R
18、oman army of approximately 15,000 troops,pursued the fleeingRomans back to Rome,and sacked the city.Sack is the plundering of a place by an army or mob,usually involving destruction,slaughter,etc.Finally they were driven off or bought off.7.Roman expansion into the whole Italy(343282 BC)During this
19、time Roman Republic conquered the whole Italian Peninsula,and three Mediterranean islands of Sicily,Sardinia and Corsica.But thiswas not enough to them,the Romans were very ambitious,they were ready to fight the other two Mediterranean powers:Carthage and the Greekkingdoms in the Hellenistic world.Key words:Republic,patrician and Plebeians,Consuls,Assembly,Plebeian TribuneThis is the second part of Chapter Three2
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